Well, we've come to chapter 9 in the book of Hebrews. And this morning we're going to be looking into verses 15 through 28. And what we're going to be looking at this morning is the meaning of the blood of the new covenant. The blood of the covenant. And we're really now in the heart of the book of Hebrews. It's that portion where the writer is teaching us on the doctrines of the priesthood of Christ and the inauguration of the new covenant that had been prophesied in Jeremiah 31. And really that prophecy in Jeremiah 31 was an explanation really. An expansion of the promise that God had made to Abraham in him, in his seed. All the nations of the earth would be blessed. Now the writer we've seen calls this a word of exhortation to Jewish Christians. His purpose is to encourage them to persevere in the faith in Christ. To warn them against what is really the eternal danger of drifting away from Christ. Warning them against falling back into Judaism because some were encouraging them to do that. And not only that, the church was under persecution as this writer wrote. He warned them not to fall back into Judaism because that was a system under the old covenant which could not save anybody. Only the blood of Christ can save anyone. So Scripture shows us that all men are sinners. And because we're sinners, we're all enemies of God. It was while we were enemies of God that Christ died for us. And that faith in the blood of Christ is the only way to be reconciled to God. The author of Hebrews has demonstrated to this point that Christ is better than Moses, and the angels, and the prophets, and all the Levitical priests. And that He mediates for us with the Father, not on earth in an earthly tabernacle as those priests did. But He mediates for us with the Father in heaven, in the true tabernacle. A tabernacle, the writer says, not pitched by men, but by God. And He alone can be this mediator for us, between us and God, because He's God and man. Nobody else is qualified. So the writer has shown us that that entire system of worship in Israel, including the tabernacle and the priesthood and the vessels and the sacrifices, was all merely a copy of heavenly things. They were merely shadows of the reality that is Christ. And so in God's providence and in accordance with His eternal plan and purpose, the old covenant of Mount Sinai has been rendered obsolete by the new covenant, which had been inaugurated now in Christ. And remember, both in Adam and in the case of Israel, we learn that no man can be justified by his own works because no man perfectly keeps obedience to God. We're all sinners. We all fall short. So we see the weakness of any system, any religion by which men try to earn eternal life with God. And the sacrifices of the Jewish ceremonial law, they couldn't fully fix, rectify the violations of God's moral law. The ceremonial law, the sacrifices, the dietary laws could not accomplish the removal of sins. All they could do was make one ceremonially clean so that he could come into and be among the assembly of Israel. And so the new covenant is a better covenant because under it sinners are justified by God. And that is the thing that people need most in this world. They're justified by His grace. Through no merit of our own, but through faith in the blood of the sinless Son He sent, and in the Son's offering of Himself for our sins. That's what Christianity is. That's the gospel. The new covenant depends entirely on God. And we're told in Scripture so many times, He will accomplish all His purposes. And His purposes are unchangeable. They've been decreed from all eternity. So the new covenant won't be broken as the old covenant was. Because it can't be broken. Because it depends entirely on God. Through this covenant, eternal heavenly blessings, which were unattainable any other way, including by the old covenant, have now come. Eternal heavenly blessings, an inheritance, the writer will call it. We have in the new covenant forgiveness of sins and eternal life in fellowship with God. That's what this covenant is about. It brings a true knowledge of God, and it brings a transformation of the sinner's heart. Our heart, once changed by God, once indwelt by the Spirit of God, now desires what God desires in us. So all these blessings come through the new birth when the Spirit of God comes and dwells as He penetrates the sinner's heart, reforms the inner man. Sins are forgiven, the heart is renewed, the law of God written upon it, and the mind illuminated to the knowledge of God. That's what this is all about. People apart from Christ have none of these things. None of these things. So the New Covenant is better because it transforms the hearts of sinners. Old Covenant couldn't do that. Couldn't liberate a sinner from his bondage to sin. So last Lord's Day, we looked at the earthly tabernacle, that tent that was built, designed by God, built by Moses according to a pattern, a blueprint that God had given him. And we looked at the daily sacrifices of the priests, the daily offerings in the holy place where the lampstand and the showbread were. And we looked at the annual sacrifice. The high priest alone could enter into the most holy place, the Holy of Holies. We looked at all those offerings. Those offerings that could make one ritually clean so that he could stay among the people of Israel. But they could never cleanse the conscience of the guilt of sin. And we also, last Lord's Day, began to look at the heavenly tabernacle. You know, he says this is made without hands. Not part of this creation. And Christ has entered into this heavenly tabernacle with His own blood. having made one sacrifice for all time to cleanse the consciences of his people of the guilt of their sin. While the first tabernacle was standing, the writer