Jesus - The Great High Priest of the New Covenant - Part 2

Well, if you would take your Bible turn back to chapter 8 of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 8. Now I will touch on those earlier verses, verses 1 to 5, but we will be right there in verses 6 to 13 throughout the message. Now two weeks ago we got started here in chapter 8. We saw that the author was continuing to explain more about the great high priesthood of Jesus and more about this new covenant. I explained that what we have in chapter 8 is really connected to what was seen in chapter 7. And two weeks ago I pointed out that that is how I have broken down the chapter.

Verses 1 to 5 are about the high priesthood of Jesus and more and more of what that looks like. Verses 6 to 13 are about the new covenant and more and more about what this new and better and superior covenant looks like. And I explained that this is where I get the title of the two messages from. Chapter 8 is all about Jesus, the great high priesthood of the new covenant. Of course, two weeks ago we had a part 1 in verses 1 to 5 and this morning we'll have a part 2 finishing out the chapter. Now before we get into our verses, I want us to revisit the magnitude and the consequence of these things for that original audience.

And I revisit these things because what the author wrote in these verses, especially verses 1 to 13, would have really hit this original audience in the heart, in the mind. It really would have cut the legs out from under many of them. We know that this was a Jewish congregation that received this letter. Think about the title of the book. This is why this letter is called the letter to the Hebrews. And we have seen that many were struggling to let go of their old life under the old covenant. The temple and old covenant temple worship was alive and well right there in the center of Jerusalem.

So there was a very, very real pull and temptation for these Jews to go back into that life under the old covenant. And at the heart of the life that many would have been struggling to leave behind was the fact that they were a covenant people. Actually the idea that they were a people who were in covenant with God dominated their thinking and this determined their very way of life. Being the covenant people of God was more than some external identity, was more than some label. It determined who they were. It defined who they were. And this determined and defined how they lived in every way. And this went on for generations.

Remember those specifics that I pointed out. The Old Testament scriptures were given to them, the Jewish people, not to the other peoples. Why? It was because they were the covenant people of God. They were given the land of Israel. The land of Israel was not given to those other peoples. Now why is that the case? Because they were God's covenant people. They possessed the temple there in Jerusalem and they possessed temple worship as prescribed in the Levitical law. Now why is that the case? It was because they were God's covenant people.

So it is not an overstatement to say that everything about who they were and how they lived was tied to the fact that they were God's covenant people. The Bible scholar Leon Morris says, "The most important thing in all of life for them was that God stood in a special relationship to this one nation. He was their God. They were his people. This put them in a very special place since there was no other God. Their whole way of life was organized around this central theme." I like that phrase. Morris says, "Their whole way of life was organized around this central theme." But what was this central theme?

The fact that they were God's covenant people and their entire way of life was determined by this fact. So when the writer of this letter comes along and when he says that the old covenant priesthood, the Levitical law, and the entire old covenant was obsolete, set aside, and even abolished, he was truly destroying the very thing that determined who they were and how they lived. This would have caused a tremendous conflict in their mind, in their hearts, and in their lives. I like how Warren Wiersby describes the conflict here. He says, and I'm quoting, "The old covenant was still governing the nation of Israel.

At the time this epistle, this letter was written, the temple was standing and the priests were offering their appointed sacrifices. Devout Jews probably thought that their Christian friends were foolish to abandon such a 'solid religion' for a faith that was seemingly intangible." What the unbelieving Jews did not realize was that their 'solid religion' had grown old and was about to vanish away.

He continues by saying, "In AD 70, the city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans, and the Jews have not had a temple or a priesthood to serve them ever since." Now, I mentioned this two weeks ago, but we need to see and make sure we see the big picture of what the author was aiming to do, really in chapter 7, 8, and 9. He was purposely, methodically, and repeatedly, because he repeats a lot of this, he was purposely, methodically, and repeatedly writing to correct their erroneous understanding of the old covenant and covenant life.

He was purposefully, methodically, and repeatedly writing to show them that the old covenant and life under the old covenant was not the end. It was never meant to be the end. It was meant to lead them to a new and better covenant under a greater and superior high priest and priesthood. So that's what we're continuing with this morning. Now in our last message, we divided verses 1 to 5, and this morning we will divide verses 6 to 13. Really chapter 8 is one message. Jesus, the great high priesthood of the new covenant, of course this is a part 1 and a part 2, and we really have two major points, two major points.

