When I was about 15 in high school, so I'd been a Christian for about a year,
I had the chance to be trained in sharing the good news of Jesus.
I was trained to do a spiel, can't even have a better word,
and a hundred point outline of the gospel.
There was a hundred different stories, memory verses, illustrations,
points to go through.
And the point was I could articulate start to finish somebody who needed to meet Jesus
to would you like to become a Christian.
Now, as a side point, I'm not sure you need an a hundred point presentation.
I think we can maybe do it with a few less, but it was the one that I learned anyway as a 15 year old,
and it was a good one.
But this presentation would always begin with two what we call diagnostic questions.
Questions that were supposed to help you figure out where the person was
in terms of what they knew about God, what they were trusting in, that sort of thing.
The first question was,
if you were to die tonight, are you certain you would go to heaven?
And the second, it's quite morbid in hindsight,
suppose you did die tonight,
and you appeared before God, and he asked you,
why should I let you into my heaven?
What would you say?
I remember as a teenager finding those questions really heavy,
and so to try and lighten the mood,
you would improv a little bit in the second question,
and I'd be like, you know, suppose you did die tonight,
you know, you got hit by a bus, or something like that,
which didn't really lighten it, but that was my attempt to go,
I'm actually asking you a really, really serious question here
about life and death, something that really matters.
And on one level, these questions are really quite simple,
but at the same time, they're quite profound.
And I wonder for you, if I was to ask you those questions,
not in front of everyone, not with everyone eavesdropping,
but just we were to have a chat, and I was to ask you those questions,
what would your answer be?
If I was to ask you, if you were to die tonight,
how certain are you that you would go to heaven?
And if you did rock up at the gates to heaven,
and God's there, and he says, why should I let you in?
What would your response be?
See, these questions reveal a whole lot
about what it is that we're trusting in.
The things that we would hand over to God
as the basis for letting us into heaven,
but also, just how confident we are
that those things are actually going to deliver.
Just how much we actually believe these things
that we would present to God would be a convincing resume.
These questions show us not just if we're confident,
but what we're trusting in,
and whether or not, deep down,
we actually know that those things can come through for us.
Now, the most interesting thing for me in this whole process was,
when I couldn't find somebody to share the gospel with,
to help me practice my 100 points that I had to memorize,
I would make my friends sit down with me
so that I could go through my big presentation.
And it was always interesting to me
to hear what my friends who went to church with me
would say when asked those two questions.
It wasn't always the same.
On one end, you had the people who were certain
that they were going to heaven,
but were trusting in flimsy things.
They were certain they were going to get into heaven,
but they were trusting in how much better they were
than most people in the world.
Or they were trusting in the fact that they'd been baptized once.
Or they were trusting in the fact that
their parents worked at the church.
Down the other end, you had those who were uncertain,
really wanted to go to heaven,
but couldn't say certain,
but were trusting in the unbreakable promises of God
to get them there.
And then you had everything in between on the spectrum.
Now, the point being that not everyone
who wants certainty when it comes to heaven,
not everyone who wants that kind of guarantee,
wants to be able to answer with an emphatic yes
to that first question,
actually gets it.
And in reality, some of the people who say
that they're certain probably shouldn't be.
Even though God's word promises peace
that passes understanding,
even though God's word speaks of an immovable hope,
in the passage just read out for us,
in Hebrews 10, it talks about confidence
to enter the most holy place.
Sometimes it's easier to talk about confidence,
to talk about certainty,
than it is to know it,
to feel it,
to believe it.
Martin Luther, who was one of the key figures
in the Reformation 500 years ago,
was a man who was acutely aware of God's holiness
in stark contrast to his own sin.
It's said that having become a monk,
he would often hog his confession opportunities
and would stay in the confessional booth
for up to six hours at a time
to just recount as many of his sins
as he could possibly remember.
He was a man who was soaking in God's word,
he was studying it,
he was meditating on it,
and yet he was somebody who lived his life
crushed by the weight of his own sin
and guilt and failure.
He knew that God demanded perfection
and it was that unattainable goal
that cast a shadow over his life.
And even having dedicated his life
to being a monk,
to serving God,
the security he so desperately wanted
continued to elude him.
And he's not alone.
Maybe that's how you feel.
Maybe you're doing lots of things
to serve God.
Maybe you're trying very hard
to be the person that you know
he wants you to be
because you desperately want to know
for certain that when you die
you will get to go to heaven.
But it feels like the harder you try,
the less certain you feel.
Last week, Steve mentioned briefly
about the sale of indulgences.