tells us, the way into the true heavenly tabernacle, the way to God, had not yet been disclosed. But God was showing them in the tabernacle and in those sacrifices that there must be a sinless blood atonement for their sins if they were ever to enter into His presence. A sinless blood atonement was necessary. Those animals, sacrifices, He was showing them there would be a way. It was pointing them to the way. And those who believed God's promise of a Redeemer could be saved, even under the old covenant. The full revelation of Christ's work was not fully revealed until He came. And the meaning was not revealed until He came and did what He had come to do, which was to save His people. And then these writers in the New Testament, inspired by the Holy Spirit, explain the meaning of these things to us. The animal offerings pointed to the sacrifice of Christ but could not purify the sinner. Now that's the message for those Jewish Christians. The very form of that tabernacle with the veil separating the people from God reminded the Jews they had to find another way. There had to be another way. And God had made another way. So the tabernacle and the sacrifices and the priesthood were not a means unto eternal life. They were symbols of the true way to reconciliation with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what did He say? No one comes to the Father but by Me. That tabernacle and those sacrifices were also only for the time of the Old Covenant. They were imposed, the writer tells us, until the time of Reformation. And that's the time of the coming of Christ and the inauguration of the new covenant. And now the writer of Hebrews tells his readers that the way of reconciliation to God has now been disclosed. And that through the atoning, sacrificial death of Christ, the way into that heavenly tabernacle has been opened to us. Remember what the writer said earlier in this very writing, to bring many sons to glory. So sinners are justified through a genuine belief manifested in a changed heart and a changed life that this shed blood has brought you forgiveness of your sins. That's your justification. By believing that His blood has obtained for us eternal redemption, freedom from the power of sin. Do you believe these things? I pray you do. by believing that His blood has brought us deliverance from the wages of our sin and has brought us eternal life and glory. It all hinges on that. It doesn't matter what any Congress does. It doesn't matter what any mayor or any president does. Your eternity hinges on do you believe in this blood. Verse 12, the writer began a discussion showing what the blood of bulls and goats could not do and what the blood of Christ did accomplish. By the shedding of His blood, the Son of God accomplished the inner spiritual cleansing of the sin of His people. Blood of the sacrifice is valued according to the value of the one who was offered in sacrifice. His blood And His blood alone possesses the power to appease the wrath of God on a sinner because of his sin. His blood alone possesses the power to cleanse a sinner of the stain of his sin. His blood alone possesses the power to cleanse a sinner's conscience of the guilt of his sin. I know I just said it. Let me say it again. Your whole eternity depends upon, do you understand and believe this? by His death and atonement has been made for the sins of those who believe in Him. Our consciences have been cleansed of that guilt that separated us, represented by that veil in the tabernacle that separated us from God. So now we come to verse 15 this morning. Now before we read this passage, And before we can come to a right understanding of especially verses 15 through 18, we must come to a correct translation of these four verses. And there are many ways in English that this little passage has been translated. As you know, we use the New American Standard here. And I favor that translation. I also make much use of the King James. But folks, no English translation of Scripture is perfect. The Scripture is absolutely adequate and sufficient to save us. But there is no one-to-one correspondence from Hebrew to English or from Greek to English. And most would now agree that neither the New American Standard or the King James gets this right here in verses 15 through 18. The issue is the word diatheke in Greek. It means sometimes covenant. It means sometimes will, last will and testament. And the word is used to speak of both of these. Covenant's a contract between two parties. A will is a document signed by one party. And it takes effect at the person's death. Now the New American Standard, if you have that, will notice this word, diatheke, is translated as covenant all five times between verses 15 and 18. King James translates the same word testament. Frederick Bruce translates this word testamentary covenant. He tries to get both angles in there. But both of these are unfortunate. The English Standard Version, the Holman translation, even the NIV, and many others do get this right. In verses 15, both times, this word should be translated covenant. In verse 18, it should also be translated covenant. But in verses 16 and 17, which are kind of a parenthesis between verse 15 and verse 18, it should be will or testament. So I'm going to read the passage now properly translated. And so we're going to probably have some conflict with whichever version you happen to be looking at. So Hebrews 9, 15. For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a will is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a will is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force, while the one who made it lives. Now that's in parenthesis really. Therefore, he says, even the first, that's the Mosaic covenant, was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people, according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you. And in the same way, He sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood. And really a better reading of that is, almost all things are cleansed with blood. And then this, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Therefore, it was necessary 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 Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us... For us. Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy place, year by year, with blood that is not his own. Otherwise he would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. inasmuch as it's appointed for men to die once. And after this comes judgment. So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation, without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. Well Lord, our prayer is that You would give us insight, understanding, and a right knowledge of what You are teaching us by this Word this morning. Help us, Lord, by Your Spirit to grow nearer to You, to grow in the knowledge of You. In Christ's name, Amen. So the writers already told us that Jesus is the mediator of what? A better covenant. Now he focuses on how it is that he has become the mediator of a better covenant. It's because of his death. It's because of his death by the shedding of his blood. By virtue of his death and the shedding of his blood, redemption has been obtained and eternal inheritance has been obtained by the shedding of his blood. Those are the two things that go together here. For who? For people, every one of whom has broken the law of God. Life of Christ was the price. It was the price to liberate us from the penalty of our sins. This was the only way was His blood pouring out of Him. By His death, the eternal inheritance promised by God to Abraham. Abraham, way back. The eternal inheritance has been obtained for those called by God. That's right. By his death, Christ redeemed sinners from what? Their transgressions against the law of God. The law of God is set forth in the Old Covenant. We've all broken it. Those Jewish Christians had broken it. We break the law. He took our penalty. Because there's a penalty for violating the law of God. And this is why Paul would say in Romans 10, 4, Christ is the end of the law. for those who believe. He kept the law for us, and He took the penalty for breaking the law for us. Remember, under the old covenant, God promised blessings for what? Obedience to His law. For disobedience, curses. And the wages of any sin, a single sin, is what? It's death. If a man sins, so shall he die. In the Old Covenant, in the tabernacle, in the sacrifices, God showed Israel the necessity of what? An unblemished, substitutionary, innocent offering of blood. in order to atone for sin. He was showing them that day after day, twice a day. All have sinned against the moral law of God. And Christ's blood alone could atone for sins. And it did. It does. For all those who believe in the promise of the eternal inheritance. Today and for those who lived under the old covenant. Do you believe in the promise? He shed his blood so that those who are the called may receive, think about these words, the promised eternal inheritance. That's why he's going to turn and talk about a will in verse 16. Christ's shedding of his blood is the means by which the new covenant was implemented. His blood cleanses sinners of the stain of their sin, washes us, and so they are redeemed despite their transgressions against the law of God. You realize this blessing of the blood of Christ only applies to sinners because that's all there are. So now, the parenthesis, verses 16 and 17. Here, God's covenant with us, this new covenant, is seen as being worked out through a last will and testament. Now, a will, a person who makes a will is called a testator or a testatrix. But a will requires what? For it to become operative. It requires the death of the testator. It sets forth an inheritance. But it takes effect only at death. It's not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. That's why this is a will that we're talking about in verse 16. The inheritance could only be received upon the death of the testator. A covenant is a type of agreement entered into by two or more parties. You got two, at least two parties to a covenant. It's in force while both parties are alive. That's the distinction here. A man covenants with another. I will pay you $100 to paint my barn. The man paints the barn. The first man gives him $100. That's a covenant. Terms of a will only become effective upon the death of the person making the will, when he dies. At that point, the terms of the will begin to operate. So in a will, a man leaves his daughter $100, but she doesn't receive the $100 until he dies, even if she paints his barn. It's purely a gift. Our inheritance, eternal life with God, is purely a gift. It's promised to us by God, though we don't deserve it, but it could not be received. unless and until a death took place. And that death had to be a sinless blood offering. So what we have here is the writer making a twofold use of this word. And Paul does this with the word law all the time in Romans. He makes five different uses of that word. It's always translated law. But here's a two-fold use of this word diatheke. Our blessings in Christ may be considered either as a covenant of God the Father, which was to be ratified by the blood of Christ. And that's true. And it may also be considered as the last will and testament of Christ Himself. But it couldn't take effect but by or at His death. And since this will was the way of carrying out God's covenant, He couldn't just die of natural causes. No. It was necessary that His death be by the shedding of blood. That by means of His