We have to understand that the
writer is talking about Christ. He's talking about Christ as
the great high priest. What an excellent ministry he
has. So, in verse 6 and following,
But now hath he, that is, Christ, our great high priest, 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 said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and 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 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 heart 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, know the Lord,
for all shall know me from the least unto 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 hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away. Let's look at verse 6 again.
By how much he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much
also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established
upon better promising. Now, as I said, our study in
chapter 8 has two parts or two halves under the chapter and
under our study. Number one, we have a better
priest than that of Aaron. We have a good priest. We have
one that is suited to our situation and is able to do those things
that might perfect us as worshippers and bring us unto God. But then
the second part of it is we walk and we worship and we live under
a better covenant than that which was administered by Aaron and
by the Levitical priesthood. And then it dawns upon us, I
think, as we study this passage and this subject, wait a minute,
listen, behold, let's get a couple of things together. These two
things, the priesthood of Christ and the covenant stand or fall
together. They actually go together and
cannot be separated. A certain kind of priest serves
under a certain and corresponding kind of covenant. So remember,
under either administration of the covenant, whether the old
covenant or whether the new, whether the first or the second,
as in the end of chapter eight, it is mentioned, The respective
covenants, be they old or be they new, actually revolve around
the person and the work of the respective high priest of that
covenant. They work together, the one and
the other. So I guess that we should just
come right out and say it out loud that the covenant can be
no better than the priest that administers it. Whatever covenant
it be, it can be no better than the priest that administers it. And so that the people living
under it can rise no higher than the priest by his service and
by his sacrifice is able to bring them or to sanctify them. I'd like to turn back into chapter
nine and read verse 9 and verse 10 if you would. It was a figure
for the time then present in which were offered both gifts
and sacrifices that could never make him that did the service
perfect So there we have it as concern the Old Covenant. Now again in Hebrews chapter
9 and verse 13, sprinkling the unclean, sanctify
unto the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood
of Christ. Now especially the last part
of verse 13 in chapter 9. sanctify for the purifying, that
is for the cleansing of the flesh. In other words, be able to ceremonially
cleanse them and typically cleanse them to put away their ceremonial
defilement and give them right to participate in that system
of worship once again. I agree with John Brown that
the purifying of the flesh and the efficacy of the blood of
bulls and goats and such things sprinkles, said Brown. It refers
to external ceremonial purification as opposed to spiritual and real
purification." End of quote. Again he wrote, as it is only
removing ceremonial pollution, it only produced ceremonial sanctification. End of quote. And the great feeling,
and the great failing rather, with Aaron's offering is this. It was not possible for them
to put away sin. It was not possible for the blood
that Aaron ministered upon the altar and upon the mercy seat
to put away sin. You have that in chapter 10,
1 through 4 of the book of Hebrew. Why? Because they were but shadows
and copies and examples of better things that were to come. But
of themselves, they were not able to take away sin, the blood
of a bullock or of a goat. They were not able to purge the
worshiper, and they were not able to clear the conscience,
not able to take away sin. What have we here then? Yet continually
offered, and offered by the ordination and commandment of God, and offered
year after year after year after year throughout their generation. Some of them even daily were
offered as sacrifices, and yet here is the apostle saying, They
were not able to remove sin, except typically and ceremonially. So what are we to make of that? We ought to caution ourselves,
first of all. This does not require us to conclude
that none under the old or the first covenant who lived and
worshiped and served God under that covenant and adhered to
that system of worship that none of them were saved. We do not
conclude that at all, and we would certainly be in a great
era to do so. By keeping the law, they were
not saved, but by looking typically to those things that were typified
under the old law, they looked yonder beyond them by the eye
of faith, as did Abraham, and they saw the day of Christ. Even some walked by faith before
the law was ever given and during the period of the law. Such men
as Abel walked by faith, Noah, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, and a host of others that are named in Hebrew
chapter 11. So many who lived under the law
did by faith look to Christ, who is the end of the law, as
Paul said in Romans. But before we shift our emphasis
from the better priest unto the better covenant for this morning,
let's consider What I think is a very intriguing, at least a
very interesting verse, and it is found in Hebrews chapter seven
and verse 12, if you'd care to turn back there and look. In
fact, let's read verse 11 and 12 together in Hebrews chapter
seven. If therefore perfection were
by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received
the law, What further need was there that another priest should
arise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order
of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed
there is made of necessity a change of the law also. Now in that
chapter, verse 11 through verse 16, it speaks of the change of
the priesthood from that of Aaron to that of the order of Melchizedek. It makes a change, however, of
the law also that has taken place. The priesthood is changed from
the order of Aaron to the order of Melchizedek, from Levi unto
Judah as the tribe, and that is interesting. What law is it
that is changed here? There is a change also of the
law. We ought to look at it contextually,
in its context. And contextually, I think it
is safe to say that it most likely refers to the law of the priesthood,
the law that regulated the priesthood under Aaron, which is the subject
of this entire paragraph the changing of the law from that
of Aaron to Melchizedek. Christ is not a priest after
the order of Aaron and the Levi. In fact, he is not of the tribe
of Levi. The high priest of the New Covenant,
we read, sprang out, as the word is expressed, of the tribe of
Judah. That means that he arose up.
