24) Hebrews - The New and the Old Covenant
Notes
Transcript
Teach God’s Character and Work. (The Word)
So that the people may turn from a rebellious Heart (Root) Sins of “Unbelief, Pride, Selfishness” (Repentance)
and “Be Reconciled to God” (Justification)
Resulting in Transformation - behavioral change of the work of the HS (Sanctification)
Which is obedience to the will of God (The Word)
Resulting in being encouraged by God’s Character and Work to hold fast to the Promise of Hope. (Faith and Belief)
Resulting in Eternal Rest, Joy, Peace, Worship (Glorification)
For His Glory
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36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”
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Max-Love / Kyle Hope
1 Corinthians 13
4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant,
5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.
6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.
7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends.
Philippians 2,
4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
1 John 4
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Lighting of the Love Candle
Worship through Song
Every Man: ?????
31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.
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Prayer
Sermon
Introduction
Introduction
Today we will be continuing the author’s transition from describing, developing and reminding the readers of the letter of who Jesus is as the Great High Priest and then transitioning to Jesus as the mediator of the new covenant. Please turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8. Let us read the words of God this morning.
1 Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. 6 But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. 8 But finding fault with his people, he says: See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I showed no concern for them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in my covenant. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them. 12 For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins. 13 By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.
It could be said that Verse six is a single sentence that describes the entire book of Hebrews
6 But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises.
It is Christ’s superior ministry of the new covenant that everything that the author is communicating is to be true. He has made great claims of Christ’s superiority and given warnings to rejecting or turning away from recognizing the place of honor that Jesus sits.
He will fully develop the new covenant that has been established with Jesus through chapter 10 and then he will describe aspects of a believer’s life as they live out a life under the new covenant.
It is at this place, the place of transition between the old and the new covenants that we see the sovereign work of God. The text you have in your hand is divided into two major sections is it not. The New and the Old Testament.
The early church had recognized that some of what was being written in that time was divinely inspired scripture. Peter references Paul’s writings in
15 Also, regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him. 16 He speaks about these things in all his letters. There are some things hard to understand in them. The untaught and unstable will twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.
As God was writing and recording his Holy Words through human agents the New Testament was being established. However it would be another 200 years or so before the bible as we have it today was recognized as the complete New Testament.
The new scriptures are believed to be called the new testament for the first time by Turtullian in the second century. This comes from the translation of the Greek word diatheke to Latin which is testamantum: a person’s last will and testament. We will find that the author in Chapter 9 will use the image of a last will and testament to describe the new covenant.
The earlier English translations like the King James would translate the New Covenant that Christ establishes in the phrase the New Testament. Such as in the verse we refer to during communion each week.
20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Over time the more current word that is used in the CSB, ESV, and NASB is covenant. The word testament does not show up in the text anywhere only the traditional titles. The Holy Scriptures are titled as the old and the new covenants. The old referring to the Hebrew bible that is characterized by the Mosaic Covenant and the New referring to the Covenant which starts with the advent of the baby born in a manger. 400 years of silence between the two and the author of Hebrews is working through the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant.
6 But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one.
He established that Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant and what is a covenant.
covenant n. — a contractual arrangement between God and a person, or between human beings, which required binding action from one or both parties; one party often had higher status in the arrangement.
It is an agreement between two parties. Who here has been to a wedding? A marriage is a covenant between two people that give vows and promised to each other.
"In the name of God, I, ___, take you, ___, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow.
This is a covenant or maybe you have signed for a loan. A mortgage or car. These are agreements that we use today to establish the commitment and duties and obligations between two parties. Offer of employment. You promise to work and they promise to pay for that work. These are contemporary examples but we see covenants early in the bible and history shows that they were common of the days of the bible. Conquering kings would make them with the people the conquered.
In the bible there major covenants and many smaller ones between people.
We see covenants with Noah, Abraham, and David to list a few of them but here he speaks of a specific one as he gives the longest old testament quote in the new testament.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. 8 But finding fault with his people, he says: See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I showed no concern for them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in my covenant.
The First Covenant
The First Covenant
So what was the covenant that was made. Let us turn to Ex 19:3
Exodus 19:3–19(CSB)
3 Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”
Moses goes up the mountain and God speaks to him. He brought these words down to the people and this was their response.
7 After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.”
Moses is acting as a mediator between God and Isreal. God speaks to Moses and tells him what to say and then he takes there response back to God. God tell Moses to prepare the people and to wait till the third day. Then in verse 16 we read.
16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast from a trumpet, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.
Then God gives the 10 commandments and other rules
Exodus 20–24 (CSB)
1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 3 Do not have other gods besides me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands. 7 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy. 12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 Do not murder. 14 Do not commit adultery. 15 Do not steal. 16 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
18 All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 “You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.”
20 Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear him and will not sin.”
Ex 22 and 23 God gives other laws.
Ex 24
3 Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.”
4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.
7 He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.” 8 Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”
There is much more in the covenant specifics but God calls them to be his people and sets up an agreement with them one that was dependent on their obedience for blessing or curses for their disobedience. But after they tremble at the foot of the mountain and are in fear of the power of God, it takes just 40 days for the Golden Calf to be built.
