The Book of Hebrews 8:1-6 A more excellent ministry

Good morning. Before we get started, just to point out here, I want to tantalize you with these electives that are planned for next year. It'll be a little more than a month, right? The first one is the Book of Acts, which is just a fascinating book. It actually covers a 30-year period of time. And one of the things that's amazing is to see where the Lord takes the church during that period of time. So anyway, great study. Colossians, only four chapters, but boy, precious truths.

And then we'll be having a Bible survey. We'll be overlooking what does the Bible teach in different sections. We'll be looking at the kind of progressive revelation that comes out as we look at the Bible, and what are the themes that the Bible carries out. So anyway, some really good choices, I think, for you to pick from. So give that some thought. Once we have the sign-ups for the Christmas party out of the way, we'll get the sign-ups for the electives out there.

Now, we're going to continue our study in the passage that Brad has just read for us, Hebrews 8, 1 through 6. And the way we did it is last week we actually began that same passage, and we're doing it in two parts, and there's some kind of reason for that.

The author of Hebrews is showing that the Jewish sacrificial system is inferior to what the believers already have under grace. It's a step backwards for them to go to it, but nonetheless, they're pondering it, and so he's trying to get them to see, wait a minute, you're not having any advantage by going back to that. You're in fact losing something. And so here instead Christ is crucified representing entirely grace. It's a gracious act instead of the sacrificial system which is law and works. This passage here, the one we're looking at today, shows that Jesus serves as our high priest in the true tabernacle, and in the heavenlies, and not just an earthly copy.

That was one of the principles we brought out last week, is a lot of the things that we do here are picturing something that has a reality some other place or some other time. Even as we have the Lord's table, which is a really wonderful thing for us to be able to share together, That's a picture, isn't it? It's a representation of what the Lord has already done. I shared this last Sunday, Nancy and I celebrated our 40th anniversary this last week, but what is marriage? Marriage is a picture of the heavenly reality of the eternal romance of Christ in the church.

So even that is a picture or a copy or a shadow. So, we'll study this passage in two parts. Last week we looked at the heavenly reality and earthly shadow. This week we'll be looking at the Jewish high priest and Jesus as our high priest. And so we'll be focusing on those verses primarily that look at that. So last Sunday we looked at verses 2 and 4 and 5 primarily. And so we're going to switch that. Today we're going to be looking at verse 1 and 3 and 6 primarily.

And our reason for doing that is we've set the context. There's the heavenly reality, a place, and the earthly copy or shadow, a place, here on earth. And now we'll be shifting over to look at Christ our high priest versus the earthly high priest and so picking verses 1, 3, and 6 primarily to focus on to do that so here's Hebrews 8 verses 1 and 2 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 and minister in the sanctuary in a true tabernacle which the Lord pitched not man Let's take a look at that. Now, the main point.

The author of Hebrews, if we think about it, he's starting the beginning because he's been writing now seven chapters, now starting the eighth. And it's easy with all these different themes floating in and out and woven through the length of the chapters. It's easy to kind of get lost. Boy, all these different shifting themes.

He's talked about angels. He's talked about Abraham. He's talked about Moses. He's talked about Melchizedek. He's brought all those up, right? So he's done that. He's also talked about the Levites and the Levitical priests. He's talked about the tabernacle out in the wilderness and Aaron and the sacrifices. So he's been through lots of different people and themes throughout this study so far and he's not done.

The main point he wants to get across is that Christ is our High Priest, seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, ministering in the true tabernacle pitched by God. That's the main point. He says, look, we've been talking about lots of things, okay? We've been covering lots of subjects, talking about different people, but here's the thing I want you to make sure we don't lose sight of. Christ is our High Priest, seated at the right hand of God in the heavenlies, ministering in the true tabernacle pitched by God.

That's the main point. Now, he also says, we have, here in verse 1, and in the letters of the New Testament, not always, but sometimes, we have, and you have to look at the context, It's an expression for the possession of the believer because of the position of the believer. Got that? The possession of the believer because of the position of the believer. Let me give you an example. We've got one right here.

Ephesians 1.7. In Him we have redemption. See that? Our position is in Him. Our possession is we have redemption. Through His blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. And by the way, is that redemption? Is that kind of a little deal? Or, you know, it's okay? No. It's according to, you can replace that thought with, consistent with, the riches of His grace.

