1. "I am not the only former self-conscious enemy of Jesus Christ whom he has aggressively befriended and made His own. This room is full of people like me. And what do we do? We come together and we praise this mediator of the New Covenant."

2. "The priests in the first covenant could not do what Christ would do, any more than your preschool children who may play work could go to work in your place for a day and do your job. They couldn't do that even for a day, and they're not meant to."

3. "The Old Testament sacrifices of the first covenant were teaching us that sin cost life, that justice and mercy would involve substitution, that God would have to provide what we could not provide for ourselves."

4. "The tabernacle was there, so God was with His people. But if you try to go into the tabernacle, that's only for the priests. And even inside the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies was only for the high priest once a year. So the very symbol of God's presence was also the symbol of His distance morally and spiritually from the people."

5. "Some religions make it seem that the events of our lives and of our world, our history, are just never ending, ever repeating circles devoid of special meaning or significance. Friends, the Bible presents a very different picture of our life."

6. "The one-time judgment would require a one-time sacrifice. And that's what Christ has provided."

7. "The signs and symbols of the tabernacle and the temple and even our own table today are fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus Christ entered heaven itself for us. No other priest could say that."

8. "We have to do something with our sins. He sees and knows them all and hates them. Jesus Christ has appeared once for all time at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."

9. "That thick curtain that separated the presence of the holy God from sinful man, that curtain was literally physically ripped in two and destroyed when Christ died. The symbol of separation was then turned into a symbol of acceptance and access as the holy God through the ministrations of His Son accepted sinners through Christ."

10. "Lord, help us to see more the extent of our sin and the extent of your love."

Observation Questions

1. According to Hebrews 9:6-7, how often did the priests go into the first section of the tabernacle, and how often did the high priest enter the second section (the Most Holy Place)?

2. In Hebrews 9:12-14, what did Christ use to enter the holy places, and what did this secure for His people?

3. What items does Hebrews 9:4-5 say were contained in and above the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place?

4. According to Hebrews 9:19-22, what did Moses sprinkle with blood when the first covenant was inaugurated, and what principle does verse 22 establish about forgiveness?

5. In Hebrews 9:24, what contrast does the author draw between the holy places Christ entered and the earthly holy places?

6. What does Hebrews 9:27-28 say is appointed for man, and how does it compare this to what Christ has done and will do?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why does the author emphasize that the high priest entered the Most Holy Place "not without taking blood" (v. 7) and that Christ entered "by means of His own blood" (v. 12)? What is the significance of this contrast between animal blood and Christ's own blood?

2. The sermon points out that the repeated nature of Old Testament sacrifices (daily, yearly) raises the question "Why the repetition?" How does the "once for all" nature of Christ's sacrifice (vv. 12, 26) answer this question and demonstrate His superiority?

3. In verse 9, the author calls the tabernacle arrangements "symbolic for the present age," and verse 10 mentions regulations "imposed until the time of reformation." What does this teach us about the purpose and limitations of the first covenant's sacrificial system?

4. How does the distinction between "copies" and "true things" (v. 24) help explain the relationship between the earthly tabernacle and the heavenly reality that Christ entered?

5. According to verses 14-15, what does Christ's sacrifice accomplish for the conscience that the first covenant sacrifices could not? Why is this purification of conscience necessary for serving the living God?

Application Questions

1. The sermon emphasizes that Christ's sacrifice covers "all your sins." What specific sins or failures do you struggle to believe are truly forgiven? How might meditating on Christ's "once for all" sacrifice change how you approach God this week?

2. The first covenant sacrifices dealt only with external matters (v. 10), but Christ purifies our conscience (v. 14). In what areas of your life are you tempted to rely on external religious practices or rule-keeping rather than trusting in Christ's finished work for your standing before God?

3. Verse 28 speaks of those "eagerly waiting" for Christ's return, and the sermon quotes Luther saying you know you're eagerly waiting if you're disappointed each day He doesn't come. How would you honestly describe your anticipation of Christ's return, and what might increase your eagerness?

4. The sermon noted that the tabernacle symbolized both God's presence with His people and His moral distance from them due to sin. How does understanding that Christ has opened the way into God's presence affect how you approach prayer, worship, or times of personal struggle?

