The Better Ministry

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0:00I want to start off with a little story. Some dear friends of Nikki and I, about 10 years ago or so, they were in Rwanda for two years. And we went to visit them. One of the greatest things about visiting them was seeing what they were doing. They were over there because the husband had taken a job with a company there in Rwanda doing business development. He was helping indigenous businesses grow, indigenous people learn business skills, bring over the business know-how that's over here and help them grow businesses that employed people there.

0:38It was amazing. This friend of ours is a business whiz. He's very, very good at this kind of thing, and he was loving doing that. The wife of this couple, meanwhile, she is very empathetic, compassionate. She knows people well. She knows the Word of God well. She cares about people and their stories. And so she was ministering to a group of women where they lived in the capital city of Kigali. And she was loving what she was doing. She was in these women's lives, leading Bible studies, talking with them, helping them run a business that was beneficial for them and for their families.

1:21It was amazing to see two people who, in this season of their life, they were both doing something that fit them very well, fit their gifts, their passions. They had the right qualifications. I could not have gone over and done what my friend was doing. I didn't have that kind of business skill. He could, and he was blessing those people. He was fitted for that job. She was fitted for that job. And they were in the right place. It was the right people for the right jobs.

1:55It's really great to see someone do what they're good at. It's really amazing. Many times people have skills and qualifications, but they aren't in a job that uses them. Other times people have a really important job to do, but they're not really qualified to do it. But sometimes you see it line up perfectly. A person whose qualifications line up exactly with their calling. The right person in the right job. And when you hear from those folks, you hear them say things like, I just feel like I was made for this.

2:41This is what I was born to do. And those of us who watch it, who watch them do their thing, we just stand back and we're like, that is amazing. Look at that. We can see the fittedness. It's like a puzzle piece. It's fitted together. And that satisfying thing you get when you put in the puzzle piece and it clicks and the picture becomes more whole. That's the feeling you get by seeing these folks. The right people and the right jobs. That's what today's passage is about.

3:13Last week we talked about God sending Jesus to be the final priest, the one to do what none of the other priests could do. And today we're going to talk about the work that He does and how He is perfectly fitted for the work that He does. He's the right person and the right job. And here is why it matters for you because when He does the work that He is perfectly fitted for, guess who gets blessed? All of His people who trust in Him get blessed because of the work that He does.

3:49So it is a glorious thing to see. I mean, other people, when we see how well-fitted they are for their job, we're like, that's amazing. But it might not bless me very much. But when we look at Jesus and see how fitted He is for what He does, we're like, hallelujah. Because that is coming back to me in my life. That is changing me in my spiritual life, in my future. And that's what we're talking about today. We're in a sermon series on Hebrews called Towards an Enduring Faith.

4:20Towards an Enduring Faith. So let's open up Hebrews 7. Continue being shaped by the very Word of God. going forth in power with a promise attached to it. A promise of bearing fruit. A promise of great things coming. Spiritual life as we trust and we receive His Word with faith.

4:49So this is Hebrews 7, 26 through 8, 13. Follow along with me, please. Let's bend the knee of our hearts before the Word of God. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifices daily. First for His own sins and then for those of the people. Since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself.

5:31For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests but the word of the oath which came later than the law appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. Now, the point in what we are saying is this. We have such a high priest. One who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. A minister in the holy places. In the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.

6:06Thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now, if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant He mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises.

6:49For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For He finds fault with them when He says, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in My covenant.

7:17So I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach each one his neighbor and each one his brother saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know Me from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.

7:56And speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Pray with me. All glory to You, God. You are great and greatly to be praised. For the word of salvation that is our Savior, Jesus Christ. And all glory to You for giving us such a fullness of understanding of Him. Not only through the Gospels, but through the other New Testament letters, including the book of Hebrews.

