Well, good morning everyone. It is a wonderful day to be
together today to worship, God to sing his praises, to talk to
him in ways that we really don't deserve to.
But we are privileged to buy Jesus's work and his sacrifice
for us to sing songs of praise to God together as a wonderful
day for that. And I'm excited to study with
you a little bit more of God's word from the book of Hebrews.
So last week, we covered kind of a lot of ground or the week
before, I guess it was going through.
He Is the end of chapter 6 and chapter 7.
So we're going to touch back on chapter 7 because there's some
things I think we need to drive home and clarify a little bit
and then we'll move on through a shorter chapter 8 this week.
They only have 13 verses in Hebrews chapter 8.
So we'll be spending most of our time there if you'd like to turn
to the book of Hebrews and now song, we'll just saying, not a
step. Will I take without Jesus as the
whole point of what this Riders trying to get the Hebrew
Christians to do is to move. Forward in their pursuit of God,
not apart from Jesus, but with Jesus is saving power and his
work in them and and and to not leave him in the pursuit of God
altogether. So, in Hebrews chapter 8, I
think the one of the verses it's actually not in the book of
Hebrews, but the verse that kind of sticks out to me in the study
is this verse from Psalm 110 that your people will be
Volunteers in the day of your power.
So we'll get around to And just a minute, but let's take a look
back from last week in the chapter 7 where we left off
talking about this, this mysterious man named Melchizedek
and that is not a name that we use today.
We talked about what that name means.
It had a literal meaning, king of righteousness.
And and it has some connections to Jesus that we talked about
from last time. So just to give us a little bit
of running. Start in verse 14, we said for
it is evident that our Lord speaking of Jesus a row.
Rose from Judah of which tribe. Moses spoke concerning.
Nothing spoke. Nothing concerning priesthood.
And it is yet far more evident. If in the likeness of
Melchizedek there, arises another priest who has come not
according to the law of a fleshly commandment but
according to the power of an endless life.
So that is one of the key ideas. We learn from Melchizedek is
that basically he came from a different priesthood and milk is
a dick was, was a representation of Priesthood.
That would not have it end. That would not have a finite
nature in this life. That Jesus is like Melchizedek.
And that he will have an eternal priesthood in.
Describing Jesus verse 17 for he testifies, you are a priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
So we talked about this last week but we didn't look into
that quotation. We talked about how in Genesis
we learned about milk is A deck and not booked.
But there's actually another passage where this direct quote
comes from that. I would like to talk about for
just a minute as we get started today and that quotation comes
from Psalm 110. So Psalm 110 is the other place.
This is referenced in the Old Testament and they're beginning
in verse 1, the psalmist writes. This the Lord said to my Lord
sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your
footstool. So I believe Is talking and you
know, God the Father speaking to Jesus.
The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand, until I make your
enemies your footstool, the Lord shall send the rod of your
strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies.
Verse 3, your people shall be Volunteers in the day of your
power in the beauties of Holiness from the womb of the
morning. You have the do of your youth.
The Lord has sworn and will not relent you are a priest.
Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
So that's where that passage is pulled from the fourth verse of
this song. So I kind of since we're here, I
kind of wanted to take a look at this song.
These first few verses and pull out.
Some of the things surrounding the idea of Melchizedek here.
So this is talking about Jesus and the power that he's going to
embody and represent on the earth and I love how it mentions
this in. Verse 3, your people God's
people. In the Old Testament.
God's people were a nation of physical lineage of people who
lived in one area and he worshiped together and had their
own City. Okay?
So he's saying though, your people, God's people shall be
Volunteers in the day of your power.
Now, I believe this day of your power is, can mean a couple
important things. Number one, God's greatest power
on the earth. I believe was enacted by setting
up his church, through the work of Jesus Christ.
So, when Jesus came, and he set up, God's kingdom come with
power, I believe that that is Jesus's beginning of the church
and the Christian age when God's power was represented through
Jesus and his church in his kingdom.
Now, I also think it's connected to the preceding phrase that
that in the day of God's power, the time in which God's power on
the Earth. Is maybe the strongest or the
most evident, or the most obvious, or real isn't a day
when God's people are volunteers.
Now, if you think about in the Old Testament, there is a sense
in which they were volunteers, that were voluntary offerings,
voluntary service, they would do.
