Take your Bibles this morning, turn to Hebrews
chapter eight. We're gonna look at the first
half of this chapter in our Bible this morning.
And let me just remind you about the argument
that's being made because we're definitely seeing
some repetition here, some emphasis upon, of
course, Jesus and his high priestly ministry
that is so different from that of the Levitical.
priesthood and so much better, of course, as
we have reiterated week after week. These people,
again, Hebrews who had professed faith in Christ,
and now were beginning to experience difficulty
in their lives as a result of their determination
to follow him. And they were feeling insecure,
uncomfortable. Their families no longer held
them in the esteem which they once had because
now they were followers of Jesus. They were no
longer welcome in their local synagogues. The
Roman government was beginning to look at them
questionably. Perhaps they weren't quite as free
to work as they had been before in whatever their
occupation might have been. struggles were beginning
and the temptation that they had experienced
was a temptation to go back to what they considered
to be a more comfortable life, go back to Judaism,
go back to the way that things once were when
they weren't experiencing the difficulties that
they were now experiencing as followers of Jesus.
And of course, the writer of Hebrews just repeatedly
is making the argument, don't do that. There's
nothing for you there. Nothing better than Jesus.
You know, when you look at scripture, the Bible
paints a bleak picture of people apart from Christ,
right? I mean, whether we're talking about the
Old Testament or the New Testament, to be separated
from God because of our sin, well, is a terrible
thing. And we really only have one... person
to blame, and that is ourselves. In Genesis chapter
six, verse five, this is what the Lord said about
the people of that day. He said, the Lord saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and that, and listen to this, every intention
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Every intention of the thoughts of his heart.
was only evil continually. That was written in
Genesis chapter six, verse five. Thousands of
years ago, that was the experience or the condition
of humankind. Doesn't sound too different from
the world in which we live in, does it? That's
what God saw when he looked. at mankind in those
days. And then of course God spoke later through
the prophet Jeremiah and he said this, the heart
is deceitful above all things, desperately sick,
who can understand it? And so that's the condition
of mankind as spoken by God through the prophet
Jeremiah. Sick, desperately sick, wicked, beyond
imagination, who can understand this? And again,
I know if you're like me, you look at the world
in which we live sometimes and you think, my
goodness. I can't even wrap my brain around the
wickedness that exists in our world. Seems like
everywhere we turn, there is someone plotting
and scheming and planning and programming to
steal from us, to defraud us, to steal our identity,
right? I mean, everywhere we look, the world
has not changed much. At least the world apart
from Christ has not changed much over all these
years. Of course, in the New Testament, the Apostle
Paul reminds Christians of what they were. what
their condition was before they trusted in Christ.
And he says this in Ephesians chapter two. He
says, you were dead in your trespasses and sins.
You were by nature children of wrath. You were
separated from Christ. You were alienated from
the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers
to the covenants of promise. And listen to this,
having no hope and without God in the world.
So to be Without Christ is to be without hope,
to be without God in the world. That has not
changed. So again, the writer of Hebrews is encouraging
his fellow believers, don't turn your backs on
Christ. There is nothing for you in Judaism.
There is nothing for you under the old covenant.
continued to stick with Jesus no matter what
it may require of you. And so the question, of
course, that they were battling, and as Neil
pointed out, I thought so very well last week,
the question that we're kind of dealing with
here is, what would it require for a people who
are described the way sinners are described in
the scriptures, what would it take for a people
like that to be saved to the uttermost? In other
words, for their lives to be transformed from
someone whose every intention of our thoughts
is only evil continually to be transformed into
someone who could stand before the Lord and praise
him and honor him and worship him. What would
it take to bring about that kind of transformation,
that kind of change, that kind of salvation?
And of course, as we read here, it would require
a high priest. And if you just look up the page
there in the end of chapter seven, the qualifications
for the kind of priest that it would take to
do this. First of all, he had to be holy, a holy
priest. Again, the word implies utter sinlessness.
No human high priest would qualify in that regard.
The second word there, innocent. Again, the word
implies not even a shred of evil in someone's
life. I don't know anybody like that, do you?
