Hebrews chapter 8, and I want
to begin reading again in verse 1 and read down through verse
6. We'll be covering tonight verses 3 through verse 6. But
let's begin reading in Hebrews chapter 8 in verse 1. Now of
the things which we have spoken, this is the Son. We have such
a 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.
Wherefore, 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, said he, that you make
all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.
But now he hath obtained a more excellent ministry. But how much
more is he the mediator of a better covenant, which was established
upon better promises? We always, I guess, attribute
any more of this epistle to the Apostle Paul, but one thing we
can say, whoever wrote this epistle was very knowledgeable about
the ceremonial law and the priesthood that God gave to Moses and Aaron
in the Old Testament dispensation. And if the Jews that didn't believe
in Christ, if they never acknowledged the Apostle Paul, cast his name
out, and hounded him everywhere he went. If he wrote this epistle,
there's one thing that they'll have to acknowledge. He was a
very learned man in the Old Testament. He was very knowledgeable in
the priesthood of Aaron and in the ceremonial law. As the Jews
read this epistle, they would have to surely acknowledge that.
Now, why did God establish the priesthood in the first place?
We're told this several times in this epistle and we're told
here also in our text that it was to represent the people. The priests were to offer sacrifices
and gifts on behalf of other people to God. That's what he
says here in verse 3. For every high priest is ordained
to offer gifts and sacrifices. Let's look back over in chapter
5. We read this, but look here, he said this same thing back
in chapter 5, and look here in verse 1. He tells us two things
in this verse. For every high priest taken from
among men is ordained, he is set aside for men in thanks pertaining
to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sin. Two things he tells us here.
That God has ordained that certain gifts and sacrifices be offered
for sins. He's always demanded certain
sacrifices for sin. If you go back in the Old Testament,
even before Moses, you'll see that God required sacrifices
for sins. Remember Abel? when he came into
God's presence. The Bible says he offered a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain. And when the flood was over,
Noah brought sacrifices of the clean animals and the fowls and
offered them upon the altar of burnt offerings. And God smelled
the sweet smell and said, I'll no longer curse the ground for
man's sake. Abraham comes on the scene and
what does he do? He offers sacrifices, doesn't
he? He offered sacrifice upon the Mount Moriah instead of Isaac.
Jacob offered sacrifices. Isaac offered sacrifices. And
up until the Law, they offered certain sacrifices and gifts
to God for sin. And then when God ordained the
Law, when He gave Moses the Law, that never stopped. He ordained
specific sacrifices and gifts to be offered for specific reasons. So we see that all through the
Scripture that God always required sacrifices and gifts. And He
required this. From the giving of the law up
until this very day, He ordains who was to offer those gifts
and sacrifices. And that's what He tells us here
in verse 1. Every high priest is ordained. He's set aside to
offer gifts and sacrifices for sin. So the gift God commands
and He ordains, who offers those sacrifices to Himself? He ordained the gifts and He
ordained the priesthood. Nobody was allowed to come into
God's presence but that priest. Nobody was allowed to come into
the holy place and offer the blood of the animal except the
priest only. And he was to bring in what God
specifically told him to bring in. So God has ordained not only
the gifts but the priesthood. And he said, let me say this,
he ordained three types of priesthoods. In the Bible we see this. We
see the Levitical priesthood, that was the first priesthood
that God ordained. Then we see the priesthood of
the Lord Jesus Christ and then we see the priesthood of the
church. He ordained the Levitical priesthood and they offered typical
sacrifices. They offered animals, they offered
the flower, the first fruits of their gardens and so on. The Lord Jesus Christ, when He
came on the scene, He offered a human sacrifice. The first
human sacrifice that God ever required would ever accept. He forbid them to offer human
sacrifices. God ordained the priesthood of
Jesus Christ that He offered Himself. And then the third priesthood
that God had ordained is the church. The church is the priesthood. These three priesthoods have
been the only priesthood that God has ordained. Let's dwell
on that just for a second. If God ordained the church as
the priesthood, what do they offer? Because He ordained not
only the priesthood, but specifically the gifts. What He's required,
He's given. And what He gives, He will accept.
