Hebrews 8:1-6, Dean Delfosse

Corey T.

Boom is noted as saying, when I look to the world, I am distressed.

When I look to myself, I am depressed.

When I look to Christ, I am at rest.

That concept of looking away from self and the world, even the best of what this world has to offer, and looking to Christ is one of the central themes in our chapter of the book of Hebrews this morning.

So if you have a copy of God's Word, would you locate the book of Hebrews and its eighth chapter?

And if your Bible is like mine, it's towards the end.

The book of Hebrews toward the end.

Feel free to look in your table of contents.

Written to a people who are struggling to come to terms with this new reality, that the way they used to connect with God, being mainly made up of a Jewish-Christian crowd, the way they used to connect with God is no longer working, it's obsolete.

Because the Messiah has come, Christ has come on the scene.

The birth of the baby in the manger, to the cross on Calvary, to the empty tomb, to hearts and lives transformed in Jerusalem, and the good news spreading all over the world, reaching them at the far edges of the Roman Empire, a people who are pressured to know did they make the right choice in trusting Christ?

When even the best of what they have to look forward to or look towards, the old Jewish system that God Himself set up brings only distress.

Read with me.

Hebrews 8.

I'll just start reading in verse 1.

We'll read the first six verses.

Now the point in what we're saying is this.

We have such a high priest, one who's seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.

They serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things.

For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old, as the covenant he mediates is better, since it isn't acted on better promises.

This is the word of the Lord.

And so, Lord, we ask that the uh yeah, the this poor lisping, stammering tongue would find new resources for today to help unfold and unpack what you have written in your word.

And that the minds of your people would be renewed and our hearts would be inflamed and our feet more secure to walk by faith in the things that are unseen.

And so do more than what we expect from a humble gathering in a theater, and glorify your name, and may it ring across the miles and the days ahead.

In Christ's name we ask.

Amen.

This is a long sermon, and ironically enough, when you get to the end of the book of Hebrews, he says, Thanks for putting up with my short little sermon.

It's thirteen chapters.

Thirteen tightly woven chapters.

Line upon line, phrase upon phrase.

And right in the middle, he does what every good long-winded preacher should do.

What's the point again?

Look at verse one.

Now, the point of what we've been saying is this.

So if you've been with us for a while, all this talk of Melchizedek in chapter seven, that started even in chapter four.

This Old Testament figure who pointed to Christ and his greater work and what he would do.

The point of what we are saying is this.

And as our writer unpacks his main point, we pick up on at least four features.

Here's feature number one.

Feature number one is Jesus' present posture.

His present posture.

Look at verses one and two.

He says, now the point in what we're saying is this.

We have present tense.

Right now, we have such a high priest.

One who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven.

He is a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

He is seated.

This is echoing the first few verses of the book of Hebrews.

He is seated at the right hand of God.

He is seated at the right hand of the majesty on eye.

Just another way of speaking of God, the majesty.

Being seated as we saw back then means that his work is done.

And this is in contrast when he says, now and presently.

And as we'll see, this is just launching us into the next section of his sermon.

It's in contrast to what the priests from the Old Testament times, a priesthood that ended when Christ came.

That Old Testament priesthood, they could never sit down in God's presence.

Their work was never done.

They had to offer gifts and sacrifices daily.

We're reminded of that in chapter seven, towards the end.

But he is seated.

This Jesus is seated.

And we have such a priest who is no longer hard at work.

But is himself, as it were, at rest.

He is seated.

And when he's at the right hand of the throne of the majesty, he is enthroned and is seated.

It's not just glad that's done.

Where he is seated matters.

So for our encouragement, the writer of Hebrews highlights once again his posture.

He doesn't stand daily in the temple as earthly priests would.

And we're to draw encouragement from that.

When we see Christ, when we think of Christ, think of him as seated and draw encouragement for your weary soul.

Number two.

When King David settled the land of Israel from its warfare, and his son Solomon was granted permission to actually build a temple, to replace the tent.

It's this place where sinners meet God.

It's a place where a representative appeals to a holy God on behalf of sinful man.

And Christ doesn't serve in the earthly tent.

His priesthood takes place in a heavenly sanctuary.

Notice how much better this sanctuary is.

Because it's really the point.

Like if you look towards the end of this paragraph, the better, the better, the better.

It's a line that comes up in Hebrews over and over.

So his posture is better.

He's not standing, working.

He's seated, finished.

His sanctuary is better.

It's not earthly, man-made.

It's heavenly.

Look at how the writer describes it.

Towards the end of verse one, he starts.

Seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a servant or minister in the holy places.

Now that phrase, in the holy places, also would draw to their mind something that they would know quite well.

The temple or the tabernacle court area.

Or when you actually draw into the tent itself or the temple itself, there's this outer area, the holy place.

And then there's this inner fifteen by fifteen by fifteen cube called the most holy place, where the high priest could only go once a year, and the writer of Hebrews will talk about that later.

