Hebrews 8
Have you noticed how religious
people become obsessed with artifacts? They become obsessed with places. They become obsessed with things
that they think are precious to them. Just this morning I
was watching the news. Some of you may have seen this.
A lady with child goes to the doctor and guess what appears
in her sonogram? Nothing but the crucifix of Jesus. I mean, how amazing. We wonder
sometimes where is the ark that saved Noah and his family. And
so we send expeditions to Mount Ararat, wherever that is, and
we look for it. We look for petrified wood and
other artifacts that might help us determine where it is. Or
you remember Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the search
for the Lost Ark. What was it? Raiders of the Lost
Ark. We want to know where the Ark of the Covenant is and the
budding staff of Aaron and the tablets of stone which the commandments
were written on and the little gold dish that held manna which
fed the people of God in the wilderness. And we go to the
Holy Land and we see three holes in the ground on a hillside that
looks like a skull and we say that for sure is the hole where
the cross was placed where Jesus died. Or we go into one of about
six places in Bethlehem and say, this for sure must be where Jesus
was born. Or think of the Reformation,
how there were relics enough, teeth and hair and bones, to
make two dozen new apostles if we put all those body parts and
relics together. We become concerned with shrouds
and cradles and pieces of history, thinking they will do something
for us. And what is our passage saying
to us today? It’s saying to us that the old
covenant is obsolete. It has failed. It has run its
course. There is a better covenant, a better mediator on the scene.
And so, friends, brothers and sisters, as we consider the ark,
or the other ark, or relics, and bones, and cradles, and birthplaces,
and cross places. As we consider all these things,
look at the Old Covenant, or even our modern American superstitions
of, if I don’t drink, and cuss, and smoke, and chew, and hang
out with those that do, I’ll be a better Christian. We need
to remove our eyes from these things, from these systems, these
patterns, and say, no, I will fix my eyes only on the ultimate. I will place my hope only in
what God has said is true. And so our passage tells us,
don’t look at the old covenant. Don’t look at systems of this
world that we have devised to become better Christians or to
have stronger faith or better devotions or to walk truly in
the faith. No, we put our eyes to heaven
where there is a true tabernacle that has been set up, it has
literally been pitched by God Himself in heaven. It is not
like the tabernacle below. As beautiful and wonderful as
it was, we have a tabernacle in heaven where Jesus stands
as a minister. And not only that, we have a
covenant greater than the old covenant. as wonderful and glorious
as that old covenant was, the mountains shook, the thunder
struck when those tablets were given to Moses on the mountain.
We have a new covenant, a sweeter covenant, a more glorious and
gracious covenant in the old covenant. And so God is telling
us, the writer of Hebrews is telling his audience, look to
the real, look to the heavenly, get your eyes off the superstitious. and what may be exciting to your
human eyes, but look with heavenly eyes.” In this passage, he’s
going to tell us two things. They’re listed for you in the
bulletin if you’re note-taking. But the first is this, Jesus
is a minister in the true tabernacle. I mean, we’ve been going, what,
for chapter after chapter after chapter, hearing that the Levitical
priesthood is over. They’re dead. They’re gone. Remember
when Jesus died on the cross, the temple curtain was torn in
two from top to bottom. It was ripped apart. It was as
if God was saying the temple has been shut down for the sacrifice
of all sacrifices has been made. Now, can you imagine such an
event? I mean, think about this sanctuary.
This is a special place for us. It’s a sacred space, a sacred
place. You are married here. You worship
here. You’ve buried your loved ones
and had their funerals here. It has a high ceiling. It has
lots of beauty and wonder to it. Stained glass seats, a pulpit. It’s where God meets with us.