A wealth of grace. See, God's got not just kind of stingy, wimpy grace. He's got a wealth of it. I mean, it's the kind of thing where you go, WOW! That's the kind of grace He's got. And we've got that kind of redemption and forgiveness. You ever heard somebody say something, well, if this happened, I could never forgive myself, right? Well, it doesn't matter so much what we forgive ourselves for. It's what God forgives, right? That's what really matters. And there's no shortage in forgiveness on God's part.

Second Corinthians 4.7 and Galatians 2.4 are also a couple of good examples of places where we have a possession because of our position. See that? We have a possession because of our position.

That is the meaning here, we saw it in Hebrews 4.14, in Hebrews 6.19, and right here in this verse in Hebrews 8.1.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul is an example out of chapter 6. A hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil. It's a hope that we have, a certain hope. Not a hopefulness, that's subjective. It's an objective, absolute, certain hope. That's what he's talking about here. It'd be an example of a possession that we have.

We who believe have untouchable, nobody can mess with it, untouchable, grace-given spiritual possessions that cannot be lost by us or by others. Nobody's going to mess with it. Nobody's going to touch it. God's not going to go, oops! Sorry, I tried. This is untouchable. It can't be messed with. This is a possession that we have permanently because of our position. It's not because we hold on real tight. It's not because we hold on real tight. It's because he holds on real tight and that doesn't fail.

We have possessions permanently that can't be lost. Ever lost something? Cell phone falls in the toilet. That kind of stuff. Oh, no! Things happen here on planet Earth. God isn't going to let things happen. God isn't going to let things happen. It's in His hands. And He doesn't mess up. And He doesn't go, oops.

Here are the we-haves. Hebrews here here's 414 therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our confession right We have a great high priest Christ is our great high priest He is and that is a possession that we have as a result of our position Here's Hebrews 6 19 and 20 this we have as an anchor of the soul of hope both sure and steadfast One which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner He got there first, but we're following, okay? A forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

And now this one in Hebrews 8.1. And now the main point in what has been said is this. We have such a high priest. And we're going to be taking a look at the details on that.

Now there's such a high priest. What do we mean such a high priest? It could be put this way, we have a high priest of such unique character, qualifications, and accomplishments. Character, qualifications, and accomplishments. We have a high priest of that kind. Character, qualifications, and accomplishments.

So here's Hebrews 7.26, previous chapter. He is holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He is of that character and qualification.

Having prayed a high priestly prayer for us. He prayed for himself in John 17. He prayed for the disciples. And then he prayed for you and me. Can you imagine that? Jesus prayed for you and me. But guess what? He's not done. He's not done. He then offered as a priestly service himself as a sacrifice. You see, the Roman soldiers thought that, hey, we're just going to crucify this guy and gamble for his clothing because we don't want to rip it all up. And we'll put the nails in. They just thought they were doing their duty, what Roman soldiers do. But Jesus was offering himself as a high priest. He didn't go to the cross as a victim. He didn't go to the cross as some sort of a legal accident in the Roman and Jewish legal system. He went to the cross voluntarily offering himself as the lamb and as the high priest. He was buried, raised, ascended, and seated in his high priestly duties.

Now if you look at Hebrews 1.3 and 8.1, there are some points of comparison here. Let's take a look at them.

First it says in Hebrews 1.3, it starts off with, He sat down, and then who has taken his seat is the line that compares to it in Hebrews 8.1 we're looking at here. At the right hand, at the right hand of, almost identical, and then the majesty on high, the throne of the majesty in the heavens.

What's real interesting is this word, the majesty, is the only place in the Bible that we find God called by this term, the majesty. The Old Testament has numerous places where God is said to have majesty, along with other attributes. But this is a unique thing. God has called the majesty here in these two places in Hebrews uniquely.

Psalm 110.1 that we've been looking at previously in the book of Hebrews is referenced here not by the exact quote but by taking some of the messages and themes out of it.

In Psalm 110.1 it's quoted in whole or in part in Matthew 22.4 and Luke 20.42 and Acts 2.34 again and then here in Hebrews 1.13 and 10.12 and 13. Those are the places where it's quoted in whole or in part as a quote. What we find here in this passage, this is like a number of others, where there's kind of a rephrasing, but a statement of the same truth.

