going to turn to Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8 and the verses we're going to look at are Hebrews 8 verses 1 and 2. And the apostle speaks particularly his pronouncement in And verse one saying, this is a sum of what we've been saying. He's reflecting back on what he said in chapter seven. So we're gonna read a couple verses in chapter seven as well. Let's start in verse 24. Verse 24, and we'll read through to the end of chapter eight. Let's hear God's holy inspired word. But this man, Lord Jesus Christ, Because he continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, who needs not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's. For this he did once when he offered up himself. For the law makes men high priests which have infirmity. But the word of the oath, which was since the law, makes the son who is consecrated forevermore. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Wherefore, it is of necessity that this man has somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For see, says he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount. But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that, he says, a new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away. Our text is verses one and two. I'll read those again. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is a sum. We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. Beloved in the Lord, come back. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, Some of you older people maybe remember a time when, that time when Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon. Such a thing had never been thought of before. And perhaps you might have followed those events in 1969. You might have heard that the Apollo was gonna take off and heard of the aspirations that they were gonna land and hopefully that, a man might actually walk, not on the face of this earth, but on the moon. And I can just imagine what that would be like. That if perhaps that happened on a clear night and it happened in the evening, you might look up at that moon and think there is a man walking on the surface of that round rock in space. That was quite a moment. So much so that there's many conspiracies that it didn't happen. But it was true nonetheless. We might see a parallel in that to our high priest who is in heaven. We cannot see heaven. We can't look up like we can at the moon and see the throne of God and His chambers, His royal chambers there. But to consider, in the mind's eye, by faith's eye, that in the presence of God, our representative stands there. Our own flesh, one of our kind, is there in the presence of God. Heaven has significance to us. Now, not just as a place to where we will go, but even now, one of us, so to speak, is there and is there on our behalf. And so it's not significance just because our God is in heaven, but our mediator, our representative, his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord is there. Heaven rejoices at this. And so should we as well. The apostle says here, we have now such a high priest. A high priest and in exalted position in a sacred place in God's temple. This says much about heaven, doesn't it? And what it is then for us even now, this time, during our earthly challenges. since it's a place from which our High Priest, Jesus Christ, ministers unto the glory of God and the blessing of his people. It's a place from which our High Priest, Jesus Christ, ministers unto the glory of God and the blessing of his people. Gonna look at this under three points. First, the priesthood that Jesus Christ received. Second, the position that he merited. And third, the place where he ministers. First, the priesthood that Jesus Christ received. Apostle says here, now of the things which we have spoken, this is a sum, we have such a high priest. The book of Hebrews is perhaps a New Testament sermon. It's a book of exhortation, much like, in some ways, like the book of Deuteronomy was. It seems, in ways, that it was spoken publicly to the people. It may be a sermon transcript, a manuscript that's now in the scriptures, because it was inspired by the Lord. And it was delivered, obviously, to those who were of Jewish descent. They were familiar with the Old Testament figures. The author takes that for granted, that they knew who Moses was, and who Levi was, and who Melchizedek was, and Joshua, and so on. And they were familiar with Israel's history, and with temple worship, all the details of temple worship. And the author tells them to consider the new covenant realities. That these are so much more superior to that which the Jews had. That God has brought in, has brought in a new administration. And specifically, Jesus Christ is the one who is the glorious head of this covenant. And the head of his people. He is the son of God's house. He's better than the servants that were of God's house beforehand. And He's also that servant who has completed salvation for His people. And the Apostle says again and again, consider Him, consider this Lord Jesus Christ, how much greater, how He's fulfilled all those Old Testament shadows and types. He's so much better. so much higher than the angels, so much better than Moses and Moses' ministry, so much better than