5. The original readers of Hebrews were tempted to return to familiar religious practices rather than continue following Christ. What familiar comforts, habits, or securities are you tempted to trust in instead of resting fully in Christ's sufficient sacrifice?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Leviticus 16:1-22 — This passage describes the Day of Atonement rituals that Hebrews 9 references, showing the annual sacrifice that foreshadowed Christ's once-for-all offering.

2. Isaiah 52:13–53:12 — The Suffering Servant prophecy explicitly echoes in Hebrews 9:28's statement that Christ was "offered once to bear the sins of many."

3. Exodus 24:1-8 — This passage records Moses inaugurating the first covenant with blood, which Hebrews 9:19-20 directly quotes and interprets.

4. Hebrews 10:1-18 — This continuation of the argument in Hebrews 9 further explains why animal sacrifices could never take away sins and how Christ's single offering perfects believers forever.

5. Matthew 27:45-54 — This account of Christ's death includes the tearing of the temple curtain, which the sermon highlights as the physical sign that access to God's presence was now opened through Christ.

Sermon Main Topics

I. Comparison as a Framework for Important Decisions

II. Who: The Priests of Each Covenant (Hebrews 9:7, 11-15)

III. What: The Sacrifices Offered (Hebrews 9:7, 11-14, 19-22, 25-26)

IV. When: The Timing and Repetition of Sacrifices (Hebrews 9:6-7, 12, 25-28)

V. Where: The Location of Priestly Ministry (Hebrews 9:1-5, 11-12, 24)

VI. Why: The Purpose and Effect of the Sacrifices (Hebrews 9:10, 12-15, 26-28)

VII. Christ's Once-for-All Sacrifice Calls Us to Trust in Him Alone

Detailed Sermon Outline

With a straight face, the person looks at five wealthy and successful investors and says, I would like an investment of $500,000 for a 1% stake in my company. So this person just starting a business is suggesting that his fledgling business is worth $50 million. But for whatever reason, multiple sharks go for it. Lori offers $500,000 for 10%, Robert $1,000,000 for the whole company, and Mr. Wonderful offers $500,000 for 1% as asked, but with a permanent royalty of 50 cents for every item sold in perpetuity.

The entrepreneur now has to compare the offers and compare the potential help the various investors could give. This is kind of like what you and I do when we look for a car or maybe shop for clothes or maybe make a larger, more significant purpose. We compare the options that are out there. We look at the good points and bad points. We see what we can get this for.

And we do this in many aspects of our lives. We do this when we pick a college. We do this when we decide on who to vote for. Comparison is one of the ways that we make important decisions. This time of year, Americans remember our decision to declare independence from the British throne.

What we often don't remember, perhaps didn't even know, is that this was a choice that was a controversial one for many people living in these 13 British colonies. Obviously, the colonies north of us that now comprise Canada made a different choice. And here on the eastern seaboard, it was not a foregone conclusion that people would choose independence. As they compared what they had known from the British crown with an unknown American government, they compared. What were the advantages and the disadvantages that the British crown offered?

Versus American independence. One option they knew, the other was untested. One option offered sometimes protection, but often sometimes high taxes. The other option seemed low on both counts. Not much ability to protect, but also not many taxes they would ask.

We could go on. Americans divided. Benjamin Franklin, older, successful, wealthy and famous, decided to risk it all on independence. His own son, William, decided to remain loyal to the king and left with the British troops from New York City, moved to London and never returned. But millions of less famous families faced the same kind of tensions over the choice of which side to support.

Comparison is a huge part in some of our most important choices.

Religiously, we don't know exactly what it was that these first century Christians that the letter of Hebrews was written to were struggling with, but we can tell broadly from the matters that are addressed. We can tell from the arguments that the letter is marshaled that some, perhaps many, of their number were doing some mental comparisons between Jesus and the ancient worship at the temple in Jerusalem. And they were wondering if it were really worth it to follow Jesus, or if they should simply return to their previous ways of temple worship of the one true God with building and furnishings and practices that were familiar to them. We can tell by the arguments that the writer to the Hebrews has been making. You see in the first seven chapters he compared Jesus to to angels and Moses and priests, showing how Jesus was superior to them all.

It seemed like in chapter 5 he was about to dive into this sort of central core matter of the book, the Atonement that Jesus Christ provides that the temple doesn't, when he remembered how poorly some of them seemed to be understanding Jesus. So he pulled back in chapter 6 with a warning to them to be careful spiritually. And then in chapter 7 he went on to the depths of his subject. He compared Jesus' priesthood, standard to the standard priests of the temple, and he explained how Jesus was from an older, superior line of priests, the line of Melchizedek. And then in chapter 8 that we considered last week, the writer laid out that Jesus was a superior high priest of a superior covenant, the new covenant, as the Lord Himself had called it in Jeremiah chapter Now in our chapter we come to this morning, our author comes to the meat of the comparison between what he calls the first covenant and the new covenant.

