Higher than the heavens. That's what Scripture says. Better. Better promises. Better sacrifices. Better covenant. Better hope.
Second thing that's learned in this study in the book of Hebrews
is all Old Testament laws, ceremonies, holy days, sacrifices, a priesthood,
all of these things had absolutely no power to put away sin. No power at all in any shape,
form, or fashion to make anyone acceptable to God. Look across
the page at Hebrews 10. These were pictures. These were
shadows without substance. The law of having a shadow of
good things to come. A shadow of a fountain won't
furnish you any water. Not at all. The shadow of an
automobile won't take you to your destination. These are shadows. These are not the very image
of the things of God. They can never, never with those
sacrifices which they offer year by year make the comers however
sincere. in seeking acceptance with God
by what they do. Never make them perfect. Verse
4 says, it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin. So they had no power to save.
They weren't given to save. They were given to point to Christ.
The third thing is this. The coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, our great high priest, our substitute, our atonement,
our sin offering, our Redeemer, fulfills all these types, fulfills
all of these ceremonies, and ends their existence, and ends
their service. They served their day, they were
given for a purpose, the purpose is accomplished, they're gone.
And we're not to in any way come under that bondage anymore. those sacrifices, and priesthood,
and holy days, and Sabbaths, and tithing, and all the things
that went with that Levitical law. It's gone. It's full of fear. There's a
verse in Acts 13 that, you know, one verse, turn to Acts 13, 29. One verse says, he taketh away
the first that he may establish the second. The first covenant,
tabernacle, priesthood, Adam, nature, First heaven and earth
establishes the second. But here, it says in verse 29,
and when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, you understand what that is saying?
When they had fulfilled all that was written of him, written of
Christ from Genesis to Malachi, every type, every scripture, pointing to Christ, every sacrifice
when they'd fulfilled it, everything, that all that was written of
Him, they took Him down from the tree. He said, it's finished. Redemption's finished. The Levitical
law is finished. The types are finished. The tabernacle's
finished. It's finished. They took Him
down from the tree and laid Him in a supplicant, and God raised
Him from the dead. and seated him at his right hand
as our great high priest, our mediator, our intercessor, our
forerunner, and we were seated with him. It's finished. Now that's three things that
the book of Hebrews shouts loud and clear. He hath all preeminence. The types and shadows and pictures
are not saviors. Couldn't save anybody. But he's
finished all that God required. And God accepted him and us in
him. Put an end to those things. All
right, let's look at verse 1, Hebrews 9. I've got this study
divided. The first subject is that which
was. That which was, verse 1 through
7, then barely the first covenant had also ordinances of divine
service and a worldly sanctuary. There was a tabernacle erected
in the wilderness in the center of the camp. That tabernacle
was surrounded by a wall eight feet high made of linen with
one opening, one gate. And the tabernacle sat in the
middle of that courtyard. The tabernacle was not an imposing
building. It wasn't a large building. It
was only 45 feet long. That's about as far as for me
to that wall back there. Not quite that far. Only 15 feet
wide and 15 feet high. You know, when our Lord came,
he wasn't an imposing figure as a man. Scripture said there
was no beauty we should desire him. Well, they said, that's
the carpenter. We know him. Man of solace, acquainted
with grief. Winebibber, a gluttonous man. One of them said to him one time,
he said, you're not 50 years old. Not 50 years old. He's the ancient of days. You
teach us, you're not 50 years old. He was despised and rejected. No beauty about him. And that
tabernacle outside, it had a covering of badger skin, just old grayish
brown badger skin, like all the other tents. That's the reason
when our Lord came and tabernacled among us, He looked like all
those other tents, outwardly. You're a man. You can't be God,
they said. Well, we know his mama and his
daddy. He's the carpenter. We know he's brothers and sisters.
