Please turn with me tonight to Hebrews 10, Hebrews chapter 10, as we read together the first 25 verses, considering in particular verses 19 through 22, Hebrews 10. When you have found that, please also turn in the back of this altar hymnal to page 33 and 34. There we find Lord's Day 26. Last week we had our introduction to the Catechism's treatment of the sacraments. Tonight we consider the first of two Lord's Days dealing with baptism. We will first express what we believe concerning the three questions and answers for Lord's Day 26, page 33 and page 34. Question 69, how does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally? In this way, Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his spirit wash away my soul's impurity In other words, all my sins. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and spirit? To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with Christ's spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life. Page 34. Where does Christ promise that we are washed with his blood and spirit as surely as we are washed with the water of baptism? In the institution of baptism where he says, Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. This promise is repeated when Scripture calls baptism the washing of regeneration and the washing away of sins. Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 1. Hear now the word of our God. 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. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 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, O God. First he said, Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them, although the law required them to be made. 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 have 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 had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time, he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. Because by one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First, he says, this is the covenant I will make with them. After that time, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds. Then he adds, their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is His body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promises is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching. Verses 19-22 again, Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Well, beloved in Christ Jesus our Lord, you know that there are some who say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Boys and girls, very simply, what that means is that a picture, a particular picture, can tell a story. You can read a lot from that picture. And this is especially true with the visible gospel pictures that our Lord has given to us, which we call the sacraments, by which we see with our eyes the gospel message that we hear with our ears. We enjoyed that privilege this morning as we came together around the Lord's table to see, be reminded of the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ that nourishes our faith unto everlasting life. And the same is true with the sacrament of baptism. When it comes to baptism, baptism tells a wonderful story that even the youngest child can understand, that child that knows what a bath is all about. And understands that relationship between dirt and water. That child can understand that story of the powerful cleansing that the believer enjoys. Because baptism points to the believer's blessing of being able to confidently draw near to God. As the writer of Hebrews talks about. And beloved, confidently drawing near to God. We are able to confidently draw near to God. first of all, that confidently drawing near rest, first of all, upon the perfect foundation. Verse 19 again, Therefore, and now he comes to a summary of what he has said before. He summarizes what he has said not only in just the immediate context, but in the previous chapters. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. Jesus Christ is that final sacrifice for sin. That's what the writer is pointing us to, and he is giving here an historical review. As we know that the writer of Hebrews has been addressing Christian Jews who are being tempted, being pressured to turn back to Judaism with all of its practices, especially with regard to the Old Testament temple and the sacrificial system. He has been painstakingly reminding his hearers of the work of the old covenant high priest, of the animal sacrifices, of the Holy of Holies with that separating curtain which meant keep out. And he has been painstakingly reminding his hearers of the necessity of the ongoing sacrifices because the priests were sinful and because the animal blood did not truly pay for sin. And therefore he has been reminding them of the restriction of the earthly tabernacle and that the earthly holy of holies was closed to them. Reminding them of that versus their confidence in Christ. Confidence that he spoke of already in chapter 4, verse 16, speaking of Christ the high priest. And he says, let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. And our confidence in Christ, he points out, is because He is the fulfillment of all of the work of those Old Testament priests and high priests and of all of the animal sacrifices, all of which pointed forward to Him. He is the fulfillment of all of that because He is the sacrificer. He is the great high priest, which means that no other high priest is now needed. As he says in chapter 7, verses 26 and 27, such a high priest, speaking of Jesus, meets our need, one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priest, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. He is the sacrificer, but also the sacrifice He offered Himself. He Himself is the one great sacrifice whose blood alone satisfied God's wrath against sin and paid the curse of sin. Because, as the writer says in verse 4 of chapter 10, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. but that was his accomplishment. In chapter 9, verse 12, we read, He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. And then verse 26 of that chapter, but now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's his accomplishment. His final sacrifice for sin results in the open door. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way open for us through the curtain that is His body, His great sacrifice of Himself results in the open door of which the only key is by the blood of Jesus. Boys and girls, all of that blood throughout the Old Testament, the animal blood that was shed. Indeed, God accepted it in a sense. He accepted it to a point, but only in that it pointed forward to the perfect blood of Jesus. His blood alone removes the sin that barred our way from the presence of God. When we think about that curtain in the Old Testament temple, That curtain which said, keep out. I think we can also say that that curtain really provided protection for the sinner, protected that sinner from coming into God's presence, His holy presence, improperly. And therefore it protected the sinner from being consumed by God's holiness, which is a consuming fire against all that is unholy. But that curtain has been torn. The only proper way into God's holy presence indeed then was by the blood that was brought by the priest, but truly is by the shed blood of Jesus. And when He said, it is finished, when He committed His Spirit into the hands of His Father, when He breathed His last, that curtain we know in that physical temple was torn in two from top to bottom. God Himself tore it. And by that gave a powerful message that by His sacrifice unto death Jesus Christ has removed the veil. He has removed the curtain between God and His people and He is the wide open door into the very presence of God by faith for those who believe. And the writer here says that only way is new and a living way. The word new can be translated kind of strangely. It can be translated just slaughtered. In keeping with the whole theme of pointing back to the animal sacrifices and the old system and the blood to be shed on the mercy seat, this new way, this just slaughtered way, is Jesus Christ. Not one was slaughtered like this before. This way, this perfect way, was not accessible before. It is newly provided in Christ Jesus. it is the only way it is living as well in fellowship with the living christ and is itself the way to lie and as well it is a way that will always be open because jesus christ is the eternal high priest again that's the the writer's point in this entire book that he is the eternal high priest again the text says and since we have a great high priest over the house of god that's what He's been preaching. You see, His work will never end. As long as this world remains, as long as He is busy gathering together the number of God's chosen people, as long as God's people are still in this life and we are still struggling with sin, His work will never end. And that's our comfort as the writer says in chapter 7 again beginning at verse 24, but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. And therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for them. To save completely, to save to the uttermost, as some translations say. He always lives to intercede for them. You see, beloved, His blood is not just effective for one's initial conversion, and it doesn't just pay for the sins that one has committed up until that one is brought to believe by faith, But He will see us through, even as we struggle with sin continually in His life. He will see us through all the way through this life. All the way to eternal glory. And that's our confidence as believers because His sphere of influence is over the house of God. The church universal. All believers who are brought to faith in Him. You see, Christ's priestly task continues even after His atoning work on earth has been finished. And until He returns, until any and all who turn to Him in faith, it's as if He turns to the Heavenly Father with the sacrifice of His own blood, and He says, I have done it for Him. I have done it for her. And He has silenced any accusation that Satan can try to make against you and me. But beloved, we may confidently, without reservation, draw near to God in prayer, in our worship, in our lives of service to Him. Confidently, without reservation, draw near to God and seek His face. Because ours is the perfect foundation, Jesus Christ, who offered that one and only perfect sacrifice of Himself. that sacrifice which has been accepted by God. And therefore, beloved, we must never think, no matter how bad things may get, no matter how much we may suffer in this life, no matter how much we may feel alone, we must never think that God doesn't hear His people who come to Him in faith, because Jesus Christ is our guarantee that He does. And He is our guarantee that in Him, our Heavenly Father will take care of us as He knows best. And this is because those who rest on that perfect foundation confidently draw near to Him also then in the second place with a new condition. A new condition. We can only stand in the presence of a holy God a certain way. And this new condition is a condition which has