8:35All of which is Your holy and inspired word. Which is something, Lord, we should not just train our ears to listen to so that our minds are edified, but that we should attend with humble hearts so that we, in our spirit, our hearts, our emotions, our character, is shaped and formed by You. And this is exactly what we pray this morning. That You would edify our minds but also strengthen our spirit, change our character, and make us more like our Savior, Jesus, as Your Word goes forth with power.

9:12We pray this, Jesus, in Your name. The better ministry. The better ministry. Here's the one sentence summary of this passage. Our perfect priest works to bring us into close fellowship with God. So we are now in the heart of the book of Hebrews. Hebrews. We've arrived. Chapter 7, verse 1 through chapter 10, verse 18, most commentators agree is the heart of the sermon. And we're going to approach this with four different sermons. It's all about the work of Jesus, our high priest, and this is week two.

9:57Here's the road map. Here's the road map for it if you want to take a picture or write this down. We covered this last week, how Jesus is the greatest intercessor. This week, he brings and he does a better ministry. Next week, we'll talk about Jesus being the complete sacrifice and then finally the eternal outcome. This is the work of Jesus, our high priest, broken down into four parts. Hebrews is a meaty book. It's like steak you've got to just keep chewing until you can swallow it.

10:31Okay? So we're chewing today. Right? We're chewing. Chewing and we're digesting. This is the four-week breakdown for the heart of Hebrews. And there's a lot to digest here. There's a lot of great, great doctrine to digest. But again, I'm going to endeavor to end with a point that I think makes the doctrine matter for your life. This is not just head knowledge. This is things that deeply affect your spiritual life today. Because we do not want to just fill up our minds.

11:04We do want to think God's thoughts after Him. Let us be renewed in our minds after Christ. But let it not stop there. Let it go further. Please, Lord. And to our hearts, our character, the way we live. Okay. So here, let's start with this. Jesus is the perfect priest for the job. Our passage says it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest. There's a lot of reasons why a person might be well-fitted for a job. I would be well-fitted for stalking things on a high shelf.

11:41I would not be fitted to be a horse jockey. I would not be fitted to work on a submarine. I would say that I'm well-fitted to play basketball, but there's another requirement there and that's skill. So, nope, not on that one. For the job of a priest, this passage gives two reasons why Jesus is perfect. Here's the first one. He is completely righteous. Verse 26 tells us he is holy, innocent, unstained. These three words complement each other. They're approaching the same thing from different angles.

12:18Holy tells us of his devotion to God. No thing or person ever came between him and his Father. He never bowed his heart in worship, in love, greater than the love for his Father to any other thing or person in his life. He was wholly devoted to his Father. He loved God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Just as we are commanded to do, but fail to do. He's innocent. This is about his virtue. He lived in the same fallen world as us. He faced temptations.

12:55He had people whispering in his ear, do this, do that. Trust this, not God. He had the evil one lurking around trying to tempt him. But he never compromised. He never gave those whisperings countenance. He always turned away. He refused the false comforts of sin and he chose to obey no matter what the cost was. That point in which the cost becomes too great for you and me and we compromise, Jesus went beyond that to the next point of greater testing and he went beyond that to the next great point of testing and he went beyond that and he never ever got to the point where he said I give up.

13:44I can't withstand this temptation anymore. He was innocent and he was unstained. that speaks of his purity. Jesus had a totally clean conscience. Can you imagine that? A totally clean conscience. He was never tainted by sin. He never had regret. He never looked back on his life and said I can't believe I did that.

