Would you turn back to Hebrews
chapter 8 with the idea that the writer to the Hebrews says
this is the sum. Let's keep that in mind as we
read this passage of scripture. The writer to the Hebrews says
this is the sum, this is the main point, this is what I've
been leading to. 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. For every high priest is ordained
to offer gifts and sacrifices, whereof it is of necessity that
this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth,
he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer
gifts according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow
of heavenly things. As Moses was admonished of God
when he was about to make the tabernacle, for see, saith he,
that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee
in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry. By how much also he is the mediator
of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, when I'll make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt
because they continued not in my covenant. And I regarded them
not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that
I'll make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.
I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their
hearts. And I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest,
for I will be merciful. to their unrighteousness and
their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith a new covenant,
he's made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away. Of the things which we've spoken,
this is the sum. Now this is what the writer to
the Hebrews calls the sum. This is not what I judge to be
the sum. This is not what my understanding
brings me to believe. This is not my judgment. This
is what the writer to the Hebrews says the sum of this epistle
is. And that greatly piques my interest. The sum means the chief or the
main point. The principal thing. Everything
I've said adds up to this. Now if I'm given grace, to understand
this chapter I just read. That means I have been given
grace to understand the book of Hebrews. And I'll take it
further than that. If I'm given grace to understand
what's being said in this chapter, I will have understood by the
grace of God the message of Holy Scripture. That's exciting, isn't
it? of the things that I have spoken,
this is the sum. This is the main point. While it is impossible for us
to take some portion of scripture and say, this is more important
than another scripture. You and I don't have the sense
to do that. We don't have the right to do it. But I can say
without apology, There is no scripture in all of the Word
of God that's more important than Hebrews chapter eight. This is the Son. Verse one, now of the things
which we have spoken in these first seven chapters of Hebrews,
of the things that we have spoken, this is the Son. This is where
I've been going to. We have such an high priest. We have such an high priest,
a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Now he is speaking
of Christ being a priest, not like a Levitical priest, but
a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Look in verse 21 of chapter seven. For those priests, those Levitical
priests were made without an oath. They were simply priests
because their father was. But this with an oath by him
that said unto him, the Lord swear and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better Testament. And they truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
Aaron would die. His sons would die. Their sons
would die. They couldn't continue in this
priesthood. But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. wherefore he is able also to
save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he
ever liveth to make intercession for them." You know what that
means? My high priest is representing
me right now. He always has and he always will. And he's not like one of these
Levitical priests who die, he ever liveth to make intercession. And his intercession is not him
begging the Father, Oh, forgive him. I know he committed the
sin again, but forgive him. No, he just stands before the
Father and his blood says everything. We have such an high priest. Now, we've also got to consider
this. We have such an high priest. Who is represented by the word
we? We can't understand this verse
of scripture if we don't know the answer to that question. Who
is represented by the word we? Who is it that can say we have
such a high priest? Well, the best way to answer
that is to go into John chapter 17, where the Lord was praying
his high priestly prayer for his people. What a chapter. Now, when Christ was praying
as the great high priest of his people, who was he praying for? Well, he answers that question.
He said in John chapter 17, verse 9, in the midst of that prayer,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world. but for them which you have given
me. Now that's who our great high
priest prays for, the elect. I wanna make that just as clear
as I can. The elect. Those the father gave him before
the foundation of the world. Now most people just take it
as a given. Well, he's praying for all men. Well, if he is praying
for all men, one of two things are true. Number one, if all
men are not saved, he failed. Number two, all men must be saved. But we know from the book of
Hebrews that not everybody is saved. Look in Hebrews chapter
10, verse 26. For if we sin willfully, After that, we've received the
knowledge of the truth. There remaineth no more sacrifice
for sins. Do you hear that? I remember reading that as a
young man and trembling. Sinning willfully? My every sin
I've ever committed was with my will. I could never say the
devil made me do it. No my sin is my fault. So what
does he mean when he says if we sin willfully? Well the key
of that statement is after that we've received the knowledge
of the truth. What is the knowledge of the
truth? The cross of Christ. Salvation
by the blood of Christ. Nothing else is needed. Salvation
by what he did now to turn from that willfully. What happens? For if we sin willfully after
that, we've received the knowledge of the truth. There remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins. We've left our only hope. But a certain fearful looking
for judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses of how much sore punishment. Suppose ye shall be thought worthy
who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and has counted the
blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing."
