 Good morning and welcome to each one of you. We will get started with today's session to learn about the book of Hebrews. We were in Hebrews chapter 7. So let's begin with the word of prayer. Charles, would you be able to lead us? Yes, I would. Let's pray. Even Father, we thank you so much for this morning. We thank you for who you are. We thank you for what you've done in our lives, but most importantly, bringing your word that you would be able to get the complete revelation for us to live a life that praises you. And as we set our minds and our hearts to study the book of Hebrews, beginning from chapter 7, Lord, we pray that you will come and be amidst us. We get this of the geographical distances. It's Lord Jesus, you who promised that when 203 have gathered in my name, I will be in their midst. Lord, we trust that you are in our midst for your promises are true. Come, have your way in our lives and teach us so that you will be able to identify the church that you have entrusted us with. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Charles. Let's get back into Hebrews chapter 7. So I hope you remember something of what we discussed in the last class and if at all there is anything that you have learned and it's been a blessing to you. Maybe we can start with sharing a few key things from what you've understood and you were blessed by and then I'll take it forward. So I'm leaving this time open for you to just share your learnings. Hi Pastor Nancy, sorry I just joined. So what do you want us to share? So we've discussed several things. So basically I was saying from Hebrews chapter 7 or Hebrews chapter 6, the last class, if there's anything, any one thing that stands out for you you could share. So that is what I was saying. But I mean if there's anything else from the other chapters also that's okay but we can start with sharing a little bit and then I will get into the class. Sure, sure Pastor. Yes Asha. Knowing that in the book of Hebrews 7 that Jesus was a king of righteous and also was a king of peace and he was thinking it's a type of Jesus and how he was... he came to feel that a lot of God has established that Jesus is going to be a priest forever and then he was the perfect sacrifice and came today. He was the hope and the anchor for our soul and he's also the state class and we are the worshipers of truth and spirit and we have to express in the way not just how we live but how we set up an example Yes, thank you. Thank you so much Asha for sharing your learning and yes, we touched upon many of those key things in the last couple of sessions. Kennedy is saying priesthood in relation to Melchizedek. Okay. Kennedy, I just want to check with you. Is that a question that you have or you're just stating that this is something that we learned tithing and okay, it's not a question. So yeah, we talked about priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek how Jesus is appointed as a priest and how he is a priest forever and that nothing will change him. Other priests used to be replaced after that term but thank God we know our high priest and he will be there for us forever and represent us in the presence of God and Kennedy, you also state tithing and its essence. So is that a question or is that a comment? Okay, so yeah, of course we saw how Abraham gave a tenth of a tenth to Melchizedek and thereby even the descendants who were to come which is Aaron and all the priests they have tied to a greater high priest and that states that he is that Melchizedek was greater and now we are learning that Jesus is a high priest forever in the order of this great high priest Melchizedek who was a priest of the great God. Okay, so I will come to the comments a bit later. Tarun, did you want to say something? I saw your hand raised. Yeah, I was just trying to recall the last week where we had a good discussion on falling away. I was just studying about it and falling away is more of like when you fall away to apostasy is the wrong teaching it's going to be difficult to come back along with every promise there is some kind of a small responsibility of ours attached to it. For example Jesus says nobody can steal away the sheep from my sheep and you are protected but he also says that my sheep hears my voice. You hear someone else's voice and you walk away then it's your responsibility. So here the author is writing to the Hebrews who are actually behind the rituals which are divinely appointed which he is also writing to someone who is behind divinely appointed priests and they are also behind a divinely appointed place, a temple. Now it's an extraordinary debate like where he is presenting that even before Levi was born there was Melchizedek and Jesus was even before Melchizedek so he can be a priest. The problem is he is not a Levite, why is he a priest? So he is defending that point because as a Jew only a Levite can be a priest. Jesus is a lion of Judah he is not a Levite. Why is he a priest? And the author is giving an excellent argument saying that if Melchizedek can be a priest Jesus was even before, yes he can be a priest. When we look in through the context it's actually coming out very clearly that everything is better. He is better than the angels, better than the law, better than the prophets and it's a good argument that he is presenting across. Very profound points there Tarun and you put it also so wonderfully thank you so much for sharing it enhances and enriches our understanding of the different chapters that we've learned so far and particularly with regard to Melchizedek and how Jesus is a better high priest and so well qualified. That's true and that's what the author is trying to do, he is trying to reveal to these Jews that they must not be yes they have an understanding that has come to them through the law but they must not get stuck in it because the law which was presented to them was just shadow of