Good morning to everyone. Just tremendous hymns that we've been singing this morning. I was looking at those words; sometimes I'm amazed at how rich the meaning is. I was thinking about the message of the book of Hebrews, and we sang that song, for me he lives, or for me he died, for me he lives, and that's really the message of the whole book of Hebrews. This new covenant, this better priesthood, this high priest is that his death was sufficient to save me, to pay for all my sins in his one-time death on the cross, and now that he lives, making intercession for me in the tabernacle in heaven. So it's tremendous truth, and we sang that he has rescued us from sin and death and hell, and we're going to talk about that as well in regeneration in the new covenant this morning.

In Philippians 3.1, Paul wrote, it is not tedious for me to write the same things to you again and again, but it is safe for you. One of the most encouraging, assuring things about the Word of God is that the main things are very plain, they're very clear. Anyone coming to God's Word and reading and studying with the intent of knowing what God says, what the message of this book is, cannot come away without knowing and understanding the gospel truth, the truth of salvation by grace through faith in what Jesus has accomplished in our place on the cross. 

Now, a man can certainly come to this book with his own ideas, with the intent to support his theology and come up with all kinds of things, but if a man wills to know his will, Jesus gives us a promise in John 7.17 that he will know concerning the doctrine if it is from God. The truth of the gospel is abundantly clear in the Word of God, and my brothers and sisters, it is repeated again and again and again from a thousand different angles and perspectives. 

One thing is for sure, when God wants us to know something, when there's an important truth for us to understand, His method is repetition. His method is explanation and illustration and teaching that truth to us over and over, and that's because He knows that we need repetition. We need to continually renew our minds to the important truths of who Jesus is, what He has done in the promise for those who believe. We need to go over and over and over these things to renew our minds, to set these things in place in order that we might remember and hold fast to the important truths of the doctrines of our faith. 

Truly we must preach the gospel to ourselves every day. We must come back to the foundational truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and what this great truth means to us for our salvation and for our daily Christian life. And in this book of Hebrews, a book that is so deep, so profound in its truths and explanations, how much more we need to go over and over these truths, how much more we need repetition.

As I study and prepare, as I work through this book verse by verse, striving to set these words in their context, bearing in mind the audience, the intent of the author, and the overall flow of the book, I'm amazed and encouraged, awestruck by the depth and profound nature of this epistle, and I'm very much aware of my need to go back over these passages to study them more and more that I might plumb the depths of God's truth, of the greatness of Christ, of His tabernacle, His sacrifice, His new covenant priesthood, and the implications in my life in Christ. 

And these are the things that we've been studying together for months in a very Jewish context. These are the things the author has been trying to explain, trying to show concerning the old covenant in relation to the new, the fulfillment in Christ, the perfection of His priesthood, and His one-time death to end all sacrifices, and of the greatness of this new covenant He brings in His blood, and all the promises that go with it. 

And we've seen the consistent exhortation based on these truths to leave the old and press on in faith to the new. My brothers and sisters, we will see this same message this morning in chapter 9, perhaps from a little different perspective, with some new illustrations and explanations from the old covenant tabernacle, but with the same truth, the same message about the superiority of the sacrifice and the priesthood of Jesus the Christ, and the preeminence of this new covenant in His blood.

Let's look together at our text in Hebrews 9.1. The author writes, "Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service in 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 censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, 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 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 and 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? And for this reason he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance." 

I've given you four points on your outline. First, we're going to look at an earthly sanctuary. Second, a greater tabernacle. Third, a better sacrifice. And fourth, the new covenant. I'd like to focus your attention on verse 9 of our text as we begin. It says, "it," speaking of the earthly sanctuary, the tabernacle, "It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifice are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience." The key word is symbolic. It was symbolic, a figure, a picture, and this is the main message the author is giving us in this chapter. 

The earthly sanctuary here refers specifically to the tabernacle, literally the tent, and we see some detail here describing that tabernacle, that tent of meeting that Israel carried through the wilderness wandering and where the priests of the old covenant performed their work of sacrifice and intercession. Now notice first of all in verse 1 that this was a divine service. This is such an important point for us to see in the book of Hebrews. 

The author has been systematically since chapter 1 going through all the elements, all the different aspects of the old covenant and everyone and everything associated with the old covenant, and he's been showing us that Jesus is better in every way. However, in this endeavor what we have not seen is a degrading or undermining of the old covenant in any way. The author is quick to point out, as he does here, that this whole old covenant system was given by God. It was a divine service ordained by God for His people Israel. 

So it is not that the old was bad, it's not that the old was evil in any way, and it's important to note again that the old was given for a very specific divine purpose. It was given as a symbol, a picture, a shadow of what was to come in Christ. It was given as a reminder of sins, of the need of man and the meeting of that need fully and finally in Jesus Christ. The law is holy and righteous and good. It is from God. But it was given not to save us, not as a means to holiness, but as a reminder of sins and a picture or representation to point us to completion, to perfection in Christ. 