He descended from Judah. He is risen up out of Judah,
who is our great high priest. Now, it is evident in verse 14,
far more evident is how he puts it, verse 15, that Christ is
out of the loin of the house of David. Christ sprang out of
the family of David. And by the way, Isaiah 53, 1,
From its lowest point in the history of that house and the
prophets foretold that it would be so Isaiah chapter 11 1 through
5 Micah chapter 5 and verse 2 that Christ was of Judah was indisputable
Even the lion of the tribe of Judah, he is called in Revelation
chapter 5 and verse 5. Now something else is even more
evident there in verse 15. If another priest arises according
to the order of Melchizedek, then that means that the Levitical
priesthood is abolished. It is done away. It is at an
end. Another order is established,
therefore the law of the priesthood is changed as well. And the point
to bear in mind, if the Levitical priesthood is ended, if it is
abolished in the appearing of Christ, then the whole system
or arrangement over which that Old Testament priest presided
is collapsed and is abolished. Notice, their house is left desolate,
Matthew 23 and 38. The veil of the temple rented
in two. when Christ died upon the cross
at Jerusalem, Matthew 27 and 51. An amazing thing that that
temple went from top to bottom at the exact moment that Christ
died and gave up the ghost. And then we read where our Lord
predicted in Matthew chapter 24, 1 and 2, that the whole temple
would be thrown down. not one stone left upon another,
so that when Christ has died, Judaism is an empty shell. It is a religion without a savior,
no high priest to bring them to God, no access to God in the
old way and under the old priesthood. And with the coming of Christ
in the flesh to die, to be a sacrifice, the new and better covenant was
brought in or was introduced. It was brought in by a better
and more perfect high priest who administers it. And jumping
down to Hebrew chapter 8 and verse 6 again, if we might read,
which is our text of the day, but now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant which is established upon better principle. Now the
he, H-E, in verse 6, refers to none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. But it also refers to him in
the capacity as our great High Priest of the Covenant. He is
mentioned in so many ways and as a contrast to the Levitical
system. Let's notice it. Verse one, he
is our high priest in heaven. In verse two, he is a minister
of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, not the earthly one. Verse three, this man must have
somewhat to offer, this man meaning Christ. And verse four, he would
not be an earthly priest, in an earthly tabernacle if he were
a priest upon the earth. For now hath he obtained a more
excellent ministry in regard to the new covenant." Owen wrote
there is a transition in this verse, in verse 6. we look at
it from the excellency of the priesthood of Christ to the excellency
of the covenant of which he is the mediator and the high priest
and using a prophecy found back in Jeremiah 31 31 through 34
the Apostle lays down for his readers a a two-fold premise
using the scripture that they profess to be the very oracles
of God. Now, the two proposed ones are
as follows. Number one, the prophet says
that in addition to the covenant made at Sinai with the fathers,
God purposed to make a new covenant with his people. In addition
to that covenant made at Sinai, another, a new and a better covenant
would be made. And the second thing about it
is, The prophet said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah. Just as there was to be a rest
in addition to that rest that Joshua provided for them in the
land of Canaan, Hebrews 3, 7 through chapter 4 and verse 11, there
would be another rest, a better rest than that provided by Joshua. So, says the prophet, there would
be the bringing in of a new and a better and an everlasting covenant. Now, the second thing that is
intimated about this covenant is that this covenant would be
different in nature. It would not be a repetition
exactly verbatim of the first covenant. Wrote the prophet Jeremiah
again, chapter 31 and 32, not according to the covenant that
I made with their fathers. I will make a new covenant. It
will not be the covenant made with their fathers. And verse
33, But this is the covenant that I will make with them. That
is, the new covenant would be much more spiritual, and it would
be much more excellent, and it would contain better promises.
