 Hello and welcome. Thank you for connecting on today's call. We'll continue with our study in the book of Hebrews I would like to request one of us on the call to please lead in prayer They have only father I come to another name of Jesus. I thank you for this day. Thank you for the class You're about to have good mayors prayer guide us as we learn that road she's is help us to be fully convinced in our faith and I'll play that rules in our life so that we can be a blessing to us in Jesus name All right, let's begin we were in Hebrews chapter 7 and we saw yesterday how Beautiful the priesthood of our Lord Jesus is how God has appointed him. He has not become a priest By himself and we saw of a better order the order of Melchizedek, which is where the Lord Jesus Derives his priesthood from and we also saw that he has become the mediator of the new covenant Which has better promises for us and because he is the co-signer the son of God who has already redeemed us The power of sin over our lives is broken and we are also empowered to live victorious for God In and through our lives. So this is something that we have looked at so far and we were at the passage or We were at the scripture. He blew 725 where we saw that the Lord Jesus He saves us to the utter most so the work that he has done for us is so powerful That the worst of sinners who comes to him can still Experience this redemption that we are talking about now We look at the last two verses here and move on to chapter 8 of Hebrews Last three verses. So would someone like to read please verse 26 to verse 27 Hebrews 7 26 to 28 three verses For such a high priest was fitting for us who is holy Harmless undefiled separate from sinners and has become higher than the heavens who does not need daily Who does not need daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifices First for his own sins and then for the people's For this he did once for all when he offered up himself For the law appoints as high priest men who have weakness But the word of the oath which came after the law appoints the son who has been perfected forever Amen, thank you Rosalind As we can see here talking about the priesthood of our Lord Jesus He is described his character is described for us as one who is holy Harmless undefiled separate from sinners And has become higher than the heavens. So again, he is set apart compared to all of the priests that ever existed Yes, he is compassionate Yes, he's someone who understands our weaknesses, but at the same time We are so clear that he is holy He's separate from sinners and that he is undefiled. He's harmless But the at the same time he is undefiled. So that is unique to Jesus. We can't say this about any other high priest We may probably use Terms such as harmless for them to talk about their compassion, but we can never Borely say that they were sinless It's only Jesus who can take credit for that being compassionate as well as being holy or Sinless and we know that he has become higher than the heavens That simply refers to the kind of priesthood that he has he is the priest in the true tabernacle Okay, the true tabernacle is in heaven We will see later on that the tabernacle that Moses built it was but a Picture of the real tabernacle of heaven. So who is the high priest in the real tabernacle? It's Jesus Christ. So he's become higher than the heavens He's the greatest high priest of all high priests who ever lived and verse 27 It states who does not need daily as those high priest to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins and Then for the peoples for this he did once for all when he offered up himself. So Quite a lot in that one verse there. It's saying that Jesus is a perfect high priest Just as verse 27 said it stated that he is undefiled and holy. So he's already perfect He does not have to Bring up any sacrifices for his own sins or the sins of the people now the other aspect that is included in this verse 28 is that he offered up himself Okay, so notice so far. We've been saying Jesus the high priest the great high priest now we are Getting an understanding that He's a sacrifice also Okay, so unique so unique. He's God He's the high priest. He's our brother like you can keep talking so much about Christ and yesterday We said that he's a fulfillment of all things that We were waiting for and in the old covenant There were many practices that were instituted But the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of them all he also is our sacrifice While he's our high priest and verse 28 it states for the law Appoints as high priest men who have weaknesses But the word of the oath which came after the law Appoints the son who has been perfected forever. So In essence, it's saying that this high priest is so great in every way Mainly because he's perfect He's sinless. He did not have to make a sacrifice for himself He became a sacrifice, but we know he became a sacrifice for us Ultimately to save us. So that's about the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's move on We'll still talk some more about his priesthood We'll read from Hebrews chapter 8 verses 1 to 6 So if someone can pick that up and read through that would be wonderful Now now this is the main point of The things we are saying we have such a high place who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens a minister of the century and of the true Drapenica which the Lord erected and Not man for every high priest is appointed to offer what peace and sacrifices Therefore it is necessary that this one also had something