15. Jesus' New Covenant - Hebrews 8:1-13

good morning everybody let's open up our Bibles to Hebrews chapter eight this begins our text this morning and I'm gonna pray and maybe it's appropriate to just to say a welcome because you know you all are here and it's wonderful that we get together each Sunday but you know there's also people who join us through the livestream that we do at 11 o'clock every Sunday morning so there's people probably people in Europe right now tuning in on their Sunday evening to our service here at 11:00 and then there's people who also see this on video or perhaps listen to it on a podcast or audio and you know they're part of what we do here right now as well even though they're not with us immediately right here in the room so anyway let's pray and especially let's remember Ted as we lift him up before the Lord Father we're so grateful for a man like Ted who is so faithful and thank you Lord as well that he's a man not just of faithfulness but of genuine steps of faith it's the Lord we pray that you would just build him up in those things and bless him is he now goes out in this wonderful step of faith the Lord would want you to build those things in us as well want to be a more faithful people and a people who are more inclined to these great steps of faith so help us with that Lord we pray it in Jesus name and ask that you open up your word to us now to that very effect in your name we pray amen all right we begin this morning here in Hebrews chapter 8 and of course I mean it's almost strange to say it but it's true we're just following in a logical progression through the book of Hebrews five six seven eight dealing with these great themes of Jesus being our high priest and a priest according to a certain order of priesthood that's called the priesthood of Melchizedek and all that that means for us and now we get into the word I think is just one of the juicy portions of the book of Hebrews eight where he talks about what these ideas about Jesus's priesthood how they apply very practically to our life look at it right here Hebrews chapter 8 starting at verse 1 where he says now this is the main point of the things we are saying we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man don't you just love that beginning in verse 1 now this is the point we talked about all these theoretical things we plumbed into the depths of Melchizedek we talked about the concept of priesthood and the priesthood of according to Aaron and the priesthood according to Melchizedek and we talked about Jesus and his qualification this is nature accordance we all believe it now yes Jesus you're qualified you're appointed there to be my high priest so what well here it is right now and it's a powerful thing that he says he says we have a high priest and he's seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty now at the time this was written there was still a functioning priesthood at an operating temple in Jerusalem and you can just imagine somebody who might be in the social circle of one of these Christians from a Jewish background you can just imagine somebody from a Jewish background just saying to them well you guys don't have a high priest look at our high priest he serves at the temple there in Jerusalem where's your high priest and now the right of Hebrews once they don't know you have a high priest he is in a much better place than an earthly temple he's seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven and he serves us and fulfills that role as our high priest from their friends did you see that phrase in verse 1 who is seated at the right hand of the throne he's seated in heaven this is wonderful first of all because first of all where is he's in heaven and he's your high priest serving you from heaven that's a wonderful thing you've heard the phrase that it's a advantage to have friends in high places well this is your friend in the highest place isn't it but not only that no he is in heaven but notice his posture he's not so to speak kneeling he's not so to speak standing what's the posture as it's noted they're seated that's a pretty powerful thing because the right of the Hebrews is gonna later on explain for us but I'll mention it now that seated posture is very important because if you want to think about the tabernacle that was mentioned to him the see Old Testament now previous to our study in the book of Hebrews we went through the book of Exodus together and we saw how God commanded them to build a tabernacle and he told him to build the frame and he told him to build the coverings and he told me build different furnishings and implements for the service of the tabernacle way back in the Exodus wanderings let me tell you something about that tabernacle it had all kinds of features all kinds of furnishings but what it did not have was it didn't have any chairs it didn't have any benches you know why cuz God never wanted those priests to sit down and he didn't want to know I never wanted them to sit down because their work was never finished have you ever worked the kind of job where if you're sitting down the boss thinks you're not doing anywhere I've worked those kind of jobs the boss can instantly tell who's not doing the work they're sitting down that's how a little bit how it was with the priesthood in ancient Israel they always had to be working they always had to be sacrificing because there was no sacrifice that was ever enough there was no sacrifice that ever provided a perfect atonement and then what does Jesus do Jesus comes