in 1 Peter chapter 2 and see where God ordained the priesthood. 1 Peter chapter 2 and look here
in verse, chapter 2 and verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a royal priesthood. than holy nation, a peculiar
people, that you should show forth the praises of him who
calls you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Now look
back in verse 4, speaking of us coming to Christ, "...to whom
coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious. You also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house than holy priesthood." What does a
priest do? They have to have something to
offer, don't they? Because God not only ordained the priesthood,
but the offerings. So we said here to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Now what does
the church offer? We know what the Levitical priesthood
offered. They offered typical sacrifices,
animals and so on. We know what the Lord Jesus offered.
He offered Himself. What does the church offer? He
said they offer spiritual sacrifices. Well, turn back over to your
left and look in the book of Hebrews chapter 13. And look
in verse 13. Hebrews chapter 13 and look in
verse 13. This tells us what the church
offers. Let us go forth therefore unto
him without the count, bearing his reproach. For here we have
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. Give Him thanks, that is the
fruit of our lips, give Him thanks to His name, but to do good and
to communicate, to share, forget not, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased." There's some spiritual sacrifice. It's
not all of them, but it's the sacrifice of praise. It comes
from our hearts through our lips. We live in His praises. We praise
Him, don't we? We praise Him who has called
us out of darkness unto His marvelous light. And we give thanks unto
His name for everything. We give thanks unto Him. And
we do good in His name. When we do what we do by faith,
when we do what we do to God's glory, we do what we do in love,
then that's good. And that's a spiritual sacrifice.
When we share our time, when we share our finances, when we
share our labor, whatever we share with others, when we share
the testimony of our Lord, that's a spiritual sacrifice. And it's
received up through Jesus Christ to God. Wayne will be going next
time he teaches into the twelfth chapter of the book of Romans
All of us probably knew it could quote that first verse, couldn't
we? I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God that you present
your bodies, what? A living sacrifice. So that's
the sacrifices we offer. So the church is the priesthood
and she has these spiritual sacrifices that she offers up to God acceptable
by Christ. But there's two things about
this that we want to be very careful of and remind, two important
things. The church doesn't offer a sacrifice
to atone for sin. We offer sacrifices but never
one to atone for sin. Nothing the church does will
atone for sin. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know?
These for sin cannot atone. That atonement has done been
made, hasn't it? That's the first thing. We do not offer any sacrifices
to atone for sins. And secondly is this, and this
is something that needs to be stressed too. There is no special
office within the church designated as a priesthood. The church itself
is a priesthood. But the church doesn't have any
special office within it designated as the priesthood. The gospel
preachers are called ministers, they're called pastors, they're
called elders and bishops, but they're never called priests.
Not one time do you find a minister in the gospel being called a
priest. And here's the thing that I often
emphasize. Catholicism claims both of those. Catholicism claims a priesthood
within the church. You never find that in the Word
of God. They have men that they call priests. They've ordained
priests. But I tell you this much, God has not ordained them.
God has not ordained any priesthood within the church, the church
herself. And the second thing the Catholics
do is this, they don't put much stress at all on the real sufferings
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't say that redemption
was accomplished upon the cross. They have to add other things
to it. They don't say a real atonement was made upon the cross.
They have to add other things to it. They never dare say that
you're justified by faith in Jesus Christ and His dying alone. They put little stress upon the
actual sufferings of Jesus Christ. But I tell you what they do put
stress upon. Transubstantiation. When the priest blesses the bread
and wine, it's changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ,
and He suffers in that bread and wine just as much as He did
upon the cross of Calvary. That's not so, is it? So the
church itself is the priesthood, but she never offers any sacrifices
to atone. That's contrary to Christ. That's
contrary to truth of the Scriptures. And this is why we call Catholicism
Antichrist. Our forefathers addressed them.
