Hebrews chapter 8, and let's
begin at 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. We looked at this last week,
but I want to consider some things about this again. some things
that these verses and the concept that's taught us here suggest
to our minds. And there is no doubt that the
Bible teaches this everywhere, what is taught in these two verses,
that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God in our humanity, has
been highly exalted above all worlds, that He's there in the
heavens. The Old Testament and the New
Testament teach that very thing. Let me quote you some passages
of scripture, just a few out of the many that you and I both
could quote. In Psalms chapter 1, 10, and
1, he says this, ìThe Lord said unto my Lord, Set on my right
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.î And the Lord
Jesus Himself quoted that verse and applied it to Himself in
Matthew chapter 22. And then Psalms chapter 2 verse
6 and 7, I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, thou art
my son, this day have I begotten you. And the Apostle Paul quoted
that verse and the message that he preached in Acts chapter 13
and applied it to the Lord Jesus Christ that God had indeed begotten
him from the dead and exalted him. And then in Mark chapter
16 and verse 19 when the Lord Jesus was ready to leave his
apostles, it said this, After the Lord had spoken unto them,
he was received up into heaven and sat down on the right hand
of God. And then when the apostles began
to preach in Acts chapter 2, Peter said this, This Jesus has
God raised up, we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this which we now see and
hear. He is by the right hand of God
exalted. And then 1 Peter 3, 22, Peter
mentions this again that Jesus Christ is gone into heaven and
is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers
being made subject unto Him. And then we have this whole concept
taught in the book of Revelations in the fifth chapter when John
saw this vision of heaven. And he saw the Lord on the throne,
he saw the elders and the angels standing around about him, and
here's what was said to him. And one of the elders said unto
me, when John began to weep because no man was able to open the books,
the elder said unto me, Weep not, John, Behold, the Lion of
the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals. And behold, I looked,
and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the elders stood a Lamb,
as it had been slain. So John saw him in this vision
on his throne and he was a lamb, as a lamb that had been slain. And he probably saw the scars
and the hole in his side. And that's the same lamb that
John the Baptist pointed out to the people when he had baptized
him and looked upon him as he walked away and said, Behold
the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. So that
is the Lamb that is now exalted on the throne. He is seated. He has taken his place there
upon the throne in heaven. That man who was once in our
world in a most lowly state. He was born of a woman. They
laid him in a manger. He grew up as a dry root out
of a ground. He had no farm. He had no commonness. There was no beauty about him.
He had no place to lay his head. The Bible says he was meek and
lowly in his heart. He went about doing good to the
common and poor people. He was denied by many. He was betrayed by one. He was
forsaken of all. He was crucified, He was put
to death, He was laid in a borrowed tomb, and He has risen from that
most lowly state. And our text says that He has
now been enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. And that's what the Bible teaches
all the way through it in the Old and New Testament. The Bible
says that everything has been delivered unto His hands, His
throne is above all thrones. His majesty is above all majesty. All power has been given to Him.
His name is above every name. All creatures are under His authority. Angels elect and fall in. All
men are under His authority. He has power over all flesh.
All providence, all circumstances, all situation is under His direct
rule and care of this risen and exalted man. The earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell
therein. All the judgment that will be
meted out to every man and the destinies of every man will be
assigned them by this man who is on the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in the heavens. There is no tongue, there is
no intellect, there is no pen, there is no man or angels that
can tell out the greatness and the highness of this one who
is now seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty
in the heavens. One version said it is the majestic
throne. He is seated on the majestic
throne in the heavens. And at His Word, and in His presence,
and before His throne, every individual shall come and bow
and confess Him to be Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now that is what we learn here
really in these two verses. That this man who was here in
a most lowly state is now exalted at the right hand of the throne
of God in heaven. And you know, let the most wicked
man that you can find in this world listen to his informed
conscience and his conscience will bear witness to the exaltation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has given assurance to all
men and I believe the Holy Ghost has been sent into this world
to bear witness of how this man has been exalted at the right
hand of the throne. He is Lord of all, isn't He?