And if all of that is new to you, maybe something that's a little bit more familiar to you is when the Lord Jesus died, maybe you've heard that when he breathed his last and said, It is finished.

Not that far away from the cross, a curtain was torn into, a huge curtain thicker than these.

Was torn into from top to bottom.

Not bottom to top as if man did it, but from top to bottom.

Is that we have access.

Access to the holy of holies.

But so much better.

So much better than we now have access to the 15 by 15 cube.

So much better.

That's not what the writer's saying.

The writer's saying Christ has gone into better places than that, holier places than that.

In the true tent, the true tabernacle, the true meeting place that the Lord set up, not man.

Again, he will say much more about this.

We're just wetting our appetite this morning for what's to come.

He will say more about this in the future.

But watch how, watch how the rest of the chapter unfolds.

He will bring this up again, this idea of the true tent that the Lord set up.

For now, look at what's offered, what's said next, the next feature.

The better sacrifice.

Jesus' sacrifices are better.

The sacrifice of Jesus is better.

Verse 3.

For every high priest is appointed to do a certain thing.

And is talking to God or mediating to God on behalf of sinful man, he is to offer gifts and sacrifices.

Every one of them.

So our high priest, this Jesus, the Christ, must also have a sacrifice.

So it is necessary that this high priest also is to have something to offer.

Now, it's been a week.

If you were here last Sunday, it's been a week since we've looked at this, but if you just let your eyes float back up, just a few verses, just two verses before the end of chapter seven, still fresh in the mind of his hearers, by the time they read for something to offer, they would still have in their minds the end of verse 27.

Since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

Since he did this, since he sacrificed for their sins.

He had no sins.

Since he did this once for all, when he sacrificed, or when he offered up himself.

But when we look to Christ, that ongoing sacrifice should bring us distress.

We look to Christ, it should bring us rest.

He did this once for all.

He will make it clear not just once for all time, but once for all people who will be rescued.

Once for all, it's done, it is finished.

He has something to sacrifice.

It is himself.

Now, our writer takes a bit of a step back now for just a minute and helps us understand by contrast the earthly ministry.

That when we look at it, we see by contrast Christ is so much better.

Look at verse 4.

Now, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.

Again, just by way of summary and moving forward, he is from the tribe of Judah.

He's not from the tribe of Levi.

He's not one of the sons of Aaron, like one of the descendants of Aaron.

So he, if you remember, if you think back through Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, Jesus enters into the temple courts.

He never goes into the Holy of Holies.

He never plays a role of high priest except for his crosswork.

So he would not be a priest at all.

They serve a copy and a shadow of heavenly things.

Please take note of that phrase at the beginning of verse 5.

A copy and a shadow of heavenly things.

It is said that well, you know the phrase, boys and their toys.

So lately, my kids have taken to giving me Legos for my birthday.

I'm fifty two.

My counterpart, um, my daughter-in-law's father has a room that has no more space for air because the Lego sets are everywhere.

He is adding on to his house to make more space for his Lego sets.

I'm not making fun of Matt, I just think, wow.

I wish I had a Lamborghini to drive around the streets of Lincoln.

That'd be interesting.

But I don't.

But I can have a Lego Lamborghini.

I wish I had a big fat mansiony house out towards, you know, East Lincoln.

But I don't.

But I can have a mansiony castle, house of Legos.

When the writer of scripture says all that you read about in Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus is copy and shadow of heavenly realities.

Without being crass, think temporary Lego model versus the heavenly reality.

It's a copy.

A photocopy.

That's a little less awesome than the original.

It's a shadow.

Maybe some of you guys who are up there can see this, but this podium is casting a shadow.

It's not the real thing.

This is the real thing.

The copies, the shadows were always meant to point to something greater, something of substance.

And so the writer of Hebrews isn't making that up.

Look at what he says.

I told you before, he's a careful reader of the Old Testament.

When you go back to Exodus 24, 25, 26, 27, God spends a lot of time telling Moses in a meeting the Lord had with him on top of Mount Sinai, in detail, how the temple is to be made, what the different furnishings inside it should look like, how they're to be constructed, built, laden with gold, like the details are immense.

And it's copy and shadow and pattern.

And this phrase comes up over and over and over.

It is most clearly stated in Exodus 25, verse 40.

Exodus 25:40

Exodus 25, verse 40, which our writer quotes here.

Exodus 25:40

See that you make everything according to the pattern I showed you on the mountain.

And with that phrase, see that.

Moses double check the blueprints over and over.

Make sure you have the artisans make all these things according to the exact copy, the exact blueprints, what I showed you on the mountain.

And we have no idea.

If it was shown some kind of like, I don't know, how do you want to think about it?

Like a blueprint in the air, like a hologram.

I have no idea.

Or Exodus 23.

Moses and the elders of Israel had dinner with the Almighty, and they saw God.

It is an amazing passage.

So perhaps perhaps there's a divine terror in the dimensions, and Moses and the elders of Israel actually see the thing itself.

And are build the temple, tabernacle on earth as a pattern.

