Sermon Tone Analysis

As I’ve Said the Past Few Weeks…

We are in the Heart of the Book of Hebrews

Hebrews 8:1–2 (NASB95)

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

The Main Point/Argument of the Book of Hebrews is the High Priesthood of Jesus

Last Time We Studied Hebrews 9:6-10

Hebrews 9:6–10 (NLT)

When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There is No Entrance to the Holy Presence of God…

Under the Old System (Old Law, Priesthood, and Covenant)

The Old Regulations and Ceremonies Were Crucial to Having a Relationship with God Under the Old Covenant

But They Could Never Cleanse the Conscience of the People

Sin was Remembered and had to Be Atoned for Every Single Year

It was Never Forgiven and Forgotten

All of this Information is Given for the Purpose of the Entire Book

To Encourage Hebrew Christians to Stay Faithful to Jesus and Not Return to the Old Covenant System

What Jesus Offers is Far Superior

Now Our Author is Finally Going to Start Explaining Jesus’ Superior High Priesthood

Hebrews 9:11–14 (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.

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.

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity.

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 9:11 (NASB95)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;

“But the Christ/Messiah Arrived”

In a Conversation Based On the Inadequacies of the Old Covenant…

There are No Better Words Than “But the Christ Arrived”

He is the High Priest of the “Good Things to Come”

2 Early Manuscripts Say, “Good Things that Have Come”

What the Old Covenant Could Not Accomplish, Jesus the High Priest Can

He Inaugurated the New Covenant in His Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension

And He Has Brought and is Bringing the Better Promises of the Better Covenant

He has Entered the Great and Perfect Tabernacle

Not a Tent of This Creation, But the Heavenly Sanctuary

Hebrews 9:12 (NASB95)

and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

He Entered the Greater, Perfect Tabernacle Through His Own Blood…

Instead of With the Blood of an Animal

This Implies the Sacrifice of Himself

He Sacrificed Himself and Entered the Greater, Perfect Tabernacle…

“Once and for All”

He Did it Once and He’ll Never have to Do it Again

By Doing So, He “Obtained Eternal Redemption”

Redemption is Being Bought Back or Liberated From Oppressive Slavery

Through Jesus’ Sacrifice and Enthronement in the Most Holy Place…

We are Eternally Liberated From the Slavery of Sin, Guilt, and Death

Hebrews 9:13–14 (NASB95)

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Sacrificial Blood of Animals or the Cleansing Ashes of a Heifer…

Are Effective in Cleansing the Outside of a Person

But They are Not Capable of Cleansing/Perfecting the Inside/the Conscience

But Jesus’ Sacrificial Blood Is

By the Power of the Holy Spirit Working in Him…

He Offered Himself as a Perfect Lamb to God

Sacrifices Always Had to Be Without Physical Blemishes

But Jesus Had No Spiritual/Moral Blemishes

This Made Him the Perfect Sacrifice

His Sacrifice Cleanses Our Consciences From Works that Lead to Death…

And Enables Us to Serve God with a Clean Conscience

When a Person’s Conscience No Longer Condemns Them…

They are Empowered to Turn From Sin and Live Faithfully to God

Because of All the Better Promises Jesus has Offered Us in His Better Covenant…

Not the Least of Which is the Cleansing of Our Consciences…

We, Out of Grateful Hearts, Serve Him with All Faith, Hope, and Love

Should Christians Have a Clean/Clear Conscience?

Where Does a Condemning Conscience Come From?

Living in Sin

Too Much Placing Faith in Self and Not Enough Placing Faith in Jesus’ Mediating High Priesthood

Hebrews 9:15–17 (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.

Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead.

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 9:15 (NASB95)