Now real quickly, I want to glance back over the first major point. So number 1, the superiority of our great high priesthood. We covered this two weeks ago, but I want us to read those verses again. Now the point, and what we are saying is this. We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent, some translations say tabernacle, that the Lord set up not man, for every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Thus it is necessary for the priest also to have something to offer.

Now if he, that would be Jesus, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things, for when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." Now remember that what the author said here can be seen and summarized in four words. The word seated, the word service, the word sanctuary and shadow.

We saw that because Jesus finished the work of redemption and that because he was exalted to the right hand of God, he was and is seated, the verse says, seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. And this tells us that Jesus has been given and he possesses the place of supreme honor, majesty, exaltation and power. The fact that he is seated at the right hand of God tells us that there is no one higher and there is no greater power.

We also saw that unlike the old covenant priests who ministered in the earthly tabernacle in temple, Jesus ministered in the heavenly holy tabernacle, that heavenly holy sanctuary while being seated at the right hand of God. And this leads us to see the comparison of the service of the old covenant priests in the earthly tabernacle up against the service of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary. Those old covenant priests never sat down, never because their service was never ending. They were constantly offering gifts and sacrifices day in and day out, year after year, but not so with Jesus.

He sat down at the right hand of God because his sacrifice and offering was a one time offering and a sacrifice for sin. In Hebrews 9, 24 to 28, the author explains this contrast between the old covenant priests and Jesus. And then we saw that the earthly tabernacle, that earthly temple was a mere shadow. Simply the earthly tabernacle that God gave Moses and Moses gave to the people was simply a copy, a shadow of the heavenly tabernacle or that heavenly sanctuary. And this speaks to the fact that the earthly tabernacle in temple was temporary and meant to point to the heavenly tabernacle, which was and is eternal.

So in verses one to five, we saw the superiority of Jesus as our great high priest. He is superior in that he is seated in the most supreme and all powerful place. He is superior in his service to God in that he is making intercession between man and God, God and man. He is superior in that he is serving in a superior sanctuary that was made not by man, but by God. And that sanctuary is meant to be and is eternal. Now what should we remember here? I'm going to repeat some things I said two weeks ago, but I'm going to elaborate some here. But what should we remember here besides Bible information?

I believe we really need to remember how the author really personalized these things in verse one. Look back at verse one in your copy of God's word. Now the point and what we are saying is this. We have, if you're right in your Bible, circle those words, highlight those words. We have such a high priest. This we have comes from a word in the original, which means to have, to hold, to have, to possess, even to own. Now I know I use this example, but it is good. This is exactly what we see in marriage. When we come to the marriage altar, God gives us a spouse to have, to hold, even to possess.

So what I believe we really need to see here is the fact that we have as born again believers. We have and we hold. We even possess as true Bible Christians a great high priest, and it is not that he is our little good luck charm, no. It is not that our Lord is our own to be pulled out when we need him and then put him away when we don't. No, that's not the case. He is God. He is God, and he is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. So we should have this unshakable peace. We should have no worries. We should be secure and confident because this that we see here is the God that we serve.

And I really believe just seeing and understanding verses one to five has brought great spiritual comfort and praise to many of you. It has for me. It has for me. So the superiority of our great high priest. Now our second point, our new information this morning. Number two, I want us to see the superiority of the new covenant. We see this in verses six to 13, the superiority of the new covenant. Let's read those verses again. Verse six. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises.

For if the first covenant, that would be the old, had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for the second or a second covenant. Or he finds fault with them when he says, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with a house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant. And so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord. I will put my laws into their minds that could say hearts, and I will write them on their minds and hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I'll remember their sins no more.

And speaking of the new covenant, he makes the first one or the old one obsolete and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Now here we see a transition in the author's argument or the case that he's making from presenting the superiority of Jesus high priesthood to presenting the superiority of Jesus as the mediator of the new and better covenant. We have seen that Jesus has a superior seat in heaven and that he is serving in a superior service in a superior sanctuary and now we will see that his superior seat and service attest to and authenticates the superior covenant which came about from superior promises.

Now this is how I want to approach our verses. I want us to see two contrasts the author makes in verses 6 to 7. And I want us to see that the author uses a long quotation from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. Some of your Bibles note that and he uses this quotation to solidify, to cement and to further explain the superiority of the new covenant and he does this in what I see as a series of promises. So first the contrast between Jesus ministry and the ministry of the old covenant priest.