the greater things to come and when the greater is here and they are still stuck in what we will see later the use of this word obsolete as well something that is old and is sort of now gone away and the new has taken its position these believers need to hold on to what is the real thing, the fulfillment of the law so he will continue to emphasize this and encourage the believers so here in our comments Abhinash he I think I missed Divya said the need to be spiritually mature and grow in maturity towards Jesus Christ that's true, we saw that in Hebrews 5 then Abhinash says now through Jesus Christ we have an assurance that he is a guarantee of the covenant yes so there would be mediators of the high priest in a way they would mediate the rituals in the temple but then we see here that Jesus is also the surety as a high priest he has become a surety or a guarantee of the covenant and that is special okay then Abhinash also adds Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek as honor and worship and Abraham is giving tithes to Melchizedek means it's showing the greatness of Melchizedek okay that's true so establishing once again that Melchizedek is great and thereby you know Jesus is greater than Melchizedek so now let's move ahead with what we have here I think we stopped at verse 25 which says that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost and yes so I mentioned mediator of the covenant so mediator of the covenant we would consider Moses rather than the high priest we would actually consider Moses as the mediator of the covenant because he saved it and then you know he gave it out to the people to follow so he is the mediator of the covenant but in the passage of Hebrews 7 we also saw that Jesus has become a guarantee or a surety or we could look at it this way he has become like a co-signer of the covenant one part of the covenant it depends on Jesus but that was not the case with Moses he was not a guarantee or he was not doing anything to make the covenant stand as such but we know that Jesus is a surety or a guarantor of this covenant that also is a great encouragement for us now let's continue from verse 26 there are a couple of verses in 7 and then we will jump to 8 so 26 to 28 if someone can read we can discuss this can I read the question? yes I shall for it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest holy innocent unscathed separated friends and are exalted above the heavens he has no need for 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 for the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests for the word of the art which came later than the law appoints a son who has been made perfect forever thank you Asha as if whatever we discussed so far is not good enough to understand that Jesus is better qualified as a priest that he is a high priest appointed according to the order of Melchizedek and all of that now he is adding a few more features to the high priestly role that Jesus carries he is saying that Jesus is holy, harmless undefiled, separate from sinners and become higher than the heavens so basically is pointing out that the character of Jesus compared to any earthly high priest notice far superior because you couldn't find a high priest who was very virtuous and in addition to being virtuous has become higher than the heavens so you know there is no comparison here of an earthly high priest and he also says that these high priests in their service daily they were offering up sacrifices we know the property of the sacrifices was to first provide cleansing for that high priest and then the high priest could go and take charge of all the other duties which were given to him so here one thing that we know about Jesus is that he did not have to do these things because he was sinless so that's another advantage so he really did not have to offer up daily sacrifices to provide himself an entry into the presence of God he in fact he offered up himself so you notice there that's the beauty of what we are discussing earlier the high priest would give something else as an offering for sin but here we have a high priest who is virtuous who is exalted in heaven who need not provide daily sacrifices and the precious thing is that the high priest is also the sacrifice so it's beyond what the Jewish believer could even digest so we are talking about a high priest who is so great but he himself has become the sacrifice which high priest you tell me would shed their blood in order for us to receive cleansing but here you have a high priest who gave himself up so high priest and sacrifice at the same time then moving on verse 28 he says that the law it appointed human beings and obviously human beings with flaws with things that they needed forgiveness for and so he uses the term weakness there who have weakness but we have the son of God now who has been appointed as a priest with an oath and notice another very very important thing so we have seen all the qualifiers for Jesus but here one more which is added in this verses he has been perfected forever perfected forever priest forever exalted above the heavens perfected forever offered himself up he has become a sacrifice it should have really helped the Jewish believer value Jesus much higher and better than any other high priest that they knew so we will continue to talk about Jesus as high priestly ministry in the passages to follow now there is a sort of a continuation or a common thread in Hebrews 8 9 and also 10 you would notice that so we may not so much dwell you know on phrases and words as we did earlier but this is more like when we read in entirety what this is saying we will get the understanding of what the author means so we might go a little quicker in these chapters so can we begin by reading Hebrews 8 verses 1 through 6 please so someone can pick it up I can read can I read yes please do Hebrews chapter 8 verses 1 through 