And that word unholy is the word that's generally translated common.
common, that which is general to all, as opposed to that, which
is peculiar to the few and done despite under the spirit of grace. For we know him that say vengeance
belongeth unto me. I will recompense sayeth the
Lord. And again, the Lord said judges
people. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. Now he's talking about judgment
and condemnation there. So the people that the Lord is
praying for is everybody that he represented, everybody the
Father gave to him, everybody he died for. And I can't understand
his priesthood if I don't see that, if I think it's for everybody,
I have no idea what this passage of scripture means. We have,
we have, Not he's offered to us up to our acceptance or rejection. We're given the choice. No, we
have, we possess. He gave himself to us. The father
gave us to him. We have him. We have such an
high priest. who is set on the right hand
of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Now, don't miss
this, he set. He sat down. Why did he sit down? Hebrews 1.3 says, when he had
by himself purged our sins, he sat down. Why did he sit down? Because the sins were purged. They were put away. They were
made not to be. They were disannulled. They were
no more in the universe. Somebody says, well, my sins
are in the universe. Um, well, you committed them, but they're
not in the universe. They're gone. Through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, they're gone. He sat down because His
work was finished. He is the sitting Savior. He
left nothing undone. He left nothing for us to do.
He sat down. Having finished His work, and
where did He sit down? At the right hand. of the majesty. On high, oh, the excellence and
the glories of Jesus Christ, sitting at the right hand of
the Father, the place of all authority and power, ruling and
reigning, controlling every event and every person. What a high
priest. What a high priest. We have such
a high priest. One who sat down having finished
the work of purging our sins and ruling and reigning. Verse two says, he's a minister
of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched,
not man. Now, the Lord gave Moses very
specific instructions with regard to that tabernacle. and we're
going to consider that more next week. But he gave very specific
instructions, the holy place, the holy of holies, all the paraphernalia
of the tabernacle, the courtyard, the altar, the laver with the
water in it, and the furniture, the incense, the golden candlestick,
the table of showbread. the Ark of the Covenant with
the mercy seat over it, the cherubims of glory over it. And the writer of the Hebrew
says, that's not the true tabernacle. As a matter of fact, in the next
chapter, he calls it a worldly sanctuary. Worldly, material,
physical. This is not the true tabernacle. Here's the true tabernacle that
the Lord pitched, and not man. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is the tabernacle. He is the dwelling place of God. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. He's the priest. But not only
is he the priest, He's the sacrifice. Not only is he the sacrifice,
he's the altar upon which the sacrifice is presented to the
father, his body. What a, not only is he a priest,
he's the sacrifice. He presents his own blood. We
have such an high priest, a minister of the sanctuary of the true
tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man, Four, now he's going
back to talking about the Levitical priest. Four, every high priest
is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. That's what a high
priest presents. And he's the only one who can
present them. What would happen if I presented my gift apart
from the priest? It wouldn't be accepted. What
if I offered my sacrifice apart from the priest? It would not
be accepted. You see, this priest represented
the Lord Jesus Christ. In and of himself, he wasn't
even better than me or you, but God made him priest and he represented
the true great high priest. And he had to offer gifts that
God would accept. The meal offerings, the grain
offerings, the Thanksgiving offerings, the sin sacrifices. He had to
have something that God would accept. And he did just simply
because a picture of what Christ would do. Well, it's a necessity
that this man have someone also to offer this. God man, this
great high priest, after the more order of Melchizedek, he
has to have something to offer to God that God would accept.
that God would be pleased with. Oh, he has something. He has
something. Now look in verse four. Four. If he were on earth, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he shouldn't be a priest. He'd be disqualified.
He wasn't a Levite. You know, if somebody that wasn't
a Levite tried to offer sacrifice, they'd blasphemed. What happened
to Uzziah when he tried to burn incense to the Lord? Lord turned
him into a leper. He died a leper. Only the priest. can offer something that God
accepts. And those Old Testament priests
only pictured this priest who has something to offer, his righteousness,
his well-pleasing obedience to the Father, his precious blood.