Here the author says that Jesus has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old and that is because his ministry is within a new and superior covenant than that of the old covenant. So we see that Jesus ministry is a better and superior ministry simply because it is part of a better and superior covenant. And then second the contrast between the new covenant and the old covenant. Here in verses 6 to 7 the author says that the new covenant is much more excellent than the old because the new is established upon better promises. But a question, maybe you've thought of these types of questions maybe not.

Why are the promises that establish the new covenant better? Was not the old covenant and those different covenants founded in the old testament, were those things not based on God's promises, God's word? Think about that. Those are needed questions. Yes those questions, yes we answer those questions with a yes and this can be confusing but it doesn't need to be. So let me explain. The reason that the promises that establish the new covenant are better than the promises that establish the old covenant is centers on purpose and intent. Let me repeat that because that's the key.

The reason that the promises that establish the new are better than the promises that establish the old are better is because it centers on purpose and intent. The old covenant was never meant to be permanent. It was always meant to be temporary. And it was meant to point to the new covenant. The old covenant was full of type, shadows and promises and prophecies that was meant to point to the coming of the new. And the old covenant was never meant to take away sin. That was never its purpose and design.

The old covenant could not provide a permanent forgiveness for sin but could only provide a temporary covering for sin or a temporary satisfaction for sin. Hebrews 10, 4 says, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." I like what one commentator said here. I'm quoting. He says the old covenant was lacking, not so much in what its term spelled out as in the fact that it was weak and unable to bring men to God. But not so with the new covenant. The design and the purpose of the new covenant was and is to permanently provide satisfaction and forgiveness for sin. Listen to Hebrews 10, 11 to 12.

Those verses say, "And every priest stand daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God." So that makes the promises pertaining to the new covenant better, which speaks to the fact that the new covenant is better and superior. And notice that this leads us to a very important fact, the fact that Jesus' ministry and his mediation is better. Here we see that Jesus is the mediator of this better covenant and a mediator.

This speaks of one who stands between two parties or two people so as to bring them together. A mediator is a go-between or one who intervenes between two for the purpose of resolving conflict and to bring about peace between the two. But notice how Jesus' ministry and mediation is better than that of the old covenant priests. He offered himself on the cross, unlike those old covenant priests who offered up animal sacrifices. I like what William McDonald says here, and I'm quoting, "He," that's Jesus, "presented the value of his own blood, not the blood of bulls and goats. He," that's Jesus, "put away sins, not merely covered them.

He," that's Jesus, "gave believers a perfect conscience, not an annual reminder of sins. He," that's Jesus, "opened the way for us to enter into the presence of God, not to stand outside at a distance." So what we see here is this. Jesus obtained a superior ministry in that his mediation is a mediation for the permanent forgiveness for sin. And Jesus' ministry is within a superior covenant in that the new is better than the old because the old was faulty. Now it was not that the old covenant was faulty in that it was sinful or erroneous, no. It was faulty in that it was inadequate. It was unable to provide permanent forgiveness for sin.

Listen to what verses 6 to 7 say in the Amplified. But as it is, Christ has acquired a priestly ministry which is more excellent than the old Levitical priestly ministry, for he is the mediator of a better covenant, uniting God and man, which has been enacted and rests upon better promises. For if the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one or an attempt to institute another one, the new covenant. Now before we move into verses 8 to 13 and how the author cements what he's been teaching here out of the Old Testament in those promises, I want to make a little application here.

And I think this will help you. For those of us who have savingly believed in Christ, we have, we have as our own and we even have and hold now Christ as our mediator. Let me repeat that. For those of us who are born again believers, true believers in Christ, we have verse 1, we have as our own, we even have and we hold Christ as our mediator. He is our mediator between us and God and between God and us. So if we are struggling with the temptation, Jesus is our go-between between our temptation and God. So we go to Him. You see? If we are struggling with the temptation, we do not stay in that temptation on our own. No, we go to our mediator.

We have a mediator. We go to our mediator. He is our mediator between us and God, between God and us. If we are struggling with a sin, even a gross sin, as a believer if we are struggling with a sin that we just can't shake, what do we do? Do we wrestle all alone? No. Jesus is our mediator. We have a mediator. We go to our mediator. He is our mediator between God and us in our gross sin. I'll turn the corner here. If we are walking in and struggling in trial, you know there are two kind of Christians, those who have come out of a trial and those who are going into one. If we are struggling in trial, Jesus is our mediator.

