Jesus: A Sufficient Savior (Hebrews 9:1-10)

I do want to say again, Happy Mother's Day. Mother's Day is typically one of our best attended services of the year, second only to Easter.

And I think this speaks volumes to the influence that mothers have in the lives of their children.

I think it speaks volumes to the influence and the difference that they make.

That the way they want to be celebrated is to have their kids with them at church.

I am thankful for my mother and the way that she raised us and made sure that we were always in church.

Wanted to make sure that we were always, always knew that we were prayed for.

Always knew that we could have scripture cards that she would write out for us to memorize scripture.

And never had to wonder if my mother was praying for me or not.

Because she would tell me that she was praying for me.

She would tell me that she was praying for me to make sure that I didn't do things that I shouldn't do.

And then she told me one day that she also prayed that if I did do things I shouldn't do, that I would get caught.

And it took me a little while to appreciate that.

But now as a parent, I appreciate her desire for me to learn from those mistakes.

But I'm also thankful for Catherine and the mother that she is to our kids.

This week, I had the responsibility of getting all three of our kids ready for school on two different days all by myself.

Now I know the moms in here are like, boo-hoo, you poor thing.

But I did.

I had to get the kids ready by myself for these two days.

And if it had been the third day, we were going to my mom's to spend the night.

And she was going to help me the next morning.

But it reminded me of just how much that she does.

And for 14 and a half years, every single Sunday, she gets all three of our kids ready.

And make sure they're on church on time and time to greet.

Some of my kids are the most eager greeters you've ever seen out there getting ready.

But I am so thankful for her as well.

But again, we are thankful for our mothers.

And we're thankful for the difference that they make in our lives.

And grateful that today is a day that we get to celebrate that and to honor that.

And thankful for so many that are here today.

And so, dads, I'm going to be honest.

Moms have us beat when it comes to church attendance on our special days.

And so, I want to encourage us in about a month from now by coming back and celebrating Father's Day as coming to church as well.

Now, while today is a day of celebrating for many,

we do recognize that few holidays have such an ability to have such high highs and low lows all at the same time.

For many, Mother's Day is hard.

It can be difficult because of a longing for children.

Because you have lost a child.

Because you aren't able to be with your children today.

And maybe because you miss your mother.

No matter what emotions we bring to Mother's Day, whether it be joy, grief, excitement, anticipation, or even disappointment,

God knows our hearts and has promised to be with us no matter what we're going through.

Bottom line, we're reminded over and over again on a daily basis how much we need Jesus.

And how much a difference of a relationship with Him makes in our lives.

So, in honor of this special day, we have a gift for all of the ladies in the room today.

We want to make sure that every lady in the room today has something special to walk out with.

You'll see up here in the front, we have a table here, table here, table in the back.

Full of different books that we want to encourage you to grab on your way out.

Now, kids, this is not a time to say, hey, I forgot to get Mom a present.

Let me pick up.

No, no, this is for all the ladies as you leave today.

But we want you to grab one of those on your way out.

Just let you know how excited we are and how thankful we are for you.

This is something we want to go home with each of you.

We are grateful for all of the ladies.

So many of them in here not only have raised children,

but so many of them have been mothers to so many in the church.

That's the beauty of being a part of God's family.

Not only do we have brothers and sisters in Christ that we get to share life with,

but we have ladies who are in the church that may not be our mother,

but have been a mother figure to us and have been a mentor.

And so we're thankful and we want to celebrate everyone today.

And so as we celebrate and honor our mothers,

it's my fear that many mothers,

they may not feel adequate or qualified to the task of raising their kids to love the Lord.

As evidence of the commitments that the parents made earlier in our baby dedication,

it's a big task.

It's a tall task.

It's one that we do not take lightly.

But it is also my hope and prayer that today will be a time of encouragement for you

to realize that you are exactly what your kids need.

They don't need perfection.

They don't need someone who has the perfect answer to all their questions.

They don't need someone who never loses their temper.

They need you.