I love to think about this. This priest, he didn't bring
the blood of an animal. He brought his own blood into
the very presence of God. What a priest. He has something
to offer. But if he were on earth, he should
not be a priest seeing that there are priests that offer gifts
according to the law. And he, he's excluded from that because
he wasn't a Levite. Who, verse five, who serve unto
the example. This is the Levitical priests
who serve under the example and shadow of heavenly things. Now, all these things are, are
a shadow. Forms the outline, but how much
substance does a shadow have? None. None. Now these serve under
the example, the pattern is the word and shadow of heavenly things. 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 thee on
the map. There wasn't any freelancing going on. Exactly what God told
Moses, that's exactly what he did. You see, Moses was faithful
as a servant, and he did what God told him to do. He wasn't
the son. He was faithful as a servant. No freelancing. Every sacrifice, every thing
in that tabernacle was cut to the exact space, the exact material,
even the hooks and all the things that were used in making the
tabernacle that were exact, just as God said. Verse six, but now hath he, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the priest after the order of Melchizedek, but now hath he
obtained a more excellent ministry by how much he is the mediator
of a better covenant, which was established upon better Now,
the Lord Jesus, that priest after the order of Melchizedek, has
a more excellent ministry. That's an understatement, isn't
it? That's an understatement with
regard to his comparison between his priesthood and the priesthood
of the Levites. He has a more excellent ministry,
and here's how. He's the mediator of a better
covenant, which was established upon better promises. The old covenant, if you obey,
you'll be blessed. The new covenant, if Christ obeys,
you'll be blessed. Which one's better? That's a
no brainer, isn't it? A better covenant, a covenant
of grace, free, free grace. And that's, that's almost redundant
in the sense that if it's grace, it is free. It must be. You know,
when we say sovereign grace, well, if it's grace, it's sovereign.
Free grace is better than works. God's promise of grace, salvation,
not conditioned upon me doing my part to enable God to do his
part. That's no good. He won't save
anybody. but salvation for Christ's sake. You read that, here is
for the Lord's sake. That's a better covenant. It's better promises. And I love
that word better. That's one of the key words,
the Hebrews, Christ is better. Beyond the best, He's always
the better. You take the best, He's better.
Go up above that, He's better than that too. Just keep going
and going and going. He's better. He's better than
the law. He's better than angels. He's
better than Moses. He's better than works. Christ
is better. Now has he obtained a more excellent
ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant. A mediator is the one who brings
God and men together. That's what he does. He brings
me and the living God together. That's the excellence of his
ministry. It was established upon better
promises. Verse seven, four, if the first covenant had been
faultless. Then should no place have been
sought for the second. Now, how can it be said that
the first covenant was faulty? Here the writer to the Hebrews
uses language like that. He said if the covenant of works
had been without fault, we wouldn't have had to have a second covenant.
Look back in chapter seven at verse 16. who is made this priest after
the order of Melchizedek, not after the law of a carnal commandment. That's what he calls the first
covenant, a carnal commandment. Look in verse 18, for there is
verily a disannoying of the commandment going before for the weakness
and unprofitableness thereof. That's the language the Bible
uses. Well, how could you call what God wrote weak and unprofitable? It's God's law. It's perfect. He wrote it. Can't save. That's the simplicity of it.
It can't save. In that sense, it was faulty. The law made nothing perfect. but the bringing in of a better
hope did." Now let's see what he says about it being faulty. Verse eight, four, finding fault
with them. That's God finding fault. For
finding fault with him, he said, behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, when I will make a new covenant. And this is talking
about the new Testament. Remember when the Lord said on
that last night, this is the new Testament in my blood, which
is shed for many for the remission of sins. That's what he's talking
about. This is the new covenant. This is not the covenant of works.
For finding fault with them, he saith, 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, not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Now,
I suspect If there was a four or five-year-old boy, maybe 10
or 12, maybe I better not go any further than that. But if
there was a little boy, I could pretty much lead him by the hand
anywhere I wanted to. And he couldn't stop it. I'd
say, you're going to go here. And I'd pull it. He'd go there.
I'd say, you're going to go there. If I had him by the hand and
I took him back, he'd go where I wanted him to go. But that
didn't mean he did it willingly. His heart was not in it. I remember
one time hearing about a boy that was made to sit down by
his parents. He said, in my heart, I'm still
standing. Well, this person is still standing,
led about by the hand. But the scripture says, In verse
nine, not according to the covenant that I made with the fathers
in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of
the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant.
And I regarded them not, saith the Lord. Let me say this, you
know, law cannot produce love. If there is anything for you
to do in order for you to be saved, you will never love God. You'll be resentful. You'll think
he's unfair. You'll think he's harsh. You'll
feel sorry for yourself. Law never produces love. The only time you'll love God
is when you find out that you are accepted in the Beloved completely
without reference to anything you do. You'll love him then.