14:15He could come before God without any hindrance. No one had to mediate for him. The old priests from the old Levitical system the priests that come from Levi this is the big contrast here against Jesus they had to offer sins for themselves first. They had to deal with their own problems because they were sinners too. This is not good. This is not as good as it could be. We should all say. This is like having a lawyer who is in legal trouble. Can you imagine meeting with your lawyer sitting down trying to discuss your business and he says hold on I'll be right with you I'm on the phone with my lawyer your lawyer no no no no I'm I'm going to find somebody else Jesus is that somebody else the one without any troubles of his own to deal with he has no need like those priests to offer sacrifices daily first for his own sins and then for those of the people Jesus didn't have to attend to himself he could go straight to your need straight to it he didn't have to stop and deal with himself first he did not have to put on his own oxygen mask before giving you yours all all his time his energy his strength goes serving his people like you and me that's where it goes and we need all the help we can get don't we if someone's going to help us we don't want them wasting any drop of it on themselves we want all of their help because we but it gets even better because he's righteous he can do more for you than just offer an animal he can offer himself his very self his very unstained holy innocent

16:36life but more on that next week because that's what we're talking about next week let's go to with God he is exalted above the heavens he's got the right qualifications in the right location remember my story from earlier about my friends Nikki and I friends they had the right qualifications and they were in the right location where those things could be used and bless people the priests at work in the temple all the little all the priests of Levi the Levitical priests they were serving a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things now this is a very important phrase to understand a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things their ministry was given to them by God for a reason but everything that they did and the place they did it was a copy and a shadow of something greater if let's suppose the best student artist in the state of Virginia painted a Elisa as a project of theirs it would probably be pretty impressive right you and I might want to hang it on our walls we would be proud to show that but if you took it and you flew over to Italy and you compared it the replica of the and you gathered art historians and art experts from around the world and art dealers which one do you think is going to have more importance to them the real one right the replica might be great you might love it you might hang it on your wall you might not want ever to take it down from your wall but if you compared it with the original there is every sanctuary on earth is merely a copy and a shadow of the

18:59heavenly one no matter how lofty and impressive and ornate it is I've been to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome it's fancy it's ornate it's still a high schoolers replica of the Mona Lisa that's all it is it's not the real thing and if you compared it to the real thing all of us would choose to be in the real one we wouldn't choose a replica this is a high schoolers painting of the Mona Lisa that we're sitting in today it's a copy and a shadow of the real thing now we feel that acutely because this is a high school capitorium but they're all just copies replicas right it's an elementary school oh did I say high school no this is an elementary school I'm just kidding that it doesn't matter how ornate this building would be it's still a copy in a shadow of the heavenly things verse five says that before Moses made the tabernacle God showed him a pattern to copy later it was replaced by temple that temple was also a copy all of the priests served in a shadow but Jesus is a minister where in the holy places he doesn't serve in an earthly sanctuary he doesn't serve in a copy not in a shadow but in the true tent that our Lord set up he is in the real thing and location matters if you're serves matters his more excellent location means that his ministry is more powerful than any other priest that came before imagine that you had a great need something that only the governor of this state could do he was the only one who could do what you needed done two people approach you one of them says

21:10I can help you listen check it out once a year I have an audience with the isn't that impressive once a year I sit down with the governor face to face I can bring your need to him and then another person walks up and says listen I don't mean to butt in but my office is right next door to the governor's now whose help are you going to ask for right this guy thought he had it going on once a year he meets with the governor every day that's why location matters Jesus is the perfect priest because he has the right qualifications and the right location okay so now we need to talk about the work that Jesus does that's the middle part of this passage verse 6 of chapter 8 the author starts discussing the new covenant okay let's roll up our sleeves here a covenant you can relationship between two parties that's what a covenant does it could be two individuals like a marriage covenant it could be two groups of people like a treaty between nations or it could be between one person and a group of people like between a king and his people the covenant that he's talking about is the last example it is between God and his people Jesus has a special role in that covenant mediator he is the mediator of the covenant now we think we hear mediator and we think of a third party that helps two parties try to hash it out try to come together that's part of the idea okay but remember in the last passage Jesus was described as the guarantor of the covenant he doesn't mediate by just helping two parties

