[0:00] All right.
[0:22] Hebrews chapter 8. If you're looking for a title to keep notes, and just have it up there, a better kind of covenant. We've talked about Jesus being a better kind of priest. We've talked about Jesus being better in so many different things.
[0:35] The writer here is teaching the Hebrews, the Jewish people. Yes, we have our Jewish traditions, but Jesus is so much better. And I know it's kind of deep going through it as Paul, or not Paul, well, it could be Paul.
[0:53] Who knows who the writer of Hebrews is. But as they go through in their teaching, they're bringing in a lot of different things, and it's kind of a deep thing, but it's an interesting thing.
[1:07] In chapter 7, we did talk about Jesus being a better kind of priest. Why was he a better kind of priest? Let's see if you've been listening. He was a priest after which order?
[1:22] Order of Melchizedek. Order of Melchizedek. What made Melchizedek's order better than Aaron's order? No beginning and no end.
[1:34] No beginning and no end. If you go back to chapter 7, look at verse 3. It's talking about Melchizedek. And he says, talks about Melchizedek.
[1:45] Well, actually, let's look at verse 2. It says, To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. So Abraham was giving him tithes and offerings because he was superior.
[1:58] First being the interpretation king of righteousness, and then after also king of Salem, which is king of peace. He was a king of righteousness. He was a king of peace. Both titles used for Jesus.
[2:09] And then in verse 3, he says, And he was without father, without mother, without descent, without neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually, nieces.
[2:21] Melchizedek had all of those things. And we talked about the fact, was Melchizedek actually a pre-incarnate Jesus that Abraham was giving tithes and offerings to? Possibility.
[2:33] So Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. It's the only way he could be a priest because if he was after the order of Aaron, he was not a Levite. And so he could not be a priest in Israel because he wasn't a Levite.
[2:47] He was of the tribe of Judah, the kingly tribe. So he's going to be king and priest by using that Melchizedek order. So that was chapter 7. Now chapter 8, we have a new covenant that he's going to give to us.
[3:01] Matter of fact, the Old Testament predicted a new covenant was going to come. So it wasn't something that was just out of the blue. It was something that God had told him beforehand. There's going to be a new covenant that's going to come that you're going to live by.
[3:15] And because of Jesus' perfect sacrifice for sin, that new covenant comes into play. Animal sacrifices, remember, could only cover. Jesus comes, sheds his blood, dies for us, rises again from the dead, and washes sins away so they're not to be seen ever again.
[3:33] So, first thing this morning, Christ provides a better covenant. Look with me at verses 1 through 6 of chapter 8.
[3:44] Chapter 8, verses 1 through 6. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such an 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.
[4:04] For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, and that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.
[4:16] As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
[4:31] But now hath he ordained a more excellent ministry. By now also, much also, he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established unto better promises.
[4:46] What does all of that mean? Okay? We're going to take a look here in just a second. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I pray this morning that you would help us as we look at these patches of scripture here in chapter 8.
[4:59] Lord, we would understand what it is that you're saying here. We've learned that Jesus is better in so many ways. Lord, as we continue that thought this morning about a better covenant that he brought to us, better promises that he brought to us, Lord, I pray that you'd help us to understand and to grow in the fact that Jesus is the answer to everything.
[5:25] Jesus is the answer to all of the things that we have need of, all of the desires that we have that concerning heaven and an abundant life here on earth.
[5:38] Jesus is the answer. Lord, help us this morning to learn. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So, verse 1 kind of summarizes Jesus as the perfect priest.
[5:49] He's the superior to the Old Testament system. He didn't have a temporary ministry in an earthly tabernacle. He's going to have an eternal ministry seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.
[6:02] So, like Melchizedek, Christ was both a king, had an exalted position, and he was also a priest who would minister to us.
[6:15] He's a king, ruler of all, but he ministers to you and I to help us. And in Exodus chapter 25, you don't have to turn there, it's talking about the tabernacle.
[6:31] And in Exodus 25, beginning at verse 8, it says, And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them, according to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
[6:47] And he goes on to describe what the tabernacle is supposed to look like and the instruments to be used. And then you come down to chapter 25 of Exodus, verse 40, and it says, And look, that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.
[7:03] So, Moses is going to set up the tabernacle for Israel as they wander through the wilderness. He's going to set up a place for them to worship. He's going to set up a place for God to meet with them.
