We Have A Better Sacrifice

Good morning. Greetings to all of you in Jesus' name. Thank you for all of you who have shared in your memory.

I wonder if there's some more that we're hoping to do it and didn't get a chance. Could give more opportunity another time if we need to. Okay, so again for our message, we're back in the book of Hebrews and we're going to do a bit of an overview of Hebrews chapter nine, 10 and 11.

And as we have been doing this, we're viewing this as a journey along a scenic route and rather than being down in the valley, observing everything, we're just kind of skimming across the top and taking some overlooks of the book of Hebrews. And one of the primary things for this study would be to help us as we read the book of Hebrews, that it can make a little more sense as we read it and study it as we look at what the primary theme of the book of Hebrews was. The primary theme of the book of Hebrews was that of the better covenant, the things that the Hebrews were facing at this time was going back to Moses and the law and the Hebrew writer was convincing them that what they have in Christ Jesus and the new covenant is so much better that there should be no good reason at all to ever want to go back to Moses and the law.

So today, nine, 10, 11, we are going to call this We Have a Better Sacrifice and that is our title for today, We Have a Better Sacrifice. Before we get into these chapters, we'd like to stop at an overlook that kind of gives us a panoramic view of the whole journey in one specific area. One of the things the book of Hebrews does, it does deal with some false doctrine and one of the false doctrines that we definitely have today that the book of Hebrews does a good job of dealing with is Calvinism or maybe more specifically, once saved, always saved.

And it is the little word if that we find in the book of Hebrews. And so if you're ever dealing with anyone who is a Calvinist or maybe not a full-fledged Calvinist, but even just believing once saved, always saved, these verses throughout the book of Hebrews can be a real opportunity to try to convince someone that though no one can pluck us out of the father's hand, yet we do have the opportunity to walk away from what we once knew. So we have the ifs in Hebrews, this once saved, always saved doctrine is not only heretical, but actually in my consideration, actually a bit cruel to consider the fact that there would be a possibility that some of my children can be saved and that some of my children might not be saved, Calvinism in its doctrine.

But this once saved, always saved, I believe is a doctrine that if nothing else leaves us with a pretty sloppy Christianity. And so I'm just gonna go down through reading these, what is it, two, four, six verses of the ifs. In Hebrews chapter two, verse three, it says, how shall we escape? If we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.

Hebrews chapter three, verse six, but Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Hebrews 3.14, for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end. And also Hebrews 6.6, if they shall fall away, sounds like a possibility of falling away, if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing that they crucify to themselves the son of God afresh and put him to an open shame.

The fifth one is found in Hebrews 10.26, for if we sin willfully, if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. And then the 38th verse in chapter 10, now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. And so we have those ifs and it definitely, as you read them, it would be hard to conceive the idea that there is no possibility of going back.

If they shall fall away, if we hold the beginning, if we hold fast, if we neglect, for if we sin willfully, if any man draw back. And it is good for us when we read that we understand what we're reading, especially when we get to Romans chapter nine, kind of the primary verses that people use to support this heretical doctrine, once saved, always saved. And it's talking about how God chose Isaac over Ishmael, that God chose Jacob over Esau, and that God chose Moses and told Moses that it's not him that willeth or him that runneth, but God who chooses, and that's the verses they use.

But the problem there is that they're taking it on an individual personal basis. But what the Romans writer is actually contrasting is the Israelites and the Jewish people versus now God has chosen under the new covenant, the whosoever is in Christ, both Jew and Gentile. And it doesn't matter.

We can argue that all day long, that it belongs to the Jewish people. But if God chose that under the new covenants for those who are born again in Christ Jesus, both Jew and Gentile, we can waste our time arguing. What he has decided is the way it is.

So don't read Romans chapter nine and looking at it as a personal individual basis, but it's between two people groups that God has chosen. He's not chosen between Jesse and Dean. He has chosen between Jewish under the old covenant in the new covenants, whosoever will.

