preach to us. Well, I just like to say that I've never been treated better. And we do appreciate it so much. I've been treated a whole lot worse, but I've never been treated any better. And you all have been such gracious hosts and we appreciate it. And the church has been very attentive and certainly appreciate it.

Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest. That is our relationship to him. We are recipients of the benefits of his great high priesthood, which is after the order of Melchizedek.

He is a priest forever, after the power of an endless life, and not by a carnal commandment. Not as the priests under the Levitical priesthood were, so was our priest. He has an endless life. He lives forever. And he says, as I live, you shall live also. And our priest will never change. And the priesthood wherein we approach unto God will never change. Now, the glory of his priesthood is dependent upon the exaltation of his person. And the exaltation of his person rests upon the fact that he is of a dual nature. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And then in verse 14, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He pitched his tent among us. He tabernacled among us.

All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the Lord Jesus Christ bodily. And greater expression and greater being of glory there cannot be except in that one wherein dwelleth all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Not only that, but we're in him. Not just how that all works. That's the Lord's business. I don't know, but I know that according to this word, that's the way it is. We are in him and in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Not only that. But we're complete. In him.

Well, as rough and ragged as we are in our persons, it's not what we are in our persons, it's what we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not what we are in our persons to God, we are to God what we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we need not look at ourselves as being just what we are, but we are what God is creating in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are created in him. We are a new creation. A glorious church. Isn't that amazing? A glory not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

Such a one as God himself. would create in his son by his priesthood, if perfection were by the Levitical priesthood. What further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek? And there was a need because another priest has arisen and the priesthood being changed, there's made also necessity a change in the covenant. We serve God in the New Testament, which is sealed by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in that testament, it is written, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us.

I like that word hath. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ Jesus according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame in love, having predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.

No will was imposed upon God. He does all things according to his will. We have such a high priest who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens, and he has elevated our nature. There's a man, seated in glory, and there's other men in glory because that man's there. Our brethren have passed into the heaven in our Lord Jesus Christ, And we share in the in the time that the Lord has determined. Our Lord Jesus Christ is of dual nature. He's both God and man. Whatsoever he is. In either nature. That's what he is in his person. And in his person, God purchased his church in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 20, 28, let's turn and read that. Acts 20, 28. I'm sure y'all can probably quote this verse. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he, God, hath purchased with his own blood. Turn on back to Romans, or turn forward to Romans chapter Chapter 9. And we'll begin reading at verse 4.

Who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises? Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all? God bless forever, amen. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God in human flesh, and it was by that person, the person of Christ, by the shedding of his blood, that God purchased his church. and he shall absolutely have it. All the demons of hell and all the false preachers and everything that could be anti-Christ or anti-Christian cannot stop God collecting his redeemed, the ones that the Lord Jesus Christ has purchased and bringing them to glory. He's purposed it in himself. from all eternity. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest. We partake of his great high priesthood. And there's just one high priest in the church of God. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we are priests under him after the manner of 1 Peter 2.5. who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. That's a likely place to find him, who's God.

He sat down, he completed his work, was buried, raised himself from the grave. All three of the persons were associated in that work of raising himself from the grave, ascended up into glory, and in absolute constant stability, set down at the right hand of God. And all the devils in hell can't move him. His position there will never wear out. He'll be there to all eternity as our great high priest.

He's a minister of the sanctuary. Not of the sanctuary that Moses built, but of heaven itself. He has a ministry. He's a minister in heavenly things, in glory. And his ministry is to make intercession for the members of his body who are yet on the earth. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter Chapter 12. 1 Corinthians 12. Verse 12.

For as the body is one, is just one body, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ, Christ mystical. That new creation that God is creating, that new perfect man in the earth, which is made of both Jew and Gentile. One body in the Lord Jesus Christ, one new man. And then look down at verse 27. Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular. Every member has his place and God has prepared a member for every place in the body. We're members of the body of Christ. We're of his flesh and of his bones in that new mystical man that Christ Jesus. We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

He's a minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle. He administers in that sanctuary, in a tabernacle, which is his humanity. In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in that body doth he administer in the true tabernacle, in the true sanctuary in heaven itself. Look at 9.11.

But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come, not by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, Now, the tabernacle that Moses built was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it couldn't bleed. It couldn't die. Our Lord Jesus Christ hath a more perfect tabernacle unto that which God hath purchased, have purposed, should be accomplished by that tabernacle. There had to be death. The soul that sinneth, it must die. Christ had to take on a tabernacle that was capable of bleeding and dying and suffering. And he had to suffer in our state.

And a mystery, he suffered infinitely. There is no degrees of infinity. One infinity is as great as a million infinities or an infinite number or an infinite number of infinities. Christ suffered infinitely and paid the debt of a number which no man can number.