[7:16] Where did he get the ideas? Because God gave them to him. God says, This is what I want you to do. Take this pattern that I'm going to give you and set up the tabernacle and everything.
[7:28] And the people in Israel, you know, they wandered for 40 years in the desert, in the wilderness. And every time they stopped, they'd set up the tabernacle. And so they had a place.
[7:39] The tabernacle was a large tent where they had a place to worship. You know, as a better priest, Jesus also has a better tabernacle, a better sanctuary.
[7:56] Where's Jesus' tabernacle? In us. We're a temple, but also in heaven. Because where did Moses get the idea from?
[8:08] He showed him what he wanted him to have based on what they had in heaven. So he has a better tabernacle. He has a better, he's a better priest.
[8:18] He's going to give them a better covenant. I got thinking about this. I was saying, Well, God gave them the one in the Old Testament. We'll get into this, why it had to be replaced.
[8:29] But I was like, Well, if God gave them to him, why did they have to have a better one? But there was a reason. And we're going to see that as we go along. The tabernacle, one of the things is, notice in verse 2, The minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not men.
[8:51] Every time they moved, during their time in the wilderness, they had to take the tabernacle down, move wherever they were going, set the tabernacle up, got ready to move again, take it down, move wherever they were going, put it up again.
[9:06] They were constantly taking it up and down, up and down. God says we have an eternal one. Jesus is an eternal priest with an eternal sanctuary in the heavens for us.
[9:18] Why would that be better? It's a permanent thing. We know exactly where to go all the time. If I have a need, where do I go? Jesus. If I have a problem in my life, where do I go?
[9:32] I pray to Jesus, who is at the tabernacle there in heaven. It's a true tabernacle. It was the original symbol for the one in the Old Testament.
[9:45] Hebrews teaches that Jesus, new priesthood, new covenant, new sanctuary, new sacrifice, all of it better. So, a priest who's doing his priestly ministry offers sacrifices.
[10:00] Look at verse 3. It says, For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Wherefore, it is of necessity that this man has somewhat also to offer.
[10:15] What did the priest in the Old Testament offer? You'd bring animals in, they'd sacrifice those animals, and those animals' blood would be placed on the mercy seat, and it was a covering for your sin.
[10:28] You'd sinned, and you'd done things, you had to get it taken care of somehow. Here's an offering that covers your sin. Jesus, when he made his sacrifice of his life, did what?
[10:41] He washed them away. They're gone. They're not just covered over. They are gone. Those sins will never be brought up again. And so, Jesus was a better priest in the fact that he could do that.
[10:57] You look in verse, you're in chapter 8 there, look just back a couple of verses, chapter 7, verse 27. It says, Who needed 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.
[11:16] Remember that the priest had to go in, and they had to offer a sacrifice for themselves, first of all, because they were sinners. And so, they had to go in and offer a sacrifice for themselves before they could offer the sacrifice for you.
[11:29] They had to get themselves clean, and taken care of, before they could do it for you. He says, Jesus, who knew no sin, the Bible tells us, did it once. Cleaned it up.
[11:42] Taken away. Turn over to Acts, chapter 2. Hold your finger there in Hebrews, and turn back, to Acts, chapter 2. Just a few books back.
[12:01] Acts, chapter 2, verse 32. Acts 2, 32. It says, This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
[12:14] So, apostles are writing here, and he said, we all saw him after he rose. Verse 33. Therefore, being by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, now, which ye now see and hear.
[12:34] For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. He says, David was the king, the biggest king in Israel.
[12:46] He was the most famous king in Israel. He did more for Israel than anybody, but he's not sitting at the right hand of the Father. He says, but he did say, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit on my right hand.
[13:00] David says, the Lord, God, said unto my Lord, the one who reigns over me, sit on my right hand. He's talking about Jesus. Verse 35, until I make thy foes, thy footstool.
[13:19] Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, who was crucified, both Lord and Christ.
[13:30] He says, Jesus is the answer to everything. He is Lord. He is Christ. He's the Messiah. On the day of Pentecost, we're talking here, this is what Peter's talking about.
[13:44] Acts chapter 2, is Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost. And he's preaching about the resurrection. He's preaching about the exaltation of Jesus. Where was Jesus exalted to?
[13:56] Heaven. What does the resurrection of Jesus and his exaltation reveal about what we can be certain about? Jesus conquered death.
[14:08] Jesus rose to heaven. Jesus lived with no sin. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. And therefore, we can have those same opportunities because Jesus already did them.
