Good morning to everyone. It's so good to be here this morning. It's really a celebration with wonderful songs. I hope you're paying attention to the meaning and the words in those songs and the message that Jesus' death in our place is sufficient, that He's all we need.

We're continuing our study in Hebrews 8 this morning. We've been going through the book of Hebrews for several months now, and we've come to chapter 8. This really is a central chapter to the book. He says it's the main point of the things that he's saying. It's a chapter I'd like to preach on for about six months because it explains that the new covenant is better than the old. It explains the fullness of the new covenant and what that means to our salvation, to our Christian life. 

We're going to really focus in on one thing. That's why I'd like for you to look at verse 6 first. Verse 6 kind of captures the author's main intent and point here. He says, "But now he, Jesus, has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises." 

That's really the summation of the message. What we're going to talk about this morning we find up in the first couple verses here. He says in verse 1, "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." 

I want you to focus in on that word "seated," and that's going to be the bulk of the message today. If you turn back to Hebrews 1, we saw this in the very beginning. Hebrews 1:1, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power." 

Now look at this: it says, "When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." That's what we're going to talk about this morning—the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. 

Now, I'd like to begin this morning by asking you to turn to Colossians 1 because Colossians 1 and 2 present to us a tremendous clear picture of the fullness of Christ, of the completeness that we have in Him. So I just want to read some verses in Colossians 1 and 2, beginning at verse 12. 

And Paul writes, "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." 

"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence." 

"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight."

I look at chapter 2, verse 2. Paul says, "That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Now this I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, and am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power." 

Well, in Colossae Paul was dealing with the same issue, at least on one front, as the author of Hebrews is in our letter. The legalistic Jews were pressuring the Colossian believers to turn back to the law, telling them that they needed something more than Jesus in order to be truly spiritual. Paul's message in Colossians is really the message of the New Testament and this new covenant that we're studying. 

And that is that we are complete in Christ. That He is the fullness. He is the sufficiency of God for my salvation, my sanctification, and my eternity. God has chosen that in Him we should be perfect, complete, full, providing every provision in Him, that He should have the preeminence. 

Every heresy that exists is one that challenges this basic and profound truth—that Jesus is all that we need. That Jesus is our salvation, our peace, our hope, our promise. Every heresy takes away from this glorious truth or attempts to add something to Jesus. 

The other day I was kind of having a rough day. I was moving a hay rake, and the wheel fell off right in the middle of the road. I had no way to lift it. I couldn't move it, and I was stuck right in the middle of the road. It kind of set me back on my plans, and some of my friends were waiting patiently on me for a cookout. 

But while I was sitting there waiting on help, a friend of mine called me. I was explaining my situation and kind of complaining, and he, being a devout religious man, said to me, "Johnny, these are our sufferings, and our sufferings will become for us our merit. Our sufferings will become our merit." 

You know what that statement, that doctrine means? It means that Jesus is not sufficient. His merit is not enough, but that our merit must be attributed to our account to accomplish what Jesus was lacking in His sacrifice. That's what that means. People say it all the time. "I'm suffering. I'm doing good work." 

All these things attributing to my salvation. It's a blasphemy. It's a lie, my brothers and sisters. There is no more important doctrine, no more important truth to know and believe and to take for yourself than this one thing: Jesus is sufficient. His sacrifice is sufficient. His death, burial, and resurrection is sufficient for my salvation. 

His life and power is sufficient for my sanctification, and His promise is sufficient for my glorification. I need nothing more than Jesus. He is all that I have, really. But thank God, He's all that I need, and that's the message of our text this morning.

The author is going to come to a climax here in this eighth chapter, the crucial, paramount truth, the main point. He says, "This is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated." The priesthood has been the subject of the discussion now for going on three chapters, and it's going to be for a couple more. 

It's the main issue, the main point. We must have a sufficient high priest with a sufficient sacrifice if we're going to have salvation. The author says, "This is the main thing. This is the primary point. We have such a high priest, Jesus Christ." 

Let's look at our text this morning and this most important chapter at the center, the focal point of the book of Hebrews. I'm going to read the first six verses. 

"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. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore, it is necessary that this one also have something to offer." 

"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 serve 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 you on the mountain.' But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises." 

Well, I've given you three points on your outline: first, we see a better priest; second, a better covenant; and third, better promises. 

