The New Testament scripture reading this morning is Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8. Now the point in what we are saying is this. We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, see that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out to the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. "'For this is the covenant that I will make "'with the house of Israel after those days,' "'declares the Lord, "'I will put my laws in their minds "'and write them on their hearts. "'And I will be their God and they shall be my people. "'And they shall not teach each one his neighbor "'and each one his brother saying, "'Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, "'from the least of them to the greatest. "'For I will be merciful toward their iniquities "'and I will remember their sins no more.' In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Let's pray and ask the Lord's blessing on the reading of his word. Father, we thank you so much for the Word. We thank you for the truth that it conveys. And as we continue our study of Hebrews 8, we ask, Father, that you would bind it to our hearts. We plead and beg for the presence of the Holy Spirit And we confess that any understanding that we may get of this passage outside of his exercise of his grace is completely worthless. We pray, Father, that you would help us to understand this passage and understand the wonder of what you've given to us in Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. We looked at verses 1 and 2 last week and we said that they were transitional. And we noted that Hebrews chapter 8 verse 1 was looking back at what had just been said Hebrews 8 verse 2 was looking ahead to what will be said. Notice one says, the point that we are saying is this, we have such a high priest. Well, what high priest? We pointed out last week that the such a high priest that he's talking about, the kind of high priest that's been described, was summed up in chapter 7 verse 28. And so the transition from chapter 7 and going forward is these two verses in 1 and 2. connects with what follows. It connects to verse one in that Christ is a minister in the holy places. The one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of majesty is a minister in the holy places, in the true tent. And then he goes on after verse two to describe the nature of the ministry of that priest of Christ. So verses 1 and 2 serve as the beginning of the transition from talking about the Melchizedekian priesthood of Christ, the such a high priest, to now talking about the tabernacle in which he ministers and the covenant under which he ministers. Verses 3 and 4 continue this Transition. Verse 3 connects us to what he's going to say later in the middle of chapter 9. I want to look at that. Verse 3 says, for every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Some people say that this is a kind of syllogism. If Jesus is a high priest, then Jesus will have something to offer. Later on, we will get the conclusion that Jesus does have something to offer, therefore he is that high priest. But notice how it's all tied together. Every high priest has to offer. gifts. Every high priest has to offer sacrifices. Does Jesus have something to offer? When you look at chapter 9 and you skip down to verse 11, it says, but when Christ appeared as a high priest of good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, he entered once for all into the holy place, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood. And so we see the connection coming from chapter 8 verse 3 that connects now to one of the points that the writer is going to make a little bit later in the middle of chapter 9. And that point goes down the sacrifices of Christ and what Christ does and the nature of that sacrifice will be discussed in chapter 9, the middle of chapter 9 through the middle of chapter 10. Now look back at verse 4, chapter 8, verse 4. You see what I'm saying, right? That he's talking about this here, but he's really introducing the subject to discuss it more fully later. Now in verse 4, now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and a shadow of heavenly things. When Moses was about to erect a tent, he was instructed by God, saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown on the mountain. So chapter 8, verse 4, and then also verse 5, connects us to the temple service and the tabernacle service. This is what we pick up on then in chapter 9, verses 1 through 10. Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness, for a tent was prepared. And so he begins to build the contrast in chapter 9, verses 1 through 10, dealing with the greater tabernacle. I just point that out so that we see the transitional nature of the verses that we have before us today. That they serve there to connect and that's why when we talk about them we are necessarily going to have to look at verses that are to follow. I want us to understand in this that As he's been arguing, as the writer of Hebrews has been arguing for the supremacy of Christ, that Christ is better. Oh, by the way, I already mentioned I got this lovely shirt for pastor's appreciation. Thank you very much. Last week, Saturday, I walked into my office after a day of watching U10 soccer in Kona and we drove back And I came into my office and there was a giant mountain of snickerdoodles sitting on my desk that said, thank you. And that was from my children. And it was to express their appreciation for me, not just as their dad, but also as their pastor. I thought that was sweet, but then they