Turn to page 1005 in the Bibles provided or to Hebrews chapter 9 in your own copy of God's Word. Listen as I read Hebrews chapter 9. And as you listen, think of these basic questions. Who, what, when, where, why, who, what, when, where, why.

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence. It is called the holy place. Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.

Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section performing their ritual duties. But into the second only the high priest goes and he but once a year and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing, which is symbolic for the present age. According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinklings of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.

Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the Law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you. '

and in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the Law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not His own, for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world.

But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages. To put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment, so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him. Friends, as we consider this chapter today, I hope you can see clearly in this that in the new covenant now Christ has sacrificed Himself once for all time and has entered heaven to redeem His people. So let's compare these two covenants, what is called the first covenant and the new covenant, and remind ourselves of why it is that we trust in Christ alone today.

So five questions to help us do this. First question, who?

As we look through our passage, we're reminded that the first covenant involved earthly high priests. Some of the high priests' work is described there in verse 7. But we shouldn't think these high priests, just because they're called high priests, are distinguished from us morally or spiritually. They had a special job.

But other than that, they're not really special people. They're basically just like us. He calls them down in verse 13, defiled persons. He had already alluded to the sinfulness of the priests in the temple and the tabernacle back in chapters 5 and chapter 7. And He'd argued that the explanation for there being so many generations of these priests is that They all were taken away by death and they died because of their own sins.

So these priests were themselves sinful and defiled. And so their sacrifices can never end. They keep needing to make them for people because they, including themselves, keep sinning. This is the covenant that He says here in verse 19 was declared by Moses. So that's one covenant.

Now on the other hand, he says, there is what he calls in verse 15, a new covenant. Look there, verse 15. Therefore He, that's Christ, is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised inheritance, eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. So Christ is the High Priest and the Mediator of this covenant. We see up in verse 11, He offered Himself, we read in verse 14, without blemish to God.

No blemish. Unlike these temple priests, Christ had no sin. This is one of the wonderful advantages that the author has already brought up in chapter 7. And in that verse 415 that so many Christians prize, We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. As he says here in verse 14, Christ was without blemish.

So this is the author of the New Covenant. And we see in verse 15 that Christ is this new covenant's mediator. So friends, we begin our comparison noting the priests of the one and the priests of the other. Christ is the one that we have thanked and praised today already in our singing for His unending mercy and kindness, for the glory of His grace, for His generous pouring out of his grace. Friends, Jesus Christ is amazing to us.

We praise him, we sing, we celebrate again and again every Sunday. We gather here and we literally sing his praises. And friends, consider who's in the room doing it. I am not the only former self-conscious enemy of Jesus Christ whom he has aggressively befriended and made His own. This room is full of people like me.

And what do we do? We come together and we praise this mediator of the New Covenant. The Old Testament is full of witness to Him. He is the prophet like Moses from Deuteronomy 18. He is the kingly Son of David who will reign forever from 2 Samuel 7.

He is David's Lord from Psalm 110. He is the suffering servant from Isaiah 52 and 53, who will bear the sins of his people. He is the Son of Man from Daniel 7, who was given dominion and glory. Friends, the first covenant points to the new covenant, and especially in this way, in that the Messiah has come for us. All of the differences in this new covenant radiate from the simple fact there in verse 15 that Christ is its mediator.

That's the who.

On to number two, what? What? What did those involved in the first covenant do? And what has Christ done?

Well, in that first covenant, the priests offered blood. We see that in verse 7. It was the blood of goats and calves and bulls sacrificed to show the serious nature of the sins in view. You look down in verses 19 and following, we see more of what the priests would do with it. Rachel read us a little bit of this as an example from Leviticus chapter 1 earlier.

Look down there, chapter 9, verse 19. For when every commandment of the Law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying, and here the writer to the Hebrews is quoting Exodus 24:8, this is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you. And in the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the Law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. So this is what the priests did.

One more thing. We need to notice about what these priests did, they offered blood. But look at verse 25. We read there at the end of the verse, the writer points out that that blood that they were offering, the blood was blood not His own.

