SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning and welcome to Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_01: This morning we want to give you reason to celebrate Resurrection Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: And what better way to begin that than with ice cream for breakfast?
SPEAKER_01: If you don't know what I'm talking about, you missed out.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you to all of our student ministry kids and volunteers who put on a great breakfast for us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you can.
SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you too to all of our musicians who led us in worship through song and praise this morning.
SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bible, I encourage you to open it to Hebrews chapter 10, the passage that Anton read for us earlier.
SPEAKER_01: I want to continue that theme for a few moments of why we should celebrate Easter.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not just because we have ice cream for breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: Now, we have as a church have studied the book of Acts for about the last eight months or so.
SPEAKER_01: Did you know that the Lord's birth is not mentioned in the book of Acts?
SPEAKER_01: Now, on the one hand, that makes sense if you know what Acts is about, because the book of Acts continues the story of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't begin it, it continues it.
SPEAKER_01: So then we might think, well, what about his death?
SPEAKER_01: The Lord's death is mentioned about seven times in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_01: But we really begin to see what the message of the early church is all about when we understand the concept of resurrection in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord's crucifixion and death is mentioned about seven times, and resurrection is mentioned about 17 times in the book of Acts.
SPEAKER_01: So the early church is primarily focused on the message of an empty tomb.
SPEAKER_01: And it celebrated that and proclaimed that.
SPEAKER_01: And so the gospel spread and churches sprung up all over the place.
SPEAKER_01: So our message is not primarily of a man born and died, but of a Lord crucified and risen.
SPEAKER_01: Amen?
SPEAKER_01: Friday night in Hebrews chapter 10, we saw that the Lord's death ended the shadow of animal sacrifices.
SPEAKER_01: And so it brought to reality faith in a crucified and now risen Lord.
SPEAKER_01: This morning I don't want to look at resurrection from Acts.
SPEAKER_01: I want to look at resurrection again from Hebrews chapter 10 to see how the reality and the joy of our faith are grounded in the resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: Now, this chapter, chapter 10 of Hebrews, shows primarily how Jesus' death is the perfect sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: And so it fulfills everything that the Old Testament had been pointing to.
SPEAKER_01: It brings it to a pinnacle.
SPEAKER_01: But I don't want to examine this passage from Friday night all over again.
SPEAKER_01: I want to look at this text from Sunday morning as we stand before an empty tomb.
SPEAKER_01: And we begin that in verse 12, where we begin to see several reasons here to celebrate and relish in the Lord's resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: It says in verse 12, but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_01: So we see then that the first reason that we should take delight in the resurrection is that it reassures us that Jesus' work on the cross is complete.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing more for him to do in his work on the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said on the cross, one of his last sayings was, it is finished.
SPEAKER_01: It is finished.
SPEAKER_01: But what was finished?
SPEAKER_01: We could go on and on and on today, going throughout our Bibles from beginning to end, showing all that was accomplished.
SPEAKER_01: Here are just some small snippets of elements that are significant to Easter.
SPEAKER_01: One is from Romans chapter 3, verse 25.
SPEAKER_01: God put Christ forward as a propitiation by his blood.
SPEAKER_01: Propitiation is just a big Bible word that means, in essence, to be satisfied.
SPEAKER_01: You hopefully were satisfied by a very good breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: That concept of satisfaction is what's behind that word propitiation, but in a different kind of way.
SPEAKER_01: God's wrath, God's holy anger against sin had to be satisfied.
SPEAKER_01: It's an element of justice.
SPEAKER_01: And so God put forward his own son so that through his blood, God's wrath against your sin, my sin, would be satisfied.
SPEAKER_01: We also see in Romans chapter 5, verse 9, that there's this concept of being justified, declared right by his blood.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus died and rose again, all of that was brought to completion.
SPEAKER_01: There's more.
SPEAKER_01: We can go on to Romans chapter 5, verse 10.
SPEAKER_01: While we were still enemies, we were reconciled.
SPEAKER_01: The fact that Christ died and rose again completed our reconciliation by faith to a holy God.
SPEAKER_01: Then there's Galatians chapter 4, another example.
SPEAKER_01: When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son to be born of a woman born under the law to redeem us, to buy us out of our slavery to sin, to rescue us, to ransom us.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, if the tomb is still full, those don't happen.