as a perfect high priest and he offers a sacrifice so perfect that it never has to be repeated and God the Father says to God the son sit down your work is finished there is seated at the right hand and then notice what says there in verse two he's a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle in other words yes there was a tabernacle described in the Old Testament but that tabernacle just simply was a pattern of the real throne of God that exists in heaven where God dwells and it's a very exciting thing to think that there was an original made by God that exists there in heaven matter of fact the tabernacle of Moses was a copy of the original and it was made by man instead the one made by God in Heaven's was made without human hands and so now verse three he continues on the same thought where he says this for every high priest is appointed to offer both the gifts and sacrifices therefore it's necessary that this one also have something to offer in other words Jesus wasn't a high priest who brought a bull or a goat or something else to offer no what did he bring he brought the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world Jesus himself came and we had this curious thing that I mentioned last week that in this whole imagery that the Rite of the Hebrews brings to us we have this wonderful thing of how Jesus is both the priest offering the sacrifice but at the same time he is the sacrifice himself and he didn't come empty-handed but rather brought a sacrifice for the atonement of sins it was necessary that he does that but notice it when he brought the sacrifice look at where the atonement was truly offered verse 4 for if he were on earth he would not be a priest since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle for he said see that you make all things according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain now notice this think about Jesus in the days of his earthly ministry he walks to Jerusalem and he comes to the priests and he walks up those steps and he's there in the Temple Mount and there's the priests and doose's well here I'm the high priest I've come to offer sacrifice what would the priest tell him they say no you can't do that you're the tribe of Judah you're not of the tribe of Levi you're the family of David you're not of the family of Aaron you're not allowed to come and offer a sacrifice at our very temple but what does the writer hebrews says no no no Jesus didn't come to the temple that was made with hands Jesus came and offered that perfect atonement before the throne of God in heaven the friends I don't believe this was done a literal way in this sense I don't think believe that Jesus carried up a bowl of his own blood and I'm sorry for speaking so almost grotesquely but I just want this image to be clear in our minds it's not as if he had to offer a literal sprinkling of his own blood in heaven no but it was the power of the life that he laid down on the cross and that sacrifice in all of its perfection was prevented was presented I should say before God the Father in heaven and it was received as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the guilt and the shame that our sin deserved but notice this verse five makes this point in it's very important point to make that these things were a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things you see Exodus chapter 25 tells us that Moses his tabernacle that was built on earth was made and here's the verse according to the pattern that existed in heaven this was the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain that's what God commanded in Exodus chapter 25 verse 40 therefore if the earthly is made according to a pattern there must be in heaven an original that provides the pattern and there is a throne room in heaven and there is some kind of place where this sacrifice was presented before God the Father and was perfectly received and I think this is very important for us to consider because the first century Jews took tremendous pride in their temple and they did so for very good reasons it was a spectacular building if you think about the temple that existed in the days of Jesus that existed at the time this was written and the priestly service that operated there the Jewish people at that time took tremendous pride in that magnificent building they understood all this is a great great building and everybody should see what a great God we serve and how it's focused on the greatness of this building and you could see where the answer might come to a Christian in the first century where's your temple where's your library where's your sacrifice and they say I'll tell you exactly where our temple is it's perfected in the heavens I'll tell you exactly who our high priest is it's Jesus himself the Messiah and I'll tell you exactly the sacrifice that he offered and it's what he did on the cross for you and I by the way as great as that temple was and as magnificent as it was I want to remind you something the men who administrated that temple were corrupt and ungodly men now what good is it if you have a magnificent structure a beautiful Cathedral so to speak but the ministry that goes on there is marked by the corruption of man what could is that and then again you think of the same principle as it would apply to the greatness of what Jesus did on the cross he himself being a perfect man he offers so much a better sacrifice that's exactly what he's clinging on to in verse 6 look at that with me he says but now he meaning Jesus but now Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises friends at old tabernacle that old temple it was all associated with the specific Covenant that God made with his people we call it the Mosaic Covenant or the Old Covenant it's the Covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Sinai but now Jesus because he's obtained a more excellent ministry has established a better covenant and he is as it says in verse 6 he is the mediator of a better covenant do you know how explicitly Jesus wanted to communicate this to us please please remember this you remember the scene on the night before Jesus died on the cross hours before Judas would betray him to the religious authorities he had a passover meal with his disciples didn't he and there they are seated in that customarily Jewish way they're eating the Passover meal together they're not as Leonardo da Vinci depicted at all on one side of a table looking out at the there they are gathered together there in the meal for the Last Supper and as Jesus does that in the curls of the Passover meal what did he do he held up a cup of wine in front of me and you remember what he said to them he said to something that would be so outrageous unless God and the Messiah himself said it specifically you can never imagine Abraham saying this you could never imagine Moses saying this you can never imagine King David saying but the Messiah he's got the credentials to say this he put a cup up in front of him and he said this this is the new covenant in my blood Wow he said guys this is it I am activating the new covenant my death is gonna set in motion this thing that was predicted for so many decades from the Old Testament my death sets in motion the new covenant and that's why verse 6 says that Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant now you've got an Old Covenant and he got a new covenant can I just tell you that this basically the point here what we're looking at this morning the new covenants better you say okay well let's close our Bibles or turn off our iPhones or whatever it isn't go our way no no because here's the deal not only do you need to know that the new covenant is better theoretically you need to know it in the way that you live as well there are many many followers of Jesus who love God they love Jesus they want to live a Christian life but their mentality and their Christian living is trapped in an Old Covenant mentality and they are not enjoying the blessings and the benefit of the New Covenant this cannot be you you need to be a person who lives in the light and in the blessings of the New Covenant because it's a better covenant that Jesus provides for us listen God's work throughout the span of the ages and by the way I think we got a pretty good series on this on the archives of our website just look up the teaching series God's plan of the ages and in that we sort of take a look at God's redemptive plan highlighting the covenants how God made a covenant with Abraham that God made a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai that God made a covenant with King David you have the Abrahamic covenant the Old Covenant the Davidic covenant but it all culminates in the Great covenant that God would establish by the Messiah himself the New Covenant this covenant that all the others looked forward to and it's a covenant look at there in verse 6 which is established on better promises a better covenant on better promises now what's so good about it the right of the Hebrews is very glad that you asked that question because he's beginning can begin to answer it in verse 7 where he says this for if that first covenant had been faultless that no place would have been sought for a second first of all before we consider what's so great about the New Covenant which we will in just a moment let's just consider that there's a problem with the Old Covenant now I'm tempted and I'm gonna resist the temptation to go into a long digression on the weaknesses of the Old Covenant because I think it's interesting and it's valuable but let me just say this you want to know what the problem with the Old Covenant is it's me if I were a a truly spiritually alive transformed person I could make it work under the Old Covenant but here's the problem with the Old Covenant it sets out God's standard for me beautifully can anybody come up with a better statement of God's standard for us than the Ten Commandments no it's all right there there it is it that's a good summation of those covenant here it is this is what you got to do do this and live here's the problem with the Old Covenant is it doesn't do anything to help me live it it just puts out the standard but it gives me no power to keep the standard the New Covenant is better because it does something that the Old Covenant does not the new covenant comes along with genuine transforming power into our lives and that's a remarkable chain now look at it starting at verse 8 verses 8 through 12 he's gonna quote a passage from Jeremiah chapter 31 and in this passage from Jeremiah chapter 31 it's one of several wonderful Old Testament passages that speak to us about the nature and the glory of the New Covenant because even back in the days before the New Covenant was ever established God announced that it would come and it's some of those announcements that we find mainly in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel that God explains the glorious nature of this new covenant so you ready you ready here what's so great about the New Covenant here we go beginning at verse 8 I'll read