to offer for if we For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest since their Priests so often against according to the law who served the copy and shadow of the heavenly team as Moses was Divinely instructed when he was about to make that Tavernical for his safe See that you make all things according to the patron Sean view on the mountain But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also The theater of a better government, which was established on better promises Thank You Zellie Maybe the next time I don't know who was the other person who wanted to read but couldn't maybe the next time Lubega was it so you can please read. All right, so let's go ahead and understand these six verses So we've been talking about the priesthood of Jesus an additional Truth about his priesthood that we learn verse one It states that who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens So on the earth, we know that the high priest could enter the holy of holies Which is the place of the presence of God So there was that permission given to the high priest But when you talk about Jesus as a high priest, he is in the very presence of God Where is God seated? He's in the heavens and Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. So think about that on earth the maximum that Human high priest could reach to was You know experiencing The presence of God coming upon them, but it's only Jesus Who's actually in heaven in the in the place that hosts God and he's right there How close is he to God? He's at the right hand seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens He's a glorious high priest is a glorious high priest because no one could get access to God The way Jesus has So that's another thing so beautiful. We depend on Jesus as a high priest He's sinless. He's compassionate. He gives aid to those who are being tempted. He understands our weaknesses and He's glorious He's right there, you know next to the father up in heaven There's no other high priest who's ministering from heaven directly But that would be Jesus for us Verse 2 it says a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle Which the Lord erected and not man So as I said some time ago There is something known as the true tabernacle. What is that the true tent of worship? It's heaven because it's in heaven Where God Dwells where the Lord is worshiped where he sits and thrown and that's the place You know where God receives his worship So all are the high priests They ministered out of an earthly tabernacle But it's only Jesus Who's minister of the true tabernacle minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle Which is heaven itself and who's who set up that tabernacle the earthly tabernacle We had human beings constructing it by the instruction of God But the heavenly tabernacle set up by God himself and where is our great high priest ministering in The very presence of God so you know his office. It's better than everybody else's office Okay, it's heaven. He has a place in heaven Okay, so that's the beauty Verse 3 it says every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices Therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer. So he's doing the duties Or taking up the responsibilities of a high priest It states here that there are gifts and Sacrifices so if you go back to the levitical priesthood, we'll read so many about you know, so many Sacrifices so many offerings depending on the situation and how the person came in Many different things were offered up to God But we know in the case of our Lord Jesus that he ultimately offered himself up for us as a one-off Sacrifice and we'll read about it You know the the author will not miss that he'll talk about the most precious Sacrifice of which we have in our Lord Jesus himself So now we're talking about Jesus as a high priest of the heavenly tabernacle So let's continue along those lines verse 5. He says The earthly tabernacle it served as a copy and shadow We use those words copy and shadow of the heavenly things. So what did God intend? God wanted man to understand worship he wanted man to You know Understand how to approach God. He wanted him to understand what it would take to get into God's presence That's why you know sacrifices and gifts and offerings all of those things were instituted we we see Every furniture in the tabernacle it had some meaning When when we look at the lamp, it has a meaning No, when we talk about the incense, it has a meaning the table of show bread It has a meaning and everything is talking about a deeper truth. So when Something is pointing to the deeper truth It's a shadow It exists, but that's not the main thing something better is ahead of it So these things were a shadow They were talking about something greater and a copy. We know that copy is nothing but an image of The structure of heaven structure of worship of heaven was sort of given To Moses to copy it and you make an earthly tabernacle and it will give people the idea of You know, how to worship how to approach God and all of those things. So Moses Divinely instructed by God think about this, you know, God did not do Hapazard random job and say Moses you make whatever you want. Let it be the way you you like it But they were clear instructions because God was trying to communicate something, you know, when we study about the tabernacle It's so beautiful like Starting from the tent and what was covering the tent, you know, the layers of The fabric which was covering the tent. I've heard Some some people preach And of course, you