[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       Hebrews chapter 8, beginning in 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” (ESV).

       Our focus is shifted toward Heaven today with the scene of where Jesus is at now, where he currently resides. It’s a tremendous scene. Of course, those of us who have been in the faith for awhile now know where that is—that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God, as God the Father sits on his throne. There’s no doubt, if there is anyone’s mind, that this shows God the Son as equated with God the Father. It shows that Jesus is indeed God. In this section, God the Father is referred to as “the Majesty.” And, as we’ve already touched upon, this whole Kingly picture Heaven plays into the Jewish mind. It plays into the fact that the Jews were waiting for their Messiah who would arrive on the earth and reign as King on their behalf—and hopefully bring them that long desired political power. A big thing this was, we can recall, in the minds of the disciples. Indeed, it was monumental in their minds, in their hopes for the future. The persistent hope was actually to rule and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth. Certainly, this is something that they will get to do, by the way, in the future. The Book of the Revelation, namely chapter 20, shows a picture of that, as well as The Book of Zechariah, namely chapter 14. There, in verse 9, the prophet states, “And the LORD will be king over all the earth” (ESV). That’s the beautiful thing, the beautiful thing. Not only will Christ fulfill that which was promised to God’s original chosen people, the Israelites, but also that Christ will reign over the whole earth, period. This means everything will be in alignment with him. All rule and law will be in alignment. No immorality of any kind will be present. No crime of any kind. All the bad stuff will be taken from the earth. And besides, as Revelation 20 tells us, Satan will be locked up during this time, unable to affect the planet or the people living on it.

       Also brought to our attention is that Jesus is “a minister in the holy places.” This ministry of Jesus is located “in the true tent that the Lord set up.” Interesting picture. It’s probably one that we aren’t sure quite what to think about it. Indeed, the speaker himself doesn’t quite understand what all this could entail, for the Scriptures don’t really come out and tell us plainly. We know, for instance, that Jesus certainly isn’t sitting in Heaven offering up animal sacrifices to God, like these Hebrew Christians were familiar with. That’s certainly not the picture. He himself is the one true sacrifice for sin. That being said, the ministry of the Levitical priests from the Old Testament (and even practiced during the time of the writing of Hebrews) was a form of worship toward God. Stephen points this out in his speech in Acts chapter 7 (see verse 7). Thus, we can say that what Christ is doing in Heaven right now is what we talked about last time, from Hebrews chapter 7, where the writer says, “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (ESV). It’s that last part that is the focus. “[H]e always lives to make intercession for them.” What kind of intercession is this? Well, we could point out at least two things. First, we could say it’s what the Apostle John said, when he said, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2, ESV). This ties into what? Why do we need an advocate? Because Satan goes to Heaven and accuses us of the sins we commit (see Revelation 12:10). All of us slip up and sin at one moment or another, and Satan presents this before the Father.

       The second detail in conjunction with Jesus being our advocate is also that he offers prays for us. This could also tie into the phrase “he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25, ESV). Notice the word “always.” That’s great news, isn't it? That Jesus gives prayers on our behalf when we need them. The speaker must admit that this is something that seems to have been personally experienced. It seems, on occasion, when a troubling situation comes up, that sometimes after about a half-hour or so that circumstances get better and it feels like Jesus has been praying. Perhaps you’ve noticed this yourself in your daily living. It’s a wonderful thing to know that, even if other believers don’t know of a particular situation in our lives, we always have God the Son praying on our behalf. And, of course, it also means that Jesus prays in general for other requests we have—not just urgent needs. Though, at the same time, we ought not suppose that simply because Jesus prays on our behalf that we will get everything we want, or that we will get it quickly. Sometimes that may the case. Other times, we need to bring to mind what is recorded in the Gospel of Luke, when Luke penned right before Jesus gave The Parable of the Persistent Widow, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1, ESV). For sure, it can take years for some prayers to be answered, yes many years, as many of us have probably come to realize, or are even aware of.

       Moving along. Verse 5: “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 as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises” (ESV).

