0:00
hello good morning and uh welcome back to our study of the book of hebrews today we are going to look at chapter
0:06
eight and only cover verses one through six now um if you were here last week we
0:14
discussed uh some very important things about uh jesus and his ministry that was likened to that of melchizedek but
0:21
before i talk about my intro uh this is to me this is the time of the year that
0:27
i don't like the most because it's getting dark early and as you can see uh the lighting here is kind
0:34
of a little bit like somber that's because it's it's like 5 30 in the morning and it's still dark outside
0:40
and i don't really like this time of the year but uh god made the seasons and we
0:46
are to be uh productive whether in season or narcissism so it
0:51
doesn't matter you know god is in control and god is sovereign so i hope that you have a great week so now
0:58
let's go back to my intro and talk about uh what we talked about we discussed last week in the book of um hebrews so
1:06
in the second part of chapter seven we saw that jesus was likened to melchizedek the high priest of god
1:12
introduced in genesis 14. and his ministry uh in the scripture was
1:17
presented as being endless and god we saw that purposely introduced on this mysterious figure in the old
1:24
testament to prepare his people and us for the coming of his son whose priestly
1:29
order was going to be after this melchizedek okay and we also saw that perfection and
1:35
when i say perfection i'm not talking about uh being perfect i'm talking about god's work of salvation being complete
1:43
and that the god's work of salvation could not be made conflict under the leviticus
1:48
priesthood because of the weakness of the law and the priests and if we if you
1:54
were here in chapter five we discussed how the priests sometimes were weak um
1:59
because they were being made they were weakened by their own sinful nature and they were sometimes callous if you go to
2:05
first samuel chapter one and two we read about eli the high priest who
2:11
uh when when henna came to make her petitions before the lord he he thought of her as a drunken woman that's because
2:18
his mind at the time wasn't he wasn't compassionate he didn't have compassion because he couldn't really relate to this woman and he treated her like she
2:25
was nothing and she was useless he actually called her a worthless woman
2:30
and she she complained about it she said do not take your servant as being a worthless woman for i've been here
2:36
pouring out my soul before the lord because i was supposed to be talking to you because you were the high priest but
2:42
eli as we saw we see in chapter in samuel eli and his sons were a little
2:47
bit corrupted okay his sons were not role models they actually desecrated the
2:52
sacrifices of god and that was a recurring thing with the the the high priest under the levites uh under the
3:00
leviticus priesthood because some of them just were colors and and we saw how
3:05
weak that system was because even under the old system we talked about how uh sins could not be washed
3:12
away they were only people were only declared uh ceremonially claimed so chapter seven focus on the necessity and
3:19
and the reason why jesus work on the cross was essential and necessary for the completion of the redemptive
3:25
purposes of god and then finally we we saw that because his life is endless
3:31
jesus has also replaced the levite he has completely replaced them he has
3:37
surpassed them and he has replaced them because his life is endless and we also saw that he was the perfect high priest
3:45
on behalf of man and in service to god because he is sinless he is unstained he is separated from
3:52
sinners not isolated but separated because he's set apart and he's innocent
3:58
and he is exalted above the heavens because we saw in chapter one that after making purification for sins he sat down
4:05
at the right hand of the majesty on high and we also discussed the fact that
4:11
because jesus was after melchizedek and because he was of the tribe of judah he
4:16
couldn't be high priest if you were on earth so therefore the law had to change
4:21
for jesus to be accepted as a high priest because under the law only levites were allowed to be high priest
4:28
so therefore the change in priesthood basically meant that there was a change
4:33
in the law as well so that's what we were talking about now in in chapter 8
4:40
the writer is going to cement his argument he's not going to say listen this is the kind of high priest that we
4:45
have and i'm telling you he is basically i'm not saying me but he's telling them to
4:50
pretty much uh turn away from the old system and embrace the new okay these were people
4:56
the people that he was talking to were going through persecution and for them they wanted to hold on to something so they were being tempted to
5:03
go back to the old system under which they could go to an actual sanctuary and
5:08
offer uh their lames and and then the priest will intercede for them so they wanted to go back to that to avoid the
5:14
persecution and we also do that in our own lives when sometimes instead of going to god directly
5:21
we want to go through a little fabrications okay other signs that we make whatever we make whatever it is