There was no high priest, no Levitical priest
who could fit that criteria. Unstained is the
next word. Absolutely pure is what that word
implies. Free from anything that might disqualify
this individual from being a priest or a high
priest. Again, no one on earth met that qualification
apart from... Jesus. Separated from sinners was
the next qualification. Again, we've talked about
this. Those words mean different by nature, not
separated in the sense far removed and unreachable,
but separated in the sense that totally unlike,
totally different from, we've already talked
about the fact that Jesus was a different kind
of high priest, a completely other kind of high
priest from the Levitical priesthood. So again,
only Jesus fits this criteria to be separated
from sinners, different. from them by his very
nature. And then, of course, the last exalted
above the heavens. Again, one to whom all authority,
power, and honor has been given. And again, there's
only one person that meets that qualification,
right? And it is Jesus Christ. And that's the
argument that's being made. There is salvation
in no other name. You will not find the security
that you are looking for under any other covenant
or plan or religion. It is only in Jesus Christ,
and I love the way that chapter eight begins.
You know, it's often difficult, and you can talk
to Neil, you can talk to me. When we're preparing
a message, what we try to do each week is to...
work our way through a passage of scripture and
try to give you the main emphasis, all right,
to try to relate what God is saying to us through
that passage. And every now and then we get a
chapter eight, verse one that says this, now
the point in what we are saying is this, I love
that. I don't have to wonder about what the point
is, God's gonna tell me what the point is, all
right. And of course the point is we have such
a high priest. What would it take to make you
fit to live eternally in the presence of God,
a holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners,
exalted above the heavens high priest. And the
point that we're making is we have that kind
of high priest. We have that in Jesus Christ.
That's the point. That's what he wants us to
understand. That's what he wants us to see. That's
why he has gone to such lengths to make this
argument, to present his case. He wants to convince
us beyond the point of ever having our minds
changed that Jesus is that kind of high priest.
He is the only one that can meet our need for
salvation. And that is exactly what he has done
in offering himself. as our sacrifice on the
cross and rising from the dead and then being
exalted to take his seat at the right hand of
the Father. This is what is trying, the author
of Hebrews is trying so fervently to convey here
and to convince us of, and just to help us as
present day Christians. to understand the security
that we have in Jesus, the freedom that we have
in Jesus, the boldness that we can have in Jesus.
Our lives are secure. Our future is secure. so
we can go out there and live boldly for Christ.
So let's read these verses together. Chapter
eight, we're gonna read just verses one through
six, and then we'll talk about this some today.
And again, if you don't have the words, they'll
be here on the screen in the front of the auditorium.
Now the point in what we are saying is this.
We have such a high priest, one who is seated
at the right hand of the throne of the majesty
in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in
the true tent, that the Lord set up, not man.
For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts
and sacrifices. Thus, it is necessary for this
priest also to have something to offer. Now if
he were on earth, he would not be a priest at
all, since there are priests who offer gifts
according to the law. In other words, while these
words were being written, the temple in Jerusalem
was still standing. The sacrificial system, the
Levitical priesthood was still actively being
engaged in every day, and so the writer of Hebrews
is making it perfectly clear. That's going on
right now. If Jesus were here now, he wouldn't
be serving in that capacity. He would not be
a priest at all, since there are priests who
offer gifts according to law. But he says they
serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things.
Not the real thing, a copy and a shadow. For
when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was
instructed by God saying, see to it that you
make everything according to the pattern that
was shown to you on the mountain. Now we don't
know exactly what happened on the mountain because
Moses was the only one that was there with God.
But the implication here is that God gave Moses
very clear instructions on how the tabernacle,
the tent in the wilderness was to be constructed.
And that perhaps he even showed him somehow.
a model of the heavenly temple that he could
look at and see and grasp with his mind in order
to make sure that the temple or the tabernacle
that they would build there in the wilderness
would be exactly made after the pattern of that
real temple, that real true tent. So anyway,
God made sure that Moses had everything he needed
to make the tent according to the pattern which
was shown to him on the mountain. But as it is,
verse six says, Christ has obtained a ministry
that is much more excellent than the old, as
the covenant he mediates is better since it is
enacted on better promises. Let's pray, and then
we'll look through this text together here. Father,
we are so very thankful today for Jesus. Thankful
for the new covenant in his blood. Thankful,
Father, that we can live with absolute certainty
that we are yours. and that there is nothing
that will ever separate a Christian from the
love of God, nothing. Help us to live in that
light, in that truth, to live bold, courageous
Christian lives because of it. We have the perfect
high priest, a better covenant, a surer salvation.
and I pray that we would live in light of that.