6 now this is main point of the things we are saying we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man for every high priest is appointed to offer offer both gifts and sacrifices therefore it's necessary that this one also have something to offer for if he were on earth he would not be a priest since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law who serve the copy and the shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely constructed when he was about to make the tabernacle for his faith see that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established as better promises amen amen thank you Charles thank you for reading this for us so we continue to look at the high ministry of the Lord Jesus and we see that as a high priest he is now seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens so where is his position now he is no longer serving a earthly temple or a tabernacle which has been established but he is now seated in heaven so that is if you want to look at it this way that's his office ok from where he is functioning he is right now Jesus is right now in heaven at the right hand of the father and he seated yeah ok that is fine and then we also see here that he is minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man so we must understand that when God wanted Moses to make a tabernacle the tabernacle was actually a picture of the heavenly worship or the way worship happens in heaven so there is this place where God dwells and for us to worship him in the right manner there is a proper channel through which we must approach him and so when Moses set up the tabernacle it was actually a shadow and it was actually a picture and it was telling people how they must approach the presence of God and bring him worship so in that sense he is using the word here he says sanctuary true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man so the actual temple is a place where God dwells where God's presence dwells and we know that that place is heaven where God's throne is and that is called as the sanctuary or the true tabernacle so we have the heavenly tabernacle which is the actual tabernacle the real tabernacle but what God did is God to help man understand worship God gave Moses this entire picture and said you go ahead and you build a tabernacle in this way so this outer court and the inner court and then man had to approach by making provision for the forgiveness of his sins through sacrifices through offerings gifts and then he comes inside approaches the presence of God and there again many things were symbolic symbolic the blood on the Ark of the Covenant which was symbolic of the redemptive blood we are going to talk about it later so God actually gave Moses a pattern and the picture or a shadow of the true tabernacle or sanctuary and who built this true tabernacle we are told here that the Lord himself has erected this tabernacle so how do we look at what is being stated here we see that Jesus is the fulfillment of the priesthood which was established in the earthly tabernacle so whatever was done here on earth there is finally a fulfillment of that and that has been accomplished through the Lord Jesus so Jesus is the high priest seated in heaven and he is the minister of the sanctuary or the true tabernacle verse 3 here again there is this mention of the Levitical priesthood and the sacrifices that they offered for sin but Jesus himself has now become a sacrifice so that is also something that we have talked about so moving on to verses 4 we read here that Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle and so that we have understood the pattern through which he actually made the tent of worship and in verse 6 we notice again that because of all these things Jesus has a more excellent ministry and he is also the mediator of the covenant but then we are told that this covenant is better this covenant has better promises for us so we could continue in looking at the upcoming verses so let's continue from verse 7 we can read all the way till verse 13 shall I read man yes I will for if that first covenant had been pointless then no place would have been sought for a second because finding forth with them he says behold the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in my covenant and I regarded them says the Lord for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days says the Lord I will put my laws in their mind I will write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people none of them shall teach his neighbor and none his brother saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more in that he says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away amen yes thank you Amit, thank you for reading that so once again we notice here that there is something better about the ministry of Jesus and the covenant which he has made we just saw that it is a better covenant with better promises we are told that there was a need for a new covenant because the old covenant had certain loopholes so that is the reason God really wanted to bring in something new, something better for the people so some of the older covenants that we could think of where the covenant which God made with Abraham then of course there were the covenant which was brought to the people through Moses it had a redemptive nature in it we know that God made a covenant with David so these are all it was called the Davidic covenant which is also another step in God's redemptive plan but ultimately God's greatest plan of redemption was fulfilled through the new covenant because in the new covenant there was this promise of God for the shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ the blood of the Lamb which was shed in the new covenant for the forgiveness of our sins so it is sort of the fulfillment of fulfillment of God's redemptive plan the earlier covenants could not do that