Limited Access (Hebrews 9:1-14) with Pastor Andrew Courtis

Well, please open with me in your Bibles to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews nine.

Hebrews nine, and our reading will be from verses one through to fourteen.

The word of the Lord says, Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.

For a tabernacle was prepared, the first part in which was the lampstand, the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.

And behind the second veil the part of the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censor and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manor, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.

And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.

Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Now when these things had been prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle performing the services.

But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance.

The Holy Spirit indicating this that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience, concerning only with foods and drinks, various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation.

But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

This is the Word of God.

Let us pray.

Our gracious and mighty God, we thank you for the scriptures that have now been read.

I pray that you bless your people, encourage your people, strengthen your saints today.

Lord, if there be anyone here that does not know the Lord Jesus and does not have access to your glorious throne, do a work in them today, draw them near to you.

I pray for wisdom, for understanding, and for clarity in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The title of my sermon this morning is Limited Access.

Do you know the frustration of limited access or restricted access?

I wonder if you've had that experience of seeing an article online.

The heading of the newspaper article, the online article, gets your attention.

It draws you in.

The clickbait has just occurred, and you start reading the article, but then there is a sign that says limited access.

You must subscribe to read the rest of this article.

That is absolutely disappointing and frustrating.

I was reminded by one of my children this morning that sometimes you go to send a message to someone on WhatsApp and you go to upload a photo, and it won't let you do it because it says your settings are restricted.

It's not giving you access to all your photos.

You have to go into the settings, and by the time you do that, at least for me, you forget why you're even sending a message.

It's an absolutely frustrating experience.

Limited access can be very disappointing.

I remember a little while ago, I was sitting at the airport and I was watching people walk into those beautiful shiny doors called a lounge, airport lounge.

And I was thinking, wow, wouldn't it be nice to go in there?

I remember one time actually being given a lounge pass.

And I went through the doors.

Got to eat the all-you-can-eat buffet in this airport lounge.

Actually, I had Jack with me one time as we did this, and it was wonderful.

But I remember walking out, and then I saw other doors that were even more shiny.

And they were for those who had a higher access.

The disappointment set in again.

Limited access, restricted access.

I think we all know what it is to experience things in life where you just don't have the full access.

Well, those stories that I've just shared with you are disappointing.

But they're not devastating, are they?

There is a kind of limited access, though, that is most devastating for any soul.

It's that restriction in which you do not have access to the throne of God.

You do not have access to heaven.

You are separated from your Creator.

You do not have forgiveness.

And this is the condition we all find ourselves in outside of the work of our covenant-keeping high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Outside of relationship with Him, we have no access to this throne.

If you gaze down at Hebrews 9, verses 1 to 14, what I want you to see going on in this short section of scripture is a contrast.

Hebrews 9:1–14

It's a contrast between a kind of access that is limited versus an access that is lasting.

We will see a ritual in comparison to a redemption.

And in this contrast, we're going to see why our dear Savior brings life to those who are devastated.

This contrast is so important.

It is the difference between being unforgiven and being forgiven.

It is the difference of night versus day.

It is the difference of having hopelessness versus having glorious hope and confidence.

But this chapter continues to mean something for you now.

Old friend, are you being afflicted?

Are you experiencing temptation?

Are you going through trial?

Is life overwhelming for you?

Are you feeling uncertain?

The access that this passage talks about opens up to you, unlocks to you benefits and blessings that you cannot count.

More than any airport lounge could ever give, more than any special room could ever offer you, more than any membership paid subscription could ever bless you with.

It doesn't come with ads.

It doesn't come with any other restrictions.

It gives you something that is better than anything else this world could ever offer.

There is a lasting access that is yours now, and it can bless you and guide you, and we need to make use of it.

But it's possible to have this access at your fingertips and to ignore it and not actually make use of it.

And that makes a sad Christian.

And you don't have to be that sad Christian today.

The Lord can take your sadness and turn it into gladness as you walk through the beautiful access that He gives you, as we see in this passage.

Well, in order for us to appreciate the lasting access that we're going to see in this passage, and that's verses 11 to 14, we first of all need to see the limited access.

And the limited access is supposed to actually frustrate us, it's supposed to disappoint us because it's actually designed to show you that there is an access beyond itself that you need to look to.

And we need to remember that we are new covenant Christians.

And as new covenant Christians, we must not be living in the shadows.

We must be embracing the substance and the sum, which is in Christ, who all the promises of God find their yes and amen in.

So let's go and have a look at the first ten verses, which tell us about a ritual that is limited.

A ritual that is limited.

