This is the sum. What does that
mean? Well, I looked up that word, and this is the sum is saying
this is the principle. This is the main point. Of the things which we have spoken,
this is the main point. What is it? We have such a high
priest. We have such, such a wonderful,
such an excellent, such a great, magnificent, superior high priest. We do. We, Jews and Gentiles,
we have a high priest. We who are under the new covenant.
We who live in the day of grace. We who love and believe the gospel,
we have a high priest. That's the sum and substance
of what I've been saying. That's the main point, principal
thing I've been teaching, he said, in these previous seven
chapters. We have a high priest. We have a sacrifice. We have
a mercy seeker. You know, back in the Old Testament,
there were some things that were essential to worship. One was
a tabernacle, which had a holy place, which had a mercy seat. The second was a sacrifice. Had
to be a sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. And it had to be a priest. And
we here in 1996, under the gospel, the day of
grace, under the new covenant, we have all three things. We
have a mercy seat, we have a sacrifice, and we have
such a high priest who is ordained of God as our mediator in things
pertaining to God. Now, in this chapter here, there
are thirteen verses, and the first six The first six verses
identify that high priest, that great high priest, which we have. And then the rest of the verses
talk about that new covenant. So let's look first at the high
priest. It says, we have, verse 1, such a high priest. He's Jesus
Christ. He's born of Mary, lived on this
earth in the flesh, a man. A man, that's what we talked
about this morning. Consider this man, how great
he was and is. Jesus Christ who lived on this
earth, in the flesh, who was crucified, buried and rose again,
we have such a high priest. That's who he is. Now watch this.
He sat, S-E-T. That is, the first thing we think
of, he sits, and he does. We'll get to that in a minute,
but he sat permanently. He is set, established as the
Word. He is permanently established
on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the Heaven.
Let's go back to Hebrews 1 and read that. Hebrews chapter 1,
the first three verses. God, who at sundry times and
in different manners spake in time past unto the fathers, but
the prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son."
Now here's who identifies him. "...whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by whom he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, who is the express or exact image of his person,
who upholdeth all things by the word of his power, when he by
himself by himself, purged our sins, sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. And it says here, he sat. He's
permanently established there. And then he sits. He sits having
finished his work. And I've brought this out to
you many times, and it is significant. Throughout the Old Testament
ministry of the Old Testament priests, none of them ever sat. Of all the furniture in the tabernacle
and around the tabernacle, there were no benches or chairs. The
priests never sat. They were always offering sacrifices. But Christ sits, having finished
his work. He sat down. Secondly, he sits
at the right hand, accepted. That's the hand of The right
hand signifies acceptance. And then he sits there, he is
set there, established as our intercessor, and we're seated
in him. And I want you to turn to Ephesians,
chapter 2, and let's read about this intercession and Christ
seated and our being in him, where he is, we are. If someone
said one time, where the head is, Christ is the head, we're
the body. Where the head is, the body is
also. It's not far behind where the
head is. And in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 4, it says, But God,
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together
with Christ by grace are you saved, and he hath raised us
up together with Christ, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ." You see that? We have such a high priest, Jesus
Christ the righteous, who is set, permanently established,
and who sits on the right hand of the majesty on high. Whoever
to make intercession for us. All right, look at verse 2. He's
a minister. You know, he said to his disciples,
I didn't come to be ministered unto. Just about all the preaching
that I hear today is directed toward people to do something
for Jesus. Do something for Jesus. Well,
he said, I didn't come to be ministered unto. I came to minister
and to give my life a ransom for many. And I know the scripture
talks about when our Lord said to those on the right hand, enter
you blessed into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. For I was hungry and you gave
me meat. I was weary and you bested me and imprisoned and
necked in your clothing. And they said, when did we see
you that way? He said, inasmuch as you've done it to the least
of these, you've done it to me. There's a way in which we serve
Christ by serving His people. But my friends, we don't serve
Christ in that we contribute anything to Him. We don't minister
to Him. We minister to His people. But
we don't minister to Him. He ministers to us. You see that? He is a minister. He is a minister,
and that priest, the priest of the Old Testament, the people
didn't minister to them. They ministered to the people.