Many times believers just wallow in that trial. Oh, woe is me, woe is me. They may even talk to brothers and sisters, but they fail to go to who? Our mediator. We have. We possess a mediator. He is our mediator between God and us in our trial. If we are facing difficult life decisions, Jesus is our mediator. We go to Him. If we are facing even the possibility of major changes and shifts in life that seem impossible to change, what should we do? It's a broken record. He is our mediator. We have a mediator. It's personal. We go to our mediator. He is our mediator between God and all of our changes and shifts and difficulties in life.

Now let me give you a warning here. Be very careful. Sometimes we can go to others, even solid brothers and sisters in Christ, instead of going to Christ our mediator. Who should we go to first? Christ our mediator. And second, we go to brothers and sisters in the life of the church. And I'm so thankful that we have that here. But be careful because many times true believers, those who are really struggling to try to walk with God through life, can go to brothers and sisters before they ever go to their mediator. And notice this is personal. This is relational. Very relational. Now let's get into verses 8 to 13.

Now I'm not going to read them because of time. But if you notice verses 8 to 13, your Bible try to probably notes the fact that this is a quotation from Jeremiah's prophecy. But here it is important to see how the author solidifies what he's been teaching. And he moves on to explain how the new covenant is much different than the old covenant. Now first, he says that God spoke of the new covenant through Jeremiah. We see that in verses 8 to 9. He says that God spoke of the new covenant through Jeremiah. Here we see how this new covenant was to be brought about and to whom this pertain to. In verse 8, Jeremiah quotes God.

Notice Jeremiah quotes God. The English Standard Version reads, "I will establish a new covenant." The new American says, "I will affect a new covenant." And there is one detail we need to see in the language here. This phrase, "I will affect" or "I will establish," this comes from a word in the original. And language scholars tell us that this is not the usual language for making a covenant. But this speaks of bringing something about and accomplishing something. So this means that God says, "I will. I will establish.

I will bring about or accomplish a new covenant." And this fact is emphasized at the end of verse 9 where Jeremiah says, declares the Lord. And again in verse 10 where Jeremiah repeats, declares the Lord. Some rhetorical questions here. Can God lie? If God says that He will accomplish something, can He and will He? God cannot lie. God never lies. And if God says that He will accomplish something, well, He will. And look, church, we do not serve some weak, impotent God here. Our God is God. And our Lord sits at the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high. So notice what we see here.

God was saying that He would establish a new covenant and that He would bring it about. He would accomplish it. And notice what else we see in verse 9. This new covenant is not like the covenant that God made with those Jews that He brought out of Egypt. That covenant failed. That covenant failed. Not that God failed. Not that God did not keep up His end of the covenant or His word. But that those Jews did not continue in that covenant. But notice to whom this new covenant pertained. Jeremiah said that this would be for the house of Israel and the house of Judah. So this leads us to a couple of questions here.

Does this mean that the new covenant is only for Israel, only for Judah, only for the Jewish people? Does this mean that the new covenant is not for Gentiles or non-Jews? This is very simple. And we will see this played out in our Wednesday night Bible study through the book of Acts. But this is more simple or simplistic than you know. But the best way to understand this is to see that the new covenant was first for the Jews. We see this in the earthly ministry of Jesus. When He first started out in His earthly ministry, He went to the Jews first. When He sent out His disciples, He sent them only to the Jews or to the nation of Israel.

We see this same thing when Jesus gave His commission in Acts 1a to those early believers. We've seen this in the book of Acts on Wednesday nights. Peter's first sermon there at the day of Pentecost was preached to Jews and proselytes to Judaism. That's in Acts 2. And Peter's second sermon after he healed the lame beggar, Peter clearly preached the gospel to the Jews and the nation of Israel. We see that in Acts 3. And when we continue in Acts, we will see that eventually the gospel goes to the Gentiles. But Paul speaks of this in Romans 1.16.

It's real simple and short when he says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." That would be the non-Jew. So the point here is this. God spoke long before through the prophet Jeremiah saying that He certainly would establish a new covenant and He would accomplish that covenant. And this new covenant was first for the Jews and then second for all non-Jews or the Gentiles. Now before we move into those promises, notice that here we have two questions or two lessons excuse me that pertain to the new covenant.