did it again this week. So I don't know how long this gets to go on. I could get used to it. They made me a shirt, a t-shirt, long-sleeved t-shirt, because I live in Mountain View. And the t-shirt says, Jesus Mobeta. On the back, it has the verses from Hebrews. It says, Jesus Mobeta than angels. Jesus Mobeta than Moses. And what was the third one? Jesus Mobeta than what? Mobeta than priests. Nice to know they're getting it. I was tempted, I was going to wear that shirt here this morning, maybe next week. Yes, he is pointing out the fact that Jesus is Mobera, but there's something even bigger than that. There's an intensity to his argument that we have to understand that he doesn't present Jesus as if Jesus is the best option. The best among near equals. Jesus kind of edges out Moses. Jesus kind of edges out angels. Jesus kind of edges out the priesthood. Jesus just kind of edges out all these people, and by the preponderance of him edging everybody else out, he just barely beats everybody, and he's the best option. That's not the argument. There's an intensity to this argument that would demonstrate to us it's not just that he's the best option, it's that he's essential. Without Jesus, being better than angels, without Jesus being better than Moses, so much better, he even says, without Jesus' Melchizedekian priesthood that surpasses anything that had ever been like it before, we have nothing. Every ceremony is worthless. Every angel is worthless. Everything that every priest has ever done is empty. We don't just choose Jesus as an option. essentially what he's saying is there is no other choice and there is no other hope I want us to see that in the verses that we have before us today that everything he talks about talks about Jesus as being spiritually not just good, not great, not even excellent. Jesus is spiritually vital. Without him, we have nothing. We have no hope. We have no salvation. We have nothing. Everything that he does is vital. And so we come to verse three and the first thing we find is that Jesus' sacrifice is spiritually vital. It's vital. For thousands and thousands of years, these Jews to whom, well hundreds and hundreds of years, I shouldn't say thousands and thousands, it wasn't that many thousands, but it was for hundreds of years and over a thousand. These Jews had lived under a system, under a system of sacrifices. And now we can get to thousands and thousands that literally thousands upon thousands upon thousands of little innocent animals were sacrificed over and over and over and over again. And the nature and the overwhelming nature of what they had to go through on a daily basis on a monthly basis on an annual basis. was simply horrifying. It was horrific. There was a... I don't remember how many years ago it was now. I think it was when my sister was still living in Miami. There was an outbreak of Santaria. Anybody know what Santaria is? Santaria is like a... Afro-Caribbean form of voodoo. So it's kind of like voodoo, but it's more on the Spanish side. So Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, places like that. And there was an outbreak of people taking chickens and you'd have these chickens that were wrapped up in bags and they were slaughtered and they would be thrown out in the middle of the streets. And people were horrified. Sometimes it would be like a goat's head. And it was so shocking. Folks, do you understand the gruesome nature of what was going on? In Jewish culture. For hundreds of years. Made those practices look benign and tame. That the cute little lambs just darling little lambs, innocent, were being slaughtered by the hundreds. And on certain days of the years, yes, on certain days of the years, folks, literally by the thousands and tens of thousands. We always kind of question the accuracy sometimes of of Josephus, but Josephus even lists one time where there were literally hundreds of thousands of these animals slaughtered in the course of one festival. Why? God, why did you ask these people to be so gruesome? It was to demonstrate, folks, that as bad as you think it is, and I think it's horrible if somebody takes the life of a little innocent animal, it's disgusting, it's despicable. God was pointing out to this people that as disgusting, as despicable as it is for someone to take the life of an innocent lamb, your sin is even more so before a holy God. Now I want you to think about this, that for hundreds of years, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of animals are slaughtered. Now look down at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 4. For it is, what? It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. What? Folks it had been so ingrained into their culture that this is what they had to do and certainly by law this is what they had to do that some were under the impression that somehow the blood of bulls and goats took away their sins. He's reminding them that that's an impossibility. Your sin can't be expunged by something that's not you. The sin of a human cannot be expunged by the death of a goat. It's foolishness. It is impossible. In fact, the concept that arises in the Old Testament is a concept of atonement. To this very day, the Jews celebrate a day called Yom Kippur or Yom Kippur. Some of you remember there was a war that the Arab states surrounding Israel thought since this was such a holy day, this would be a great day to attack them. And apparently they were mistaken. And they call it the Yom Kippur War. Well, the word Kippur, The word Kippur or Kippur throughout the Old Testament. It's actually