The writer draws our attention to that as a key point of comparison because in the New Covenant, Christ, we read, offered His own blood. He offered Himself.

That was His sacrifice. Look there in chapter 9 verse 11. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves. But by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinklings of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

If you look later down in verse 26, he refers to Christ having sacrificed Himself. I just want to point out to you, if you're somebody today who really is in the position of considering different religions, maybe you're considering Christianity. Maybe you're not normally at church. It's a holiday weekend. You're here visiting family and they brought you to church with them.

This is one thing you should notice very carefully that helps Christianity to be distinguished, to stand out from other religions. We saw in the first point the merely human and sinful priests compared within the New Covenant, the Messiah, the Christ, the truly divine Son of David and Son of God. Now, I think logic would lead us to suppose that in the first covenant, the inferior actor, the merely human priests, would have to do so much more because they are themselves so much less. Or considered from the point of view of the new covenant, surely Jesus Christ would accomplish the new covenant with just the merest exertion of His spiritual power. It would be like, if you get the obviously younger, stronger guy to go get something, it'll be much easier for him than it would be for me.

Right?

So what the priest would have to do with both hands Jesus could do just by lifting his little finger. Surely that would make sense if we're saying that Jesus is greater. And that would be like this new covenant. But friends, this is the fascinating thing about Christianity. It's not like that at all.

No, look at what we see here. The priests in the first covenant could not do what Christ would do, any more than your preschool children who may play work could go to work in your place for a day and do your job. They couldn't do that even for a day, and they're not meant to. In the same way, the role of the first covenant was to build categories, to show by types and shadows, previews and foretastes of the reality that would come in Christ. They were never meant to be the new covenant themselves any more than the trailer is meant to be the movie.

The Old Testament sacrifices of the first covenant were teaching us that sin cost life, that justice and mercy would involve substitution. That God would have to provide what we could not provide for ourselves, and that the God who was faithful in the miracles in the time of Aaron and Moses and the giving of the Law and the sacrifices of the Tabernacle would be the same God who would be faithful in the New Covenant that they all pointed toward. The first covenant in its sacrifices showed both that God would be with His people and yet that He would be separate from them. His loving grace was shown and is also His utter goodness and holiness. His attractive mercy and His distinguishing justice.

The tabernacle was there, so God was with His people. But if you try to go into the tabernacle, that's only for the priests. And even inside the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies was only for the high priest once a year.

So the very symbol of God's presence was also the symbol of His distance morally and spiritually from the people. In the same way Christ, by offering Himself, shows both the seriousness of our sins. I mean, what hateful thing sin must be to God to require such a sacrifice.

And how great God's love must be to provide such a sacrifice.

In this point of comparison, then what was done, the new covenant far outshines the first covenant. So that's who and what? Question three, when? There is this one detail of comparison in our chapter that I want to make sure we don't miss in the sort of landslide of specifics and particulars and details we have here. I want you to notice the significance of this.

It's something we've already mentioned in passing. Look there at verses 6 and 7. These preparations having thus been made, referring to the Old Testament sacrifices in the tabernacle, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. And then you look down at verse 25, Nor was it to offer himself, referring to Christ repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. So you see there in verse 6, you have the idea of the priest going in regularly, that means daily, with offerings of incense and sacrifices.

And then once a year in verse 7 for the high priest. And the writer repeats that down in verse 25. So the fact that the first covenant had priests, whose work was repeated every day, and a high priest whose work was repeated every year was significant. The question that should come to your mind is why the repetition? Why the repetition?

Now as you keep that question in mind, let's consider the case in the New Covenant. Let's compare. And twice we see this phrase in our chapter once for all. And you should read that as once for all time or once forever. That's the context of the expression and it's showing that Christ's offering is an offering that would never need to be repeated.

You see that? Verse 12, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood. And then you look down to the last paragraph of our chapter starting in verse 25.

Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly as the High Priest enters the holy places every year with blood not His own. For then He, Christ, would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifices of Himself. Just as it has been appointed for man to die once and after that comes judgment, so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him. So the pattern that the priest in the first covenant had set down was not an exact picture of what was coming, but was suggestive, was pointing toward it.

The outlines of the once for all sacrifice could be dimly seen in the association of guilty people and bloody sacrifice offered for atonement and mercy, ending one's own everlasting alienation from a completely good Creator God, would there be one never repeated sacrifice that could be sufficient for our need?

