Well, good morning. It's good to be together today. I'm assuming we have many of our people watching online, so I'll give a special welcome to you who are watching on YouTube. We certainly miss you and hope to see you next week. We are continuing our journey through the book of Hebrews and we want to look at chapter 9 Today and so if you'll find your places there I think most people are familiar with C.S. Lewis' classic novels, The Chronicles of Narnia. Most of us are familiar with those, of course. Especially The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, since the movies have been made. I think people are even more familiar. Many of our young people have read the whole series, the seven books, and in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, there's four children that come to a wardrobe up in an attic, and it looks like a normal wardrobe on the outside, doesn't it? It's just a normal wardrobe. But curiosity gets the best of them, and when they crawl inside, they learn that there's a whole other world once they're inside of there. It's amazing. It's the world of Narnia, where you have Aslan, the lion as lord, where you have the wicked white witch, and many other characters that are there. What seemed plain on the outside was actually filled with mystery. God's people who were rescued out of Egypt, rescued from their sin, and out of Egypt and into the wilderness were given clear instructions to Moses as far as how they should live, how they should worship, and to build this tabernacle. And once built, it was a normal looking structure from the outside. It wasn't bells and whistles that would draw our minds to it. The tent did not seem much from the outside. But once inside, many holy things, and even God himself, reside. So remember, Hebrews is written to warn Jewish believers to not turn back to the now obsolete Judaism. It's a warning to not turn back, and the writer compares old covenant worship to new covenant worship, and even the satisfactory of that sacrifice. So let's read the text. Hebrews 9. Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table of the sacred bread. This is called the holy place. Behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the holy of holies. having a golden altar of incense, and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was the golden jar containing the manna and Aaron's rod, which budded in the tables of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. But of these things we cannot now speak in detail. Now, when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing divine worship. But into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance." Now, the Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing. which is a symbol for the present time. According to both, gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and the various washings and regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. Let's pray. Father, indeed, would you give us understanding into this text as we tackle a rather large section, but a section that needs to be taken in one sermon. And so, Lord, we pray that you'd help the one speaking. To be clear, we pray that you would open all of our eyes to see Christ as he's represented in these various things in the tabernacle. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, I'll remind you that Hebrews 8, 1 to 10, 18 is the second large section of the central section, the second part of the central section of the book of Hebrews. What was chapter 5 to 7 about? Anybody remember? the superiority of Christ to the priesthood, to the Levitical priesthood. And he is showing us the superiority of Christ now that it's a superior sacrifice. And he introduced this section at the beginning of chapter eight, remember, that Christ is a mediator of a better covenant. And then he told us about this new covenant that God is going to affect, that lengthy quote from Jeremiah 31. He puts his law into our minds. He writes them even on our hearts, right? And then that all will know me and the new covenant. It's not a mixed multitude. It's all that are in the new covenant actually know the Lord from the least to the greatest. Isn't that great news? And the climax of the promises is that our sins are forgiven and he remembers them no more. They're plunged into the depths of the sea. And so as chapters 9 and 10 really focus on Christ and the superior sacrifice that makes the New Covenant possible and brings the whole book together. And it's really put like this, it's the place of his offering, which we'll see is in heaven, But it's also, it's not the blood of animals, it's his own blood, and so it secures it because it's a better offering and sacrifice in blood. But lastly, that it's the once and for all sacrifice. There is no more sacrifices to be had. The writer hits that, boom, boom, boom, multiple times in chapter 10. And so, the tabernacle, even just the C.S. Lewis books actually present some simple truths of Christianity, right? In the events and in the characters and in the stories. In the same way, the Old Testament tabernacle contained items that represent redemptive truth. Okay, the tabernacle would have been the most sacred place for the Jew during that time. It would have been the most sacred place. Moses got the detailed instructions and it's built to the T like that. And did you know even hundreds of years later when Solomon would build his temple, and you see the dedication in 1 Kings 8, you see the building in 1 Kings 5, 6, and 7, that it's basically, as far as these two tents, the same exact blueprint. Okay, and it's an amazing thing. This is the way God has designed it, and this is the way it was meant to be, but it was all to paint a picture that we're moving towards, that we're gonna see that Christ fulfills all of that. Those veils, those thick woven veils are now ripped away. We have direct access to God, and that's the good news. So