[14:22] We're going to be sinners. We're born in sin. But we can have forgiveness of sin. And because we can have forgiveness of sin, we can go to heaven. We can spend time with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Spirit.
[14:36] We can be members of the household of God. Think about that. All because of Jesus coming and giving himself for us.
[14:49] If Christ was on earth living under the Levitical system, he wouldn't be qualified to be a priest. We've talked about that because he was of the wrong tribe.
[15:01] But because he's of that tribe of Melchizedek, he offered himself. He has that different order.
[15:12] It functions differently from a different location. So Christ is superior in so many ways. The tabernacle in Israel was an inferior copy.
[15:34] Chuck, you used to do a lot of things. Your job was to take the blueprint and make them as close as possible to what the architect had in mind.
[15:45] Right? Did you always get it exactly the way the architect had it? No. So, no. Moses and the people of Israel would have been the same.
[15:59] God says, here's what I want. Would they get it exactly right? Probably not. So it comes to a point where Jesus says, I'm going to go to earth. I'm going to make the sacrifice for them and I will then bring them to heaven to the tabernacle that I have where they will understand exactly what I wanted.
[16:18] You know, did it function? It did. Did it meet the need? It did for them. But Jesus says, I've got a better way. Look at verses 4 and 5 back in Hebrews chapter 8.
[16:32] Hebrews chapter 8, verses 4 and 5. 4. 4. 5. 6. 6. 7. 7. 8. 8.
[16:42] 9. 4.
[16:53] 8. 10.
[17:04] 9. 11. they had a shadow. You ever have see shadows? We've all seen shadows.
[17:17] You're standing there, the sun's shining, and you can see your shadow on the ground. It's your shape, but it doesn't have your eyes, your ears. It's a replica of you, but it doesn't have you. See, the tabernacle was kind of like that.
[17:36] Here's a replica of what we're supposed to have, but it's not quite Jesus himself. And so Jesus says, look, I've got a better thing for you, and because I have a better thing for you as a priest and as a tabernacle and all that, I also have a better covenant for you.
[17:56] And so God's going to give them a covenant to help them as they move on. Why did they need a different covenant? Why did they need a different covenant?
[18:09] Look with me in verses 7 through 13. Beginning of verse 7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
[18:20] For finding fault with them, he said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
[18:31] Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
[18:44] For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and write them in their hearts, and I shall be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
[19:00] Then they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all that know me from the least to the greatest.
[19:10] For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith a new covenant, he that hath made the first old, now that that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
[19:30] Why was there a need for a new covenant? Well, he says, look, first covenant, when I say covenant, I'm talking about a formal relationship with God.
[19:42] He says, look, we're going to establish a formal relationship. And God gave them the Ten Commandments, and God gave Moses other laws, and he says, this is what I want you guys to do. And this is how I want you to live.
[19:55] Now, as we've talked before, can we keep the Ten Commandments? Forget all the 626 laws the Pharisees had. Can we keep the Ten Commandments? No. And as I pointed out before, take one in ten.
[20:09] One says, I shall have no other gods before me. Do we have other gods before us? Yeah. It could be a car. It could be a job. It could be a person.
[20:22] It could be. We put people and things ahead of God sometimes. And one of the things I used to point out was Sunday mornings. We have a lot of Christians. Where are they?
[20:35] They're not here. I know there are other churches and everything, but there's a lot from our own church. Like, okay, where are they this morning? You know, other things have come up and become more important than being in the house of God.
[20:48] So we put other things ahead of God a lot of times. Number ten, thou shalt not covet. Anybody here who's never coveted something, ah, I wish I had that car, that guy's gut.
[21:01] Oh, did you see their house? Man, I'd like to have that house. Oh, whatever. You know, we covet. So we can even keep, you know, two out of the ten.
[21:17] And forget all the other ones that are in between. So he says, look, it's time for a new covenant. Ten commandments was given to Moses on two tablets of stone.
[21:29] Did you notice what it said here? I'm kind of messing up my notes here, but okay, I'll get there anyway. Did you notice what he said here? Verse 10. For this is a covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.
[21:44] I will put my laws into their mind and write them on their hearts. And they shall be to them, I shall be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
[21:56] He said, I'm not just writing them on stone and here you go, here's the law, you gotta keep them. He says, no. He says, I'm gonna come into your life. I'm gonna come into your heart.