the word that's used, the first time it's used is actually in Genesis, I think it's Genesis 6. It's when Noah is commissioned with the building of the ark, and at the end of the building of the ark, once he's fashioned its dimensions with the wood, whatever the wood was, he was supposed to, remember the old King James says, pitch it, within and without, with pitch. And the Hebrew word that's translated as to pitch it is the word kippur. In other words, you're supposed to take whatever that pitch was, and you're supposed to cover it. It's a covering, a covering of protection. And what we find throughout the Old Testament is that things get covered. They get covered, a covering of protection. That's what Yom Kippur is. It's the day of covering. But what happens to the sin? Sin is still there. You're covered. You're covered with this protection, but your sin is still seething. It's still unforgiven. This was the nature of the Old Testament sacrifice that it covered your sin, but because it was the blood of bulls, because it was the blood of goats, because it was the blood of animals, the blood of these animals could do absolutely nothing to expunge and annihilate that sin. Even in the sacrifices then that were by the hundreds of thousands year after year, century after century, They were looking for something bigger. They were looking for something better. They were looking for the one thing that, the only one thing that could happen. Look at verse 11 now, Hebrews 10, 11. says, and every priest stands daily at his service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins." So we just said, right? They can't take them away. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made His footstool for his feet, for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified or made holy." The contrast there is between the sacrifice of the Levitical priesthood and the sacrifice of Jesus. And what's the contrast? The contrast is that theirs could not take away sins. His, done once, sanctified all who would be sanctified. The fact of the matter is that you need your sins gone. You need them gone. Today people try and talk about baptism as being a part of erasing those sins or the sacraments or some people just say, do good, just do your best. Well folks, does any of that do anything to take away your sin? To make your sin gone? The answer to that is no. If the consistent obedience to the law and the sacrifice of hundreds and thousands of animals could not do it, then what makes you think helping a little old lady across the street's gonna take away your sin? Well, just be good. Just be as good as you can. Do you understand the nature of our sin? I mean, if somebody walked up here today, I hope they wouldn't do this, but if somebody walked up here today and punched me in the face, I would really hope you wouldn't do that. I dare say that would probably ruin my day. But if somebody chose to do that, and then they said, I'm sorry, I'm gonna do good now. Does that unpunch my face? No. And folks, so it is with every sin that leaves our mouth and leaves our body. Every sin that leaves the confines of our minds. Every sin that enters the confines of our minds. You can do it. And you can stop doing it. But you cannot undo it. And you can lie once and then kill a thousand lambs and have the ground of this sanctuary soaked in their innocent blood and you will never be able to unlie. You don't need your sin covered. You need your sin gone. Verse 3 announces to us that something is coming. Every priest that ministers, every priest that serves, has to bring gifts and sacrifice. But the only essential, vital sacrifice that was ever given that can literally expunge your sin was given by Christ. Jesus' sacrifice then is spiritually vital. Now I want you to understand something else, that Jesus' realm, where he does this, is vital. The realm in which he ministers is vital. Jesus' realm is vital. Look at verses four and five. Verse three, excuse me, verse two has already demonstrated that he's a minister in the holy place, the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. Now look at verses four and five. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. What does that mean? What that means is that, as we've already demonstrated, that if the realm of Jesus's ministry was on this earth, then priests on this earth were required to have a certain pedigree, and he would already be disqualified from being a priest in the earthly temple. He couldn't be a priest in the earthly temple, and he couldn't minister in the earthly temple. To be a priest in the earthly temple, you had to be a Levite, and not just any Levite, but a descendant of Aaron. Jesus was not a descendant of Aaron. He was a priest after the order of Melchizedek, which meant he could be a priest, but he had no right to serve in the temple, because he wasn't a Levitical priest, and it was a Levitical temple. And so he says here, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. Look at verse five, they serve a copy and shadow. These Levitical priests serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." Now when you look at chapter 9, verses 1 through 10, it goes into more detail. More detail about this temple. Verse 5 of chapter 8 quotes from Exodus 25-40, that as they're completing the instructions for the temple, God says, do not vary in any way from this pattern. This is not a matter of, you know, We're off by one cubit here or one cubit there, no big deal. No, he says it's a big deal. You need to follow the pattern. Why is it then that the vital work of