They need parents who love them enough to show them that Jesus is their greatest treasure.

You see, our kids need real life examples to follow.

So much of the things that we think disqualify us from being good parents

or the parents that God has called us to be,

such as struggles with anxiety, depression, anger, temper,

all of these things are real life.

And probably at least from a purely statistical standpoint,

are things that many of our kids will struggle with one day as well.

And so they don't need perfection.

They need us looking to Jesus as the source of our strength.

They need us dependent on Jesus.

And so as we look at our passage of Scripture today,

which is found in Hebrews chapter 9,

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

I believe that our passage helps us to see Jesus more clearly.

And as we see him more and more for who he actually is,

then our affection for and love for him grows as well.

So if what our kids need most from us,

and if what the world around us needs most from believers,

is believers who actually love Jesus,

then let's take a look and some time this morning

and let our knowledge of and affection for Jesus grow.

And so if you have a copy of God's Word,

I want to invite you to follow along as we read Hebrews chapter 9,

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

starting in verse 1 going through verse 14.

This is what the Word of the Lord says.

It says,

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship

and an earthly place of holiness.

For a tent was prepared,

the first section in which were the lampstand

and the table and the bread of presence,

and it was called the holy place.

Behind the second curtain was a second section

called the most holy place.

Having the golden altar of incense

and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold,

in which was a golden urn holding the manna

and Aaron's staff that budded

and the tablets of the covenant.

Above it were the cherubim of the glory

overshadowing the mercy seat.

Of these things we cannot speak in detail.

These preparations, having thus been made,

the priests go regularly into the first section,

performing their ritual duties,

but into the second only the high priest goes,

and he but once a year,

and not without taking blood,

which he offers for himself

and for the unintentional sins of the people.

By this, the Holy Spirit indicates

that the way into the holy places

is not yet opened

as long as the first section is still standing,

which is symbolic for the present age.

According to this arrangement,

gifts and sacrifices are offered

that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,

but deal only with food and drink

and various washings,

regulations for the body imposed

until the time of reformation.

But when Christ appeared

as a high priest

of the good things that have come,

then through the greater and more perfect tent,

not made with hands,

that is, not of this creation,

he entered once for all

into the holy place,

not by means of the blood of goats and calves,

but by means of his own blood,

thus securing an eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and bulls

and the sprinkling of defiled persons

with the ashes of a heifer

sanctify for the purification of the flesh,

how much more will the blood of Christ,

who through the eternal spirit

offered himself without blemish to God,

purify our conscience from dead works

to serve the living God?

Now, I believe that the author

is trying to communicate a few things

to us in this passage.

I believe he's very much wanting us

to see that God is holy

and because of our sin,

the only way into his presence is Jesus.

He's wanting us to very clearly see

the holiness of God

and because of our sin,

we can't enter into his presence,

but only by the blood of Christ can we come.

And so what I hope

that we're able to see from the text today

is that God is more holy than we can imagine.

And because of Jesus,

not only can we have a relationship with him,

but we can also serve him.

And so the first thing

that I want to bring our attention to is this,

that is the holiness of God.

I want us to clearly see

the holiness of God in this passage.

Look at verse one in chapter nine again.

It says,

now even the first covenant

had regulations for worship

in an earthly place of holiness.

Now, is that not the biggest understatement

you've ever heard?

That the first covenant

had regulations for worship.

If you've ever read through the Old Testament,

you will see that there are many regulations

for worship.

There are many things

that they're supposed to be doing

as they come together

that the priests are doing.

So he says,

as we see in the first covenant,

there are regulations for worship.

And the author begins helping us

see the holiness

by showing us

how the Old Covenant worked

by giving us some details

of the layout and furnishings

that were in the tabernacle.

And then in verse five,

it says,

of these things,

we cannot speak in detail.

And indeed,

there was no real need

to discuss them in detail

because his Jewish readers

were well acquainted

with the wilderness tabernacle.

They understood

what the regulations were.

They understood

all of the furnishings

that were in the temple.