But in some senses, they were just kind of born into a nation.
The beautiful part of the Christian age is we're not made
to do this. It's not because we were part of
some national system that teaches us in our schools, how
to serve, God, and that implements sacrifices between
recess and second class. We're not, that's not the way it
is in our schools, that's not the way the government works
here. Like it might open the Israelite
Nation here today. If you are going to be a
Christian, if you were going to serve God, and if you're going
to be one of his people, it's because your volunteer.
And that is a powerful message of Free Will and God's power in
the world because of free will because when God's work is
greatest you know you'll Testament.
God did them. Wonderful amazing Works where he
would set a mountain on fire to symbolize and express his
presence or he would part a sea and congeal it like jello. he
did these amazing things healing people, but I believe that the
day of God's power is maybe the most powerful in the sense that
it could turn somebody from their own way to do God's will
To have a sacrifice and a plan that is so powerful that it
takes stubborn selfish, unrighteous people like you and
me and it turns us into people who will say God, I will do
anything for you. That is God's greatest power.
I believe, on this plane, this world to turn free people into
willing servants. So God's people will be
Volunteers in the day of his power in the beauties of
Holiness from the womb of the morning, you have the do of your
youth that phrase confuse me. So, there's this, this psalmist
is using poetic language, and I had to consult some commentaries
to see what it might have meant this from the womb of the
morning. A little bit confusing to me.
So one of the commentaries I read said this, the figure is so
beautiful. That words cannot explain it.
You have only to stand early, one morning, when the sun is
beginning to shoot its rays of light up into the sky.
And look at the fields all glistening with do and say once
came all these or where did, where did this do come from?
Where did this is sparkling water?
Come from The answer is they came from the womb of the
morning. So when you find the multitudes
are saved and you see them coming so mysteriously so gently
so divinely and yet so numerously like that do you can
only compare them to the Dew of the morning.
You say whence came these or where these people come from who
are being saved? And the answer is they have come
from the womb of the morning. So That was more than I could
come up with on my own. You take it for what it's worth.
So the description of being God's people coming like the
womb of the morning, being the Dew of the Youth of God's power.
Another important Point, another important point to notice is
this idea of Youth and power, if someone were to talk about
power, it's from a perspective of physical power, it's usually
a youthful thing. NG you don't describe the human
power by old age. Typically it's it's a it's a
youthful, bolstered strength, that's embodied here.
This one with this idea of the youth.
So he's saying you have the do that word do is often
symbolizing freshness. So when it's talking about,
Jesus has power on the earth and this day, it he has a freshness
and a youthfulness with his strength, on the earth, even
though his plan has been going for a long time.
Jesus play might be 2,000 years old but he's not a 2000 year-old
week. Power weak person, Jesus is
Powers great today, it is fresh and he has people coming just
like the Dew of the morning. It's like, how did these people
get here? How is, how are God's people
still coming to serve him? You know, you might think
without, without a draft where everyone is required to enter
the service. This kingdom is going to be
lacking people, right? If God doesn't make people serve
him, this kingdom is going to be short-handed In the beauty of
this passage the Dew of the morning, as look out around
here. Look at this congregation.
There are people who God is working in and saving today.
If we can't even explain it, like the Dew of the morning,
take that for what it's worth. I thought it was interesting and
at least poetic from from the salt.
So Jesus has power is going to be strong on the earth because
people are volunteers today. Verse 4.
The Lord has sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek.
Okay? So just to kind of put a bookend
on chapter 7 and Melchizedek. I don't think he and Melchizedek
is confusing. I think when people Try to and
when I try to look beyond what the scriptures say and figure
out about this milk has a deck that's when it gets confusing.
It's pretty simple idea. The whole point of Melchizedek
is that Jesus came from a different lineage, different
priesthood, that will be Eternal.
And and that stretches beyond the bounds of even the finite
understanding that they would have had of Jewish leadership.
So the Jewish leadership is what they were comfortable with what
they knew and and Jesus is so far beyond that, it's a little
bit strange for them. But nonetheless Jews that
expresses his Jesus power that much more.
He's not from some Earthly lineage.
And I expresses Jesus power. Okay?
For such a high priest was fitting for us, who is Holy
harmless undefiled separate from Sinners and has become higher
than the heavens? Who does not need daily.