That's the point and message of our text this morning, and we see that the author gives us a somewhat detailed description to illustrate this truth. Look at verse 1 again. "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 censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 

And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Then the author says of these things "we cannot now speak in detail." Well, we could do a study of the tabernacle that would last for weeks, and it would be a great benefit to us, I believe, to our understanding. But the author here says we cannot now speak in detail. In other words, going into great detail and study of the tabernacle is not his point, and the people to which he writes were very familiar with the tabernacle. And thus this will not be our point. 

But let's look at what he does describe in these first five verses. First there was an earthly sanctuary or tabernacle. This again was given by God as we saw a couple weeks ago in chapter 8. It was a representation or patterned after the true tabernacle which is in heaven. Here he focuses in on the holy place, the holy of holies, and the tabernacle proper, the whole thing, was a huge structure. It was 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. And there was only one gate on the east side. 

Remember the symbolic nature of this structure and all the instructions that went with it. Everything about it pictures Christ. And certainly the one door, the one way in, was a picture of the door, the way into the presence of God and salvation which is Jesus. But it's interesting also that it was a very wide entrance and many could go in through that door. Inside we have the courtyard where there was access for all and a brazen altar where the sacrifices were performed. 

The altar had four horns on the corners for tying down the sacrificial animal. There was the laver, the wash basin where the priests could wash their hands, wash their feet because they were performing, if you can imagine, a very bloody work. Further in we come to the structure within the structure and this is the focus of our text this morning: the holy place. This room was divided into two rooms and this will become the salient point that the author wants to make in comparing the old to the new, and this is where we should focus our attention as well as we move through the text.

It was divided about 45 feet long, 15 feet wide. The first room was 30 feet, so the holy of holies was a perfect cube measuring 15 feet each direction. Behind the first veil was the holy place and here we find, he says, the lampstand, the table, and the showbread. The lampstand was fashioned in one piece of gold. It was beaten, fashioned out of one solid piece and it weighed 75 pounds having seven lamps. The showbread was laid out on the table in two rows of six loaves, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the table of incense set in front of the second veil. 

These all being, again, pictures, picturing the spiritual provision of Jesus Christ as the light of life, as the bread of life, provision and sustenance for us. But we see in verse 3 that behind the second veil was the holiest of all. Here is the Ark of the Covenant which contained the tablets of the law, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. On the Ark of the Covenant were the golden cherubim. They were made out of solid gold and their wings covered and nearly came together over the top of the mercy seat. 

The mercy seat is highly significant because this is where God would meet with man, where atonement was made. You see, the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant covered the law, the tablets inside. And the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat to cover the sins of the people represented in the transgression of the law covenant. Daily sacrifices were offered on the brazen altar, and blood was sprinkled and the priest could go into the holy place daily. 

But only once a year on the Day of Atonement could the high priest go into the Holy of Holies first with the blood of a bullock for his own sins, and the sins of his family, and then with the blood of a goat for the sins of the people which were committed in ignorance as a kind of plenary sacrifice for any and all sins known and unknown to the people, the author says, which were committed in ignorance. We see this in verses 6 and 7 of our text, it says, "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 the people's sins committed in ignorance."

So first we see in our text that there was an earthly sanctuary, and the author's main focus is that it was divided into two parts, that only the priests had access to God through divine service in the holy place, and only the high priest, only once a year with blood, could go into the Holy of Holies. And this was the dwelling place of God, the mercy seat, which covered the law, and the blood could be sprinkled to atone for sin. 

This was a God-given ordinance, and all of these details were given to picture, to symbolize the final fulfillment in Christ. I just want you to imagine the experience of Israel, as they would carry this tent, and they would set it up, and they would perform these sacrifices, and all of this ritual, and all the details, and all of the commands. If you want to get a sense of that, read through Leviticus. 

But listen to Exodus 40, 34 to 38. It says, "...then the cloud covered the tabernacle, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled it. Moses was no longer able to enter the tabernacle because of the cloud that had settled down over it, and the tabernacle was filled with the awesome glory of the Lord. Now whenever the cloud lifted from the tabernacle and moved, the people of Israel would set out on their journey following it. But if the cloud stayed, they would stay until it moved again. The cloud of the Lord rested on the tabernacle during the day, and at night there was fire in the cloud, so all the people of Israel could see it. This continued throughout all their journeys." 