He's Lord of all. What does this suggest then to
our minds? There are several things here
in the light of this, just thinking about these, and as I thought
about this again this week, and I thought, well, I don't want
to go back to those two verses, but as I meditated upon them
this week, they kept suggesting things to my mind, what you can
learn from these two verses. And the first thing this suggested
to my mind was this, that the coming of this One from Heaven,
such a One as this is unto our world, is the most stupendous
event that ever took place between the eternity. Where was He before
He came? Who was He before He came? He was the eternal Son of God. one with the Father on His sovereign
throne. Father, glorify me with Your
own self, with the glory that I had with Thee before the world
began. Before He was born of a woman
in time, He was the eternal God. Before time. The way He was born,
the way He lived, the way He died. Who can grasp, who can
begin to grasp how He condescended? Who can begin to grasp how He
stooped from being God to becoming a human being, a real human being? It's stupendous, ain't it? He
was born the mighty God incarnate. He lived and suffered the mighty
God incarnate. And He is exalted on the throne
today, still the mighty God incarnate. He who is seated on the throne
now in our glorified humanity is the same God who was on the
throne before He took our humanity. Who can grasp such a stoop from
the throne in heaven to the form of a man and the likeness of
sinful flesh? That's almost impossible to grasp,
isn't it? Could we grasp the humiliation
of taking to ourselves the nature and form of a maggot? Could you pick a little tiny
maggot up that was eating on rotten flesh and imagine being
made in the form and nature of that maggot? Or even more than
that, an angel, a holy elect angel stooping to take to himself
the form and nature of a maggot? and the fact that the eternal
Son of God would take our likeness and our humanity to Himself. And we read this, especially
in this book of Hebrews, we see Jesus who was made lower than
the angels, that He took on Him the nature of the seed of Abraham,
that He was partaker of flesh and blood, that He was made like
unto His brethren, that He tasted death for us, and this same God-man
is now enthroned on the seat of heaven. When I think of that,
it is just stupendous to me. There is no wonder that the coming
down from heaven of such a One into this world became the center
of human history. When He came, He divided time. I think it is amazing and it
makes me laugh in my soul to think that even these atheistic
nations have to acknowledge that you and I are living in 2017,
Eno Domino, the year of our Lord. 1,700 years ago, the Lord Jesus
Christ came down from heaven and took to Himself our humanity. Before He came, He was God on
His throne. When He came, He was our Lord
among us. And now He has risen on the throne,
the Lord for us. And I think that's one of the
most marvelous, one of the most mysterious concepts that you
can imagine of the incarnation of the Son of God. One man said
that of all the miracles, of all the mysteries we have that
we know of, that has taken place with this world and among humanity.
This has to be the greatest mystery of all. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
One man said that you think of a world where there was nothing and the Creator merely spoke
and created all things out of nothing? What a mystery that
is! And when you think of the resurrection, when you think
of the new creation, think of when He comes to us and we're
dead in sins and He makes a new creature of us. That's a mystery,
isn't it? And think of the resurrection
that when we're raised and made new and when there's a new heaven
and a new earth. There are some great mysteries
that have taken place that God has done in this world, but I
think the greatest mystery of all is the incarnation of the
Son of God. He that was Lord of glory became
Lord among us, and He that was among us in His most lowly state
ascended back on the throne in heaven. Not as He came, but no
different than He came. He's still the Lord, but He's
now in our humanity, a glorified humanity, taking His seat at
the right hand of the Majesty in the Heavens. I thought about
that as I considered these verses. But the second thing here is
verse 2. He's a minister of the sanctuary. We looked at this just a little
bit last week, and what does this suggest to our minds? Something
almost unthinkable if the Scripture didn't teach this. What is the
nature of God? What is the true nature of the
Lord of glory? It's the nature of a minister.
Isn't that wonderful? He is a minister. He was a minister when He was
here and His nature hasn't changed. He's a minister there. When the
Lord Jesus stood up from the table, and took his outer garments
off and girded himself with a towel and took a pan of water and stooped
down and washed those disciples' feet. That was the most God-like
thing that he ever did because his nature is truly a minister. Peter said, Lord, I don't understand
this. But you will, Peter. You will. You'll understand what it is
to truly serve and to truly minister. Is the Lord ministering now?
He is, isn't He? He's not washing our dirty feet,
but He's washing our dirty hearts. Is He not still binding up the
broken heart? Is He still not pouring oil in
our wounds? Is He still not comforting those
who mourn? Is He still not releasing our
feet from our snares? How long has it been since He's
done that for you? He is in heaven exalted high,
but is He not a shepherd there, a shepherd of our souls? He is
leading us beside still waters. He is making us lay down in green
pastures. He is restoring our souls. He
is ministering unto us. In our utter weakness, He is
our strength. He ministers seed to the sower.