know, they use Some parts to confirm with scripture, but then there are many others which are like allegorical That's not the best way and that's not the most accurate way But still, you know, there are those pictures of the sacrifice of Jesus and the blood of Jesus As you look at the components of the tabernacle also Jesus is revealed to us, right? So it's so beautiful the way God instructed Moses If you look at the Ark of the Covenant, I heard somebody talk about the Ark of the Covenant and how it's layered with gold You know, one portion is gold and then there's a little bit of wood These are all pictures gold is divinity wood is humanity. So God spoke Beautifully about his son the Lord Jesus about redemption Okay, and everything that's going to happen, you know The way the blood was put on the Ark of the Covenant and the the material inside the Ark of the Covenant would be Would come under the blood and that God would meet his presence will will come on the Ark of the Covenant Everything has a meaning everything has a meaning And so what Moses was doing whether he understood it or not. Thank God He was obedient, you know, he didn't ask God the question why why gold lot why can't I use, you know some silver Why can't I use pearls? He obeyed even when the menorah? I think it's it's beaten out of one one metal and it's made There's a reason behind everything why God said you should do it that way He was obedient to it but here's the the point that this verse is trying to tell us the point is They were a copy of the heavenly tabernacle So God was trying to establish a pattern for us to view and hopefully understand You know what worship was all about who God was and how to approach him and God told him see verse 5 It says he said see that you make all things According to the pattern shown you on the mountain Okay, so clear instructions to Moses and in verse 6 Says but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he is also mediator of the better covenant Which was established on better promises. So this we've already discussed Jesus as the co-signer because he Has forgiven us. He's broken the power of sin over our lives And he has also empowered us to live a victorious life now better promises. It says what are these better promises? You know as we read about the different covenants that God has established whether it is Covenant with Abraham covenant with David. You will always have somebody sitting on your throne those promises are Wonderful and it talk about They talk about the blessings of God in people's lives, but when we finally come to the cross right There are so many promises That become ours. Jesus became the curse for us. We read that in Galatians 3 verse 13 You know, he became the curse He hung on the tree so that the blessings of Abraham may come to us So the covenant promises which he had given to His men of all people like Abraham, you know other godly men Because of what Jesus has done Every curse has been removed and those blessings came on us now because of the cross there are additional promises You know when we especially study about who we have become in Christ We'll know so much has happened for us in Christ Jesus I'm a child of God. I am redeemed. I'm blessed. I'm victorious. I am triumphant We can go on and on and on so many promises that we have, you know God blesses the work of my hands the Lord causes me to prosper the Lord Gives me victory over my enemies. He he teaches me to to profit So many bless blessings promises in fact the whole word of God which is in our hands the promises of God come alive To us and as a child of God, you know, I have the book of promises I can keep claiming each promise and keep walking ahead a Triumphantly so that has been made possible because we now have a better covenant With better promises which is mediated by whom none other than the Lord Jesus himself So he made a new covenant with us Okay, think about this everything seems to be new isn't it priesthood We've seen the old priesthood, but now this is a new priesthood through Melchizedek And now all of a sudden New covenant old covenant not good enough new covenant Established through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's move on. Let's read from verse 7 to verse 13 For if the first continent had been portless Then no place would have been sought for the second for a second Because finding fault with them he says behold the days are coming saved the Lord When I will make a new continent with the house of Israel and with 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 Of the land of Egypt because they did not continue in my covenant and I Disregarded them says the Lord for this is the component which I will make with the house of Israel after those days So is the Lord I will put Milo in their Mine and write them in their heart and I will be their God and they Shall be my future none of them shall teach his neighbor and none his brother Say saying know the Lord for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them But I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins And they are lawless be I will remember no more in that he says a new covenant He has made the first obscenity now what we becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish Amen And thank you Lupeka. Thank you for reading that section there So it clearly says that God wants to make a new covenant because the old one was not good enough And this new covenant is made through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Because we know when we talk about covenant there's