The Better Sanctuary (Heb. 9:15-28)

INTRO

What is the nicest sanctuary you’ve ever seen?

We have some very ornate sanctuaries in Marion. In December in Marion, they hold the Church Tour event for people to see these structures.

I remember being in awe of the architecture of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.

And think back to just about a year ago, April of 2019 when the Notre Dame Cathedral was burning. This prized possession of the Catholic Church in particular was being destroyed before our eyes, and the response to it was very interesting to me. People were very saddened by the loss of a building of that history and magnitude.

Let me tell you something, though— a building is just a building. I was encouraged to hear the stories of churches just in the last few weeks in the Nashville area who lost their buildings to the tornado that went through.

One in particular was featured in USA Today— Mt. Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. They held services still under a white tent next to their ravaged building. (put the 2nd picture of destroyed church building & its caption from USA Today article on a slide- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/09/tennessee-tornadoes-nashville-church-still-prays-after-storm-damage/4998608002/)

presents the concept of a better sanctuary. The chapter begins with a little description of the Tabernacle, which was the first place of worship for God’s people. Eventually, the Temple was built by Solomon, and these were the places where worship took place together as a body of people. When Jesus came along, he taught that the day would come when people would worship in spirit and in truth, meaning that genuine worship would not be tied to a particular location. We live in this age, where we are able to worship the Lord anywhere and at all times.

But v.11talks about the “greater and more perfect tent”

V.23 mentions the “copies” of the heavenly things.

V.24 mentions the “copies of the true things” again.

All of the earthly arrangements for worship were a “copy” or pattern of the worship already taking place in heaven.

What Jesus did through his death and resurrection was far superior than the earthly patterns of worship.

The patterns of sacrifices for atonement, the sprinkling of blood for purification— all of this was fulfilled by Jesus.

Think about this — what was the copy of? What was represented in the Tabernacle? What is the most important even in a modern-day sanctuary or worship center? The presence of God.

The Tabernacle and all its vessels are just showing us something greater that will come—the actual presence of God.

V.24 says that Jesus entered the holiest place of heaven, the very presence of God, not into the holy places made with hands.

So these man-made places are a copy of a better sanctuary.

Do you realize that as we are gathered right now in a time set aside for worship, that there is going to be an even more glorious time of worship for all eternity?? I hope you know that this is isn’t as good as it gets!

We did a church health survey in the Fall of last year to help us evaluate where we are with our ministry. Do you know that the highest category of ministry in which we scored was Worship? And one of the statements that our 40 respondents rated highly was the statement “I feel the presence of God during our worship services.” That’s a blessing.

But we’re not even close to the glory and presence of God like it will be one day for all eternity!

I have heard it said that there is a comfort when we who are on earth are worshiping the Lord because we know that our deceased loved ones who were born again are doing the same thing in an even more glorious fashion. What we are doing here is just a copy of what it’s going to be. In on sense, we’re practicing for eternity!

There is a better sanctuary. And that comes through Jesus Christ. What do we learn about Jesus in this passage that tells us about His presence in our lives? In other words, why is it a better sanctuary? I think there is something to think about here when we know that Jesus promised that he would be with us always to the end of the age ( in the Great Commission). I think we can learn about His presence in our lives more fully from this passage and the concept of Jesus initiating a better sanctuary.

Repetition of “Appear” in vs.24-28

v.24— “now to appear”

v.26— “he has appeared”

v.28— “he will appear”

Did you notice the repetition of the word “appear” in v.24-28. 3 times we see a form of appear in relation to Jesus. Notice 3 different tenses:

v.24— “now to appear” — aorist tense in Greek, but its functioning somewhat like a present tense in English here. There no respect to the process or timeline of Jesus appearing in the presence of God, but it’s simply the fact that he is now appearing in the presence of God on our behalf.

v.26— “he has appeared” — you have the perfect tense in Greek, almost looking like past tense in English. But the way its reading is that he has appeared — this is telling us that what Jesus did to forever put away sin by his sacrifice has taken place in the past but the effect of it still exists.

v.28— “will appear” — this is future in Greek and future in English. It means that Jesus will appear; he will come again and when he does, he will save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

And guess what? We’re as close to Christ’s return as anyone in the history of the world!

These different tenses of the word “appear” are much like the tenses of our salvation. The Bible actually uses 4 different tenses in the Greek language when it speaks of our salvation:

Examples of the 4 Tenses of Salvation

= past (aorist)

= perfect

= present

= future

As Robert Utley summarizes:  "This can be illustrated as

initial salvation—justification (saved from the penalty of sin);

progressive salvation—sanctification (saved from the power of sin);

final salvation—glorification (saved from the presence of sin).”  

(Robert James Utley, The Superiority of the New Covenant: Hebrews, vol. Volume 10, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 1999), 19.)

Think of the presence of Christ as it is true in your salvation—

He has saved you/He has appeared (He was with you)

He is saving you/He entered now to appear in the presence of God (He is with you)

He will save you/He will appear (He will always be with you)

There is a better sanctuary— the full presence of God in our lives is realized through the work of Jesus Christ.

There are many other things we could focus on in this passage. Wonderful verses and truths. But today I wanted to impress upon you that God is always present with you. I feel like in the current events, we need that reminder.

Isn’t it comforting to know that God has us always in His hands? That we are always in His presence?

There’s no sin; no situation; no virus that can keep us from the powerful presence of God.

He was with you; He is with you; He will always be with you.