Some religions make it seem that the events of our lives and of our world, our history, are just never ending, ever repeating circles devoid of special meaning or significance. There was a song, I always have my music on shuffle, and I had this one song by a popular artist, He was just talking about how there's one circle and only one side of the circle and there's one life and there's no right, no wrong. Just saying it explicitly while I was writing these very sentences, I thought, yeah, that's what so many think today. That there's just nothing special and that we get peace by kind of sinking into that and being resigned to that, that we will make our best with that and we'll just accept it. Friends, the Bible presents a very different picture of our life.

The Bible presents the truth that even as God made the world at one point and will judge it at one point, so He made us and He will judge us as individuals. There is a special significance to our lives. And so to this time today, that's why we read here in verse 27, It is appointed to man to die once, and after that comes the judgment. The one-time judgment would require a one-time sacrifice. And that's what Christ has provided.

There's no idea here of some other means than Christ or some other life than this one, some second chance after death, some gradual purgatory that does its work after we die. The transition mentioned here in verse 27, From life to death and through death to judgment seems sudden, even abrupt. But it certainly helps us see why the Bible teaches Christians to make the most of our days. We can see why a healthy work ethic has often been associated with Bible believing Christians because we understand the uniqueness of our days and hours. Brothers and sisters, I think there is also for us in this little detail some help for our observation of the Lord's Supper in a few minutes.

Jesus exhorted His disciples to share the bread and cup in remembrance of Him. We read in Mark's gospel, and He took the cup and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them and they all drank of it and He said to them, 'This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. ' That supper and the soon sacrifice it depicted had been anticipated countless times before in the temple of Jerusalem in all of the sacrifices that were made there as blood was spilled and has since been remembered many times in suppers like our own here as ripples from the cross go out in the pool of history in all directions before the cross and since all pointing to the one-time unique sufficiency of Christ's never to be repeated once-for-all-time sacrifice. That's the when: once forever. Question four, to compare the first covenant with the new covenant, where?

Where? And this may seem Very simple and obvious, but we should be careful to note it because the divine author points us to it. The first covenant was physically centered on what he calls here in verse 1, an earthly place of holiness. Verse 2, a tent. This was a reference to the tabernacle that God required the Israelites to build as they traveled in the wilderness in which they maintained in the Promised Land until Solomon finally built a stone version of it.

Often called the temple, which was built and destroyed and rebuilt until we come to the temple that was standing Jesus' own days of earthly ministry. Its fundamental significance is seen in a contrast that we've already mentioned. On the one hand, it was there among the Israelites uniquely as God's initiative showing His special selection of them as His people and His special presence with them. And along with it, He had inspired the Law of Moses, which regulated portions of their lives and instructed them in sacrifices they were to provide, and the furnishings of the tabernacle and the various offerings they could make, burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, et cetera. And what the Levites were to do, especially in their care for the tabernacle and to place the stone tablets were to be put and all of this has been entrusted to them through Moses.

As he says here in verse 19 when he mentioned that every commandment of the Law has been declared by Moses to all the people. So Moses blessed them. He read the Law of God. He taught them about repentance and forgiveness, so much of which was symbolized here physically, visually in the tabernacle that God designed for His people. That's how He could call an earthly tent a place of holiness.

It was the center of the religion of Israel and the Hebrews. But look at one very interesting note our author makes about this place. It's there in verse 24. Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things. Prince Christ was not a Levite.

He did not have the ministry of taking those sacrifices the Israelite would bring and then presenting it to the Lord in the temple. That was not what he was sent to do. During Christ's incarnation, he never went into the temple. And particularly not into the Holy of Holies, where the high priest entered only once a year. When we read in the Gospels of Jesus going to the temple, this means the temple area, the temple courts, especially that area right outside the front of the temple and the temple courts where pilgrims came to present themselves and their offerings to the priests who would then bring them inside the temple and present them.

The focus of Christ's work in the New Covenant is the heavenly presence of God, of which the earthly tabernacle was only an illustration. This is the holy places, you see, referred to in verses 8 and 12. The way to this was said to be closed in verse 8, but opened in verse 12 by Christ's once forever entry, not into a copy of the holy of holies on earth, but into the real one in heaven. Did you ever notice how in the book of Revelation, the heavenly city where God dwells, is presented as a perfect cube of gigantic proportions, exactly like the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament is presented as a cube, was to be built as a cube. The earthly tabernacle and temple are foreshadowings of the reality in the presence of God.