They understood

all of those things.

But for our purposes today,

we may not be as well versed

in our knowledge

of the tabernacle.

So I want us to briefly

take a look at some of those things.

The author describes

two sections of the tabernacle.

He talks about the holy place

and then the most holy place

or the holy of holies.

And in this passage right here,

he tells us a few of those things

that are in the holy place

in that first section.

He tells us there's a lamp stand there.

He tells us about the bread that is there

and the lamp stands.

They were constantly,

one of the jobs of the priest

was to constantly make sure

that there was plenty of oil

in the lamps.

One of their biggest things

was to make sure

that the lamps never went out.

To make sure they constantly

had oil in there

so they would never go out

in the night.

There would constantly be light

in the temple there.

But they also had the responsibility

of making sure

there was bread there.

It's called the bread of presents.

And what that was

was there was 12 loaves of bread

representative of the 12 tribes of Israel.

And they were to put this

in the,

on the table there.

And it was something

that was replaced

every single week

to make sure

there was fresh bread there.

And so the priest

would replace the bread

and we're told

that they would consume

the bread

that was taken away.

And so we see this

taking place,

but it's also something

that we see

they had to do

over and over again.

They were constantly doing this,

but it was also

pointing us towards Jesus.

You see,

all of those things

in the temple

were reminding us of Jesus.

Even the lamps

and the bread.

Jesus describes himself

as the light of the world

and the bread of life.

And so we're seeing this

as a picture here.

But we also,

in verses 6 through 10,

it gives us greater detail

as to what happened there.

The priests spent a lot of time

in this outer section

in the holy place.

They spent a lot of time there.

They were constantly making sure,

like we said,

that the oil was in the lamp,

that the bread was replaced.

But it also tells us

that they were constantly

performing their ritual duties.

And that is,

they were making

and bringing sacrifices.

And it says

that they did this regularly.

Or a better translation

is probably repeatedly.

Some of your translations

may use repeatedly there.

And this is giving us

a picture

of doing this process

over and over

and over again.

They had to do this

because the problem of sin

was never solved.

You see,

in verse 9,

it tells us

why these sacrifices

didn't solve

the problem of sin.

It says,

because they cannot perfect

the conscience

of the worshiper.

Why?

Because they were

only ever provisional.

They were only ever done

temporarily.

In fact,

as soon as

these sacrifices were made,

as soon as

the day of atonement

was over,

then immediately

they began sinning again.

And it was something

that had to go

over and over again.

And it was a process

that reminded them

of the holiness of God.

But it also tells us

about the second section,

the most holy place

or the holy of holies.

And it begins so

by telling us

that it was behind a curtain.

Now,

when you hear curtain,

I don't want you to think

of the window treatments

that you have in your house.

I don't want you to think

of those little window treatments

that you can see through

and that are really small

and thin.

Or if you have some nice ones,

they may be blackout curtains.

No.

Think of something

much bigger than this.

We're told that

in the temple

that this curtain

would have been

around 60 feet high

and 30 feet wide.

Now,

that's not even

the most impressive part.

To me,

what is most impressive

is how thick

this curtain was.

It said it was

the width of a hand,

so about four inches thick

was this curtain.

Now,

some of you,

for some reason,

I don't know why,

like to sleep

with a weighted blanket.

Catherine liked to do that

for some time,

this big,

thick,

heavy blanket.

A weighted blanket

has nothing

on this curtain.

This thing's

60 feet tall,

30 feet wide,

four inches thick.

It would have been

incredibly heavy,

but it was put in place

to do a couple things.

One,

to make sure

that people didn't go in there,

but also

to make sure

the priest

didn't go in

to the holy of holies

or the most holy place.

We are told

that the inner chamber

held the altar of incense

and the Ark of the Covenant,

which was covered

on all sides

with gold.

And in some ways,

this Ark

was a way

of remembering.

It was a way

of remembering

what God

had done for them

because inside the Ark,

it contained

Aaron's staff.