a shedding of blood And Jesus did it he shed his blood and he made this covenant So when we look at the word new The old one was not good enough, right? That's why we needed a new one So generally the word that is used for new in the Greek in most places apparently is Nios means newness in regards to time But the word that is used here for the new is Kainos Kainos which not only refers to newness in terms of time But newness in terms of quality So it's like putting away something old And bringing in something better It's new because it's coming right now and it's better So that's the word for the new covenant that is used Kainos something wonderful that has been given to us Now looking at the old covenant that God made with his people He wanted them to keep the covenant and we know the children of Israel Time and again they failed They were disobedient to God They were rebellious, they were stiff-necked, they were complaining And they displeased God because of their behaviour But this time around the covenant that God is making with his people It's one of redemption We see as Mus says that he's going to write it on the hearts of the people And that they will be able to live it How will they be able to live it? Because the redemptive work of Jesus empowers us to live it Earlier people couldn't because there was nothing empowering them They were only given the instructions and said you need to live like this And they were not able to, they broke the rules Maybe they could not keep the covenant But as far as the new covenant is concerned There is the redeeming work of Christ There is the empowering that comes from what he has done And so as believers we can actually live it out This new covenant which he makes with us And God says that he will put it on our hearts It will be one that will transform us from within It won't be a covenant of external laws like the mosaic one But it will be transformative, from within us we will be able to live it out There will be God's mercy and grace Helping us through this process of living out the covenant This covenant is literally the one that we are going to live out By being close to our God Walking in intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ And there are many differences of the Old and New Testament If you want to compare and see We can also talk about the differences So I have a few things jotted down here I'll quickly read it out for us So the Old Covenant was established through Moses And it dates back to somewhere in 1446 BC Whereas the New Covenant we are referring to the death of our Lord Jesus Christ So the crucifixion, that's about 33 AD Is when the New Covenant was established with us The Old Covenant came in through Moses as a mediator The New one with Jesus as the mediator The Old one was about external laws It caused a sense of awe and fear among the people Even when it was given to Moses There's this whole way of giving it the thunder And lightning on the mountain when he receives the law from God Whereas when we look at the New Covenant It's not just about keeping the promises God is saying it's going to be transformative Where God will put it in our hearts That is one thing Secondly, there is grace God's grace Because earlier for every small thing There needed to be a sacrifice And the priests That's why they were keeping up the temple practices Because someone had to pay the price But now the ultimate price has already been paid So this is something new that we are living in right now Under the New Covenant It has never happened This experience was not there for those living under the Old Covenant This kind of freedom This kind of a sense of liberty they never had But we live under the New Covenant That speaks about freedom, liberty and grace Because Jesus has become that one perfect sacrifice For us The Old Covenant It had to do with works So people had to live it out In order to fulfill it But how about the New Covenant The New Covenant It's about accepting the work of Jesus on the cross So it's about faith And that's how we are going to live it out The Old Covenant Is part of the Aaronic priesthood That we've seen the new one It's from the order of Melchizedek The Old One Had many imperfections Imperfect sacrifices were given And there was endless repetition of practices Under the Old Covenant Whereas under the New Covenant It got sealed The moment Jesus paid the price for us It's done It's not repetitive We'll study later on There was only need for one perfect sacrifice So we no longer have to continue You know, sometimes as Christians We ask the question What about the Jewish temple practices? Why don't we follow all those things? We don't need it That one ultimate sacrifice was already made for us And that is what the New Covenant is all about So we don't have to go back to the imperfect sacrifices And the repetitive practices The Old Covenant You could say that it was written on tablets But what did we read in this passage? The New Covenant is written on the hearts of the people Okay, so beautiful Yeah, so I think we can just keep going on and on But I probably just stop with those So there are all these differences That we observe in both the Old and the New Covenants So we'll pause for a bit Before we proceed on to chapter 9 here So if there are any thoughts or comments Let's take it up Yeah, sure We'll go to that I think Lubega has raised his hand We'll take up Lubega's question first Yes, Lubega, please go ahead There is a commentary that I was reading Yeah Which was like saying that there is some of the reasons I don't