So Matthew 26-64 has that, Mark 14-62 and Luke 22-69 and parallel passages in those three Gospels. Acts 2-33, which is, that's the very first day of the church. Peter's talking to a number of Jews and he goes and presents that message from Psalm 110-1. And then again in 531, as he's giving an evangelistic appeal.

Romans 8.34, the Apostle Paul makes a restatement of it.

Ephesians 1.20 is another one of those.

Those who will be in the Colossians elective will see that in Colossians 3.1.

Here in Hebrews 8.1 we're seeing it.

We're going to see it again in Hebrews 12.2 and then finally 1 Peter 3.22 is the last place that this same message is brought forward with a rephrasing of it or rewording of it.

He has taken his seat. Christ took his seat in the heavenlies because he had finished all his accomplishments. That's why he's qualified to have a seat, right? Because he's done. He has accomplished all the things that the Father sent him to do. Everything in his first coming.

Now he has a continuing role for us on our behalf as the High Priest. He took the place of his seating as a place of honor and a place of authority. Having accomplished everything, he then took his seat as a place of honor. His seat was and is a throne from which He reigns until He comes again.

Now, notice some details here. You can easily lose the words. He will come again for us and then He will come again with us. He will come for us and meet us in the heavens to take us to be with Him. That's called the rapture. The Greek word is harpazo. So it isn't a made-up word. It's not an indented word.

It's to take us to be with Him. So He will come for us to take us to be with Him. This is actually introduced in John 14. I am going to prepare a place for you and I will come again to take you to Myself that where I am you may be also. So that's what He's saying there. He will come for us. And when He comes again, His second coming it's called, He will come with us. He will bring us with Him. So there's coming for us and coming with us, and we want to make a distinction there.

What's your hope? Your hope as a believer, the blessed hope, is His coming for us. He has taken His seat, and He will get up from that seat to come for us. It says there in the heavens, Jesus Christ reigns in the heavens, the place where we are blessed with every spiritual blessing, where we are seated with Him, where we have our citizenship, and where we are to set our minds.

We're to set our minds on those things. That's home. That's home. He not only reigns in the heavens, but he ministers as our heavenly high priest of the order of Melchizedek in the true tabernacle right now for you and for me. Not the earthly copy and shadow under Moses' law.

Oh, the Jews were very impressed, especially after Herod went and taxed them like crazy. to build these upgrades to the temple. They thought this was some phenomenal thing. And you could see from some distance, this is quite a structure. This is quite a structure. There's a bunch of gold on it. I mean, this is an impressive structure. But it's just copy and shadow. The real thing is going on in the heavenlies. In Hebrews 8, 3 through 5, it reads like this.

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So it's necessary that this high priest, that is Jesus Christ, also have something to offer. Now, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law. who serve a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle.

For see, he says, that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain. We looked at this last week. Everything about the temple was all copy and shadow. It was intended to be some kind of a representation of the heavenly temple. A representation of the heavenly high priest. Except there was a problem.

In the temple, the priest kept dying. The high priest kept dying off. And they had to offer sacrifices for themselves again and again and again. They never got it done. The high priest, the first thing he has to do is deal with his own sins. But it doesn't really get it done because it's got to do it again next year.

Hebrews 7 and the passage that we just looked at recently here 726 through 28 for it was fitting for us to have such a high priest holy innocent undefiled separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens who does not need daily day after day after day like those high priests to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people because he did this he did once for all when he offered up himself as Not just the lamb, but the high priest.

He was both the high priest and the lamb at the same time. For the law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever. He offered up himself as both the high priest and the sacrifice. Now, there's a funny thing about high priests.

They have to have something to offer and a place to offer it. You have something to offer and a place to offer it. So the high priest under the law of Moses was qualified by his earthly genealogy. It goes through all the genealogical lists. Okay, all right, you're qualified. You can do it. to serve, offering up gifts and sacrifices year after year until he died, which they did.