7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them; they have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”
By the time the covenant is fully delivered God has promised so much blessing for obedience that it doesn’t make sense for anyone to not follow it. And God has promised so much punishment for disobedience that no one should dare not to follow it. But in the end it was proven faulty. Not by God’s design but by man’s complete fallenness.
9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I showed no concern for them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in my covenant.
The covenant was a covenant of Love and was perfect in that it was created by God. God was faithful to it. What would it be like to have a child that was incapable of following the rules. However no man in his sinful nature could hold to it. Obedience brings life and disobedience brought death.
5 Keep my statutes and ordinances; a person will live if he does them. I am the Lord.
None could earn life.
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
So a second covenant was required
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one.
The Covenant Foretold
The Covenant Foretold
Throughout the old testament history Isreal transgresses the Laws of God and shows that none can be saved by works. No mater their effort is was not possible
15 We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” 16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.
For spiritual life to be given to a man a new covenant had to come. One that could not be based on man doing what was right but one that was based on the character and righteousness of Jesus. This covenant was
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
This quote from Jeremiah is not the only place that this new covenant is promised.
26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a permanent covenant with them. I will establish and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forever.
This new covenant is promised to be given to Isreal. It is important to note that there no covenant promises directed toward the gentiles. The new covenant is with Isreal and just as Abraham was accredited righteousness by faith, so the gentiles and believers today are brought into the covenant by faith.
The New Covenant
The New Covenant
7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons. 8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. 9 Consequently, those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.
The ungodly person, like myself, who has nothing to give God, is given life when they believe that Christ has saved them from their sin. Not by their work but by his work. Those who have been saved are personally affected by the work of God. The old was an external set of laws and rules but the new is internal. He writes on our hearts and minds his laws.
By the work of the Holy Spirit we are given new desires to follow God. To obey the Lord. As Christ says if you love me you will obey my commands. Love for God id demonstrated in our obedience.
And those who are saved, who enter into this covenant are His people and He is their God.
1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God—not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
19 I will give them integrity of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they will follow my statutes, keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
There is a fundamental change that happens when a person has come to have saving faith in Jesus. This is why we are to no longer live in sin as believers. To not be conformed to this world. For though we may still be able to sin we are given the Holy Spirit to no longer to live that way but to live for and to obey they gracious loving Lord our God. It is written on our hearts with God’s own hand. Not on a stone table to be ignored and forgotten.
11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them. 12 For I will forgive their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.
Each and every person who enters into this covenant will know the Lord. To know him experiential and personally. The presence of God was not available to all in the old testament. Many in Isreal would not experience him in a personal way like Moses or the High Priests would.
But under the new covenant a person has the spirit of God abiding in them. We are the temple and each and every person has direct access to the presence of God.
And those here who are saved have had their sins forgiven and they will be never remembered. The old covenant did not promise this and could not achieve this. Two words “Never Again”
How is that so? But I still sin. Yes you do and so do I. But you stand before God not based on your flawed life but with his righteous life imputed on you. We stand before the father blameless and clean.
Does this mean we can sin all we want? Nope. One a person who sins all they want is most likely not saved. Two one day we will come to understand that all sin has consequences in this world. And three just because you are saved does not mean that God will not discipline you for your actions.
The author finishes with
13 By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.
We will spend the next couple of weeks developing the fullness of the new covenant.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Neither to promise to do this and live or the warning don’t do this and die were enough for man to keep the law. Have ever wanted someone to go in a certain direction and you are like what will it take. And no matter the punishment or the reward they do not obey. I hear Paul’s voice. “ I am perplexed”
Do you live in a way that your family, friends and CO-workers would not know if you have God’s laws written on your heart. How would some one know that. Does your heart lead you to live in obedience to God’s will, his written word.
It is not uncommon to find people who clean up well for Sunday. Look like they have a new heart but when they go home. Stand before trial of you child and look them in the face and testify that your life is lived out in response to transformation of your heart done by the work of God as he took out the heart of stone and gave you a heart of flesh. Can your child, spouse too to the scripture and find your life justifying actions and behaviors that not in line with God.
We are not perfect in any stretch of the imagination but, but if your heart has been written on by the hand of God you will find yourself very uncomfortable living that way. It does not matter what comes out of your mouth, it only matters if you have sat before the savior in your weakness and dirty rags and seen the savior reach out in love and mercy pull you out of the most desperate state.
Do you believe you are saved? If so do you live that way? Many will bristle at that. How can I say such a thing? Why are you shaming people? It is my hope that no one who hears the words of God will brush them off lightly. In these word are life and death. The advent of Jesus was about his life and his death to give us life and save us from death. There is not other way.
20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
15 Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Communion
Warning
Children, Lost, Sin
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Prayer
Song
Closing
Blessing/Benediction
Hebrews 13:20–21 (CSB)
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—
the great Shepherd of the sheep—
through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 equip you with everything good to do his will,
working in us what is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.