Well, in this chapter we find a summation almost, an outline but certainly the main important points of the entire epistle to the Hebrews. Verse 6 is perhaps again the central verse, the clearest summary of the message that the author really wants to convey to his readers. He wants them to understand that the new covenant, the new high priest Jesus, the new promises are much better than the old. 

That's the thing that they need to take care of. This verse teaches us that Jesus has a better priesthood, a more excellent ministry, that He's mediator of a better covenant, and that this new covenant is established on better promises. 

This is the main point. The old is gone. It's passing away, verse 13 tells us. It's obsolete; it's been replaced by the new and better covenant. Therefore, these Hebrews needed to forsake, as it says in 6:1, to completely abandon, leave behind the old and go on to perfection, completion in the new. 

That's the main point. This is simple, straightforward, and clear, especially in this chapter, yet it challenges so many commonly held beliefs in Christendom, and it challenges much of our understanding concerning the living out of the Christian life. 

So we want, in our study of this chapter this week and next, and maybe the next, to really come to an understanding of what this new covenant is, what the better promises are, and what the implications of these truths are concerning the new covenant life in Christ. 

That is why we can and how we should live a new life, a holy life, a life that brings men to Christ and glory to God. 

Well, here we find the sum and substance of the new covenant message: we have such a high priest who is seated. Verse 1: "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." 

Now, as we study, we must keep in mind that the major thrust of this epistle, the central argument, is that Jesus is better—better than everyone and all things associated with the Old Covenant, and that He brings a new covenant in His blood that is better—better than the Old Covenant sacrifice of animals. 

This is the point that the author has been trying to make throughout the letter and has shown by their own Scriptures from their Old Testament in a very logical way that Jesus is better. He's better than the prophets. He's better than the angels. He's better than Moses. He's better than Aaron. All the way through the epistle, trying to spur them on to go on and hold fast for those who had believed to the New Covenant truth. 

The key focus of these words is found in verse 1 and the word translated "seated." And I'm kind of gone off on this, and we're going to spend the rest of our message talking about this word "seated." 

The high priest of the New Covenant is seated at the right hand of God in the heavens. Again, this has been a consistent argument as we saw back in chapter 1, verse 1. First of all, He is seated, and this would have absolutely stunned the Jews to whom he writes because in the Old Covenant law of Moses, in the sacrificial system, in the earthly tabernacle, the priest never sat down. 

In fact, there were no chairs in there. The only seat in the Holy of Holies, in the inner sanctuary, was the mercy seat where God met with man, where blood was sprinkled to atone for sin, and no priest would dare sit down there. The point is that in the Old Covenant, the work was never finished. The priest could never sit down because he had to continually offer sacrifices for his own sins and for the sins of the people. 

But Jesus, having offered one sacrifice for sins forever, having by Himself purged our sins, sat down. The author keeps driving this point home, and he will continue to do so in chapters 9 and 10. Jesus, the great high priest of the New Covenant, offered one sacrifice for sins forever, and He sat down, having by Himself satisfied the wrath of God, having accomplished our salvation. 

Now, my friends, I know this is familiar ground for us, but please ponder this truth. Think about the contrast with religion, with Orthodox Judaism in this context, or any other work-centered, man-centered religion in our world today, which is all of them, by the way. 

What is the message of religion? Man has created many systems, many rites, rituals, works to participate in, to go through, to try to appease God, to please Him and make ourselves worthy. What is the central message? Do this, do that, pray this prayer, participate in this ritual, be good, do good, and hope, hope, hope that God will accept you. 

It's a futile message because the fact is that we are all sinners who have broken God's law and deserve the punishment, which is eternal death in the lake of fire. So lighting some candles or giving some money or making some sacrifice is not sufficient. 

God desires mercy, not sacrifice. Regardless of how much good we do, it does not make up for the fact that we have broken God's law, and therefore we deserve the punishment. So religion is not good news. It's not another way to God. It's a lie, my friends, based in humanism, human goodness, and achievement. 

And Isaiah said, all of my righteousness, all of my righteousness, if I pulled it all together and piled it all up, all of my righteousness is as filthy rags before a holy God. Paul wrote to Titus, "not by righteous works which we have done, but by His mercy He saved us." Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says, "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." 

Religion is not good news. It's not a way to God. It's a man-made creation. Turn over to Romans 1 with me, please, and we'll see this. Romans 1 at verse 18: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." 

"Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." 

"Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools." 