These were effectively papal pardons
for sin.
That is, the Pope would give these things out
as a kind of pardon
for the sin that you had done.
And in the time of the Reformation,
these had begun to be sold for money
as a fundraiser for building projects
and stuff like that.
Effective for building projects
but probably not really helpful
for everyone else.
These indulgences were then
subcontracted out to priests
who would travel around
and give people the chance
to confess sin
and then essentially buy forgiveness.
That's how the system worked.
Now, a really key reason
that something as ridiculous
as that happened
was what we looked at last week.
That really the priests
were the only ones
who had access to the Bible.
Unless you had been through university
and studied Latin,
you had no idea
what God said in his word
and so who were you to argue?
You just took their word for it.
All you knew
is that you were sinful,
God was holy,
God was just
and you needed help.
But there's a second
really important reason
that this all happened.
There's a second reason
that we need to grasp
as we reflect on the Reformation
500 years later.
See, the problem
that required the Reformation,
the thing that needed change,
wasn't the Catholic Church itself.
Now, it was the context for it.
It was the place
where the issue
got institutionalized,
but it wasn't the problem itself.
The core problem
was sinful people.
And I'm not even talking
about the active sin
of the fact that
they were trying, you know,
to pervert the truth of God
and take advantage
of insecure people.
Although that's true
and that was there.
See, the problem then
wasn't that they didn't know
they were sinful.
Of course they did.
That's what made people insecure.
The problem
was that they didn't understand
just how fundamental
their sin was.
They didn't understand
how inherent their sin was,
how deeply inside
of a person
sin exists.
And so the solutions
they would come up with,
the security
they would reach out for
was only of a surface level,
only of a superficial.
And the surface level solution
that the Catholic Church
came up with
was a thing called
penance.
Penance had three steps.
You confess,
you show contrition,
and then you do satisfaction.
So,
you steal some bread.
You confess to the priest
that you stole some bread.
You be contrite.
That is,
you actually mean
your sorry confession
and you plan
to not do it again.
And then,
you do some satisfaction,
which basically means
you give some money
to the poor,
you spend some time
in prayer and fasting,
you make a trip to Rome,
a bit of a pilgrimage,
something like that.
Essentially,
your ledger with God
is in the negative,
so do some good stuff
to get you back
in the positive.
That was the answer.
And there's some logic
to this system.
There's even some
rightness in it.
I mean,
confession is a good gift
from God.
You don't need a priest,
but confession itself
is a good thing
because it reflects
that we're understanding
sin is actually serious.
You've actually got to
do something with sin.
It needs to be dealt with.
Contrition,
of course.
You've got to be genuine
when you confess.
You can't just say the words
and not mean it.
We want to be genuine
in seeking God's forgiveness.
And even the idea
of satisfaction,
that third bit,
the idea that having
done something wrong
towards God,
there should be
some payment
or some restitution,
makes sense.
But when the payment
that you owe God
for sin
is something trivial
like money,
or something temporary
like a few hours fasting,
or a trip to St. Peter's
in Rome,
all it shows
is that
we haven't really
understood sin
at all.
We haven't actually
understood
how big an issue
it is,
how close to us
it is.
It's just a thing
that's been done
and so it's a
good thing
that can be done
to balance it out.
It's just a
superficial solution.
And the result
back then
was a church
full of
petrified people.
People who are aware
that they were sinful,
they knew that,
but they are imprisoned
by these temporary,
ritualistic,
resource-based
solutions.
Their forgiveness
at any given moment,
their security
to say,
I'm certain
I'm going to be
in heaven,
was only ever
partial.
And in some cases
it was limited
to how much
money they had
to buy that
forgiveness.
And so the answer
for the average
churchgoer
back then
to that second
diagnostic question
would have been
about how many
indulgences they had,
how many trips
to Rome they'd made,
how much money
they'd given
to the poor,
how many times
a week they were
fasting and praying,
which was such
an inadequate answer.
Even the church
knew it was
an inadequate answer,
they invented
a theology
of purgatory.
Purgatory
essentially exists
as the place,
they believe,
the place between
this life and heaven
where you settle
the accounts
that you didn't
have a chance
to settle
in this life.
So it's like,
here's our solution.
Do good stuff
to make up
for your bad stuff,
but you'll never
be able to do
enough good stuff,
so we're going
to invent
another space
that the Bible
doesn't talk about
where you can
keep doing good stuff.
In some cases
they thought people
were going to be
in there for
thousands of years
trying to catch up
for all their bad stuff
because their solution
was inadequate.