He wiped out our debt in the hours that he spent suffering. God punishing sin in the person, in the body and soul of our Lord Jesus Christ as he suffered to all infinity. He suffered more than we could ever suffer if we spent eternity in hell. Because we're finite creatures, we cannot suffer infinity. But he suffered infinitely. He paid a debt we cannot comprehend. We can believe it, that he suffered that debt, but to comprehend it, to understand it is beyond what we're able.

He's a minister of the sanctuary and he ministers, he administers in a tabernacle in his humanity, which the Lord pitched and not man. Man had no part in creating the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, except in that he took his humanity from the seed of the woman. He is the seed of the woman. He took of the woman and created the man, Christ Jesus. And therefore, that holy thing that came forth from Mary was begotten of the Holy Ghost and is called the Son of God.

That's who he is. He is the Son of God and the only begotten Son of God. And he is an infinite person, therefore could suffer infinitely. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifice were it also of necessity that this man had somewhat also to offer. It was in his humanity that he suffered.

This man, this man is seated in glory and has elevated our human nature above the nature of angels. When we arrive in glory, We won't stand behind the angels, we'll stand in front of them. We will face the throne and the angels will be behind us. He took us, our human nature, from being gardeners, farmers, to being attendants of the throne. a glory we cannot begin to comprehend, understand. But if we had any conception of it at all, who wouldn't want that?

For if he were on earth, in other words, if his ministry were to be on earth, he should not be a priest. If his ministry was to be on earth and not in heaven, he couldn't be a priest. Because the priests who are on earth are priests after the order of Aaron. They're of the Levitical priesthood. Christ did not fit that mold. Our Lord sprang from Judah. So he could not have a ministry on earth. His ministry had to be someplace besides the earth. Had to be in glory. That was the place that was fitting for the ministry that he would perform for his people. For if on earth he should not be a priest, seeing there are priests that offer gifts according to the law.

Of course, this was before A.D. 70. Who served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, they were simply Under the law, they simply served in the shadow of which substance we have in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We serve the substance. They served in shadows and pictures and types.

As Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for see, saith he, that they'll make all things according to the pattern shown in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry. The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. That new priesthood after the order of Melchizedek made somebody perfect.

When the children of God are born into this world, they think they're just like everybody else. Ain't that true? You don't see the difference. But the problem is, you have been, those who are children of God, have had an existence and a being in the mind, purpose, and will of God from all eternity.

He has known you. Not only has he known you, but he's loved you. He told Jeremiah, he said, yeah, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Well, how long is that? Well, it's everlasting. So it's as old as God is. I've loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, by loving kindness, have I drawn you in particular?

So you're pretty old. If you're a child of God, you're an old timer. If you're like me, you got all kinds of wrinkles around your eyes. You're not new children. You're the everlasting children because he is the everlasting father. He couldn't be an everlasting father unless he had some everlasting children. And I've loved you with an everlasting love. And I called you in an everlasting covenant. So we're from everlasting in the mind, will, purpose of God. Ain't no newcomers.

And now that he obtained more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant. Look at second Corinthians. Second Corinthians. chapter three let's begin reading verse five not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves but our sufficiency is of christ unless the lord works in your heart and mind to put faith within you, you're not sufficient for that task.

You can't just decide to believe and then un-believe all of a sudden, no. It requires the work of God the Holy Spirit. And what happens there is that at the time appointed in the everlasting covenant of grace, God the Son, appears in the presence of the Father. And in Him, He is the covenant. And the Father acknowledges His presence and sends the Holy Spirit in accordance with the terms of the covenant. And He enters into your heart, kicks Satan out, of his kingdom and he puts in you faith, peace, joy, love, all of those things that God require of us in a way of duty are freely given to us by the presence of God the Holy Spirit. You're not your own. You're bought with the price. And the Holy Spirit is in us. He is in the church collectively, but he's in each individual believer.

But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry. He sits on the right hand of God and he administers, he takes care, he presents the worship of the church, which is cleansed by his mediation. And he transacts all the business of the church, whether it is bringing in a new convert or whatever it is, whether it's cleansing our worship, our prayers or whatever, it all has to pass through his mediation, has to be accepted in him. By how much also he is a mediator of a better covenant which is established upon better promises. Now we just turn to 2 Corinthians and I got sidetracked. So let's go back there. 2 Corinthians chapter three. Let's begin reading at verse seven.

But if the ministration of death, or the administration of death, That's the law. That's what it is to us is an administration of death. The law, if it deals with us personally, can do nothing but find sin upon us and within us and curse us and sentence us to eternal ruin and death.

