Let's turn this morning in the scriptures to Hebrews chapter 8 as we're continuing our study in the book of Hebrews and we'll be taking a bit of a break this week and next week we'll make it through Lord willing chapter 8 then take a bit of a break from Hebrews through the summer months a couple months and then come back to it but today I'd like to begin with chapter 8 as we're continuing our study in the new covenant and understand what that means and of a better covenant he says here and we'll look at the first this morning six verses i'll read the entirety of the chapter and then conclude this chapter next week this is the word of the lord let's give our attention to it hebrews chapter 8 1192 is the page number beginning at verse 1 now the point in what we are saying is this we have such a high priest one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven a minister in the holy places in the true tent that the lord set up not man for every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer now if he were on earth he would not be a priest at all since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law they serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things for when Moses was about to erect the tent he was instructed by God saying see that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain but as it is Christ has obtained a ministry that is more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises for if that first covenant had been faultless there would have been no occasion to look for a second for he finds fault with them when he says behold the days are coming declares the lord when i will establish a new covenant with the house of israel with the house of judah not like the covenant that i made with their fathers on the day when i took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of egypt for they did not continue in my covenant and so i showed no concern for them declares the lord for this is the covenant that i will make with the house of israel after those days declares the lord i will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts and i will be their god and they shall be my people and they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother saying know the lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest for i will be merciful toward their iniquities and i will remember their sins no more in speaking of a new covenant he makes the first one obsolete and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away and there will end the reading of God's word well what we have struggled with really in this study of the book of Hebrews but is characteristic of our struggle in the church today is really the invisible nature of the kingdom of God that we cannot see Jesus the way that we want to see Jesus and I wonder how much more interest there would be in worship with a heart that was ready to come up to the house of the Lord today if we saw a throne and we saw Jesus seated on the throne might be a little more excitement to come up to the house of the Lord today right maybe depends on how hard the heart is doesn't it this has been a problem for the church that's why we haven't understood worship this has been a struggle and i would suggest that the heart of our problem really comes down to this issue that something that the author said back in chapter two that right now we don't see everything put under his feet i mean think about what we're thinking about in pentecost everything's been put under his feet the gospel's going out to the ends of the earth to the nations and we just the kingdom moves slowly and we don't see its progress in the way that we want to see its progress even though i think we saw great progress right here today if our eyes are open i'm going to be as forthcoming as i can about this and try to help you through this this is why christianity gets killed today in the public square and throughout history we're charged with having a phantom god who is just some sort of figment of our imagination as weak people that we come and we sing to and we pray to but we see nothing and we receive no real power fools they say my guess is is there are many in the church today who still struggle and aren't really totally certain about all this because you don't see. And that is the problem of the invisible nature of the kingdom of God. And that has led to all kinds of confusion for Christians today. We want to bring this in stronger than what we see. Well, that's why we've had worship wars. That's why we've wanted a better sensory experience. That's why we have been so superficial to talk about those things. Not realizing when we come to worship, we're in the presence of Christ. And there has been, as a consequence of this, we looked at last time, the struggle as we looked at the Old Testament priesthood, that this sort of same mentality presents itself in the church today. we have so much hero worship and we're looking to men to solve our problems and we're looking to pastors to be our heroes because we still don't see Jesus. And that's where Hebrews is incredibly helpful to us. This is what Hebrews is intended to answer for us. It's explaining the nature of the kingdom of God. And it's explaining the ministry of Jesus to us how wonderful it is and if you can appreciate what's being said here if you can if you can contemplate and take this in and and understand what's being said today it's going to change your entire perspective about the church the sour attitude goes away and you will view the christian faith differently you'll view the ministry