A More Excellent Ministry

October 27, 2019 · Hebrews

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Series · Hebrews · Week 28 of 69

Scripture referenced 12 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Psalm 34 basis for the opening song, taste and see that the Lord is good

1 I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
3 Oh magnify Yahweh with me. Let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought Yahweh, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
6 This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
12 Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies.
14 Depart from evil, and do good. seek peace, and pursue it.
15 Yahweh’s eyes are toward the righteous. His ears listen to their cry.
16 Yahweh’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
20 He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22 Yahweh redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.

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Psalm 51:12

quoted as an honest prayer, restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.

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Hebrews 2:17

Jesus had to be made like his brothers and sisters to become a merciful and faithful high priest to make propitiation for sins

17 Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.

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Hebrews 3:1

dear brothers and sisters, think carefully about Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and high priest

1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus;

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Hebrews 1:3

Jesus is the radiance of God's glory, exact representation of his nature, who made purification of sins and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high

3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

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Hebrews 8:1-13

the main sermon text, the more excellent ministry of Christ as high priest and mediator of a better covenant

1 Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this. We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2 a servant of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.

4 For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, “See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”

6 But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law.

7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

8 For finding fault with them, he said, “Behold, the days come”, says the Lord, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;

9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them,” says the Lord.

10 “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, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

11 They will not teach every man his fellow citizen, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from their least to their greatest.

12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.”

13 In that he says, “A new covenant”, he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.

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Exodus 25:40

quoted to show Moses was told to make all things according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain

40 See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.

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Exodus 25:8-9

God commanded Israel to construct a sanctuary according to the pattern of the tabernacle he would show Moses

8 Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

9 According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.

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Jeremiah 31

longest Old Testament quote in the New Testament, cited in full to describe the new covenant God will write on hearts

1 “At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

2 Yahweh says, “The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.”

3 Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.

4 I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry.

5 Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and will enjoy its fruit.

6 For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’”

7 For Yahweh says, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, ‘Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’

8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company.

9 They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’

11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

12 They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all.

13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance; the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh.

15 Yahweh says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”

16 Yahweh says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded,” says Yahweh. “They will come again from the land of the enemy.

17 There is hope for your latter end,” says Yahweh. “Your children will come again to their own territory.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be turned; for you are Yahweh my God.

19 Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.

21 “Set up road signs. Make guideposts. Set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went. Turn again, virgin of Israel. Turn again to these your cities.

22 How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman will encompass a man.”

23 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I reverse their captivity: ‘Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’

24 Judah and all its cities will dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

26 On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

27 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of animal.

28 It will happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant,” says Yahweh.

29 “In those days they will say no more, “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.

31 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 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 covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.

33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

35 Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name, says:

36 “If these ordinances depart from before me,” says Yahweh, “then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.”

37 Yahweh says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they…

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Hebrews 7:11

if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, what further need for another priest after the order of Melchizedek

11 Now if there were perfection through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people have received the law), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

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Psalm 51:11

David pleaded that God would not remove the Holy Spirit from him

11 Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.

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Romans 12:2

benediction, do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind

2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

The pastor opened Hebrews 8:1-13 by naming the section's declared main point: we have a high priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of God in the heavens. That single claim, he said, is what the entire argument of the letter has been building toward, and what the rest of Hebrews will continue to unfold.

What was said

The sermon began by establishing what "main point" means in Hebrews 8. When the author writes "the main point of what has been said is this," the pastor noted that the Greek word is closer to "the head of it all." Everything from Hebrews 2:17 forward, Jesus described as merciful and faithful high priest, has been circling this claim. Three one had already called the congregation to "carefully consider" Jesus as apostle and high priest, and that verb carries the force of resolving a question all the way through to a firm conclusion.

The location of this high priest matters, the pastor argued. Jesus is not serving in an earthly temple. He is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, ministering in the true tabernacle that the Lord pitched, not man. This is why, if Jesus were on earth, he would not qualify as a priest at all. He is from the tribe of Judah, not Levi, and the law reserves that office for Levites. The point is not a problem to be solved but a contrast to be felt: the Levitical priests are still going through their motions in a copy and a shadow, while Jesus ministers in the reality those shadows pointed toward.