we're gonna look at this under three points. You should have an outline in your bulletin there. And on the back of the outline, there's some illustrations that we'll be referring to. So we're gonna look at this under three points. The first is the regulations of the first covenant. The regulations of the first covenant. Now let's read verse 13 of the previous chapter. When he set a new covenant, he had made the first obsolete. And whatever is becoming obsolete is growing old and ready to disappear. Now even the first covenant, so he's referring to the old covenant, had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. He's going to paint a picture here of the majesty of the tabernacle. how all of that even points to Christ. He doesn't elaborate on how it points to Christ. The writer, it's not as though, you know, we figured that out in the 21st century and he didn't know, but he says at the end of verse 5, but of these things we cannot now speak. Why? Because he wants to get to the verse 11 and on, but when Christ appeared he entered the greater and more perfect tabernacle of not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation. That's where he wants to get to. He could divert how the lampstand points to the light of the world, Christ is, you know, and all of this, but he's moving in a purposeful direction to show the superiority of the sacrifice of Christ. So, He introduces really two subjects, the regulations for worship and the earthly sanctuary. He addresses them in reverse order. And you'll notice I just read in verse 1 the regulations, but you also see that down in verse 10, which bookends the section very nicely. And the word simply means a regulation or a requirement or a commandment. Now the tabernacle and the temple later on would be the epicenter of the Old Covenant worship. And he says here this earthly sanctuary, this earthly tent really in the original is what it is, so he's referring to the tent. that it's earthly, that it's of this world. Now let's draw a contrast to a material sanctuary. Go back to chapter 8 and verse 2. Well, really, verse one, he says, and the main point of what has been said is this, that we have such a high priest who has taken a seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesties in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the what? The true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. Chapter 9, verse 24, for Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven himself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. It could only be a shadow or a type of the original one. In verse five, it says it served a shadow, a copy and a shadow of heavenly things. So it's an earthly tent. It's pointing to something greater. It's actually built after the heavenly tabernacle, right, of which Christ does his ministry. Now, brethren, the tent reflected God's impeccable holiness. It was a place where it communicated the transcendence of God, the perfection of God. It's a place where the tablets of stone resided, representing His perfect character, His holiness, His righteousness. It was a vibrant remembrance of the covenant that God had made with Israel. One person said, Israel's tabernacle was a portable tent shrine that was always situated in the geographical heart of Israel with all the tribes camped around it and designated in an orderly fashion. So on the north side, on the south side, on the east and the west, you would have three tribes, right? And it was very, very orderly. and they were built outside of the tabernacle. The tabernacle was the epicenter, it was the center. Why? Because that's where God dwelled, right? As you approach the tabernacle, one of the first things you would see is the white linen walls, 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and enclosed by curtains that hung on 60 pillars. That's Exodus 27, nine to 18. And I sent that video on the email. Hopefully you had a chance to see that, and especially watch it with your kids. It gives a model that was actually built, and it helps to visually see what this would have looked like, and even inside of the various tents. But the uniform whiteness, because there was, I think, four different skins layered on those, but the last one was a badger skin, so it wasn't something fancy and all of that. The Bible says that the top layer was a badger skin, which had been light in color, but that lightness or whiteness would represent even the holiness of God. So a worshiper, as he entered through the courtyard, would immediately be standing in front of the bronze altar. The bronze altar was the first thing that you came to. It was as far as the layman could go, because beyond that and off to the side was the laver of which only priests could wash and cleanse themselves. And in fact, it was used not only exclusively for the priest, but if a priest forgot to wash, it says that he would be struck down and die. So that's pretty amazing. You can look at the middle diagram here in the back, and you sort of see that, right? I think the bronze labor would not be centered as this image shows it, but slightly off to the side. But nevertheless, that gives you some basic idea. So the average Jew would not even dare, if he was bringing an animal to that altar to the priest, right? He would not even dare try to look into even the holy place, much less the holy of holies. Well then the writer gives us something of the furniture of the tabernacle, the furniture of the tabernacle there in verses 2 to 5. And notice he begins in verse 2, and there was a tabernacle prepared, a tent prepared. It was prepared more better, it was built according to the clear directions that was given to Moses from God. Exodus 25 to 40, you've got those 15 chapters of, you know, this many hoops and this much metal to make these loops to hang up the curtains and how everything was to be. And so he speaks of a tabernacle, a tent here, but