Badger skin. And then the next covering was
goat skin. The badger skin, Christ the plain,
everyday man, tempted in all points as we are, yet without
sin. The goat skin, our scapegoat. Remember the high priest put
his hands on the scapegoat and he took it into the wilderness
and bore the sin away. And then there was the ram skin,
dyed red, blood, Inside, most beautiful, fine, snow-white linen. That was inside. Nobody saw that
but the priest who came with the sacrifice because the congregation
never came in that place. The priest came in who represented
them. And our Lord Jesus Christ outwardly a man, inwardly the
beauty and holiness and magnificence of God. No white and pure, but linen. Well, that was a building, a
tabernacle set here out in the wilderness in the camp and the
white wall around it. But the furniture now out here
just inside the gate was an altar, and on that altar the lambs were
slain, the blood was shed, and the lamb was roasted like the
Passover lamb. And a high priest would collect
the blood, he'd burn the lamb. and collect the blood, and he'd
come across the courtyard, and the first thing he met just outside
the tabernacle was a laborer of pure, clean water, kept fresh
all the time. And there, after killing that
lamb and going about that work of burning the lamb, he'd wash
his hands and wash his feet, clean himself before he came
into the tabernacle. And then it says in verse 2,
there was a tabernacle made, the first part of it, when you
come inside the tabernacle, where in there was a candlestick. There
was a table and showbread. This is called the holy place.
This is called the sanctuary. And this tabernacle, 45 feet
long, 15 feet wide, 15 feet high, covered with that badger skin
and goat skin and ram skin, dyed red and linen, had two sections. There was up here the holy place. It was 30 feet long, 15 feet
wide. Two-thirds of the tabernacle
was the holy place. There were three pieces of furniture.
Over here on one side was the table of showbread. That was
a table. It was about three and a half feet long, two feet wide. And on that table was 12 loaves
of bread, representing each tribe of Israel, the people of God.
Table made of wood, and the bread was on the table. It was kept
fresh. Every Sabbath day, they put 12
fresh loaves. That's Christ, the bread of life.
He said, I am the bread of life. They said, Moses gave us that
bread. He said, no, I'm the bread. My father gave you the bread.
That represents the bread. And then on this side was a candlestick. He said there was a candlestick.
He made a pure gold representing his deity. This represents his
manhood. That bread, that table show bread,
the bread. How do you make bread? Well,
you get wheat and you grind it and you bake it. And our Lord's
body was broken and bruised. and ground, and baked, burned in the fire
of God's wrath, that we might have the bread of life. But over
here, his deity, the candlestick, pure gold, seven candles, kept
burning. It was the only light. Can you
imagine the darkness of that place, covered with badger skin,
goat skin, ram skin, and linen, and that heavy veil out front? pitch black, but over here are
the candlesticks. I'm the light of the world. He
that knoweth not Christ walks in darkness. He's the bread.
He's the light. And right here in front of the
veil separating the holy place from the holy of holies, a veil
four inches thick, heavy veil, top to bottom side, no entrance,
no door. The high priest had to crawl
under it. But right in front of that veil was an altar of
incense. I want you to read about that
in Exodus 30. There was an altar of incense,
and I want you to read about it. My frail, fumbling words
just can't say it like this says it. In Exodus 30, verse 1, and thou shalt make
an altar to burn incense upon. Should of would, shalt thou make
it. Tells the size and all. Verse 6, and thou shalt put it
before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, this veil.
You put it in front of the veil, in front of the mercy seat that's
over the testimony where I'll meet you. And Abel shall burn
thereon sweet incense every morning. When he dressedeth the lamps,
he shall burn incense upon it. And when Abel lighted When he
lighted the lamps at evening, he burned incense. Morning and
evening, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your
generations. Now don't you offer any strange
incense there. No burnt sacrifice, no meat offering,
no pouring a drink offering. Just burn the incense. What is
this perpetual, perpetual sweet odor? It's always 365 days a
year, 24 hours a day. It's the prayers of Christ. The
prayers of Christ, because when the holy priest, when the priest
would go into the Holy of Holies, he would take a censer and get
some of that incense and the fire, take it with him in the
holy place, and the smoke would fill that holy place. The prayers of our Lord. I prayed
for you, he said to Peter. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. That's our Lord's sweet pass.