5:27
that you use as a substitute is over with so that's what the writer is saying here so now we're gonna look
5:33
at verses one through six and we're going to see how he's going to begin to introduce uh the better promises of the
5:40
new covenant now we're not going to talk about the the better covenant today but we are going to he's going to the
5:45
argument that he's going to be discussing is going to lead up to that okay so let's go and read verses 1
5:51
through 6 of hebrews chapter 8 now listen to the word of god
5:58
now the point in what we are saying is this we have such a high priest one who is
6:05
seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven a minister in the holy places in the
6:13
true tent that the lord set up not man for every high priest is appointed to
6:20
offer gifts and sacrifices thus it is necessary for this priest also
6:25
to have something to offer now if we are on earth he will not be a
6:30
priest at all since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law
6:36
they serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things for when moses was about to erect the
6:43
tent he was instructed by god saying see that you make
6:49
everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain but as it is christ has obtained a
6:57
ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant immediate
7:04
is better since it is enacted on better promises
7:10
this is the word of god now what is the writer trying to tell us today in those
7:15
verses this is what we're going to be looking at so basically uh
7:21
verse 1 through 2 read now the point in what we are saying is this
7:27
we have such a high priest one was seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven a minister in
7:34
the holy places in the true tenth that the lord set up not man so basically he has been giving them
7:42
bullet points after bullet points about jesus and his priestly order after the order of melchizedek
7:48
okay so now he's saying the application of everything that i've said to you in chapter seven
7:54
comes in chapter eight he begins those verses by saying listen i've said all these things to you in
8:00
chapter seven what i'm trying to say to you is this this is the kind of high priest that we have
8:05
so the writer is saying that his reason for his earlier argument is very clear jesus is seated
8:12
at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven not on earth but in heaven so let that sink in for a little
8:19
bit okay now he's talking to guys that are listening to these words for the first time see we've listened to this
8:25
over and over for them this was something new okay because they after an earthly tabernacle where they could go to now
8:32
he's telling them listen the new high priest that we have that i've told you about is seated
8:38
not on earth but in the heavenly realms because he has passed through the heavens he is sitting at the tone of the
8:44
majesty on high this is where i want you to put your gaze on that's why he's telling his readers so he ministers
8:51
jesus in the actual tabernacle of god in the heavenly places
8:57
the one built by god himself not an earthly one that was defiled by man's
9:03
hands see that's what he's trying to tell him listen stop going to the temple
9:09
stop going there because yes it's not going to help you anymore because what we have now is a high priest that is
9:16
actually in the actual tabernacle he is in the tabernacle that god himself has
9:22
built not the one that they built on earth okay not that that replica one but the actual tabernacle so he's basically
9:31
encouraging his readers to completely turn away from the old system once and
9:36
for all because it is obsolete it is useless and can do absolutely nothing
9:43
for them all right so this is not like a theoretical thing he's not just saying listen imagine that you're you are in
9:50
the tabernacle in heaven now this is actually where things are taking place in heavenly realm okay jesus is actually
9:58
is really seated at the right hand of god it is a reality it's not something that's just
10:03
theoretical it's not something that's just an imagination of our mind now as we saw in chapter one
10:09
after making purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on her he literally sat down
10:16
this is where he is because god glorified his humanity and he see and then god seated him at
10:22
his right hand where he ministers and intercedes for mankind that's where jesus is and this is what
10:28
he was trying to convey to his reader saying listen i've said all these things in chapter seven but now i'm gonna give you the climax of
10:35
everything that i've told you jesus is actually seated in that heavenly place this is where he is and he's actually
10:41
there okay again you gotta read uh when you read these verses
10:47
trying to think about what those guys were listening to and trying to think about what they were thinking they had the high priest they had the
10:54
old system and that worked for them for a long time this is all they had so now the writer is not telling them
11:00
listen i want you to turn away from that there's going to be resistance because that's all they've been used to and they
11:06