It would have a better priest and a better mediator and all
of that. So the but now. Rome and Hebrews
8 and verse 6 at this time at this time is he become a better
high priest what was purpose before the world promised by
the prophets of old and But now has he actually become our great
high priest in his activity and obtained a more excellent ministry? Not more excellent than what
he had before. but more excellent than that
of the Levitical priest of Aaron and such like. As he is called
back in verse 2, if you look, a minister of the sanctuary and
of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. And he's speaking of heaven and
the presence of God. That while the Levitical priest
served under the example and shadow and copy of heavenly things
after the pattern shown by God to Moses in the mount. The ministry
of our great high priest is performed not in an earthly building but
in heaven itself in the very presence of God. So he is both
the minister and the mediator and also the surety and the testator
of the new everlasting covenant. And this covenant, says our author,
is established upon better promises. And basically, the promises of
the first covenant referred to the earthly canaan, a type of
that inheritance the saints were to inherit in the Lord. And many
of them were temporal blessing and the promises and the experience
of temporal blessing. Now these blessings and these
promises were contingent and conditional their obedience and
walking after the ordinances of God. By the way, the blessings
and the promises are summarized by Moses to the people in Deuteronomy
chapter 28 and verse 1 through 13. We won't take the time to
read it But there is a summation of the promises. We have a time
to read it now. Now, having mentioned the better
covenant in verse 6 of Hebrews chapter 8, with its better minister,
its better promises, its better sacrifices, then in verse 7,
the apostle restates what has already been said before. It's been said in Hebrews 7,
11 and 7 and 18. There was not perfection under
the Levitical priesthood. The covenant he was a minister
of was deficient, deficient toward the perfection of the people.
If it brought perfection, if it could perfect the people and
the worshiper, there would be no need and no place for any
other covenant to be brought in. You cannot improve upon perfection. And if Aaron brought perfection,
another covenant and another priest would not be called in. Then in verse 8 of chapter 8,
finding fault, the Lord said, The time comes when I will make
a new covenant with Israel and with Judah. One will come to
an end and a new one will come in his place. He will not leave
his people covenantless. He will not. They broke the first
covenant, the one from Sinai, and they quickly and they grievously
broke that covenant. Jeremiah 31, 32, which my covenant
they broke. And Hebrew chapter 8 and verse
9, Because they continued not in my covenant and I regarded
them not. It's how the writer applies the
prophet of Jeremiah. They did not abide in it. They
did not continue in that covenant. In fact, they broke it and as
you said, they broke it rather quickly. and they broke it often
and again and again. Yet, says the prophet, a time
will arrive, I will make a new covenant, a new and a better
covenant at this time. Then let us remind ourselves
that it is common for God to deal with his people or with
people by way of a covenant. How often you find covenants
made between God and people throughout the scripture and particularly
in the Old Testament. It is common, I say again, for
God to deal with people by way of a covenant. He did so with
Noah in Genesis chapter 9, 11 through 15. He did so with Abraham
in Genesis chapter 17 and 11 through 15. He did so with Israel in the
covenant made at Mount Sinai. He did so with David as a covenant
is described in Psalm chapter 89. And so it go that God puts
people under a covenant and they are in that covenant and simply
because God had put them under that covenant. They do not put
themselves in that covenant. God puts them in that covenant. Now, some might call our attention
to the ones with whom the new and the better covenant are to
be made. The house of Israel and of Judah. You have that in Jeremiah 31,
and you have it here in Hebrews 8 and 8. And again, Jeremiah
31, 32, and Hebrews 8 and 9 distinguish or contrast this covenant from
the one made with, quote, their fathers, unquote. I will make
a new covenant with a house of Israel and of Judah, unlike that
one that I made with their fathers. Now, the question is, will this
covenant be restricted then to the Jew and the Jew only, the
house of Israel and the house of Judah. When is it enforced? When is it brought in and enforced
and experienced? In the past or in the future
as to its being brought in? What time did Jeremiah have in
his eye in making that prophecy of a time when a new covenant
would be made? Was it, as some say, the return
from the Babylonian captivity? That's how some interpret Jeremiah
chapter 31. Or was it in connection with