the whole thing and then we'll tear it apart step-by-step ready here we go verse 8 because finding fault with them he says behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel with the house of Judah not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in my covenant i disregarded them says the Lord for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people none of them shall teach his neighbor and none his brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more God said hundreds of years before the new covenant would be instituted that this would be the nature and the character of the New Covenant so let's just take a look at it piece by piece I think this is an amazing passage beginning with verse 8 where he says because finding fault with them whoa whoa where's he finding fault he's finding fault with the Old Covenant in other words God wouldn't have given us a new covenant unless there was a problem with the old and do you know how it works in our modern day of marketing and sales and all the rest of it some of the most common words if not these words than the concept is always there right new and improved everything's new and improved isn't it and have you ever noticed I don't know if you notice when you purchase something you buy a new smartphone you buy a new laundry detergent and it says really big new and improved and then you get me go well what's the big deal it's pretty much the same no no God doesn't work like that does he God never brings something new unless there was something to improve upon with the old so the mere fact that he says I'm gonna make a new covenant establishes the fact that there was something wrong with the old one that he found fault with the old covenant so notice this verse a because finding fault with them he says behold the days are coming says the Lord by the way when Jeremiah said that it was still off in the future we live on the other side of the New Covenant but Jeremiah lived on the front side of it behold the days are coming says the Lord I love these words in verse 8 when I will make a new covenant God says I will make them a new covenant please note those words I will make God didn't say you and I are gonna make together a new covenant he didn't say will negotiate a new covenant God didn't say I'll throw out the first offer on a new covenant and we'll come to a decision the reason why I say this I think there's a very important principle and friends I really want you to hear me at this point because I think it's an essential aspect having to do with the way our culture looks at faith and spirituality the dominant thinking in our culture today is basically this each one of you make your own covenant with God and you do it based on the inclinations of your own heart well what do you believe God to be well that's what he is how does God relate with you whatever you want - you just imagine your own heart and that's how God relates you if the idea is this is basically everybody makes their own covenant with God and we just kind of negotiated court of the terms that pleases us it's as if I come to God and say ooh ten commandments god that's kind of rough I'll tell you what how about these six Commandments how about that and if God's a tough negotiator he comes back and he goes no no eight Commandments these eight you got to come up with these eight and maybe we settle in the middle and we decide on seven Commandments and I'll keep with the Lord there are people actually think not exactly that way I put it an exaggerated way because it's out so foolish when I put it that way right but don't people actually think along those same lines I'll cut my own deal with God and I'll do it according to my heart I'll follow my heart first let me tell you the Bible tells us very specifically that God has made a new covenant and you know what he does with this new covenant he puts it down on the table before us and he says accept it or reject it you're not gonna negotiate this with me here's my offer of a new covenant I bring it before you you're either gonna receive it in faith or you're gonna reject it but you're not gonna negotiate it with me you're not gonna cut your own deal with me no he says I will make a new covenant now notice he says here with the house of Israel with the house of Judah now it's true the new covenant began with the people of Israel but it didn't end there and that's one of the glorious features of the new covenant that's explicitly mentioned in other places especially in Ezekiel and in another passage of Jeremiah so here in Jeremiah he's talking about the house of Israel in the house of Judah but that's not all it's for it's for everybody even if you don't have a drop of Jewish blood within you this new covenant is offered unto you now what else we know about it look at verse 9 here not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them says the Lord in other words look at that verse 9 not according to the Covenant that I made with their fathers this it's new it's different it's not just a rehash of the old covenant friends the old covenant was all about your performance your ability to keep the law your rule keeping the New Covenant is much better it is focused on what Jesus the Messiah has done for us and especially what he did for us on the cross that's the great difference so it's not according to that Old Covenant instead as he said right there in verse 9 because they did not continue in my covenant I can't get away from this concept of picturing in my mind's eye the people of Israel hundreds of