It must have been amazing to really see the presence of the Lord that was with them all that time in this tabernacle. The tabernacle, the earthly sanctuary, was highly significant, but it was only a picture. It was only a foreshadowing of the fulfillment of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus and the institution of this new covenant. That's why it's so important for us to understand in our culture, in our world today, that there's no longer a mediating priesthood. There's no longer a sacrifice to be made. That it's complete, that it's full, and that's what we see in verse 8 of our text, and the author's intent to contrast the old with the new. 

Hebrews 9.8, 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. It was concerned only with foods and drinks and various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation. 

That's what I've titled the message today, the time of Reformation. We see that there was an earthly sanctuary, it was symbolic, it was a picture. But in Christ, there's a more perfect tabernacle, a complete propitiatory sacrifice that Jesus offered one time and then sat down at the right hand of God. 

The phrase "until the time of Reformation" means literally, the word literally means to mend something that is broken. In a physical sense, mending or setting straight, it was used of setting a broken bone, for instance. In the spiritual sense, and its meaning here, it means to make all things right, to set all things in order, to bring man into a right relationship with God and mend that which was broken. And this time of Reformation speaks specifically of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, His death, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of God to the true tabernacle in heaven, not made with hands, not of this creation, but where He now lives to make intercession for us. 

Notice verse 10 says that the old ordinances, the old tabernacle, was imposed, set in place until. This is an important word, for it expresses the temporary nature of the old covenant and the first tabernacle, as represented by the tearing of the veil from top to bottom as Jesus completed the perfect one-time sacrifice on the cross, and the way into the Holy of Holies was now made manifest. 

Access would have blown the mind of the Jewish man who participated in this tabernacle worship because what it showed from the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, all the way through the wilderness wandering, was that man had no access to God. That God was holy, and He was sinful, and He was set apart, and only the priests could intercede for Him. But now we have access. Direct access to God was now made possible through Jesus, and so this was the end of the old covenant. It was the end of the entire system, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the temple. It was all fulfilled in Christ, and now it was ready to vanish away. 

Of course, the Jews did not understand this, they did not believe this, they repaired the veil, they continued the sacrifices, until when? Until 70 AD, when the Romans came in and destroyed the temple and took every stone off of the other, and now, since that day, to this day, there has been no temple, there has been no sacrificial system in Israel. God ended that, and that too was a symbol of Christ's fulfillment. 

Verses 11 and 12 explain so clearly the end of the law covenant and the bringing in of the new. 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, 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." 

Please notice the words "once for all," and "having obtained." These speak of finality, completion, and this is the message, my friends. The old covenant was a picture, a foreshadowing; it could not accomplish through its endless sacrifices the salvation, the perfection of its worshipers, but Jesus, in His one-time sacrifice of Himself as the spotless Lamb of God, obtained forever eternal salvation for everyone who will come to Him, who will believe Him. 

His sacrifice is greater, it is better in that it accomplished the will of God, the salvation of man once for all, forever. And His tabernacle is greater because it is the real, the substance, the holy place in heaven. And this verse tells us that He entered there; He entered into heaven, into the true tabernacle with His blood, presented the blood in heaven in the true tabernacle where He continues to make intercession on our behalf. 

I know these things are familiar, I know we keep repeating the same things, but I want you to ponder these truths. What a salvation that Jesus provides, solely by His grace through faith alone in His one-time all-sufficient sacrifice. This is the good news of the New Covenant, this is what the author's trying to explain to these Hebrews and how futile it is to go back to the old. 

But my friends, there's more good news in this New Covenant under which we now live. Please look at verse 13 with me. 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? And for this reason He's the mediator of the New Covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the First Covenant that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 

We studied this in depth in chapter 8, but here's the real message of the New Covenant, the real contrast with the old and why the new is so much better. The Old Covenant, it says in verse 9, could not make those who participated perfect or complete in regards to conscience. 

Flip over one page to chapter 10, please. Hebrews 10.1. It says, for the law, having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things, can never, with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered, for the worshipers once purified would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices, there's a reminder of sins every year, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 

You see, the whole Old Covenant system was external. It operated in the sphere of washings of foods and drinks and fleshly ordinances. It was external. Look at verse 13 again. The blood of bulls and goats, the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, purifying or washing of the flesh, the outward, the external. The Old Covenant could not deal with the true internal issue of indwelling sin. Nor, not only could it not bring full complete atonement, but the Old Covenant also could not deal with the internal problem. 

It could not cleanse the conscience and bring us into a right relationship with God, nor could it deliver us from the power of sin. But Jesus, His blood, His sacrifice cleansed our consciences, dealt with indwelling sin, and delivered us from the power of sin by regeneration through our union with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. We died, my friends. We died with Christ. And all this, verse 14 says, for the purpose of serving the living God. 

For this reason, Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant, having died to redeem all men under the Old Covenant and under the New, and to pay for all sins and deliver all who believe from the controlling power of indwelling sin, that we might now live for Him in righteousness. 

