A NT Sermon Using Only OT Passages

[Ekklesian]

[9] In addition, we might even say that these Levites--the ones who collect the tithe--paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him.

[10] For although Levi wasn't born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham's body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.

The Levitical priesthood, even in its legitimate operation, was subservient to the order of Melchizedek. And their service to that order was accomplished by the work of their patriarch, and it was credited to them for righteousness. It was their work. They were born into it.

They were 'in Abraham.'

In the same sense, we were 'in Adam' when he disobeyed. It was our disobedience. We are born into it. So original sin, is our sin. We aren't merely 'stained' with it. It isn't on the surface as if we bumped into a freshly painted wall. We are the stain. God's creation of man was finished on Day 6. God is not making new souls, or people today. We were all made 'in Adam.'

In a similar sense, we are 'in Christ.' Not biologically, but not figuratively either. In a mystical and spiritual and very real way, we are 'in Christ.' In earth, we regard our baptism as the rite by which we entered His body, the church...and we entered His death, and we entered His resurrection. From an eternal viewpoint, we were ordained before the foundation of the world. We were in Christ, when He offered his life in perfect obedience to the will of God. And we were in Christ, when He carried our sins in His body on the Cross, and received the judgement for our sins. The judgement touched Him, but it didn't touch us, and won't touch us.

It's too wonderful to really be able to elucidate verbally.

But we are given a picture of it in the narrative of Noah and the Ark. As Noah was in the Ark, we are in Christ, and then judgement came. The Ark was lifted above the earth by the judgment, as Christ was lifted above the earth, by the judgement. But the flood didn't touch any that were in the Ark. The Ark bore it all.

Psalm 102:10 - Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.​

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Psalm 88:7 - Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted [me] with all thy waves. Selah.​

 

[Ekklesian]

Hebrews 8 NLT

Key Takeaway:

The Law and the Prophets are fulfilled in Christ.​

• Judaic worship was only a copy of the true spiritual worship. (vs 5)
• The Old Covenant was imperfect (vs 7) and is now out of date (vs 13)

Old Testament passages cited​

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[Exo 25:40 KJV] And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.​

[Exo 26:30 KJV] And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.​

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[Jer 31:31-34 KJV] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that 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 that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.​

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[Heb 8:1 NLT] Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven.

[Heb 8:2 NLT] There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.

[Heb 8:3 NLT] And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too.

[Heb 8:4 NLT] If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law.

[Heb 8:5 NLT] They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: "Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain."

[Heb 8:6 NLT] But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

[Heb 8:7 NLT] If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

[Heb 8:8 NLT] But when God found fault with the people, he said: "The day is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

[Heb 8:9 NLT] This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the LORD.

[Heb 8:10 NLT] But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

[Heb 8:11 NLT] And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already.

[Heb 8:12 NLT] And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."

[Heb 8:13 NLT] When God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

 

[Ekklesian]

[Heb 8:4 NLT] If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law.

[Heb 8:5 NLT] They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: "Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain."

[Heb 8:13 NLT] When God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. [As something that is decaying.]

The Temple was still standing when this was written. Sacrifices were being offered. Circumcisions were being performed. Priests were being ordained. The old system was still visible, but it was lifeless, like an old shirt that was set aside never to be taken out again.

And not just law, but also the prophets. Heb 8:8-12. There the prophecy is quoted that Premillennialists say is a promise only to God's supposed favorite race of people to restore them to their 'homeland' to set up the true worship of Jehovah in that old mountain in old Jerusalem. The fulfillment of the prophecy in Jeremiah is recognized by all flavors of eschatology as the final fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets.

This is the whole reason for the Millennium for Premillennialists.

But here the Gospel of Jesus Christ is put forward as the fulfillment of that prophecy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that New Covenant, and there can be no coexistence with the Old Covenant. Heb 8:7, 10:9

 

[Ekklesian]

[Heb 8:7 NLT] If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.

Not to complement it--to replace it.

Now look at with whom the New Covenant is made:

Hebrews 8:8 KJV - For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:​

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The Apostle has already identified Israel with the Church in chapters two and three. (See posts 9 and 10 as well.)

 

[Ekklesian]

Hebrews 9 NLT

Key takeaways:

• The service of the Tabernacle (the Old Testament) was only an illustration of Christ's work of Redemption (the New Testament). v 9
• That service is no longer valid now that the work of Redemption has been accomplished. v 8
• Christ's offering of Himself has done away with the copies. v 23-28

[Hebrews 9:1 NLT] That first covenant between God and Israel had regulations for worship and a place of worship here on earth.

[Hebrews 9:2 NLT] There were two rooms in that Tabernacle. In the first room were a lampstand, a table, and sacred loaves of bread on the table. This room was called the Holy Place.

[Hebrews 9:3 NLT] Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was the second room called the Most Holy Place.

[Hebrews 9:4 NLT] In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron's staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant.

[Hebrews 9:5 NLT] Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark's cover, the place of atonement. But we cannot explain these things in detail now.

[Hebrews 9:6 NLT] When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties.

[Hebrews 9:7 NLT] But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

[Hebrews 9:8 NLT] By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

[Hebrews 9:9 NLT] This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them.

[Hebrews 9:10 NLT] For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies--physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

[Hebrews 9:11 NLT] So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world.

[Hebrews 9:12 NLT] With his own blood--not the blood of goats and calves--he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

[Hebrews 9:13 NLT] Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people's bodies from ceremonial impurity.

[Hebrews 9:14 NLT] Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

[Hebrews 9:15 NLT] That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

[Hebrews 9:16 NLT] Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead.

[Hebrews 9:17 NLT] The will goes into effect only after the person's death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.

[Hebrews 9:18 NLT] That is why even the first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal.

[Hebrews 9:19 NLT] For after Moses had read each of God's commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God's law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool.

[Hebrews 9:20 NLT] Then he said, "This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you."

[Hebrews 9:21 NLT] And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship.

[Hebrews 9:22 NLT] In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

[Hebrews 9:23 NLT] That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.

[Hebrews 9:24 NLT] For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.

[Hebrews 9:25 NLT] And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal.

[Hebrews 9:26 NLT] If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.

[Hebrews 9:27 NLT] And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,

[Hebrews 9:28 NLT] so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.