       A mystery comes to the surface in that the writer of Hebrews tells us that that which took place on the earth (of which is still taking place here in the first century), that the high priests offering animal sacrifices is a “copy and shadow” of what goes on in Heaven. Now, we need to pause, and again it needs to be stated, that animal sacrifices didn’t go on in Heaven. That’s not what he means. But he means there is something about what the priests accomplished in their work, in each of the rituals that they carry out, that mimicked something already in Heaven. How all this works, or what this could possibly be, he doesn’t really say for sure. Yet, we are aware that God instructed Moses to build the tent with specific instructions, to follow the specific “pattern” that he laid out. One thing that can be pointed out, and this is interesting, is that this discussion of a “pattern” or “copy” or “shadow” is reminiscent of the line of thinking from the Greek Philosopher Plato. This means that the early first century Jewish audience had already been influenced by Plato, and the writer of Hebrews shows the influence. It doesn’t mean that what he has recorded is wrong, for not everything certainly Plato laid out was wrong. But it is an interesting observation. It would have been nice if the writer of Hebrews here had expounded upon what he meant by all this, but we should know by know, in reading books like the Apostle John’s Revelation, that not everything can be spelled out. The possibility might not exist due to our human minds, our human understanding. For, it may be that there is no way to put into earthly words how these things work and what is going on in Heaven the mimics the system that was carried out on the earth.

       Again, the promises laid out by God though are simply better than those of the old because they are guaranteed. That’s one reason. Another factor is that the New Covenant is simply more powerful toward us. It baffles the mind that the Jewish people would want to remain under the Old Covenant, but that’s because really, at the end of the day, they don’t believe the New Covenant is valid. If one was to try and break it down, what is truly going on is that the Jews picture of God doesn’t match what God is really like. Really, at the end of the day, they wanted a god who would condone their sin, condone their sin. The desire was possessed for God to say that their rigorous legalism was in fact good. That their pride was good. That their riches were good. Even condoning for their secret sins would have been good in their eyes. Yet, the Jewish God wants people to be free from their enslavements. He doesn’t want to come and help them, ignoring them, for then he actually doesn’t love them. It’s really that simple. It’s what the Apostle John told us John chapter 3, when he stated, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:19-21, ESV). You see, anyone who genuinely wants to do good—that person God’s going help. It’s the person who’s real motivation has evil behind it that truly has the dark heart.

       Verse 7: “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 and 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” (ESV).

       It’s right there, it’s right there. The quotation is from Jeremiah 31:31-34. Thus, God had said this was all going to happen way back then, and we know that wasn’t the only place he said it. But it’s actually not that complex; it’s not hard to understand. It’s even squeezed in there that the new covenant will be with “the house of Judah.” That’s Jesus’ linage—that’s his tribe—that’s were he was descended from. In the days of old, the Israelites on several occasions abandoned the Law with God and instead went other ways. God, in turn, left them to their own destructiveness, and he didn’t help them. He had shown them a good way, but they wouldn’t follow it. A poignant example of the people turning against the Lord is found in The Book of Judges chapter 2. Let’s go to verse 11:

“And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.” (Judges 2:11-15, ESV).

In truth, the reality was that the Old Covenant didn’t have the power to transform the people’s lives. That didn’t mean it was bad, and that didn’t mean that the people shouldn’t follow it, for many did, like the various prophets and even King David. It was possible to follow it.

       Continuing in the quote in Jeremiah 31: “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” (ESV).

Thus, God moves in dealing with his people nowadays to an internal approach, which is in contrast to the old way of an external approach. Notice that this new way—what we call the New Testament, or the New Covenant, that it was originally for the Jewish people. We must not forget that. That doesn’t mean had they all followed God that the Gentiles wouldn’t have been included. We know they would have. Genesis chapter 12 lays that out when God promised to Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. That was the plan from the beginning. Nevertheless, some Jewish individuals of our current time, just like here at the writing of this epistle to the Hebrews, believed in God’s way through Jesus Christ. Awareness is also in us that many do not believe in the Jesus part, or they don’t believe in the spiritual at all. People know what is bad from ‘external’ sayings—from the Scriptures even. But people also know what is wrong from their internal spirit. Paul mentioned to the Romans—which included both Jewish and Gentile listeners, when he stated, “Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32, ESV). Not along after what Paul just said, he said this: “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them” (Romans 2:15, ESV). See what can happen? People can do wrong, and what happens? Their heart can take one of two approaches. It can, one, accuse them of doing wrong, thus making them feel bad. The goal of this is to realign them with God, right? That’s what Paul just stated (and this is just another example of how Total Depravity is incorrect, uh oh). Or, the heart can what? We can we do inside our minds? Well, we can excuse our sin. We can say, “Well, I really can’t help it…” or “Ah, it’s really not that bad…” or, “Come on, everyone does that!” That’s what people do.

