The Contrast Between The Old Covenant And New Covenant Sacrifices

The focus of our exposition today will be in

verses 25 and 26. I'm sure you remember that

the author of Hebrews is bringing his argumentation,

his rhetoric, his arguments to a conclusion at

the end of this chapter. He's finishing up everything

that he's been saying to this point. This is

really his last push for the effectiveness of

Christ's sacrifice. So far up to this point,

we've seen the author's been using similarities

between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

but he's also been using dissimilarities. He's

been showing us continuity and discontinuity.

Today, the author focuses really on the dissimilarities

and the discontinuity between the nature of the

Old Covenant sacrifice and the nature of Jesus

Christ's sacrifice. So the text naturally...

Leads us to consider two things this morning.

The first. What Christ's sacrifice is not. We'll

consider. How Christ's sacrifice is unlike. What

it is not like. And secondly. What Christ's sacrifice

is. What it positively. is with reference to

its effectiveness, its intent, the extent of

it, the power of it for breaking and disannulling,

canceling sin in the life of God's people. Beginning

with the first, what Christ's sacrifice is not.

Now in this text, in verse 25, we read, Nor was

it that he would offer himself often as the high

priest enters the holy place year by year with

blood that is not his own. Immediately, we're

aware that the author is making a negative assertion

about what Christ's sacrifice is not like. Meaning,

what's not... true of Christ's sacrifice. He's

saying he would not offer himself often like

the old covenant priest. And what's he doing?

He's alluding to the day of atonement and the

rituals of atonement that had to do with the

day of atonement. The high priestly work again.

He's alluding back to the old covenant. And what's

he talking about? The fact that once a year,

the high priest, would bring gifts and sacrifices

into the presence of God, the Holy of Holies,

and he would make those sacrifices for atonement.

But here's the problem with those gifts and those

sacrifices. There was no permanency to them.

There was no finality or completeness to them.

Why? Because as soon as he offered those, Again,

the next year, he would have to repeat the offering.

He would have to make another sacrifice on behalf

of God's people. He would go in once a year and

he would do this. He would perform this function

as the high priest of God's people on behalf

of God and on behalf of the men. And he would

do it over and over and over again. Why? Because

ultimately, Those sacrifices were entirely ineffective

to deal with sin. Those sacrifices were entirely

ineffective to destroy the power of sin in the

life of God's people. They were symbols and they

were types. The need for sin to be atoned remained.

Therefore, the sacrifices continued and they

were repeated over and over and over. The author

clearly states that Christ's sacrifice is not

something that is repeated. It's not something

that Christ does over. And over and over again.

It is unlike the old covenant sacrifices in that

way. His is effective. Theirs were ineffective.

That's what the author wants to get by. He also

presents us with an absurd alternative. to the

true nature of Christ, if someone's going to

think like that. If someone's going to say, well,

Christ's sacrifice is like the old covenant sacrifices.

He says, okay, we'll go down that road. Let's

follow that to the logical consequence that that

brings. Now, he uses a hypothetical argument

in the first half of verse 26. Listen to what

he says. Otherwise, meaning based on what he's

just said, in verse 25. Otherwise, he would have

needed to suffer often since the foundation of

the world. Now, I'm going to give you the technical

language for the kind of argument that's being

put forth here. And this is important. Because

I want you to think about what the author is

trying to convey to his readers and to us. He's

using what is called a second class conditional.

Argument. Contrary to fact. Now, keep that in

your mind. Why is the argument being put forth?

Why is the argument being put forth to his readers?

Why is he saying, if this is true, then this

must be true. Now, that argument is called contrary

to fact because it's based on a false presupposition.

The false presupposition the author is using

is that Christ's sacrifice is like the old covenant

sacrifices, that it is ineffective. And he says,

if that's true, if Christ's sacrifice is ineffective,

do you know what then must also be true of Christ?

He would have to suffer and die over and over

and over since the very foundation of the world.

He's showing them the absolute absurdity of thinking

that Christ's sacrifice is ineffective and like

the old covenant sacrifices. He wants them to

see that it's ridiculous to think that the Lord

of glory would take on flesh and dwell among

us. That he would live unto the law of God. That

he would die on the cross. That he would go to

the right hand of the Father. And he wants them

to know it's ridiculous to think that God would

send his Son in the flesh and fail. He wants

them to think that it's absurd that Christ would

take on this work of dealing with sin and not

be. effective at what he came to accomplish.