thousands of people assembled together at the foot of Mount Sinai and there's mild Sinai rising up majestically from the desert floor there it is and what's Mount Sinai look like it's a flame with fire there's smoke billowing forth from it and there's thunder and there's lightning and there's an earthquake and the people are terrified and in the midst of all that drama and terror what does God do God speaks to them from heaven and gives them the Ten Commandments and the people are so blown away at hearing the voice of God at feeling literally the earth shake under their feet that they look out to God and they look to Moses and they say Moses we can't take this anymore it's too awesome it's too transcendent Moses tell God not to speak to us directly anymore you go talk to him and tell us what he said I'm tempted to think that if I ever had a spiritual experience like that I'd never sin again no man I saw it it was real I felt the earthquake I smelled the fire I heard the voice of God audibly and I know it wasn't a delusion because hundreds of thousands of other people heard it - man I am never sinning again within 40 days they were dancing around a golden calf saying this is the God that brought us out of Egypt friends the Old Covenant gave no power to keep the Covenant but the New Covenant does and this is what he gets into the great benefits of it looking at here starting at verse 10 he says for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord here it is here's the benefits of the New Covenant he said I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts that's benefit number one I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts the law will not just be an external thing on a tablet of stone or on a page I'm gonna put it on your heart I'm gonna transform your heart so that you have a willingness to obey me that you didn't have before I'm gonna transform you from the inside out I'm going to make you born-again yes I'm gonna have an inner transformation of you and part of that transformation is I'm gonna write my law on your heart so that there's a new principle and new reason for obedience why do I obey God not because there's some heavy law outside of me that I'm afraid of being judgment but because God lives in my heart and I love him and I want to please him that's a completely different thing isn't it friends I know I know that the laws of the state of California say that I should not drive faster than 65 miles an hour on the freeway that runs through Santa Barbara I know that it's posted and I know the law now knowing the law do you think that that would keep me going the right speed all the time but I'll tell you this morning on my way here when I saw that highway patrolman with the radar gun for some reason the presence of that Highway patrolman was far more persuasive to me than all the laws that were written down on the book a person right there is much more effective than laws on a page in getting me to obey and you as well that's why we need Jesus Christ and live in our hearts that's why we need that inner transformation so that's the one thing the inner transformation of his law written on our hearts secondly there's a new relationship did you see it there in verse 10 I ended in the middle of verse 10 he says and I will be their God and they shall be my people none of them shall teach his neighbor and none as brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me even the least of them to the greatest of them in this new covenant community I don't have to go to somebody else - in the new covenant community do you know the Lord think of course I know the Lord I'm part of the New Covenant I have a special and a powerful and a new relationship with God because I am a part of this new covenant community and this is part of the new covenant that he promises to me not only will there be an inner transformation and the law written on my heart but also I'll have a new and a special relationship with God is that for me and I know this is a cliche phrase but it's a pretty good cliche phrase it's no longer about religion now it's about relationship because I have this relationship I have a relationship with God that I couldn't have had under the Old Covenant no it's now mine under the New Covenant that's the second thing and then the third feature did you see it there in verse 12 for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more there is a forgiveness and a putting away a cleansing of sin that is ours under the New Covenant that does not belong to somebody under the Old Covenant isn't that powerful if you're like me there is sin that you wish could never be remembered that it would simply be blotted out from remembrance and maybe sometimes the devil comes alongside you and whispers in your ear remember that remember that remember that if you're part of this new covenant you can come to God and say God do you remember when I did that and what would God say no now it's not that God's memory is failing mine sometimes is no it's a God has chosen not to remember that Sun would sin why because it is covered under the blood of Jesus and his child is confessed and repented and yielded it to the saving work of Jesus and it's gone it's like it's remembered no more don't you want that don't you want to receive that alright look right here verse 13 in that he says a new covenant he's made the first obsolete not what's becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away in other words because a new covenant has been established we should let the old covenant