See,
on one level
they knew it
and yet
this was the cycle,
this was the trap,
this was the prison
that people lived in,
a prison of fear.
And then,
while soaking in God's word,
the reformers
saw Jesus,
saw him for who
he really is,
saw him for what
he had actually done,
saw him for what
he was doing
and is doing
even now
and it changed
everything.
Now it's not that
the Catholic church
back then
didn't believe
in Jesus,
it's just that
they weren't seeing
him clearly enough.
They weren't seeing
him the way
he's revealed himself
in his word.
Even now today
it feels like
when we say
we believe in Jesus
we need to clarify
that because
it's almost not enough
because lots of people
say they believe in Jesus
but they don't all
mean the same thing.
I've had people
come to my house
and knock on my door,
Mormons,
you know,
white shirts,
name tags
and they try and convince
me they believe in Jesus
and I try and explain
to them that the Jesus
that you believe in
is not the Jesus
that the Bible talks
about who I believe in.
Sometimes just to say
you believe in Jesus
is not enough.
If you desire
true salvation,
if you desire
the kind that gives
peace and security
and purpose
and direction
then you need to know
who Jesus
really is.
you need to know
what the Bible says
about Jesus
because it all
stands or falls
on Jesus.
Everything.
And so we need to look
to the ultimate source
of authority,
the place that Steve
took us last week,
the place that the
Reformers went
500 years ago,
the place where God
promises to speak to us
in His Word
to us,
the Bible.
So what does it say?
Well, quite a bit.
Every page is about Jesus.
But let's look at
two specific things
in this passage
from Hebrews 10
that the Bible
definitely says
about Jesus
that we need to grab.
First one.
Jesus does
what you can't.
So again,
Jesus does
what you can't.
He's perfect.
perfect.
This has been the issue
since Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden.
Since the moment
where Adam and Eve
decided that they knew
better than God
and they were going to
do things their own way,
God is pure
and perfect
and He demands
the same of His people.
And so from that
point in time,
there has been
this gap
that no one of us
has ever been able
to bridge.
And that gap
is essentially
perfection.
That's what
God requires.
That's the standard
He expects.
That's what He's asking for.
So before Jesus came,
God provided His law
with sacrifices
and rituals
and there was contrition
and there was confession
and all those bits
were in there.
But even that
was never going to fix
this issue.
I mean,
have a look at
Hebrews 10 verse 1.
The law is only
a shadow
of the good things
that are coming,
not the realities
themselves.
For this reason,
it can never
by the same sacrifices
repeated endlessly
year after year
make perfect
those who draw
near to worship.
Can't do it.
Otherwise,
would they not have
stopped being offered?
For the worshippers
would have been cleansed
once and for all
and would no longer
have felt guilty
for their sins.
But those sacrifices
are an annual
reminder of sins.
It is impossible
for the blood
of bulls
and goats
to take away sins.
None of it
made anyone perfect.
This huge chunk
in the Old Testament
which tells Israel
exactly how they
should live,
which tells them
exactly how they
should worship,
which tells them
exactly how they
should gather,
none of it
made anyone
perfect.
And that's what
needs to happen.
If people are going
to be certain
about heaven,
if people are going
to know God,
if people are going
to have a relationship
with Him,
the issue is
they're not perfect
and so the solution
is they need to be
made perfect.
That's the core issue.
That's why we fumble
with that first question.
That's why that word
certain makes us
feel so uncomfortable
because anyone
with even the slightest
bit of self-awareness
knows that perfect
is not them.
And so we feel
uncomfortable
because God
does require that.
And even if the
sacrifices that He
describes in the law
had been able to
pay for past sins,
which they couldn't,
but even if they
had been able to do
that, if they were
able to wipe the
slate clean,
it doesn't change
the fact that
people are sinful.
That sin runs
deeper.
So even if we
could do the
sacrifices and
wipe the slate
clean, as soon
as it's clean,
we've already
dirtied it again.
As soon as the
accounts to zero,
we've already
started accumulating
debt again
because it's us
who are sinful.
Sin comes from
within us
and so something
else is needed.
A better solution
is required.
Therefore,
verse 5,
Therefore,
when Christ came
into the world,
He said,
Sacrifice and
offering you did
not desire,
but a body you
prepared for me.
With burnt
offerings and sin
offerings you were
not pleased.
Then I said,
Here I am.
It is written
about me in the
scroll.
I have come to
do your will,
my God.