This once saved, always saved becomes a very sloppy Christianity. There was a man, a friend I had, he no longer lives. He ended up committing suicide by an overdose of drugs, but he was a once saved, always saved.

He most of the times drove without a valid driver's license. He drove cars without registration. He drove with no insurance and which took him into prison.

His life was characterized by physical fights. He was a very angry man. He swore he was separated from his family.

His wife and him got divorced. He was violent towards his wife, which produced her getting a PFA against him and eventually divorcing him. And he was in trouble with the law most of the time because he was way behind in child support and paying child support.

He never, as far as I know, he never once paid taxes, his yearly taxes. He always tried to go under the table with when he worked. He smoked, he drank, he did drugs.

He at least four times overdosed. I think it's the fourth time that he actually killed himself but he was a Christian. And if you argued with him on that point, he got so upset that you could even think, would dare to think that he is not a Christian.

And so I realized that not everyone's there when they believe this doctrine, but there are those that are there and it is a very dangerous doctrine. Okay, the second overlook that we want to take just a few minutes at, again, the Hebrew writer is showing how much better the New Covenant is. And he took some time, and I'm not gonna take a lot of time to this, but he took some time at looking at each one of the tabernacle and the furniture in the tabernacle and how it is so much better and reflects under the New Covenant.

And so let's stop at this second overlook and just consider with me real quickly, number one, we have the lights that were supposed to be burning all the time in the tabernacle. They were supposed to be lit and burning all the time. That is symbolic of Jesus today.

Jesus came into the world and he lighteth every man. So that piece of furniture was pointing forward to Jesus. And of course, then it goes further, we're the light of the world.

His light is shining through us that the world might see our good works and glorify our Father, which is in heaven. The light was burning all the time. Christ lighted us.

Our light to the world should be burning all the time. Number two was the table called the table of shoe bread, which there was fresh bread put on there every day. Jesus is symbolic of that bread.

John 6 50 says, this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. Jesus is the bread of life and we need to daily be eating of him. Again, the argument here is that why would you Hebrew folks ever want to go back to the old covenant when the new covenant is so much better? Number three is the altar of incense.

I think here in Hebrews, it gives us as if it was in the Holy of Holies. It was right at the entrance into the Holy of Holies. And it is given that way because of its association to the Holy of Holies.

So it was in the Holy room and this altar of incense is symbolic of Jesus making intercession for us. We have that in Hebrews 7 25, wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. The fourth thing is the Ark of the Covenant, which is overlaid with gold and that typifies Christ and his perfect obedience to the law and fulfilling all righteousness for us.

The Ark of the Covenant overlaid with gold typifies Christ. He had perfect obedience, which is the illustration of the overlaid with pure gold. Obedience to the law fulfilling all righteousness for us.

Another would be the Ark, the wood is of his humanity, Christ in the flesh, the gold representing his deity. The fifth thing would have been the golden pot of manna. It was a memorial of God's miraculous feeding of the children of Israel in the wilderness.

Again, it reminds us he is the bread of life today. We don't eat manna as they did in the wilderness. We eat of Christ today.

The sixth thing would be Aaron's rod that budded. It's symbolic of Christ's life. An ever budding plant of renowned, beautiful and budding through death.

Christ died and rose again. The tables of the law. This was the moral law, which is a reminder of God's holy law and the care in which we should keep that law.

It's a remembrance. It's a reminder of us of God's holy law, reminding us that through Christ, we are able to keep the law. And the eighth thing would be the cherubim.

The cherubim was the glory of God overshadowing the mercy seat. And it's symbolic of God's Shekinah glory that shines in our hearts through Christ Jesus. Again, the whole argument of the Hebrew writer is to convince the Hebrew Christians of how much greater the heavenly tabernacle is than that of the earthly.

Again, the earthly was only a shadow of the heavenly. And the appeal was to the Hebrews, why would we hold on to a shadow when we can have the real thing? Apostatizing to Moses and the law would be going back to the shadow rather than the real thing that we have in Christ Jesus. Okay, so Jesus Christ, the Son of God, shed His blood once for all.