Joshua. We have such a high priest, better than Levi and Aaron. Thus, when the author makes a statement here, now of the things which we have spoken, this is a Psalm, we have such a high priest. He's reflecting on what he's just said. Of these things, this is the sum. This is the sum total. This is what I've been driving at. John Owen, whom I'm relying much this morning, says the apostle says this because that last chapter, it must have been a bit wearisome for his listeners. Get some sympathy from scripture as we struggle with the pages of scripture with its words sometimes. Maybe difficult at times to understand. And that last chapter certainly had some challenging arguments for us to understand, for the people to understand. Difficult to digest. Many people just pass over that last chapter. But this is the gist. We have such a high priest. We now have such a high priest. Better than Levi and Aaron. Now there need to be some very strong and a very cogent argument to prove that Christ was better than the priests of Aaron's line. They had been divinely ordained by God. Aaron had received that commission through Moses from God that he was to be the beginning of a line of high priests since he came from Levi's line. So just think, this apostle is saying then that no longer should believers in the New Testament regard Ananias, the high priest, as the official priest, even though he comes from that line. No longer do the sacrifices performed by him mean anything. No longer does that temple in Jerusalem have significance. Rather, Jesus Christ is a new high priest. He's our new one. It's quite a revolutionary statement. You need to have some things to back that up. But the writer has arguments based upon scripture and based upon God's revelation that has come through Jesus Christ. He tells his audience to consider how great Melchizedek was in the Old Testament. In chapter seven, verse three, he didn't have a father, he didn't have a mother, so it appears in the pages of scripture having neither beginning nor end of days, remains a priest continually. Levi, from whom the line of the priesthood descends in Israel, the order from which Ananias, the high priest, had come, Levi was a descendant of Abraham. And there was a time when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek in the pages of Genesis. Levi was, so to speak, in the loins of his father Abraham. That line came from Abraham, ultimately. Thus, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, Levi was, so to speak, in the loins of Abraham. Levi was, so to speak, paying tithes to Melchizedek. And it's the lesser one that pays tithes to the greater one. This is evidence, says the writer, that the priesthood of Melchizedek is greater than the priesthood of Levi and Aaron. Now the importance of that is that Christ does not come from the tribe of Levi. He does not come from this order of Aaron. He comes from the tribe of Judah, as the author makes clear. But God said to Christ in Psalm 110 verse 4, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The greater line, the greater high priestly line. Christ's high priestly office then was being declared and also exalted. The order of his priesthood, its line is so much higher than Aaron's. This line, this line continues on. The priesthood continues on. They ministered and then they died. But Christ is a high priest forever, forever. Thus what he does continues on forever. He ever lives to make intercession. The author also makes clear that Aaron's priesthood then was defective. He says in chapter 7 verse 11, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, what further need would there be that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek? Christ has come according to the order of Melchizedek, a far greater priest. Why would that be if the priesthood of Aaron were sufficient? The clear conclusion is that those priests of Aaron's line were not able to redeem the people from their sins and present them spotless before God. A new priest comes then. by an existing order, but one that ascribes to him the power of an endless life, an endless ministry, by which he is a priest forever for us. Being sworn in by God by an oath, he is able to save us to the uttermost, since he always lives to make intercession for us. It's quite a glorious reality, isn't it? That we have such a high priest There's no need to go frequently to the temple with livestock. You didn't come here hauling a sheep on your back. You didn't come dragging a bull behind you, a young bull, putting him in a cart and having him, his blood shed before us here. As a demonstration that we cannot come to God in ourselves, but something, someone must be shed for us. No, Christ has given an offering for us. He is the substitute. And he's able to lay down himself as an offering, as the apostle says at the end of chapter 7. because he doesn't need to make an offering for his own sins. No, he's harmless. He's undefiled. He's blameless. No one can ascribe a sin to him. And therefore he's able to lay himself down as an offering for us. And because he's a priesthood that never ends, because he's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, it's of infinite worth. His blood covers the sins of all God's people. Thus we come