That pattern of copy and shadow was always intentional, the pastor said. When God told Moses on the mountain to build the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to him, God was giving Moses a representation of something true and heavenly. The earthly sanctuary was always meant to point beyond itself. So when the author of Hebrews quotes Exodus 25 and calls the Levitical service a copy, he is not insulting it. He is saying it did exactly what a copy does: it directed attention toward the original.

What Jesus has obtained, then, is a more excellent ministry, and it is more excellent precisely because he is the mediator of a better covenant enacted on better promises. The pastor defined mediator as one who makes peace between parties who are at war. The old covenant was external and static, a set of rules that could identify sin but could not help anyone keep from sinning. Paul himself, the pastor noted, says in Romans that the law against coveting only made him want everything he did not have. The covenant was not faultless, which is exactly why God sought occasion for a second one.

The evidence for that second covenant comes from the longest Old Testament quotation in the entire New Testament, Jeremiah 31, which the pastor read in full. He pointed out that Jeremiah wrote this during the divided kingdom, when Israel and Judah were estranged from each other, yet God promised a new covenant with both houses. The covenant God announced through Jeremiah is different in kind from the one made at Sinai. Rather than laws written on stone and administered externally, God said he would put his law within his people, write it on their hearts, be their God, and remember their sins no more. The pastor observed that Jeremiah delivered this word for forty years to people who rejected him completely, yet he kept looking forward to what God had promised.

The writer of Hebrews, the pastor said, latches onto one word from that whole quotation: "new." When God called it a new covenant through Jeremiah, he rendered the first obsolete. The pastor compared it to the old projection screens still hanging in the room, pointing toward the newer, brighter displays that have replaced them. The old was not worthless; it was always pointing somewhere. But what it pointed to has now arrived, and going back to serve only a copy and a shadow when the reality is present is what the author of Hebrews is warning his readers against.

The pastor closed by tying the internal and external contrast to something concrete. He described taking cold medicine that morning and said that all the external remedies, the warm compress, the routine, the habit, only go as far as they penetrate. The medicine Carl brought him worked because he took it in. The new covenant operates the same way. God says that he will write his law on hearts, that his Spirit will indwell all who humble themselves and believe. Putting faith in Jesus initially saves, the pastor said, and putting faith in him day after day sanctifies. The benediction came from Romans 12:2, with a prayer that God would do the transforming work from the inside out, by his Spirit, his word, and his will.

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Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The pastor described the new covenant as internal and dynamic rather than external and static. What does that difference look like in your own daily experience of following Christ?
The sermon pointed out that the Levitical priests were still going through their temple routines even as this letter was being written, and the writer of Hebrews warns the readers not to go back to serving a copy and a shadow. In what ways are we tempted to settle for an external, go-through-the-motions faith instead of the real thing?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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0:00 Alright. We're on. Good morning, everybody. How are you? Good morning.

0:04 Cold. Yes. Well, welcome. Glad you're here. Hey, would you stand, with me and and we'll sing together.

0:11 This song comes right out of Psalm 34. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him. Alright. I sought the Lord.

0:30 I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from everything. Those who look on him. Our radio will never be ashamed. Never be ashamed. And this poor man cried, and the Lord heard me and saved me from my enemies.

1:11 The son of God surrounds his saints and we'll deliver them. We'll deliver them. Magnify. Magnify

2:00 Alright. Let's taste and see.

2:04 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, blessed is he who hides in him. Oh, fear the Lord. Oh, walk you sayings,

3:07 And let us bless the Lord. Let's sing that part. And let

3:12 us bless the Lord every day, night, never ending praise. May our insins rise again and let us bless the Lord every day night, and ever ending praise. May our insins rise and let us bless the Lord every day and night ever ending praise. May our insins rise magnify them lord in me.

4:32 Y'all can have a seat. We have a few announcements this morning. I feel like we stopped doing this to do this. The announcements, is this your favorite part of the sermon? Is this your favorite part of the morning?

4:47 Let's just get through the announcements. Let's kill the announcements if we can. I'm trying my best. Will y'all read your bulletins? Can we skip the announcements?

4:53 Would y'all stand back up and let's think?

4:55 But could I do have one tomorrow.

4:57 Oh, you got one for tomorrow. Okay. We gotta

4:58 do this.

4:59 I do. They are important kind of.