Look at verse 23, "and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things." Verse 23 explains all man-made religion. 

Man has rejected the true God, has changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and this image man has created is not like God, but like himself. Religion says that God will look away from our sin. He will wink at our sin, that He's a corrupt judge who will not punish sin like man; He will let it slide. 

This is the hope of the religious man. But the Scriptures say that God is holy, and He cannot look upon sin; He cannot let it pass, let it slide. Sin must be paid for, and the penalty for sin is death. God judges according to truth. 

Religion says that God gave us the law, the Ten Commandments, to keep as a means of earning righteousness, but that's not what God says. Look at Romans chapter 3 at verse 19. This is such a tremendous, clear passage; please focus your attention on these words. 

Romans 3:19: "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law." What's the purpose of the law? Why did God give it? "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

Look at verse 21, the good news: "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, how? How can I receive the righteousness of God? Through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation, a full payment by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness." 

"Because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, look at these words, that He might be just—punishing all sin—that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." 

The bad news is that every man is a sinner, has broken God's law, and deserves to go to hell. Religious men keep working and working, trying to be good enough to earn God's favor. But the fact is, they cannot, they cannot keep the law, they cannot establish their own righteousness. This is the bad news. 

But the good news is that God has made a way, a way to be just—punishing all sin, my sin, your sin, all sin on Christ—and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. And this way is the cross. We can be justified, we can be made right with God, saved from the wrath to come, but not by establishing our own righteousness, but by receiving by faith the righteousness of God because of what Jesus has accomplished, has finished on the cross. 

The message of religion is not good news. Righteousness through the law is not a way to God. Peter said, "Why do you put a yoke of bondage on the necks of the disciples, which neither we nor our forefathers could bear?" That yoke is the law, my friends. That yoke of bondage which they could not bear, the Hebrews of old couldn't keep it, we can't keep it, no man can bear it because of the sin that dwells in us. 

James 2:10 says that if a man keeps the whole law but offends at one point, he's guilty of all. The good news is that the righteousness of God is available to all men through faith in Jesus Christ. Listen to these words from Romans 4. Paul says, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted—it was imputed to him for righteousness."

"Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly—who goes to heaven, my friends? Ask a man on the street who goes to heaven, what will he tell you? Good people, right? That's not what the Scriptures say." 

"He justifies the ungodly. That means the man who knows that he's ungodly, that he needs God's grace, that he needs a Savior. His faith is accounted for righteousness." This is abundantly clear throughout the Scriptures.

And here we have the main point of what the author of Hebrews is saying that he has focused in on in his summation in chapter 8: Jesus, the High Priest of the New Covenant, is seated. This is a monumental truth because what it means is that He has finished the work. He has accomplished our salvation. He has satisfied the wrath of God for my sins and yours, dying in our place, receiving the punishment that I deserved. 

It is finished. And this is the good news, my friends. Heaven says "do." The Bible says "done." And that is what these Hebrews needed to really get a hold of, to understand. And my friends, this is what every man must come to, must believe, must hold fast to by faith if he is to come to God to receive Christ's righteousness and be saved forever.

So we can see the author's intent in our text. We have such a High Priest. He's a better High Priest than those of the Old Covenant. He brings a better covenant in His blood, built on better promises. This is the main point of the things he is saying. 

The argument, the logic, the evidence builds here in showing Jesus is better. Not only is He seated, having offered one sacrifice forever as atonement for all sin, but He is seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God. His tabernacle, His sanctuary is not an earthly one, not a shadow or a picture or a recreation, but He ministers in the true tabernacle in heaven. 

This is a fascinating point. The author says that the true tabernacle is in heaven where God dwells, where He is seated on His throne, and Jesus, our High Priest, our Savior, our Advocate, is seated at His right hand and now ministers, intercedes for us in the true tabernacle. 

I don't know if you've thought about this, but there is in heaven the true, the real, the substance. It's interesting to note that there was a vast expanse of time before the Law came. And the Scriptures tell us that the Law was given as a picture, a shadow of the substance of Christ. It was given to show us our sin, to lead us to faith in Jesus. 

And after Jesus has come, the Law is no more. We now live under the new covenant in Christ. Paul says the Law came 430 years after the promise made to Abraham. From Adam to Moses, there was no Law. The Law came for a specific purpose, and it ended with fulfillment in Christ. 