But if the administration of death, written and engraved in stones, was glorious, insomuch that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look at the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how much more shall the administration of the spirit be rather glory, a spirit of life?

For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excels. The glory of the New Testament in bringing life to the children of God far, far excels the glory of the Old Testament because the Old Testament could not bring life.

But the New Testament brings life to everyone who is concerned in it or who has an interest in that covenant or in the blood of Christ. One is ministration of death, the other is ministration of life. So if there's a difference there, just in proportion to that distance or difference is the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ to the ministry of the Levitical priesthood by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also is a mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises.

His covenants are covenants of promise. God promises and his promise is founded upon his eternal decree. What he has determined from old eternity And they're called covenants of promise. God said, I will. To his people, he said, I will. He didn't say, if you will, in this covenant. Now, under the law, he said, if you will. But under this covenant, he said, I will.

That it is a unconditional covenant. And it's based on an unconditional election of certain persons to eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I will be unto them a God and they shall be my people. It's an unconditional covenant. It doesn't depend on you. It's a good thing it don't. "'Cause if it did, you'd be in a heap of trouble." Unconditioned. God said, He said, this is my covenant unto them. He said, here's what I'm gonna do. It ain't what you're gonna do, it's what I'm gonna do.

For if the first covenant had been faultless, Then no place should have been sought for a second, but finding fault with them, he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant.

They couldn't walk in the precepts of the covenant, because they had an evil nature. We're born with an evil nature. We're born into this world evil. Our Lord said to the people here, he said, if ye being evil, you think why an evil? Yes, you are. You're evil in yourself. If God leaves you alone, you'll do that which is evil. He has to give you a new nature, a nature of children, nature of the children of God. Now, wouldn't you be in fine fix if the Lord took you to glory, walking among all of the saints and the angels, and you with an evil nature?

You talk about sticking out like a sore thumb. You'd be about like me in Africa. a white-headed old man walking around with everybody around in black. And you do feel kind of like a sore thumb sticking out. But anyway, you need a nature that is commensurate with your position. And God puts that nature in you.

They continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and in their heart. I'll write them. Well, if he puts his law in your heart, it becomes the law of your heart. That's what you want to do. It's just like the laws of nature. You hold up a rock, it wants to drop. Water wants to run down. Gas that's lighter than air wants to float. It's the law. When God converts you, you put a new law in your heart, and you want to conduct yourself in a different manner than you did before. and he puts it in your mind. Let me read on.

And I will be unto a God, and they shall be my people, not that they might be my people if they want to, but they shall be my people. And they shall no more teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, but they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest. God, the Holy Ghost, is the great teacher of the new covenant. And when he enters a person with all his fruits, he fills their mind with the saving knowledge of God and those people know God. Whom to know is eternal life. You have to be personally acquainted with God.

But you naturally, in nature, in what we are in nature, we have a repulsion to God. We don't want to know God. You don't want to go to church. You don't want to hear the gospel preach. You don't want to hear a guy like me standing up, flapping his jaw, because it's contrary to what you are in your person.

You're naturally a rebel. God has to visit you and make you a willing, loving servant of himself. And that's what he does for his people. Not something you can do. You must be born again, but you can't do it. You can't perform the operation, although it's got to happen. But it's not of you. You can't do it. You can't make God do it. You can't help God do it. It's all of him. Now you can't ask him. To give you the Holy Spirit, you could ask. He doesn't have to comply. But you could ask.

And if you ask earnestly, he won't turn you away. If God puts it in you to ask earnestly, sincerely, from the depths of your heart, in the day that they give me their whole heart, then will I be found with them. In the day that you give God your whole heart, By the power of the Holy Ghost, He has to do it. You can't. But you can ask.

If you can ask earnestly, sincerely, God won't let you go to hell. But now I'll tell you another side of that. If God will let you, you will go to hell. If God let you have your way, turn you loose and say, okay, go ahead. I'll meet you at the judgment. You will most certainly perish.

That's an awful thought, but it's the truth. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. Now it's the job of the Holy Spirit to enter the elect of God. and give them a new aspect, a new nature, a new life, put new life in them, and it is the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Christ that we share with Christ. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities.

I will remember no one. I'm gonna wipe their slate clean. as a hound's tooth. No sin. In that day, the iniquity of Judah and Jerusalem shall be sought for, and there shall be none. In that he saith the new covenant, he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old, is ready to vanish away. It's done. The Old Testament, as a rule of life, as anything, there's things we can learn by studying the Old Testament, but we're not under the old law. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under the law. The law is the strength of sin. but you're under grace. God set his people absolutely free with a new law in their heart, the law of Christ.