5:00 Okay. They're important.

5:01 You know

5:01 what mean? I don't

5:01 wanna beat a dead horse. But tomorrow is the concert right here in lieu of Monday night. So at 06:00, Tim and the Glory boys will be here. They had some trouble on the road, they're gonna limp in on a in a U Haul and a in an SUV. But anyway, I'd love to fill this room at 06:30 for this concert.

5:23 We will serve the meal at six, but shows on at 06:30.

5:26 Music music is the message tomorrow night in this room rather than the other.

5:30 A concert. Come on.

5:31 So you wanna play something? We've got this in the announcements too.

5:34 If there is, yeah.

5:35 Real quick.

5:42 Hey, my brothers and sisters. Hey, church. I'm Tim.

5:44 I'm Colin.

5:45 And we are

5:45 half a Tim and the Glory boys coming to you live from the tour bus. Whoo. It's gonna be rolling through your town on the Buffalo Roadshow. What is the Buffalo Roadshow, you ask? It's beards.

5:54 It's banjos. It's blessings.

5:55 That's right. It's for all denominations and all generations. It is gonna be one epic worship hoedown.

6:01 We can't wait to see you there.

6:04 Beards. We've got this going on already. Yeah.

6:08 Beards. Alright. Banjos, they're fitting right in.

6:11 Alright. It ought to be fun. So there's connect hour between the services today. There's lots of stuff going on. Tons of Bible studies everywhere.

6:19 We've got a build day coming up with Habitat for Humanity in a few weeks. That's December 7, right? Day that we live in infamy. You'll all remember it. You cannot not remember it.

6:28 December 7 is we're gonna be doing the build for Habitat. There are lots of things going on. They're all written in your paper bulletins and if you would, stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a song.

7:23 Check. Check. Check. God, I'm running. God, I'm running for your heart, running for your heart till I am so long fine.

7:36 Lord, I'm long for the ways waiting for the day. When I'm so on fire till I am so on fire.

7:57 Let's sing that again. God, I'm running.

8:01 God, I'm running for your heart, running a day when I am so on fire. Till I am so on fire. Lord, let me burn for you again. Let me return to you again.

9:32 Let's sing that again.

10:12 When I'm so on fire till I am so on fire till I am so on fire, till I am so on fire.

10:44 Listen to this honest prayer from from Psalm 51. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. Isn't that good? I just think that's an honest plea, know, that we say, God, would you we all wander. We all stray, but would you rejoice would you restore to me the joy of my salvation?

11:08 And a willing spirit, you know, to do what you to do what you ask. That when I'm living in the spirit, I'm living in power, I can do these things that you ask of me, God.

11:46 Brokenness of pain is all I know.

11:50 I won't be shaking. I won't be shaking.

11:57 My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. Shame alone has a place to hide. I am not captive to the light.

12:34 Not afraid to leave my past behind. I won't be shaking. In your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. And there is power.

13:11 There is power that can break off every chain. There's power that can empty out grave. There's resurrection power when I stand in your My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your

14:10 God, how true is that? Really, I thank you for your perfect everlasting love. It truly is. And thank you God that your perfect fear, your perfect love casts out fear. That's what you say.

14:28 Your perfect love casts out fear. Praise you God for that. Thank you for being a gracious, loving, kind, merciful father we can turn to at any moment. Thank you for for being. Thank you God for the power truly that that can break off every every chain, that can empty out the grave because that's what happened, that can save.

14:54 Praise you God. There really is power in your name. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

15:13 One day when heaven is filled with his praises. One day when Satan was as black as could be. Jesus came forth in being Rising he justified freely forever. One day he's coming. Oh, glorious day.

16:08 Oh, glorious day. One day they lay him on Calvary's Mountain. One day they nailed him to die on a tree, suffering in anguish, One day the grave could seal him no longer. One day the soul rose away from the door, and then he rose over. Yet

18:51 Y'all can have a seat Frontline team is coming forward My tail God, I thank you for new life. I thank you for new life in you. I thank you for new lives too, lord. You're added to the fellowship in a lot of different ways and I thank you for the babies that are in this church and the sounds of life and for little kids that are so exuberant about being here or may we accept your goodness the way that dearly beloved child accepts nurture, of impairment. God, I thank you for all that you do for us and I pray that you'd accept these offerings back lord to to spread your good gospel from this place to the uttermost parts.