23:26find mutually agreeable terms okay that's not the mediation I'm talking about helping two parties just find this common language let's really hash out the terms of this contract until you both agree to it that's not the mediation he's the mediator because he fulfills the terms of the covenant that's why he's the mediator he mediates by personally doing whatever is necessary to establish that covenant to make it happen Jesus offered himself to bring us and God together that's what he did that's his work as the mediator that's the work that he was perfectly fitted for to be the God and us into close relationship Jesus as priest is the mediator of this covenant don't look at it like he's just trying to get God and us to get along he does what is necessary to reconcile us to one another verse six says that just like his heavenly ministry is better than the earthly priest ministry this covenant is better than with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt this is a reference to the covenant with Moses the covenant with Moses can be summed up in one word law it introduced the Ten Commandments it gave us all of the laws which governed the nation of Israel and it gave us the sacrificial system the duties of the priests now 850 years after the covenant was made along comes the prophet Jeremiah he's got a word from God about a new covenant the passage here in Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31 31 through 34 that's the big quote there Jeremiah 31

25:4031 through 34 for those who like Bible trivia this is the longest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament you're welcome if you win at Bible trivia give me a little bit of credit so Jeremiah 31 through 34 the person of this long quotation is to make one point we're chewing this up together the new covenant does what the old covenant couldn't that's the purpose of the long quotation the new covenant does what the old covenant couldn't my dad had a certain response anytime I talked about getting something new anytime I said I needed something new I was looking at getting something new or I had gotten something new I could predict his response would be what's wrong with the old one I need a new desk chair what's wrong with the old one hey dad look at this new belt I got what's wrong with why why why go looking for a new thing if the old one can be fixed the old covenant was not fixable it was not fixable it was beyond repair it was never intended to bring about salvation Paul says this over and over and over by works of the law no human being will be justified are you hearing that does anyone here know someone or maybe you believe that look if I'm a good person I try really hard I do my best to obey God's law by works of the law no human being will be justified says Paul since through the law comes knowledge of sin the law's main purpose is to show you that you can't do it that you need a savior that's what the new covenant is for the old covenant was not meant to save anyone

27:57the law is not meant to save anyone if you're trusting in it you are either minimizing what what God God says to do and his holiness or you are greatly overestimating your ability to fulfill it or maybe both the old covenant was never intended to bring about salvation it gave laws that showed God's just character but it didn't change anyone's heart so that they loved what God loved the old covenant established a system of sacrifices it showed people's need for atonement but it never finally and fully covered their sin that's why the sacrifices were made every day every day over and over and over it never stopped it defines cleanliness to show that you have to be pure to come before God but it didn't break down that barrier of the curtain which separated people from God the old covenant just like the temple itself was temporary that's what this passage says explicitly it's passing away it was a means of pointing forward to what was truly needed a savior a heart change God's intervention to bring us to him and wash us and change us and reconcile us to him because we were never going to get there on our own God promised through Jeremiah to bring about what was needed God said I will establish a new covenant I'm going to do it we need a mediator who does it for in our place I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not like the covenant I Jesus mediates he brings us and God together in a new relationship that is his work that is the work

30:18that he is perfectly suited to do because he is righteous and because he is with God and this new covenant is enacted on better promises so we're going to end with one last section talking about those better promises what are the better promises and how do they show up in your life so this work fulfills better promises Jesus is perfectly fitted for his work in the new covenant it's perfectly fitted for our needs it's beautiful isn't it let's press in further and see how great it is first it creates a true love for God's law simply telling people the rules is not enough for real change we all know this can I get an from some parents in here we adults know it's true for us too not just for our kids simply telling people the rules is not enough to change their heart someone who drives into Pocahontas State Park they might be handed a list of park rules don't litter stay on the trails don't feed the wildlife right and they might follow them for a little bit as long as it was convenient for them to do so but as soon as those rules get in the way of what they want to do that chipmunk is really cute I really just want to give him a little bit of bread what are they going to do they're going to they know what to do and what not to do and they're motivated to follow them even when it's inconvenient because they love that park they love it when God promises the new covenant he's promising a heart change our hope is not rooted in our piety but in the Lord's power our hope is not rooted in