It contained manna

that God provided

for them in the wilderness

and it also contained

the Ten Commandments.

And so,

this was all

inside the Ark

and so it was a way

of reminding them

of what God

had done

for them.

and now,

while it was significant

what was in it,

what was really significant

about the Ark

of the Covenant

was what it represented,

the mercy seat.

And so,

it talks about

in detail

how the top of it was

and how it was

representative

of the mercy seat.

And so,

in order for the high priest

to go into the temple here,

it would have been

very significant.

This was a picture

of God's throne.

throne.

The mercy seat

would be represented

there as a picture

of God's throne.

And Michael Kruger notes,

he says,

if as the high priest

you had entered

into the inner chamber,

he says,

you would have drawn

back the curtain

with a trembling hand,

wondering whether

you would come out alive.

It would have been

terrifying.

But as scary

as that was,

it was only ever

a symbol

of what God's

real throne room

was like.

Of God's real throne.

Remember the vision

in Isaiah chapter 6

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

where Isaiah comes

to the real throne room.

He says,

in the year

that King Uzziah died,

I saw the Lord

sitting upon a throne,

high and lifted up.

The train of his robe

filled the temple.

Above him

stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings.

With two

he covered his face

and with two

he covered his feet

and with two

he flew.

And one called

to another

and said,

holy, holy, holy

is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth

is filled

full of his glory.

And the foundations

of the threshold

shook

at the voice

of him

who called.

And the house

was filled with smoke

and I said,

woe is me

for I am lost

for I am a man

of unclean lips

and I dwell amongst

the people

of unclean lips.

for my eyes

have seen

the King

the Lord

of hosts.

And so in order

to enter

the most holy place

which is just

a shadow

of the real thing,

the high priest

would prepare himself

by many times

going into the temple

the week of

and just staying

in the temple

so he wouldn't

accidentally defile himself,

so he wouldn't

accidentally touch

something unclean

and he would

go through

this whole process

of making sure

he was clean

before he went

into the most

holy place.

All of this

showing

that God

is holy

and because

of our sin

we cannot

enter his presence.

Probably

my favorite movie

growing up

was Indiana Jones

it's not probably

it was my favorite

movie growing up

Indiana Jones

The Last Crusade.

Second behind that

a close second

behind that

was Raiders of the Lost Ark

Anybody seen

Raiders of the Lost Ark?