So help us now as we look to this high priestly
ministry of Jesus in our behalf, help us to understand
more clearly today just exactly what it is that
he is doing for us and where he's doing it from,
and I pray that we would all leave here rejoicing,
not only in the freedoms that we have as Americans,
but Father, even more than that, the freedoms
that we have in Christ. and it's in his name
that we pray, amen, amen. First thing that we
read about here is Christ's seat. We have such
a high priest, the writer says, one who is seated
at the right hand of the throne of the majesty
in heaven. And we've talked about this already,
this whole idea of the fact that Christ is seated
implies that his work is completed, all right?
The work of salvation is done. That's what he
said, or what he is saying here. The work of
salvation is complete. Of course, in John 19,
verse 30, we read that just before Jesus gave
up his spirit, gave up the ghost on the cross,
he cried out what? It is finished. And that's
what he was talking about. The work of salvation,
the work that I came to do is finished. I've
done it, I've completed it. Of course, the Greek
words there in John's gospel mean that this work
is fully accomplished. I have accomplished what
my Heavenly Father sent me to do. The debt has
been paid in full. God's wrath had been satisfied.
Our sin was taken away. That's what took place
on the cross. Our salvation was made secure.
And as we have emphasized and re -emphasized,
Christ's death on the cross didn't simply make
it possible for us to be saved. It saved us.
It secured us once and for all time. So this
idea of Christ being seated, again, distinguishes
him from human priests who never sat down. There
was no place in the temple or the tabernacle
for the priest to sit down. There was never an
opportunity for the priest to sit down because
his work was never done. But that's not so for
Christ. His work was fully accomplished on the
cross. There is no more work to be done to accomplish
our salvation. Please hear that. So many people
that I run into and talk to. They're working,
working, working, trying to secure their salvation.
Let me tell you, Christ has already done that
for you. And of course, it's always been that
way. It's human nature. That's the way we think.
But the work of salvation has been accomplished.
It is finished. Jesus said in John chapter six,
verse 28, the disciples were... talking to Jesus
about this very thing, and they asked him, what
must we do to be doing the works of God? And
that question wasn't about how can we serve you
on earth, but it was really about their own salvation.
What must we do to inherit, to keep eternal life?
What is it that we need to be doing? And this
is what Jesus said to them in response. He says,
this is the work of God. Again, another one of
those places in scripture where we're not left
to our imagination. The Bible makes it perfectly
clear. This is the work of God. If you're wondering
what there is that you must do in order to be
saved, Jesus said, this is the work of God that
you believe in Him whom He has sent. Believe.
Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and what? You'll be saved. That's what... Paul
and Silas told the Philippian jailer, believe,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be
saved. There is no work for you to do. Christ
himself has done the work. He has completed the
work. The only work left is simply to believe.
And of course, again, what's being presented
here is a stark contrast to the high priestly
ministry of Jesus and the high priestly ministry
of the Levitical priesthood, the Aaronic priesthood.
Again, priests for whom Work was never done.
They never got to sit down. Hebrews 10, and we'll
get to Hebrews 10 in the next few weeks, but
Hebrews 10, verses 11 and 12 says, and every
priest stands daily at his service, offering
repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never
take away sin, but when Christ had offered for
all time a single sacrifice for sins, himself,
he sat down at the right hand. of God. His work
was completed. So when we think about Christ
being seated in the heavenlies, that's what we
should first think of. We should just first understand
he's seated because his work is done. Now that
doesn't mean, or at least the work of salvation
is done, that doesn't mean that he's not still...
working in our behalf. That's what we talked
about last week, right? There is an ongoing ministry,
a present ministry of Jesus Christ right now,
right this very moment. And again, we need to
understand as glorious as the cross was and the
salvation that was gained there for us, that's
not the end of it. Christ is continuing to serve
right this moment as our high priest. He is serving
us in heaven at the right hand of the Father.
right this very moment. And again, one of the
other significant things about him being seated
at the right hand of the Father. Of course, we
recognize that right hand of the Father as being
a place of honor, being a place of authority
and power, and we're gonna talk about that in
just a little while. But I want you to understand
that being at the right hand of the Father also
implies that this ministry that Jesus is engaged
in is a ministry of compassion. Remember, we
have a high priest who sympathizes with us in
our weaknesses. He's experienced everything that
humankind has experienced because he himself
was a human being. He clothed himself in human
flesh. He lived among us for 33 years. And so
now as high priest, he can sympathize with us
in our weaknesses. And this idea of his being
at the right hand speaks of that kind of sympathy,
that kind of compassion. When these words were
originally heard or read by the believers in
this day and time, especially these Hebrew. They
would have been reminded of the Sadducees, the
Jewish ruling council of the elders. When members
of that council sat in judgment, a secretary
would sit on either side of the presiding judge.