Now, when we think of the tabernacle, we need to remember that this is a tent.

It was a portable tent that God had given specific instructions to the people of Israel as to what its dimensions are, what its appearance looks like, and not only that, what's to be inside it and around it, and all the very elaborate protocols and procedures that were to take place.

Surrounding this tabernacle was the institution of the priesthood in the Old Testament.

But the whole point of this was to ultimately point to its own limitations.

But just before we get to those limitations, let's first of all have a look at the sign of the tabernacle itself.

The tabernacle was actually supposed to be a sign.

Now, what's a sign?

Signs point to things.

Signs tell us about places.

You arrive to a place and there is a sign.

The sign says, Welcome to Sydney.

Well, the sign's not Sydney, but the sign is pointing to the fact that you've arrived in Sydney.

And the tabernacle itself was a sign, it was pointing to something beyond itself.

But it was a tangible physical reality that was pointing to an access to God.

It was teaching people how to have access to God.

Now, when it comes to the structure itself, this tabernacle was to be placed within a courtyard.

And this courtyard had a number of procedures and practices that would take place, but then there was the tent itself.

And this tent itself, you sort of think of this rectangle.

And this rectangle has two rooms, a larger room and then a smaller, square-shaped room at the end.

The first room was called the holy place.

And in the holy place, uh there was furniture.

You have a look at the furnishings as you would walk in, noting that the only ones who were allowed inside this first room were selected priests.

And their responsibility was to attend to the furnishings.

They were to carry out the prescribed procedures that God had carefully given to them.

So as the priest would enter into this very first room, not open to the public, the priest would walk in and he would see on one wall, he would see a table of showbread, loaves of bread placed upon this table.

But then on the opposite side on the other wall, he would see a candle stand.

He would see this light, and that was the only light inside of this tabernacle.

If that light was not burning, it'd be dark.

And light is taking place.

And of course, as he would look straight ahead, he would see that the next room was blocked.

A massive curtain was there, a thick curtain.

And in front of that curtain was this altar of incense, in which the incense is sort of going up, going in behind the curtain.

So even though the altar of incense was in the holy place, the fact that it was sort of going into the most holy place is the reason why in Hebrews it speaks of it as belonging in the most holy place.

But what I want you to see first of all is as the priest walks into this first room, he sees a table of showbread, he sees the candle stand giving light, and he sees an altar of incense revealing prayers being brought up to the Lord.

But then behind the curtain was the second room, and this is where you have that label limited access.

The first room already revealed limited access because the public couldn't go in, only the priests could.

But the second room, ordinary priests couldn't go in there, only one man, the high priest, and only once a year.

It was the Ark of the Covenant.

And there on the Ark of the Covenant was where he was to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement.

Something you'll learn about the next couple of weeks from Leviticus 16.

And surrounding that Ark of the Covenant on the back wall were angels.

Now, as you read this description in Hebrews 9, verses 1 through to 5, the author here wants you to see the structure of the tabernacle.

Hebrews 9:1

He wants you to see specifically the furnishings that were inside of this.

And I want you to note that all of these furnishings, the whole tabernacle structure carried a particular significance.

What was the significance of God telling them to have a tabernacle?

Well, I want you to note in verse 2 the words for a tabernacle was prepared.

That word prepared is indicating that this is done in accordance to a specific pattern.

And that pattern is stipulated clearly in the book of Exodus.

Just note Exodus chapter 25, verses 8 through to 11.

Exodus 25:8

And there in Exodus 25, it's explicitly stated that the Lord instructed that a sanctuary be built, a tabernacle be erected in the midst of the camp.

Why?

It says in the text, so that I may dwell with my people, that my presence will be with you.

And he then goes on to tell them the specific pattern in which it was to be made after.

It was not up to Aaron to sort of sit there and go, hmm, I'm going to use my fashionable opinion here.

I like the look of this.

I went on Pinterest, and this is the latest interest at the moment.

No, no, no, no, no.

He had to follow the pattern of Yahweh.

The Lord said, This is what my tabernacle is to look like, this is how it's to be done, and you are to do everything you do based upon what I instruct.

And the purpose of all of this, the significance of this structure is so that I will dwell with my people, but these furnishings are all pointing you to how you can dwell with me, how you can have access to me.

We remember in Hosea 6 and verse 7 it says, Adam broke the covenant, and he was a transgressor, and as a result of being the federal head of all his people, of all humanity except for one man, he plunged us into ruin, thus making us sinners by nature and by choice.

Man has been separated from God.

Man has no access to God.

We cannot draw near.