And another took his place. Here's a list of the high priests. I didn't put it in your handout. Here's a list of all the high priests in Israel from the time of the birth of Christ to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. And one of the things you notice there, I bolded it and put it in blue, is Caiaphas. Here's the one who interrogated Christ. You know, Caiaphas had the nerve to look at Christ and say, are you the Christ? And you know he was a Sadducee, he didn't believe in anybody who was the Christ, he didn't believe in Messiah. So it didn't matter what Jesus answered, he wouldn't believe it anyway.

And he was nasty, he was the one that came up with the plan, hey, we're going to fix this problem, we're going to kill him. So he's just going through the motions, he knows he's going to get this guy killed. So, but the problem with Joseph Caiaphas, he was a high priest, so he'd go in there in Yom Kippur and offer the sacrifices. Nasty guy. Anyway, he'd go in and offer these sacrifices, but you know what happened to him?

He died! Here's his bone box, they found it, and it has his name on it, okay? He died. They looked inside, it had the bones of a guy about 65 years old, which is how old he was when he died. So that's it. He croaked. And that's what happens to all these guys. Again and again and again, they die. That's the problem. But Christ, our High Priest, under the principle of grace, who is qualified by, get this, who He is, what He's done, and having offered Himself as the Lamb and the High Priest, once for all, He serves forever. He gets it done.

Not like Caiaphas. Here's Caiaphas thinking, boy, I'm going to get rid of this guy, and he's going to die pretty soon. And he died 19 centuries ago. Here's Jesus that Caiaphas was just ridiculing and didn't believe a word that he said, and just wanted him dead anyway.

Here is the one who offers himself in less than 24 hours. He offers himself as the Lamb, as the High Priest, making a once-for-all final sacrifice that really gets it done. And he's the high priest forever. And Caiaphas is in a bone box. Now, it's pretty clear which is superior. Caiaphas isn't the route you want to go.

Both high priests under the Law of Moses serve in a copy But high priests under the law of Moses serve in a copy and shadow of the real temple in heaven. This is going through the motions to try to symbolize what really is done in heaven and what really counts and what really gets it done in heaven. So they go through the motions and go through the motions and go through the motions and never get it done here in this earthly copy and shadow. The high priest has something to offer and a place to offer it, but the problem is, it's a copy, it's a shadow, it's temporary, it doesn't get it done, and the high priest dies anyway. Here is the pattern of gifts and sacrifices in Hebrews.

Hebrews 5.1, For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Here's Hebrews 8.3, for every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So it is necessary that this high priest, Christ, also have something to offer, except that his sacrifice, his gift, is once for all. In chapter 9, when we get there, that same both gifts and sacrifices being offered is going to show up again. Accordingly, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, except he's talking about the earthly ones, which cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience. They don't get it done.

Here is Hebrews 8.6, the last verse here in the passage, and it's actually a turning point verse because it's going to take us on to a different subject. And so we'll be looking at the subject this introduces over the next couple of weeks here. But now he has obtained, Christ has obtained, a more excellent ministry by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, and we'll talk about what that means, which has been enacted on better promises. Hebrews is brought to you by the words more and better, and this verse is no exception.

Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry than that of the earthly copy in shadow that was ended when the veil was torn. See what happened? Christ died on the cross and as he died the veil was torn in two. Imagine these priests are going, huh? What happened? That thing's about this thick. How'd that get torn? I don't know.

Fix it and let's keep going. And that's what they did. They kept going for four more decades. until the Romans came and took the whole thing apart. But they just kept going through the motions. Was it really doing anything? Had God's Lamb, the once and final sacrifice, paid the price for you and for me? Yes. It was done. They were going through the motions in empty action. It was worthless activity. God was frankly not interested.

Christ is the mediator and the guarantee, that's what we get from Hebrews 7.22, of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. Better covenant, better promises. Hey, that doesn't sound too bad at all.

Which covenant is that? This is the New Covenant with Israel and we're going to be seeing that here in the next couple weeks. The Old Covenant with Israel was under the Law of Moses. The New Covenant is to be implemented in the yet to come Millennial Kingdom. The New Covenant is to be implemented in the yet to come Millennial Kingdom.

The Millennial Kingdom, this is what it's going to look like on a map. This is out of Genesis 15, 18 through 21, and Ezekiel chapter 48 shows how that land is divided by tribe. And so you have that description. The Millennial Kingdom, which could start as soon as seven years from now, extends, as you see there on the map, from the Mediterranean all the way to the Euphrates River.