As those High priests to offer up sacrifices first for his own
sins and then for the people's for this, he did once for all
when he offered up himself. Okay, so now we are Hebrews 8:1
There it says, 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 that
phrase right hand of the throne. The right hand is a place of
respect and honor and power and it's not someone who is at the
foot. He is at the right hand of God
and God's power and notice that he's seated.
You know, when someone has It completed work.
It's like that is symbolized by sitting down and taking, taking
rest, taking completion in that work.
Jesus is seated. At the right hand of God, we
know that Jesus had to stand up when he was showing respect for
a Stephen when he was being martyred, once he was being
killed, but Jesus place. Is it a place that finished work
at the powerful right? Hand of the Throne of the
Majesty in the heavens. Speaking of God and his throne
room, Verse 2, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true
Tabernacle, which the Lord directed and not man.
So, in the Old Testament, they had this Tabernacle right where
you had your sacrifices sacrifices or you had your place
of washing, then you enter the holy place where there was the
candlesticks in the showbread and where you had, then in the
most holy place, the Ark of the Covenant and the symbols there.
That was the Tabernacle of the Old Testament.
We've studied about That recently.
He said, Jesus didn't just go in here, like the priest did, and
he didn't even go in the Holy place.
Our he didn't even go into the most, holy place of the
Tabernacle that men built, but he is in the true Tabernacle.
In heaven with God. The true place where God dwells
Jesus goes beyond any of these Old Testament ideas.
Verse 3, for every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts
and sacrifices therefore it is necessary that this one also
have something to offer. So, Jesus is going to be our
priest. The priest job was to offer
sacrifices and gifts, to God on behalf of the people, okay?
So this Jesus should have something To offer, what does he
have to offer? Well, let's consider the Old
Testament sacrifices and offerings to get a little bit of
context for what the Jews might have understood here.
They had five main types of offerings in the Old Testament.
There's a lot of types Within These and so it can get kind of
complicated and a little bit muddy for us who are trying to
understand this later, but there are five main types.
The first main type is the burnt, livestock offering, the
burnt offering. And this is in Leviticus chapter
1. The first seven, chapters line
out these main five offerings and the first chapter tells us
that this burnt life, stock offering is an offering of
atonement and I just kind of given some notes here to
something to think about. This is not an exhaustive study
but that was an offering of substitution.
It was a male without blemish. It was a free will offering so
that person, who one of the Israelites who brought that
offering to, to the Nautical, it was of their free will.
It was laid at the door of the Tabernacle, so it gives Specific
Instructions of where it was brought.
And then when he was going to sacrifice this animal, he had to
lay his hand on the head of the animal.
Okay, we'll talk about that a minute.
And that was to transfer symbolically to transfer the
guilt as the offer killed that animal.
Okay. So it was like, this idea, Idea
that man had sinned and he had a tone that needed to happen for
his sins. And so he would put his hand on
the head of the animal as to symbolically transfer the sins
to the animal. Okay?
And it was killed by the offer, not the priests.
So the person bringing the sacrifice, was the one who did
The Killing maybe this letting of the throat of this animal.
And I'll just kind of make some side notes here.
It's fascinating when we consider Jesus, who is both the
priest and the sacrifice. That Jesus was killed at the
hands of the Jews and Gentiles who laid hands on him.
So when they came to take Jesus, they laid their hands on the
sacrifice. Almost a picture of transferring
guilt to Jesus, as they were going to crucify him for their
sins. They laid hands on him and
similar, to this, this offering of atonement, Jesus, brought
himself as a free will offering and he laid his life down when G
when they came to get Jesus. He said you're not coming to
take me. I could stop.
You basically if I wanted to, but I am laying my life down to
be very clear. This is a free-will offering
from himself and others laid hands on him, okay?
The second type of offering was a grain offering And this isn't
Leviticus chapter to this offering was a type of, was a
kind of Memorial offering. It was finally beaten good
quality flour. So as you'll see what their
sacrifices, it was important that they brought things that
were not just the leftovers or the junk, they brought the best
quality. If it was flower the finest most
closely ground flour, it was to be an unleavened sacrifice
offered with oil and frankincense.
And as we consider Jesus, he is Sacrifice of the bread of life.
So, parallels, all throughout these.
These, these sacrifices, the third set type of sacrifice was
a peace offering and we learned that in chapter 3.