they could cover sin to some extent but nothing could take away sin, nothing could cleanse our sins and make us eligible for the blessings of salvation which is what the new covenant was able to do for us and that's why he's saying the older covenants if they were faultless then there would be no need of a new covenant but there was a need for the new covenant because we needed something that will cleanse us that would make us partakers of the full blessings of God and so something new was brought in so this word new in the Greek it is it describes newness as regards to time, newness with regards to something that God is doing as well and there's another word called newness which is used in the new covenant and this new as we saw earlier yes it refers to a new time but even in terms of quality something to do with a new quality in what God is offering us so God was interested in giving us something substantially different and new through the new covenant and later in verse 9 we see that God talks about the fact that he didn't make a covenant with Israel but they were not obedient to God which was disappointing for him which was displeasing to God and this could be another reason it's not like God decided after Israel's disobedience that he will bring in the new covenant through Jesus he always had a plan for the full redemption of mankind but the fact that Israel was disobedient to the old covenant also in the sense is asking for a new covenant so that's what he is fitting into what he is saying right now and verse 10 and 11 he is saying that he will make a new covenant with the people that he will put his laws on the minds and the hearts of his people that he will be their God so this is the kind of covenant that he is making with the people the new covenant and the better one where God is saying that it will be not just about hearing the rules because that is what the old covenant told us that these are the rules these are the guidelines one must keep them but what will the new covenant do he is saying that the new covenant it actually features transformation from within that's the point where God is saying I will put the law in the mind and the hearts so something to do with transformation with within and not simply externally regulating by the law this is also talking about God imprint his heart on our hearts so that when we think about God and his purposes his plans we now would like to have the heart of God what does he want what pleases God you know think that way rather than let's do the right thing because that is what the law requires of us so imprinting his purposes his plans his standards upon our hearts and also as we see the kind of new covenant that God was talking about it's a redemptive covenant it is a covenant of greater intimacy we will see you know later on as well how we now have been brought near to God so near by the work which Jesus has done for us and this is a covenant that does a deeper work of cleansing and not just a covering of sin you know which the old covenant had to offer so we are just trying to put all this together when he is saying that God will write his laws on our hearts and no one needs to teach one another you know that okay come on follow God but it's going to be a heart thing it's going to be something that will work from a place of inward transformation so verses 12 and 13 he says for I will be merciful to their unrighteous and their sins and their laws lawless deeds I will remember no more in that he says a new covenant he has made the first obsolete now that now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away so he is talking about this new covenant now overtaking all the old the old covenant so when we say old covenant there I have listed out a couple of things right and primarily what Moses brought to the people he is saying that the first one the first one is now made obsolete or it has become old and the new covenant is what has now been brought to the fore so the old covenant is has vanished and we have to take up the new covenant okay so yeah new covenant was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus and the old covenant is now obsolete so we'll have to base our lives on the new covenant there's a lot of comparisons here about the old and the new covenant if you want I can just quickly go over that so comparisons such as the old covenant it's a covenant of works and we know that people had to live up to a certain standard to be approved of God but under the new covenant we know that it is because of the works of Jesus on the cross of Calvary that we are now saved we are saved by faith we are saved through grace and our works are and it is a demonstration of this transformation that has taken place in us so our works are not necessarily what we do to reestablish our relationship with God but they are more of an outworking person so under the old covenant the sacrifices were imperfect which is why you had a repetition of the sacrifices but under the new covenant we have Jesus Christ himself who has become the perfect sacrifice so there no longer is a requirement for repeated sacrifices the way it was done earlier under the old covenant we know that the law was written on tablets or on stones but in the new covenant by the Spirit God writes his law on his heart upon our hearts so that is another difference the old covenant we would say that it sort of brought the people a sense of bondage okay it was obviously not in a negative sense because God wanted them to do the right thing so that they can experience his continued goodness however there was always a sort of restriction because they had to go by the law okay but we see under the new covenant there is a sense of true liberty now because Jesus has come and he has broken us free from the laws that Moses gave us so there is a sense of liberty under the new covenant under the old covenant the Holy Spirit and his