And the way this building has been built, it’s designed and
architected, everything is placed in such a way that we can meet
with God and He can meet with us. Well, the same was true of
the earthly tabernacle. Remember those painstaking directions
as you read through the book of Exodus and how they’re instructed
to build it and put it into place this certain way to take it down
and carry it and transport it and put it back up a certain
way. It was a place of beauty. It was a place of glory. It was
a place of wonder. It had curtains and courts and
basins and sacrifice or tools and altars for sacrifice. But
it also had the Holy of Holies, where once a year the great high
priest, after making a sacrifice for himself, could enter on behalf
of Israel and worship God on their behalf. It was the center
of their life. Worship, sacrifice, praise, presence
of God and even safety. But it was only a copy of the
real. You know, if I were to say something negative about
our sanctuary, or we were to say something bad about the Old
Testament tabernacle, we might get our feathers in a ruffle.
We might say, well, my father built that sanctuary, or I vacuumed
its rug, I’ve cleaned out its pews, I was married in that sanctuary.
We would get a little testy maybe about our sanctuary and want
to defend it. Well, what does God tell us here?
As wonderful as your tabernacle is, as glorious as this sanctuary
is, and we do love it, There’s a better one. And it’s not here,
it’s there. It is in heaven. And it is not
pitched by all those servants in Israel that were told to pitch
the tent a certain way. It was not built on Saddle Club
Road with bricks and mortar and sweat and dollars. It was not
paid off in 20 years like this wonderful sanctuary. It has been
pitched in heaven by God Himself. And guess who is the minister?
It is none other than Jesus. And so what is he saying to us?
There’s a better sanctuary and it’s in a better place and it
has the greatest minister in the world that is Jesus. So don’t
look to crucifixes in a sonogram picture. Don’t look to Bethlehem
in the birthplace of Christ. Don’t look to that potential
Golgotha in the hole where the cross was placed. Don’t look
at your relics and don’t search for the lost ark. It’s a good
movie, though. Don’t look for those things.
But look to Christ, the reality and the wonders of heaven. It’s only a copy here, it is
not real, and so. How should we think of this,
if I were to come to some young man in love and say, you know,
you really don’t need that. Your girlfriend is present, just
have a picture of her. He would smile and say, no, I’d
rather have her than the picture. Or maybe some of you have a picture
of your grandparents that have gone on to be with the Lord and
you’d say, I’d rather have them here. The picture, the shadow,
is not reality enough for us. We want the real thing. Well, friends, the tabernacle
in Exodus was only a shadow of what was to come. It was only
a picture of the heavenly tabernacle where Jesus ministers. And so,
brothers and sisters, we have a real minister, better than
Levi, worshiping in a better tabernacle, and it’s in heaven. We have a high priest. And as
our passage told us last week, he is wholly innocent, blameless.
He is unstained. He is separated from sinners
and he is exalted in heaven. He sits at the right hand. Chapter
eight tells us. But he also ministers in the
holy places, he ministers in the true tent, which is pitched
by God, pitched by the Lord, not by men. The priests who served
before him are no longer alive. They are they are dead. And they
were priests in the copy. They were priests in the shadow. They offered ineffective sacrifices,
but not Jesus, not so Jesus. When he died, redemption was
accomplished. When he ascended into heaven
after being raised from the dead, he was received as a minister
in the true sanctuary of God Almighty. How is this practical
to you? How is this helpful to you on
Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday? How does this not
just become pie in the sky biblical teaching? Well, it works this
way. Think about every time in the
Bible somebody faithful to God was in despair. Think about how
in the Bible when a character needed a word from God, an encouragement
from God. Guess what God often did? Not
in every case, but guess what He often did? He showed them
a glimpse of heaven. And that little glimpse of heaven
gave them fuel for their journey. It lifted their eyes off of the
things of this earth. In fact, they grew strangely
dim. And the brightness of heaven,
the future glory, the hope of heaven and what is true and fixed
and permanent and eternal there gave them joy. Think of John,
the revelator on the Isle of Patmos, an old man imprisoned
for the sake of the gospel. Persecuted. Left for dead, hardship,
hardship, concern for the church. Many of our same struggles. What
did God do? He took him into heaven and said,
this is what is to come. And so, brothers and sisters,
when the going gets tough, look up to heaven. When the going
gets tough, read Revelation about what is coming our way. Read
Ezekiel about the throne of God. Read Isaiah 6 when Isaiah saw
God. Read the scriptures and look
for hope from heaven. above. That’s how God gives us
peace. But what is in heaven above that can give us peace?