That that sacrifice was to be a male or female the offer.
Again kills this one, the blood would be poured outside the
Tabernacle and the interesting thing about this one to me is
that when they brought this sacrifice part of, it was eaten
by the offer, the individual, In the offering part of, it was
eaten by the priests. And another part was sacrificed
to God. So, this peace offering was a
comic was a combining of all the parties involved to offer an
offering of peace and kind of a celebration of Peace in this
relationship with God. It offered praise and not
necessarily confession like some of the other offerings did.
And as we read in the New Testament, Romans chapter 5, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Colossians 3 verse 15 and let the peace of God rule in your
hearts to, which also you were called in one body and be
thankful. Okay?
Type number four, was a sin offering.
So the first three it seems, we're more of Fellowship
offerings, but now we're getting into the last Which kind of
changes the tone a little bit. The fourth is a sin offering and
chapter 4 and 5. It talks about how unintentional
sins were some covered in these in these sin offerings and some
were groups in. So, if the people as a whole
sin, they might do an offering like this.
And it was to be a bull without blemish as you see, all these
priests here, putting their hands on on this animal.
So as we see this idea come up a lot with Sacrifices, is to be
something without blemish. Something without fault,
something that did nothing to deserve it, and something that
wasn't just worth being thrown away.
These are the best. And finally, the fifth offering
was a guilt or sometimes called a trespass offering.
So in chapter five and six, this trespass offering was not made
for group of people, it was made for one person and the
difference between the main difference between this offering
and any other kind, is this offering kind of involves some
kind of restitution, this one involved kind of a paying back
for something, you might have done wrong.
So there might be, there could be a payment associated with it.
So with some of these sin offerings in the the trespass,
it's interesting also that the priest would consume part of
these offerings. This is tied in with ideas of
Jesus, being the priest who took on the burdens in the sins.
So many ideas here that I don't have the level of knowledge
necessarily to filter through all of it.
But on this fifth type of offering, if you read Isaiah
chapter 53, talking about the sins are the suffering.
Jesus would go through it says there.
Jesus was going to be. One, who would bear their
iniquities. He was the only one to Bear
guilt for many people in the Old Testament.
Like, I had said that guilt offering was only offered for
one person, but Jesus, it says, in Isaiah 53.
He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his
knowledge. My righteous servant shall
justify many right here for. He shall bear their iniquities.
This is exact language. Is tied to the way they describe
the sacrifices in Leviticus? Jesus was the guilt that you is
the iniquity Bearer. He is that guilt or that
trespass offering. It's very direct correlating
language used here between the Leviticus passage and Jesus
being the one who would bear that he is the guilt offering
for us. Okay, so this idea of
sacrificing animals, never really hit that hard for me.
I don't know about you. But since we've never done it,
since we've never seen it, since we've never really felt what it
feels to do that. I never really hit home with me.
until I was doing this study, I started to think about The
process that took for them to prepare this.
And how that offer would bring that sacrifice to the Tabernacle
to bring that sacrifice to the Tabernacle and lay it there.
And it was often a kind of innocent animal.
You noticed that the Bible talks about the lamb being sacrificed,
and Jesus being the Lamb of the world slain for our sins. when
you think about this idea of someone, bringing an innocent
animal, To the Tabernacle to sacrifice.
To have his knife there with him to do the job himself that
really hit with me this time reading through this.
You know, because I grew up hunting and fishing and so
killing an animal for for food, really didn't do much to me.
I was flying with the, I grew up doing it, I was used to it but I
know not everyone here is that way, not everyone here could
kill an animal and not everyone is, could even imagine doing
that. But for me it's different
killing for food versus something like they were about
to do. Because when I kill for food, a
lot of times it was at served a purpose.
They would eat these. So, there's a purpose, even for
food for them, for the priests, but it was different in that
this animal. It was no game.
Pray, even Hunters today. Have this kind of code that you
don't kill an animal when it's just sitting there or sleeping
or bedded down or defenseless God made this sacrifice system
to show them how wrong it should feel.
Imagine if you took a lamb up to the Tabernacle and you said it
on that altar, And you pull out your knife, you brought with
you. And I want to be graphic, but I
think this is graphic. I think to understand the weight
of it. We have to understand that and
you take that knife and you plunge into the throw to that
poor helpless animal. Think about what that would feel
like. It's not a game animal.