death, He might redeem us and obtain for us an eternal inheritance that had been promised by God. Verse 18, we're again reminded of the necessity of Christ's death by the shedding of His blood. This is again the idea of the ratification of a covenant. Verses 18 through 20, the writer here reminds his readers that God's covenant with Moses, which he calls here the first covenant, but really is not first in time in relation to the covenant with Abraham. But he calls it the first covenant here because he's comparing the Mosaic covenant with the New Covenant. He reminds his readers that that covenant with Moses had also been ratified in blood. And you see this here. Now today, a covenant or a contract between two parties is ratified by the signatures of the two parties. We sign. You sign. I sign. Sometimes those signatures are acknowledged before a third party, a notary public, who simply authenticates the validity of the signature. Years ago, a contract or a covenant between two parties would be sealed with hot sealing wax. In the ancient world though, covenants were often ratified by blood, in blood. And the idea, this was a way of saying, may this bloodshed happen to me if I violate my promise here. If I violate what I've said I will do under this covenant. We have a vivid example of this, don't we, in the case of Abraham when God made His covenant with him. Genesis 12, 3, God made this promise. all the families of the earth would be blessed in Him. Genesis 15, He promised that the blessing would come through an heir of His own barren body. Genesis 17, He promised, God promised that He would be God to Abraham and his descendants for all eternity. And in Genesis 15, 9, we see what God did to ratify this covenant. He says to Abraham, bring me a three-year-old heifer, three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. He brought all these to him. He cut them in two, and he laid each half opposite the other. He made like an aisle with the carcasses of half of each of these animals. The sun went down, this deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. And when the sun set, and it was dark, there appeared this smoking oven and a flaming torch, which passed between the pieces of the dead animals. Only the flaming torch represented God passed between these animals. You see, when that covenant was made and this was the way it was ratified, both parties would walk between the carcasses, saying, if I violate, if I violate my word, may this happen. Well here, Abram doesn't walk through, only God. And if you look at verses 19 through 21, I'm not going to read them again. But the writer draws here from Exodus 24 and some other Old Testament passages. Because all of these details are not present in the initial ratification of the covenant. But they are as time goes on. But here the writer reminds his readers that even that old covenant with Moses, which couldn't save anybody, was ratified in blood. Why? He's showing them the way. Even then, men were reminded that to be valid, a promise had to be ratified in blood. And they would kill the animal and then get the blood and sprinkle the tabernacle and the people and the vessels and all these things. They sprinkled the book of the law with the blood. And the people were being taught that God could not be sought or looked to except through the shedding of blood. They knew that much. Did they believe Him? But even for all that, under the old covenant, there was no inheritance of heavenly blessings pursuant to those ceremonies. Only the new covenant. Only the new covenant provides the blessings of heavenly inheritance. Only believing God. Whatever it is He's revealed to you. So verse 22, we find that everything, according to the law, vessels, lepers, the whole assembly, were all ceremonially cleansed. How? What was the cleansing agent? Not Clorox, not Dial, not Dawn. Blood. Blood is the cleansing agent to make something pure in the eyes of God. The guilt of sin was ceremonially cleansed by those sacrifices in blood. Only in this way could a sinner, which all of us are, and all of them were, remain in that assembly of Israel. And every one of these things pointed to whom? To the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it that merits our salvation? Blood. Blood. And the blood is life. The blood is also the cleansing agent. And the writer says here, and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, no forgiveness of sins. Jews were taught this at Mount Sinai. Now they and we are shown that the blood of animals is not adequate to cleanse sin. Blood of animals is not adequate to cleanse the guilt of sin. The copies of heavenly things foreshadowed heavenly things. They also needed to be cleansed with blood. The heavenly things, what are they here? Heavenly things here refers to spiritual things. These heavenly things themselves must be cleansed with better sacrifices than bulls and goats' blood. Well, when we talk about heavenly things, we're talking about things not of the material realm, but it's the spiritual realm. The heavenly realm. And what really needed cleansed in that spiritual realm was our consciences. The inward cleansing of sinners. Those who are saved by this blood, who will be forever the spiritual dwelling of God. Look at Ephesians chapter 2 in your Scripture sheet. Read in verse 19, Paul says to these Gentile Christians, You're no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, the church, being fitted together, is growing into what? A holy temple in the Lord. in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit, the heavenly tabernacle. Peter writes this, 1 Peter 2, 5, you also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 6.16. Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. Just as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Well, what was wrong with this temple, this tabernacle that God would dwell in the midst of? What did it need? It needed cleansed. It needed purified. None of us who make up, each being maybe one little brick of this temple. None of us was clean enough to be part of this temple, this spiritual dwelling of God. Sinners had to be purified from their own defilement in order to become the temple of God. Christ, we're told, did not enter into a holy place made with hands, a mere copy. He entered into the true heaven itself. And you know, not only do we all make up the temple of God, but I want you to look here at 1 Corinthians 3.16. Each of us individually who is indwelt by the Spirit of God is also called the temple of God. Don't you know you are the temple of God, that the Holy Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 6.19. Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. This all required some major cleansing. And each one of us must be cleansed if the Spirit of God is to dwell within us. So Christ enters into this tabernacle which one day we will be a part of in the fullest sense. He doesn't come into some earthly tent like the Levitical priests. He goes into the heaven itself, into the presence of God. And look at the last two words of verse 24. For us. For us. He goes into the heavenly tabernacle for us. In verse 25, he tells us, Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that's not his own. No. Otherwise, he would have needed to suffer often from the foundation of the world. But now once, once at the consummation of the ages, one time at the end of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. We won't go back and read any chapters in Leviticus again this morning. But remember, under the old covenant, what happened? The tenth day of the seventh month, the high priest had to come to the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on the Ark of the Covenant. But the fact that this ritual did not forever cleanse anybody is seen in what fact? The fact that he had to come back again the next year. And again the following year. And again the year after that. And every year on the tenth day of the seventh month. And again seek atonement for sins. His own sins and those of the people. But now look what we learn. Once, once at the consummation or the end of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin. by the sacrifice of himself. You ever think about this? If he had failed to put away our sin, as the Levitical priests failed every year, Christ would have had to offer himself again, and again, and again. But he did not fail. Redemption was accomplished that day in Calvary. His was a one-time offering of himself for sin. It's not made again and again. It will never be repeated. Augustine says this was the one event in all of human history that cannot ever be repeated. Anything else can be. Not this. It's a sacrifice of eternal, infinite value and effect. If his sacrifice had been like those of the Levitical priests, You know where we would be? In Babylon, in darkness, and in terror. Begging for a way to be reconciled to God. Begging for a way to be forgiven. But now He's done it for us. His death accomplished the removal of the sins of all those who from the time of Adam looked to and believed in the promise of Him, of a Savior, who from the time of Christ believed He is the promised Savior. Now look what he says. When he offered himself and offered his own life back to his father through the shedding of his blood, the sins of his people were put away. Put away. Not set aside. Put away. Finished. Didn't wait for any man to do anything. His sacrifice of himself was sufficient to pacify the wrath of an infinite God against every single one whom God had called. to put away sin, to annul its power, to destroy it and reject it as a ground of any man's condemnation who believes, to set it aside as calling for wrath, to make an atonement for it. The one-time death of Christ was sufficient to put away the sin of all past ages and the sin of all the ages to come for everyone who believed the promise of God. This is what Daniel prophesied in chapter 9, verse 24. Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy place with what? With His blood. with His blood. And yes, even under the old covenant, one could be forgiven by believing in the promise of the Redeemer to come. The one who was promised in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15. A penitentiary between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. Those who believed in the One who was promised in Genesis 12, 3 and in Genesis 17, 7. And again, God never demanded that men believe more than He had revealed to them. What about this end of the age, the consummation of the age? Paul calls this in the fullness of time. He speaks of the same time period that way. Mark 1.15, John the Baptist declared, The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. To understand this term, the end of the age, look at 1st Corinthians 10.11. Now these things happen to them as an example. They were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. This present age is the final age before the return of Christ. He came at the beginning of the end of the ages. His first advent marked the end of theocratic Israel. And it marked the beginning of the present age. It was a time fixed by God, foretold in prophecy, for old things to pass away and all things to become new. Hallelujah. And inasmuch, the writer says, as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, Folks, judgment's what's next on God's schedule. ...So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation, without reference to sin, not to deal with sin, sin having been done away with, to whom? To those who eagerly await Him. Now we know