the same thing could be said of the temple, as I've already alluded to. Greg Beal, who's written much on temple theology, says the temple in Jerusalem was the permanent form of the mobile tabernacle but closely related. And so our author here obviously knows his Old Testament. He's drawing from Exodus 16, 25, 26, 30, and Numbers 17 as he proceeds in these next few verses. So these large tents had two divisions, right? The outer and the inner, or it's sometimes referred to as the first and then the second one, okay? It's the holy place and the holy of holies. And so these two sections, and after a priest would have washed, he could enter the holy place, but even that, my understanding is that, oh, even, it wasn't that any priest could go in there, it was by lot that you could go in there. to do their priestly ministry in the holy space, in the holy place. And again, I think that just pictures that access to God was severely limited. That's why you have these thick veils that are there. It was a mediated, it was an indirect access to God that even the priest had. Now notice he says here in verse two that in the outer one, in which there was a lampstand and a table of the sacred bread, this is called the holy place. The lampstand, did you know, burned continually? that was the only source of light in there, and it burned continually. Part of the ministry of the priest was going in and trimming the wicks, adding more olive oil in there so that it would burn continually. It was a menorah, it had three branches, and then the center stem, so there was seven that was there. And you see that, laid out in detail in Exodus, like I said, 25 to 40. And then the table of showbread, right? The sacred bread, as it's called. And there was how many loaves? 12, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. And I've read some places where they're stacked up and others where they're lined up, but whatever, it's six and six, and it was on the table of showbread. If you turn your, Your outline on the back here, you can see that as you would enter, the lamp stand would be on the left, and the table of showbread on the right, off to the sides. OK? Leviticus 24.6 says specifically that it was two piles, and you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. The lampstand was made out of pure gold as well. Now verses three to five describe the holy of holies, or the most holy place. And it says, behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies. Now this would be a 15 feet by 15 feet by 15 feet tall cube. The holy place was 30 feet long. It was like two of those, right? So 30 feet long by 15 by 15 high. Okay, and so this one, it's getting, it's smaller and smaller, 15 by 15 by 15 a cube. Now this veil, this thick woven veil was a barrier to God. Exodus 26, 31, you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material, fine twisted linen. "'And you shall be made with cherubim, "'the work of a skillful workman. "'The veil shall serve as a partation "'between the holy place and the holy of holies.'" Did you notice it's embroidered with the cherubim on that curtain there, which is symbolic of stay out, right? What happened after Adam and Eve was driven out of the garden? God stations a cherubim there. We'll talk more about that in a minute. So the cherubim was there, and then in verse four, we have, having a golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered with all sides with gold. So the altar of incense, if you look at your diagram here, it actually shows it in the holy place, near the curtain, near the Holy of Holies, right? But the writer here is saying that it's found in the Holy of Holies. So why is that? Commentators go all over the place. Oh, he must have gotten confused or whatever. No, I think the idea here is he's pointing, he's going to get to verses 7 in particular that talks about the Day of Atonement. And it was near the curtain so that the holy place would be filled with incense and smoke as well, but on the Day of Atonement that was placed behind the veil, lest that priest enter in and there's no incense in there and he's directly in front of the presence of God. And so, I've got no problem with the way the writer puts it, that since the focus is on the Day of Atonement as he's getting there. And then the Ark of the Covenant, Exodus 25, 10. You shall make an ark of acacia wood, two cubics and a half shall be its length, and a cubic and a half its breadth, something like 45 inches to just under two feet. Not that big at all, right? And it stood about two feet, or three feet off the ground. So there were three important items inside of this ark. The pot of manna, Aaron's rod, which blossomed, remember, and then, of course, the tablets, the Ten Commandments. We see that in verse five, or the rest of four, actually, and then the golden jar holding the manna, Aaron's rod, which budded, and the tables of the covenant. Okay, and then above it was the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, but of these things we cannot now speak. So these are three things that were inside the manna. Why would they have manna in there? It's a remembrance, a perpetual remembrance of how God provided for them for those 40 years in the wilderness. It says in Exodus 16, take a jar, put an omar, a manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations as the Lord commanded Moses. And then Aaron's rod, what was Aaron's rod used for? striking the Nile River, turning it to blood, all of these plagues, bringing the gnats and so forth. And so this rod had already been used in a powerful way, but did it bud then? It's just a dead stick. When did it bud? I want you to understand the context. So we're gonna go back to Numbers chapter 17, if you'll go back there. So you remember numbers 13 and 14 are when the spies bring back the bad report. Numbers 16, you have Korah and 250 others that in 16.3 it says, they assembled