that you've received differently so what is the basic point that the author is making today from the book of hebrews it is something very simple and something very helpful it is that the new covenant and the new covenant ministry is so much better because jesus is ministering to us from heaven that's why it's so much better why does that matter why would that be so much better it's what he's wrestling with to help us understand that's what the author is explaining for us in chapter 8 why the new covenant ministry is so much more superior better perfected of all the places that we're going to talk today we are get to get to consider the glories of heaven and that's where he goes heaven of course seems to us like such a far-off place and it has something that we think only has to do with the future life and that whatever goes on down here we're sort of disconnected from that and that's why people have wrestled god doesn't see what's going on or god has deep classic deism has sort of wound this up like a clock and has taken off into a far off land but we're missing the immense blessing of what's being said to us about this place that we are all hoping to go every average hollywood star thinks they're going to heaven so everyone has an interest in this everyone wants to know about this what is heaven how am i going to get there am i going to get there the bible speaks of heaven as an actual realm that exists but something that our mortal eyes right now are unable to see and the author of hebrews is helping us with this helping us understand the ministry of jesus speaking of heavenly things speaking of what heaven is ministering to us something that he said very plainly in this text from the true tent did you catch that the true tent we were to go back to um genesis chapter one the first words of the bible are very fascinating how the bible begins in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth one of the notice that's a plural there the heaven that he would single out as he goes through creation he would say there's a firmament and an expanse and then there's the heavens above us there's the heavens that we see you go outside today and you look in this beautiful theater that god has made and you're looking at the heaven a heaven there's little birds flying around in it and there's a beautiful there's constellations and stars set up there there's a sun and there's a moon and it's a fabulous display of the heavens that genesis 1 describes in the creation of the heavens and the earth but if you read genesis 1 1 very carefully you'll notice that the first words of the bible say he created god created the heavens and the earth that's describing something different that god created a realm that he called heaven that did not belong to the eternity of god before the creation of the world genesis 1 1 is capturing for us an entire realm that was created along with the creation of the angels i personally take the the position that in genesis 1 1 that's where you have the creation of the angels in this realm that was created some have called it two registers the lower register which we see in the upper the great issue in the garden of eden was when adam many of sinned you remember and this created a big problem for the human race as swords went up and as they were banished from the presence of god they were barred from the presence of god and the entire old testament shuts up this sort of tension in the story of the development of the nation of israel it came down to one great question how could god ever dwell with man the Lord looks down from heaven the Lord looks down from heaven it's not this one right here the realm he made are there any righteous? is there any who does good? are there any who understand? are there any who can stand before me and live? and this was the great issue as Moses walked Israel through the wilderness after the golden calf, it came down to a big issue. How can we dwell with God? How can God dwell with us, was Moses' question. And that's what he pleaded when he interceded for Israel. Please dwell with your people. Dwell with us. That's the struggle. That's the issue of worship. Dwelling with God. God dwelling with us. And God did something remarkable to answer this great request of Moses. On those days when he went up on the top of the Mount Sinai, as Israel was down below, Moses had asked, dwell. Remember what God said? Listen carefully to Exodus 25. And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall construct it. And see to it, the end of Exodus 25, that you make this structure, that make them after the pattern for them which was shown to you on the mountain. So Moses was given a building project that the men were to build. And what did God show him? Well, God showed him a little replica that he was to construct. He gave him a little building plan of heaven, the heavens of Genesis 1-1. That God had always designed and from the beginning had made to dwell with his people. Now, this should be a vital interest to us. This should be of vital interest to us. Who here doesn't want to go to heaven? Who here doesn't want to get there? Everyone thinks they're going. So God had Israel construct a tabernacle in the wilderness according to this pattern that was on the mountain. And remember its basic structure. We went through this in Exodus. There was a kind of a giant wall around the whole thing that was constructed. And you had a sort of symbolism there that that's the outside. You can kind of fast forward to the end of the Bible and see when God says the door is shut, the gate is shut, and