Because if Christ's sacrifice is ineffective,

brothers and sisters, and it were like the high

priest's sacrifice in the day of atonement, that

means that his sacrifice would only be provisional

for a time, or it would only be provisional for

certain sins, it would only be provisional for

a certain generation, it would only be provisional

for a certain period, and he'd have to come back.

And sacrifice himself again. He would have to

die. Over and over and over. Time after time.

Christ would come to the cross. And he would

say. It is finished. This time. But the author

saying. No. That is not the truth of the matter.

No. That is not reality. No. That is not true.

That is false. That is wrong. Christ's sacrifice

is effective. It is full. It is final. It is

complete. He wants them to see that there are

implications to thinking wrongly about the death

and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He wants them

to understand, brothers and sisters, That there

are consequences. There are implications to believing

wrong things about what Christ has done. There

are implications to believing wrongly about the

gospel of Jesus Christ. There are consequences

that come about in your own soul. And there are

consequences theologically. And there are consequences

in reality for believing wrong things. The author

wants us to know this. He wants us to think on

this. Wrong views of Christ's sacrifice, His

death. Wrong views of Christ's work leads to

wrong views of sin. Lead to wrong views of the

character of God Himself. If you desecrate the

cross of Christ, you desecrate... The purpose

for which he came. You desecrate the person of

God himself. Because he sent Christ. We can't.

Have a wrong view. Of the effectiveness. The

extent. The power of Christ's sacrifice. And

have a right view. Of sin and God. It does not

work. And the author. Wants his readers. To know

this. This is why he writes to them. And he wants

them to consider what is not true of Christ's

sacrifice. What does he want his readers to do?

What does he want us to do, brothers and sisters?

He wants us to engage our minds. He wants us

to think about what is not true of the gospel.

He wants us to think and to use our minds about

what is not true of Christ's death. What exactly

does he demand of us in this thinking? What does

he demand of us to think about? How do we know

he's demanding of us to think about Christ's

work and Christ's death? Why do we know? How

do we know that he wants us to engage our minds?

Well, you remember that argument that I gave

you? What does that require of his readers? What

does it require of you and me? When we hear the

author's argumentation regarding the death of

Christ, what do we have to do, brothers and sisters?

We have to engage our minds and think logically

and sensibly and rationally about... What Christ

has done. He wants us to think. About what Christ.

Has not done. Critically. He wants us. To consider

the consequences. And the implications. Of wrong.

Ideas wrong belief. And wrong. Thinking. The

necessity. Of Christians using their mind. May

sound. New today. Because it flies in the face.

Of evangelicalism. And modern day Christianity.

But brothers and sisters. The Lord Jesus Christ

himself. The author of Hebrews. Requires and

demands. That Christians. Engage their minds.

To think about the work of Jesus Christ. We are

called to think on these things. One of the reasons

I think this is so difficult for us to wrap our

minds around, and one of the reasons this sounds

so novel, this idea of engaging our minds at

church, engaging our mind in reading the Bible,

engaging our minds in thinking about God, is

because American Christianity does not lead with

its mind in the truth. American Christianity

leads with what? Emotionalism in their hearts.

They leave their minds at home when it comes

to church. The author of Hebrews does not think

that's acceptable. If you want to understand

what the author of Hebrews is saying, you have

to engage your mind in the truth of God's Word.

You have to give yourself... to thinking strenuously

about the things of God. This is part of faith,

isn't it? There's three aspects of faith. Historically,

this is what we've said in the Reformed tradition.

There's three aspects of faith. If we think about

the object of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ,

the Word of God, the promises of God, there's

three aspects. There's the content of that object.

What it's made up of. What it's compiled. We

have to understand it. We have to see it. We

have to comprehend the knowledge. We have to

comprehend the object, the content of it. Then

that knowledge that we understand, we learn,

that we think about, that knowledge has to become

conviction. That it's the truth. And that conviction

has to become trust. And that we actually believe,

we actually trust in these realities to be true,

to save us, to sanctify us, to grow us, so we

can very legitimately say that if a person is

not growing in their knowledge, in the grace

and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, then

they are not growing in their faith in Jesus

Christ. We must continue to grow in our understanding

of the object of our faith, the Word of God,

Jesus Christ, the promises of God, if our faith

is to be strengthened. And what does that require

of us, brothers and sisters? Thinking about these

things. The great need of our hour. The great

need of our day. Brothers and sisters, the great

need of your life is to think deeply about the

things of God. You need to take time in your

life to think long and hard about gospel realities.

You need to dedicate time in your life to think

about the effectiveness of Christ's work. You

need to dedicate and give yourself to thinking

deeply, intently, and proactively about the doctrines

of grace, about the Word of God, about the five

solas, about scriptural principles. We need to

think deeply about who God is, what sin is, and

what the law of God requires of us. Why don't

people think deeply about the things of God?