19:36 I know we have a lady here this morning that's from the other side of the Earth. It's on land. It's as far as you can get from here. Durban, South Africa. Lord, I pray that you would spread your gospel from here to there and that you'd use your willing servants to do it.

19:50 Would you take these gifts lord and multiply them? Bless the gift, bless the giver to do your kingdom's work. May your gospel advance because we want for you to be glorified. Our good and your glory. That's what you promised, lord.

20:07 In Jesus name, amen.

20:22 I'm

20:29 me now. He won't fail me now in the waiting.

20:37 The same God who's never late is working all things out and working on things out. Oh, yes. I will lift you high in the lowest valley. Yes. I I count on one thing.

21:25 The same God that never fails will not fail me now. You won't fail me now and get in the way. Will lift you high in the lowest valley. Yes. I will bless your name.

21:58 Oh, yes. I will sing for joy when my heart to glorify, glorify the name of all names. But nothing can stand against. Yes. I choose to praise, to glorify, glorify the name of all names that nothing can stand against.

22:52 Yes. I will lift you high in the lowest valley. Yes. I

23:37 Amen. And it's time for children's church and there they go. Have any of y'all have a cold? Any of any of y'all have a cold right now? I heard a song a few years back and the guy said that having a head cold feels like being pulled over by the grim reaper and given a warning.

24:02 It's about your mortality. You just feel ugh and I have had that feeling all week. It started last Saturday night or Sunday and I just felt the whole the whole time. So, I I I know when I'm shaking hands on the way out, I'm I'm going to have a little bubble around me. Now, I before I came in here, I washed hands really good and get to the stage but I'm just letting you know upfront.

24:24 Literally, up So, here we go. We're studying going forward. They're moving back. Here, I'll move back. I'll stand up on the platform.

24:32 So, Hebrews eight one through 13. Hebrews eight one through 13. On your bulletins, it has one through six. One through six is the point. It's the main point.

24:43 Actually, when you're when a preacher's preaching and he says, what I'm trying to say is this, or the main point is this, or this is the big idea. That's what the writer or writers of Hebrews is saying in eight one and two. That's where it starts. But it's speaking of a more excellent ministry. Now, we've had Jesus is better than Jesus is better than Jesus is better than the whole time and it's going to continue to the end of the book but the main point is this, this is what we're getting after.

25:10 A more excellent ministry by the mediator of a better covenant. Speaking to first century Jewish background, people who had been exposed to the way and they had said that they believed the way and I I believe that they believe the way and I think the author believes that too but he's spurring them on not to turn back to that old covenant. Now, this to you might not be what you need to hear or what you feel like you need to hear. You might not think I I really need a priest because in America these days, finding out or feeling like you're lost is not something that our society says, oh, just look inside. Look inside yourself.

25:53 Look inside yourself and you'll find whatever it be. Live your truth. You live your truth. Well, the truth is the truth and there are lots of little versions. There are lots of, there's a way that seems right to a man but in the end, that's the way of destruction.

26:10 That inner truth right there is something that is individual inside of a flawed human being. This is speaking of an internal and dynamic covenant rather than an external and static covenant, okay? So, the more excellent ministry by the mediator of a better covenant starts off like this. Now, the main point in what has been said is this, oh, I like that. When it's so explicit, the main point in what has been said, actually, the word for main point right there is the head of it all.

26:43 This is the head of it all. The main point in what has been said is this, we have such a high priest. Now, this is the high priest that this author has been describing for the last chapter in a bit but if you go back to Hebrews two seventeen, therefore, he, Jesus, had to be made like his brothers and sisters in all things so that he might come merciful and faithful, high priest. This is same word, same terms, merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God to make propitiation. That is payment for the sins of the people.

27:19 So, the priestly service is to make atonement, to bring people at one with God and the faithful high priest, merciful and faithful high priest and things pertain to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. The main point has already been stated multiple times in this text. Jesus is our high priest. In fact, three one says and so, dear brothers and sisters, who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, your partakers in this. Think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and high priest.

27:57 Actually, Greek. The verb is at the center right here. Brethren, holy, partakers of a calling that's heavenly. Consider and I say, carefully consider. It's it's carefully consider all the way through to an absolute determination.