That's what that is. All right, now verse 3. After
the second veil, after the second veil, the first veil is when
you come in there to that holy place, 30 by 15, where the bread
and the candlestick and the altar of incense. Go past the second
veil. The tabernacle which is called
the holiest of all, the holy of holies. And in there is one
piece of furniture in two parts. And that one piece of furniture
is called the ark. And it had the golden censer,
the art of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold. It was
made of wood. This art was made of wood. It
was three and three quarters feet long, almost four feet long,
and two feet three inches wide and two feet three inches deep.
It's made of wood. That represents our Lord's humanity. But the mercy seat overlaid over
the ark was of pure beaten gold. That's his deity. And inside
that ark they put these three things. They put the golden pot that had manna,
they took some manna that it collected and put it in there.
And Aaron's rod, you remember back in the Old Testament some
of these fellows questioned Aaron's right to be the high priest. They questioned his right to
serve in things pertaining to God. And Moses says, all right,
we'll let God speak. You fellows that are ambitious
to be the high priest, bring your rods, shepherd rods, and
even you bring yours. And we'll cast them before the
Lord. And whoever's rod, shepherd rod, thrown down, it buds and
blooms. Made of wood, these sticks were,
dried sticks. throw them down, and the rod
that sprouts and blooms, that's the high priest. Well, they all
threw their rods down, of course, and they just laid there. Aaron
threw his down and it budded. God designated Aaron to be the
high priest. No man takes this office upon
himself. And our Lord Jesus Christ was ordained of God and appointed
of God to be our high priest. And in this art, they put that
rod that budded. And they put the manna that God
gave them in the wilderness, a pot of manna. But they put
the third thing. It says, and over it, and you
put the tables of the covenant, verse 4, the last line. I'll
read about this a little while. Moses went back, you know, he
broke those commandments. Dropped them and broke them.
Threw them down. But he went back and God gave him the commandments
again. God wrote them on a stone, and
he brought them down and put them in this ark. Put them in
the ark. Now, here's the ark with the
commandments, and Aaron's rod, and the manna, and the mercy
seat over it. All right, verse 5 now. And over
the ark, the cherubims of glory shattering the mercy seat. of
which we cannot now speak particularly. But I can read you about it.
Turn, if you will, to Exodus 25. Exodus 25. I can read you
about it. That's about all I can do. In Exodus 25, I'll read about
the mercy seat, the mercy seat of gold. Exodus 25, verse 10. And thou shalt make an ark of
shed of wood, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof,
a cubit and a half, a cubit's 18 inches. That's how we know
the exact size of these. But this ark will be two and
a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and
a half the height. Overlay it with pure gold. Within
and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a
crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings
of gold for it, and put them in the corners of the ark, and
two rings on either side, two rings on the other side. And
make staves of shed of wood, and overlay them with gold. And
thou shalt put the staves into the rings on the side of the
ark, that the ark may be borne with them." Man wasn't to touch
this ark. It's carried on the shoulders
of the priest. That's the reason God killed That man, Uzzah, Uzzah, that
was his name, when David was bringing the ark back to Jerusalem
on the ox cart, what a way, he knew better than that. The ark
was supposed to be born on the stage that ran through those
rings on the shoulders of the priest. The man wasn't supposed
to touch it. And they had it on an ox cart,
were bringing it back, and the ox cart hit a hole in the, a
rut in the lane, and Uzzah reached back to catch the ark, keep it
from falling, and God killed him. And that put an end to that
procession. But this be carried on the shoulders
of the priest. And thou shalt put the staves
into the ring, verse 14, by the sides of the ark, that the ark
may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings
of the ark, and they shall not be taken from it. Thou shalt
put into that ark the testimony that I shall give you, the commandments. Now make a mercy seat of pure
gold, two cubits and a half long, same size as this arch, cubit
and a half wide, and thou shalt make two cherubims of gold of
beaten work shalt thou make them in the two ends of the mercy
seat. And make one cherub on one end and the other cherub
on the other end, even of the mercy seat shall you make the
cherubs on the cherubims on the two ends. And the cherubims shall
stretch forth their wings, This is on either end of that ark,
the cherubim. With their faces shall look one
to the other toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim
be. And put the mercy seat above
the ark, and in the ark put that broken law, the testimony. And
there I'll meet you. There I'll meet you. That's the
perpetuity. That's the mercy seat. That's
the name the Father gave the Lord Jesus Christ. There I'll
meet you, and I'll commune with you from above the mercy seat
between the cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony
of all things which I shall give thee in commandment to the children
of Israel. In that holy of holies was that ark, the mercy seat,
the broken law, under the mercy seat. Let's go back to the text. Let me read you something here.
Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews 9, look at verse 6. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle, where
the bread and the candlestick and the incense, every day accomplishing
the services of God, went into the second. with the high priest
alone. That old high priest, he was
dressed in the most awesome clothing. He had the hat with holiness
to the Lord. He had the beautiful robes, the
brass plate. But before he came to offer that
sacrifice, he took all these garments off, all these magnificent
robes and hats, put on white linen, and went into the Holy
of Holies once a year with the blood which he offered for himself
and the people. He'd come into the Holy of Holies
with the incense, killing that awesome place, the Shekinah glory
of God, between the cherubim, over the mercy seat. He'd take
that blood, dip the hyssop in the blood, Franklin on the mercy
seat. The blood would cover the broken
love. God said, I'll meet you there. I'll commune with you
there. Once again. Once again. Blood of propitiation. Let's look at Leviticus 16 a
minute. I want to read this. Leviticus 16. Leviticus 16.15.
Leviticus 16.15. Listen to this. Then shall he kill the goat of
the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood
within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the
blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, before
the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel, because of their transgressions and all their sins, and so shall
he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among
them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall no man Be no
man in that tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in.
He walked the winepress alone by himself personally. I said
be no man in that tabernacle when he goes into the holy place
until he comes out and may have made an atonement for himself
and for the household and for the congregation of Israel. And
our Lord laid aside his glory. arraignment, came to this earth
and clothed himself in human flesh, in the flesh, likeness
of sinful flesh. As our high priest, he went to
the cross, shed his blood, made an atonement, put back on his
royal garments, sent it back to the Father where he ministers
in the holy place, not the place made with And when our Lord died
on that cross, what happened? Let's turn to Matthew. Matthew
chapter 27. This is so significant. Remember I told you that veil
was between the holy place and the holy of holies, the presence
of God, the Shekinah glory, the mercy seat. Once a year the high
priest would come under the veil. When Christ, our high priest,
died. Matthew 27 verse 50 says, And Jesus, when he had cried
again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and behold, the
veil of the temple that divided the holy place from the people
was rent in twain from top to bottom, as if God had reached
down and torn it apart. Our high priest has gone into
heaven itself, into the Holy of Holies. And now, all of us
are priests. We are preached unto our God,
and we come into His, let us come boldly into the presence
of God. The veil's not there. The ark's
not there. The mercy seat's not there. He's
our mercy seat. He's our high priest. He's our
atonement. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace. That
veil's went in too. I must move along. Let's go over
here. That's what was. What's the Holy Spirit teaching
when those things were ordained? Verse 8, Hebrews 9, verse 8. The Holy Ghost, this signifying
that the way unto the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. The way to God, the way of life,
the way God can be just and justify. It was not made manifest. Now
Abraham, went before the Lord. Moses went before the Lord. People
believed God and cried unto God and heard from God. But the way
to God was not clearly manifested till he came. The way lay in
types and shadows and pictures till he came and manifested. He said, I'm the way to God. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
And verse 9 says, this tabernacle was a figure for the time then
present in which were offered gifts and sacrifices. It could
not make him that did the service perfect as pertained to the conscience.
These sacrifices didn't purify and give any confidence to the
people. Verse 10, they stood only in meats and drinks and
different washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until
the time of reformation. This is the only time that word
occurs in the Bible, Reformation. And these things stood until
the time of Reformation. What is that time of Reformation?