together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, you have gone far enough. For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst, so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?" Goes on to say that what they wanted to do was engage in the priestly activities. And so, what in number 17 in verse 1, then the Lord's, well, by the way, the Lord opens up the earth and swallows those 250 and their families, that's the latter part of 16. Then the Lord spoke to Moses and said, speak to the sons of Israel and get from them a rod of each father's household 12 rods from all their leaders according to the father's households and you shall write each name on his rod and write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi for there is one rod for the head of each of the father's households you shall deposit them in the tent of meaning in front of the testimony where I meet with you and And then verse five, and it shall come about that the rod of the man who I choose will sprout, and thus I will lessen from upon myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel who are grumbling against you. What's God doing? God is showing, irremistakably, beyond a shadow of a doubt, who he has chosen for this priestly activity. Verse eight. Now on the next day, Moses went into the tent of meeting and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds. Verse 10, but the Lord said to Moses, put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony To be kept as a sign against the rebels that you may put an end to their grumblings So that they will not die And so you have a warning here or a direction here that clearly Aaron the tribe of Levi or to be the priesthood is And in verse 10, put that back as a constant remembrance, lest anybody forget who is the one that is set apart. And then the tables of the covenant, of course, that's Deuteronomy 10.5. Then I turn and came down from the mountain and put the tablets of the ark that I had made. And there they are as the Lord had commanded me. So the highlight of all of this is what sat on the Ark of the Covenant, the cherubim of glory and the mercy seat, right? That's the highlight, the mercy seat, which has the idea of propitiating, right? Taking away. and the cherubim of glory, and the place of the cherubim. You see it back in Genesis 3, right? Where the flaming sword on the east side of the garden, it was as though to guard the way to the tree of life, to not let anyone in. And so the posture of the cherubim on the cover of the ark protects the idea of guarding the way to God. And it says in the text, between the two cherubim, as their wings come over, that's where God will meet and speak with the high priest. I'll just read selections from Exodus 25. You can read it for yourself later. Their faces, they are to face one another towards the mercy seat. Their eyes are looking down. They're facing each other. Their eyes are looking down on the mercy seat. And then it says, there I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I have given the commandment of the people of Israel. And this is a drawing here. from a Bible dictionary on the back of your outline, so I've seen it portrayed slightly differently, but it gives you some idea. But then the mercy seat, that slab of gold which was placed on the ark, of which the cherubim was solid gold, hand-beaten by the way, that was placed on top, the mercy seat, about 45 inches by 27 inches, it would be the same dimensions of the ark, and it was the base of which the golden cherubim sat on and symbolized the throne from which God ruled Israel. Now, have you ever wondered when the temple was destroyed or ransacked? When was that? Well, not that temple, the previous. 586 BC, when the Babylonians came in, they destroyed the temple, they took lots of the relics out of it, and did you know that the Ark of the Covenant has not been seen since then? It was never recovered from 586 BC. Now, I know Indiana Jones said he thought he knew where it was, and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Hollywood's made that, you know, and all of that, but that's fiction, okay? It's never been recovered. So after the 70 years in exile, as they would come back and begin to rebuild the temple, and in a way it says that in Haggai, is that those that were old, that remembered Solomon's temple in all of its glory, It pained them so much because the second temple was not quite as glorious. It was still a place that God met with him. And so you might say, well, how in the world did worship take place? Well, some commentators suggest that there was a stone of foundation that was put in its place. And so there was simply a stone in there in the place of the ark. But Old Covenant worship continued. Again, the writer says, at the end of verse five, but we can't now speak in detail. The author is interested in showing the insufficiency of gifts and sacrifices brought to God, because they can never bring a clear conscience. It's unable to clear a guilty conscience. so he's eager to get to discuss the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. Now I think if anybody, I mean we've already seen how this writer, and I can't wait to get to heaven to find out who wrote this book, there's several theories, but this writer has a thorough biblical knowledge. Look at how he's unpacked the Old Testament throughout this letter. But certainly, one could look and say, you know, how the lampstand points to Jesus, says he is the light of the world. Even John 1, John introduces him, he's brought light to every man. The sacred bread, Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus fulfills the entire tabernacle. But that's another sermon. All of it pointed to Christ. So we've seen the regulations of the first covenant, now let's look at verses 6 and 7. The continuous priestly work in the tabernacle, as I'm calling it. We'll see if the fan will stay this time. Maybe not. So that's verses six and seven. Let's look at verse six first. Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship. So this is the worship in the holy places, verse six. And actually, first of all, just think, we've already looked at the whole thing with Aaron's rod blossoming, right? But could anybody be a priest And young Noah just say, when I grow up, I want to be a priest, right? No, he's got to be from the tribe of Levi, right? And so you've had to be from the tribe of Levi, and then just think there was, out of all the priests, very few were even chosen to be a high priest. Think about this priestly ministry in the tent of meeting outside the veil before the testimony. Aaron and his sons shall tend to it morning and evening before the Lord, it says in Exodus 27. It will be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations of the people of Israel. Now remember, there was daily morning and evening sacrifices. Most of the priests would be out in the courtyard, right, and they're offering sacrifices. Some are digging under the altar and removing all the ash of the animals that have been sacrificed, and removing all of that and putting fresh wood in there. But there was a beehive of activity around the tabernacle all the time. The trimming of the wicks, as I said, inside the holy place. The replacing of the bread, which was weekly. Keeping the altar of incense lit, right? So that it was obscured as you would go in there, that you would not see super clear. All pointing to there's barriers to get directly to God. which is painting this picture of how glorious the new covenant is for us. But then he tells us about the divine worship and the holy of holies. But into the second, only the high priest enters once per year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and the sins of the people. committed in ignorance. To enter the second tent only once a year and always with taking blood. By the way, blood, count how many times blood occurs just in chapter 9 alone. It's 11 times. This is a first. Most is pointing to Christ's blood, but not of the blood of bulls and goats. We'll see, you know, later next time. but you had to take blood. The veil was a symbol of the separation between a pure and holy God and sinful, wicked man. That veil was there for that reason. It painted that. And remember the cherubim that were embroidered on the veil. What does that communicate? Well, modern day, the skull and crossbones, on a jar, what does that tell you? That's poison, kids, don't drink it. If you see something that has a skull and crossbones, it's saying, danger, stay back, right? That's what it's communicating. And so this whole day of atonement, one day per year, Yom Kippur, this day of atonement of which we saw in Leviticus 16. Actually, just turn back to Leviticus 16 if you would. I want to show you a few things. First of all, in verse 1, now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron. Now, when was that? That was Leviticus 10, which I think we get the idea that it probably wasn't long before the Day of Atonement. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans and after putting fire in them, placed incense in it and offered strange fire before the Lord that He had not commanded. and fire came out of the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. So this is serious business, right? Getting near that tabernacle, getting into the holy place, going into the holy of holies is serious business. And I want you to look with me at this high priest. I mean, that'd be a man of courage, but look in verse two. Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die. Down in verse six, and Aaron shall offer a bull and sin offering which is for himself, and he shall make atonement for himself and his household." Down to verse 11. Then Aaron shall offer a bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and his household. Verse 13, and he shall put incense to the fire before the Lord that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat, that is the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die. What is this communicating? This is communicating, this is the high priest that's representing all of us, the people of Israel. He's a flawed person. He's a sinner. He's gotta make atonement for himself. So the sinful trying to bring atonement for the other sinful, right? And that's the vast difference of Christ. He was the sinless one, which makes him the perfect sacrifice. This was serious business. It was on this day that the priest, the high priest would wear, you've seen it, right? The breastplate with the 12 jewels and stones that represent the 12 tribes, the blue and scarlet robe and all the turban and all of the fixings, you might say. But on the Day of Atonement, you know what he wore? He didn't wear any of that. On this day, he wore a simple white linen ephod. And after he had bathed, and we read that also here where he used to go, and to put that on, very, very plain, but to represent and to show that he has washed, he's approaching God in the right way. Well, what exactly happened on this day? Well, we've already looked at it, right? The high priest had to offer a bull for himself and for his household, first and foremost. He offers a bull out there. First of all, he's washed. He's put on the linen. He comes and he offers the bull. He takes the blood into the holy place. Probably says a prayer, I'm going in behind the Holy of Holies, he's already lit the incense, sprinkles seven times blood onto the mercy seat. He comes back out and offers the goat that was chosen by Lot, slays that on the altar, takes the blood, goes in through the holy place, into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkles that. And then what does he do? He comes back to the scapegoat. and he confesses the sins of the people upon the head of the scapegoat. The goat is led to the wilderness, symbolically taking