First,
He said,
sacrifice and
offerings,
burnt offerings,
and sin offerings
you do not
desire,
nor were you
pleased with
them,
though they
were offered
in accordance
with the law.
Then He said,
Here I am.
I have come
to do your
will.
He sets aside
the first to
establish the
second,
and by that
will we've
been made
holy through
the sacrifice
of the body
of Jesus
Christ once
for all.
Jesus came
to do what
we couldn't.
Jesus came
to provide
the perfection
that was
required.
He came
to do
the perfect
obedience
that we
were falling
short on.
Verse 9,
Here I am.
I have come
to do
your will.
Perfect
obedience
was required,
and in
Jesus,
perfect
obedience
was provided.
The only
place anyone
will ever
find the
perfection
that God
demands of
them
is in
Jesus,
in his
perfect
life,
in his
perfect
death.
In fact,
that's the
whole reason
he came.
Now,
let me just
slow down
here for a
second.
Jesus
didn't come
to be
perfect for
you because
it was
difficult and
he wanted
to make it
easier.
he didn't
come because
you were
close and
you would
have got
there
eventually,
but he
just wanted
to help
you along.
Jesus
does it
because it's
impossible
for you
to do it.
There is
no chance
that anyone
could ever
make this
standard.
Isaiah
tells us
that even
our righteous
acts are
like filthy
rags before
God.
that our
best attempts
are almost
offensive to
him.
And yet
sometimes
we treat
Jesus and
his perfect
obedience like
it's the
top up for
our almost
perfect
obedience.
We don't
see him as
the solution
to our
impossible
problem.
We see
him as the
icing on
our pretty
reasonable
cake.
But the
Bible says
about Jesus
that he's
doing what
we couldn't
do.
He's the
only perfect
one.
That's the
first thing.
The second
thing is
that Jesus
takes what
you deserve.
Two things
are needed
if we're
going to
grab hold
of this
perfection
that we
need to.
we need
this new
perfect
record that
Jesus has
established by
living a
perfect life
but we
still need to
deal with the
consequence of
our sin.
We still need
to deal with
the right
judgment that
God has for
the times that
we ignore him
and dishonor him
and don't love
him the way he
deserves.
But Jesus
takes that as
well.
verse 10
by that
will we've
been made
holy through
the sacrifice
of the body
of Jesus
Christ once
for all.
Day after
day every
priest stands
and performs
his religious
duties again
and again he
offers the
same sacrifices
which can
never take
away sins
but when
this priest
Jesus had
offered for
all time one
sacrifice for
sins he sat
down at the
right hand of
God and since
that time he
waits for his
enemies to be
made his
footstool for
by one
sacrifice he
has made
perfect forever
those who are
being made
holy.
One
sacrifice
sufficient for
all sins
past present
and future
the perfect
son of God
the innocent
son of God
killed in the
place of guilty
ones
killed in our
place
peace.
The prophet
Isaiah
describes it
vividly in
chapter 53
it says
surely he
took up our
pain and
bore our
suffering yet
we considered
him punished
by God
stricken by
him and
afflicted but
he was
pierced for
our transgressions
he was
crushed for
our iniquities
the punishment
that brought
us peace
was on
him and
by his
wounds we
are healed
we all like
sheep have
gone astray
each of us
has turned to
our own way
and the Lord
has laid on
him the
iniquity of
us all
Jesus death
on the cross
was the once
for all
sufficient
payment for
sin
it was the
one time
payment that
keeps the
debt at
zero no
matter how
many times
you stuff
up
it removed
every possible
barrier between
us and
God and
replaced those
barriers with
the perfect
obedience of
Jesus
it's what we
sometimes call
the great
exchange
Jesus takes
what we
deserve
he takes
our wrath
he takes
our judgment
he fully
satisfies God
by dying in
our place
and then in
exchange
he gives us
his perfect
report card
he gives us
his perfect
obedience
and now he
can sit at
the right hand
of God in
heaven
guaranteeing
that his
life lived
for us
his death
died in
our place
makes it
possible
for people
like you and
me to hear
the words
that should
be reserved
just for
Jesus
words like
this is my
son whom
I love
and with
him I am
well pleased
this is my
daughter whom
I love
with her I
am well
pleased
Jesus is the
only place
where sinful
people can
find hope
he's the
only chance
that we
have to
know the
perfect God
of all
creation
as our
heavenly
father
Christ
alone
can do
what is
needed
Christ
alone
does what
you could
not
and takes
what you
deserve
and that's
why Acts
4 says
salvation is