are being persecuted now they may have made a profession of faith in the beginning but because of the persecution
11:11
they were going back because that was more convenient for them so he's telling them no turn away from me because i'm
11:17
going to give you argument after argument based on the scripture to show you that the old system is done with
11:24
now the question is do i really believe that this is the reality that we have in jesus
11:30
the high priest after the order of melchizedek okay if i believe it do i live in the reality of that truth
11:38
because we can all say it yeah jesus is seated at the right hand of god in the majesty
11:43
on eye but do you believe that and if you do believe that do you live in the reality of where he seated peter
11:50
tells us cast all your burdens upon him for he cares for you do you live in that
11:56
reality do i live in that reality when i have something that's going on in my opinion do i go to the lord
12:02
or do i try to figure out other ways to get my problem solved now i don't just go to god because i have problems
12:09
but you want to fellowship you want to have fellowship with god because of jesus because because of who he is
12:15
our sister was talking i was listening to one of his sermons and he said yes we love god
12:21
because of all that he's done he has done for us but do we love jesus simply because of
12:27
who he is because he's the perfect perfect human being
12:33
okay god took upon the flesh so in jesus we have everything that we need because
12:38
he is worthy of our praise and our worship now think about the most perfect person
12:45
that you know there's none like that but he is the most perfect being so we worship him because of who he is this is
12:51
why we want to worship because of who he is not because of what he has done only
12:57
but because of who he is okay so that's just a point that i wanted to
13:02
make through this now in verses three to five we read the following again let's listen
13:09
let's try and capture what the writer is trying to show here he's he has a logical argument okay he goes for every
13:16
high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices thus it is necessary for
13:22
this priest also to have something to offer now if he if he were on earth he would
13:29
not be a priest at all since there are priests who offer gifts according to the
13:34
law deserve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things for when moses was about
13:40
to erect the tent he was instructed by god saying see that you make
13:46
everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain see we have again to recall the
13:52
background to this letter and do our best to follow on the writer's logic he was addressing
13:58
again like i say people who were being persecuted because of their belief in jesus and they were being tempted to go
14:04
back to the old system to avoid being the persecution so he writes this letter
14:10
to prove to them that the old system is over with which i mentioned earlier so
14:15
he has just presented in chapter 7 that jesus has replaced the old system because he is a high priest after the
14:22
order of melchizedek whose life is endless and whose ministry is endless so but for his readers this may just sound
14:29
like something theoretical which i mentioned earlier okay now the levite the thing is they actually had an
14:35
earthly tabernacle it was real people could go there in times of need they could actually go it was a physical
14:42
place that they could see and experience right so the writer is anticipating that
14:47
his readers might be wrestling with the location of jesus tabernacle because
14:52
they are probably sitting there listening to all the words that he's saying he's saying listen yeah you've told us jesus in the heavenly realm you
14:59
told us all of this you told us about how he he has replaced the levites but we don't know where he is we can't see
15:06
him like you're saying all these beautiful things but we cannot see him physically
15:11
we want to hold on to something where is he he's only he's already mentioned that
15:17
jesus is in the heavenly places he has passed through the heavens so now he's going to develop his point a little more
15:23
okay so he's saying to his readers listen the levite as we saw in chapter five were appointed for one purpose and
15:30
the purpose if you go back to verses one two three of chapter five the scripture says
15:35
for every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men
15:41
in relation to god thus their main purpose to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins
15:49
he can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward since he himself is beset with weakness
15:55
because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins just as he
16:01
does for those other people so that was one of the main function of the high priest
16:06
to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins and he the the higher priest had to be
16:12
pretty much compassionate with the ignorant and wayward and we talked about how willful disobedience
16:19
for willful disobedience there was no atonement for that there was nothing for it god made no provisions for such sins
16:25
okay so the high priest could be had to be compassionate and he offered gifts and sacrifices for sins