SPEAKER_01: If the tomb still contains the body of Christ, then the scriptures are not fulfilled.
SPEAKER_01: These things and more are done.
SPEAKER_01: Sunday morning's empty tomb is sort of the exclamation point to the end of the cross.
SPEAKER_01: It is finished.
SPEAKER_01: So remembering and celebrating the resurrection reminds us that what Jesus did on the cross is done.
SPEAKER_01: Friday's behind us.
SPEAKER_01: It does not need to be endured again.
SPEAKER_01: His finished work on the cross is complete.
SPEAKER_01: There's no need for another sacrifice to be offered.
SPEAKER_01: That is worth celebrating because his finished work can now be yours.
SPEAKER_01: But if you look carefully, and they actually back up a little bit to get a little bit of the context to verse 11, we see that there's another reason to celebrate.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 11.
SPEAKER_01: And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.
SPEAKER_01: But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
SPEAKER_01: Another reason to celebrate is that Jesus is still working.
SPEAKER_01: His cross work is done, but he continues to work.
SPEAKER_01: Notice the contrast between verse 11 and verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: It says, every priest, that is, it's speaking of Israel's ancient sacrificial system at the temple in Jerusalem, every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, but Christ offered for all time, not repeatedly, a single one, and he sat down.
SPEAKER_01: So the regular priest in a temple offers sacrifices repeatedly, day after day, year after year.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus' sacrifice was once for all.
SPEAKER_01: A single, sufficient sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: So there's a contrast there between a regular earthly priest and the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: But there's another contrast, maybe a little bit more difficult to notice.
SPEAKER_01: When serving in the temple, the Levitical priest stands daily at his service.
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus, when he offered himself, sat down at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_01: How does a dead man sit down?
SPEAKER_01: The resurrection is implied there.
SPEAKER_01: The priest stands daily.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus sits down, telling us that on the one hand, Jesus' crosswork is done.
SPEAKER_01: When he died, his sacrificial work of offering himself as a sacrifice for sin was done, complete.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not the end.
SPEAKER_01: Dying on the cross did not forever end Jesus' life.
SPEAKER_01: It did not end his activity, it did not imprison him to death or to the grave.
SPEAKER_01: He is alive and right now sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: It also tells us that he's still at work.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, as verse 13 says, he's going to remain in heaven seated at the Father's right hand until the time when he comes again as victor over all his enemies.
SPEAKER_01: And until that time, he's working right now on your behalf if you belong to him.
SPEAKER_01: We know that because of the concept in this passage of a high priest.
SPEAKER_01: And if we go back to Hebrews chapter 2, we begin to see a little bit more of an explanation of that.
SPEAKER_01: Because it says there that Jesus had to be made like his brothers, his human being brothers, in every respect, so that he could become a faithful and merciful high priest in the service of God.
SPEAKER_01: As a human being, as the God man, he could make satisfaction, propitiation for all of our sins because he himself has suffered.
SPEAKER_01: And because he's in that place, he can now help all of us who are tempted.
SPEAKER_01: He intercedes for us.
SPEAKER_01: He helps us this very moment.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is working now on behalf of all who have trusted him.
SPEAKER_01: He is serving this very moment as our faithful high priest before God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Simply because Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven does not mean he has ceased working.
SPEAKER_01: He's still working.
SPEAKER_01: For how long?
SPEAKER_01: He says, a single offering.
SPEAKER_01: That's mentioned three times in five verses, and even once more if we go back to chapter 9 and verse 26.
SPEAKER_01: There was a single offering.
SPEAKER_01: And in contrast to the requirements of the Mosaic Law, where sacrifices were offered continually, Jesus offered himself once.
SPEAKER_01: And through that single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
SPEAKER_01: Now we have a couple of words to explain here.
SPEAKER_01: One is sanctified.
SPEAKER_01: The writer to the Hebrews doesn't use that word in the same way that the Apostle Paul often uses it.
SPEAKER_01: Most often in the Pauline epistles, that word sanctified has the idea of a lifelong process of becoming more and more set apart to Christ, more holy.
SPEAKER_01: In Hebrews, though, the idea is more about the whole picture of salvation from beginning to end, all encompassed in one word.