28:12 Carefully considered all the way through to the end, resolve this question right now. Carefully consider the apostle, the one who was sent out by God and the high priest of our confession, Jesus. This Jesus. Now, the main point and what has been said is this, I've already hit it twice that I mentioned and actually if I go on, all have to do with the same subject. The nine one through 28, ten one through 20, all the same subject, twelve, twenty four, and thirteen twelve.

28:42 Jesus is our high priest and we need him. We need a high priest. We cannot be put at one with God by our own truth. It's gotta be and the way, the truth, the life. It's gotta be by Jesus.

28:57 So, now, we have such a high priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Oh, it's in the heavens. So, the locust of what's happening right now is it's not an earthly deal and I think we'll see that over and over throughout this passage but the location is good and that actually reminds me of another place where Jesus is presented as the high priest. It's right off the bat. You remember the exor the very first part, first four verses, the third verse says this, he, Jesus, is the radiance of his glory, God's glory.

29:31 He's the exact representation. He's the imprint of his nature exactly and he upholds all things by the word of his power and when he had made purification of sins, that's the high priestly service. Although it doesn't say it right there, it's building to this. It doesn't say priestly service but everybody knows purification of sins is a priestly duty. He sat down because his work was finished.

29:54 He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Doesn't that sound a lot like this? He taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle. Now, the true tabernacle, that adjective right there, they understood and knew about the tabernacle and at the point of the first century, they knew about the temple. Solomon's temple.

30:23 They knew about the temple and that was real and that they could touch it but that they'll go on. This author will go on to say with the copy in the shadow of the true Tabernacle. A minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle and his locust is already been said. He's seated at the right hand of God already has been stated. He's interceding for those who have put their faith in him.

30:48 He's interceding on our behalf. A minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched not man. So, I told you about the Levites and the Levites on the camp out are the ones who handle the priestly service and they're the ones who carry the stuff too and then they pitch that 10 and they pitch it exactly the same way every time. They decorated exactly the same way every time and it was a plan that God had given. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.

31:18 I'll come back to that plan that God has appointed. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So, it is necessary that this high priest, this Jesus, this high priest also have something to offer. Now, what is it that he has to offer? Now, if he were not on Earth, let's let me concede something.

31:38 If Jesus were on Earth, if he were, now he's not. He's already been said to be seated at right hand of the father in the heavens. On majesty on high. If he were on Earth, then he would not be a priest at all. Why not?

31:50 Because he's of the tribe of Judah. He's not a Levite and we all know the law. Y'all know the law. He's a Levite. He's not.

31:57 Now, you hadn't considered Melchizedek and I've talked about that now for a chapter and several other verses giving you a pretty strong warning on that but if he were on Earth, I I'm I'm with you. He wouldn't be a priest at all because we don't recognize that anymore. We don't get that anymore. We don't pay any attention to that anymore. Since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law, there's a written law.

32:22 We follow it. It's external. It's not internal. It's static. It doesn't change.

32:26 It hasn't changed since Sinai. When we were walking around, we did it this way with a portable temple, Tabernacle, and when we built this temple, we built it according to the designs and here we go. And that wrote service, it is external and static has been going on forever and if Jesus were here, that, yeah, he'd be excluded from that. Actually, he was excluded from that, wasn't he? He's murdered outside the camp, innocent.

32:56 Voluntarily, giving his life but since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law, he he wouldn't be a priest at all if he were on Earth. That's the Levites. And they, the Levites, those priests still on Earth and at this time, it was still three years before the destruction of the temple, probably three, four years before sixty six, sixty seven AD, somewhere in there that this book was most likely written. Hebrews eight five says, they serve a copy and a shadow of heavenly things. There is a representation on Earth that is a copy and a shadow of these heavenly things.

33:34 Now, the main point of what has been said is this, we have such a high priest. He's taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, a few weeks ago, by the way, the pope came out and said, he didn't want us to use adjectives. Have you heard this? He didn't want for us to use adjectives like authentic Christian or true Christian or real Christian because it just separates and divides. Interesting.

34:05 Never seem to have a problem with adjectives but this is doing a divide right here. It's saying, there is this earthly thing and then there is the truth and this is a copy of that and representation and a symbol for that and then there's the truth. What is representative and then what is true? Ministering the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, not man. They serve a copy and a shadow of heavenly things.