But the only way in which we can draw near to God is in his gracious condescension of covenanting with us, relating to us, reaching out to the creature so that we can draw near to him.

That have step by step progressively been pointing to the ocean of promises in the new covenant that we learnt about in Hebrews 8.

And these furnishings in the New Covenant are all pointing to the way in which access can ultimately be found.

The fact that there was a covering at the door showed you do not have access.

The fact that there was a table of showbread shows that you need a sustenance, a sustaining, a nourishment outside of you to have access to God and relationship with Him.

The fact that there was burning light shows that you are in darkness, and without this light you would not see.

The fact that there was an altar of incense shows that there needs to be petitions made for you.

The fact that there was an altar in which the blood was to be placed upon at the Ark of the Covenant shows that there must be atonement made, sacr substitutionary sacrifice made in order for you to have access to God.

All of these furnishings were preaching a sermon to the priests every time they saw them.

And that should have done something to the priests, because when the priests went back to the people, they should have preached to the people and said, We are being taught every time we go in this tabernacle that God has made a way to have access to him.

And it's not of ourselves, it's not in our doings.

We must look to the promise that he has made in the Holy Scriptures.

And those promises and prophecies are all there in the Old Testament.

Remember, we learnt about that very first promise in Genesis 3 and verse 15.

Well, all of these furnishings.

We're pointing to a significance, a significance beyond themselves.

But the problem with these furnishings was this they were limited.

Just look at how the writer describes this limitation in verses six through to ten.

Now, when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle performing the services, but into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance, the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience, concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation.

In other words, all of this, as elaborate as it was, was actually pointing us to the fact that it could not in and of itself give us that access.

We're limited, we need redemption.

This ritual only gave a limited access, and it only gave access to the priests, and even then it was restricted and limited, and therefore this ultimately didn't deliver.

It was good, it was holy, but it was limited.

Could you imagine being given an invitation to a royal palace?

The invitation comes in the mail, and you know it's special because it's got one of those gold seals on it.

You're even referred to as master or madam.

It's got very fancy writing on the envelope.

Or you open it, and you find out that this isn't your real estate agent who wants to look at your house.

This is real.

It invites you to a royal palace, and you're going to see things that the public don't get to see.

Well, you read the instructions, it says you have to wear very special clothes, because if you don't wear them, you don't have access.

It even gives you some rules as to how you're to conduct yourself.

You've got to stand up straight, you're to speak when spoken to, you're to follow all the procedures, you must not be late.

You have to be there early, and early means way before the time begins.

You actually go and you enter into the royal palace.

They let you in through the door because you show them the invitation you've got.

They actually give you access inside this palace.

You're looking around and you're thinking, look at this decoration.

It's beautiful, it's stunning.

Beautiful artwork.

Craftsmanship and the timber is like nothing else.

Marble floors, shiny, beautiful, it's stunning.

And as you go through all the procedures, you're following everything.

And you have to do this because by wearing the clothes that you're wearing and acting the way that you're acting, you're showing honor to the royalty that are there.

You're showing honor to the system that is in place.

And you take it with great seriousness.

You're soaking it all in with your eyes.

But then you walk through the halls and you notice some doors.

And you're not allowed in.

There's guards standing in front of them.

And even though you've got your invitation, you understand why you can't go back there.

Because there is something very important happening back there.

You're already privileged because you got to go into that first part.

You got to be a part of the elaborate participation of the clothing and even the food samplings they gave you.

Isn't it amazing how the same food you ate at home served on a silver platter just tastes different?

You saw it, but you can't go through those back doors.

And then suddenly you notice a little child just walks through those doors.

The guards open it for them and let them right through.

And they had immediate access.

But why was that?

She found out that was one of the children of the royal family, that they always have access.

That experience would be beautiful, that experience would be amazing, but it's still a limiting experience, isn't it?

You got to see the elaborate stuff, but it was not everything.

And that's what the first ten verses are all about.

Israel got to enter in to the doors of the palace, but that was it.

There was something bigger, something more glorious, something beyond the shadow.

The substance was behind the doors.

But in their covenant arrangement, it was limited access.

Limited access.

And this is what brings us to the final part of the message today, and that is a redemption that is lasting.

A redemption that is lasting.

Notice the first two words of verse 11.

But Christ.

This is a contrast.

Something different has now happened.

You were experiencing limited access, but Christ, it says.

But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands that is not of this creation.

What this is teaching us in verses eleven to fourteen is that there is a lasting access that we have to the throne room of God, and it is only possible through the Lord Jesus Christ.