There is no need as under the old covenant to be constantly shedding blood. Praise the Lord for that. It was once and done.

We have access directly into the Holy of Holies through the everlasting blood of Christ rather than once a year. We have an high priest who ever liveth and does not change by death. How much better than the old covenant? He ever liveth to make intercession for us.

Jesus, the Son of God, tempted in all points as we, yet without sin. Jesus, who did not need first. Who did not need first to have His own sins purged and then offer for us, but Him who was holy, a lame without spot, who was offered for us so that we would know forgiveness.

Not having our sins, as it always is, often is typified under the old covenant, covered. We now have the opportunity to have our sins removed as far as the east is from the west rather than year by year remembering them. So why would we go back to Moses and the law? It is inferior.

Moses, Levites, the tabernacle, the furniture in the tabernacle, the feast days, the Sabbath day, we're all a shadow of something better. And so Hebrews, don't go back to the old covenant. I think it's illustrated as far as the old covenant being a shadow and we having the real today.

It would be like me going home after I've been away for two weeks or a week or several days. And it's dark and I'm walking towards my house. My wife sees I've come home.

She turns on the outside light. She comes running down the walk, the shadow with the light behind her, the shadow, her shadow out in front of her. And I fall down on the sidewalk and I grab her shadow and I kiss her shadow.

The apostle Paul or the Hebrew writer was saying that's what it would be like to go back to the old covenant. Why wouldn't I grab her and hug her and give her a kiss rather than her shadow? The third observation for today and we're turning to Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews chapter nine, we're reading 15 to 17.

Again, we're not doing a thorough study. We are bouncing on a scenic route and stopping here and there to consider some of the key points of the Hebrews. Here we have in nine, 15 to 17, it says, and for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgression that were under the first Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

For where a Testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of a testator. For a Testament is a force after men are dead. Otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.

And it's true. So when my father-in-law died back in 2002 or three, whatever it was, they had a will. After the burial, the family all got together, had a meal together.

And after the meal, they just simply read the will, but the will was still not enforced, though he died because my mother-in-law was still living. It wasn't until my mother-in-law died that that Testament, that will actually became in effect. The new covenant couldn't be the new covenant until one died.

Beautiful reason for Christ Jesus to die for us. So he died for us because no Testament is good without while the testator lives. He must die before becoming into effect.

Jesus' death brought to force the Testament. The shedding of his blood sealed the covenant. Jesus died so that we could be new creatures in Christ Jesus.

Why did Jesus die? Because blood cleanses. It's symbolic. Blood cleanses, not only from ceremonial guilt, but from moral and spiritual pollution.

Blood is a good metaphor of a cleansing agent. The apostle John said the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Again, it's very symbolic.

Moses took the blood of animals and sprinkled everything in the tabernacle with blood, and then it was symbolically clean. The multitude in Revelation chapter seven had washed their clothes or their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So the symbolic picture that we get from blood is it's cleansing.

Williams Cooper's hymn speaks of a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's vein, where sinners plunge beneath that blood, lose all their guilty stains. I thought it was interesting. I ran across this about blood and its cleansing power.

And they say you can do a simple experiment. You take a blood pressure cuff and you put it around your arm and you pump it up to 200 mm. That's not real tight, but that's tight enough to restrict the flow of your blood.

And then they say if you take your hand with this pressure cuff on, and you pump your hand 10 times. At first, when you begin to pump, the first few moments is quite normal, but after a while, it starts hurting until the 10th time you got this searing pain that is flashing up your arm. And if you continue to force yourselves, the pain will just increase.

Now, this is what they say. What happens? Why do you get the pain? It says your muscles kept working. As they worked, it converted oxygen into energy, which produced certain waste products.

And those waste products are called metabolites. And normally they're flushed out with the blood. But due to the constriction of the blood flow, those metabolites couldn't be flushed out.