They offered sacrifice for the people. They interceded for the
people. They prayed for the people. They went to God, pertaining
to God for the people. And this is Christ. He's a minister. He's our minister. He's our representative. He serves us. And where is he
serving us? He's a minister of the sanctuary,
the true tabernacle in heaven. These Old Testament priests ministered
about the tabernacle. But turn Hebrews 9 over the page,
our next study, Hebrews 9, verse 24. Christ is not entered into
the holy place made with hands, which are figures of the true,
but into heaven itself. Now to appear in the presence
of God on our behalf. Follow us. He's a minister of
the sanctuary, of the true tabernacle in heaven. He ministers for us. He's there for us, intercedes
for us. Everything we have comes from
Him, through Him, because of Him. That's right. But now this
tabernacle also, verse 2, he's a minister of the sanctuary and
of the tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. There's
a two-fold tabernacle. There's talking about heaven,
the secret place of the Most High. But he's talking about
his body too. God prepared for him a body.
He's a man. And you know that old tabernacle
sat over there in the wilderness. Moses made a tabernacle. And
that tabernacle represents Christ. Christ came down and dwelt among
us. And the Jews met God in that
tabernacle. We meet God in Christ. That's
right. That old tabernacle, the next
lesson we'll talk about it, but it wasn't a big, it wasn't an
imposing structure. It was only 45 feet long. This
auditorium is 50 feet wide. It's 5 feet shorter than this
auditorium here. It's only 45 feet long. It's
only 15 feet high and 15 feet wide. 15 feet wide and 15 feet
high. It was a tent. It was a tabernacle.
And it sat out there in the wilderness, in the camp. tents all around,
but this tabernacle with the fence around it, eight foot high
white linen fence around it. And God's presence was there. During the day the cloud was
above it and during the night the pillar of fire above it.
God came down. His glory, Shekinah's majestic
glory was manifested in that place within the veil. But if
you'd been standing on a mountain looking down on the camp of Israel
and saw all these tents and saw that tent in the middle, it looked
like all the rest of them. It was badger skin. On the outside,
it looked like the rest of them. Badger skin had four coverings. It had badger skin, which is
just rough, gray, tough tent covering. Underneath that
was goat skin. which Christ our scapegoat. Under
that was ram skin dyed red, the blood of the ram, the lamb. Inside
was white, beautiful linen. And that's Christ perfect within,
looked like a man, like any other man would have. But holy God's
presence was there. And the only light in that tabernacle
was those seven candlesticks, Christ the light of the world.
We'll get into that next week. That tabernacle too is referred
to here, a body thou hast prepared me. He did for us in his flesh
what we needed done. Now look at verse 3. Now such
a high priest, every high priest, verse 3, is ordained to offer
gifts and sacrifices. Now that's true. Let's look at
chapter 9 again over here. Now remember, this is the high
priest. All the priests offered sacrifices. But the high priest
offered the atonement, the blood atonement, once a year. Look
at Hebrews 9, verse 7. But into the second, into the
Holy of Holies, in the tabernacle, went the high priest alone, once
every year, not without blood. which he offered for himself
and for the sins of the people. Look at verse 21. And verse 19,
when Moses has spoken every precept to all the people according to
the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water
and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled the book, the people. He said, this is the blood of
the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover,
he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle, all the vessels, And almost all
things were by the law purged with blood. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. So what he's saying here in Hebrews
8, every high priest is ordained of God to offer gifts and sacrifices. Had to have a sacrifice. All
right? Wherefore it is of necessity
that this man, this Melchizedek, This high priest, such a high
priest, he's got to have something to offer. He's got to have somewhat
also to offer. If he's going to be our high
priest and come before God, he's got to have something to offer.
What does he have? Turn to Hebrews 9, verse 11. But Christ being come a high
priest of good things to come, 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 in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the
blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled
in the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, How
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? He has somewhat to offer his blood. And you know, we are priests.
I told you that Christ is our high priest, but we are a holy
priesthood. a holy nation, a royal priesthood.
Every believer is a priest, he comes to God, we offer sacrifices. Sacrifices of praise, thanksgiving,
that's right, unto God. Christ's blood makes our sacrifices
accepted, our praise and our thanksgiving. All right, verse
4, now if he were, I showed you that this morning, if he were
on earth, He wouldn't be a priest. If he lived back in the days,
back then, if he lived, he did live, he ever lived, but if he
came to earth through the old Jewish economy, he wouldn't be
a priest because he was the wrong tribe. Now this is important
here. Turn to Matthew 13. Matthew 13. The Jews said here in Matthew
13, listen to this, this is interesting, because he's not in that line.