SPEAKER_01: God in Christ has set people apart for himself and to himself.
SPEAKER_01: And when God begins that work, it's as good as done.
SPEAKER_01: Even though other parts are still in process.
SPEAKER_01: You are forever secure in his work.
SPEAKER_01: And no one can snatch you out.
SPEAKER_01: Once you have come to Christ and received his saving grace, you will need some occasional confession and repentance to the Lord to maintain your relationship with Christ because sin interrupts that.
SPEAKER_01: But your sin can never again condemn you before a holy God.
SPEAKER_01: The righteous and holy God can never again hold the one who believes in Christ accountable for his sin because Jesus paid it.
SPEAKER_01: It was nailed to the cross.
SPEAKER_01: Satan can never condemn you before God because Jesus has finished purchasing your salvation, and the empty tomb solidifies that.
SPEAKER_01: This is a quotation from Jeremiah 31, verse 34.
SPEAKER_01: And the point is not that God is forgetful.
SPEAKER_01: If God forgets, he's not God.
SPEAKER_01: God remembers.
SPEAKER_01: So what does it mean then to say, I will remember their sins no more?
SPEAKER_01: It's not that God forgets.
SPEAKER_01: It means that he never remembers your sin in a way that makes him respond with judgment.
SPEAKER_01: It means that his normal, typical, holy, and righteous and just response to sin has been changed because Jesus took your sin.
SPEAKER_01: He became sin for you.
SPEAKER_01: He bore your sin in your place.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, the Father remembers your sin no more because Jesus took care of it.
SPEAKER_01: When it says, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more, it means complete and utter forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: That's better than ice cream for breakfast.
SPEAKER_01: If you've ever wrestled with a guilty conscience, if you've ever felt shame for your sin, then you get a taste of what that statement means for you in eternity.
SPEAKER_01: But through Jesus I'm forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: And I can stand before you guiltless and innocent because Jesus became sin for me.
SPEAKER_01: Resurrection Sunday then is the culmination of events beginning in earth history from Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden all the way through to the Lord's birth and then to his death and finally to the empty tomb.
SPEAKER_01: This work of the Lord Jesus gives us a unique privilege.
SPEAKER_01: A unique privilege that is the next reason to celebrate.
SPEAKER_01: It provides for us a certain kind of confidence before God.
SPEAKER_01: Specifically in verses 19 and 20, it says that we have confidence to enter the holy places.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain and through his flesh, and since we have a great high priest.
SPEAKER_01: This is a picture of Israel's worship center, the temple.
SPEAKER_01: The temple was a series of segregated areas.
SPEAKER_01: So, for example, the greatest segregation was between Jews and Gentiles, non-Jews.
SPEAKER_01: Jews could only come into the court of the nations, into the outermost part of the temple area.
SPEAKER_01: All Jews could come into the next section, and then that was an area where only the women could go.
SPEAKER_01: That's as far as the women could go, and then men could go a section further, and then beyond that, only priests could go as they get closer and closer to God.
SPEAKER_01: And then in the very central, most holy portion of the temple, only one man, the high priest, could go one day every year, and only with blood from a sacrifice.
SPEAKER_01: Between that holy of holies and the outer portion, just beyond that, so one man could go into that inner core, all the priests could go into this next section.
SPEAKER_01: In between that was a massive curtain that hung in the temple.
SPEAKER_01: Some historical records indicate that it was two inches thick.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you have seen a keep out sign?
SPEAKER_01: Most of you?
SPEAKER_01: Imagine that curtain as a massive keep out sign.
SPEAKER_01: You can imagine a great curtain going up from the front of this platform up to the ceiling.
SPEAKER_01: Keep out.
SPEAKER_01: That's what that curtain signified.
SPEAKER_01: Because from the time of the Garden of Eden onward, sinful human beings could not come into the presence of a holy and righteous God.
SPEAKER_01: That curtain served as a massive keep out sign.
SPEAKER_01: The Gospels record for us that when Jesus died, the curtain was torn in two.
SPEAKER_01: There are historical references for that too.
SPEAKER_01: Symbolizing that access to God's very presence is now open.
SPEAKER_01: It's available.
SPEAKER_01: Out sign is gone.