And that is the reason you get the pain, not because necessarily the blood is being restricted, but because blood is a cleansing agent, and it carries away all of those cells or cleansing of the cells as the swirling stream of blood goes through your body. As soon as you let go of the pressure cuff and the blood flows again, it can cleanse those all out and you don't have any pain. And thus, we have songs like, when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

We know that sin is ugly. Sin cannot enter heaven. It took the death of a spotless lamb.

Blood had to be shed. Someone needed to die. When I see the blood, I will pass over you.

So we have the story of the Passover lamb. You kill the lamb, you put the blood on the doorpost. They tell me there was a massacre in a certain place and these folks that were going through and killing, they were going from house to house killing the villagers.

And one of the family's downfathers saw what's happening and they knew it's just a matter of time until it's their house. And so what they did is they got one of the youth or one of the youth came up with the idea, actually said, dad, why don't we get our goat and let's kill the goat in the kitchen and then let's drain the blood out on the floor and then let's sweep the blood under the door. And so along comes these folks that were massacring every house as they went.

They took one look and says, oh, the other group must've been here. There's blood here already, it's running out the door. And so they moved on and they were saved.

What a beautiful image or picture of the blood saving us. Thank God, thank Jesus for the blood. Thank God for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Okay, let's move on to our next observation deck number four and let's read two verses in chapter 9, 27, 28. It says, and it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

And I think the Hebrew writer here is just kind of culminating this idea. You know, we gotta get this one right. We can't go back to Moses and the law.

There's no salvation there. Salvation is today, as it says in Hebrews chapter four, if you hear his voice hearted not to your heart, today is the day. You have one chance to get it right.

You have one chance to glorify your maker on earth. One chance to fulfill the purpose that we've been created. One chance, one chance and only one chance.

And you know, God gave, Jesus gave that story of the rich man and Lazarus as a stark reminder to all of us that we have opportunity and our opportunity is today. Let's go on. Just a couple of other interesting things here in chapter 10 and verse one.

It says, for the law having a shadow of good things to come not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make the commerce perfect. And so the key words in chapter 10, one is year by year and day by day as contrasted to continually and forever. How very different.

Repetition by the way means imperfection year by year and day by day. How much better continually and forever. The ancients offers of sacrifice could never be sure that their offering was accepted.

Every year they had to go over the same ground. But how different for us today when Jesus said, it's finished. Salvation is finished.

The spirit of inspiration offers to us the secret of our savior's work in his voluntary identification with the divine purposes. It was not so much as outward anguish and blood shedding that made reconciliation possible as his cry, not my will, but my father, not my will, my father, but thine. His attitude reminds us of the ancient custom of boring fast to the door, the ear of the servant who desired never again to leave his master service.

Mine ear thou hast bored. The shedding of blood is not the end, but only a means to the end. What he is looking for through the cleansing blood of the lamb is a heart that will fall in line with Jesus' heart.

He said, father, not my will, but thine be done. Today he's looking for a heart from you and I that says, amen to thy will, oh Lord. A man or woman who's willing to go to the door post and have his ear bored through with an all, marks him forever as an owner to be owned of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Okay, in verses 19 to 24, we have chapter 10, 19 to 24. Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled with from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promise and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.

There's three things we see here. Draw near, hold fast and consider. Why are we supposed to draw near, hold fast and consider? Because number one, our great high priest who has been offered, has been offered once and for all and now is in heaven pleading for us.

So let us draw near and enter into the holiest by the blood of holies that was opened unto us. Draw near, enter the holy of holies. Let us hold fast, that means don't give up, don't throw in the towel, do not apostatize.

He has promised and he will keep his end of the deal. And number three, let us consider. Consider your brother or your sister, encourage them, remind them and challenge them.

So three things for all of us to carry with us. Number one, draw near, enter in, stay close to Jesus Christ. Why do I have the struggles I have? Why do I continually deal with the same things over and over again? We need to draw near.

Drawing near, we're called to hold fast and never let go. Keep our eyes on the goal and let us consider those around us. Okay, verse 26.