He has come as high priest, he has come with a greater and more perfect tabernacle.

Oh friends, the tabernacle in the Old Testament later on turned into a temple.

It was beautiful, but it gave limited access.

When Jesus stood in the temple grounds in John chapter 2, and he says, Tear this temple down and in three days raise it up again.

John 2 · chapter mention

He's announcing a new temple has come.

It's not a temple of bricks and mortar, it's not anything to do with real estate.

It is the one that everything had been pointing to.

It is Christ, the glorious one, the Son of God, the one who entered into eternal covenant before the foundation of the world.

Christ has come.

And the writer to the Hebrews is writing to this audience who actually are being tempted to go back to the physical Jewish temple and participate in Judaism.

And he's saying to them, Church, Christ came, and he came with a greater and more perfect tabernacle.

He himself is the glorious one, not made with human hands, but with that which is heavenly.

What is it that makes what Christ has done glorious?

Well, I want you to notice two things quickly before we bring it to a close.

You see, in the old covenant arrangement, sacrifices were made, the blood of goats and calves, but these things did not provide a lasting access for the people of Israel.

But notice what verse 12 says concerning the Lord Jesus.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

He went in to the most holy place and gave a sacrifice.

But his sacrifice was better than the old covenant arrangement.

He gave himself.

And it was once and for all.

And this once and for all sacrifice obtained eternal redemption.

That's lasting access.

Not limited.

Not paid for subscription.

Not free for 30 days.

Eternal.

Eternal.

And I'll never capture you by surprise.

The other day something came up on my phone that said, you can subscribe to this for free for seven days.

Great.

So I did.

Put in your credit card details, okay?

And then day eight comes, I forgot to unsubscribe.

And it got me.

I'm now paying for it for a month.

And then I have to make a little note in my calendar.

Unsubscribe before that next month.

But then you end up putting the wrong date in.

You pay for another month.

And it just keeps going.

And you think, oh well, there's no horrible surprises like that for Christ.

When he provides us access, it's not some dodgy thing, just so you forget.

It's eternal, it's lasting, and it brings redemption, not just ritual.

That is the beauty of what Christ accomplishes.

He gives a better sacrifice.

Secondly, his better sacrifice gives a better cleansing.

Look at verse 13.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit of offering himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Christ made atonement that actually cleanses your conscience.

Every sin you've ever committed, every filthy act, every transgression of God's law, every hurtful thing, everything cleansed, made clean.

To all him you owe.

And this ought not to surprise us then, because just as we saw the structure and the significance of that earthly sanctuary, which was always a shadow, we see the substance in Christ, don't we?

That's why Jesus announced in John 2 that I am the new temple.

That's why Jesus said in John 6, I am the bread of life.

That's why he said in John 8, I am the light of the world.

That's why in John 17 he prays and offers incense up to the Father.

That's why in John 19 he makes atonement at the cross.

That's why in John 20, two angels are standing outside of the tomb.

Because all of that is saying the substance has come in Christ.

We are to trust in Jesus.

We are to look to Him, our covenant Head, the one who entered into covenant with the Father and the Spirit before the foundation of the world, and the one who has secured the promises, the prophecies, the one who has fulfilled every picture seen progressively through all those covenants in the Old Testament, finding their fulfillment in the glorious new covenant that the Lord Jesus Christ mediates.

And he then gives you lasting access to the throne of God.

What does this then mean for you?

Well, first of all, it means that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have been cleansed of all your sins.

You are forgiven.

You're forgiven of all.

Your conscience has been cleansed.

You have access to your heavenly father.

You are a citizen of his kingdom.

But what this also means is that you have access to your heavenly father whenever you need help.

You are like that child in the palace who can just waltz on in whenever they want.

They can go through the back door, they can enter into the living room, and they can go to the room of the king.

And no one will ever stop them.

Because they have one in there who says, You're mine, your family.

And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes for us.

Do you need to pour your soul out to him?

Do you need comfort?

Do you need joy?

Or make use of your lasting access.

Stop living as a person who's got access and you're sitting in the public lounge.

Stop living like this and make use of the access that you have.

That is what Hebrews 9, verses 1 to 14 is all about.

Hebrews 9:1–14

Enter into the palace of the King because you have unlimited access.

And your Savior, He loves you.

And it's all because the power of the cross.

Our gracious and loving Lord, thank you for what you've given us in Christ.

Thank you for your precious and great promises.

Thank you for the privileged access that we have into your throne room.

And help us to make much of our dear Savior, the Lord Jesus.

Give us help, give us grace in Jesus' name.

Amen.