Messiah's appearance in the flesh among them. This is the emphasis
of the Hebrew author. In no way does he speak of or
intend any other time except in connection with a high priestly
work of Christ the Messiah as a priest. of the covenant but
then we remember are not the gentiles also to be beneficiaries
of this great and new covenant as many old testament passages
and prophecy do clearly foretell a mass calling and conversion
of the Gentiles unto Messiah in his time and day. Now, does
the Hebrew author, therefore, use the house of Israel and of
Judah because he is writing principally to Jew, and this will make a
deeper impression upon them? Some of them had embraced or
been influenced by Christianity? Does he do so to ease and to
assure them that this covenant made with them will be new and
better in every way, and that Christ is the one and the only
one promised and predicted by Moses and by the psalm and by
the prophet to stand in this position as the priest of God. Now one more question before
we move on. When, that is, what days or what
period of time will the covenant be established with Israel and
with Judah? Will it be, as John Brown suggested,
quote, in the last days of the Christian dispensation and the
interpretation of Romans 11, 25 through 27? Or will it be, as John Gill wrote
on Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 8, literally taken, had its fulfillment
in the first times of the gospel through the ministry of John,
the ministry of Christ, and the ministry of the Apostle. In Luke
chapter 1 and 15 through 17, for the gospel came first unto
the Jew, but then to God's elect of every nation, of every tribe,
and of every tongue, and so forth. So in verse 10 of chapter 8,
We have a basic description of this covenant and of its nature. This is the covenant that I will
make with them. In other words, this is the sum
of it. This is the substance. This is
the nature of that covenant. In this will consist the covenant
that I will make with them, saith the Lord. Two things here as
we look at it. Number one, the covenant. It
will be a covenant. It will be in the form of a covenant. Now there are two words in the
New Testament, two words in the epistle unto the Hebrews. that
are the same Greek word exactly, but they're translated two different
ways in our English or in our King James. It is translated
covenant, and it is translated testament, and it is one and
the same word as I understand it. And both words are used in
the Hebrew epistle, at least in the King James Version, a
total of 21 times in this one epistle. Seven times it is translated
testament in this epistle, and 14 times it is translated by
the word covenant. Now, the general meaning of the
word, whether covenant or testament, is a disposition. We think about a disposition
or a will, a contract, a divisory will that has been made a deposition
of property by a will or a will and testament. John Gill put
it, to dispose of a covenant or testamentary way to make provision. So a covenant. And the second
thing, the essence of the covenant stands in the Son of God. It does not stand in another,
not in Aaron or in the Levite, but in the Son of God. For when
we look at Hebrews, we find that he, the son of God, he is the
guarantor of the covenant, he is the mediator of the covenant,
he is the surety of the covenant, and he is the testator of the
covenant, and his blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant
or testament, Hebrews 13 and 20. 10 29 and Matthew 26 28 This is my
blood of the New Testament said our Lord and in the 10th verse
of our chapter the manner in which God does seal the covenant
in the hearts of the elect and secure their obedience love unto
him is given how will God do this and How will God affect
this covenant? How will it stand? Wherein lies
its success and its efficacy toward the people for whom it
is made? We'll look at it. I will put
my laws in their mind and write them in their heart. And the
essence is, I will be to them a God. That is, I will be their
God. They shall be my people. That
is, they shall be a special and peculiar people unto me, which
was true nationally and typically with Israel. God said to them
in Exodus 20 and verse 2, I am the Lord thy God, which brought
thee out of the land of Egypt. And in Exodus 19 and verse 5,
then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people
and above all nations. And though the covenant is eternal
between the holy three, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, but
with as to the people and their relation, God says, I will make
it. You have that in verse eight
and verse nine and verse 10. I will make a covenant with them. Now the word made or make, Deal
wrote about that word the word rendered I will make first aid
being one word in the Greek one word I Will make I will consummate
I will finish I will fulfill that I will do this I will make
this covenant literally I will affect this covenant. That's
how it is in some version, at least one version that I read.