This is where Christ came, to the real Holy of Holies in heaven, the very presence of God, enjoying His presence there, carrying His own blood, presenting it as an offering. This should be the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, not of this creation that we read of in verse 11. So cleansing this is what the author is rejoicing about in verse 24. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of our God on our behalf.

As one scholar summarizes it, Because the record of human sin has been removed from God's presence by Christ's cleansing work, God's people can now draw near to Him, approaching the very Holy of Holies in heaven with confidence, like we were just singing about, with a true heart and a full assurance of faith. My friend, I hope you can see in this that what the Old Testament religion taught Jesus completed and fulfilled the hope that the priests and prophets of the Old Testament promised and pointed toward. Jesus has actually accomplished for us. It will be helped as you deal with your own sense of having done wrong and of wondering what you should do about this to study Jesus very carefully. The signs and symbols of the tabernacle and the temple and even our own table today are fulfilled in Jesus.

Jesus Christ entered heaven itself for us. No other priest could say that. Question number five, why? Why?

Yay.

Why did these respective priests do what they did?

In the first covenant we see in verse 10 that they were dealing with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. There was a ceremonial sense in which the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinklings of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, as he says in verse But we should misunderstand this. These sacrifices at the temple were only externally effective. This is a point that the author goes on to make even more clearly in the next section of Hebrews that we hope to study next time in Hebrews chapter 10. But we can go on and sneak a look into chapter 10.

Just look at a few of these verses that make this so clear. 10:1. For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come, so that idea of shadows, like the idea of copies here in chapter 9 verse 24, instead of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year make perfect those who draw near. Or look down in chapter 10 verse 4, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Or verse 11 of chapter 10.

Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. So friends, that's the first covenant. These sacrifices were never meant to be offered to redeem us from transgressions. But that doesn't mean that we're lost forever, because these sacrifices pointed to the greater sacrifice to come. The sacrifice not offered by a merely human priest, but by Jesus, the Messiah, the truly divine, truly human Son of God who has sacrificed himself once forever and has entered heaven to redeem his people.

That's what chapter 9 is teaching us. These sacrifices of the first covenant pointed forward to Christ's sacrifice and Christ's sacrifice could accomplish what none of the Old Testament signpost sacrifices could have done or ever did. Look again, verse 12.

He, that's Christ, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinklings of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first Covenant. Friends, that redemption is what Christ has brought. That's what he's accomplished to redeem is to have the value set again.

It's to be set free. Now, that's what we've known from our sins penalty and power because of the sacrifice of Christ himself. Every Christian here can testify to you of how we have known already in our lives the penalty of sin forgiven because of Christ. And the power of sin, even now, being broken in our lives because of Christ. You see the contrast the author is presenting.

Friends, down at the temple there were physical rules that people could follow about clean and unclean food. You can keep those rules, but there's no redemption there. There's no way to take away the penalty of your sins. If you want eternal redemption, the eternal inheritance of life with God, if you want your conscience purified, this means you're being cleared of the guilt for those things that you know you've done wrong. If you want that kind of cleansing, that kind of purifying, if you want to be redeemed from your sin and its penalties, You want a better substitute than goats and bulls of the temple.

You want the new covenant. You want Jesus Christ. And that's the good news that we celebrate, that Jesus Christ has come to provide exactly that substitutionary sacrifice for all of us who would ever turn from our sins and trust in him. Friend, that could be you today. From your sins.

Trust in this one. He is the fully sufficient sacrifice. He has met all of God's standards and requirements. He has reflected God's own goodness and faithfulness perfectly. And he in mercy offers his goodness and his righteousness to you.

As a gift if you will turn and trust in Him. If you want to know more about what that means, talk to the person that brought you, talk to members of the church you see here, talk to us at the doors on the way out afterwards. We would love to help you understand more of what that means.

Why would Christ have done this? Why did He offer Himself? Well, He says, verse 28, very clearly, to bear the sins of many. That's why He offered Himself, to bear the sins of many. Do you hear the echoes of Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering Servant?

When Isaiah said in Isaiah 53:12, He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors, for He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Friends, this is what David had prayed for in Psalm 51, asking not a priest, but asking God Himself to purge David, to wash him and make him clean. Christ is the answer to David's prayer. This is what Jesus Christ came to do. Friend, has your conscience been purified by Jesus Christ?

