Well, good morning. This is take number two. We taped this before, but Abraham came to the rescue. And while it looked right, there was no audio. So he has got us fixed up here. And so we're going to try to do this again. So let's have prayer and ask the Lord to help us to be able to use this technology. Father, thank you for your love to us and for your word that you've given to us to encourage our hearts and to instruct us in the ways that we ought to walk and please you. So I pray, Father, that you'll help me now in my thinking and in my communication to be able to convey adequately the wonders of your word and the message that is contained here in the book of Hebrews. So we thank you for that and we trust you for that in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. If you'll turn with me to chapter eight of the book of Hebrews, we are going to begin there. And I wanted to make mention of the fact that as we've talked about, we've looked at Hebrews in reference to making connections with the holidays, specifically what with Christmas and then with the new year. Most recently, we talked about the new covenant for a new year. We talked about Christmas and the incarnation and the application and the references of that to Hebrews. But now we've come and we want to look very close and in detail now to what the preacher, the writer of Hebrews is saying concerning the Lord Jesus. And so we're at chapter eight. And if you think about 13 chapters in the book of Hebrews, you'd think, well, we're getting very close to the end. But if you understand it this way, if you will, the total number of verses in Hebrews and what we've covered through chapter eight means that we're right at the midpoint. of the message of the book of Hebrews. And it's at this midpoint that he says, here's the main point. And so it even sounds like a sermon, doesn't it? Where he says, now the main point in what has been said is this. And he lines it out there for us. And so that's what we want to do now is look very specifically at the what he is telling us in these verses. So we want to read the first six verses and ask God to help us understand exactly what he's saying to us. So let's look at that. Chapter eight, verse one, book of Hebrews. Now, the main point in what has been said is this. We have such a high priest who has taken a seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Now, if you're of a mind and in the habit of marking your Bible, this is a good thing to mark here when it says we have such a high priest. These little words, modifying words are so, so important for us to get. So I want to make that point to really hear that. We'll break that down in just a moment. Let's continue reading in verse 2. A minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now, that's a second thing. It is necessary, underscore that. That's gonna tell us what's coming along in chapter nine and in 10, is so important there. Verse four, now, if he, that is Jesus, were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law, who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle. foresee, he says, that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. Now, what we want to understand there with verse six, before we go into detail, is that this excellent ministry, he's the mediator, what does it say? Of a better covenant and which has been enacted on better promises. And so again, we've seen that emphasis that he says we have such a high priest that does better things and is better himself. And so when he says here in verse one, now the main point in what we have been saying is this, we have such a high priest. That reminds us of the whole epistle. And of course, we won't take time to look at that, but just rehearse in your mind. He said, Jesus is superior to all these other things. Most immediately, he says the main point is that we have such a high priest from the preceding chapter, chapter seven. What did it say about him? He's the priest according to Mount Kizadek, which means what? He's the king, Jesus is the king of righteousness. He's the king of peace. He is the son of God, a perpetual priest. He is the one who's bringing in a better hope and he's the guarantee of a better covenant. Now that was all told us in chapter seven. Now he goes on in chapter eight and he's saying, We have such a high priest who's done two things, and that is he has taken his seat. That's the first thing. And then secondly, he's a minister in the sanctuary. Now, we wanna look at both of those very carefully and break those down for us to understand this main point that he's giving to us. In verse three, it says, for every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifice. So it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now, we're gonna see that more next time, but this time we're wanting to figure out what he's adding to what he's already said about such a high priest. So the first thing we see is that he is taking his seat at the right hand of the throne of majesty. Now, this is, I think, so wonderful to realize. When he's talking to the Hebrew Christians, converted Jews of the first century, many commentators believe that he is giving deference to what I call their super piety, super cilius, if you will, too much of a piety. You remember what it was? They had the covenant name given to them, given to Moses to give to them so that they would know that Moses was his spokesperson. But they became so pious and scrupulous that they didn't want to repeat God's covenant name for fear that they would mispronounce or not hold it in as high as they should. So what they started to do is substitute words every time they would come across God's covenant name. So they would say, instead of saying Yahweh says, they would say heaven says. And we sometimes do that in our own vernacular. We'll say thank goodness instead of thank God. Well, this seated at the right hand of the throne of majesty, is a very similar thing. And many commentators believe that's what he's doing. He's giving deference to not saying the covenant name, but saying majesty. And in that, we have a marvelous thing said to us, describing God's throne. It's the throne of majesty. And the fact that Jesus is taking a seat at the right hand of the throne of majesty is saying immense things about now the risen Lord. who has taken a seat at the right