It's not something that was how to defense.
It's not something that had a reason to even be there.
It was a, it was a livestock that you would raised.
Imagine the feeling of that of this isn't, right?
Because when that person would lay their hand on that
sacrifice, That land had no fight in him.
That was intended to feel wrong. Because God wanted us to see
that. It took lifeblood.
It took life to remove the death, that our sin had entered
into the world. It took a life blood to
sacrifice. For that sin for that atonement
that needed to happen. And so, as I think about the
idea of killing something innocent It felt really wrong to
think about it, this time to think about doing something to
animal for what I did. so when, when I read John 1:29 is says,
Behold the Lamb of God with which comes to take this away,
the sin of the world that feels wrong from a physical animal
standpoint, more than ever know Soda picture that being said
about, Jesus feels devastatingly wrong.
If Phil's sickening to me to think about laying a hand, even
on an innocent animal and slitting, its throat for
something I did. It should not have happened.
But by God's grace it did. And through these sacrifices, we
can see that. Jesus is our atonement offering,
he is the bread of life, he is our peace offering.
He is our sin offering, and he is our trespass offering.
And his innocence, and it's sad to me, considering all this, the
modern Jews today, there are still Orthodox Jews, they call
them that, that claim to practice Judaism, they don't
believe Jesus was their Messiah. And that is so sad to me because
even they don't sacrifice anymore when their Temple was
destroyed. They now say, we don't have a
fit place to sacrifice but it's no accident.
The old law has been abolished. And so today on the day of
atonement, what Jews do Today, they do something pretty similar
to what Christians do they do? Good deeds.
And they pray. And it's sad because really the
practicing, just a shadow of a shadow, the Old Law was a shadow
of Jesus to come. And so they're practicing not
even the Old Law. They're not even doing it.
They're just practicing a shadow and trying to hold up the day of
atonement and things like that. But they don't even realize I
feel bad for them. They don't even realize what
they're doing. Because Jesus came to not be a
shadow of a shadow. He came to be the substance of
the sacrifices that they had been.
Performing for so many years and I've been doing for so long.
Jesus is the substance. Verse 34, 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 served the copy, and the shadow of the Heavenly things.
As Moses was divinely, instructed when he was about, to
make the Tabernacle verse 54. He said, see that, you make all
things according to the pattern. Turn shown to you on the
mountain but now he has obtained a more excellent Ministry.
And as much as he is also make mediator of a better Covenant
that word mediator, if you have an argument between siblings,
the person who sometimes there's a third sibling to mediate
between the two and say, hey guys, stop break it up.
You know, that's that's an argument mediator.
But Jesus in a different sense is a mediator and that he's
going between us and God and pleading on our behalf to God
damn. Mercy and to forgive us.
So, Jesus is that mediator of a better Covenant?
Which was established on better promises verse 7 for.
If that first Covenant had been faultless, then no place would
have been sought for a second because finding fault with them.
He says this. And he, this is where the
quotation of Jeremiah chapter 31 starts.
He says, behold the days are coming, says the Lord when I
will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah, not according to the Covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day, when I took them by the hand, to lead
them out of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in
my Covenant. And I disregarded them says the
Lord goes on to say, for this is the Covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord,
we're still in that quotation from from Jeremiah.
I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.
So, This is the transition that's going to happen.
This is prophesied long ago that God will put his laws in their
mind and write them on their hearts and Jesus when he came
and delivered his first kind of inaugural message on The Sermon
on the Mount. Jesus came and saying things
like you've heard this, you know, do not kill, do not do not
commit adultery. But even if you think about
those things in your heart and you develop that kind of inward
person that's in, he said, I'm going to write my laws on their
minds and in their hearts and it's not going to just be
written on the tablets of stone, where they would come together
and read them and perform the sacrifices and the rituals he
saw him that, I write it on their hearts and change them
from the inside. That and we also think of the
law of Liberty, referencing Galatians Galatians. 5 verse 16
says, I say, then walk in the spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh.
Lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the Flesh.
And these are contrary to one another so that you do not do
the things that you wish, but if you are led by the spirit, you
are not under the law, this idea of changing from the inside is a
very new testament idea. And that's represented
especially in Galatians. Now the works of the flesh are
evident which are adultery fornication.