vanish away not in what we learn by it not by how it instructs us no no there's things to learn from the Old Covenant but it should not be the measure of our relationship with God no we were made to relate to God on the basis of a new covenant so why would you ever hang on to an old coven oh I know I want to hang on to an old covenant because and if you think about those features of the new comment that I just mentioned before you think about I want to hold on to an Old Covenant because I want to be ruled by an external law instead of a transformed heart I want to cling to the old covent because I don't want such a close relationship with God I'd rather keep the distance of religion rather than relationship please well why would I want the old come oh because I really want to remember and cling to my sinful past you put it in those terms as are you crazy my friends why why would you live another day longer thinking and rooted in an Old Covenant now I want you to think about this if you are part of the New Covenant those three things belong to you by birthright by birthright you should have a transformed heart by birthright you should have a special relationship with God by birthright you should have an awareness of the forgiveness of sins and I want you to be utterly honest with yourself right now you don't have to be honest with me who cares about you being honest with me be honest before God and with yourself in the quietness of your own soul right now I want to ask do I have those three things it's my heart transformed do I have special relationship with God do I really have that cleansing of sin those three things together that's what God longs to give you now what if you look at your own heart and say I don't have those things I want them anybody would want them let me suggest there's two paths here for you to follow if you don't have those things number one honestly maybe you've never really received this new covenant relationship with God maybe maybe you go to church of course you go to church you hear this morning but but maybe you you you your churchgoer but you haven't really been a new covenant believer if that's the case why give it one day longer come to God and say no this I want this this seems like a really good deal I want this thank you for bringing me to a new covenant I want to receive it right now that's the one aspect but here's the other aspect and I think that in a congregation such as ours the second aspect is far more common here it is you are part of the new covenant you are you've put your trust in Jesus you know something of these benefits but to be honest right here right now it feels very distant from your life right here right now that transformation doesn't seem real right here right now that real relationship with God seems very distant right here right now your sinful past hangs over you like a disgusting cloud over your head and over your soul then what are you to do I want you to get angry I'm not angry at God it's not his fault how about this angry at the world angry at the flesh angry at the devil because these things are your birthright according to the New Covenant and God says they're for you if your enjoying him you're getting ripped off is there any reason for somebody who's genuinely connected to God by the new covenant to not enjoy these things this is part of the deal that he promised and I believe that somebody can be distracted diverted sucked into unbelief or doubt or fear of such a degree that these things that God has established for them in the New Covenant are not real at the moment in their life if that's you I want you to say right now in your heart before God I'm not taking this anymore you promised that you would remember my sins no more I want that Lord I'm coming to you the way you said I can and I'm gonna believe that I have it you promise this intimate relationship with you Lord that's my birthright as somebody in the New Covenant I'm not gonna be happy I'm not gonna be says until I am in living that Lord you said that there'd be an inner transformation and Lord I know something of what that's like but I want it real in my life now I want you to get a little dissatisfied and say no god it's gonna be so you helping me in my life father I pray that you would raise up in the hearts of everybody here a holy dissatisfaction if they're not enjoying all three aspects of the New Covenant and a restlessness that would just say no I'm not gonna rest until I'm enjoying all these three aspects it all has to be real in my life because all of it is the property of your people under the New Covenant Lord would you do that would you move among us to live as a true New Covenant community Lord I can't think of anything more powerful in this place where we live to have a community of people who really are marked by those three things so let's just do it and bring us to the place where we live in the glory and the goodness of a better covenant founded on better promises by our great High Priest we love you for it Lord we bring ourselves before you now in Jesus name Amen amen let some worship Him together folks our high priest is ready to direct our worship before the Lord God and he's worthy of it so let's come and worship Him in spirit and in truth [Music]

Channel: David Guzik

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Keywords: hebrews, hebrews 8, covenant, jesus, jesus the new covenant, guzik, david guzik, enduringword

Id: IfSLogDVwXY

Length: 38min 33sec (2313 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 05 2019