And the secretary that sat on the left side of
the judge would record the condemnations. But
the secretary that sat on the right side of the
judge would record the acquittals. So again picture
Jesus sitting on the right hand of the judge
Recording the acquittals we because we've trusted
in him have been declared not guilty. We've been
declared righteous by God That's the idea of
Christ being seated at the right hand of the
Father the throne of majesty, and of course that
refers to God himself, the throne of the majesty.
Don't miss that definite article there, the majesty
in heaven. Christ is seated at the right hand
of the Father, again, ministering in compassion
on our behalf. John 3 .17, we love to quote John
3 .16, but John 3 .17 says this, for God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that in order that the world might
be saved. through him. That's the ministry that
continues right up to this very moment. And of
course, it talks about the service of Jesus,
the ministry of Jesus. It refers to him as a
minister in the holy places, and then later on,
a ministry that is so much more excellent than
the old. So again, Jesus is ministering on our
behalf right now, right this moment, calling
him a minister here. And again. That's not a
word that we would typically use of Jesus, is
it? But that's what he was. That's what he is.
He's a minister in the truest sense. And that
word implies, again, this present, ongoing, continuous
activity. Jesus is presently at work in behalf
of his people. You can always count on that.
We sing that song, right? He's working even when
we don't feel it, even when we don't see it.
He's working. Jesus is working in our behalf.
He's serving as our high priest right now at
the right hand. of the Father, exercising that
ministry in our behalf. Of course, an excellent
ministry, much more excellent than the old. Again,
Jesus' work in our behalf is not only different
from, but it far exceeds the service of any human
priest. There's no human priest that ever lived
that could do for us what we needed done for
us. that could clothe us in his own righteousness
and make us fit to stand before the Father in
heaven. No human priest could do that. Only Jesus
could do that. Again, sympathizing with us all
the while in our weakness and powerfully extending
mercy and grace to help us in every conceivable
situation. You know, the biggest mistake we make,
and I think we make this mistake even as Christians,
we find ourselves facing some hardship, and what
do we do? We set out to take care of it on our
own. We need to understand that there are just
things in life that we are not able to take care
of on our own. But we have this high priest seated
at the right hand of the Father who loves us,
who gave himself for us, whoever lives to be
our intercession, praying for us, being our access
to the Father. We have a resource that we can
call upon anytime, and we know that when we do,
they send the help of grace and mercy our way.
Jesus is exercising this kind of ministry in
heaven, far greater than any human priest could
have ever exercised. And of course it talks about
where all of this is taking place. He's doing
this in the holy places, in the true tent. seated
at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. There
are several things that I wanna just share about
where Jesus' ministry is. And we talk about heaven
a lot here, and we've said over the years, heaven
is not some cloudy, floaty place. It's a real
place. Matter of fact, it's more real than any
place you've ever been. This sanctuary in which
Jesus carries out his ministry, first of all,
the words in heaven. Those are words that have
always described the place where God dwells,
the residence of God. A long time ago when Aaron,
my son, was just a little boy, he asked me, he
said, daddy, where is Jesus? Or no, he said,
where is heaven? And I said, well, heaven's where
Jesus is. Jesus is in the Father's house, right?
Isn't that what he said in John? In my Father's
house. That's where he was going and that's where
one day his disciples would be reunited. with
him, where we one day will be reunited with him.
In the Father's house, heaven, the words heaven
just simply imply the residency of God. God dwells
in heaven. You know, we're talking about the
tabernacle and the temple. Mankind has always
wanted to build a place where the presence of
God could dwell. Let me tell you, God's presence
can't dwell in a place built with human hands.
And that's why it's emphasized here. This place
is not a place that was set up by man, it's a
place that was set up by God himself. That's
where Jesus is. He is serving us from heaven,
from the place where his father lives, from where
his father dwells. And of course it's a holy
place. Not only a heavenly place, but a holy
place. Speaking of righteousness, Revelation
21, 27 says of heaven, says nothing unclean will
ever enter it. Again, that's our problem, right?
Because as human beings born into this world,
we're born into this world in sin. We are not
righteous, but we are unrighteous. We are not
good, we are evil. And scripture says, nothing
unclean will ever enter heaven, nor anyone who
does what's detestable or false, but only those
whose names are written in the Lamb's book of
life. So again, it is only. in Jesus, where we
are made fit. Again, clothed in His righteousness,
made righteous to stand before the Father. That's
what the holy places is about there. Heaven,
the residence of God, these holy places of absolute
righteousness, and then the words, the true tent
that the Lord set up, not man. Again, it speaks
of reality. Every other temple, every other tabernacle,
every other sanctuary is just a copy. a shadow,
an imperfect model of the reality of heaven.