And we're not gonna take the time to read it, but 26 to the end of the chapter, it's talking about willful sin here and really calling the people to be careful, not to fall away, willful sin. And there's some really strong warnings here about treading underfoot, the son of God, going back, considering the blood as a small thing, the blood of Jesus Christ. But willful sin here is referred to more than just isolated acts.

But what it's referring here, the willful sin that it's referring to here is referring to a determined course of action, persistent in it until the very desire for better life wanes out and dies out of the soul. And so there's some strong warnings that were needed for the Hebrews because they were facing persecution in those days and three considerations that are given, urging them to steadfastness. Number one, the certain punishment which must follow on the rejection of the greatest gifts that God can make, so much richer than all that was presented under the Mosaic covenant.

Hebrews, how more severe the punishment because of what we have under the new covenant. Number two, the sufferings already endured by the Hebrews, the reward for which would be forfeited. I mean, you fought this so long under persecution to now go back, you're gonna forfeit everything that you fought for.

And the third encouragement that we have in these verses, don't give up because the near advent of Christ who would not fail to compensate them as faithful servants. So Hebrew writers, it's a possibility of going back, of sinning. You took joyfully the spoiling of your goods.

Don't cast away therefore your confidence. And it's appealed to each one of us. Don't throw in the towel.

Christ gave his precious blood for us. Don't go back. Do we want to fight for most of our life and then throw in the towel and lose everything that we fought for? And sooner, maybe sooner than later, Jesus will come back and we will be compensated.

Okay, the fifth observation deck, we wanna go here in verses 10 and we want to pull out 28 to 31. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sore punishment supposed ye shall he be thought worthy who have trodden under the foot of the Son of God and counted the blood of the covenant. Wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace.

For we know him that has said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Again, this strong urge to not go back. These dear Hebrew Christians had a successor, better than the angels, better than Moses, better than the high priest, a better sacrifice, they had better promises, they had a better hope and they were invited into a new sanctuary, a living sanctuary, a heavenly one. They had so much going for them.

Don't throw in the towel and apostatize. Don't throw in the towel and apostatize. We sit here today with a wealth of knowledge.

It cannot be changed. We're not ignorant. The question is, what will we do with it? God wants us to act upon it.

Don't go back. Our sixth and last observation deck is a quick overview of chapter 11. I'm not going to read it, but in chapter 12, verse one, it says, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which just so easily beset us.

Let us run with patience the race that is before us. Chapter 11 is this hall of fame. The Hebrew writer was trying to encourage these Hebrews that they have so much going for them.

There is a whole host of men and women who have fought that fight under some very severe situations and they've remained faithful. Abel knew the rules of sacrifice and he followed the rule and was accepted. Cain broke the rule and was rejected.

Noah was told that it would rain and it would give a flood on the whole earth. He, for the saving of his household, built a boat on dry land. Abraham was called to go and it says where he knew not where.

He was promised a son, waited 20 years. God held to his promise. Abraham was asked to slaughter his son.

All of these things we find in chapter 11. Asked to slaughter his son. He knew that Isaac would be heir even if he slaughtered him.

And as it says, he knew God could raise him from the dead. Joseph knew the promise of God that he would deliver the children of Israel from Egypt and he told them that once they're delivered, they should take his bones and carry them up out of Egypt. Rahab heard how Israel crossed the Jordan and many such like stories and she knew what was next and it says she hid the spies and put out a scarlet robe by faith.

And the list could go on and on but the Hebrew writer sticks this chapter 11 as we have it right in here to encourage the Hebrews though they are facing persecution and though the folks are coming along and teaching them that they should go back to Moses and the law, though they have all those things against them, this here is an encouragement to keep going even when the going's hard and it's for all of us. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And so it's our turn.

What kind of faith do we have? Does our faith carry us day by day, moment by moment through the difficult challenges of life or are we tempted to throw in the towel? Let us consider we have all these men and women of faith, let us consider our own faith. God said he will forgive your sin, do you believe it? We can walk away in faith knowing that they are removed as far as the east is from the west. God said he can save to the uttermost those that come to him by Jesus Christ.