Are you still relying on what you do? On regulations you follow to give you a right standing with God. Notice that detail in verse 3 of the second curtain. Look up in verse 3. The writer is explaining the very simple two-part construction of the tabernacle.

There's a tent prepared in verse 2, the first section, in which were the lamps, the table, and the bread of presence. It's called the holy place. And then behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place. So friends, just imagine two squares next to each other, and that's basically the floor plan. And they're separated by this one heavy curtain.

So only the Levites, the priests, could go into the first section, bringing the offerings. But then only the high priest, one Levite, could go in and only once a year to that second section. And that second section was where the Ark of the Covenant was, Aaron's rod, the tablets of the Ten Commandments, and the mercy seat, which represented God's mercy. And he would come once a year to sprinkle that mercy seat with blood. We'll hear more about this tonight, Lord willing, when our brother Joseph comes, talks to us from Leviticus 16 about the Day of Atonement.

That was the place where once a year God's mercy to His people would be symbolized. But friends, do you know what happened when Christ died on the cross? It's a little detail in Matthew chapter 27 verse 51. We read, and behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. That thick curtain that separated the presence of the holy God from sinful man, that curtain and was literally physically ripped in two and destroyed when Christ died.

The symbol of separation was then turned into a symbol of acceptance and access as the holy God through the ministrations of His Son accepted sinners through Christ.

Friend, you have no other way to God. We can't get there on our own. And if somehow we found ourselves in God's presence, what would we do with our own sins? We have to do something with our sins. He sees and knows them all and hates them.

Jesus Christ has appeared once for all time at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He is the substitute sacrifice in the place of all of us that would ever turn and trust in Him. You look at what He says here in chapter 9 and verse 26, Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment. So Christ has been offered once to bear the sins of many. No need for any more sacrifices.

The temple is not needed. Its sacrifices are no longer required. All your sins are covered. All? Yes, friends, all your sins are covered.

Let that echo around in your soul this afternoon. All your sins are covered.

So in this new covenant, Christ has sacrificed Himself once for all time and has entered into heaven to redeem His people. The way God has designed life, there is repetition and there is renewal. Each morning is like every other morning, and yet each day is unique. Filled with unique opportunities, unique challenges, one time only conversations and thoughts. Some burdens and gifts seem to be so frequently present that you take them for granted.

And yet, just get one in mind, one burden that you're bearing or one gift that you have that you're enjoying right now.

Was it there five years ago?

Was it there 20 years ago?

Will it be here next month or in 10 years?

God works both slowly and dramatically.

In the midst of life, we are in death.

So the Lord takes our sister, your mother, your friend, a young person struck down in what feels to us in a naturally early time.

And yet most days the minutes and the hours seem to creep by and we can miss what great plans of God are afoot for us to be a part of.

In our passage in verse 9, the writer calls the temple part of the present age. But what he means by that becomes clearer in the verses after that, in verse 10 when he refers to the regulations of the present age imposed only until the time of reformation. What's that? The sixteenth century? No, no, he explains by that next verse, it's the time when Christ appeared, verse 11, but when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, the good things that have come, so now it's that time, what are the good things that have come?

Friends, they're all the blessings we've just been considering, the eternal redemption of His people. He is doing away with our sins. So significant is this that down in verse 26, the author says about Jesus Christ, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This is the end of the ages in which our sins have been put away.

Sin's penalty has been paid by Christ's redemption. Sin's power is even now being countered by Christ's intercession for us at the right hand of God. And even sin's presence is promised to be banished from us by this last promise here in verse 28. Look at the last verse in the chapter. Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

Luther said, you, can tell that you're eagerly waiting for something, if the day, every day, it doesn't come, you're disappointed.

I pray that God will make us all eager waiters for Christ's return. What blessings He's given us. What blessings more He's promised, all of which are previewed in the supper here before us. Let's pray.

Lord God, we give youe praise for giving us the first covenant to teach us about Yourself and about us, and to teach us about the better covenant to come.

And then we give youe thanks for sending youg only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for establishing through Him a better covenant through which youh've called us to come into youo own presence. To have access to you through your Son.

Lord, we pray that you would impress upon our hearts the depth of our need and the depth of your provision. Lord, help us to see more the extent of our sin and the extent of your love. Lord, we pray you to help us to hear your calls to us and to respond to them in faith. We pray this all in Jesus' name, amen.