32:41our piety but in the Lord's power the power to transform us the power to give us new hearts that love his law because they love him your old heart will never ever love God or love his commands not to the extent that God says you should try as you might it will always resist it will always pull you down and pull him down and pull yourself up that's what it does you need a heart transplant this is the promise of the new covenant I heard about a doctor who was the first doctor who ever performed successful open heart surgery underline successful I'm sure there were lots of unsuccessful ones but one of this doctor's patients was another doctor this doctor performed a heart transplant on another doctor and they were chatting after the operation and the doctor who performed the operation said hey do you want to see your old heart and the doctor said and they pulled a jar out of the cabinet and there the patient was holding his old heart in his hand he asked a bunch of technical questions about it but then he ended by saying so this is my old heart which caused me so much trouble and he handed it back and he never looked at it again I want you to want that heart change and once you have it I want you to want as much distance as you can from your old heart because that old heart gave you nothing but trouble nothing but trouble only the new heart from the Lord which loves him and loves his law is going to ultimately lead you in paths of righteousness lead you in a path and a life that

34:51honors and glorifies God leads you towards eternal life you need that new heart you need to look at your old heart like that doctor and say this thing just gave me trouble I'm glad it's gone he gives us that new heart when we come to him in faith when we surrender to him completely have you surrendered to him completely God is a better surgeon than that guy who practiced you will go through that surgery and you will live you will have life for the first time after that surgery come to him and surrender please for that heart change and if you have a new heart then exercise it what good is a new heart if you don't put it through its paces get out there exercise it lean into his law which is written in your heart obey God fearlessly good all those laws that he's written into your heart your new heart do you believe that they come from a good God do you believe that they're for your good then my friends fearlessly obey the Lord the new covenant also gives us a personal knowledge of him under the old covenant there was always separation always before there was a temple or tabernacle God's presence descended the people heard the thunder saw the smoke felt the earthquake and they cried out Moses you go up for us we don't want anywhere we don't want to come anywhere near that mountain you go it's still true that God is mighty and holy and great beyond comprehension but now we can draw near Jesus has torn the curtain in two he's taken the terrible punishment in our place because he's mediated

37:06God says I will be their God and they shall be my people they shall all know me through Christ you don't just know about God you know God and there is a difference he's God with us as a king but also calling us friend he says come to me talk to me walk with me the way is open and someday you won't have to draw near at all Jesus prayed we heard this earlier father I desire that they whom you have given me may be with me where I am in the new heavens and new earth he will dwell with them they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God Revelation 21 3 this is the final fulfillment of Jeremiah 31 see that thread flows through Christ and it gets fulfilled ultimately here's the last thing the new covenant gives us assurance of forgiveness the old covenant daily sacrifices daily reminders of incompleteness the work was never finished don't you think that somebody as they were coming the next day to offer sacrifice again that their consciences were troubled what what if the priest oversleeps today what if he gets sick and no one comes in to offer my sacrifice I need this every day but Jesus our mediator has done it once for all when he offered up himself this is a finality never before seen it's signaled by God saying I will be merciful towards their iniquities and I will remember their everything not remember something well this is like striking it off of the list he strikes through the demand of the law over our sins no more does this sin no more does this person

39:18fall under the condemnation of sin that's what it means by not remembering their sins any longer be assured now that you will receive mercy and grace be so assured my friends that you come to him quickly and repent we see so many examples of really weak repentance don't be a weak repenter be a full throated repenter be a bold repenter own your sin fearlessly and I don't mean proudly I just mean clearly this is what I change change me help me so that I don't do it again don't come to him and to other people with some mealy mouthed weak watered down repentance you have a final sacrifice you're just going to mire yourself in sin if you repent weakly repent boldly and strongly why hide when you already have a mediator this is the work of Jesus the perfect priest he's the right person he's in the right place and he brings us better promises through the new covenant