Until God's appointed time, when He'll set things straight, when
He'll fulfill all of His purposes, when He'll perfect and cleanse
and make all things new, till the time of Reformation. And they continued these sacrifices
until he came. Now, verse 11, is that which
is. Now here, listen to this. Christ
being come. This is the time of reprimand,
when he came. Christ being come, the appointed
time. In the fullness of time, God
sent his son into the world. Made of a woman. Made under the...
With Christ being come, a high priest of good things to come.
By a greater and more perfect tabernacle, what's that talking
about? His body. Not made with hands, that is
to say, not this building, a greater and more perfect tabernacle.
More perfect in value, more perfect in worth, more perfect in longevity,
more perfect in dignity. And down in chapter 8, verse
2, look back here. Our Lord is a minister, the sanctuary
of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man.
The body thou hast prepared me." So he came by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not this
building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood. He entered once into the holy
place. What holy place? We'll look over
at verse 24 of chapter 9. Christ has not entered the holy
place made with hands, but shall figure the truth, but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Not with the blood of goats and
calves, but with his own blood, he entered not many times, but
once, heaven itself, and obtained eternal redemption for us. Now
look at verse 13. the conclusion of the matter.
If this blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctify to the purifying of the flesh. In other words,
this is what Paul is asking. He's putting the lesser against
the greater, the lesser against the greater. He said if this
blood of the Old Testament, these sacrifices, the Passover lamb,
the lambs of Aaron, the atonement, which were a type of Christ.
If those sacrifices for that thousands of years held back
the wrath of God, that's what it did, held back the wrath of
God, typically sanctified men externally before God. That's what he said. If this
was effective for all those years, to hold back the wrath and judgment
of God and purify them outwardly so that God bless them. Look
at verse 14, how much more, how much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself, not an
animal, but himself, without spot, perfect righteousness,
perfect atonement, perfect sacrifice without spot to God. How much more shall that blood
of Christ purge your conscience, not just your outward flesh,
sanctifying of the flesh, outward acceptance, but purify your conscience,
purge you from the works of sin, purge you from the dead works
of form and lifeless observance. Purge you from the works of self-righteousness. Purge you from any hope within
yourself. Purge you from dead work, kinsmanhood. Change you. Purge you to serve
the living God. A man wrote one time, my sins, my sins are ever before me. What is to be done about my sins?
Well, it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sin. It's evident no man is justified
by the law. The tears of Esau would not restore
his birthright. The waters of baptism left Simon
Magus in the gall of bitterness. Judah's confession that he'd
betrayed innocent blood only led him to suicide. The wonderful
works that men bragged about in Matthew 7 we call works of
iniquity. How then can he be clean as born
of a woman? Here's the answer. How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who offered himself without spot
to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? In closing, let's read these
next verses. And for this cause, he's the
mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death, by the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant,
even the sins of the Old Testament believers, they which are called
might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. But where
a covenant is, there must be the necessity of the death of
the testator. The man makes a last will and
testament. Only one way for it to go into effect, that's for
him to die. Testament is a force after men
are dead, otherwise it's of no strength while the testator lives.
Our Lord died. Covenants in effect. But the
first covenant wasn't dedicated without blood. I read that, how
Moses sprinkled everything with the blood. Now down here in verse
23, it was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in
heaven should be purified with blood. but the heavenly things
with better sacrifices than these. But Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself. I want you to see these three
appearances of Christ. Now to appear in the presence
of God for us. He's our intercessor, our high
priest, our mediator. He appears right now in the presence
of God for us. Secondly, not yet that he should
offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy
place every year with the blood of others, for then must he often
have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now, once in
the end of the world, hath he appeared on this earth, born
of a woman, a man, to put away sin to the sacrifice of himself.
Now, the third appearance. And as it is appointed unto men
once to thine, after this the judgment. So Christ was once
offered to bear the sin of many, and unto them that look for him,
he'll appear again without sin, purged, paid for, put away unto
salvation. Under the blood of Jesus, safe
in the shepherd's foe, under the blood of Jesus, safe while
the ages roll, safe though the world may crumble, safe though
the stars grow dim under the blood.