God Will Pay Your Biggest Debt
Hebrews 9.26; 10.10 NASB
October 3, 2004 Chester FBC, Chester Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction
Have you ever wished that someone would pay off all your credit card debt? Zero balances—no payments! The Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in Norfolk, VA is making that wish come true. One Sunday of every month, Bishop C. Vernie Russell Jr., chooses a family from the church to come forward, and the congregation takes up an offering to pay off their debt. Over the last 14 months, this group has collected $340,000 dollars to rescue 59 of the church’s families from debt.
When we come to the Lord’s Supper, we remember another debt—a greater debt that no human striving, no double shifts, no church collections could ever repay—our debt of sin.
"When you were dead in your sins … God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us … he took it away, nailing it to the cross."
2 Today’s message is God Will Pay Your Biggest Debt.
A Christ took away the penalty of all sin at the cross of Calvary. (ETS)
a 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself -Heb 9:26 (NASB)
10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. -Heb 10:10 (NASB)
b The believer who has had the blood of Christ applied to their sins has no sin debt. (ESS)
B I hope you will more fully understand the extent of God’s sacrifice that was demonstrated at Calvary. (Objective)
a How does your life reflect God has paid off your biggest debt? (PQ)
b Let’s look at two signs that your biggest debt has been paid in full. (Transitional Sentence)
PRAY
I The first sign that your biggest debt has been paid in full is . . . YOU HAVE ASKED JESUS TO PAY YOUR DEBT.
1 Old Testament priests offered a sin sacrifice for Israel on an annual day of attonment.
A The high priest would bring two goats to the door of the tent of meeting on the tenth day of the seventh month every year. (Lev. 16.7/8)
a One goat slaughtered (Lev 16.15), one goat (Azazel) was set free (Leve 16.21-22). Pointing towards Christ’s sacrifice
b Attonment for sin.
Attonment was not forgiveness. Covered over, by-passed . . . not forgiven!
B When Jesus died on a cross, the need for the scapegoat was over. (Heb 9.26 . . . but now at the consummation of the ages . . .)
*Three ages: 1) Before the Law 2) During the Law 3) Age of Grace
a Climax of human history. Jesus came to make it possible for all sin (Adam’s to ours) to be forgiven.
b Jesus’ death depicted both goats.
aa Slaughter, sacrifice, blood of sin (Put away Sin)
bb Bore the sin of all generations.
2 We have rang up quit a big bill with our sin.
A Many people say, "I’m not that bad. I’m a good person."
a 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. James 2:10 (NASB)
*If you ignore one part of God’s law, your in debt over your head.
b Rms 6.23 For the wages of sin is death.
*It only takes one sin . . . and the debt is more than we can pay on our own.
B Jesus carried our sin on the cross.
a We’ve go to allow His blood to be applied to our sins.
b 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins. 1 John 1:9 (TLB)
3
II The second sign that your biggest debt has been paid in full is . . . STOP CHARGING UP MORE DEBT.
1 Before the Old Testament priest could enter into the holy of holies (God’s Presence) he had to be sanctified.
A The priest would wear clean clothes, meticulous cleaning rituals, offer a sin sacrifice for himself before coming into God’s presence.
a Special preparations. Why?
b God deserved more than average, normal, nominal effort.
B The only way from the first century believer to come into God’s presence was through Jesus. Heb. 10.10.
a He "set them apart", acceptable, & sanctified.
(Paul saw this as a process of Christian development. Heb. saw this as an act of Christ’s sacrifice.)
b Was sanctification a gradual progression or grand point? Both are necessary for a fully developed Christian life.
2 We’re not sinners because we sin, we sin because we’re sinners.
A I need Jesus to overcome my sinful nature, heart, ways.
a When I accepted/allowed Christ’s payment . . . something happened. Grand Point!!!
b Now, I’m being sanctified. Gradual progression till the day I die.
B Believers develop fully into the Christian life.
a If we’re not developing as believers . . . something is wrong!!!
*We’re being disobedient.
*We’re not saved.
b I’m not the man I should be and I’m not the half man I will be . . . but thank God I am not the man I was or would have been without Christ.
3 Smithton is a little town that is becoming a bedroom community of St. Louis.
A Land developers are making new subdivision everywhere and are buying up old homes and parcels of land to build gated communities.
a What if a developer bought the most dirty and decrepit shanty.
b The shanty owner agreed to sell the home but put new paint on the house, new thatch on the roof, replaced the clear plastic with windows in the window frames. *The developer comes in and says, "I don’t want all your old things. I want the location because I’m build something brand new I’m gonna live in!!"
B God has paid the price to buy our hearts.
a He doesn’t want us to try and spruce them up, rather he wants to tear them down
b He wants to build a holy temple, sanctified, to dwell in.
Conclusion
1 Christ took away the penalty of all sin at the cross of Calvary. (ETS) The believer who has had the blood of Christ applied to their sins has no sin debt. (ESS)
A We’ve looked at two signs that your biggest debt has been paid in full.
a YOU HAVE ASKED JESUS TO PAY YOUR DEBT.
b STOP CHARGING UP MORE DEBT.
B I hope you will more fully understand the extent of God’s sacrifice that was demonstrated at Calvary. (Objective)
a Asked or you haven’t asked
b Sinning spree or we’ve got sinning down to a minimum.
2 How does your life reflect God has paid off your biggest debt? (PQ)
Danny was born with no ears. He could hear all right, but he didn’t have ears like normal people. All his life, Danny endured ridicule and rejection because of his deformity. But he learned to live with it. Thankfully, he had loving parents and a strong family to sustain him.
When Danny was in high school, his doctor told him of a new procedure that made it possible to transplant ears from one person to another. That meant Danny could get new ears if someone who was compatible to him ever donated theirs.
This was exciting news. After all, people donated body parts all the time—hearts, lungs, kidneys. But Danny soon found that donor ears were extremely scarce.
Danny didn’t give up hope, however. He knew that someday he would get new ears. He graduated from high school with honors and was accepted at a major university thousands of miles away. He kissed his parents good-bye and began his life as a college student. Again, though, he found it hard to make friends and fit in because of his ears.
One day he got a phone call from his father. "Go to the hospital tomorrow, Danny. A donor has been found."
The very next day Danny checked into the university hospital where doctors were ready to perform the surgery. A few hours later, Danny had new ears. When the bandages came off, Danny gazed into the mirror for hours. He finally had ears like normal people. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t ashamed of the way he looked. He not only had new ears, he had a new life.
A few weeks later, Danny received another phone call from his father. "Son, your mother is very ill," his father said. "She may not live through the night."
Danny was on the first plane home. When he arrived, his father gave him the sad news that his mother had died.
Together they went to the funeral home, where Danny was able to see his mother for the last time. He leaned over to kiss her cheek. Brushing her hair back from her face, he noticed that she had no ears.
It was a mother’s incredible love that provided Danny with new ears. And it was a Father’s incredible love that provided us with new our new life. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