the sins away, never to come back. That scapegoat is a beautiful picture of what Christ has done for us, brethren. Do you realize that? He's taken our sins away. And you know, the people would watch as the scapegoat's going to the edge of the wilderness until finally over the horizon. didn't see him anymore. And there was a sense of relief that my sins have been completely taken away. But even that, all of that blood, ultimately brothers and sisters, was ineffective to really take away sins. The greatest festival of the Jewish year paradoxically shows most clearly the limitations of the old dispensation and its high priesthood. I think that was FF Bruce, I forgot. But the greatest festival of the year, right? Still reminded of the insufficiency. Leviticus 16, 14. And he sprinkled, so it uses the word sprinkled and applied the blood, right? You know what our author chooses to do? Go back to Hebrews. Going back and forth a few times, that's all right. It's supposed to be Baptists, even Reformed Baptists can... Flip our Bible pages here and there. But notice there in verse seven in the middle, which he offers for himself. He uses a different word. And why is this significant? It's because the writer will use the same word referring to Christ. Look at 9.14. How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, Actually 925, you see the same thing. Nor was it that he should offer himself often. And so he's already sort of trying to draw the parallels, laying, one commentator says, he wants him to recognize the typological parallel between the high point of the atonement ritual under the old covenant and the self-offering of Christ. He wants him to be able to connect those dots without too much difficulty. But I want you to notice with me here at the end of verse seven. The high priest offers sins for himself and the people, and what does it say? It says, the sins committed in what? Ignorance. You say, well, wait a minute. I want, I intentionally sinned last week. I want him to offer up a sacrifice for that. It doesn't say that. It's just the sins committed in ignorance. It doesn't apply to the sins committed with the high hand. And the whole point of where I'm going with all of this is that, think about it, that you could really never have any complete, full assurance that you were forgiven. There was barrier after barrier to keep you away from God, and you had to trust in what the priests were doing. Well, the two rooms are a way to, either way, that's what makes the New Covenant so wonderful, is that we can have assurance, right? We have the Spirit of God dwelling in us, His Spirit agreeing with our spirit. Application. The two rooms, in a way, illustrate the worship of the two covenants. The old covenant is like the holy place. The priest had indirect, mediated contact with God. It wasn't a close relationship with God. They did not know him directly, but in great contrast, life for the new covenant Christian is like entering the Holy of Holies, the most holy place, where Jesus purchased us with His own blood. and no more sacrifices ever to happen again. And so we have direct fellowship with God. We come into His presence. The writers already said, come boldly to the throne of grace. What encouraging news that is for the new covenant Christian. 1 John 1-3, and it's written all over the New Testament. Indeed, we have fellowship with the Father and with His Son. we can actually commune with Him. Read John Owen, Communion with God. We can commune with the Father, we can commune with the Son, we can commune with the Holy Spirit, all three persons of the Holy Trinity. We have direct access to Him because of that, the death and resurrection of Christ. And by the way, at that most cataclysmic event ever on the cross, when Jesus died, when the tombs were opened, there was earthquakes, you remember, what happened in the temple? The veil was ripped from top to bottom. Now, I know some people say there's giants, but I don't think anybody's 15 feet tall, and furthermore, you could not rip, the man could not rip that veil, it was so thick. But God saw to it that it was ripped. Behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, and the rocks were split. What do you think the priests were doing? Can you imagine? You're just in there trimming the wicks, out there at Calvary, that's like a bit away, and just trimming the wicks and all of that, and suddenly this veil is ripped. Can you imagine that? Direct access to God. Do you think they jumped up and down and said, yay, we can now just go right on in? No, I think they were terrified, and apart from regeneration, you know what they did? They sewed it back up. It's as though they willfully said, I don't want access to God. They reestablished the barrier that God had removed. Children, what a fearful thing it would be to be a child in the Old Covenant. Not only do you see mom and dad without having assurance, right? And see them bringing animals, you're raising animals, maybe you're cleaning up after the animals, and there goes dad taking a lamb. He must have sinned big this time or something, I don't know. And there's no peace, right? There's no peace. The little Jewish boy could not say, Jesus loves me, this I know. There's always a question of, wow, am I ever going to be right with God? But aren't you thankful that now in the new covenant, if you just trust in Christ, if you just run to Him and say, Lord, I want to have access to you, I want to fellowship with you, I believe I'm a sinner, but I believe Christ died, that He'll save you. That's good news. We've seen the regulations, we've seen the deficiency, or the continuous activity and work in the tabernacle, but now the deficiency of the tabernacle, the writer sets forth. Now look at verse eight. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing. So he's getting to, there is a way into that, the holy place, but that outer tabernacle, if it's still standing, it hasn't been disclosed. And you might think of this as the Holy Spirit giving an illustration of the whole tabernacle, sort of like a sermon illustration. But then in verses nine and 10, gifts and sacrifices could never clear the conscience. There was a deficiency that was pervasive in the old covenant. Look at even chapter 10 and verse one. For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of the things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. He's reminding them again that even all these sacrifices over and over and over could never make perfect the idea to complete those who draw near. It's not a sinless perfection, don't read that wrong. Verse two, otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have the consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder year by year. Oh, wow. William Hendricks, and then also notice there that it says, this is a symbol for the present time, okay? And then in verse 10, that it says that this regulations of the body imposed into a time of reformation. William Hendrickson remarks this way, in verses 9 and 10, the author employs the word time for the present time and until the time of the Reformation or the New Order. Both verses convey the idea of a limited period. The first refers to the time which we see in the first tabernacle as an illustration of the reality, and the second relates to the coming of the messianic age in which This was brought in. Now, the NAS has, which is a symbol for the present time, it's actually the word parable. It's the only time parable occurs outside of the Gospels. And so what he's saying is this is all, it's a picture book. as it were, right? It's pointing to something greater, and you can't miss it. It's pointing to the perfection that is yet to come by the work of Christ. That's why in verse 11, I can't wait to get there. But when Christ appeared, right, he entered the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, not of this creation. See how he's drawing the distinction from the earthly tabernacle and all of its furniture. The writer doesn't want us to miss the point, brethren. I know some of you read Dr. Seuss books to your children, and I know we had a bunch of them and you passed those on, but it's amazing how a young child can be fascinated with the same story over and over. I mean, green eggs and ham doesn't sound that appealing one time through, but you know, 20 times through and these kinds of things, right? And it can entertain children, for again and again. Well, there's one of those books that's called Horton Hears a Who. I think they made a movie of it at some point. Horton Hears a Who. The book, of course, is about an elephant named Horton who hears voices coming from a little speck of dust. And they are the who's, and they live in? Whoville, OK, you guys are coming along. You know the story, right? You kids especially, you know the story. And the story relates of how Horton places the speck of dust on a clover bloom and did his best to protect the tiny residents inside the speck of dust from all the other animals who could not hear them talking. The whole idea is this huge ear can hear, right? And so he sets out to protect them. Now, it's easy to miss the point of the book, and just isn't that a cute little story? Somehow an elephant comes up with, you know, sees this tiny world and all of that, but we can't miss the point of the book. Wikipedia says this about this. Theodore Seuss Geisel, who had harbored strong anti-Japan sentiments before World War II, changed his views dramatically after the war, and used this book as an allegory for the American post-war occupation of the country. His comparison of the Hoos and the Japanese was a way for him to express his willingness for companionship. Geisel strived to relay the message that the Japanese should be valued equally, and especially in the stressful post-war era. He actually dedicated the book to a Japanese friend. You'll see that in the front. I wrote three families, said, could you bring a copy of your book? I wanted to hold it up. But you can't miss the point. The idea is not so much just being kind to others, but it's the strong protecting the weak, isn't it? I mean, he protected them from all the other animals that wanted to destroy them. And so the point of the book would be totally wasted if, for example, the abortionist that was working yesterday during our evangelism at downtown San Diego Planned Parenthood, if the abortionist could read that book and just thought, isn't this just a nice little story and all of that? Because they would miss the point of the book. They're not protecting the weak, right? They're slaughtering babies, or a slave owner, or a bully in a classroom that might like the book, but yet is not treating others with respect and protecting. Well, the Holy Spirit is using this as an illustration of how the tabernacle points to Christ, how Christ ministers in a heavenly tabernacle, a far better tabernacle, a perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, it's designed by God. And then he says in verse 10, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings and regulations for the body imposed until a time of Reformation. So all of these gifts and sacrifices could not make the worshipper perfect in conscience. In other words, there was never a settled assurance and a settled peace with God, no matter how sincere you were. And so until the time the NAS says Reformation, that's not Martin Luther and Reformation days coming up. That's the idea of the messianic age coming upon the scene. It's the time of Christ. The rituals in the old covenant were not able to cleanse or to perfect the conscience. Notice in verse 14, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, offered himself without blemish to God, mark those words, remember the high priest, he had to offer sins for himself, lest he die, lest he die, lest he