First the certainty of the new covenant. The certainty of the new covenant. God said, "I will establish a new covenant." You see that? I will establish a new covenant. And I don't know about you but this kind of sounds like Matthew 16, 18 where Jesus said, "I will build my church. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." So look Grace Life Church, seeing the certainty of the new covenant helps us see more and more that we should have a mighty expectation for our church. But then second, or the second lesson, the diversity of the new covenant. The diversity of the new covenant.

God said, "I will establish a new covenant first with the Jews and second with the Gentiles." Now I don't know about you but this kind of sounds like John 3, 16 to me where Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." So look church, we must remember that the new covenant is not only for us but it is also for others. And the very second we start to think or believe that Jesus the Gospel in the church is for us and not for others is the very second that we start to exclude people that God includes. Jesus said that whoever, whoever.

You see how inclusive? You see the diversity? Jesus said that whoever believes is a part of the new covenant. So our responsibility is to share the Gospel with any and all. But now let's get to our promises. Second, He offered a series of promises in verses 10 to 12. Actually we see four promises that are found in the new covenant that Jeremiah gives us. Now here I want to read verses 10 to 12. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord.

I will put my laws into their minds, into their hearts that could read either one and I will write them, that's His laws, on their hearts or minds that could read either one and I will be their God and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach each one His neighbor and each one His brother, saying, 'Know the Lord.' For they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more." Now notice how God changes here.

He moved from the great failures and the pessimism of the past with the Jews who came out of Egypt to the future and the great successes and the promises of life in and under the new covenant. Notice the promise of eternal change from God. I'll repeat that. The promise of eternal change from God. The promise reads, "I will put my laws into their minds, into their hearts. I will write them my laws on their minds and on their hearts." Notice that in this promise we see a contrast between the new covenant and the old. Under the old covenant it was all about outwardness.

The old covenant did have within it God inspired laws but those laws were written on tablets of stone according to Exodus 32, 15 to 16. And the fault or the shortcoming in the old covenant was that it was all about outward. It was all about externals and it did not produce true heart change but not so with the new covenant. As one commentator said it and I'm quoting Jeremiah, "Look for a time when people would not simply obey an external code but would be so transformed that God's own laws would be written on their inmost beings." So within the new covenant there is the promise of eternal change. Question.

Has there been internal change in you? Has there been internal change in you? In that you have come to saving faith in Christ Jesus and your heart of stone was replaced and God put His laws on your heart, mind and soul? I think back to when God did that for me. Now I did not have the capacity to understand that but oh I had a sinful heart, a heart of stone when it came to the things of God and I received a new heart by the miracle of regeneration and all of a sudden I began to see God's word and God's truth and God's laws differently. Why? Because those things were put into my heart by God.

Notice the next promise, the promise of a personal relationship with God. The promise of a personal relationship with God. Still in verse 10 the promise reads, "And I will be their God and they shall be my people." Now in one sense this is nothing new. The Jews had always been God's people and God had always been their God. Remember they were a covenant people of God. But here there is much, there is a much fuller meaning because under the new covenant there is a fuller revelation of God and a fuller revelation of the character of God and a fuller understanding of the purposes of God.

Simply as one commentator said it, the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus mean that God has acted decisively to save a people. The God who saves people in Christ is the God of his redeemed in a new and definite way. And when people have been saved at the awful cost of Calvary they are the people of God in a way never before known. Think about it. Abraham was the people of God. He knew God. He was the people of God. But not in a way in which New Testament, New Covenant believers are the people of God. You see folks we have something that Abraham only longed for.

So within the New Covenant there is the promise of becoming the people of God with a unique relationship with God through Calvary only through Calvary and across. So my question for you is this, have you been to Calvary? Have you been to the cross? Therefore you entered into a personal relationship with God therefore becoming the people of God? I think about some of you. I remember when some of you went to Calvary. I remember when some of you went to the cross and you were converted to Christ and you became a part of the people of God. I remember and I know you do too. You notice the promise of a personal knowledge of God.

The promise of a personal knowledge of God. Now we see this in verse 11. Let me go back and read the entire verse. "And they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother saying, 'Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest.'" Now this can be confusing but it doesn't need to be. Here we see that within the life under the new covenant there is no need to teach one another. This simply means that under the new covenant all who are redeemed will have a personal knowledge of God. They will know God and God will know them. But this leads to a question.

