Conditions

The fourth warning in Hebrews begins with two conditions. First, we have the confidence to enter the most Holy place by the blood of Jesus and second, because we have a great high priest. These conditions introduce us to our privileges. Notice that the conditions are met by God Himself and have nothing to do with us. It is His blood that opened the curtain and it is His High Priestly ministry. Once again we are reminded that it is all about Him and not about us.

Where was the Golden Altar of Incense?

In the book of Exodus we are told that the Altar of Incense was in the Holy place but in Hebrews 9:4 it is placed with the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies. Of course the author of Hebrews says that he doesn't have time to discuss it at that time. Did he make a mistake? Should he have said that it was outside the curtain? I don't believe it was an error but I believe he is showing the importance of the altar in coming to the presence of God. He does not want you to think that you can have the altar of incense and not the presence of God.

A better Ministry

Read Hebrews 9:11 - 14 and notice the following:
verse 11 - A better Priest
verse 11 - A better sanctuary
verse 12 - a better sacrifice
verse 12 - a better method
verse 12 - a better blessing
verses 13, 14 - a better guarantee
verse 14 - a better result
Compare Christ to anything and He is better.

Once

One of the key words in Hebrews 9 is "once". It occurs in verses 12, 26, 27 and 28 as well as in 10:2. In verse 27 we are told that it is man's destiny to die once and then the judgment but in verse 28 tells us that Christ died once to take away the sins of the people and therefore there is no more condemnation.
If all we had was the Old Testament we would know that we are guilty before a holy God but Hebrews tells us that that guilt has been taken away.

Repent from

"How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" Hebrews 9:14
Our consciences can both affirm or condemn us. The writer of Hebrews says that we need our consciences cleansed from deeds that lead to death. Often we are told that these are evil deeds that we do but more likely they are the good deeds that we do in the flesh. Many times we trust in our good deeds rather than in the blood of Christ. Our consciences often condemn us because we are not doing enough good deeds but we need to remember that there is never enough and that is why we need to have our consciences cleansed.
Have we repented of our good deeds?

Shadows 2

I wrote a few days ago about shadows and growing up in rural Saskatchewan. Sometimes when I was young I could see my mother's shadow near the door to my bedroom. Her shadow brought me comfort because I knew she was near. However, if she came into the room the shadow no longer brought comfort but rather my mother herself did. This is the way it is with the Law. The Law can bring comfort because it shows that the Saviour is coming but once the Saviour has come the shadow is not a comfort.

Turning the sermon on its head

So much of today's preaching is about us and our activity rather than about God and what He has done. Yesterday's sermon could have been like that but the Pastor turned the sermon on its head. As we were singing he had a number of people come out to witness to what God had done for them. They carried a simple cardboard sign which told their story. It was very effective. What could have been another sermon about doing became a sermon about what God has done. Thanks pastor.