with his blood as we come here, not with a bull's blood or a goat's or sheep's blood as we come here. He's our high priest, and his high priestly office continues even now as we come here. Though you don't smell the stink of roasting animal flesh, there is the aroma here. of Christ's sacrifice for us being consumed by the fires of God's wrath. And as we pray, Lord, receive us through Jesus Christ, the smell of Christ's offering rises up continually in the nostrils of God, and he's continually well-pleased. We come in the aroma of Christ. Not that Christ continues on suffering and dying. No, that's finished. That's done. But the effect of it continues on. We are accepted in Christ. We have such a high priest as the apostle. Thus we see the priesthood that Christ has received. We see then how God receives the Lord Jesus Christ, how God receives our priest. So we look at, secondly, the position that Jesus Christ has merited from his finished work of atonement. Apostle says again, I read it again, verse one. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is a sum. We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. And notice the language here. Something strange here in a way. If we were simply versed in Old Testament scriptures and we read this, There would be things that would jump out, words that would jump out and say, do these jive? Do these things make sense? We have such a high priest. What does the high priest do? He's in the temple ministering. We have such a high priest who's sat or seated on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. A high priest sitting on a king's throne. That's how our Lord Jesus Christ is depicted here. In the Old Testament, you remember, don't you? You remember this children, your catechism classes. You remember how these two offices had to be distinct. Priests could not be kings and kings could not be priests. King David knew he could not offer sacrifices. He could only call for bowls to be offered on the altar as he does in Psalm 51. King Uzziah, you children remember, tried to be priest and offer sacrifice and God cursed him with leprosy. He was not to do that. Last week we looked at Solomon's prayer. And Solomon had thousands and thousands and thousands of bulls and sheep offered up when he dedicated the temple to the Lord. He dedicated the temple and it was just covered. The steps of it were covered in blood. Blood flowing down, you can imagine the smell of blood. That was by Solomon's command. But did Solomon offer up even one? of those animals on the altar. No. There was that line, that clear line between the office of a king and the office of a priest. But the author here claims that this high priest, Jesus Christ, went and he sat on the throne. And not just Israel's throne in Jerusalem. No, Israel had no throne. She was ruled by the Romans. But Christ sat on a high and exalted throne, the throne of majesty. That is a throne of greatness, of superlative greatness. There's no greatness greater than this. On the right hand of it, the right hand signifies the highest power, the highest authority and honor. So thus, our high priest, who is called on by God to perform priestly duties, a sacrifice and offerings and washings, he sits as one who has been lifted up high, high over positions and heads of all peoples and creatures. He's on that throne that is above every power and government. We think of the highest position of level of government in our land. They are in Ottawa and the different branches of that government. But there's a higher level of government, that of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though Joseph had carried him away from King Herod when he was a little baby, though he had submitted himself to the governor Pilate's interrogation, Now Herod and Pilate and every other power bows before Christ. He holds a rod of iron, Psalm 110 says. He holds a royal scepter, Psalm 45 says. And many crowns are upon his head. As priest, our king has accomplished a glorious salvation for us, being the one who is seated on the throne of majesty. He has set out, or sorry, he has finished the work that he had originally set out to do as a royal prince who's given a monumental assignment for the kingdom. And now has returned back to hear the Most High's approval. So Jesus Christ as well, born as a king, declared as a king, set out to do that task and has come back and the Most High has received him and set him on His throne, set Him at His right hand. Jesus Christ has returned, having suffered the miseries of this life below. He ministered to His people. He testified consistently and blamelessly of His Father. He resisted sin at every point. As a servant, He fully obeyed the will of Jehovah and laid down His life as an offering for sin. He did the work of a high priest. But that work's completed. And now he's received back. He's seated. That's what it means as well then. He's taken back. God would not take back his son if he had not completed that work which he was sent to do. But he's seated. And he's seated in a position of greatness and of glory. Of that of a king. A king who's been acknowledged as king. A king who's been honored and coronated. So we have a king and a priest on the throne. He's not a priest standing in the