If under the new covenant there will be no need to teach one another then why do we have teachers and preachers given to the church like we see in Ephesians 4? Now this does not mean that God's people have all knowledge so they have no need to be taught. No. This simply means that all who are truly of and in the new covenant have the personal knowledge of God so they do not have to be taught of God. Let me give you an example. You cannot evangelize someone who knows God. If someone is a true believer you cannot evangelize them if you present the gospel to them they will say, "I know God. God saved me when I was in college.

God saved me when I was an adult." You see they know God. They don't have to be taught. They've been born again. And so when someone evangelizes them they just smile and share their testimony and they have a little revival meeting there. So within the new covenant there is the promise that all who are in the new covenant have no need to be taught of God because all in the new covenant have a personal knowledge of God. Now on a very personal note if someone were to ask you do you know God? If someone were to ask you have you savingly believed in Christ so that you know God can you say yes?

You see many know about God and many know about the things of God but many do not know God. And the sad thing is this many can come and sit in churches just like ours, sing our songs, listen to our sermons, participate in church events and know all about God but not know God but for the redeemed this brings about great comfort. Think about it. Many do not have to be taught of God because under the new covenant all know God because only the redeemed are actually in the new covenant. And then notice the promise of sins forgiven. The promise of sins forgiven. Here I want us to read verse 12.

Where I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more. Now here what the author was and he is saying is simple. This is the best and most joyful part of the new covenant. Permanent forgiveness for sin. The possibility that sins could be and can be forgiven and remembered no more. And this must be seen up against the old covenant manner in dealing with sin. Under the old covenant and under the law sin could not be dealt with effectively. Sin could not be removed. Sin could be covered over and temporary forgiveness could be offered and accepted but sin could not be permanently forgiven and removed.

Like how one commentator explains this he says and I'm quoting the sacrifices prescribed by the law made a man ceremonially clean. That is they qualified him to engage in the religious life of the nation but this ritual cleansing was external. It did not provide moral cleansing but not so under the new. Those who seemingly believe can have sins forgiven and those sins can be remembered no more because the one sacrifice for sin provided by Christ brings about a once and for all forgiveness for sin. Sin is no more. It is forgiven. It is forgotten.

So within and under the new covenant there is the promise of complete forgiveness for sin and not only forgiveness but be forgotten and remembered no more. And look believer the sins you were remembering, the sins you were beating yourself up with, God has forgiven and he remembers them no more. Look back at the verse. Some of you need to read that verse. "For I," remember this is God talking, "I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more." Look brother, look sister, the sins you are remembering and beating yourself up with, God has forgiven and he remembers them no more.

Before you came to Christ some of you committed sins that you do not want anyone in this room to know about and the guilt and the shame is killing you because you were remembering. You were remembering. You were remembering. Look at what the verse says. God has forgiven them and he remembers them no more but the consequence of sin is it is hard to forget. But with his help and the work of the Spirit you can. There can come a day when you forgive yourself and the memory of those sins begin to fade.

So in verses 8 to 13 we see that Jesus has obtained a superior ministry in that he is the mediator of a superior covenant based on better and superior promises. And this new and better and superior covenant was promised and prophesied by God through the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah and look folks this new and better covenant is full of promises. And notice God said I will. I will bring it about and he has. But notice we have not looked at verse 13. Let's read the verse. In closing we will deal with verse 13. The verse says in speaking of a new covenant he makes the first one or the old one obsolete.

And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Now as I close I want us to see what this verse says and how this related to that original audience and then how this relates to us. What the author was saying here is simple. The fact that God has established and brought about a new covenant automatically means that the old covenant is obsolete. And at the time of this letter when this letter was written the old covenant was fading. It was vanishing. It was fading. It was vanishing right before their eyes.

And if that was the case and it was then why would those Jews in this congregation who profess to believe in Jesus go back to living life under the old? Why would they be even tempted to go back? For us in our day we would say that was foolish. But for them it was a real temptation. Look at how this relates to us. The author has carefully and methodically explained more and more how Jesus is our great high priest and the great high priest of the new and superior covenant. That covenant that we have and we possess as born again believers. So chapter 8 is all about Jesus our great high priest of the new and superior covenant.

The covenant that we enjoy. That we enjoy. Now let's pray. I want to commit our message to the Lord. We will sing a closing song just closing out this part of the message and then we will transition into participating in the Lord's Supper.