Okay

some of you

well done

some of you

need to go back

and really revisit

some of that

1980s cinema

but Raiders of the Lost Ark

follows the

kind of

an archaeologist

played by Harrison Ford

named Indiana Jones

and so

while he's the main

character

of the movie

the movie

really centers

and focuses

on finding

the Ark of the Covenant

and so

in the movie

there's this

quest

of them

trying to

find the Ark

and this was

the golden box

which represented

God's holy presence

the God

of the Ark

of the Covenant

was not a

God you

cozy up to

and snuggle up to

very easily

you see in the movie

when the lid

is opened

they are

killed

by the fire

of God's holiness

now I've seen

this movie

dozens and dozens

of times

but I've only

seen this part

of the movie

just a handful

of times

because growing up

as soon as it

came on

my mom would

cover my eyes

cover the TV

stand in front of it

tell us to look away

don't look at this

for some reason

she didn't want us

to see someone's

face get melted off

when they opened this

but it's one of those

things where

the Raiders of the Lost Ark

while it's just

a movie

and there's so many

things around it

that are just filled

with speculation

one of the things

that it does do

a very good job

of

is showing us

what it does get right

is showing us

that God is more

holy

than you can

possibly imagine

and you cannot

just walk

right into his

presence

with your sin

not atoned for

there are many

things that we

don't take seriously

enough

as believers

when it comes

to the things

of God

but I think

one of the things

at the top of that list

is God's holiness

it's not something

we take very seriously

but we should

you see

seeing who you are

before a holy

and perfect God

is a good thing

now it can be

a scary thing

it can be terrifying

to think about

your sin

before a holy God

but it is the beginning

of seeing

and experiencing

God's grace

but there's one

final truth

that I want to bring

our attention to

this morning

and it's this

as we see

God's holiness

let it open

our eyes

to see

the beauty

of God's grace

see God's holiness

and see the beauty

of God's grace

Hebrews 9

11 through 14

is some of the most

beautiful words

that we find

in Hebrews

it says this

but when Christ

appeared

as a high priest

of the good things

that have come

then through

the greater

and more perfect tent

not made

with the hands

that is not

of this creation

he entered

once for all

into the holy places

so he didn't just

go behind the curtain

he didn't just go

into the shadow

he went to where

Isaiah could barely

describe it

to the real holy place

to the real throne room

not by means

of the blood

of goats

and calves

but by the means

of his own blood

thus securing

eternal redemption

for the blood

of goats

and bulls

and the sprinkling

of defiled persons

with the ashes

of a heifer

sanctify for the

purification of the

flesh

how much more

will the blood

of Christ

who through

the eternal spirit

offered himself

without blemish

to God

how much more

will that

purify

our conscience

from dead works

to serve

the living God

at this point

the author

begins to show

us the beauty

of God's grace

by highlighting

the superior

offering for sin

that Jesus provides

not with the blood

of animals

but with his own

blood

with his own life

last week

we highlighted

the importance

of the new covenant

and how much better

the new covenant

is than the old covenant

and now the author

is showing us

the sufficiency

of this new covenant

if last week

we were highlighting

the fact that

the new covenant

is better

this week

we're highlighting

the fact that

the new covenant

is sufficient

and it's sufficient

because of Christ

in the previous section

the author

masterfully

made it known

that because

of the holiness

of God

it is impossible

for us to enter

into his presence

we long to

we go to great lengths

to try to

but ultimately

it is impossible

on our own

it is a never

ending endeavor

to be with God

but now

we see

there is a way

and the way

has a name

and his name

is Jesus

and this way

to the father

is final

it's not a temporary

fix

that needs to be

done again

the moment

you leave

the holy of holies

it's not something

that needs to be

done again

as soon as you

sin

it's a change

in status

it's something

that happens

once

and changes

for us

for the rest

of our lives

I love how

Jerry Bridges

refers to it

he says

it is a point

in time event

resulting in a

continuing

permanent

change of status

we see

things like this

all of the time

we may not

pick up on it

but we see

things that

that this

takes place

all the time

the adoption

of a child

when someone

becomes a

naturalized citizen

this point

in time

experience

changes

their status

for the rest

of their

lives

when we come

to faith

in Christ

there is a

point in time

where we have

trusted Christ

and we're by

faith united

with him

in his death

and his death

became our death

his obedience

became our

obedience

his righteousness

became our

righteousness

righteousness

where he

becomes our

representative

where his

victory

over death

hell and the

grave

becomes our

victory over

death hell

and the grave

there's a point

in time when we

give Christ

our sin

our shame

our regret

and in return

he clothes us

with his

righteousness

and so

God when he

looks at us

he doesn't see

that sin

and that shame

he looks at us

and sees his

son's perfect

life

given for us

there's a

change

it happens

where you go

from death

to life