Uncleanness lewdness idolatry sorcery hatred contentions
jealousies outbursts of Wrath selfish, Ambitions, dissensions
heresies, Envy murders drunkenness revelries in the
like this is all the works of the Flesh of which I tell you
beforehand. Just as I also told you in time
past that those who practice, such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God but this is the Out change.
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace.
Long-suffering, kindness goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness self-control against such there is no law and those
who are Christ's have crucified, the flesh with its passions and
desires from the inside out. Just the passions that we that
we seek in life change when we become true, Christians
converted Christians. If we live in the spirit, let us
also walk in the spirit. Let us not become conceited
provoking one, another envying, one, another He said I'm going
to write my laws on their minds and in their hearts.
It's not just going to be a list of do's and don'ts.
It's going to be something that they walk in the spirit of God
and walk in his powerful changing qualities from the
inside out and I will be their God and they shall be my people,
I love that line. God claiming ownership of us.
If you hear a parent who's proud of their child talk about that's
that's my boy. That's my girl right there.
She's she's my child. That's Child right there.
God does that with us? I'm gonna be that that
Christians God. I'm going to be inserts, your
name. I'm gonna be their God and
they're going to be my people. God says that about you today
and he wants to take ownership of you and he is proud of you to
be his child. He is proud to be your father.
One quote said, the best way to make a man.
Keep a law is to make him love the lawgiver.
No, I'm not a lawgiver, but I'm a teacher.
And since I've developed relationships with my students,
they were a lot of them will probably pretty much do anything
for me and will defend me in a lot of situations.
And that's the way God wants us to see him and that we have a
relationship with him that we will do anything for him.
That we will listen to him, if that's what it takes when we
need some change. we must love the lawgiver and that will make
it so much easier to understand obeying his law continue on
continuing on, not quotation from Jeremiah still None of them
shall teach his neighbor and none of it.
Them has brother saying know, the Lord For All Shall know me
from the least of them to the greatest of them.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins
and their Lawless Deeds. I will remember no more God's
power and saving through his mercy.
And his righteousness is going to make people search for him.
It says it's going to be from the least to the greatest when
Jesus came. He said if they're not going to
hear me, go into the highways and the byways invite, anyone
who will come and feast on the bread of life and serve me.
Now this phrase, it says here. No one's going to say know the
Lord and teach them about each other.
Are we really not going to know what's going to teach each other
about the Bible? Well we know that's not true
because passages like Romans tell us you know how were they
gonna hear if they don't have a preacher and how shall they
preach? Unless they are sent.
So we need to have people who are teaching God's word.
It's not what this is saying. I believe what it's saying is
they won't necessarily have to have someone Make them and teach
them from a young age. All the time that God's great
work in his mercy and forgiveness of sins will drive
them to where they don't have to have somebody, like, teach them.
This is what you need to do, but they will come willingly to
serve and to lay down their lives, the mercy driving.
It will call people to the message.
And also because God's people will also no longer be a
physical Nation where they will be taught in their systems and
all those things like like maybe they would have in Jude it and
during Judaism. The world.
In addition, the word will be accessible as opposed to the
tablets possessed and taught by only a few today we have access
to God's work freely and so it's not like someone has to teach
another through oral tradition, through oral Priestly teaching.
We can all study God's word. We don't necessarily have to
have somebody always tell us. This is what you are do.
I'm delivering you this from God view, we can all read the word.
Also the content will be internally based in command and
ritual. So this is represented in the
concluded, work of Jesus, rather than continual sacrifice.
I think this is represented well, New Testament in Acts
chapter 17. I'll skip down to verse 26.
Paul is talking to the, the people at the areopagus who are
gathered to hear the message of the Gospel, these were actually
Gentiles, but it says, and he has made from one blood every
nation of men to dwell on all the face of the Earth and has
determined their pre appointed times and the boundaries of
their dwellings. So they should seek the Lord and
hope that they might grope for him and find him though.
He is not far from each one of us.
For in him, we live and move and have our being as also, some of
your own poets have said for we are also his offspring
therefore, since we are The Offspring of God, we ought not
to think that the divine nature is like gold or silver Stone
something shaped by Art and man's devising.
Truly these times of ignorance, God, overlooked.