Matthew 13, verse 54, And when he was come into his
own country, he taught them in the synagogue, insomuch that
they were astonished. And they said, Whence hath this
man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's
son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren, James and Joseph
and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not
all with us? Whence hath this man all these
things? And they were offended in him, in him in whom we trust
and believe and hope. and love. They were offended
in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet
is not without honor, save his own country and his own house.
You see, what Paul is saying here in Hebrews 8, verse 4, If
he were on earth, he would not be a priest, seeing that there
are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve
unto the example and shadow of heaven and the things, as Moses
was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle.
God said, said God, that you make all things according to
the pattern showed thee in the mount. He was not of the tribe
of Levi. He was the tribe of Judah, our
Lord Jesus Christ. He did not minister in the temple.
He never offered a sacrifice. He preached in the temple, but
he never offered a sacrifice in the temple or in the tabernacle. He didn't follow the pattern
subscribed here by Moses, because he is a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. He's not in that line. See that? He's not in that line. Because
they were temporary, they were typical. But, verse 6, now watch
this. But now, he hath obtained a more
excellent ministry. I'm glad Abram's not my priest.
I'm glad Christ is. Because he has a more excellent
ministry. They were temporary, he lives
forever. They were typical, he's eternal. They were on earth, he's in heaven.
They were powerless to save anybody, his blood's effectual. They were
of the law, and he's of grace. He hath obtained a more excellent
ministry. Now watch. I don't know why people
want these earthly places. I don't know how in the world
they can find any satisfaction in these fellows. I told you,
may I go from the sublime to the ridiculous, but I get amused that everybody in
here, nearly except for Ohio, loves Kentucky basketball. And
we've got a coach that's one of the best in the country. I
know that, but he, you know, he never, he won't sit on a bench
without a priest behind him. Did you know that? Always there's a priest with
him. Wherever he goes, there's a priest sitting close to the
bench. When he was, I read this article,
when he was coaching in the professional basketball, NBA, he said, I'd
never coach without a my priest being there. He feels the need
of the man to represent him. Well, you know, I'm sorry for him because that
man can't help him. I'm sorry for him. And I understand. You say, don't you get mad? No,
I understand. He's a natural man. That's what
he thinks. He's back in the Old Testament days. These Jews wouldn't
go anywhere without a priest. The priest was their contact
with God. I have a priest. I have such
a priest. When Art Young died up in St. Mary's Hospital, and Ethel and
Art were there, and this woman came in to see them in the room
there. And she said to Mike, said, would
you like me to send for the priest? He said, no, thank you. I have
a priest. Oh, you do? Yes, ma'am. I've
got a priest. And he's real. We have a priest. You know, you make, you kind
of ridicule people because they feel in need of a priest. You
go to God for them. But they do because they're natural
men and they're living back under this old covenant of works and
this dispensation of self-righteousness. This is what Paul is saying.
He said, this is the sum of everything I've been telling you. We have
a priest. We've got to have. And he has
a sacrifice, his blood. And he ministers in heaven. And he, verse 6, has obtained
a more excellent ministry by how much also he's the mediator
of a better covenant, which is established on better promises. And I don't want to go anywhere
without him, do you? I don't want to sit on the bench,
Luke, or anywhere else without my priest being with me and interceding
before God. But I don't want a man there.
I want the God man. I don't want him down here, I
want him there. And that's what we have. That's what we have. But be, and I tell, oh, I need,
I wish I'd have learned this when I was younger. Let's be
patient with people. If it wasn't for God's grace,
we'd be just as blind as they are now. So don't be, what have
you, who made you different? Who opened your eyes to see Christ? If he hadn't opened your eyes,
we'd still be in religion. We'd still be in that Armenian,
free will, do-it-yourself religion. If it wasn't for God's grace.