That sounds very harsh, doesn't it? It's very harsh when we say
that's idolatry. But any worship that is contrary
to God's Word is idolatry. It's idolatry. Now let us go
back to our text again. Look back over here in chapter
8 again and look in verse 4. He comes to this verse, chapter
8 and verse 4. We see here in verse 3 that every
high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, wherefore
it was a necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
He had to have a sacrifice to offer, too. He offered Himself,
didn't He? For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest,
seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to
the law. If He were on earth, He should
not be a priest. They already had an earthly priesthood.
They didn't need any more priests upon earth, did they? But Paul
is not saying here that Jesus Christ wasn't a priest while
He was upon this earth. He was a priest when He was upon
this earth. And He did offer when He was
upon this earth. Let me show you something somewhat
amazing. Just really, Joe and I were reading
this last night and it just struck my heart. Look back here in chapter
5. Here is something that He offered
when He was upon this earth. Look in chapter 5 and verse 7.
Who in the days of His flesh, when He was upon this earth,
when he had offered up prayers, and pleaded supplications, and
strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death, and was heard in that he feared." Now, can you
imagine this? Can you imagine you having that
only begotten Son, and He is facing death out of obedience
to you, and He is crying unto you? He is praying unto you,
My Father, My Father. And He is making supplications
unto you, and you see tears run down His eyes. How would you
feel? Wouldn't that be something else?
We don't divorce feelings from God. We don't divorce emotions
from God. Can you imagine how He felt?
When His Son was pleading in the garden, for instance, My
Father, My Father, and tears are flowing from His eyes, and
His lips are quivered, and His heart is afraid, and He said,
My Father, My Father, if there be any other way, can you imagine
what a sacrifice that was? Before His Father, in the judgment
hall when they were whipping Him and plucking His beard out,
His heart was crying, My Father, My Father. On the cross, what
did He do? He cried, didn't He? My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he did it with tears.
Can you imagine what a sacrifice that was? Coming from his heart
and lips. How touched! And the Bible says
that God, his Father, saw of the travail of his soul. He saw his prayers. He heard
his groaning. He saw his tears and his blood
being poured out. And he said, I'm satisfied. So
He did offer a sacrifice. And in the ninth chapter, He
tells us that Christ offered Himself without spot to God. He says that there in verse 14
in chapter 9. Look at it. How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself
without spot to God. He offered Himself. So He must
have been a priest. He was everything, wasn't He?
He was the priest. He was the author. He was the altar. He
was the temple. He was everything, wasn't He? But he was a priest. But when Paul said, if you were
on earth, he would not be a priest, his meaning is, he wouldn't be
like those Levitical priests. He wouldn't adorn himself in
a robe and he wouldn't go get a sacrifice of an animal. He
wouldn't take it up to the temple and offer it there on the burnt
altar. He wouldn't take its blood into
the most holy place. They had priests already that
were doing that. We needed a different kind of
priest, didn't we? We needed a different kind of
sacrifice and offerings and gifts. Why? Well, look back at our text
again. Look back in verse 5 and he tells
us. He tells us why we needed another
priest and another kind of sacrifice. For these priests, he said in
verse 5, they serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly
things. All they were is examples and
shadows of heavenly things. Look what he says in chapter
9 and look in verse 23. Chapter 9 verse 23. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with
these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. For Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the
truth, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for you." What were these sacrifices in Priesthood? They
were just patterns. They were examples. They were
shadows of heavenly things. Patterns won't do us any good.
Well, patterns will not save your soul. But they are pictures of things
that will save your soul. The blood of bulls and goats
can never take away sins. They're a figure of what can. A scapegoat cannot literally
bear your sins away. It was just a beautiful picture
of Him who could. Circumcision and the Sabbath
day and the priesthood and the temple and the sacrifices, all
of these things were shadows of heavenly things. Obeying the Sabbath could never
give true and lasting rest, could it? You could keep it every Friday
evening, all day Saturday, and it could never give you rest
for your soul. Rest your body. Man, that was
good. That was good. It could never rest your soul.