from being an

enemy to being

God's

child

and the most

important question

we could ever

ask is this

how can I

a sinful

human being

come into a

right relationship

with a holy

and just

God

I believe

our passage

today not only

sets this

question up

for us to ask

I believe

it not only

tees it up

and begs us

to ask the

question

how can this

be

but it also

answers the

question

and the only

way we can do

this is because

of Jesus

because he

offers a

better

sacrifice

verse 14

tells us

that Christ

accomplished

our forgiveness

by his blood

that he has

cleansed our

consciousness

something only

he could do

and he does

this so that

we can serve

the living

God

listen to

verse 14

it says

how much

more

will the

blood of

Christ

who through

the eternal

spirit offered

himself without

blemish

before to

God

purify our

conscience

from dead

works

to serve

the living

God

from dead

works

to serve

the living

God

you see

religion

is filled

with all

kinds of

works

but they

are dead

because before

the gospel

the reason

we were

doing good

works

was to

try to

get God

to approve

of us

but this

is not

how the

gospel

works

in fact

if you

are doing

something

so that

God

will reward

you for

it

that's

not

loving

God

that's

loving

yourself

if you're

doing

something

in order

that God

will reward

you for

it

that's

not

loving

God

that's

loving

yourself

think of

it like

this

imagine

that one

of you

has a

vacation

home

maybe

at the

beach

or maybe

a cabin

in the

mountains

and I

realize

that you

like to

let your

friends

stay there

for free

that you

say hey

all of my

friends can

go there

whenever they

want

they can

stay there

for free

and all

of a sudden

I start

texting

hey buddy

how are you

doing today

I hope

you're having

a great

day

hey

why don't

you come

over to

to our

house

tonight

for supper

how about

I take you

out to

lunch

today

how about

I do

all of

these things

for you

you see

that's not

love for

you

that's an

investment

on my

part

that's not

love

I'm not

doing that

because I

love you

I'm doing

that so that

I can get

something

from you

this is the

difference between

religion

and the

gospel

in religion

you do

good works

in order

to be

accepted

with the

gospel

you do

good works

because you

have been

accepted

religion

you try to

stop gossiping

in hopes

that you

will be

accepted

by God

with the

gospel

you stop

putting down

others

because you

love Jesus

and following

him is what

gives your

life meaning

and not what

others think

of you

religion

tries to

stop lying

cheating

stealing

looking at

pornography

focusing on

earthly things

and the

gospel says

Jesus is

better than

all of these

things

the picture

that comes

to my mind

is that of

a child

a young

child

young enough

to still

think that

their parents

are great

and they

try to do

everything

that they

can to

please them

you know

that three

month window

that your

children fall

into that

category

where they

think you're

great and

they try to

do everything

to please

you

Charlotte

is close

she's kind

of getting

out of that

window right

now but

she's still

there a

little bit

and there'll

be times

where she'll

be like

daddy

mommy

who do you

want me

to ride

home with

maybe we're

at church

together

maybe we're

somewhere

and we both

drove separately

she's like

who wants me

to ride

with them

and I'm like

I want you

to ride

with me

Catherine's like

I want you

to ride

with me

and Charlotte

gets a big

grin on her

face

and then she'll

choose one of us

to ride home

with and then

on the way

home she'll be

like daddy

aren't you so

glad I chose

you

and I say

yes sweetheart

I'm so glad

you did

this is the

picture that

comes to mind

where we love

our heavenly

father so much

that it is a

joy to serve

him

we're not

serving him

out of obligation

we're not

serving him

to try to get

something from him

but we're serving

him because we

love him

and we love

to do what

pleases the

father

and we love

to give our

life to him

you see my

hope and prayer

this morning

is that we

see clearly

that God

is more

holy than

we can

imagine

and because

of Jesus

we not only

can have a

relationship with

God but we

also get to

serve him

father thank

you so very

much for

everything that

you do for us

each and every

day lord we

thank you for

your word we

thank you for

how it draws

us into you

and to a

closer walk

with you

and so lord I

pray that if

there's someone

here today that

needs to know

you lord they

would see your

holiness they

would see their

sinfulness and

realize that there

is only one hope

and that is to put

their faith and

trust in you

so lord I

pray that you

give them the

boldness to do

that to step

out maybe it's

having a conversation

with me maybe it's

talking with the

person that they

came here with

today but whatever

the case may be

lord I pray that

you give them the

boldness to follow

you but lord I

also pray that you

be with the rest of

us those of us who

have placed our

faith and our

trust in you lord

help us to see

your holiness help

us to see the

gift that we've

been given in

christ to save

us from our

sins and from

that lord help

us to willingly

and boldly and

courageously proclaim

lord here is my

life take it and

use it lord we

ask all these

things in jesus

precious name

amen

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

who have been

!

who have been

!

who have been

!

!