I wonder if you ever had a problem in your life that you couldn't solve. Maybe if something broke, maybe something went wrong, maybe your computer's on the fritz. What are you really looking for in that time? Reminds me of Ricky and Amber now building this room addition on their house, and I was over there yesterday, and Rick was there, and Sam, and they were working on it, and everybody's standing around, how are we gonna join that roof in? Everybody's kind of like, boy, no idea. Shaking heads. You know what we decided? We needed Ron Heft, because Ron Heft can fix that problem. It didn't do any good for me to stand there, and Rick to stand there, and Sam, and Ricky, and Amber, and we all just stand there and look at it and shake our heads. We couldn't fix the problem. 

But if we can get Ron over there, he can fix the problem. The Old Covenant couldn't fix the problem. It wasn't bad, it wasn't wrong, it was given for a purpose to show us our sin, to picture Christ, and if we use it for its intended purpose, Paul says in Romans 3, we fulfill the law, but it couldn't fix our problem. And the problem for the man and Adam, according to Romans 5, Romans 6, Romans 7, is indwelling sin. 

I'd like to just read some familiar passages because we're gonna have repetition here. It's not tedious to say the same things again and again, but it's safe. Listen for the great truths of regeneration in the New Covenant and how God dealt with the problem of man for the very purpose of recreating Him, showing His power through Him, and transforming our lives so that we might live for Him. You can follow along if you like. I'm gonna start in Romans 6, 1 and go through some passages up through Romans 8. 

Romans 6, 1, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that old man and Adam, that man that was controlled by indwelling sin, dominated by the sin that dwelled in Him so that they continually perpetually sinned against God, could not please God, that old man was crucified for the express purpose that the body controlled by indwelling sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 

For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 

Listen to what He says: "Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 7, 4, Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, to Him who was raised from the dead. Why? That we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, when we were in Adam, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work again. 

Members to do what? Bear fruit unto death. But now." Don't you love those words, but now? The contrast? But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. 

Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Now listen to verse 3, for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, good news my friends, God did. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. Why? That the righteous requirement of the law, Romans 13, 8 says is love, might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

Jesus as High Priest of the new covenant with the perfect and full sacrifice of Himself has done what the old covenant could not do. He has delivered us from the law, from sin, from death; He has fully atoned for our sin, He's taken away the penalty for sin which is eternal death, and my friends, He's taken away the power of sin in your life by releasing you from the controlling bondage of indwelling sin. He condemned sin in the flesh; He crucified our old man for the express purpose that our body would no longer be controlled by that indwelling sin. He's cleansed our conscience from dead works in order to serve the living God. 

And now our life is not by the letter, it's not under the law, but we live by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. In fact, He now lives His life in and through us as we abide in Him by faith. I love 2 Corinthians 3 where Paul contrasts the new covenant with the old. He says, you are our epistle; you're written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God, not that we are sufficient, not sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. He made us ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. 

And then Paul says, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. He calls the law a ministry of death, written and engraved on stones. He calls it a ministry of condemnation. But then he speaks of the ministry of righteousness, living by faith in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit empowering us. Therefore, he says, we have such hope. 

In Galatians 2.19 he says, I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

Then he says, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. It was vital that the Hebrews to which the author writes knew and understood these truths so that they would not turn back to the old, but that they would hold fast to Christ, that they would look to Him, depend on Him, trust in Him alone. 

And my friends, it's just as vital for us today to understand these truths, to go over them and over them, to continually renew our minds to them, that we might not be distracted, we might not turn to the left or to the right, but that we might set our mind on Christ, on His greatness, His completeness, His sufficiency, and our sufficiency in Him. That we might understand that our life in the New Covenant is one of faith in and dependence on Jesus alone and that His better covenant is built on better promises, that our life will be one of abiding in Jesus by faith as He lives His life in and through us and we produce much fruit for His glory. 

Jesus is better. Yet we have a tendency to turn back to the law as well. Not for justification, not for salvation, but sometimes for sanctification, for holiness. And the application we can take from this passage, from this book of Hebrews for ourselves is that Jesus is what we need. Don't go back to the law to look for holiness, but look to Jesus, just trust Him and abide in Him one day at a time, and keep studying these things, keep rolling them over in your mind that we might come to a fuller understanding of God's truth and the greatness of Jesus Christ. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for these words, for this book and the flow of the text, Lord, the arguments that the author makes, and we come to a fuller understanding as we look into the Old Testament and see the pictures, the shadows that pointed to Jesus. Help us to understand the substance. Help us to understand the fullness, the sufficiency in Him, and to look nowhere else as we strive each day to bring glory to You, to please You, to live for You. Thank You that You've done it all and that now by Your power we can live a new life to be a witness to men, to be glorifying You in all that we do. It's in Jesus' name we pray.