And verse 10, the covenant which I will make. John Brown understood
this to mean God will bring his people into a covenant. He will bring his people into
a new order of things as contrary to that one of old. He will bring
his people into a new covenant, a new order of things. He will
establish a new economy among them, and a new and a better
and a more spiritual way of worship and access unto God. We must
understand that this covenant, as to its making, is according
to the sovereign good pleasure of God, as to the time or when,
and the people or who it is made with, and the substance or what
it consists of, it is by no condition on the part of the people. This covenant stands or is enacted
by no condition fulfilled on the part of the people. It is
by no condition. God makes covenant with them
according to his good pleasure. And I'll say it this way. He
sets no condition and no contingency on their part that might secure
their admission into the covenant or the testament status as the
people of God. Nor does God wait on the sinner
to make himself ready and willing to enter into this covenant with
him. God does it, I repeat, by a sovereign,
irresistible, internal work of God in the individual. Look what
he said in Hebrews 8 again. I will put my laws, that is,
I will put my doctrine, my instruction into their heart and into their
mind. As one said, these are the two
tables upon which God will write with the inscrutable finger of
God. The fleshly tables of the heart
Paul called them in 2nd Corinthians 3 and verse 3. The fleshly tables
of the heart. God writeth upon these two tables,
the heart and the mind. It will be, in other words, a
revelation that is made unto them. They shall all be taught
God as the Lord said John 6 and verse 45 and they shall all know
me says the prophet and says the author of Hebrew Jeremiah
31 34 Hebrews 8 11 they shall all know me And this is not to abolish or
denigrate teachers or teaching. That is not what he's doing in
this play. Just that God will reveal himself
in a spiritual and a special way. And you can see that in
1 John chapter 2 and verse 27. He makes them to know him as
we read in Job 42 and verse 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear. But now mine eye seeth thee,
says Job, once I heard of thee, once I knew thee by hearing and
by teaching and by instruction, but now mine eye hath caught
a glimpse of thee. We cannot learn the things of
God by a teacher alone. A teacher alone cannot teach
us the things of God, nor can the natural mind comprehend the
things of God. The mind of man naturally cannot
comprehend the deep things of God. They are beyond his comprehension. They are strictly and absolutely
beyond his knowing. And that's why Job said, once
I heard with a hearing of the ear. but now mine eyes see it
be." And that's in the end of the book when God came unto him
in a good and a special way. As Hohen wrote, all the beginnings
and all the entrances into the saving knowledge of God are effects
of the grace of the covenant, unquote. Think about that. All
of the beginning and the entrance into the knowledge of God are
a work of the grace of God in the heart of that individual.
The grace of the covenant, as Owen called it. And the chief
benefits of the covenant. Look at that in verse 12 of Hebrews
chapter 8. First of all, I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness. Oh, how we need that. how we
need God to be merciful and to take care of our unrighteousness. Then secondly, he said, there
are sins and iniquities I will remember no more. The new covenant
or the New Testament provides for free irrevocable remission
and pardon and forgiveness of sin. Unlike the old covenant,
when there was a remembrance made of sin again every year. Chapter 10, as they went to make
the sacrifices, it dug up their sin as it were. There was a remembrance
made again of their sin as the high priest is once again at
the altar, making an atonement and a sacrifice for their sin. So, their sins will be put away,
not remembered by God. That is, they will not be brought
up against them anymore, having been expiated by the blood and
death of Christ. There is no condemnation for
their sin because of the death of Christ. Now, there are two
things here that stand out head and shoulder above the old or
the first covenant, if we may look at them. Number one, I will
be their God and they shall be my people. This is a unique relationship
between God and his people. You know, it is a horrible, horrible
lie that's being told in the world today. A lot of it from
the churches. You hear this all the time. We
are all the children of God. Everybody is the child of God. That's a common belief and a
common saying and a common practice in our day. It's horribly wrong. I will be their God. They shall
be my people. This is the one that are in covenant
with God by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember
that the Lord said there'll come a time when he will say, depart
from me? I never knew. I never knew. Not
that he didn't know their being and their existence, and that
they were in their circumstances, but that he never knew them as
his people. Now that takes away falling out
of grace. I never, at any time, knew you
as my people. But the second thing is, the
redemption from sin, it is put away. It is remembered no more. God is the consummate forgiver
in this sense of the word. Why? Why? Because we have a better
high priest who's made a better sacrifice under a better covenant,
and we stand in covenant relationship unto God. Verse 13, the very
fact that God promised a new covenant means that the first
one is done away, that it is banished, that it is going away
and is gone away. Which covenant, my friend, do
you walk under? Which covenant do you prefer
to walk under? That old one of the law or that
new one of grace? That old one with Aaron as the
priest at the altar? That new one with Christ having
offered himself without spot to God? and have gained everlasting
sanctification and everlasting salvation by his death. Oh, what a minister of the new
covenant we have. He is the son of God. He's the
Lord Jesus Christ. He died. He rode. He ascended
to heaven. He sits at the right hand of
God in the very presence of God. an advocate, a mediator, an intercessor
in our behavior. Thank God for the great high
priest. We have one exactly suited unto
our need, as we said last week.