It could never give you that spiritual rest. It just prefigured
that which could. Who can give you rest? Come unto Me, all you that labor,
I will give you rest. Rest for your soul. And there's
another rest, isn't there? When the saint dies, he rests
from his labor. The Holy Spirit says that. That's
that heavenly and eternal rest. When the high priest went into
the most holy place, they presumably entered God's presence. But that
was just a figure. Sometimes they didn't. But that
was just a figure of Christ going to heaven into the presence of
His Father. So all of these things were figures
and shadows and types and pictures. But you know something? The figures
can't do you a bit of good. Shadows and pictures can't do
you a bit of good only as you see Christ in them. That's the
only time that they can do us any If you had your choice, if
you really loved somebody, would you settle for a picture of them
when you could have them? You snuggle up to a picture of
Colleen, that wouldn't keep me warm, would it you? No. I want the person, don't you?
Now if the person's not there, you look at the picture. That's
great. But it takes the person to satisfy
that. It takes a person to keep you warm. It takes a person to
talk to you. He's not saying that these shadows and figures
and pictures and so on weren't important. They were important. Very important. He says back
here in our text, "...who serve unto the example and shadow of
heavenly things, as Moses was warned of God." He was instructed
of God. when he was about to make the
tabernacle. For see, said he, that you make
all things... You be careful, Moses, to make
all things after the pattern that I've showed you in the mount.
These things are important. Those figures were important.
Why? They were shadows of heaven,
I think. He told Moses when he set aside Aaron for the priesthood,
boy, he was very careful how to make those garments he put
on. Aaron was very careful how he maintained himself in that
priesthood. Why? That was the figures of
Christ and his priesthood. So these things were important.
And I tell you, God took them seriously, didn't He? You know,
He killed men that violated these pictures? Remember Yusa, David's
friend, that retched in to study the Ark? And God killed him. Why? Nobody was to touch that
Ark but the priest and the Levites that carried it. He never had
to carry it on an ox cart. He had to carry it on their shoulders,
didn't he? King Uzziah went into the temple
one day and took a censure. He was going to offer incense
to God. And the priest stopped him and
God smote him with leprosy. Aaron's two sons that put strange
fire in their censure and went in before God, God killed them
and burned them. You didn't do that. It violated
the figure. So these things were very, very
important because they were a figure and shadow of those heavenly
things that were to come. But now, since Christ has come,
since the Lord Jesus has suffered and died to atone for sins and
has ascended back to heaven, what does He say now about those
figures and shadows in the Old Testament? He calls them weak
and beggarly elements. And he says, if you practice
these things now, they'll just bring you into bondage. And here
in the eighth chapter he said, that which decayeth and waxes
old is ready to vanish away. We don't practice these things
anymore. Why? Because the real substance has
come. We don't need the picture just
to sit and look at. Christ is here. He's come. They
were important, very important. Christ has fulfilled all of those. And because the Jews did not
understand this, they hung on to the figures and killed Him
whom those figures preached to. They hung on to the picture and
killed Him that was the true substance. You remember, this
is the silliest thing, and this shows you what religion does
to people, and how silly, how self-righteous and legalistic
it'll make people. You remember when they took Christ
from the garden, took Him to Caiaphas, the high priest's house,
and they smacked Him, mocked Him, called Him a blasphemer,
and said, He's worthy of death. We're going to put Him to death.
They said, we can't put Him to death. They said, Pilate can. Just take
Him to Pilate. Let Pilate judge Him. You'll
put Him to death. We want Him out of our way. They took Him
to Pilate, to the judgment hall, but the Jews wouldn't go into
the judgment hall. Why not? Gentiles were in there. And they said, if we go in there,
we'll defile ourselves. And we can't eat the Passover. And they killed Him who was the
real Passover. Isn't that amazing? That's astounding,
isn't it? That's what legalism, that's
what man-made religion, that's what will happen to you if you
don't understand the Scriptures. And that's what the Lord said.