There is not a song in the night. or a message to correct us, or
a verse to comfort us, or a friend to cheer us. But it's all the
effect of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. He is a minister. If He's not
a minister, how could it be said that all things work together
for good to them that love God? Who is it that is ministering
all around us? as well as in us. Who is it that
is working all of these things? It is this faithful and merciful
High Priest there on the throne of heaven. Why do you keep believing? He is working in you. He is ministering
to you, strength and grace to believe and to do His will. What is it that He cannot do
for us? He is on His throne. What is
it that He will not do for us that's good and proper? Because
He's our High Priest. And that's what these things
suggest to our mind. When we see a believer serving
others, helping others, doing for others, strengthening others,
and they don't do it to be patted on the back or recognized, There's
where you see a most Christ-like spirit. Because what is He? Even in heaven, He's a minister.
He's a minister. Why is the church left in this
world if it's not to minister? Why are we called a family of
God if we don't minister one to another? If we're like our
Master, we're ministers. Because He's a minister. And
you know something? We never get too high for that.
Do it. Never get too high for that because
He is the Lord of Glory on His throne and He is still a minister. Thirdly, these verses suggest
something else to our mind and it is this. They force us to
believe in an atonement. What is taught in these two verses
force us to believe in an atonement. How could one read these verses
in the light of their context and not believe in man's atonement? Why did he come to begin with?
Why did he die and why did he rise again? To give himself a
ransom for many. And doesn't this ascended and
enthroned Christ force us to believe that the atonement was
successful? That it was effectual? We interpret
the success of the cross He died upon in the light of the throne
He sits on today. Would heaven count Him worthy
to reign if He had failed to atone? When we consider the cross and
the consequent throne, we are forced to conclude what the Bible
tells us everywhere, that on a dark evening 1700 and something
years ago, or 2000 years ago, on a hill called Calvary, on
a bloody tree, He that is on the throne now hung on a bloody
cross to satisfy for sin. And if He did not accomplish
that mission, would heaven have received Him there? I don't think
so. The Bible says that He atoned
for sin, He put away sin, He purged sin in a manner that was
consistent with the perfect law of heaven and to the full satisfaction
of divine justice, even the justice of God. And in the light of this,
how could any sinner despair of forgiveness if he has a heart
to truly trust in this Savior? If any man is looking back, if
you and I are looking back over a discouraging life of sin, then
let us do this, brothers and sisters. Let us look further
back in the history of this world when He that is now on the throne
hang bleeding upon the cross of Calvary to satisfy for those
sins. How can we despair of forgiveness?
How can we bow under a load of sin if He is on His throne and
He got there by way of the cross? Let us interpret the cross in
light of the throne, and then we'll surely see it not only
was an atonement but an effectual atonement where sin has actually
been put away. And listen to how heaven witnesses
to this event. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgression and as a cloud thy sin returning to
me for I have redeemed thee. That is heaven's witness of what
happened 2,000 years ago. Listen to this verse. I, even
I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake
and will not remember thy sins. Listen to this one, As far as
the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions
from us. Listen to this one, Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, I will remove the iniquity of that land in
one day. One day He removed the iniquity
of His people. What day was that? That's the
day He hung on Calvary's tree. That's the day He said, It's
finished. That's the day the redeeming blood flowed from His
heart. That's the day that the Bible
says He by Himself purged our sins. Listen to this verse, And
in those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon
those whom I have reserved, saith the Lord." Did He atone? Is He on the throne? It forces
us to believe it, doesn't it? It doesn't confront us with a
failing Savior, with a Savior who has tried. Since pardon comes
to us on the basis of Christ's atonement, Can we ever doubt
of the Father's willingness to forgive us? Would He set Him
on His throne if He had not obtained and put away sin? Would He hesitate
to forgive us? Would He refuse forgiveness since
He set Him there? If Jesus Christ is still in the
tomb, then let us despair of being saved. But if He is indeed
at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, then
for our present joy and our eternal well-being, let us believe it
with all our hearts." Redemption is not only possible, it's not
only probable, it's certain for those who put their trust in
the Savior with all their hearts. because He made full and complete
satisfaction for our sins. God saw the travail of His soul
and said, I am satisfied. And how did He bear witness to
that? Not only with written word but in action. He took His Son
up to heaven and set Him on His right hand. John Bunyan said something to
this effect. He said, Sometime when I see
Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Scriptures, I feel as
though if I had ten thousand souls, and all of them were sinful
too, I could venture them all on the marriage of God's side.