temple courtyard ministering here below, but he now rests from his work, it is finished, he's seated. As Scripture says, he was received up into glory. He was received into heaven. God is the one who's received him. God has granted him the right to enter heaven, and the Father shares his throne with him. As king, he defeated Satan and sin, and he reigns. He is a king's victory. As priest, he now presents us to his Father. His blood is sprinkled on her hearts, and the father smells the aroma of his son and is pleased. We come through a priest-king. Many people speak of Christ as their Savior, but do you realize how He is your Savior? It's because He operates within the offices of priest and king. So then, We see a priest upon the throne. A king is a priest and our priest is a king. The combining of these offices in Christ means that God's majesty then comes to us clothed in the priestly grace. It means His heavenly, high priestly work is clothed in majesty and power and authority. It's so confirm it in our minds and it's so elevate. Christ's mercy and grace to us. And the fact that he is a priest that also intercedes for us, and yet he does so as a king. What does that mean? When you point out that the word advocate, which is used of Christ's intercession, that that word means a powerful court friend who pleads for us before God Almighty. But how powerful is the one who intercedes for you daily? He is the universal King. That's who intercedes for you. That's who pleads on your behalf to God. And so the hand that extends to us our pardon, that gives to us grace and strength, that welcomes us, that hand has a signet ring of a king, and clothing its arm is a kingly garment. Christ's kingly majesty and priestly grace then gives us the confidence to come boldly unto the throne of grace, to find grace in the time of need. Throughout our troubles then, and the struggles that we have, this King knows because He's a priest. He sympathizes. His sympathy is not just, I know what you're going through, but I'm going to help you as you go through it. I'm going to give you all that you need because I stand before the face of my Father and before the face of your Father. And I'm going to speak to Him on your behalf. And He's going to give you strength. He's going to send forth the Spirit into your hearts. He's gonna give you peace as you go through. He's gonna arm you with power and strength to resist that sin. You see what kind of intercessor we have. One who's powerful, who's glorious, and one in who being seated at the Father's right hand, having been received by Him, the Father will never refuse Him. And so he'll never refuse you. We look and see Jesus Christ, son, and see the priesthood that he's received. And we see a glorious position that he's merited. We see, thirdly, the place where Jesus Christ ministered. We have such a high priest, the apostle said, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. Christ is referred to here also as the minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. Thus, a holy place is provided for him, the sanctuary. It's a holy place provided for him in which he has to do, which he does his ministry. The next verse speaks about the fact that the high priest, that the priest was to make offerings and sacrifice. that the high priest had to take an animal that was sacrificed outside the tabernacle and then take the blood of the sacrifice into the tabernacle, into the Holy of Holies. But Jesus Christ offered himself, and with the blood, he entered beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies, that is, into the very presence of God where God received him, and he ministers. He does not sleep on that throne. He ministers. He is active. He is active on behalf of the honor of His Father and for the blessing of His people. In order to present us faultless to His Father, in order to sanctify us, in order to keep us unspotted from sin and from the world and our pilgrimage through this world, He intercedes for us continually. And He does so in this sanctuary. It's not Herod's temple in Jerusalem where Christ does this. This is another. This is so much greater. People might say, yeah, but if he was in that temple, we could see him. But he goes much further, much higher. He goes into heaven, into the sanctuary. Literally, it's the holy place. He went into the holy of holies. Remember that Moses was to make a tabernacle according to the pattern that he saw on the mountains. See in verse five there, God revealed it to him. God showed him this pattern. Well, this was the pattern. It was the ministry of Christ Jesus. It was the blood from his offering. It was his intercession. It was his mercy seat. It was a throne. Moses saw that on the mountain. and in shadows and in types with earthly furniture. He was to represent that which he saw there. God gave him specific instructions how to do it. He didn't improvise. But nevertheless, it was the ministry of Christ before his father that was represented in the tabernacle. Tabernacle scene verse five was a shadowy form of it, not the brilliant splendor of the real thing. But Christ is one who's been set at the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens, a minister of the holy place and of the most of the holy of