34:31 Just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle for sea and it's very emphasis, it's very emphasis driven here. See, he says, that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown to you Moses on the mount. Old Testament quote builds up the argument. You don't go very far in Hebrews before you get an Old Testament quote. It's all the way throughout.

34:54 There are illusions and then there's direct quotes and they're almost always Septuagint, Greek, text of the Old Testament quote. This one is, see that you make them after the pattern for them which was shown to you on the mountain. That is Exodus twenty five forty. See that you make them all these things after the pattern for them which was shown to you on the mountain. God was showing Moses what was true and he was showing him how to represent that.

35:23 He was giving him the plan. Now, the truth is one thing and then he shows him the plan which will point towards this truth. Let them construct a sanctuary for me. This is Exodus twenty five eight nine. Let them construct a sanctuary, a holy place for me that I may dwell among them according to all that I am going to show you as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture just so shall you construct it.

35:52 You shall do these things just like I tell you and it goes on and says that Moses did just as the Lord commanded. He served as a faithful servant according to the author of Hebrews but now he and he there is Jesus. Now, he has obtained a more excellent ministry. Title of the sermon was a more excellent ministry by a mediator of a better covenant. Now, he, Jesus, has obtained a more excellent ministry.

36:21 It's more excellent than the priest. I could be more excellent than the priest. They get to serve daily. Their inheritance is God instead of land or things. But now, he, Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant.

36:43 Mediator is one who makes peace between parties who are at war. Blessed are the peacemakers. Now, he's obtained a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant. Better, another adjective there. It's a better covenant.

37:03 There was an old covenant and there is a new covenant and there is a inferior and a superior one and this better covenant is the one that they had professed faith in. The author believes that they have truly believed but they are being drawn back into this old way that they know. It's external and it seems like you can hit what you can aim at, right? If you have a target, you can hit that. Right?

37:35 Through practice, you can just keep on going. Y'all are gun shy. Sorry, so many so many references this way this morning. This is a better covenant. Yes, it's internal and it's dynamic and it is spirit led but it requires humility before God.

37:54 The other things can just be done. You can do em just because you know that you're supposed to. It's been enacted. This better covenant has been enacted on better promises and that's verse six and that's I think as far as our sermon text on the bulletin went this week but seven goes on and says, for if, that's a big if right there. Last week, we had a really big if too.

38:25 For if the better, the first covenant, if the first covenant had been faultless. Now, was it faultless? No. Why? It was external.

38:36 It was static. Seven eleven, we saw this last week. Now, if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, was it? No. It wasn't.

38:47 From the basis of the people received the law, we're talking about law. What further need was there for another priest to rise according to the order of not be designated a quarter to the order of error. If Jesus was on Earth, he wouldn't even be a priest but he's not. The sacrifice that he made has obtained for him a place and you a place in heaven and he is already there. He's interceding for you.

39:11 He's seated the right hand of majesty and these guys are still going through the motions. Don't go back to just serving a copy in a shadow. If the first covenant had been faultless, was it? It wasn't faultless. There would have been no occasion sought for a second.

39:30 For finding fault with them. The law was given and it was a set of rules and it was unrelenting. They were just rules and those rules pointed out our flaws and our faults and this says, for God, finding fault with them, he says this, Old Testament quotes build the argument and actually, this is the longest Old Testament quote in the whole New Testament. I just, I don't know, nerdy, but it's interesting. It is a long, long quote.

40:06 It's from Jeremiah 31. Now, I he could've or the writer of Hebrews could've at this point could have quoted from Isaiah, could've quoted from Hosea, could've quoted from lots and lots and lots of different places but this is a concentrated little power package right here from Jeremiah 31. It's during, well, let me just read it. Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will affect. I will affect.

40:34 It's on me. I will affect a new covenant. The words of the Lord, The writer of Hebrews is constantly referring back to the Old Testament and using the words of the Lord. I will affect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Oh my goodness.

40:52 This is written at the time of Jeremiah when the kingdom was divided. Kingdoms divided. Israel and Judah and oh they longed to be together but we're not going to be together with them. We're not in agreement with them. When they come around to our way, it'll be alright.