I like that, don't you? Is the atonement of Jesus Christ
that good? Is His blood that effectual?
Is it that powerful? Does it still reach deeper than
the stain has gone? Then let us answer that and interpret
the cross in the light of the throne. And never doubt again,
brothers and sisters, the Father's willingness to save us and forgive
us and receive us. If He received His Son, He'll
receive all of those who trust in His Son. Lastly and fourthly,
this teaching here and these two verses suggest this to our
mind and we find this in the context of the entire book of
Hebrews. When we look back in the history
of our world and see the Son of God coming down to it and
the subsequent throne He now sets upon, this suggests to our
mind that we have an excellent ground for living in a lively
hope of a happy future. I don't know of nothing at this
point in my time that encourages me to hope for the future, not
only in this world, but especially in that world to come. It's when
I see where the Son of God is today and the lowly state that
He was exalted from. We have this in the sixth chapter
in verse 19 of this book. We have a hope that is an anchor
of our souls, both sure and steadfast. And what makes it sure and steadfast? Because our hope has entered
into that within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered. Even Jesus made a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Alexander McLaren had this to
say in the light of what we're studying about tonight. He said,
and I quote, Hope is duty. Despair is sin. I'll add only
that to this. Hope is a blessed mercy. Hope
is a blessed privilege. And to despair is sin. And he
went on to say this. Here is the answer to the question.
Can I ever enter that blessed land? Here you have the answer.
Can somebody like me, as low as I am, enter heaven at last? Well, answer it in the light
of what was said here about where Jesus Christ is tonight. Here
is the answer to that question. Is the dream of perfected manhood
ever to be known or is it only a dream? Perfect manhood? Yes. It's not just a dream. It's not just a hope. It will
be realized, will it not? Because we shall be like Him
and we shall be with Him. And he went on to say this, We
see not yet all things put under our feet. And you know sometimes
nothing seems to be put under our feet, doesn't it? It seems
like everything still rules over us. Our struggles, Our heartaches,
our doubts, our uncertainties. And someday the grave awaits
us and they'll put us underneath six foot of dirt. We see not
yet all things put under our feet, but we see Jesus. We see Jesus. We see Him who
was lowly as we are now. But we see Him exalted on the
right hand of the Father, and seeing Him where He is now and
how He is now, no hope is absurd. And anything but hope is falling
beneath our privileges. Mr. McLaren went on to say this,
Then, dear friends, let us look unto Him, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For that
is our hope." There is our hope. He is our hope. Isn't that wonderful
to think about this? While we are living in this present
world, we can not only hope, but it would be sin to despair.
in the light of who Jesus is and where He is today. If the
head of the body is exalted and is free and holy and happy, will
the members of the body be neglected and left to pine away in their
sins and struggle into utter ruin and nothingness? That's
what the devil suggests to us sometimes, but that's absurd.
WE SHALL SOON BE WHERE OUR HEAD IS. WE SHALL SOON BE LIKE OUR
HEAD, GLORIOUS AS HE IS, AND AS HAPPY AND HOLY AND HEALTHY
AS HE IS. IF YOU HOPE IN HIM, IF JESUS
CHRIST IS YOUR HOPE, IF JESUS CHRIST IN YOU IS YOUR HOPE OF
GLORY, THEN WHAT A WONDERFUL HOPE YOU HAVE, AND IT WILL BE
REALIZED. because He's already there for
you, for you. And sometimes we look around
at ourselves and we see our struggles and we wonder how in the world
could people like us yet make it to heaven. But have we ever
been as low as He? Have we ever struggled as He
did in His manhood? Have you ever been as tempted
as He? Have you ever sweat drops of
blood? Have you ever been forsaken, denied, and betrayed? We've never
been as low as our Savior has. And look how He's exalted now. Look where He is now. And if
He's your hope, there you'll be with Him. That's certain. That's sure and steadfast. Because
He's not entered there for Himself. If He did anything for Himself,
He could have stayed in heaven and did it. He did it for others. He did it for people just like
you and just like me. What a hope we have. What a Savior.