Israel will be big. And here will be the temple. There will be a temple during the Millennial Kingdom, and it will be big. Huge. Ezekiel 40-47 describes the aspects of this coming Millennial Temple. They say they could start construction on it as soon as seven years from now. You and I get to see it.

The people of Israel, and this is the thing, they will all have the Holy Spirit and will be empowered to both know and live out the law of Moses from the heart without a teacher, no rabbis. You don't need one. Some guy, if he comes up and says, hey, I'm a rabbi, I'll tell you this and that and the other thing, they'll say, what do we need you for? I already got it memorized. And the Lord did it. But here's the other part. It's not just, I know them, empowered to live it out. Empowered to live it out. They will live the law and they will all be blessed.

Now you have on the top of page three this half page chart here, and we're just going to step through here, the covenants that God made relative to Israel. The first one is the one with Abraham, approximately 2100 BC. While there are numerous passages, the primary and definitive passage is Genesis 12, 1 through 3. Land, seed, and blessing.

The next one is the giving of the law with Moses. 1446 BC, we just got out of Egypt, here's your laws. Now, the one following that is the land covenant, just as Moses now, But just as the people of Israel are ready to enter the land, Moses has given them, okay, here's the deal with entering this land. Here's what you got to do and not do and all those kinds of things.

The next one is the covenant with David, where David is promised that a descendant of his will reign on into eternity. And then finally, this is the new covenant, the one that we're talking about here. Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34 is the definitive passage on that. There are 11 passages in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah that spell out the New Covenant. Here is three aspects of the New Covenant. One is a covenant promised. I give a passage out of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. A covenant promised.

God's going to carry out this New Covenant. By the way, Jeremiah had a scribe named Baruch. This is just an incidental, but I think it's good. He had a scribe named Baruch. Baruch's seal stamp, this seal impression, has been found. Baruch, son of Neriah, was Jeremiah's scribe.

And that seal impression of that same guy, Jeremiah's scribe, has been found by archaeologists. here's what jeremiah thirty one thirty one says here behold the days are coming declares the lord while i will make a new covenant with the house of israel with the house of judah see there was the northern kingdom the house of israel and the southern kingdom the house of judah so that's what he's talking about there not like the covenant which i made with their fathers in the day i took them by the hand to bring out the land of egypt the covenant which they That's a problem.

Although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord, but this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people, and they shall not teach again each man his neighbor, and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord, and I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." They will have the Holy Spirit, everyone, universally, all the time, in order to live out the Law.

That's the New Covenant. That's not ours. Are you going to have the law written on your heart? No. Not at all. So the covenant is confirmed. Christ died on the cross. A lot of things happened. He died for our sins. Is that all? No. He paid the bride price for the church. Is that all? No. One of the things he did is to confirm, because remember it requires a gesture or a sacrifice, often a sacrifice, to confirm a covenant. And so Christ's death on the cross confirmed the covenant.

That's why you'll see in Luke and 1 Corinthians, this is the new covenant in my blood. I've confirmed the new covenant for Israel. Finally, the covenant will be fulfilled. That's given in Isaiah in several passages there, right towards the end of the book of Isaiah. So a covenant promised, a covenant confirmed by Christ's death, and a covenant fulfilled as soon as seven years from now.

So, what's a covenant? A covenant is a promise with a sacred character. Either because it was made by God, or God was called in as a witness. One way or the other. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, God promises a new covenant. Like I say, in about 11 passages, and we've given a number of those here on the slides here. God's covenant with Israel is unilateral. God made a promise.

He didn't say, you know, if you do this, I'll do that. He just says, I'm going to do it. He made a promise, it was unilateral, and it's unconditional. He is going to do it, and he's not going to say, alright, I'm going to see if you guys hold up your end of the deal. Not going to do it.

You know what they're going to do? The Israelites know what they're going to do? They're going to believe. That's it. They're going to believe, and he's going to do the rest. Unilateral and unconditional. Now, a covenant has three aspects. It's a sacred promise. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. Swearing by a deity.

And frequently what we find in scripture is God swears by himself. And the third one, a gesture or sign, often a sacrifice. A gesture could be something else. What did God do when he made the covenant with Noah? He made a sign. He called it the rainbow. That was the gesture.