16:32
and since this was the case with the levite jesus also had to certainly offer
16:37
something somewhere now where is he okay and what he offered
16:43
was his life he died on the cross for our sins and where he offered it is in the actual
16:49
tabernacle of god erected in the heavenly realms by god himself okay and
16:55
we sing usually worthy is the lamb that was slain for us god
17:01
provided a lame the lamb of god which abraham even makes a reference to in
17:08
where he goes to sacrifice isaac and isaac says father where's the lamb and he said what
17:13
god will provide god made a provision for us so that we can have access into the heavenly places and then we talked
17:21
about last week we talked about when jesus died the curtain was taught was torn from top to bottom
17:28
thus indicating that god had made now provision and the holy of holies was
17:34
accessible to men okay that that was all symbolic because the tabernacle on earth
17:39
was was supposed to serve as a copy okay now if you go to um romans 1 verse 1 to 3 the scripture
17:47
shows that jesus satisfied the wrath of god because let's re let's read the verse here in romans 1 verse 1 23 listen
17:54
to what the scriptures say paul a servant of christ jesus called to be an apostle set apart for
18:01
the gospel of god which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures
18:07
concerning his son who was descended from david according to the flesh and was declared to be the son of god
18:14
listen to this and was declared to be the son of god in power according to the spirit of holiness by
18:20
his resurrection from the dead jesus christ our lord
18:25
so that's one point that the writer's saying is making here he's saying that jesus ministers in the heavenly places
18:32
he's talking to his readers you want to know where his location is yes his location is in heaven the actual place
18:39
the actual place where the tabernacle of god is erected not on earth because on earth he could not be
18:46
a what a priest because of what because he was not of the tribe of levi so he had to be his
18:52
his ministry had to be done somewhere else and that somewhere else was in heavenly places and what he
19:00
offered was his own life for our lives for us because he was the substitute
19:06
for us we sinned and god fought upon him all his wrath okay
19:12
now he takes on this in in verses four let's listen to what verse four says here verse four to five we're gonna read
19:18
those again he goes he says in verse 4 now if if he were on
19:25
earth meaning jesus would not he would not be a priest at all since there are priests who offer gifts
19:31
according to the law they serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things for
19:36
when moses was about to erect the tent he was instructed by god saying see that
19:41
you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain see
19:46
jesus tabernacle could not be an earthly one since he was not of the tribe of libra as we saw just now
19:53
so it would have been impossible for his tabernacle to be on our side of eternity that would have been an impossible thing
19:58
because according to the law he could not be a priest because he was none of the tribe of levi so we saw that
20:04
the law itself had to change for jesus to be a priest okay so his tabernacle was not an earthly one
20:11
but a heavenly one okay in the heavenly places where god is actually uh has
20:16
established and that's far superior so again the right has shown that jesus has completely
20:22
obliterated the levites okay and he gives reasons uh
20:27
for the earthly tabernacle he shows that the levites and their tabernacles were actually appointed by god for what
20:33
purpose to point to jesus they served as a copy and a shadow of things to come
20:39
of the heavenly things okay they were a replica version of the heavenly tabernacle that's what they were
20:45
supposed to be doing the levites main purpose was to point us to the heavenly tabernacle and that's
20:52
why he's telling his readers listen these levites were here for for a period of time
20:58
they were supposed to you be used by god to point
21:03
us and the readers to jesus they were supposed to serve as an image
21:08
of the real thing okay they were just an image of the real thing they were just supposed to be a representation of what
21:15
goes on in the heavenly places so you can see his readers are beginning to soak in and these all these truths and
21:21
say okay we see what's going on see but people got caught up with the replica instead of looking into the rail
21:28
and that's what happens to all of us most of the time we get caught up with what we can touch and feel and and then
21:33
we don't actually see so we we pray to god so that he opens the ass of our heart to see that jesus
21:39
is actually in the real place the one what we have that is like in front of us the physical one is just
21:46
what a representation of what goes on and now it's the same thing with churches
21:51
the church now is the house of god we call the church the house of god because we are going into the house of god the
21:57
church serves just as a what i said i said i said replica because we go there
22:02
to worship but when we worship that we are actually worshiping in the heavenly places so this is why when we go into the house of