Why don't you and I think deeply about the things

of God? Why don't we take time to think deeply

about the things of God? Maybe it's because we're

so preoccupied with other things. Maybe it's

because our mind is always distracted and preoccupied

with more significant issues in our life. Maybe

it's because we're unwilling to discipline our

minds to think deeply about the things of God.

Maybe it's pride and arrogance and thinking,

I don't need to think about these things. I've

got it figured out. I've made it this long. Brothers

and sisters, the thing we need, the thing you

need in your life, is to think deeply about Jesus

Christ, His Gospel, the Word of God, the Law

of God, and who God is. You need that in your

life. And the reality is this. Somebody may say,

well, I don't have time for that. I don't have

time to think deeply about the things of God.

I've got a million and one things going on. A

million and one things in the pot. A million

things are stirring. Brothers and sisters, we

make time for what matters most in our lives.

We always do. How much time do you spend thinking

about things that are no good for your soul,

that are actually detrimental for your soul that

God has given you? And how much time do you give

to thinking about the precious blood of Jesus

Christ who saved you from your sin, who saved

you from wrath and saved you from hell? How much

time do we give to think intently about the Word

of the living God that has the power to save?

We must think deeply about these things. The

reason we must think deeply about these things

is because there's implications. There's consequences

for thinking and believing wrongly. What happens

when we start thinking? That Christ's sacrifice

is ineffective, brothers and sisters. What are

the implications for our own soul? What are the

implications for our view of sin and our view

of God when we start thinking Jesus' sacrifice

is not enough? Hopelessness. Despair. We have

a sense of condemnation. Guilt. There's room

for works. And my own righteousness. We must

take time to think deeply and to guarantee and

to ensure and to do our best that we believe

rightly regarding the things of God. The things

that have to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So we see what Christ's sacrifice is not. But

the author also wants us to see what Christ's

sacrifice is. We see this in the second half

of verse 26. We read these words. But now, once

at the consummation of the ages, he has been

manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of

himself. So I've seen what Christ's sacrifice

is not. How it's not ineffective. And now we

see what Christ's sacrifice is truly like. The

true nature, the true character of his sacrifice

as being once for all effective to destroy and

do away with sin. We see what the gospel, what

Christ's sacrifice positively is. So the author

shows us this in a few ways. He shows us this

by clearly stating that Christ's sacrifice has

been carried out once in and for the divine and

redemptive purposes of God. We read in the second

part of verse 26 there, but now once at the consummation

of the ages. The author ties the death of Christ

into the context of the setting of the historical,

redemptive, eschatological end of the world.

The consummation of the ages. It's talking about

the fact that Christ's death came at a redemptively

strategic point in time. The summing up of one

age, the old covenant, and the starting of another

day or another age, the latter days. And it's

really the consummation of the earthly, worldly

ages that we know that men live and dwell in.

Christ's sacrifice took place at the consummation

of ages, but it's also the event which brought

about the consummation of the ages. His death

is essential, vital, integral to the history

and future of the world. The death of Christ

did not happen in the old covenant, the previous

age. The death of Christ occurred at the consummation

of the ages. Why? Because God had a specific

redemptive purpose for Christ to accomplish.

When he came into the world. And the incarnation

when he took on flesh. That one purpose will

never be repeated ever again. What was the purpose

of Christ's first coming into this world? At

the consummation of the ages. Well the text tells

us doesn't it? He has been manifested to put

away sin. By the sacrifice of himself. Why did

the Lord Jesus Christ come into this world? Why

did he inaugurate the last days as Hebrews 1,

1 and 2 says? Why is it that in his last days

that the God has spoken through his son? Why

did he manifest himself up here and come into

the world? To deal with sin, brothers and sisters.

He came into the world to put it away. This is

a very unique word. It carries this idea of formally

or officially, legally, canceling, annulling,

abrogating sin. It doesn't have anything to do

with the natural removal of sin. It has everything

to do... with the cancellation, the breaking,

the annulling of sin's legal demands on a person's

life. Meaning, Christ came into the world the

first time. He manifested Himself to remove the

penalty of sin from the people of God. To remove

the guilt of sin, the stain of sin in their lives.

and to destroy the power of sin in their lives.

That's why Christ came to die, to sacrifice Himself

when He first came. Now, let me ask you a question.

Can that purpose, within the realm of redemptive,

eschatological history in the world, can that

ever, ever, Be repeated. No. God will no more

delete the universe and restart than Christ will

come back and suffer and die again. He has bore

the sins of his people and he has accomplished

redemption. It's done. It's final. It's over.