Do you believe it? Faith will respond and be saved no matter how much they have sinned. God said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Do you believe it? If we believe it, we will act upon it and never question God, where are you? God said, children, obey and honor your parents and you'll have long life and it will go well with you.

That if I will obey it at any cost, we will have long life and it will be well with us. Do we believe it? God has said he that hideth his sin shall not prosper. Faith believes it and brings everything to the light.

God said, sow to the flesh, reap destruction. Sow to the spirit and reap life everlasting. If I believe it, I will persistently sow to the spirit.

God said, heaven's awaiting for the redeemed. Eternal fire awaits the unrighteous. Do I believe it? God says in Proverbs, if you mock your father and disobey your mother, the eagles of the valley will pluck out your eye, which I believe is discernment and discernment leaves.

God said, sex outside of marriage is sin and no matter what anyone else says, I believe it and I will keep myself pure. Faith, faith is taking what God said, believing in it and responding in obedience. What is faith? Faith is confidence in God, he cannot lie.

If he said that he will do it, he will. Sometimes we get mixed up a little bit in faith. There are some things that God hasn't promised.

He never promised I would never suffer, but quite the opposite. He never promised I would always have friends and family, but there are some people who are called because of persecution for their faith to leave family and friends. He has not promised my loved ones would never die.

He has not promised I would never get sick. He has not promised I would always have plenty of money. He has not promised I would always live in a land of freedom, but he has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us.

Thus, as the Hebrew writer says in 13, therefore I can boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do to me. Someone once said it like this, faith is the sixth sense.

It makes us as sure of unseen or future things, which we know about only through the divine word, as we are of things that we can see and touch. Is our faith in God, in his word and in his promises as sure as today I am touching my Bible. The reality of faith or the faith brings the reality of the unseen as if we can actually touch them by faith.

When we are aware of the reality of these things, we naturally take them into account when we act. Rothschild laid the foundation of his fortune because he had news that the battle of Waterloo had been won a day before anyone else in Britain knew it. That fact enabled him to buy up all the depressed money shares, which rose with marvelous buoyancy as soon as the news was universally disseminated.

Faith does the same things for us. Noah built the ark because he believed that the flood would happen. Abraham left this country because he realized that Canaan would be his.

The pilgrims and martyrs of all ages have been derided by their companions who would have acted similarly if only they had looked with faith into the unseen. God never fails and he always bears witness with his gifts. In chapter 11, verse 35, 36, it says, and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, moreover of bonds and imprisonments.

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wondered about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us that they without us should not be made perfect. These men and women of the old covenant, they never received the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ. They never received and saw it with their own eyes.

Here we are today, we're on this side. We know about the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can be made perfect in Christ Jesus and not without them, even though they didn't see it in their time.

And so the Hebrew writer is using chapter 11 as we have it here to remind us of the faithful men and women that went before us. Don't give up, don't throw in the towel. We have so much better of a inheritance today.

We went through the tabernacle and all the things that it foreshadowed. Why today would we grab for the shadows rather than the real? So God help us as we continue to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold of eternal life. Again, just another overview of chapter 9, 10, and 11.

Let us, if you can, kneel down for a word of prayer. We have a better covenant. We have a better priesthood.

We have a better promise. We have a better hope. Oh God, I pray that each one of us could grasp the realities that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ today.

The realities that come through the eye of faith. Give us the faith today. The faith that makes the unseen as real as these things we hold in our hands and touch and feel.

Give us faith that can bring those realities that they would be that real too. We have the men and women of faith who went before us. They suffered.

They looked for a better hope. They were willing to forfeit, have their things destroyed. You took joyfully the spoiling of your goods.

My prayer today is that each of us could, in reality, embrace the real and the better. And that it would cause us to understand the realities of Jesus as the high priest, the forgiveness of sin, the hope that we have in Christ, the power to overcome sin, that we could run the race with patience, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Bless each one that's here today that no one would turn back.

Amen.