22:08
god the church we need to come correct we are so cavalier about the way we come
22:15
into the holy the holy places like you come to church we have no reference at all because we've seen we
22:22
are seeing this thing and we say oh this is just a church these are just views this is just a podium this is just uh so
22:28
we don't have a sense of the holy if we truly knew that when we came that
22:34
we were worshiping that we were actually entering the holy of holies where god is seated in jesus
22:41
at his right hand i mean we will not be so cavalier so that's what he's trying to tell his readers here listen
22:47
listen the place where you're actually going is the heavenly place where jesus is seated at the right hand of god
22:54
so keep your mind on that so and then the writer proves his point by disclosing a conversation between
23:01
moses and god and that seals his argument in exodus 25 40 and god gave
23:08
instructions to moses on how to build the sanctuary the tabernacle and in
23:13
verse 40 we read the following verse the scripture says and see that you
23:19
make them after the pattern after the pattern for them which is
23:24
being shown you on the mountain i will read the verse correctly in verse 40 we read the following in
23:31
exodus 25 listen to the scripture and see that you make them after the
23:36
pattern for them which has been shown you on the mountain so basically god is
23:42
giving some serious warning to moses he's saying listen build this tabernacle build this
23:49
sanctuary according to the pattern that i showed you the real one so basically the earthly
23:55
one was just a replica of what the real thing was so now the argument of the writer is so
24:02
clear he's giving them his punchline he's saying listen you think i'm playing do you think i'm
24:08
fabricating these things god himself gave instructions to moses about he
24:13
stopped an occult in heaven see he was basically saying to moses
24:20
build this according to what i've showed you so this earthy tabernacle was it's just an inferior one and it's just a copy and
24:27
a shadow of the real one so long before the levites were even appointed to serve in an earthly
24:34
tabernacle god showed that the actual real tabernacle is in heavenly places and this is where
24:40
jesus is actually ministering now do you see how he's progressed progressing in
24:45
his argument he's saying listen we actually have such a high priest you guys have no idea where he is
24:52
serving and i'm about to and i'm about to prove it to you this is what the writer is saying he is seated
24:58
at the right hand of god this is where he is in the actual tabernacle the one that was shown to
25:04
moses on the mountain moses that you guys respect moses understood that and
25:09
if moses understood that you guys better better pay attention so you see where
25:15
he's going where he's going with this so what a wonderful and powerful truth now can you imagine how these believers
25:21
received these words this was like a revolutionary this meant that the earthly tabernacle was actually weak
25:28
and he was going to be useless and eventually he was obsolete he was done
25:34
because he's saying quit wasting your time going to this place it's not going to help you
25:39
look to jesus he is superior to the levites because his ministry is endless he's sinless
25:45
innocent unstained separated from sinners and he's compassionate as we read in
25:51
hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 to 16 come to the throne of grace with confidence see
25:56
the people couldn't even go into the holy of holies under the levites they had to be at the outskirts they
26:02
couldn't even get in only the high priest was allowed there once a year now we actually have a place where we
26:08
can go and he's in the heavenly places the tabernacle of god so why do we like the substitutes
26:14
that's what he's trying to show them and us today okay
26:20
and and uh let's read the last portion we're gonna go to verse six but as it is
26:26
christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as
26:32
the covenant immediate is better since it is enacted on better promises
26:38
so again jesus ministry as we saw in the earlier chapters is superior to that of the levites because he rests on a
26:47
covenant with better promises now we are going to talk about those promises next week as we look at the last
26:53
portions of this chapter 8. see moses as we saw was the mediator of
26:59
the old covenant okay he received the law and all the practices but unfortunately the law could not impart
27:08
life because he made nothing perfect on the contrary sin took advantage of
27:13
the law by deceiving mankind and us and work working in us all manners of evil
27:19
so if you go to romans 7 verse 7 to 14 listen to what the scripture says here listen to the scripture what then shall
27:26
we say that the law is sin by no means yet if it had not been for the law i would
27:33
not have known sin for i would not have known what is to covet if the law had not said you shall not covet
27:40
but sin seizing an opportunity through the commandment produced in me
27:47
all kinds of covetousness for apart from the lord sin lies dead
27:52