work that was evident but a sort of the empowering of the Spirit okay was very specific so we know that the anointing was specific to kings, to priests to prophets but under the new covenant a beautiful thing is that the Holy Spirit is given to all believers so that is what the author is actually saying it's a better covenant all these promises all these things are what tell us that this is really a better covenant and that it has better promises okay so yeah just a couple of things that I pointed out if there is anything more that you can think of how the new covenant is a better covenant maybe you can share your thoughts and then we can go to chapter 9 here yes sister please go ahead ma'am only to add a few points here it is read we are reading that but if that first covenant had been faultless there would have been no need to look for a second one seventh verse 8 chapter here we don't have to take that word faulty or faultless literally because in eighth verse it says God finds fault with them when he says the way the people were not able to keep up the standards but according to the first covenant God has accomplished what the first covenant he desired that people would understand that they could not fulfill the law in their own strength those in the Old Testament the saints who had fulfilled to a certain extent the purposes and the will of God only with the strength of God special anointing whenever they went out of it they failed but the old covenant has made it very clear that we need a we need God to fulfill God's commands and we are helpless so with that understanding when man really understood that he could not fulfill the law of God without God's strength in his right time God has given us this new covenant in Christ through Jesus Christ that we may with God's help with the help of the Holy Spirit that law is written in our heart and this law is replaced by love we do everything we do because we love the Lord not because it is a something an order given by God and with great difficulty we are doing it but this is propelled by love love of God because I love God I want to please God I want to fulfill this command not because I want to gain something because already what I have God has given me everything he has made us his children and given us this privilege of fulfilling the love in the new covenant just wanted to share ma'am thank you thank you sister thank you so much for sharing and yes under the new covenant we are now the children of God and you know we have an inheritance so it's somewhat different from the way it was for Israel under the old covenant sister just coming back to that point you made about the old covenant and as the author puts it here if it had no fault so when we talk about the faults of the old covenant we are not saying that it was bad but the implication is more like it was powerless in itself people could make use of its power if they fulfilled it if they kept the laws but that they couldn't do and it was powerless in the sense that it could not cleanse the sins of mankind it could cover it but it could not cleanse and make them a new person so in those terms this whole terminology fault it was more to indicate that it was powerless and we are not saying that it was something that God was how do I put it like God Jesus came to completely destroy because there are other instances for example in Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 and 18 it says do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them so as Sister Rupa rightly pointed out once the new has been brought in that is the fulfillment of all things old so in that sense the old now is obsolete and the new is what is being enforced and yeah so I just wanted to add that point anything else that helps us see that this new covenant is a better one so please feel free you can share your thoughts yeah just wanted to add one small point that only someone who finishes the work he sits here it says who is seated at the right hand of the throne when you finish the work you go and sit when God gave a model we were working on the shadow and now we met the substance there is a great transition that happened and the shadow of the tabernacle of what is in heaven when God gave it to us he did not give any seat for the high priest in the tabernacle to sit he goes in comes out every year he has to do an atonement for sins not just for the people outside but for himself as well first he does a sacrifice for himself because he is at fault and he walks in and he does an atonement and then he it continues every year it can only hold for one year but when Jesus did the sacrifice that's the perfect sacrifice and that's where he obtained that position as a high priest I think Hebrews is the only book which presents Jesus as the high priest and the very reason that is being presented is again to bring in the defense to the Hebrews the Hellenistic Jews who went away who are holding on to the Jewish traditions explaining them that Jesus is better than everything that they already know they know that what a priest means and now that when they see Jesus as a high priest they can see the whole Old Testament through Christ yes thank you Tarun thank you so much for adding those points as well Asha has something to share here in the chat in the Old Covenant they were not able to talk to God directly in the New Covenant because of what Jesus has done we can directly go to God and talk to him freely heart to heart towards the Heavenly Father so yes Asha that is true as well because now we can directly enter the Holy of Holies and we have access to God's throne room so we praise and thank God for what Jesus has done and all the New Covenant as well as the better promises that we have in him so let's go in for a break right now and we will come back and we will go to Hebrews chapter 9 so I will meet you all at 10 am so let's come back in 10 minutes thank you