hand, the hand of authority, the place of authority at the throne of God's majesty. And so it's a wonderful thing for us to hear about the Lord. And we'll look at that closer when we actually come to breaking that down about taking this seat and what that means in the union of what such a thing means, the identity of Christ. But before we look at that, we also want to look at the second thing briefly, that he's a minister in the sanctuary. Now that word minister is not like our word that we get for deacon, servant, but it's a different Greek word that talks about the minister who serves the laity or the people. That's what it comes from. The one who is actively engaged on behalf of the people. And it says that Jesus, we have such a high priest, one who has sat down. Secondly, who ministers. So one is kind of passive and stayed. He sat down. The other is very active. He is the minister in the sanctuary. Now notice that. If we were Hebrew, we would understand what he's saying. The sanctuary here is the holy place. It's not the holy of holies, but it is the holy place. The place where the priest did minister as such on behalf of the people. Now catch this, what he says. He says, this is the genuine. He is the minister. Hear the words again in verse two. in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. And when he says that the true sanctuary, what he's getting at here is not true, meaning opposite of faults or counterfeit, but he's saying true meaning the genuine upon which the copy has been based. In other words, Jesus went to the true Tabernacle he didn't go to the copy of the tabernacle in his day was the temple in Moses day it was the tabernacle that Moses built and and pitched according to the copy and He's emphasizing this difference here so that we will know that Jesus in his ascension to glory Is the minister in a certain place the true? Tabernacle he's not the minister We could say in the copy of the tabernacle, which now I don't believe had been taken away when the book of Hebrews was written, but it was taken away and destroyed in AD 70. But Jesus is not in that one. He's in the genuine one, the one that is at the throne of majesty, the one that's in the heavens. And notice, if you will, in reference to this, a couple of verses in chapter nine. Look at verse 11 of chapter nine. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation. See, in other words, he's saying he's, Entered with the in a hint there of the good things to come He entered the greater the more perfect we would he said before the genuine or the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched not man and If you'll go on Looking there In verse 9 14 look at what he says there He says, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? So in verse 23, jump down to verse 23. Therefore it was necessary, catch this, for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these. But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For, verse 24, for Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands. See, there it is again. A mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. But see, he's gone in an elaborate way to help us to understand where Jesus is. He's in the true tabernacle in doing his ministry. He says in verse 24, 924, in heaven itself. Now, often theologians will rightly say that the true tabernacle is Jesus himself, his body. And of course that's very true because it is in remembering in John chapter one, what did it say about Jesus? The word who is God, who was with God in the beginning. It says, took on flesh and dwelt or tabernacled among us. So Jesus is the ultimate tabernacling of God in human flesh. That's the incarnation. And so Jesus in his body of course, is the fulfillment of God's tabernacling. And so we see Jesus ascended here at the right hand of the throne of majesty, and we see him in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man, but what he's trying to say to us, that every point of the type of the tabernacle in Moses' day, of the temple in Jesus' day, is ultimately fulfilled in our Lord Jesus. He's the ultimate meeting place of God with man. And through the sacrifice of Calvary, just like in the Holy of Holies, in the tabernacle of Moses and in the temple, the mercy seat, the meeting of God with man is in the Lord Jesus and in the sacrifice of himself, at Calvary, so everything is fulfilled in him. Now, this shouldn't be so foreign to us to think along these lines, because what we find in 2 Corinthians 5, in verse 1, there is the same use of this, but in reference to us. It says we have our bodies, if this tabernacle, if this tent, he says, is taken away from us. He's referring to our physical bodies. He says, nevertheless, we have a home in heaven. And there's our phrase, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We will have a glorified body as well, just like Jesus has a glorified body. And so when he makes us emphasis now, I don't want you to get confused that he's talking only metaphorically about Jesus' body. That's all true. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this perfect, true tabernacle. But the writer of Hebrews is trying to get us to see the throne room of the majesty on high. And for us to see that the Lord Jesus is there seated at the right hand of the majesty, and that he is exalted in such a place, that holy place, which the Lord picks, the real true tabernacle, not the copy that's on the earth. And so he wants us to consider him who sat down. That's the wording of chapter 12 in verse two and three. Why? So that if we'll consider where Jesus is now and what he's done, we will not grow weary in our own hearts and in our own minds. But we'll consider him who, for the joy set before him, he says in chapter 12. He did what? He sat down. at the right hand. And so we consider him so that we'll be encouraged. So let's think about that. He's going at length. He wants us to get this. So what does seated mean, or that he sat down? Well, it's talking about this matter of union with the majesty, the throne of majesty. In other words, the very power, the very presence, the very majesty of the Godhead, of the throne upon which God seats, He has sat down with that. That means that He is identified with that. And that sitting down just like the rest that that entails, resting, sitting down rather than standing. The