41:10 Both sides felt the same way. Behold, the days are coming. It's non specific but future. Says the Lord, when I will affect the new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, it's both. Jeremiah 31 says, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord.

41:26 When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Wow, that was written. Divided kingdom. Let me read the whole thing. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord.

41:40 When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah and it's not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They didn't do anything to deserve it. God said, Moses, go. Tell Pharaoh, let my people go. Let my people go.

42:00 Let my people go. Eventually, God leads them out by the hand. They didn't do anything to deserve it. They were in slavery. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day which was conditional, external, and static.

42:13 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day. I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant which they broke. Although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. I was faithful and they were unfaithful but this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days.

42:37 Still non specific but still future, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and on their heart, I will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people. This is in Jeremiah. You know how many times Jeremiah received the word of the Lord and went to the people and gave it to them and they rejected him outright. They wrapped a rock around it, threw it in the river.

42:57 They burned it up. They ignored him completely. Faithful, forty years of faithful ministry where he was hearing from God, moved by the spirit, writes the message, and everyone rejected him but he was looking forward. That crime prophet was looking forward. I will put my law within them and on their heart will write it and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

43:22 They will not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying, know the Lord or they will all know me. My people will know me internal and dynamic. From the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. Like I said, Isaiah had said that though your sins be a scarlet, they shall be non specific but future as white as snow.

43:50 Hosea had said the same, many other prophets look forward to it. If that first covenant had been faultless and it wasn't, it was flawed. It was flawed because it couldn't do anything. Help you keep it. Remember Paul who says he was blameless in the law?

44:08 Yet, when he gets to Romans, he says, if the law had been able to do anything to keep me from coveting, he said, but just finding out about it made me want everything else that I didn't have. If that covenant had been faultless but it wasn't. There would have been no occasion sought for a second for finding fault with them. He says, behold, days are coming, says the Lord. When I will effect a new covenant, it's on God.

44:31 This one is on God. The other one was conditional and external and static. With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, it's not like the covenant. Is it is a another of a different kind. Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt for they did not continue in my covenant.

44:54 They broke it. It's what the verse from Jeremiah that I read in New American Standard says, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. You know, that generation fell in the wilderness. They wandered forty years until they all died off and it's pointing to that specific time period. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

45:18 I will put my laws into their minds. I will write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Oh, it's internal. It's dynamic I will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen Oh, you're not following the law. You're not following the law.

45:50 You're not following the law. You gotta follow the law. It's going to be something where those who know God have his spirit indwell them and they will know I will be their God and I will indwell. Now, God visited that upon people in the past when the Psalm that Carl mentioned this morning, Psalm 51. He says, remove not your Holy Spirit from me.

46:16 David was a man after God's own heart and he had the Holy Spirit and he was afraid that God would remove that from him. He knew that wasn't something that everyone experienced all the time, everyone that was called Israel that time. If you believe in Christ, if you have humbled yourself before God and accepted his way, he will indwell you and he will write his word on your heart He will transform your life. Now, you you still do have to be willing submit your will to his will. You gotta a will of your own.

46:53 They shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, everyone his brothers saying, know the Lord for all of my children will know me from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. The NIV here says, instead of merciful to their iniquities, NIV says, I will forgive their wickedness. That's good. And I will remember their sins no more It is about forgiveness.

47:26 Jesus came to make propitiation payment for sins. He's seated at the right hand of the father. He said that he would send the comforter and did The spirit is active and moving for all who have put their faith in Christ. And there's an internal teacher that's happening and you can access or be a partaker in as the writer of Hebrews says, the divine nature, you can do it For I will forgive their weakness. I'll remember their sins no more.

47:59 I will be merciful to their iniquities. I'll overlook their shortcomings based on the blood of Christ that has been given for their sins and I will remember those sins no more. That is a precious promise. And that's the end of the quote from Jeremiah 31 and there's one word that the writer of Hebrews keys in on right there. Just one word.

48:28 After that whole quote of this new covenant and it says, and when he said, a new covenant, new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. Now, the law was good. Paul points to it and says, it was good. It was good for what it was good for. Is is the writer of Hebrews an absolute supersessionist where they say a soup that Christianity has superseded Judaism.