So there's a beginning and an end to the Law covenant of Moses, and what we see here in our text is that God showed Moses the true tabernacle and told him to make a pattern, a representation of it on earth. There's a true tabernacle, a sanctuary, a place in heaven where Jesus ministers for us. 

And Moses built a pattern, a shadow, a picture in the earthly tabernacle where the priest after Aaron ministered and presented sacrifices for the people. Verse 5 is the key: it says, "who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly things." 

I was thinking about those men and women who've flown into space. I saw a news story the other day; there's a lot of preparation, a lot of training, simulation that they go through to become an astronaut. They try to simulate, they try to give a representation of what it will be like to go into space in order to prepare them for the real thing, the substance, the actual flight out of our atmosphere into the heavenlies. 

But the picture, the simulation can in no way compare to the real. This is always true. You can practice for a game, but it's not the same as competing. Men train for war; they do mock battles, they simulate the real thing, but it's not the same as going into combat. 

The principle is clear here: the shadow, the picture, is not the substance. And the law was just a shadow. It was a representation of the true, to point us. It's like if you're driving down the highway and you're going to go to Nashville, Tennessee, and you get down by Chicago and you go around on 294 and you catch 65 and you're headed down through Indiana and you see a sign that says "Nashville, Tennessee." 

You don't stop and get the kids out and all gather around the sign and say, "We're here; it's Nashville, Tennessee." It's a sign. It's a picture. It's a shadow. It points us to the substance. Christ is the substance. His sacrifice on the cross was the real deal. 

He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He died, was buried, and rose again and ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of God, ever living to make intercession for us. He saves me and keeps me clean. He's able to save to the uttermost, to bring us to God by His one-time death in our place for our sins and only by His grace and only through faith in Him. 

He is a better high priest who has, by His sacrifice, by His blood, brought a better covenant, and this covenant is built on better promises. Grace is the key, my friends. It's only by God's grace, His unmerited favor, only through faith that I can be saved. This is the promise of the new covenant. 

The old covenant said "obey, and I will bless you. Keep the law perfectly, and you will be saved." The problem was not with the law. The problem was with man, with indwelling sin and the truth that no man could keep the law, could establish his own righteousness. All are found sinners, and all are in need of God's grace. 

But the new covenant says, "I have blessed you. Jesus has accomplished salvation. The debt has been paid. God is satisfied with His sacrifice and has shown it by raising Him from the dead with power and sitting Him at His right hand in the heavenlies." 

My brothers and sisters, the better promise is of complete salvation—not for every man, but only for those who will come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Faith alone. Not religion, not works, not faith plus works, but by grace through faith alone. This is a better covenant built on better promises, and Jesus is the High Priest. 

He is better. He's all-sufficient. His love is our sacrifice and our Savior. This, my brothers and sisters, is the message of our text this morning, the message of the book of Hebrews, the message of the whole of the Word of God. 

We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies. He has accomplished our salvation, and now we who believe live to serve Him, to glorify Him, to bring others to Him, to be saved by grace through faith. 

We're going to have a baptism this morning. This is a perfect example of what we're talking about, of the message. Why is it that Andrew will be immersed in water this morning? What's the reason? What are the implications? 

Many religions will tell you today that water baptism somehow contributes to or accomplishes salvation or regeneration. It's usually performed on an infant by sprinkling. What does the Bible say about water baptism? Is it necessary for salvation? Or is Jesus' death on the cross, burial, and resurrection sufficient? 

Water baptism in the Bible is a symbol. It's a picture of what has already happened in the life of the believer. It represents our union with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is a testimony; it's a public declaration of a faith that already exists. 

And according to 1 Peter 3, it's a promise from God of a clear conscience toward Him because of what Jesus has accomplished. You see, Andrew's not being baptized to be saved. He has been saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and we've all seen the evidence of that—it's a transformed life. 

And now he's being baptized as a public proclamation of the truth of what Jesus has already accomplished in him. So we look forward to that. 

Next week we're going to delve into the New Covenant, what it is, what it means, the promises, and why it is we can live a new life in Christ. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank You for this tremendous chapter. We thank You for this tremendous truth that Jesus is all we need, that He is sufficient, that He has accomplished our salvation by dying in our place for our sins, satisfying Your wrath so that You might remain just, punishing every sin that I've committed on Him and giving to me His righteousness, justifying the one who has faith in Jesus. 

Thank You for that good news. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.