been affected only by Jesus Christ and His blood. Again, the text begins, Therefore, and reminding of all that He has said before and then we get to verse 22 because of all that he has said let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water again the child of God enjoys a new condition which has been affected only by Christ and his blood and that new condition includes the condition of the sincerity of heart. Very simply the opposite of a false and hypocritical and deceitful heart, one that is still dead in sin, but instead it is not a perfect heart. But it is a true and an upright and an honest and a genuine heart that is no longer at enmity with God, but instead is a heart that knows Him by faith. It is a heart that understands Him, what He has done. Because that new condition also includes a condition of true faith. The full assurance of faith. Now in chapter 11, verse 1, the writer says, Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And the catechism's writers, by the grace of God, help us so clearly and so beautifully to understand those things that we hope for and things that we do not see in question or answer 21 true faith is not only a knowledge and conviction that everything god reveals in his word is true in other words knowing what god says and and agreeing with it but it's more than that it is also a deep-rooted assurance a hearty trust i think the older version says it is a deep-rooted assurance created in me by the holy spirit through the gospel that out of sheer grace earned for us by Christ, not only others, but I too, and here it is, have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation. A sincere heart, beloved, with the full assurance of faith is one that has certainty. One that is filled to the fullest measure possible. That believes that without a doubt, the merits of Jesus' blood and righteousness that we just read about here, that they're for me too. And that I am right with God. That's why I can stand in His presence. I have a new condition. I am right with God, both now and forevermore, because mine is a new condition of forgiveness. As the writer says, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. Oh, not literally, not physically, but pointing to the blood that Jesus shed, with which He paid for our sin to satisfy God's justice, so that before God, we are now not guilty. Not guilty, but justified with our sins forgiven, having been given His righteousness. Question 70 again, but what does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and spirit? To be washed with Christ's blood means that God by grace has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in His sacrifice on the cross. And therefore the believer comes before God forgiven without fear that God will say away with you. It's not enough. or I've changed my mind. Coming before God, forgiven, all because Christ's blood washed away my sin. And as the writer of Hebrews says in verse 10, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ. Once for all, we have been made holy in His sight, objectively. But we are also being, then, made holy. As our hearts are cleansed more and more by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Catechism says also that we are washed by Christ's Spirit, which means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and a blameless life. It is the Holy Spirit of God that gives us new birth. It is He who gives us the gift of faith to believe and receive Jesus Christ and these very benefits. and to be able to say truly that Jesus is Lord. It is the Holy Spirit of God who gives you and me the confidence that we need, that we are justified in the sight of God, that we stand in that right relationship with Him. And it is also then the Holy Spirit who is busy sanctifying you and me. Through which, through that work of sanctification, Because of the sin I still commit, by that power of sanctification, He has given me a conscience. A conscience that bothers me when I sin. And because of the sin that I still commit, through that sanctification, I am reminded daily that my salvation is only because of the work of Jesus Christ and that I can only draw near to God with confidence because He has secured my place in the family of God. And it is he who reminds me then, as the catechism says, of the fact that I have been set apart to be a member of Christ. He reminds me of that to my very heart through that gift of faith, but also through, in the third place, the visible illustration called baptism. The rite of Hebrews here reminds his audience of the Old Testament cleansing ritual. Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. The ritual of the sprinkling of blood and also the washing of water. In Exodus and Leviticus we read in various places there of Aaron and his sons, the priests who were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice and then they were washed with water before ministering before God on behalf of the people. And this was a visible illustration of the need for the blood of another, as we know, to pay for sin, and also of the need to be cleansed and holy before God, even for the priests. Because again, they were sinful. But now, since that final sacrifice for sin has been made once for all by the perfect and eternal high priest, and because no more physical blood need be shed, all those who believe, as we have said, are inwardly washed by the blood of Jesus' shed. And the visible illustration of this is the sacrament of baptism. That's the washing that the New Testament knows of as we confess in question and answer 71. And here, according to our writer of Hebrews, the bodies that he says are washed with pure water that is a sign and a seal of the hearts that he speaks of, Cleansed from a guilty conscience by the internal sprinkling of Christ's blood. And therefore, baptism for the believer comes with a certainty. Question 69 again. How does baptism remind you and assure you that Christ's one sacrifice on the cross is for you personally? In this way. Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, boys and girls, you know what that means, so certainly His blood and His Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, in other words, all my sins. Of course, we know that the water of baptism, the water that's in that baptismal font on any given day that we baptize an infant or an adult, as we had the privilege of doing last week, we know that that actual physical water baptism is really itself only good for removing the physical dirt from the body. Yet we say that the sacraments are an outward sign of an inward reality of an invisible grace. And that means the message of baptism, which is God's promise, it's what He does. Remember that. It's what He does, not about what you and I do. And that's why we baptize infants, as we hope to consider next week. But the message of baptism, this picture that is worth a thousand words, we can say it is worth the fullness of the gospel, word of the gospel. For those who believe baptism is a comforting sign of that full assurance of faith that all of my sins are forgiven, that I have been made forever right with God, and that I have been granted salvation. Now, boys and girls, if you believe in Jesus Christ, even though you don't remember your baptism, remember again, baptism is God's promise, God's promise to you. If you believe in Jesus Christ, even though you don't remember your baptism, if you believe that Jesus Christ is the only way that you can be saved from going to hell and instead going to heaven for eternity to live with God, And therefore, you desire to live for Him. If you believe that, then that means your baptism, God's promise, points that all of this is true for you. But if you do not yet believe, if you do not yet quite understand, but you are being taught about what baptism is all about, about what God has done to you in that baptism, His promise upon you, that baptism points to God's faithful promises, that when you believe, and when you receive Jesus Christ by faith and all of his benefits, that yours is the full confidence that all of this is true for you, and it can be never taken away. But the truth of baptism also means, beloved, that apart from Jesus Christ and his blood, there is no sacrifice for sin, as the writer says. And therefore there is no being made right with God. Therefore, there is no hope. But in Jesus Christ, for all who turn to him in faith, God's promise is sure he will not change his mind. And the confidence of baptism, beloved, is that those who enjoy such a great salvation are to be always confidently drawing near to God in Jesus' name. Because his blood has already made us right with God. That doesn't mean that we will never sin again, or never struggle with sin, or never struggled with other things in this life, we can wish for that, and we may even strive for that, but it means that because God sees us as cleansed of sin in Christ Jesus, that we have without a doubt confidence, beloved, that we are His possession, and He will never let us go. We have without a doubt confidence that He hears our prayers, that He protects us and provides for and preserves His family. And it means that we have without a doubt confidence that all the promises of His Word belong to you and me. It's clear to see all around us that this world puts its hope in the things that are here today and gone tomorrow, in investment schemes or in bailout plans or any number of things. But our eternal hope, beloved, that is unfailing, that will never be taken away, is in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ who alone makes us right with God. And therefore, may our water baptisms, even the oldest one among us who doesn't remember it but thinks back on it, may our water baptisms always be precious to us as we are reminded of the cleansing from sin that we so desperately needed. And may we remember always, in our baptisms, by which God physically marked us as His own, may we always remember the message of his gospel promise that you are mine, he says. To God be the glory. Amen. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, we pray that indeed by your spirit you would help us to never forget our baptisms for most of us. Something that we don't remember taking place. We don't remember that water upon our foreheads. But help us never to forget the truth of what you have given to us in Christ Jesus. For the young ones among us that they might understand the promise that you have given to them. And for those of us by your grace who have already claimed that promise by faith that we might always be joyful in that which you have done for us through Jesus Christ. Father, help it to be something that is truly amazing to us that all of our sins, the sins that we continue to commit are forgiven by you because Jesus Christ has washed them all away. And indeed, help us, Father, in that knowledge, in that assurance, to desire to live more and more for you day by day, as those who are renewed more and more daily by your Holy Spirit. Father, continue to draw us nearer to yourself, where our desire is that we should be. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.