Christ is done in the heavenly temple or in heaven? What is the work of Christ doing? What is Christ doing when he does his temple work? Essentially what he's doing is securing forgiveness of sins. Think about what it was that has been forgiven. What has been forgiven? I think that sometimes, you know, I don't think it's important for us to dwell at length on the horrific nature of who we are. and to think about all the evil stuff we've done. But I do think that it is important at times for us to remember where we've come from. Maybe some of you remember that Dottie Rambo song, roll back the curtain of memory, roll back the curtain of memory now and then. Anybody remember that song? You don't remember, I mean, Dottie Rambo wrote it. But it says, it says, roll back the curtain of memory now and then. Show me where you've brought me from and where I could have been. Just remember, I'm human and humans forget. So remind me, remind me, dear Lord. And I think when we remember what it is that's forgiven, we need to remember what's been forgiven. Turn over to Psalm 51 for a little look at how one person remembered and the nature of what it was that was forgiven. I agree. Oops, I turned to Isaiah 51. Notice the title of Psalm 51. It says, to the choir master, could call him the worship leader. We won't call him the worship leader. To the choir master, a Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Not to belabor the point, I think we all understand what's going on here, but just to remind us, David committed adultery with Bathsheba, then he had Bathsheba's husband Uriah killed so he could quickly marry her and then not arouse any suspicion among people when this baby was born. I could say, yeah, the baby came early. Nathan the prophet puts a halt to his scheme. And you remember the story where Nathan finally at the end points to David and says, the man that you condemned is you. You're the thief. You can't really get away with that story without quoting from the old King James, right? You remember what Nathan said? Thou art the man. But folks, in this process, the virtue of one woman was stolen. He had no right to her. Uriah is murdered Now we think of that as an offense directly at Uriah, but you think about this, that Uriah the Hittite had family. David and Bathsheba's child dies. Do you see the expanding spheres of influence of people who David's little adultery affects. It's broader and broader and even it ends in the death of at least two people. David had a lot of apologizing to do. Folks, read what he says about this horrific sin that has affected so many people. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David writes, have mercy on me, oh God. According to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercies, blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. I know my transgression and my sin is ever before me. Now folks, listen to what he says here in verse four. Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. The nature of sin is exposed in these very words. When we sin, the effects may be myriad, but the truth of sin, the essence of sin, that it is done essentially and personally to one being. The offense is God's. There used to be, early on in the church, a particular view that when Jesus died on the cross, his blood was shed and given as a ransom, paid as a ransom to deliver us from Satan. Now that may not sound too far-fetched, but think about it. If the ransom is paid to Satan, then who's in charge? Satan. Folks, the ransom isn't paid to Satan because the offense isn't given to Satan. Against you and you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. Now back to Hebrews 8. Why is it that it is necessary or vital for Jesus to minister in the heavenly sanctuary. The reason that it's vital, folks, is because the heavenly sanctuary is where the offense resides. His sin was not, the sin of man is not against man. The sin of humanity is not against humanity. Our sin is a direct and personal affront and grievance against God and God alone. Now folks, if that's the case, where does the ministry need to happen? Where does the rectifying need to happen? Not down here on earth where men reside. Jesus goes before the throne of heaven and as we've already read, he passes through the heavens and ministers in the very presence of the Father. Because that's where the offense resides. If there is no ministry in heaven, then we are all lost in our sins. The work of Christ, as limited as it may be in its application, was sufficient for every sin, every offense committed against the Father. Jesus' realm is vital. It's vital that he minister in heaven. And let me check my time. Yeah, we got time. One more thing then. How about Jesus's promise? Jesus's promise. Jesus's promise is spiritually vital. Jesus's sacrifice is spiritually vital. Jesus's realm is spiritually vital. Jesus's promises are spiritually vital. Think about the contrast that's being made in verse 6. Verse 6 talks about the superior nature of Christ's ministry because it's in a better covenant. It says, as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better. Listen to this, since it is enacted on better promises. What's the contrast between the Mosaic promises and the New Covenant promises? What are the promises of the Old Covenant? Turn over to Deuteronomy 30. Technically, Deuteronomy 30 records the Deuteronomic or the Palestinian Covenant, but the Deuteronomic and Palestinian Covenant are means by which God mediated the Mosaic Covenant, so it's all part of the same thing. Here are the promises. Look at verse 