48:54 Judaism is pointing towards Christ. If you don't recognize it, then yes, it has superseded you but it hasn't superseded that faith. It's not divorced from our Jew Jewish roots. When he said a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

49:23 Do you all remember when we used projectors? We still have them here. These things. Do you remember when we showed a video on these? Everybody looked like this and you can never tell what it was and so I would show the video and I'd say, oh yeah, that's a little girl in a car seat.

49:39 Ugh. It's like doing car tricks on the radio. Like, we couldn't couldn't see what was going on. But these things are really nice and bright. These are new.

49:47 Like we've had them less than a year, right? They're really nice and bright. These things are hanging here. They're not going be hanging here long. They're obsolete.

49:55 They don't work. They didn't work when we had them. They're literally pointing towards something that isn't new and replacement. These things wear out. I I also been thinking about internal and external.

50:07 I mentioned having a cold this week. So, you can have a cold and old cartoons is he's got a the fellow has a hot, you know, hot thing on his head. I'll warm my head up and you can do all the external stuff but it only penetrates as far as it penetrates into your insides. This morning, I got here. I had forgotten to take some medicine this morning.

50:26 I took nighttime medicine last night and it let me sleep, you know, and I didn't cough nearly as much as I usually do. I woke up coughing and then I forgot when I was on the way here. I just got into my normal pattern. I come here and I got here and I was like, sneezing, coughing, achy, stuffy, heavy fever, all those things. It was just awful and I got here and Carl said, oh yeah, you're sick.

50:51 I thought, this is going to be a long sermon. Really, really hard and Carl said, let me run, get you some medicine and I internalize that medicine and now, mama my my metabolism will get rid of that medicine in six to eight hours or whatever. It'll be gone but while it's in there, oh it makes such a good, good, good feeling. I'm fine. Right now, I feel fine, you know?

51:16 Jesus is a good medicine and we are all, all, all sick with something that doesn't get better. The good thing from last week and this week is that this is on him. It's on him. It's internal and it's forever. He's ministering forever.

51:33 He's he's true. I will remember their sins no more. He's done all that is necessary. He does ask for us to put our faith in him. Now, putting our faith with him initially does save us but putting our faith in him day after day after day after day sanctifies us and makes us whole.

51:55 Can you resist him? Yes. Should you? No. But that's your internal teacher and you can see when you resist them, things don't work and they don't go well.

52:08 Now, you'll face opposition and tribulation and persecution maybe for following after him for doing the right thing but the right thing is still the right thing. It's internal and living your truth as the world sees it. I don't agree with but living out Christ in you, the hope of glory, your truth, if it's based on the capital T truth, Jesus Christ is what you should do as I cannot tell you what the steps are that God would have you do. You have to be relating to him in the spirit. I can teach you what the word says.

52:42 I can try my best to teach what the word says but the internalization of it is something that God says, he will do in the heart of all who humble themselves before and believe the gospel. In Jesus name, would you transform us by your power? Amen. Would you all stand and we'll sing mediator?

53:19 Let me do this. Let me just read the verse. Okay? Before we sing and I wanna read. He takes our place and stands in front of God of high on high.

53:27 He speaks on our behalf because we don't have the right. He pleads before the God who judges hearts of man. Our mediator served the sentence for our sin. Verse two, he found the captives. He broke the bondage of our chains.

53:41 We have redemption through the price that he's paid. He gave his life to purchase freedom from the fall. Our mediator was the ransom for us all.

54:12 The right. He beats before the God who judges hearts of man. A mediator served a sentence for us and there it is. Broke up on ditch of our chains. We have redemption through the price that he has paid.

55:16 He gave his life to purchase free young from the fall. A mediator had some for us all. There is only one

56:31 Alright. The benediction days from Romans twelve two. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and then you'll be able to test and approve what is his good and his pleasing and his perfect will. God, I pray that you would do the work. You say that you will make that new covenant that you will be the one that is active.

56:55 It's not external. It's not static. It's internal. It's dynamic and your Holy Spirit is right there. It's pleading always lord with us to go forward in submission to you.

57:09 Lord, from time to time and at various places, you are pleading with those to accept the truth of the gospel. Lord, would you use our lives to bolster that, to bolster the truth of the gospel by transforming us. In Jesus name, we pray that you would renew our mind by your word, by your will, and your way. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.

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