But thank God, we see. And that's what Christ said to
Peter, blessed are your eyes, they see. And God made it, made
us different. It's a better covenant. That
old covenant reached to the Jews only. This New Covenant in Christ,
where there's neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond
nor free. That Old Covenant was hid in
ceremonies and diems and ordinances and types, and Christ is the
full revelation. That Old Covenant was conditioned
upon obedience. You do this, and I'll do that,
God said. The New Covenant's grace through
faith. The Old Covenant promised a land
with milk and honey, material blessings. The New Covenant promises
glory. That's right. All right, just
a little while, let me show you something about that New Covenant
here now. He said in verse 7, if that first
covenant had been faultless, There'd be no place, as then
should no place have been sought for the second. You see, the
old covenant was typical. The Jews were a typical nation.
We're a redeemed nation. The priests were only men. Christ
is the God man. The sacrifices were animal blood,
pictures of his precious blood. The blessings were material.
Our blessings, spiritual blessings in the heaven is in Christ. Now
watch verse 8. But finding fault with them,
he said, Behold, the day is come when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah. A new covenant.
Now why is it called a new covenant? I'll reveal to you a new covenant."
Well, it's not called a new covenant because it's newly made, because
known unto God are his works from the beginning. It's not
called a new covenant because it's newly made, because he said
in Hebrews 13, 20, it's the everlasting covenant. It's not a new covenant
in that it's newly made because he said in 2 Thessalonians he
chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Christ
was our priest before the foundation of the world. And it's not a new covenant because
it's new in operation. Abraham was saved the same way
we are. Isn't that right? People got the idea that that
old covenant was up to Calvary, and after Calvary, people saved
by grace. They saved by the law, now they're
saved by grace. No, Abraham, Christ said, he
rejoiced to see my day. Abel's blood, the blood he sacrificed
was Christ. Moses wrote of me. I'll tell
you why it's called a new covenant. It's called a new covenant because
it's newly revealed. In all of its fulfillment in
Christ, it's newly revealed. Now, let me show you that. I'll
give you an example, 1 Corinthians 15. Now watch this. This will give you an example.
The new covenant, 1 Corinthians 15. Why is it called a new covenant?
Because it's newly revealed. It existed before the old one.
But it's newly manifested and revealed in all that... You see,
those Old Testament people wrote about things that they believed
but didn't understand. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 45,
as it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul.
The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Who's that last Adam? That's Christ. Well, he was before
the first Adam, wasn't he? He was in reality, but he was
revealed after the first Adam. Read on. Howbeit that was not
first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural. Afterward,
that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthly. Second man is the Lord from heaven. Who's the first man? Christ is
the first man. But Adam was the first man on
the scene. The first man revealed, that's right. He made Adam in
his image, and there's the first man. The first man was Adam.
But I'll tell you, the man Christ Jesus was before him, but he
was revealed after the first Adam. Same way the covenant.
The first covenant, first revealed. And God took all of these pictures
and patterns of salvation and showed them to the Jews. But
this new covenant was revealed in Christ. and fulfilled all
that. But the second covenant is the first one. You see that?
All right. That's why it's called. Back
to my text now. I'll bring this to a close. Hebrews chapter 8, verse 8. Finding fault with them, he said,
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, I'll make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, with the house of And the house of
Judah, actually, he's going to make all things new. It's called
a new covenant because it's newly revealed, and in this new covenant,
everything's new. When he saves us, we have a new
nature. We have a new mercy seat. The
old one's gone. Priesthood, the old one's gone.
Going to be a new earth. Going to be a new heaven. We're
going to have a new body. Everything's new. Verse 9, "...not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant. And I regarded
them not, saith the Lord." You know that old covenant under
which God brought Israel out of Egypt to the land of Canaan
by the blood of an animal, Passover lamb. is a picture of our deliverance
out of the bondage of sin through Christ in the eternal glory. But that old covenant was weak.
The covenant wasn't weak itself, it was weak through the flesh.
It was weak because we're weak. That old covenant was weak because
we are. And that old covenant not only
pictures the way God saves us, but that old covenant because
of the weakness of the flesh and the failure of the creature
shows our need of one who never fails. Let me give you an example. The creature always fails under
any circumstances. God, he said here, they continue
not in my coven, and they never do. Under all conditions and
circumstances, the creature fails. Take, for example, the angels.
The angels heaven. Pretty good conditions, but they
failed. Adam in the garden, remarkable
conditions. God supplied every need, gave
him dominion, walked with him, talked with him, but he failed.