found in
no one
else
for there
is no
other name
under heaven
given to
mankind
by which
we must
be saved
the issue
for many
of us
when it
comes to
being able
to answer
that first
question with
a confident
yes
comes back
to that
system of
penance
confession
is a good
and right
response
when God
shows us
that we're
not the
people we
need to
be
contrition
is a
necessary
part of
that genuine
confession
but it's the
satisfaction
bit where
we go
wrong
satisfaction
needs to
happen
but the
only
satisfaction
that leads
to assurance
is trusting
in the
satisfaction
that Jesus
has done
trusting in
the payment
that Jesus
has made
for our
sin
there's a
chance that
if you're
somebody who
doesn't feel
particularly
secure when
it comes
to heaven
if you're
somebody who
struggles with
the certainty
that God
speaks of in
his word
and promises
is available
through his
son
there's a
chance that
you're doing
the confession
bit maybe
you're doing
the contrition
bit but it's
when it gets
the satisfaction
that you're
tempted to do
maybe Jesus
and yeah
I trust
Jesus but I
feel the need
to do a bit
of the work
myself
the only
place you're
going to find
certainty is
him because
the only place
you're going to
find perfection
which is what
is required
is him
and all you
do when you
try and add
to his
perfection is
dilute it
you unperfect
it
if you're
somebody in
this room
who is not
following Jesus
if you're not
a Christian
if you're not
somebody who
has gone
through that
process of
recognizing that
you need
God's help
if you're ever
going to know
him
you need
his help
if you're
ever going
to be in
heaven
if you're
not somebody
who has
asked for
the forgiveness
that Jesus
purchased by
dying on the
cross in
your place
I want to
tell you
that the
offer of
forgiveness
the offer
of certainty
of hope
of peace
is there
for you
right now
tonight
because Jesus
has done
what you
cannot do
he has taken
what you
deserve
and he is
offering
to forgive
you
to restore
you
and to
begin the
work of
preparing
you for
heaven
here's the
question we
need to
finish with
does this
still matter
surely
you know
we're a
bible
believing
church
this was
a drastic
discovery
500 years
ago but
we know
it's
Christ
alone
I mean
Steve
even mentioned
it last
week
you might
be really
clever
and even
be able
to say
solus
Christus
which is
what the
reformers
would have
said
so surely
we don't
need to
cover this
we know
Jesus is
the only
way we
can be
saved
we talk
about this
every week
at church
was this
really worth
27 minutes
of our
time
well maybe
why did
what the
entire
church
in the
15th
century
who knew
what God
had done
in Jesus
on the
cross
end up
so
fatally
misled
why do
you and
I need
to hear
this
the answer
is
sin
it was
the problem
then
and it's
the problem
now
we need to
understand
that the
issue here
is not
that it's
confusing
God has
laid it
out
he said
trust in
Jesus
just pick up
this solution
it's here
I've done
all the work
it's right
there
just take
it
and yet
our default
setting
is to
not do
that
our default
setting
is to
take what
God has
idiot proofed
for us
and make
it not
work
our default
setting
is to
hear God
say I
love you
in spite
of who
you are
and then
feel this
need to
be somebody
who's
worthy
of God's
love
our default
setting
is to
move in
the opposite
direction
of the
certainty
that God
has offered
by doing
what you
can't
and taking
what you
deserve
and sending
his son
to die
in your
place
on the
cross
we need
to be
reminded
that it's
only in
Jesus
because when
I asked you
at the
beginning of
this
whether or
not you're
certain
you're going
to heaven
most if
not all
of us
were hesitant
about the
word
certain
that's
what
Jesus
offers
and so
we need
to come
back
now
we need
to recognize
that this
is a battle
going on
in our
hearts
and that
salvation
is only
found in
Jesus
not in
the extra
ministry
that you're
doing
not in
your
incredible
godly
character
even
though
that
might
be
true
Jesus
is not
the top
up
he's
the
exchange
he's
the
substitute
and in
him
and him
alone
can we
find
certainty
is the
debt
that we
owe to
the
protestant
reformation
the
possibility
of
assurance
and
security
in
Jesus
was
all
but
lost
prior
to
the
reformation
but
thank
god
500
years
ago
some
people
opened
their
bibles
and
rediscovered
it
rediscovered
security
and peace
forgiveness
grace
hope
love
and all
of it
in
Jesus
alone
and only
in
Jesus
alone
Jesus
has done
what you
cannot
he has
taken
what you
deserve
and he
invites you
to rest
securely
in that
heart
and there
you
know