15. C. Mind you, this is at the end. We talked about the Book of Deuteronomy being an actual legal document. The Book of Deuteronomy is structured like a Hittite-Suzerain vassal treaty. Commercial again. If you need to know more about the Suzerain vassal treaty, you can go listen to the Matthew 4 sermon online. and download it lots of times. But at the end of this treaty, at the end of this covenant, this legal document, he reiterates some things and then talks about how certain things are going to be enacted. And he kind of encapsulates the essence of the entire Mosaic Covenant. He says, see, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. Think about that. in a nutshell that is the old covenant life and death I mean life and good versus death and evil if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today by loving the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules then you shall live and multiply and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it but If your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, listen to this, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life. that you and your offspring may live. By the way, that is where the pro-life slogan of the 1980s came from, Choose Life. It actually came from this passage. Choose life that you and your offspring may live. Loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers and to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob to give them. Now, we can look at what Jeremiah 31 says. That's the new covenant, but we don't need to turn to Jeremiah 31 because here in Hebrews 8, in verses 8 all the way down through verse 12, we have a direct quote from Jeremiah 31. So we can compare the promises of the old covenant to the new covenant. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws into their minds. I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, they shall be my people, and they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will be merciful toward their iniquities, listen to this, and I will remember their sins no more. Can you picture in your mind the difference between the promises made under the Old Covenant and the promises made under the New Covenant? To sum up the Old Covenant, it says this, if you obey, you live and are blessed. If you disobey, you are literally cursed. Folks, we don't think about that, but that's one of the promises of the old covenant. Disobey, you will be cursed. What about the promises of the new covenant? What happens if you disobey? It doesn't say, does it? There's no promise for disobedience because those who are in the new covenant won't disobey. Ultimately, they'll be so transformed that the law of God is going to be on their hearts. They'll do exactly what represents the very character and nature of God, and they'll do it lovingly and willingly and happily. And who, by the way? There's nobody under this covenant who you're going to have to say here, I need to teach you about God. You're under this covenant, but you don't really know him, which is what they had to do under the Mosaic covenant, right? They had to put the law before their children, you remember? In Deuteronomy 6, where he talks about the Shema, the Shema Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. soul and mind you're going to teach these things to your children and to your children's children you put them before you when you stand up when you sit down when you go by the way when you enter the house when you leave the house all of these things when you rise stand up and sit down all of these things teach teach teach teach teach and what this tells us is that these things are going to be so ingrained in the new covenant that it is just going to be pure blessing The promise of the New Covenant, unlike the Old Covenant, the promise of the New Covenant contains no condemnation. Pure grace. Pure grace. Without the promises of the New Covenant, we have no assurance. And for these people to whom this letter was originally written, yes, they had the staples of the old covenant. They had the ceremony of the old covenant. What they were lacking was the promise of pure grace afforded them in the new covenant. Do you see why all of this is so vital? Do you see why the sacrifice of Christ is spiritually vital? Do you see why the realm in which he ministers is spiritually vital? You can't survive without it. Do you see why it is that the promises of the new covenant are spiritually vital? Because folks, If you had everything in this world that you wanted, if you were going through life thinking, you know what, I'm okay. Everything's fine. I have the best of everything. I've got a great family. I've got a great career. I've got people around me that, folks, if you have everything that you want and you don't have Christ, you don't have anything. You can't have anything. And these words that I come back to over and over again, the words of Jesus, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses what? His own soul. If you don't have Christ, you don't have anything. And that is why His sacrifice is vital. That is why the realm of His ministry is vital. That is why His promises are vital. Because He is everything. Let's pray. Father, we do thank You for the Word. Hebrews chapter 8, we thank You for what it reveals to us about our need that without Christ we have nothing. May we cling to Him. May we submit our lives in faith to Him. May we embrace Him not as the best option. May we embrace them as those who are clinging to Him for dear life. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.