Oh, you'll love him. God has no regard for outward
forced obedience, being led by the hand but no love from the
heart. He said, here's what I did under that first covenant. I
grabbed him by the hand. And I led them out of Egypt.
I drug them. They went. But their heart didn't. In their
heart, they turned back and they were rebellious and unbelieving. Verse 10. This is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. This is the new covenant. This
is the more excellent covenant. 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 into their mind and write them
in their hearts. Now this is not about taking
them by the hand and pulling them around, getting them to
go where I want them to go. I'm gonna take my laws and don't
miss that plural. laws. I'm going to take my laws
and I'm going to put them in their minds and write them upon
their hearts. And this is a heart work. This is a heart work. A new heart also will I give
thee." And this is actually a quotation from Jeremiah chapter 31, verses
31 through 34. He's giving what the Old Testament
has always taught. This is the way it's always been.
It's never like there was one time people were saved by law
and then this is a new dispensation. This is the way it's always been. What's he mean by laws in the
plural? Does he mean the 10 commandments?
Well, turn with me to Romans two. Don't you love the 10 commandments?
I do. I love God's law. I delight in
the law of God after the inward man. I love God's law. Every
believer can say that, but look here in Romans chapter two. Verse
14, for when the Gentiles, which have not the law, they never
possessed a copy of the Ten Commandments. They never had a copy of the
Torah, the first five books of the Bible. They didn't have the
law. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature
the things contained in the law, These having not the law or a
law unto themselves would show the work of the law written in
their hearts. Their consciences also bearing
witness and their thoughts the meanwhile either accusing or
excusing." Doing one of those two things, either an accusing
conscience or I had an excuse, I had a reason. Somebody born
in Africa, They have the law written in their heart. Somebody
born in Asia, in China, they have God's law written in their
heart. Somebody born in Australia, in the Arctic, it doesn't matter
where it is. Every man, woman, boy and girl born into this world
are born with the law of God written in their heart. And that is one of the reasons
I think people say we need to teach people how to live. People
know how to live. You know how to live. You know
it's wrong to steal. You know it's wrong to gossip
and kill, murder people's characters. You know it's wrong to tell a
lie. You know sexual sin is forbidden
in God's Word. You know. You know. I can say
that to everyone even if they haven't had never heard the Ten
Commandments. They know because God's law is
written on the heart of every man born into this world. So what's he talking about when
he talks about laws, plural? Well, I find in the New Testament,
six laws spoken. And understand this, you know
the reason we don't believe in free will? Well, number one,
because the Word of God denies it. But number two, your will's
controlled by your nature. Isn't that so? Your will's not free of your
nature. God's will is not free of His nature. Your will is controlled
by your nature. Now, in the Bible, in the New
Testament, We read of the law of sin, the law of righteousness,
the law of faith, the law of love, the law of liberty, and
the law of Christ. Now these demonstrate the nature
of every single believer. God said, I'll put my laws in
their heart and I'll write them in their mind. Now, the first
word is the law of sin. No unbeliever has any understanding
of the law of sin. Paul said in Romans 7, but I
see another law warring against the law of my mind. bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members."
Now, let me tell you what that means. And only a believer can understand
this. I can't. If I talked about the most generous
gift I've ever given, you know what it is in and of itself?
Sin. Any prayer I pray, you know what
it is in and of itself? Sin. Any effort I make in the spread
of the gospel, you know what it is in and of itself? Sin. You see, I always have a sinful
nature. And there's no time at any point
when I can say, I didn't sin there. Scripture forbids that
kind of thinking. And the only way you can see
this is if you have a holy nature. A natural man can't see this.
It doesn't even make sense to him. But a believer knows the
law of seeing. And then we read of the law of
righteousness. The law of righteousness. You
know, a believer cannot be satisfied with anything but perfect righteousness. That's his nature. The only thing
he can have confidence in is perfect righteousness, the righteousness
before the law that's without sin, the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. That's all he can be satisfied
with. If you can be satisfied with anything else, you've never
been born again. The law of righteousness. And then thirdly, we read of
the law of faith. And you hear that? The law of
faith. You've got a law within you.