Noah, Noah witnessed the destruction of the whole world. God put him
in an ark, lifted him above the flood, and preserved him and
his family. Came down and he failed. Israel, 400 years in the bondage
of Egypt. God miraculously delivered them. Killed the firstborn
and every home preserved them. Opened the sea and they walked
through on dry land. Destroyed their enemies. Fed
them with manna from heaven and quail. They drank water from
a rock. Forty years, they failed. David's kingdom, the greatest
kingdom on earth, after David died and Solomon, back in bondage. The disciples, under Jesus Christ's
own personal supervision and leadership, an example. And Peter denied him. Thomas
doubted him. They all quit him, forsook him
in faith. And I mean, they sat with God. And the early church, if you
go through the Bible and read about the church at Corinth,
Paul established that church. And it wasn't a few years till
there was all kind of divisions and discord. Church at Galatia. Some of them were going back
to the law. Church at Philippi. Conflict. All the way through. And us,
look at us. We're just so weak, aren't we? I tell you, we've got to have
a new covenant. That old covenant, When God leaves
us to ourselves, we're done for. Now, that's all there is to it.
Under any circumstances, we've got to have Christ. And God said
in verse 10, the Lord said, this is the covenant I'll make with
them in the house of Israel. That's spiritual Israel after
those days. I'll put my law in their minds
and write them in their hearts. I'll be to them a God and they'll
be to me a people. And I'll teach every man his
neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, that all,
from the children to the adults, from the least to the greatest,
I'll put my spirit within them, teach them to be my people, and
I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness. And their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. And in that, that's our hope,
that's our confidence. Not in ourselves, not in our
works, not in anything we do, but in His grace. In that he
saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old, the old works
and sacrifices and laws and days and so forth. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away, takes it away.
And our priest is Christ. Now what we do, what he's done,
this person has worked years ago. I heard a story that impressed
me. I'll pass it along to you. There was a preacher holding
a meeting, a man who knew God and knew grace and knew the gospel.
He was holding a meeting in this town and preaching in this church
for several days. And the pastor had arranged for
him to go into the homes of some of the members and have a meal.
And there was a lady in the church that loved the gospel, was faithful
to the gospel, just faithful to the gospel of God's grace. But her husband, he didn't have
any interest. He operated a tavern. We used
to call them a beer joint when I was a kid. He had a tavern. Prosperous man and a nice man,
you know, pleasant man. He didn't keep his wife going
to church. He's all right. All right for her to go and believe
the gospel, do what you want to do. He wasn't interested.
He had a prosperous tavern. But she always had the preacher
over. When a preacher came to church
to preach a meeting, the preacher always ate in their home. And
the husband would come home for dinner. And he'd sit at the table. conversed with the pastor, and
the preacher, and the evangelist, and his wife, and a very pleasant
man, but... Well, this preacher was there
in a meeting, and he went to that home. They were having dinner,
and the husband looked over at the visiting preacher. He said,
I guess you notice I'm not in church. Yes, he said, I do, I
notice that. He said, well, I don't go to
church. I don't go to church. He said, I don't listen to preachers.
He said, every preacher that comes here tells me that in order
to be saved, I have to sell my tavern. And he said, I'm not
going to sell my tavern. And this very wise preacher looked
at him and said, you don't have to sell your tavern to be saved. He said, I don't. No, no, he
said, that won't help you get saved. You don't have to sell
your tablet. He said, I think I'll come hear
you preach. So he came. He sat and listened several nights. And you know something? The Lord
saved that man. Brought him to love that gospel
and believe that gospel. He did. And you know what he
did right after that? He sold his tablet. See, that's
what we're preaching. Under the old covenant, you did. It's due, it's due, due. Grace
is not due, it's done. And anybody that tells you, in
order to be saved, you've got to do this and do that and do
the other, the only thing that saves a man is believing on Christ.
Isn't that right? Now, after God makes all things
new, He'll make some adjustments. That's right. He will. Not in
order to be saved. That's what I preached this morning.
That Sabbath day business and tithing and doing is not the
way God saves sinners. It's by Christ. But when He comes
into our hearts and redeems us, then what we do is because we're
saved, not in order to be. That's right. That's the difference. In law and grace, works and faith. All right, I hope that's a blessing.
We'll sing the solid rock. It's number 272. Christ the solid
rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 272.