no one on the outside can enter in. This was the courts of the Lord. And you would walk, you would have access there, but there were problems with that structure, and there were distances to that structure to get to God. A series of courts later that would be set up, remember, in the temple. Right in front of the tabernacle door was a big, giant altar of incense where the priests were meticulously to offer the sacrifices to make atonement for the people. And then you had a sort of initial veil. And then you would walk into the holy place. And there would be a table of showbread. And there would be a giant lampstand. And then right in front of the big, six-inch-thick veil was an altar of incense. And then the high priest would enter in there once a year. And there was a giant mercy seat in there. The cherubim had their arms spread out over that mercy seat. And woven into the fabric, all around the fabric, were angels. What an amazing little structure. Describing God dwelling with his people. Now, the law regulated this. The law from Sinai regulated this. We saw last time, there were problems. The big problem that he worked with was, first, the nature of the priests themselves. They were sinful, remember. And there were three problems with the priests. They were sinful, you remember. They died, and they were weak. And what a mess at times the Old Testament priesthood was. We went through some of that to look at all the things that happened today in the ministry of the church. We've already seen it in Israel's history. We looked at Hophni and Phinehas. We looked at the abuse. We looked at the evil that could come. What the author turns to in Hebrews, you look carefully here in verse 4 and 5, for when Moses was about to erect the tent he was instructed by God he grabs Exodus 25 see that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain and in verse 5 is the issue here's the big issue of the text today they serve a copy and a shadow of heavenly things well there's the problem the tabernacle was just a little sketch the tabernacle was just a little model the tabernacle was it's like when I was a boy boys and girls I remember building a little F-14 that's when those were in and that little F-14 I detailed that whole thing and I made this beautiful little plane but it always bothered me I couldn't fly it and I go out to Lamorna Naval Air Station where I grew up and there would be one and wow, was that awesome to stand in front of. They never let me get in, though. I don't know why. This is kind of like what's happening here. The law regulated the earthly priesthood. The law regulated a model. That's all it was. It was a little model of heaven. A structure that showed how to get to God. So you see the big issue here in Hebrews, what it's been telling us. The Old Covenant is not the separation that we have in our Bibles between the Old and the New Testaments. That's not what the Old Covenant is. We're not dispensationalists. The Old Covenant is clearly the arrangement that was given through Moses in the ceremonial and the types and the shadows. And even the law itself, as it announced and and showed how bad we were because of sin could not save us. So the old covenant is this administration with Moses. What was set up with Moses. And the priests served that tabernacle. The priests served that ministry. But what's the big problem? It never saved. They had to look by faith to Jesus, didn't they? The things that Abraham looked for. The law never saved. The priests died. The priests were weak. And now he grabs the tabernacle and says, it was only a little model. And that brings us today to the great point of this. He says it in this way. In verse 8, he brings it to a crescendo, a beautiful climax to what he wants to tell us here in Hebrews 8, verse 1. I'm sorry, verse 1. the author provides the summary now the point in what we're saying is this when an author does that he's saying this is a big thing everything i want to capture i want to tell you right here we have such a high priest one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of majesty in heaven notice a minister in the holy places the true tent which god set up and not man which by the way i don't know how any of this crazy theology that has gone on in our country for a long time that says we should set up the copy again on earth is ever a good thing by rebuilding the tabernacle and the tent that's going way backward i mean that's that's just foolish it didn't that served a copy is what he's saying and that's been the popular theology in our land for i don't know how long it's an absolutely crucial point he's making notice carefully what he said jesus is serving us from the true tent on the throne in the majesty in heaven ministering to us there from the holy places if you understand him saying that to a jewish audience you know in the first century with all their history and with their tabernacle and their temple that is an overwhelming statement that this is this is what the the new covenant ministry is pushing us to to understand and and you could imagine them trying to think about this and understand this as they have this long history of the copy, of the sketch, of the model. The law regulated the earthly priesthood. And that excluded, the author says, Jesus from the entire arrangement. That's what he's simply saying here. Why? Because Jesus is not ministering to you from types and shadows. By his blood, which all that sacrifice and offering, all anticipated throughout the Old Testament, he has passed up into the heavens for you. And he's opened it