Perfect Or Perfected?

Most of you have heard Pastor Jeff Reynolds preach. On many occasions he will say something like “for my 1st closing”…

Today, I’m going to start with “for my first opening”…

We’ll see how hungry I am by the first closing, to determine if there are more than one closings!

1st Opening

In today’s message my goal is two-fold:

1st -that some of what you hear today is NOW new news. But if it is all new, that is ok too!

2nd -I hope that some of what you hear today helps give a better understanding of what you already know.

The message will be centered around Hebrews 10:14.

Now the 2nd Opening

While I was preparing the 3 part series called “Justification, Sanctification, Glorification”, I came across Hebrews 10:14, and I haven’t let go of it, or more accurately “it” hasn’t let go of me!

I have this happen from time to time.

• About 7 years ago, after I came back from Tres Dias, all I could read was Acts, and specifically Acts 1:8 hung around for a couple of years! You see, it was my first encounter with the Holy Spirit, so Acts seemed like to perfect place to get to know Him, in the bible!

o Acts 1:8 but you shall receive power when the Hol y Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”

o In the last couple of years, it has been Ephesians 4:13 “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”

o And much more recently it has been Hebrews 10:14.

Ok, so back to the first opening:

Stand with me as we read Hebrews 10:14 (read from my bible)

Now read Hebrews 10:11-25

Heading is “Christ’s death Perfects the Sanctified”.

v.11-The priests had to offer sacrifices over and over again, as ordained by God (we see this explained in Hebrews 9:6-10) read from my bible.

1 Kings 8:63 read from my bible.

v.12 I’d like to share with you a couple of things about the temple today. First off, I find no record of any chairs in the temple in the OT. Now this is the The Holy of Holy places. But I find it amazing here that it says “after He (Jesus) had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, He sat at the right hand of God. It was FINISHED!

V.14 I’d like to go back to v14 in just a minute.

v.15-16 The Holy Spirit witnesses to us, and I will make a new covenant on that day.

v.17- The Greek here doesn’t mean that God will forget our sins, but rather is means that He will never again bring them up. He won’t remind us of our sins!

• Think about this: If God isn’t reminding us of our sins, who is?

o I heard a testimony this week and the person said “I had to go back and remember all the bad things I had done”. You see, God had removed that from him and wasn’t reminding him every day “hey you remember when you…did such and such?” That was so powerful to me!

o God will not throw that back in our faces!!!

• Back to v.12 for just a second:

o There was no chair in the Holy of Holy place where the priests took their sacrifices.

o Maybe that is why Jesus was so angry when he came to the temple and overturned tables. The temple had become a market place instead of a Holy Place of Reverence.

o But He also knew that the old covenant was about to end, and He was ushering in the New Covenant and the temple of old would be replaced with a living sacrifice and we were to be perfected in that living sacrifice, as we see in:

v.18-and when sins have been forgiven there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

v.19-Therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.

• The priests had to sprinkle sacrificial blood on the things inside the Holiest place, in order to make them perfected.

v.20 by a new and living way…

v24 NIV “and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds”. This is what fellowship is all about.

v.25 read from bible

Maybe you have asked yourself if Christ has covered me, why do I need to confess and repent?

Let’s take one final look at

v.14 for our 1st closing:

For by one offering, He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.