You know, we tend to think that we live in the
real world, right? I mean, things are solid around
us. Let me tell you, Jesus is in the real sanctuary.
He's in the real. I mean, this speaks of the
reality of heaven, and I think sometimes we need
to be reminded of the reality of heaven. We think
of it as just being maybe sometimes even a little
bit fictional, just a place that we hope to go
to when we die. Let me tell you, heaven is a
real place, real people go there, and this true
tent that the Lord set up, not man, this is a...
a wording that describes the reality of the sanctuary
in which Jesus ministers, this place made by
God himself. And according to scripture, again,
God is far too great to dwell in any other kind
of sanctuary. We cannot build a sanctuary beautiful
enough, big enough, quiet enough, elaborate enough
to contain the presence. And of course, the Bible
tells us about that throughout. God cannot dwell
in anything built by man. And so again, when
we think about heaven, when we think about the
sanctuary in which Jesus ministers, we just need
to understand that it far exceeds the beauty
and splendor of any tabernacle or temple that
was ever made. And let me tell you, man, the
tabernacle in the wilderness, it was an elaborate
setup. And then the temple that was built in
Jerusalem, beautiful. Beautiful. Gold and marble
and precious jewels. I mean, as far as human
buildings go, man -made buildings, it was as
good as it gets. But it doesn't even compare
to the true tent, the true tabernacle, the sanctuary,
the real sanctuary in heaven where Jesus is.
So as we anticipate, being there with Jesus,
worshiping there with Jesus, Just understand
that that place is going to far exceed our wildest
imagination. Beautiful, beautiful place. And
then the last thing I just want to talk about
is his sacrifice. The scripture says that every
high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.
Thus, it's necessary for this priest also to
have something to offer. What does Jesus have
to offer, right? That's the question. Every priest
was required to have something to offer. And
of course, it lists two specific things, gifts
and sacrifices. Now that word gifts, these gift
offerings that people would bring to the temple
or to the tabernacle, they were given to represent
a person's personal devotion to God or their
commitment. to God or recommitment to God. They
were offerings that were given to express their
thanksgiving to God. Again, things that we would
associate with our sanctification, our growth
in the gospel, our growth in the knowledge and
understanding of Jesus Christ. And let me tell
you, Jesus is there ministering at the right
hand of the Father, helping you, helping me as
we grow. in Christ -likeness, as we become more
and more like Jesus. That's what his ministry
is doing. He's offering these gifts, these gifts
of devotion, these gifts of commitment, these
gifts of praise and worship and thanksgiving.
Jesus makes all of that possible for us. He makes
it possible for us to do that in a manner that
honors God. And so that's the idea behind that
word, gifts. And then, of course, the word sacrifices,
the blood offerings or the sacrifices that were
offered upon the altar, these were for the cleansing
of sin. And of course we know that Jesus offered
himself, right? He took his own blood into the
Holy of Holies. Not only was he the offering,
he was the offerer. And again, our salvation
was secured once and for all. So again, Jesus
still standing or still sitting in our behalf
at the right hand of the Father, securing our
salvation. So. all of these things and more going
on this very moment in heaven, in the true tent,
the real heaven, the real place, the real eternity,
the real sanctuary where Jesus, our real high
priest, ministers in our behalf. And of course,
you know what Jesus says that we should do now
as Christians who follow him, right? Paul says
in Romans 12, right, what are we to do? We're
to offer ourselves just as Jesus offered himself.
We can't offer ourselves for somebody else's
sin or for somebody else's salvation, but we
offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy, pleasing
to God. That's what we're to do. We're to serve
Jesus. We're to honor Jesus as he serves us and
strengthens us for this very aspect of our lives.
So, if you've trusted in Christ, If you've received
him as Savior and Lord, know this, your life,
your salvation, your eternity is as secure as
it can possibly be. Our high priest seated at
the right hand of the Father in the True Tent
guarantees it. We talked about that last week.
He is the guarantor of a better covenant. He
guarantees that one day we will be reunited with
him and with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
never to be separated again. And that offer of
salvation is available to every man, woman, and
child today. If you've never trusted Jesus, trust
him today. Call upon the name of the Lord, as
the scripture says, and you'll be saved.