[22:06] I'm gonna put them on your heart and in your mind and you're gonna think about what would God have me to do here? What would God want me to do? He's not just pointing out, you know, you gotta do this or don't do this and don't do this and don't do this.
[22:21] What would God have me to do? How should I live this way? What does God have for me? What does he want? And remember I told you he did this in the Old Testament.
[22:33] He told them that he was gonna make a new covenant. Go with me over to Jeremiah. Back in the Old Testament, toward the back of the Old Testament or toward the New Testament, whichever way you want to look at it.
[22:47] Jeremiah chapter 31. See if this doesn't sound familiar. Jeremiah 31, verse 31.
[23:01] Jeremiah 31, 31. He says, Behold, the days will come, saith the Lord, 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 that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord.
[23:24] They didn't pay attention, they didn't listen, they didn't follow his leadership. Verse 33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor or every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.
[24:02] He says, Look, there's going to be a new covenant and in that new covenant I'm going to put myself in your heart and mind. I'm going to be there.
[24:13] And he said, going on from that, I will be their God and I will take away their sin and I will remember it no more.
[24:24] He says, Look, I'm going to come in, I'm going to forgive, I'm going to cleanse, I'm going to make you different because I'm going to live inside you. He says, Here's the new covenant.
[24:38] You get me. You don't just get a list of rules, you just don't get a list of do's and don'ts, you get me. Wow. That's a pretty good swap.
[24:50] I'd much rather have God than have a list of do's and don'ts. When Christianity, a lot of times we try to reduce it down to do's and don'ts. God says, No, no, no.
[25:02] You get me. And based on the fact that you have me living within you, that should take care of what is right and what is wrong to do because you have me.
[25:13] God made this new covenant to help take care of the sin problem in our lives.
[25:30] Look at verse 12. For I, back in Hebrews chapter 8, back in Hebrews chapter 8, sorry. Look at verse 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
[25:47] So what is the basis of this new covenant he's giving to us? Jesus himself. He's the basis of it. He's the one who's going to take care of it. He's the one who's going to give us the covenant.
[25:59] He's the one who's going to enforce the covenant. He's the one who's going to take care of the covenant being in us. Did God bring a new covenant around because the people had mastered the other one?
[26:12] No. They failed so many times in keeping the other one. So he gives them a different one where he put all of the requirements for keeping it on himself.
[26:28] See, they used to have to make sacrifices and things for the sin and stuff. Jesus said, I'm going to become the sacrifice for sin. Whatever you do, I'm going to put it on me and I'm going to take care of it and I'm going to cleanse you of it if you trust me and live for me.
[26:47] So he spoke about a new covenant and he says that first covenant became old. Look at verse 13. In that he saith, a new covenant he hath made the first old now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
[27:09] He says, I'm taking that other one and I'm getting rid of it. I'm going to give you a new one. What do you do with old things in your house that become obsolete?
[27:21] What did you say? Burn them on the burn pile. Steve says you hang on to them and some people do that.
[27:32] You know, I can't use it anymore. It's not any good but you know, someday we might be able to use this again. By the way, if you're interested, he has a dump truck for sale.
[27:46] So if you're interested, put a plug in for you, Steve. You either do that, you set it aside, hopefully so you can use it again someday or you put it on the burn pile and get rid of it.
[28:02] There's two options there. What was happening is instead of getting rid of it, the Jewish people were trying to hang on to. Matter of fact, this morning when we talk about the morning service from Galatians, we're going to talk about the fact that they tried to hang on to.
[28:22] Jesus came, he gave his life for them, he went to the cross, he died, he rose again, he cleansed sin, had a way for sin to be completely wiped out of your life as far as being forgiven of it and they kept trying to bring Jewish tradition and things back into it and what this guy, writer of Hebrews is saying, no, get rid of it, it's gone.
[28:51] You have Jesus, what else do you need? God makes all the difference in our life. See, God had given them a better covenant, a better relationship with him.
[29:06] He says, don't hold on to all those things. He said, Christ, you're moving forward. You hang on to the traditions of the Jewish religion, you're going backwards. He said, Jesus made all the difference.
[29:18] He replaced the old with the new. Follow the new is what he's going to do. We'll talk more about this next week. Okay? Let's pray.
[29:29] Father, again, God said, God lifestyle is what he's going to do with the new路.
[29:49] Let me travel with the new the new to the new the new who's going to do the new on the other. Hefly, Hefly, he discovered Ele