from Romans 5, 12, in Adam all die. It's appointed for man to die once. Why? Because of the sin of Adam. That's why in Adam all die. Adam sinned and he died. And we'll all die a physical death. We all died spiritually. We were separated from God. It's this blood that reconciles us to God. After we die, death isn't the end of anyone's existence. After that comes judgment. When all men are raised up, it is to the judgment. There's no mention here of any intervening periods before the final judgment. And there's no reincarnation. And there's no second chance for salvation after death, as some falsely teach. No second chance for salvation after Christ's return, as others teach. Look at John 3, 18. He who believes in Him is not judged, He who does not believe has been judged already, because he's not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He's judged already. And if that wasn't clear enough for those in Galilee and Judea in those days, John 8, 24, Jesus said, Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. You come to Christ while you're alive. Because after you die, then comes the judgment. And the day of judgment is already fixed. Acts 17, 31 tells us that. And the judgment is also once for all. It's final. There's no appeal. In chapter 6, verse 2, the writer calls it eternal judgment. Eternal judgment. Christ was offered one time to bear the sins of many. He died for the sins of those He came to save. And He freed them. He saved them from the guilt and penalty of their sins by the shedding of His blood. And we are saved through faith, yes, But we're saved by His blood. We're saved through faith in His shed blood, by His grace. Faith is the instrument by which God saves us. But it's the blood of Christ that does the saving. And His death is sufficient for our redemption. When He appears, when He returns the second time in judgment, He will make manifest all the blessings that He has won for His people by the shedding of His blood. Sin will have no more power over us. He will appear when He returns without reference to sin. The work has been done. He's already purged the sins of all His people. He's going to appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. He told us about this in the Gospel of John chapter 5, verse 28 and 29. This is what happens when He returns. Don't marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth. That's all, the righteous and the unrighteous, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. In an hour that will happen. Those who are alive when Christ returns and raises all the dead into glorified bodies will be at the same time transformed into glorified bodies. In the twinkling of an eye, Paul tells us, this is to prepare us for eternity. When He comes for a second time, it will be for the final fulfillment of the salvation of His people. After that, there will be no dealing with sin. So God, we've seen, entered into a covenant with man. And the covenant was this, obey me and all the blessings of heaven are eternally yours. Man did not keep that covenant. Man broke that covenant. But God had a plan, and He had this plan even before He made that first covenant. Because He knew men could not earn heavenly blessings through their compliance with the terms of His law. So God made a new covenant with men. Not new in His mind, but announced to them, in which He promised eternal heavenly blessings. No requirement of obedience to His law. And God also made a will, a will by which He would unilaterally make a gift of those eternal heavenly blessings to people who broke His law. I find that absolutely amazing. The heirs are all people who broke His law and rebelled against Him. And the will was declared by God the Son. He as testator though had to die and it had to be a bloody death in order for the gift of the inheritance to be conveyed to those who broke his law. Because his death was in fulfillment of a covenant, blood was required. So he took on flesh to die and shed his blood in order to ratify the promises of the covenant. Now by these words, this writer is exhorting these Jews, hold fast to Christ. Don't go back to that which can't save you. Don't be trying to be justified by your own works. Don't forfeit this inheritance. So the question for those Jewish Christians in the first century who first received this letter was still in front of them. Why would they ever want to go back? to shadows which couldn't cleanse them, which couldn't reconcile them to God. And why should we ever want to turn away from our blessed Savior? Where else are you going to go? That's the question. What did Peter say to Jesus? Where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life. The Jerusalem Council, Acts 15.10, Peter asked, Therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear, except the free gift through believing in Him? Well, before that generation died out, there was no more tabernacle. Temple had been destroyed. No more priests. No more sacrifices. All those copies and shadows, though, had been fulfilled in the reality that is Jesus Christ. And He's the only way to be reconciled to God. And He's going to come back. He's going to return a second time. And from the day that He returns, God will dwell for all eternity in the midst of all His people, all those who believe in the Son He sent. Let us pray. O Lord, These words are too marvelous for our ears. They're too marvelous for our minds to register beyond what we could ever deserve. We see Your majesty in this eternal plan of redemption. We see Your glory that lay ahead when You return. Father, please, by Your Spirit, convey these words to our minds and hearts this day. And make us useful witnesses. Make us useful light in this world of Your promises, of Your kingdom, and of Your glory. In Christ's name, amen.