i was once alive apart from the lord but when the commandment came sin came alive and i died the very
28:00
commandment that promised life prove proved to be death to me
28:05
for sin ceasing an opportunity through the commandment deceived me and through it
28:12
killed me so the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and
28:18
good the that which is good then bring death to me by no means it was sin producing
28:25
death in me through what is good in order that sin might be shown to be sin and through the commandment might become
28:32
sinful beyond measure for we know that the law is spiritual but i am of the flesh sold under sin see the law itself
28:40
was supposed to point us to jesus because the law itself could not save us
28:45
he received from these verses that the law was powerless to save mankind moreover
28:51
the priests that were supposed to be intercessors between mankind and god were also weakened by their own sinful
28:58
nature so under the old system sins could not be washed away people were only declared ceremonially clean
29:05
i've been saying this over and over and over again so you can understand it so the old system was utterly weak
29:12
okay but jesus is the founder of our salvation the pioneer of a new way that
29:18
rests on better promises we are going to talk about his promises next week okay we are told to come boldly to the
29:25
throne of grace so we have a high priest who has passed through the heavens
29:30
the right is now progressing in his argument and he's going to show that the old covenant was in indeed established
29:37
as a temporary one because it was weak and then he's going to show on the the better clauses of the new
29:44
covenant as we look at uh the rest of this portion from verse 7 through 12. but today all the all that we've picked
29:50
up and all that we've learned is he's now showing his readers that this is the kind of high priest that we have we have
29:56
this this kind of high priest in jesus and he ministers in the heavenly places he doesn't minister in an earthly
30:02
tabernacle that was defiled by man but he serves in the real
30:07
tabernacle so how does that apply to us today see to the readers at the time it was
30:14
revolutionary it was something that they had never heard before because they were used to the old
30:20
covenant again we are not jewish but reading these these things just put
30:26
yourself in that position like like you were a flyer on the wall there listening to these words like how would
30:32
that resonate with you and it does apply to us to some extent today because we
30:38
can easily fall in love with our churches and we can easily say well i need to go to pastor such and such i need to go to
30:43
this pastor because i know this pastor can help me of course the pastor is supposed to entertain for he can pray
30:48
for you but they are told to counter the throne of grace directly
30:54
to come to jesus himself now we have like friends fellowshipping with other believers is great because when we pray
31:01
together is always better but don't ever allow anybody else
31:08
to become a substitute for you because jesus is the one he's worthy of our prison we talked about how why he's
31:14
worthy of our praise because of who he is not because of what he has done only but because of who he is
31:22
so we are told to come to the throne of grace because the new covenant is built on better promises and next
31:30
week we're going to talk about those promises don't miss that because that's so important like i thought i understood these things
31:35
until i read it last week i was like wow this is incredible what god has done in jesus is incredible
31:43
but because of our own sinful nature we don't fall in love with with that because of
31:50
our own limitations we are so tainted by saying that even good news like okay we
31:55
we we are looking different it's like oh yeah yeah god did this with us that's that's great
32:01
no it is incredible and i wish my emotions and every answer
32:07
of my being could be stirred when i read those words of of what god has done in the new
32:12
covenant in jesus it's incredible so this is why we worship jesus because
32:18
it's just amazing that god we will live in what is man that you are mindful of him the son of man
32:24
you've made him a little lower than the angels and you've crowned with glory i mean this is incredible because god this is how much god loves
32:31
his creation so when people sit there and talk about how god hates he hates because he's
32:38
righteous but he has also made provision he didn't have to save any of us but he did it because he's a good god
32:45
and he saved the remnant and if he has saved you and he has brought you out of death into life you should be forever
32:52
grateful and thankful because you didn't have to i wrestle with that myself i'm like well
32:57
you know so what is everything it means everything
33:03
and i pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened so you can see the greatness of jesus
33:10
and the love that god has poured to his creation through jesus the new
33:16
covenant and its promises so that's what we're going to talk about next week so i hope you come back for it okay have a
33:22
wonderful day and i'll see you next monday god willing thank you