       Peoples all over the world know right from wrong; we believe that. We talked about not too long ago how even many of the other religions get part of it right. There are other religions, we recognize, where some morality is practiced. The Muslims can be held in mind, and we note how they generally tend to stay in monogamous marriages. They also don’t believe in adultery or homosexuality. Or, the Buddhists can be considered. They tend to be very conscious of the thoughts going through their minds, and try to think right thoughts. Perhaps even positive thoughts toward others. Often times they might have that down better than a lot of Christians do. Kind of sad it can be that we, as Christians, aren’t better in this area. Speaking of this, we are aware that the Hindis shine in positive thought toward others—that is, if they are following their religion. They have a very famous leader that works with individuals to do that—perhaps you’ve heard of her. She’s pretty famous. And as an aside in all this, and this is something for persons to think about. Some theologians in the Christian realm believe that God works through other religions to bring people to himself. They believe that God leads people to Jesus Christ, in essence, when perhaps they don’t even have direct knowledge as pertains to Jesus. This would be why ‘good’ spiritual things happen outside of Christianity, like miracles. A lot of folks aren’t going to like that line of thought, but it’s something to roll over in the mind.

       Finishing the quote in Jeremiah 31. Verse 11: “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.”

       A few theologians have thought that in the Old Testament, in that dispensational period—during that time—that what was required from individuals was faith plus works. Faith plus works. This is how the Israelites would be in right relationship with God, or anyone for that matter. We might accept that or we might not. But whether we look at the phrase of old, “Know the Lord” as what was just mentioned or whether we look at it simply as a lack of the spiritual capability of the Old Covenant, however we want to think of it, there are a couple points we can note. First, and again, the Old Testament Jewish Law did not have the ability to make people perfect, or to change anything within the individual persons. No spiritual transformation was available under it for people. Sure, some persons would experience the Holy Spirit on a temporary basis, as King David wrote about, but it appears the Spirit would come and go. Not so under the New Testament. That’s the beautiful thing for the one who has chosen to believe in God through Jesus Christ, that that person now has the Holy Spirit indwelling in them. The Holy Spirit has made them a new creation, as the Apostle Paul talked about. This concept resides behind Jesus’ telling of Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that one must be born again. We probably are all aware of this if we’ve been in the faith long enough. And the writer of Hebrews throws in the phrase there that everyone gets to know God, no matter what their position in society is. He says, “from the least of them to the greatest.” That’s important. No hierarchy is present with God among his people; that is, no favoritism is shown. Worry doesn’t need to reside in our minds that we aren’t important enough for God to pay attention to. No matter how small we think we are, God gives the same access and package as the one who might be well-thought of and raised high in the world.

       We also have the sentence, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” Love is great for this saying; indeed, we love it, as Christians. Phrases like this are among our favorites. And truly, it is an incredible thing. It really is. Again, under the Old Testament system, persons could not always escape the guilt of their sins, from their perspective. If you committed a ‘big’ sin, you might not ever be able to get out from under it. That is, it would haunt you relentlessly. At times, as is recorded, God would even poured out wrath upon people for their sins. We can remember that wrath from God is always for the purpose of destruction without view of a potential for good. That’s why it’s not the same as discipline, which is experienced in hopes of making the person become better. They’re two different concepts. This is why, as sort of an aside, that some theologians distinguish the early, early church period, where there were still signs and wonders, with the current church period, because we know during that early time that there still seemed to be manifestations of wrath. We can bring to mind Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5, or the man in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 who was sleeping with his stepmother, or the church individuals in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 who were abusing the communion service. Now, obviously, some Christians still believe that God’s wrath toward Christians is still in play today. Paul would say to the Thessalonians, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:9, ESV). That would be the flip side. Regardless, a beautiful aspect of our relationship with God is that when we confess our sin, God remembers it no more. He doesn’t even bring it back up. Even if other people remember, he doesn’t. A very beautiful thing that is, and very different from the Old Testament person’s experience.

       Completing the chapter. Verse 13: “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.”

       Admittedly, upon first reading, this verse seems contradictory to what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5. We probably have that memorized. He said, ““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”” (Matthew 5:17, ESV). What we need to realize, though, is that we are talking about two different things here. The writer of Hebrews is speaking of the Jewish system, that of the animal sacrifices for sins. What is being said is that old system is becoming obsolete, really, has already become obsolete by what Christ accomplished on the cross. Experientially, it’s becoming obsolete because there are still Jews who are practicing it, who haven’t accepted Jesus. This practicing of the Temple system will come to end in 70 A.D., at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Temple is destroyed. Jesus, on the other hand, was speaking as pertains to how he fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures by his coming, by his Words, and by what he accomplishes. So, actually, there is no contradiction when one thinks of it that way.

- Daniel Litton