There are various examples as we go through the book of Genesis of a covenant being made and on into the Old Testament, even into the passages in Hebrews that we've been looking at. So why a new covenant with Israel? I mean, they had an old one, it was pretty thorough. The old covenant, which is the law of Moses, was holy and righteous and good.

And by the way, as Christians, we shouldn't badmouth the law. There's nothing wrong with the law. It's holy and righteous and good. What's the problem with the law? Just do it, right? Good luck with that. That's the problem with the law. Just do it. As a matter of fact, you'd better. And if you don't, you're going to study rocks real close.

That's the way the old covenant works. The new covenant with Israel is to be implemented, fulfilled in the coming kingdom. all Israel will be empowered to know and live out the law from the heart and because of that they will be blessed. Deuteronomy 28 1-6 starts out, now it shall be if you diligently obey the Lord your God being careful to do all his commandments so don't mess up. Right? which I command you today the Lord God will set you high above all the nations of the the earth all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God and let's think about this where's the blessing is the blessing here or there blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the country blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of the ground the offspring of your beast and it goes on like that it has to do a blessing here One time a friend and I were going along the road, and we found this guy pushing a motorcycle.

And we said, hey, you need some help? And he said, yeah, I've run out of gas. He's along the freeway. So we took him to the next intersection and helped him get some gas and brought him back to his motorcycle. And he said, oh, man, thanks. Well, God bless you guys. And we turned and looked at him. We said, he already has. So now you've got this chart here.

And just to kind of get the big picture, we have the Old Covenant. and it's given to Israel, and it's law, and it's not empowered, and all the blessings and conditions and everything are all earthly. And then we have, under grace, here in the time of the church, there's no covenant, but here we're under grace, we are empowered, everyone who believes, everyone who believes is indwelt by the Holy Spirit universally, just like Israel will be in the coming millennium. but with different effect in the new covenant it'll be Israel under law but empowered graciously empowered right and earthly so here we are We're reading about the book of Hebrews, and he's talking about, here's the Old Covenant, and he's trying to tell them, look, you guys are wanting to go back from grace to the Old Covenant.

That's going to be replaced. That's going to be replaced. And that's why he's telling them about this. He says, you guys don't understand. This Old Covenant stuff you guys want to slip back into? God's going to get rid of it. God's going to get rid of it. And he's going to replace it with a new covenant where the Jews will be empowered.

But you just got to understand, you can't go backwards here. It's not what God has in mind. For us in the church, which is where we're in this parentheses right here, between the old covenant and the new covenant for Israel, that's the time we're in now. We've been identified with him as crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating.

We are under the principle of grace 100%, not one law. Not one law in order to be in right standing with God. Not one. The principle of grace. The principle of grace is what operates. We don't have the law written on our heart. We have Jesus Christ in our heart. He's the one that does the living. So here we as believers are universally given the indwelling Holy Spirit all the time, just like the Jews will be, but for a different effect. For us, it's entirely under the principle of grace.

For the Jews in the coming millennial kingdom, as soon as seven years from now, they will have the Holy Spirit universally all the time in order to live out the law. That's not for you and me. That's not for you and me. God's going to do some miraculous, wonderful, awesome things. I mean, they will be excited about it. But it's not for you and me.

We don't have the law written on our heart and never will. Jesus, for us, Jesus died on the cross to separate us from the law. We in the church live entirely under the principle of grace, not one law. We're empowered with Christ living out our life. And by the way, if the law is holy and righteous and good, and the Jews are empowered to live it out, that'll be fine. But is the life of Christ got any problem carrying out righteousness in you and me? Not at all. Not at all.

And one big distinction, even with the new covenant, the blessings will all be earthly. But for you and me, we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. The blessings are heavenly. That's where we've been blessed. That's where we are seated. That's where our citizenship is. That's where we can set our minds. That's where we have a heavenly calling. Radically different. Radically different. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for what you've revealed here and what an amazing thing that you have done. We thank you for your astounding, as a matter of fact, I'll put it this way, eternally astounding grace. Thank you for that. In the rolling ages to come, we will still be having aha moments, gasping in awe at how awesome your grace is. Thank you for that. Thank you for the anticipation of that. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.