I have no idea.

Perhaps it's something far more profound than any of that.

But these words strike the writer severely.

See that you make sure that you build everything, make everything according to the pattern I showed you on the mountain.

And with these words, shadow and copy and pattern on the mountain.

With these words, we realize once again that Christ was not plan B.

Christ is plan A.

Israel, Abraham, the setup of the temple, all of that was pointing to the reality to come.

They are shadow, and the writer will say it's gonna pass away.

Christ is the real thing.

So Christ has gone not into a copy or a shadow, he's gone into heaven itself, the real thing.

On our behalf, we get to be represented by that kind of high priest.

Verse six the contrast.

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old.

It is so much better, it is as much better as the covenant he mediates is better.

Since that new covenant is brought about or enacted on better promises.

Now, in its most basic understanding, a covenant is the way two parties are gonna relate to each other.

An agreement.

That agreement in which you were gonna, you know, make 19 shelves here for my Death Star or just whatever, like that agreement is a kind of a covenant, the way two parties are gonna relate to each other.

When it comes to God, the agreement God set up with his people, which again, there's there's more meat to it than that, but still.

The agreement God set up with his people in the first covenant, the first way of doing things, was fine.

Nothing wrong with it, but as we'll see next week, it failed.

And so there's this need for a new covenant.

And a new covenant that's gonna go deeper and wider than the first covenant.

This new covenant has to reach into the hearts of God's people and actually change who they are at the core level from the inside out.

It's got to go deeper.

And it's got to go wider.

This new covenant will make sure that every person in the covenant community receives this transformational blessing.

Every person, no one will be left out.

When it's all said and done, when redemption is finished and fully applied, there'll be none left out.

We'll look at that next week.

That's verses 7 through 13.

For now, the writer underscores that the covenant that Jesus mediates or enacts or serves or brings about, the relationship that with God and sinful man that Jesus brings about is so much better because it's built on better promises.

Just to give you a taste, it's quoting Jeremiah 31.

I will be their God and they will be my people, from the least of them to the greatest.

Not just the kings, but the servants in the household, the farmers in the field.

From the least to the greatest.

The Lord will do a marvelous thing.

And better promises.

And on our third anniversary, we get to celebrate the fact that God in his mercy has sent out from us a team to plant a church, and they will have their first services next Sunday as well, on the first of October.

So it's it's that's that's wonderful unplanned providence.

The month of October always brings to mind uh the Reformation and Martin Luther to me.

Because Luther was a man who struggled in many ways and was not at all perfect.

But the core thing that we carry away from Luther and his experience was that he was daunted with his relationship with God as a sinner and could only look to himself.

And every time he looked to himself, he saw layers of sinful nuance in everything he said and did, even if his best efforts, even if his repentance was lacking.

And when he looked to the religious representatives around him, the priests of the Roman Catholic order, they too kept serving, and there was no rest there.

And how can these little prayers or the Eucharist or this or that, how can these things compensate for my sinful soul?

And then Luther discovered the gospel of looking not to self, not to the world, but looking to Christ and his finished work on the cross and this new covenant, this new arrangement.

And he found rest.

One of the speakers at the Pactum conference this weekend writes this generations of Israel's offspring had associated the Jerusalem Temple with God's presence on earth and sought assurance of forgiveness in blood poured out and carcasses consumed on its altar.

But the first generation of those who heard this sermon in the book of Hebrews needed to realize that Jesus had offered the final sacrifice for sins and entered a sanctuary that, though unseen to human eyes, radiates a reality that casts earthly Zion into the shadows.

Twenty-first century Christians may not be drawn to the sights, sounds, smells, or tastes of the sanctuary on Mount Zion, but we too may confuse what is most visible with what is most significant.

Hear that again.

Twenty-first century Christians also have a proclivity to confuse what's most visible with what is most significant.

If I can see it, it's significant.

Hebrews helps break that, disabuse us of that confusion.

It doesn't deny that the physical realities, but it opens our hearts' eyes to the heavenly sanctuary Moses only glimpsed on Sinai.

This heavenly sanctuary where Jesus intercedes for us and mediates a new covenant binding us to God.

And because he does this forever as our priest, there's never going to be a change.

Our relationship with God is secure and unbreakable.

So when the world's all too visible miseries loom large, let faith refocus our vision, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.

Would you pray with me?

Thank you, Father, for setting up true and better things in your presence.

And though the eyes of sinful men and women and teenagers, we confuse what is visible to what's most significant.

Please, Lord, open the eyes of our hearts over and over again.

Tilt our heads upwards to see and savor Jesus Christ in the true tent that you build and solidify our relationship with you in his once-for-all sacrifice.

Help us to experience a better hope in times of distress by looking to Christ.

Help us to experience a better way of overcoming depression when we look to ourselves by looking to Christ.

Help us to see with the eyes of faith and savor the finished work of Jesus in your presence on our behalf over and over.

And may weary souls find rest.

So we ask all these things in Christ's name.