This is your problem, He said. You don't understand the Scriptures
or the power of God and you've got yourself in a mess. That's
what He told them. That's what He told them. The Jews made a big deal about
circumcision. And they knew nothing about what
circumcision really meant. A new heart and a new spirit. They gloried in the temple and
destroyed Him who was the true temple. Destroy this body and
in three days I'll raise it up again. And you know, this is
still happening today. The Lord Jesus has left the church
two ordinances today. The Lord's Supper and water baptism. And we see these things perverted
all the time, don't we? We see these things trusted in
instead of him that these things fear. The bread and the wine,
we just told you a minute ago, what Catholicism has done to
that. You'll see them when they came up, they don't even drink
the wine anymore. They've got liberty to if they
want to, but most of them don't even use the wine anymore. They've
just set that aside. Have you noticed that? Some Catholic churches just set
that aside. They don't use the wine anymore. If they get in
a big long line, they put a wafer on your tongue. And while they
don't emphasize the sufferings of Christ to atone for sin, they
emphasize that suffering in the Eucharist, in the bread and the
wine. That's corrupting the ordinances,
is it not? This is the real presence of Christ. No, it's not. This
is the real body of Christ. No, it's not. When the Lord Jesus
told His apostles, This is my body, He wasn't meaning literally. His body was right there. They
knew that. And when He said, This is my
blood, drank ye all of it, He wasn't talking literally about
His blood. What was that? What was the bread
and wine then? It was figures of the real. He was a figure of his broken
body. He was a figure of his shed blood. But poor Catholicism,
they've taken the figure and trust in that and say nothing
about the real body and the real suffering of the Son of God.
But I tell you what, the Church of Christ, and Brother Larry
knows this, he's very familiar with this, the Church of Christ,
the Campbellite Church, They have done that way with water
baptism. What is water baptism? You know
what Peter says water baptism is? He calls it a figure. What
did we just read about figures? A figure can't save you, can
it? 1 Peter, I think it's 3.21, the
light figure, we're into water baptism saves you. What's it
a figure of? If it's a figure, that means
it's not the real thing, you see. When they went in to take
blood into the temple, that was a figure of the real thing, but
it wasn't the real thing. And when you're baptized in water,
it's a figure of something. What is it? It's the figure of
the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It's not really that, but it's a figure. They say, go down to
the water and be baptized and wash away your sins. I agree
with that if you're looking at the figure. But that's not the
real thing. It's a figure of that fountain
that can reach the conscience to wash your sins away. But what
have they done? They've trusted in the figure.
They say the figure can literally reach the conscience and save
the soul. And you know, if we don't get the truth to what the
Bible teaches us about these things, we can mess around with
the figures and miss the Savior, just like the Jews did. Those figures are good if we
see Christ in them, if we know who and what they represent.
But if we trust in the figure, my goodness, we're no better
off than the Jews who miss the Lord Jesus Christ. Or see, said he in verse 5, that
thou make all of these things according to the pattern shown
to thee in the mount. God gave Moses the pattern for
those things which was to be the pattern of the real things. And you and I want more than
the pattern. We want Him. Now in verse 6. Let's go to verse
6 quickly and we'll close. Here's why we can let go of the
ceremonial law and why the Jews should have let go on it. And
I imagine many of them did when they read this epistle. But now
hath He obtained a more excellent ministry. But how much also is
He the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better
promises? He gives us four things here
that are more excellent, that are better concerning Christ
and His priesthood than the Levitical priesthood. First thing he says
here, he has a better ministry. He has a better ministry. Why
does he have a better ministry? Because he ministers in a better
place. Where does he minister? Anybody
know? Heaven. We found that out in
verse 1 and 2, didn't we? He's not entered the holy places
made with hands, but into heaven itself. And we read there in
verse 2 and verse 1 that he's on the throne. He's a priest
on the throne on the right hand of the majesty in heaven. His
ministry is better. I'll tell you, I'll take a man's
ministry as in heaven over a man on this earth any time, wouldn't
you? I sure would. And then he says he's a better
mediator. He's a better advocate. Oh boy,
if he pleads your cause. If he'll maintain our cause before
the Father in heaven. I had to go to court one time,
and I didn't know if my lawyer was going to show up or not.