holies, the real thing. So there he is now. Our divine high priest, even right now, sitting on his royal mercy seat. And this is a true tabernacle. It's not made with human hands. It's not a place here on earth. It's not a mystic tent somewhere that's set up in some wilderness. It's not the walls of some special chapel somewhere, or church, or consistory room. No, it is the dwelling of God and of Christ. That's what's holy. That's what's sacred. That is sacred. And to that, our lives then are to be oriented. Our face should be looking that way because that's where Christ is right now. That's where our representative is. That's where the object of our faith is. Thus, our hearts are to be raised to heaven in worship since we worship God through Christ. It's spiritual worship to which we are called then. Not carnal, not fleshly, not of this world. It's by faith, not by sight. It's not by the sounds and sights and smells of the tabernacle. It's not worship. That's similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church or Eastern Orthodox where it's about worship of the whole body. They speak of that. And we can hear and smell and see it all, see pictures and we hear. That brings only earthly things to us. We don't need to decorate our buildings. We can worship anywhere. It's not the building that has significance. This is a sanctuary only in the sense that it is a place of worship. But it's not holy, and it's not sacred. It's drywall, concrete, wood, and glass, and that's it. Nothing spiritual about this building. We might rightly treat it with respect, because just like a courtroom, we want it to be associated with dignity, but it ought not to be revered nor worshiped. But we lift up our hearts on high, and we lay them before Christ Jesus, that he might minister unto us. We lift up our hearts to heaven, not to the roof of this building, but to heaven, where God is, where Christ Jesus is on our behalf. Fill us with your spirit, O Lord. Make us ready to conquer sin. Answer us from heaven, your dwelling place, and meet our earthly needs. We ought to be heavenly minded then, right? Since that is from where our priest king gives to us our daily necessities. You ask the Lord to forgive your sins, and that forgiveness comes from heaven. You ask the Lord to provide for you an income and food on your plates. He who hears is in the cathedral of God's presence, in the most holy place, and from there he answers. The congregation, our lives should be heavenly oriented. not just because our High Priestly King is there, but also because He is taking us there. He's preparing for us a place so that where He is, we might be too. He is our forerunner into that place, as Hebrews 6 says. He's gone before us by the The implication of that is that we will go after Him there as well. Everybody longs for some sort of heaven. Some place where there's an idea of happiness. There is eternity set in people's hearts and many people will speak of some sort of thing and religions hold out some idea, karma or whatever. This heaven, it does have fullness of joy. and life forevermore. There is light. There are treasures at God's right hand, the psalmist says. But it all comes through Jesus Christ. It is the place of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Who wants Him? Because He is the joy of heaven. He is its splendor. Only those who have loved Him and His ministry here in this life will be received into this heaven. Thus, congregation, every honor and position and privilege that is laid on Christ the Son brings us honor and privilege. Why should it be that you should have such a share in Christ's glories? And yet it is. Surely then this should awaken our faith in Him, shouldn't it? And we should seek a greater interest in Christ. We should look to Him. We should pray to Him in confidence and in humility. Let our worship then focus on Him. Let it be stripped of distraction. And let our lives look towards Him. Amen. Let's pray. O Lord our God, we praise You, O Lord, for Your wisdom, Your knowledge, Your righteousness, which was all revealed to us through Jesus Christ. In Him, O Lord, for in Him are hid all these treasures. Lord, we praise You that You have highly exalted Him that you have performed all that you set out to do, a glorious salvation, in which you have exalted and glorified your Son, and which, Lord, in which we are also raised up in Him, that we also partake of His glory and of His honor. Why should that be, O Lord? And yet you and your grace have united us to Him, so that where He is, we will be also. Heavenly Father, we pray then that the news of your glorious gospel, that the realities that are being worked out in Jesus Christ, that these would evoke within us praise and worship and love. Lord, it seems so much that at times we We feel we can't even begin to praise you and worship you. Lord, we can only do so as Christ intercedes for us and sends to us the spirit. We pray that you would send that spirit to us now. That we may lay down our hearts and our lives before you in worship. That we may sing of your grace and of your greatness. We pray, Heavenly Father, that we may go from here then, thinking and talking of all that you've done for us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.