There's nothing left for him to do with regards

to the condemnation that sin heaps upon the people

of God. Christ has dealt with it, brothers and

sisters. It's done. Will he return again? Yes.

But will he return again to atone for sins? Will

he return again to bear the sins of his people?

Absolutely not. He will come again to deliver

His people from the presence of sin and from

their enemies and to judge the world. But He

will not come as a lamb slain. He will not come

as one bearing sin. Christ's death cannot be

repeated. he will never again submit himself

to the wicked intents of evil men. The days of

his humiliation, brothers and sisters, are over.

The days of him concealing his glory are done.

The days of him coming in and suffering at the

hands of evil rulers and wicked men are done.

He no more bears sin. He's accomplished it. It's

once for all. That purpose is final. It's full

and it's complete. The author clearly wants us

to think about what Christ's sacrifice truly

is. He doesn't want us just to think about what

his sacrifice isn't. He knows there's implications

for thinking wrongly about that. But the author

also wants us to think about the effectiveness,

the power of Christ's sacrifice in the life of

his people. How do we see this in this text?

Well, he wants us to use our minds to think about

the relationship of Christ's death. And his purpose

in his first coming. He wants us to use our minds

to think about the purpose of Christ's first

coming and the purpose of his second coming.

He wants us to think about what Christ has accomplished.

Why? Because there's implications. Just as there

are implications and consequences for thinking

wrongly about the gospel. Negative consequences.

There are positive implications and positive

consequences for thinking rightly about the Gospel

and Christ's death. When we view the sacrifice

of Jesus Christ as fully, completely, and finally

effective, there will be freedom from the condemnation

of sin in your life, brothers and sisters. It

will give you a right view of God and a right

view of yourself and a right view of sin in your

life. There will be no room for works or self

-righteousness whatsoever. The guilt will be

removed. The power of sin will be no more. Because

Christ's sacrifice is fully... and completely

effective. His death, when we realize that His

death and His sacrifice is effective for all

types of sin. All types of people. When we realize

that His sacrifice is effective for all degrees

and amounts of sin, brothers and sisters, do

you not find joy and gratitude in your heart?

Does this not give you joy and thanksgiving in

your heart? Because that's what comes as a result

of believing rightly about the sacrifice of Jesus

Christ. Ultimately, believing wrongly has consequences,

doesn't it? Believing the wrong things about

Jesus Christ. Believing the wrong things about

His death, His life, have consequences. There

are eternal implications. There are eternal consequences

for wrong belief. And there are eternal consequences.

For believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly

believing on Him. So we've seen what Christ's

sacrifice is not. But we've also seen, brothers

and sisters, what Christ's sacrifice is. We have

every reason, as believers, to lift up our heads

and not be dismayed. All of us. Because sin cannot

condemn you and me. It doesn't matter what season

it is. I know the election is coming up. Brothers

and sisters, listen. We have no reason to be

discouraged or dismayed. Do you know what Christ

has done? What He has accomplished on our behalf?

Do you know who our Lord is that we come to worship?

Lift up your face. Christ has dealt with your

sin. We have every reason to walk in power, authority,

and liberty, joy, peace, and hope because of

what Jesus Christ has done. Every reason. Your

sin cannot condemn you. And if you are in Christ,

you will never spend a second in hell or under

wrath. You will experience all the eternal joys

of heaven and every spiritual blessing in Christ

because our Lord, our Savior, died on the cross

and sacrificed Himself and effectively dealt

with our sin. Lift up your chins, brothers and

sisters. Lift up your faces. Be joyful. Be glad.

Don't let... the things of this world creep in

and dominate your thinking. Think deeply. Think

long about the things of God. Think about the

Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters. Think

about who He is and what He's done. It will crowd

out the rest. Discipline your mind. Discipline

your heart. Make time. Determine you're going

to do it. Ask God for the Spirit of God's help.

Cry out to Him. Cry out that God would carry

you along by His divine Spirit, that you would

be encouraged and walk in peace and faith. We

have every reason to walk with confidence and

hope because Christ has dealt with our sin. Sin

does not have to be removed for us to have hope.

We have eternal hope, not a hope for tomorrow.

We can live where we live at the time we live

in, in this day and in this age, and we can still

walk with hope and confidence in Christ because

we know who our Savior is and what He has accomplished.

Lift up your chins. Be not dismayed, brothers

and sisters. We have a Lord. We have a Savior.

who has effectively dealt with sin. Take heart.