I'd got a ticket with a company. They'd give me a ticket for being
overweight, and I had to go to court over in Richmond. I was
there, and I thought, is this lawyer going to show up? That
fellow ain't even going to show up. I'm going to stand before this judge
myself. He showed up. Boy, was I ever relieved. Isn't
it wonderful to know that you have a mediator who is already
there in the presence of the Father? There's no chance that
he's going to be moved from where he's at. He's always there. And
listen to this, God always hears him. He don't always hear even his
people, not to answer them and give them the desires of their
heart. I remember one time Samuel got so upset and burdened over
Saul being rejected as king, he cried all night to God, please
don't reject him, please establish his kingdom. And God told him
the next morning, you might as well quit weeping over him because
I've rejected him. He told Jeremiah as rivers of
water was running down his eyes and he was weeping over the children
of Israel being carried off into bondage. And God said, don't
pray for these people because I won't hear you. But boy, I tell you, we've got
a mediator. When He prays for somebody, they're
delivered. Even Martha said, I know that
God hears you always. And even now, whatever you ask
of Him, I know He'll give to you. What a faith that is! We
have a high priest in heaven who is there to represent us
before the Father, and He pleads and maintains our cause, and
God never turns Him away that's what I was praying the
night the Lord saved me in my bedroom all along guilty as I
could be I did everything I knew to be saved and it just added
to my guilt I tried to save myself and the more I tried the deeper
I sank and finally when I had no prayer to pray and no more
tears to shed I remember the exact words I prayed Lord plead
my cause And Jesus Christ pleaded my cause. The guilt was gone
and the reality that God had accepted me was so evident in
my heart. I tell you, when Jesus Christ
stands up to the Father and says, Father, forgive him. Father,
receive him. Father, be merciful. God cannot
turn him away. He will not withhold from him
the desires of his heart nor the request of his heart. Oh, what a priest! What a priest! Thirdly, he says you're a better
covenant. A better covenant. He has obtained a more excellent
ministry. How much more is he the mediator of a better covenant? What did the old covenant depend
upon? Man's obedience. I've got nothing
against obedience. God help us. God give us grace
to obey fully in everything He requires of us. But that Old
Testament, that Old Covenant required a perfect obedience
which no man could live up to. Why did God finally reject Israel?
Because He tells us right here in this chapter, "...because
they continued not in My covenant, and therefore I regarded them
not, saith the Lord." The first covenant that we read about in
the Bible is the one that God made with Adam, our first parents. How did that turn out? He represented
us, didn't He? And whether He lived or died
and whether we lived or died, whether we retained our created
righteousness or lost it, was determined by what that man did
or did not do. And the Bible says, by one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners. These covenants were upon man's obedience. You must
fulfill them to be saved. The New Covenant has already
been agreed upon between the Father and the Son, and the terms
settled and the obligations met. And the Father sealed His portion
of the Covenant with an oath And the Son sealed His portion
with His own blood. We are under a different covenant
now. We are under a better covenant now. It does not depend upon
what you do. It does not depend upon your
obedience or my obedience. It depends upon His. Look what He says in chapter
7 where He mentioned this. Look in verse 21 and verse 22. For those high priests were made
without an oath, but this with an oath by him that said unto
him, The Lord swear and will not repent. You are a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. I swear to it. So much was Jesus
made a surety of a better covenant, a better testament. And how did He ratify? How did
He seal that covenant? With His blood. We're told that
in the 13th chapter in verse 20, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant. And what did Christ say when
He wretched that wine to His disciples, the apostles? This
is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. That's
a good covenant. That's a better covenant. The
old covenant, when you talk about the old covenant, it's always
due. It always begins with man. And anytime you begin with man,
you've got a problem. Even the Bible don't begin with
man, does it? In the beginning, God. Anytime
you've got a covenant that begins and depends upon man, budge,
you're in trouble. That young ruler came running
to Christ and said, ìWhat must I do to have eternal life?î And