Our great high priest is there. It’s not Pastor Kratz, it’s not
a Levitical priest from the Old Covenant, it’s not your favorite
television preacher or R.C. Sproul or whoever you’re looking
to. We point to Christ as well. But when trouble comes below,
go straight to your high priest who is in heaven. and who is
ministering in the true tabernacle. Have you ever thought of it this
way? When you sit down and say, Dear God, I need your help today. You are praying to Jesus, the
high priest who ever lives above for you to intercede. And he
is there seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty,
but also standing in the true tabernacle, ministering before
God. What is this true tabernacle
gained for us? It’s gained us 24-7 access. Not once a year access. Not access
through the death of an animal. Limited to one time a year. And
you standing afar off. It has brought you near to God
where you, each of you individually who has faith in Christ, has
access to God every hour, every moment of every day saying, my
great high priest. the one who ever lives above
and is cheering for me and interceding for me. So do you need local
help? Do you need to visit your preacher?
Well, of course, God has given ministers and your elders and
one another for encouragement. But guess what we can all do
together is we can go straight to the throne of grace and pray
to our God who loves us and can help us. God has brought you
near in Christ. And that is, my friends, is a
great privilege. Second thing this passage teaches us is that
Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant. Yes, he ministers in
the true tabernacle. And that is a wonderful thing
that we could think on for days and hours. But he is the mediator
of a better covenant. Now, let me assure you of this.
God has no plan A and plan B. God simply has a plan. And despite
how men and women throughout church history have tried to
break apart God’s hand in human history, his plan in human history
is simply this. God desires to dwell with his
people. And he goes to great lengths
to be with you. Now, we continually run. We eat
the forbidden fruit and get exiled from the garden. We get brought
into a promised land, yet we worship other gods. And we get
exiled to Babylon and we continually run from him and run from him
and run from him. But God keeps chasing. God keeps pursuing.
God is the God of the father in the prodigal son who stands
on the porch looking and saying, I know they’re going to come
home. And he watches and he waits. Friends, Jesus is the mediator
of a better covenant. God has always desired to be
with his people. And so the whole of human history,
the whole of biblical history, the whole of redemptive history,
the whole purpose of it all is that God loves you and he spends
his years pursuing you. That’s the bottom line. And how
does it end? The book of Revelation says,
Now the dwelling place of God is with men. I will be their
God and they will be my people. I will wipe away every tear.
There will be no more crying, no more pain, but only joy and
worship and bliss. This is how it was meant to be. So God has no plan A or plan
B. He simply has a plan. And He
has been enacting and unfolding and executing that plan throughout
human history. but we see in the Bible his plan
is administrative, administrated under different covenants. It’s
not a plan A and plan B, it is his plan. He administrates it
though in different covenants. In the old covenant, what did
he say to the people of God? I am your God, I’m the Lord your
God, I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of slavery, out of the house of bondage, therefore these ten
laws obey them. And so he gives them the Ten
Commandments, he gives the tablets of stone, And he says to them,
be perfect. Be perfect. No mistakes. One
mistake, you’re done. You’re out. Be perfect. The old covenant law said, keep
the law and you’ll live. Disobey the law and you will
die. It’s funny because in a sense,
it’s making bricks without straw. because he’s saying obey without
the Holy Spirit, obey without grace. Here’s the law, just obey
it. And so God commands, God cajoles,
God threatens and says, this is the law, therefore live in
it. And what do we see about Israel?
What do we see about God’s covenant with them? Well, it tells us
in chapter 8, it says, I made this covenant with them and I
They didn’t keep it, so guess what? I had no regard for them.
I sent them into exile. I put them away from before my
face because I could not stand the sight of them. They did not
continue in God’s law, verse 9 tells us. They had other gods.
They fashioned idols. They took God’s name in vain.
They profaned the Sabbath. They disobeyed their parents.