SPEAKER_01: And that's the essence of our celebration today.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord's resurrection gives God's people confidence to come right into his throne room before the throne of God above.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: Because we come as high priests did with blood, the blood of Jesus, saying, We can come because Jesus' blood has satisfied all of God's requirements for me to come to the throne room.
SPEAKER_01: We're no longer enemies kept at bay.
SPEAKER_01: We're no longer sinners who cannot enter God's holy place, but we're children who have access, direct access to daddy's office.
SPEAKER_01: I like the way C.S.
SPEAKER_01: Lewis said it one time.
SPEAKER_01: He said, Jesus has forced open a door that had been locked since the death of the first man.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus has met, fought, and beaten the King of death.
SPEAKER_01: And everything is different because he has done so.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus flung open the door to God's presence.
SPEAKER_01: And since our salvation has been completed and we are forgiven and granted access forever, our confidence can be sure because we come with the blood of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now perhaps you're here simply because you think you should attend church on Easter.
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
SPEAKER_01: I'm glad you're here.
SPEAKER_01: Hope you feel welcome.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've been religious all of your life, and it makes you feel good to celebrate these significant days in the church calendar.
SPEAKER_01: But let me make one thing very clear.
SPEAKER_01: There is only one way to be granted access with confidence to the throne room of God, and that is through the crucified, buried, and risen Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: If you think that being here today will gain points with God, then that curtain in essence still exists for you.
SPEAKER_01: There's a barrier between you and God.
SPEAKER_01: But through Jesus, because he died and rose from the dead, you can be reconciled with him today by believing in him.
SPEAKER_01: And then you too can have the confidence to come boldly to the throne through the cross and the empty tomb.
SPEAKER_01: We can have that confidence to enter boldly because of the fifth reason that we honor this day.
SPEAKER_01: Don't worry, I don't have very many more.
SPEAKER_01: The resurrection ensures our cleansing from sin.
SPEAKER_01: Notice what it says in verse 21.
SPEAKER_01: We have a great high priest over the house of God, and so since we have that, verse 22, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
SPEAKER_01: So we have here the assertion that Jesus is our high priest.
SPEAKER_01: Notice also that it's in the present tense.
SPEAKER_01: We have right now, this very moment, not a dead Lord, but a living Lord, who is our high priest this very moment.
SPEAKER_01: We have him as our priest now.
SPEAKER_01: And since we have confidence to come before God, let us draw near.
SPEAKER_01: How?
SPEAKER_01: With hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
SPEAKER_01: Priests had strict, and that's putting it mildly, strict washing requirements.
SPEAKER_01: Whenever they came to serve in the temple, they had to go through ritual purification processes.
SPEAKER_01: But all of that cleaning work can only clean the outside.
SPEAKER_01: You know this.
SPEAKER_01: Whenever you take a bath or a shower, it only cleans the outside.
SPEAKER_01: Any kind of ritual cleansing doesn't clean inside.
SPEAKER_01: But believing in Jesus results in an inward cleansing and heart cleaning.
SPEAKER_01: The blood of Jesus washes away our sin so that you are clean on the inside.
SPEAKER_01: If Jesus were still in the tomb, he would be merely one of the other hundreds of thousands of Roman crucifixion victims.
SPEAKER_01: He couldn't be God if he was still in the tomb.
SPEAKER_01: He wouldn't be capable of purchasing our salvation, he wouldn't be able to satisfy God's wrath, and he wouldn't be able to guarantee our salvation or the forgiveness of our sins.
SPEAKER_01: But the empty tomb demonstrates that all of that is true.
SPEAKER_01: And we ought to relish in it.
SPEAKER_01: This is our freedom day because it frees us from all that bound us before coming to faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you a final reason in verse 23 to celebrate the resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: Christ's resurrection gives us resolve in his faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: What is the confession of our hope?
SPEAKER_01: Jesus, crucified, buried, and risen, ascended to the Father's right hand, where he's sitting and working on our behalf.
SPEAKER_01: There's a significant command here.
SPEAKER_01: Let us hold fast.
SPEAKER_01: Many of you been on a zip line?
SPEAKER_01: Some of you have.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't know what it is, it's a thick cable stretched between platforms, one generally on top of a hill and another descending to the lower area.
SPEAKER_01: It's stretched out, it's secured above ground on both ends.