die. But him, it says there, without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Likewise, in 10, 14, by one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. So all of this was an outward show, a picture book pointing to the inward reality that was yet to come in Christ. All the rituals of the Mosaic system were external rather than internal in character. All these regulations of which he talks here, regulations of the body and food and drink and various washings. I mean, think of even the Levites, that they were not to touch wine. And all these externals that were there can never cleanse the conscience. We're wired in such a way until we have this assurance that we can have a guilty conscience. Some people lie awake at night for hours. They have a guilty conscience. They don't know how to get rid of it. Externals cannot take away a guilty conscience. Doing washings and good works. Look at the cults. Hi, I'm from the Watchtower Society. They're trying to get rid of the guilty conscience by working and doing something or lighting candles or whatever it might be. It cannot remove the guilty conscience. Look at verse 11, but when Christ appeared as a high priest to the good things to come, he entered the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this world. The only answer to a guilty conscience is the person and work of Christ, dying and letting out his blood in your place. And so when you can't sleep at night, And your annoying conscience is gnawing at you. Know that that may be the Holy Spirit that's been called the Hound of Heaven coming after you and telling you, get right with God. Repent of your sins. Turn to Him. And what a glorious access we have in the new covenant. But now Christ has appeared. Verse 14, how much more the blood of Christ cleansing our consciences. We have unlimited access to God 24-7. You don't have to make a reservation. Next Wednesday at 9 a.m., I'd like to have an hour with you, God. No, unlimited access. It's a beautiful thing. It's hinted at so beautifully by this tabernacle and its liturgy, the shadow of entering the holy place and only the holy of holies once a year. It's shadowed there, but now we have the substance. Paul can write, God, in Ephesians 2, God raised us up with Christ. He seated us in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Also, the unlimited efficacy. The blood never loses its power, right? A million years in glory, suddenly the blood is losing its power, and one by one people are dropping to hell, away with such nonsense. His blood never loses its power. What more could we ask than for forgiveness of sins, a cleansed conscience, peace with God that surpasses all understanding. That's exactly what we have in Christ, brethren. Well, a couple of concluding points. First, I want to expose an error that is sometimes taught with the tabernacle and the two tents. Some teach what's called a higher life theology, that regular Christians are here, but you can actually elevate to here and become sinless. And they use the tabernacle as an illustration, right? And so the outer tabernacle is where all of us regular Christians are. but then the ultra-holy can go in there, okay, and they reach this. The other way that this is looked at is that, well, carnal Christians are out here and real Christians are in, but both of those are wrong. Both say that the two tents represent a lower or carnal life versus a higher life. But in reality, when we come into the presence of God, faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we know that the Spirit of God is working within us, but we find ourselves weak. dull in conscience, sometimes lacking the energy, and slow to pursuing holiness and mortifying sin, struggling with sin still, even in our redeemed humanities, and even some as mature Christians. That is not a lower-level Christian, brethren. It's a normal Christian. That's normal. That's actually normal. We will struggle with sin until the day we are rescued from this place. 1 John 1.8. If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving us, and the truth is not in us. Just a couple verses later, he says, and when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will plead our case. Even the apostle Paul could say, He says this, my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, Paul says, that's what God had told him, most gladly, therefore, I'd rather boast in my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Charles Wesley wrote in this wonderful hymn, Arise, my soul, arise. In the last verse, my God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for his child. I can no longer fear. With confidence I now draw nigh. With confidence I now draw nigh. Father, Abba, Father. That's the access we have if we're in Christ. But if you're outside of Christ, you don't have that access. Not only are you barred from the tents, you're barred from the tabernacle, and you will be barred from any afterlife except for a torment in hell. You must run to Christ, recognize your sin, admit that you're a sinner, run to him and repent of your sins. Horatius Bonar, a Scottish pastor, theologian from the mid-1800s, wrote this in a hymn, wrote many hymns. I lay my sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God. He bears them all and frees us from the accursed load. I bring my guilt to Jesus to wash my crimson stains white in his blood most precious till not a stain remains. Our sins can be wiped away, though they be scarlet, can be white as snow. Come to Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this time and your word. We thank you for the truth of your word. And Lord, we pray that you would help us to... Just be amazed at everything that we have seen in the tabernacle and how it points to Christ, your grand design, and to appreciate all the benefits that we have as your new covenant people. Be with us now as we continue to worship in Jesus' name, amen.