They were a rebellious generation who murdered, who lied, who committed
adultery. They stole. They coveted. And
yet God warned them. He sent prophets and preachers
to them. He was merciful to them and gracious
to them, but finally He sends them to exile. And so this message
of the new covenant comes to them while in exile in Babylon,
and He says, it’s going to get better. I’ve got a new covenant
for you, a second covenant. The first one has been faulty
and you have failed, but there’s a better covenant. And look at
what He says in chapter 8, verse 7. The days are coming, declares
the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with you. And
verse 10, he says, this is the covenant I will make after those
days, I will put my laws into their minds, I will write them
on their hearts, I will be their God and they shall be my people
and they shall not teach each other. know the Lord, for they
shall all know me. And I will be merciful toward
their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
What is God saying to them about this new covenant? He’s saying
a new day will come, and it has come now in Christ Jesus. You’ll
get the commandments. Love me, serve me, no idols,
obey your parents, all those. You’ll get those commandments,
but you’ll also get the grace and the gifts and the ability
to obey me. I will no longer have to teach
you, for I’ll write my law on your hearts. Ezekiel puts it
this way, I will take your heart of stone and I’ll give you a
heart of flesh. And your desire will be to love
the law, obey the law, live the law, serve the law. You see,
under the old covenant, it was a duty. But under the new covenant, it
is a delight to serve the commands of God. And you think about the
administration, the beginning of each of these covenants. The
old covenant was given on Mount Sinai in the wilderness when
Egypt had spit out the Israelites. And there they were at Sinai.
And Moses went up on the mountain and received the tablets and
it thundered and the mountain shook and the people were scared
to death. But now God comes to them in
exile, they’re in bondage again. And there’s no mountain and lightning
and shaking, but God graciously says, I’ll give you a new heart.
I’ll make you be born again. Oh, I’ll give you the grace to
obey me. I won’t make it impossible. I’ll
make it possible. And you’ll love and you’ll serve
me and you’ll be free. And so the law in the old covenant
was written on tablets. Now it’s written on the heart.
The law in the old covenant was more about the letter of the
law. Now, friends, it’s the spirit of the law. The law of the old
covenant killed, but now the law in the new covenant gives
life. The old covenant law was glorious, but the new covenant
is even more glorious. One condemns, the other justifies. One is passing and the other
is abiding. One veiled the glory of God and
the other unveils it. Friends, under the old covenant,
it was a duty to serve God. Under the new, it is a delight.
And so let me ask you this very practical question. Do you delight
in the law of God? Can you say it like David in
the psalmist? My delight is in the law of the Lord. I meditate
on it day and night. It’s what I think about. It’s
what I breathe. It’s what I eat. It’s what I sleep. You know,
most Christians treat Christianity like a condiment. It’s a little
salt to make life saltier. It’s a little pepper to make
it peppier. It’s a little ketchup to make it tomato based. No, friends, Christianity is
not a condiment. We don’t dump a little barbecue
sauce on our dried out chicken life to make it taste better.
No, God has marinated us in the scriptures. He has flavored us. It’s in us. It’s through us.
It’s what comes out of us. And so, friends, that’s how we
think of God’s new covenant living. We have a better minister in
a better tabernacle and we have a new covenant. Friends, Christ’s
ministry is much more excellent. The covenant he mediates is better.
The promises enacted in the new covenant are better. He’s a minister
in the true tabernacle. He is the mediator of a better
covenant. And so when God works faith in
us, we recognize he has given us new hearts, new minds, new
loves. And we get to worship him. But
what’s the bottom line of all this? We have fuller access. Through Jesus in the true tabernacle.
And we also have a heart that beats to live for him. And what
a privilege that is, and you know what the scripture says
about privilege, he who has been given much. Of him, much is expected,
we’re not like the old covenant people. who had the little shadows
on the wall made with the hands of heaven. We’ve got the real
thing. And so what is God saying to
us? What is the writer of Hebrews telling his audience and now
us? Don’t put your eyes elsewhere. Look to heaven and receive your
grace there.