SPEAKER_01: And then somebody came up with the brilliant idea to strap a person into a webbed seat and attach that to the cable so that you can slide down from one end to the other.
SPEAKER_01: Usually at high speed.
SPEAKER_01: Got all strapped in, and everybody had to make sure, double triple check that you're all connected.
SPEAKER_01: But because I'd never been down that zip line before, I didn't fully trust it.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't trust the cable.
SPEAKER_01: I didn't trust the webbing that I was sitting in.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't remember exactly what I held on to, but I was holding on for dear life.
SPEAKER_01: Eventually, I would get all strapped in as quickly as I could, and then I would take a running leap off of that upper platform and not hold on to anything all the way down.
SPEAKER_01: Because I knew that there was nothing to be concerned about.
SPEAKER_01: I could trust in the faithfulness of the cable.
SPEAKER_01: Notice what the text says.
SPEAKER_01: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.
SPEAKER_01: It's like taking a running leap off the platform without wavering.
SPEAKER_01: Hold fast to that.
SPEAKER_01: Now, the confession of our hope is all that Christ has done, and that is guaranteed by the empty tomb.
SPEAKER_01: So how do we hold fast to that?
SPEAKER_01: So often we do exactly what I tried to do on the zipline.
SPEAKER_01: We wrap our hands around whatever it is that we think we can control in life.
SPEAKER_01: And so we try to manipulate our emotions and our feelings to be able to feel as though we're trusting in something when all we're really doing is controlling life.
SPEAKER_01: Because somehow we think that our lives and our eternity depends on our faithfulness, on our obedience, on our good works, on our holding on tightly.
SPEAKER_01: And so we ride the zipline of life full of uncertainty, full of fear, as though letting go will somehow send us crashing to the ground in pain and agony, perhaps even losing out of our place in God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And then when difficulties and uncertainties arise in life, we become even more anxious and more uncertain.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we try to tighten our grip on whatever we can control.
SPEAKER_01: And then we start to worry about what we can't control.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, I couldn't truly enjoy the ride on that zip line until I could trust in the faithfulness of the cable.
SPEAKER_01: If I didn't, the time spent riding from the top of the hill down to the bottom of the hill was filled with stress and uncertainty.
SPEAKER_01: But somehow, I can't tell you how, somehow in my young mind, I soon realized that the cable and the connections and the web seat were all there to ensure my safety.
SPEAKER_01: And so I could relax.
SPEAKER_01: I could trust in their faithfulness to uphold me.
SPEAKER_01: I could relax and thoroughly enjoy the ride.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is that cable.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus died and he was buried.
SPEAKER_01: But his empty tomb ensures, guarantees without question, that he is faithful to the very end.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you have come to believe in him by trusting in his work and only his work, then he becomes the confession of your hope.
SPEAKER_01: And you can't hold on to him with your two hands.
SPEAKER_01: So you must hold on to him in faith.
SPEAKER_01: Casting your faith, your trust onto him alone.
SPEAKER_01: And when you trust completely in him, just as I trusted completely in that cable, you will be able to rejoice in the resurrection life of Christ that he gives to you, not because of your holding on, but because he is faithful.
SPEAKER_01: He demonstrated his faithfulness to you first by going to the cross.
SPEAKER_01: He demonstrated his faithfulness to the promises of God by dying and being buried and rising from the dead.
SPEAKER_01: Your life in Christ is not secure because you hold on with both hands for dear life.
SPEAKER_01: It's safe and secure because he is faithful.
SPEAKER_01: And that is a reason to relish in his resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: So let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
SPEAKER_01: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, may we cast all of our trust on you and you alone.
SPEAKER_01: May we look to you as the fullness of our hope, as our strength and weakness, as our safety line in the midst of uncertainty.
SPEAKER_01: And may we cast all of our faith on you so that in trust we hold fast to you because you hold fast to us.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, one day we trust that you will demonstrate the reality of our faith when you return and take us to be with you forever.
SPEAKER_01: Until then, we trust that you, our great and faithful high priest, intercedes for us daily.
SPEAKER_01: Because you paid for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: You bought us from our sin so that we can come boldly and with confidence before the throne of God above.
SPEAKER_01: And so we celebrate today, as we will throughout all of eternity, the greatness of our risen Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.