It's part of your nature. You cannot not believe the gospel. You can't. You cannot not look
to Christ only. It's your nature to look only
to Christ. That's a law. Remember he said,
I'll write my laws in their hearts and put them in them. He's put
it there. And then I love, this is found
two or three times in the scriptures, the law of love. The law of love,
this is part of your nature. You have a nature, you have a
law in you that it makes you love God for who He is. You love
Him as He's revealed in His Word. You love all of His most excellent
and glorious attributes. You love Him. You love Him for
who He is. You love His sovereignty. You
love His independence. You love His immutability. You
love His power. You love His grace. You love
His justice. Every attribute of God you love
and you wouldn't change Him if it were in your power. You don't
want to change perfection, do you? And you love everybody who
loves him. There's something he that loveth
him that begat, loveth him also that's begot of him. You can't
help but love people who love Jesus Christ. And you know who
else you love? You love everybody. What do you mean by that? There
is not a man, woman, boy or girl in this world that I do not want
them to have the same thing I have. I want them to know the Lord.
I want them to be saved by his grace. I love everybody. You
do if you're a believer. The royal law of love. And then there's the law of liberty. James speaks of it. I love what
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3, 17, the Lord is that spirit and
where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And let me tell you something
about every child of God. They must have liberty. You put them under the law, they
can't take it. They must have liberty. I have to have all my debts paid
so that I stand before God without fault. That's liberating. You know, I want to do what I
want to do. I don't want forced religion. I don't want forced
obedience. I want to do what I want to do
and follow him, the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to follow him
for this one reason. I want to follow him. I want
to follow the, I want to deny myself. I want to take up my
cross. I want to follow him. That's
the nature of a believer and Galatians chapter six. I want
you to look at this one with me. Galatians chapter six. Verse one, brethren, if a man
be overtaken in a fault. Do you understand that? Being overtaken in a fault, a
sin, a trespass. You, which are spiritual. That means you're born from above.
That means you have a spiritual nature. Restore such a one in
the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens.
You know what that means more than anything else? Put up with
one another. Put up with one another. And so fulfill the law of Christ,
the law of Christ. I will put my laws in their hearts,
in their minds, write them in their minds. Well, let's go back
to Hebrews eight. Let me finish this up. Verse 10, I'll be to them a God. If God
be for us who can be against us, I will be to them a God. And they shall be to me a people,
the people of God. Thou shall call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins. I'll be to them
a God. You know, God's my God. I am my beloved's, and he is
mine. I'll be to them a God. They shall
be to me a people. Verse 11, And they shall not
teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. For all shall know me from the
least to the greatest. Now, if I'm dependent upon some
man to teach me to know the Lord. I'm not going to know him. The
only way I'm going to know him is if he makes himself known
to me. And when he makes himself known
to me, I know him. And you know, when you know him,
you recognize that what you're hearing is not him. And you take
it personal because you know him, you love him. And if you
hear something that's contrary to who he is, you're offended
by it. And if you're not offended by it, you don't love him. That's
all there is to it. If you love him, you're offended
by that which is contrary to him. Where there's no offense,
there's no love. You see, you know him. They shall
all know me from the least to the greatest. And here's why. Verse 12. I will be, and that word is propitious. Propitious. Same thing the thief
prayed. I mean, not the thief, but the
publican in the temple. God be propitious to me, the
sinner. Now God says, I will be propitious. Now, you know what that means?
That means he himself has removed his reason for anger. He was
manifested to take away our sins, and that is precisely what Jesus
Christ did on Calvary's tree. He took away our sins so that
they're gone! There's nothing we do to propitiate
God. He did the propitiating. They're sins. And here's what
happens because of His propitiation. For I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more." Now, the reason he does not remember our sins is
not because of a faulty memory on his part. There are no sins
to remember. There are no sins to remember. They've been blotted out. They've
been canceled. They've been made not to be.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God justified
them. Who is he to condemn? It's Christ
that died. There is nothing to be laid to
their charge. Now, in the Isaiah, verse 13, Did he say of the new covenant? He made the first old. How old? Well, it's decaying. That's how old. It decayeth and waxeth old and
it's ready to vanish away. With regard to the old covenant
of works, it's decayed, old, ready to vanish away. And every
false preacher will try to bring it up in some way. You can just
write that down. Every false preacher will try
to bring it up in some way. And you and I still have a sinful
nature that we can bring it up. Peter did, didn't he? When he
changed tables, he brought it up. May the Lord impress upon
us that that which is old is decayed. It waxes old. It's ready to vanish away. We have such an high priest. May God give us grace to believe
that we have such an high priest and find the joy in him. Let's pray.