the Lord said, ìWhat does the law say? What does the commandment
say?î He said, ìLove the Lord your God with all your heart,
mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.î And
what did Christ say? ìThis do, and you shall live.î
I promise you. I promise you. You do this and
youíll live. You know what God told the children
of Israel one time? He said, ìWash you and make yourself
clean, and then Iíll hear you.î You read sometime that in Isaiah
chapter 1 verse 15, 16. Wash yourself and make yourself
clean and I'll hear you. Yep, you can do that. You can
wash yourself and you can make yourself clean. You've got the
promise, He'll hear you. Another place, He came to them
one day and said, Make you a new heart and a new spirit, O house
of Israel. Why will you die? Do this and
live. But here is the problem. How
is man going to do that? Here is why this covenant is
established upon what do you say? Better promises. Better
promises. Here is the way the covenant
runs because I live. You shall live also. These promises
are not dependent upon us. These promises in Christ are
yea and amen. Because of what I did. Because
of who I am. Then you've got to do this. You've
got to do this. In closing, let me read that
to you. Look over in Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel chapter 36. And look in verse 24. Oh, here's the better promises.
Here's the better covenant. Here's the better promise. Ezekiel
chapter 36. And look in verse 24. Look how this begins. He just finished
telling them about their sins, all their sins and what they
had done and how they committed idolatry and brought shame upon
His name and what He's going to do with it. I'm going to scatter
you. I'm going to scatter you all
over this world. You're going to be persecuted. Then look what He
says in verse 24, I will take you from among the heathen and
gather you out of all countries and will bring you unto your
own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water
upon you, then you shall be clean. From all your filthiness and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will
take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give
you not a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in My statues, and you shall keep
My judgments, and do them. You shall dwell in the land that
I give to your fathers and you shall be my people. I will be
your God and I will save you from all your uncleanness and
I will call for the corn and will increase it and lay no famine
upon you." See the difference in the covenant. See the difference
in the promises. He doesn't begin with you because
he knows that doesn't work. So he said, I'll do it myself.
I'll do it. I want you to walk in my statutes.
And me just telling you to do it ain't going to do you a bit
of good or me. So what I'm going to do is put a new spirit in
you. Then I'm going to cause you to walk. And then you'll
walk. I'm not going to tell you to worship yourself. I'm going
to worship. I'm not going to tell you to
make a new heart and a new spirit. I'm going to give you one. That's
better, isn't it? I like that. I like that. How
do we feel when we recognize? Somebody says, well, boy, if
I did that, I'd just go headlong and do what I wanted to. If God's
going to do it all, then that ain't going to affect me at all.
Oh, just wait a minute. You ain't read far enough. We
quit reading too quick. Look in verse 31. Then, when
I've done this, Then you shall remember your own evil ways,
and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves
in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abomination." You're
going to quit bragging about yourself and what you've done
and your righteousness and your obedience. And you're going to
abhor yourself. And look in verse 32, "...not
for your sakes do I this." You ain't got nothing to do with
this. I'm not doing anything because I see or foresee anything
in you that's worth seeing. I'm not doing anything for you
for your sake. Be it known unto you, be ashamed
and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel." Why does
he do it? For his own sake. Look down in
verse 37. Look in verse 37. Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet for this, be inquired of by the House of
Israel to do it for them. You are going to beg me to do
it. You are going to ask me to do it. You are going to depend
upon me to do it for you. That is the better promise. You cannot beat promises like
that, can you? And I tell you why you cannot beat them, because
of the I may promise you this and promise
you that, but you know me good enough to say, well, I'm not
for sure. Depends on how he feels. He's hindered a lot, you know.
But boy, when he promises. And how wonderful that promise
sounds. I give unto you eternal life, and you shall never perish. Oh, what a promise. What a promise.
This is the promise that He has promised us, even eternal life. I'll take that promise, Lord,
anytime.