know if it really is from just entirely Some of the reasons why the New Covenant Was supposed to be made was because The Old One was only with the nation of Israel And this one was an international one Which was going to put into perspective the gentiles took How is your take on that one? Okay So I haven't studied it thoroughly But I like you remember when we did the Book of Acts We talked about a category of people known as the proselytes So there were those who put their trust in Jesus Who came from outside the Jewish community So I think there was some provision Under the Old Covenant also Lubega, that's what I can understand But of course with the New Covenant coming in It's very clearly opened up to the whole world Is that fine? Thank you so much Yes, thank you Okay, so Jeffina had a question About verse 11 of Hebrews 8 It says, none of them shall teach his neighbour None his brother saying know the Lord For all shall know me And the least of them to the greatest of them So this simply means That all can have a personal relationship with God That's the essence of what it is stating here under the New Covenant Because earlier There were people appointed for roles and responsibilities Such as leadership, kings, priests, prophets And people needed to go only to them In order to know what God is saying or doing But under the New Covenant now all of us as believers We have the Holy Spirit living inside us We can have our own personal walk with the Lord We've become children of God So that's what it means And even though it says none of them shall teach his neighbour It's not literal It's not literal It means we will know God personally as individuals Is that okay Jeffina? You still have any? So one question that comes from here is because it says None of them shall teach his neighbour Then why do we have teachers? Why should we teach each other? This thought is repeated in 1 John 2 verse 27 You have the anointing in you which will teach you all things Then why do we need teachers? So you see when we study the Bible We have to let scripture interpret scripture So do these passages mean that we don't need external teachers? If you look at other passages of scripture Like the 5-fold ministry offices There are teachers there And there were teachers in the early church So when you see things like that which are seemingly contradictory We understand that these verses don't mean that you don't need anybody to teach you Yes we can learn on our own In the case that there are no teachers The Holy Spirit is with us But there is a role for teachers of God's word So there will still be people who will be there to teach God's word To help us walk rightly with God Okay good really good questions There any other? I was just thinking to myself that These passages are such in the book of Hebrews That sometimes you can dwell in it For as much time as you would like Okay hopefully over the years There's been a little bit of improvement I remember the first time Well first time or second time I don't know We taught Hebrews Like Hebrews was a subject given to me Hebrews chapter 1 It went on for I don't know how many classes By the time we wrapped up and came to Hebrews chapter 4 We had completed some 9 classes or something like that And I was so worried that we'll never be able to finish But yeah we are just glancing through So I encourage you to make your personal effort To study the book of Hebrews Even literally word to word Because there is so much in there So much Even if you just go back to Hebrews 8 just now And we saw gifts and sacrifices Every priest has to offer gifts and sacrifices Sacrifices under the Old Testament What are the gifts and sacrifices that Jesus has offered up As a high priest We'll discover many things We also recognize as we go through the book of Hebrews And other books of the Bible that God has now made us kings and priests So if we are priests We too have to offer up something to God What are those spiritual sacrifices We'll come to that What are those spiritual sacrifices that we must offer So there's like so much of depth that we can go into Word by word Verse by verse And yeah So please make that effort And do spend time Gaining the most out of the book of Hebrews I think I'll just stop here We can always pick up chapter 9 in the next class So we've completed till chapter 8 If you have any additional thoughts Let's start with that in the next class Any questions or reflections And then we'll pick up from chapter 9 So we'll stop here If there's nothing more to discuss We can pray Who would like to pray today? Someone who hasn't prayed in a while Let's pray Yes, John Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for this opportunity Once again, you've given us to learn from your word Thank you that you are a high priest Thank you that you are our covenant keeping God Thank you that you are always our indecisive God And thank you for unveiling all these truths to us Jesus And we pray that you will continue to have this revelation And be deeply rooted in this word of God We pray and ask for your grace to understand This even better every time we read of God We thank you, O God Thank you for this time of learning We thank you for anointing, Pastor Nancy We humble ourselves once again In Jesus' most precious name we pray Amen Amen Thank you, John Thank you, everyone God bless you Yeah, it's, you know Almost end of... It's already end of the first month So you can expect some tests and assignments Come your way, okay? Just a heads up there And yeah, bye for now Have a great week ahead Bye