up. And he's given you access to God. I was talking with one of you the other day after the last sermon, and you were really encouraged and touched by the thought, you know, you imagine at the cross, as soon as he said, listen to the account in Mark 15. and Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last and the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Can you imagine the priest standing there seeing that? Grab it. We got to sew it back up. They would have been devastated. The glory was not in that temple. the copy had just been done away with the copy served its purpose the shadow and the model was over you got to get in the plane now it's just an amazing truth beloved that jesus being our perfect high priest in fact it says you notice that little language in the last verse of chapter 7 he was made perfect maybe that troubles us it shouldn't when he took on our humanity and he actively lived and kept the law he felt what it's saying is he fulfilled all righteousness for us and he was made perfect even though he was always perfect either he went under the law and fulfilled righteousness for us he underwent that for you so that you would be justified before god by faith just as they were taught to understand and then he went to heaven and then he went to heaven and you see this is what uh the authors of the new testament want us to so appreciate and marvel that's why paul would say you know we're members of the jerusalem above which is the mother of us all we belong to that city he's about to develop this abraham looked for the city which has foundations whose builder and maker is god the true reality is now open that's what he's saying what genesis 1 1 what we lost at the fall is now opened right back up to us through this priest king and he's a priest king he's he's now seated on that throne and and that mercy seat that his blood was shed and atonement was made so what does that mean for us priests died remember last week there must have been an awful sense in israel every time you ever read the kings boys and girls and be like oh boy what kind of king are we going to get now here's a good one and then bad bad bad bad bad then a good one and then kind of good then bad bad bad good well i think you fill that with the burdens of a president what are we going to get notice all the tension and worry we have on this issue we get a do we get a good one do we get a bad one and just look at how bad a bad one can be and this happens in churches we get a good pastor or bad pastor bad pastor good pastor this happens in daily life do we get a good boss or a bad boss what's he going to be like and in America we have for so long looked to men in the ministry we have looked to men Hebrews he is your priest king forever by the power of an indestructible life, he cannot die anymore. And he is harmless. Remember that last week? Wasn't that just a beautiful word? Think of abuse. He's harmless. He's holy. He's righteous. He's pure. And he does only good to you. And he exercises all these compassions upon you. and he's seated forever for you. You know what that means. Why is the new covenant so much better? He grabs, this is next time, he grabs Jeremiah 31 and he puts it right here, the whole thing of the new covenant. What wonderful things are said there. What it means is the new covenant is in action right now. It has been put in place right now. And guess what that means? Listen to it. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord. I'll establish a new covenant with the house of Israel. When? Right now. It includes Jews and Gentiles together. Not like the covenant I made with their fathers. When was that? When I brought them out of the land of Egypt at Sinai. That's the old covenant. They didn't continue in that covenant. They broke that covenant. So I showed no concern. This is the covenant that I make with the house of Israel after those days. I will put my law on their minds. I can't wait to preach this next week. Put their law on their minds and write it on their hearts. I'll be their God and they shall be my people. They're going to know this. They're going to understand this. They're going to take delight in this. And they're going to know the Lord. They're going to know the Lord. It's what you're just hearing right now. You're knowing the Lord. But here's the great, great, great truth. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. Wow. You don't have a priest on earth who fails. You don't have a priest on earth who dies. Remember when Jesus in John 1 came to Nathanael? Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? Jesus answered him, And before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. And Jesus answered, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You'll see greater things than these. And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened. And the angels of God descending and descending on the Son of Man. What do you see? Heaven's open right now. It's the day of salvation's all about. This is what Paul was saying to us, beloved, when he said in Ephesians 1, because God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you've been saved. And what did he do? He raised us up. And he seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. If Jesus is there, you're there. That's how set in stone your union is with Jesus. So that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That's where you belong, is what he's saying. And your body, when he raises it, will be there. See, this is the implication then today. so overjoyed to preach this it's because of what we're building to in chapter 10 therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter where? the holy places by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh and since we have a great priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water What do you think you're doing right now? Where do you think you are right now? I wish you could see. It's just worth thinking about when Elisha's servant saw the armies coming at them and all this wickedness in the earth. When the servant of the man of God arose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots were all around the city. he said, don't be afraid. My master, what are we going to do? Then Elijah prayed and said, Lord, open his eyes that he might see just for a minute. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold the mountain. There was a mountain all around him. It was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Please strike the people with blindness. They don't get to see. So he struck them with blindness according to the prayer of Elisha. What's he doing for you? That's what I'm closing with. He is continuing to minister to you from heaven. And when you worship, you're gathered together right now. Do you see? Heaven is not a distant place, beloved. Heaven is not trillions and trillions of miles away. Heaven is another dimension right here, right now, you can't see. It's upon us. And when you die, you enter that. The author wants you to know that there is a continual ministry of Jesus as our high priest that continues forever. You know, that's what he's saying. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old. As the covenant, he mediates is better since it's enacted on better promises. That's all the fulfillment of what Abraham was promised and looked to. That's why there's a continuity in the covenant of grace. So what's he doing for you right now? He's watching over you and he's ruling you and he's graciously defending you and guess what he's also doing right now? He's judging the world. Why do you think things are such a mess right now? Does anyone have the eyes to see that? I was talking with Dr. Godfrey just the other day and we were talking about Romans 1. The wrath of God is revealed as he turns people over in their sins. if something has to be revealed, it means it's hidden until it's revealed. What that means is, is people are not able to see that the wrath of God right now is being revealed. Can you? You know, we're in the middle of Pride Month now. A whole month of this. Carl Truman said, if the arrival of the pilgrims, the founding of the nation, and even the contribution of Martin Luther King receive no more than 24 hours on the national calendar, the LGBTQ plus alliance has an entire month to party in the streets. What an arrogant assault on the creator. You think this is going to go well? When the king is seated? Why do you think things are all in disarray? He's executing judgments from the throne. The entire nation right now is tasting the wrath of God. and they should kiss the sun today lest they perish in the way because that's what psalm 2 says he does he judges the nations but where are we goshen god has said i'll never leave you nor forsake you i'm going to protect my people so we can confidently say at the end of hebrews the lord is my helper we will not fear what can man do to me I saw the image this week of the Nebuchadnezzar idol wrapped in a rainbow flag and the masses all bowing and a few Christians standing and then a few others trying to pull them down and it said the church. That's what we're faced with. This addresses all your fear. You have fear for your children in the world? Do you fear whether you're doing enough? we always live under that never doing enough I've always failed you think you're the one doing the work ultimately you fear what the economies of this world will become do you fear your health you fear so much you're sheep I'm sheep here's your shepherd who's opened up heaven and prepared a place for you and he promises he's coming again to get you to take you to be where he is forever when Abraham saw Melchizedek that day he saw the priesthood of Jesus and what did Melchizedek do for him he put out his hand and gave them bread and wine you don't have anything to worry about he's not calling you today to work for your salvation he's calling you to look and trust to him and trust in his word He's calling you to come up to worship with an entirely different attitude. He's calling you to be saved. And today he's calling you to see everything that Abraham saw by faith, now in fulfillment. For I tell you, said Jesus, from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise the cup, after he had eaten, saying, This cup is poured out for you. It is the new covenant in my blood. Behold, beloved, your priest king. See him. Live by faith in him. And trust him. He's opened up heaven to you. It's already open. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for helping us to understand the deeper mysteries of your word. Give us faith to see properly right now with understanding to know that you're with us and that you've protected us and that you will. For you have declared, I will never leave him nor forsake them. So we look to you today, our priest king, risen, victorious, seated. Holy Spirit has been sent. He's convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And we have been given a place in the kingdom of a new covenant ministry where you have promised you will remember our sins no more. Let us not be unbelieving, but believing. In Jesus' name, amen.