But now commands, all men everywhere to repent because he
has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness. By the man whom he has ordained.
He has given Assurance of this to All by raising him from the
dead. I think this speech by Paul in
the areopagus sums up, well this gospel message.
The his will is that people will come and seek him and find him,
and that they won't have to just be taught in a religious
government. How to do everything that these
people will flock to God to serve him willingly, in our last
verse and Hebrews chapter 8, in that he says a New Covenant, he
has made the first obsolete. Now, what is becoming obsolete?
And growing old is ready to vanish away.
So this is speaking of the Old Testament, the Old Testament is
obsolete. What that means, it's no longer
longer relevant necessarily. For current following, the New
Covenant is, what took its place and fulfilled the Old Testament,
that's Commandments and its ordinances.
But the Old Law was not pointless.
In Galatians chapter 3. We read what purpose, then does
the law. Serve this old law, it was added
because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the
promise. Thomas was made and it was
appointed through Angels by the hand of a mediator we learned
that was Jesus. Now a mediator does not mediate
from one only but God is one is then the law against the
promises of God. Certainly not for.
If there had been a law given, which could have given life,
truly righteousness, would have been by the law, but the
scripture has confined all under sin that the Promise by faith in
Christ Jesus. My be given to those who believe
this phrase, he has confined all Or the scripture can finding all
under sin is that saying there's a trap setting up the Old
Testament as a trap the hot and now you're guilty.
No, it just sets. Clear parameters and definitions
that say, because of this law, it's clear to see that.
Hey, you're all confined understanding their it clarifies
what God means about, who is under sin, and who is lost in
sin. It's not some trap but before
Faith came, we were kept under guard by the law kept for the
faith, which would afterward afterward be revealed.
Therefore, the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we
might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are
no longer under a tutor. So as I understand a tutor
wasn't just someone, you go to for a little math, homework.
Help a tutor was someone who is kind of like an official Mentor.
They would train you Day after day, as kind of a prepared as a,
as a preparer for a great work that you'll do later in life.
When you're young you need a tutor and in this sense for
someone to teach them until they were ready to take on
responsibility, maybe a career, or religious work on their own.
And the Old Testament is saying was that tutor because imagine
if Jesus had come, they said, Behold the Lamb of God which
comes to take away the sin of the world and you didn't have
the Old Testament, they would have said, behold who comes to
take care of what if the Lamb of what?
The Old Testament set up a pattern to where they could see
hey I'm confined under sin and help them see that.
Hey, this is what sacrifice is needed for my sins so that when
the Lamb of God comes that tutor could pass them off to Jesus and
say they are ready. They're ready to understand why
it's so important that they needed me that they needed God
that they needed, Jesus is saving blood.
So, the Old Testament was that tutor to show these early
Christians of Judaism and to show us today even what it was
really requiring of people. To have a relationship with God
and to have his sins atoned for and their spiritual walk a tutor
you might consider out of. This is a bad example but mr.
Miyagi and the Karate Kid. It was someone who brought them
and prepared them for a work. Take it or leave it.
So we're going to stop there today at Hebrews chapter 8 and
I'm thankful today that we have a great high priest and a great
sacrifice who eliminated the need for sacrifice.
Is to continue. I'm so thankful that we don't
have to do all those sacrifices of innocent animals anymore and
frankly that Nobody Does it. The, the Jews themselves don't
even do it today and we can praise God for his work in that.
And today, if you have not contacted that saving blood, how
could you not? The love of Christ, compels us
through these patches like we've seen that God wants you to
volunteer for his service because of his great work for
you. And he wants to voluntarily,
bring you into his kingdom. So that you would reap.
The benefits that we've talked about today of having your sins
forgiven, and having peace with God, and with one another, as we
worship God, if you haven't been ads that Kingdom, you can start
by hearing the word like we've talked about today Believing on
that. Repenting and changing your life
singing, you know, you know what, I'm going to submit my
will and go to God's will because I believe in him and
confess that Jesus Christ. Is the Son of God, be baptized
for the remission of your sins, you can do that today, we're
happy to take care of that or if you would like the prayers of
the church today. It's why we're here or happy to
pray one for another. At this time.
Take care of one of the one of either of these things while we
stand and what we see. We thank you for listening to
our podcast, put on by the Church of Christ at 22:15 plans.
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