sitting down like the rest after the creation of our universe. God rested. But now what we've often said, He didn't rest. because he had to replenish himself or restore himself of his spent powers because of the energies expended in the creation, no, but rather he sat down as the display of accomplishment, the achievement of purpose that his creation was complete and it was finished. And so he gave us the example of the Sabbath rest for us to see that everything was complete. Now, he's saying in the very similar way, Christ has sat down having accomplished redemption, that the Godhead has accomplished the redemption before the foundation of the earth, it's been achieved. And so Jesus in his glorified body, this is a new thing. Jesus, you remember, had left the glories of his father. took on human flesh, that's the new thing, became the God man, dwelled upon the earth, tabernacled among us, went to Calvary, was accepted that sacrifice by the Father, was resurrected, and then ascended to put the hallmark of approval upon what had been done. We oftentimes say the resurrection, if it hadn't happened, we wouldn't be redeemed, and that's true. Understand it a step further. that the very ascension shows the completion and the accomplishment, the achieved purpose of the redemption. So that what he's showing us here, when Jesus sat down, all that belongs to the father now is seen in the son at the right hand in that glorified body. See, this is a new thing. Jesus, when he was with the glory, he was with the father before the incarnation, had no human body. When he took on the incarnation and the virgin birth, that miracle, now he has forever, eternally, that body. Now it's glorified and seated at the right hand of the majesty in the true tabernacle, in that place, in that glorified body that is being identified with that power and that presence, indeed, that glory and that majesty. And the writer of Hebrews is saying, this is the main point. I want you to see that we have such a high priest who has sat down. So different from all the other high priests. Now, so we really need to grasp that. The second thing that he says to us is that he is the minister in the true tabernacle. So this is another thought. The glorified Christ is not just seated, he is, but he is more than that. He is actively engaged. He is the ministering Christ to his people. That's what that word minister means in the true tabernacle. And so the scripture has told us what that means. Jesus says that he is ascended and does what? Intercedes for the saints on behalf of the will of God. That's what he's actively engaged in now, even though he's seated and has sat down, that's passive. You see, he's also ministering actively. There's those two things that are happening simultaneously in the heavens itself at the throne of majesty. Interceding, what else has he done? He's the one who gave us the ascension gift of the Holy Spirit. to reveal to us the Lord Jesus, the purposes of the Father, to convict us of sin, convince us of judgment. It's the Holy Spirit that is given to us by Jesus ministering on our behalf, on the people's behalf, and so he set forth the promise of the Holy Spirit. What this is talking about, the writer of Hebrews in his sermon is saying the main point is that all of the victory of the cross, now because he's seated at the right hand, is being imparted on behalf of the saints. All of the victory of the cross, all of the identifying and unifying of Christ with the throne of majesty, that's being ministered to the saints who are still awaiting on earth for the last thing. And what is that? That he will come a second time, catch this, with that glorified body, just as he left, he will return and take us to himself and do what? Set up the consummation of all the ages and the new heavens and the new earth. And so that remains, that's part of the, ministering that Jesus is doing now in that true tabernacle that awaits in history, in time, his actual return. So what a wonderful message that he's telling us here in this main point. He's saying what Jesus is and is doing right now is on our behalf. Have we grasped that? That's the main point. And that's what our preacher is trying to say to us through Hebrews. Consider him who for the joy set before him sat down. Consider him who we could say for the joy set before him is currently ministering in the true tabernacle. And the word minister means on behalf of the saints. And so let us consider him so that we won't grow weary. We live in such a world that easily makes us wearisome and makes us discouraged. And what he's saying to us, if we, like those first century Jews who were so discouraged because of the opposition that had come to them for confessing Christ, if we would consider like they were to consider such a high priest, they wouldn't become discouraged because they would see him sat down at the right hand of majesty, the throne of majesty. They would see him actively ministering on their behalf. Oh, what a blessing for us to know, to raise our eyes and our hearts and see Jesus where he is, and for what he's doing. So let's pray together and ask God to do a work in our hearts and lives in these days. Father, we thank you for these two truths, that Christ has taken his seat, that Christ has been seated, that he sat down next to the throne of majesty and all that is comprised in the word majesty about the Godhead, about what's been accomplished, is fulfilled in Christ, who is there in that glorified body that even now bears the marks of the crucifixion. And having won our salvation and having, we're going to find, exacted this new covenant, We see that he's not just seated, but that he's also ministering actively on our behalf, that he's interceding for us, that he's giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit, that one day he's returning on our behalf. Help us, Father, to see that, to put our trust in our reliance upon the resurrected, glorified, ascended Lord Jesus, to turn our back on ourselves and our confidence in ourselves and in what we could do and put all of our confidence in what Jesus has done and what he's doing on our behalf. Give us grace to believe. Give us grace to trust. Give us grace to repent when we fall short. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, for being such a high priest. It's in your name that we pray. Amen.