Introduction
1. Sometimes It Is Helpful To Be Reminded Of Things That We Should Already Know & Things That We Should Already Be Doing!
- How Do You Remind Yourself?
- Some Are Reminded By Writing Things Down! But This Only Works If You Remember Where You Put The Paper You Wrote The Things You Were To Remember! IE: Grocery Shopping!
- Some Are Reminded By Asking Others To Remind Them! But, Again, This Only Works If They Remember To Remind You About What You Were Supposed To Remember!
- Some Have Even Used The “String On The Finger” Method! Which I Have Never Found To Work!
- How Do You Remind Yourself About Spiritual Things?
- One Way Is To Immerse Yourself In God’s Word – This Is How God Reminds Us Of Things We Should Know & Things We Should Be Doing – He Wrote Them Down For Us! And Its Really Not Very Hard To Find A Bible, Is It? That’s Not Usually The Problem!
- Another Way Is: To Be Faithful To The Teaching & Preaching Ministries Of The Church – This Is Another Way God Has Given Us To Remind Us Of What We Should Know & What We Should Do!
2. In Hebrews 9:1-10, The Holy Spirit Is Reminding Us Here Of Some Things That We Need To Know & Do!
- The Backdrop Here Is The Old Testament System Of Worship & Service! That Which Was Given To Moses – The “First Covenant” – To Teach & Govern God’s Chosen People, The Children Of Israel!
- The Purpose Here Is To Continue To Show How Much Better & More Effective The Service Of Jesus Christ Is On Behalf Of All Of His People!
- With This Backdrop & This Purpose In Mind, Let’s Look At What We Are To Remember!
3. The Children Of Israel Were Being Reminded Of Two Things:
- 9:1 - “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary!”
- Their Place Of Worship & Service! “Ordinances Of Divine Service”
- Their Performance Of Worship & Service! “A Worldly Sanctuary!”
- And Both Of These Are Looked At In Greater Detail To Show That Where They Worshiped & Served God As Well As Why They Worshiped & Served God Was Really Not Sufficient & Not Able To Bring Their People Into The Presence Of God! Instead, The Place & Performance Of Worship & Service Were Mere Shadows Of Things To Come!
- Hebrews 10:1 - “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect!”
4. In Fact, The Priests Would Continually “Go Through The Motions” Of Their Worship & Service & It Never Brought Them Any Closer To God!
- Their Ceremonies & Sacrifices Became: “Motion Without Meaning!”
- IE: It Would Be As If I Were Trying To Interpret For Someone Who Is Deaf Without Knowing Sign Language - I Would Be Flailing By Arms & Hands Around, Trying To Get Someone To Understand, But They Would Have No Meaning!
- They Needed Reminding Of The Reasons Behind Where They Worshiped & Served God & Why They Worshiped & Served God!
- And So Do We!
5. Because, If What We See About The Lord Does Not Affect Our Hearts For The Lord, What We Do For The Lord Will Be Meaningless! (Of Little Value Or Meaning)
I. Let’s Remember Where We Ought To Worship & Serve!
- The Hebrews Were Reminded Of The Place Of Their Worship & Service: The Sanctuary Of God!
- 9:2-5 - The Tabernacle That God Described To Moses For Him To Build - The Details Are Found In Exodus 25-40!
- The Tabernacle Was A Large Tent Surrounded By An Enclosed Courtyard - The Tent Was About 45 Feet Long By 15 Feet Wide And About 15 Feet Tall - It Was Divided Into Two Sections - First Section, “The Holy Place”, 30 Feet Long - Second Section, “The Holy Of Holies”, 15 Feet Square - This Was The Place Where The Priests Would Go To Worship & Serve God!
- In Hebrews 9:2-5, The Writer Is Taking You Inside The Tabernacle So You Can See For Yourself What It Was Like & What It Was For!
- Not Everyone Was Allowed In There, So To Go Through The Veil Was A Great & Rare Privilege! And We Are All Reminded Of What Was Inside The Tabernacle! What Was In There?
- A Reminder Of God’s Fellowship With His People!
- 9:2 - “For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary!”
- In The First Section – “The Holy Place”:
- Candlestick – Only Source Of Light!
- Without Light They Could Not See What They Were To Be Doing! Without Light They Could Not Worship & Serve God! Without Light, There Could Be No Fellowship!
- Table & The Shewbread – 12 Loaves Of Bread Eaten By The Priests Weekly!
- Showing God Cares For The Needs Of His People! And What Better Way To Enjoy Fellowship Than Through A Meal!
- A Reminder Of God’s Access With His People!
- 9:3-4a - “And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer!”
- In The Second Section – “The Holy Of Holies”
- Golden Censer – The High Priest Would Offer Sweet-Smelling Incense To The Lord Once Per Year In The Holy Of Holies!
- Throughout The Bible, Incense & The Prayers Of God’s People Are Closely Related! Revelation 5:8 & 8:3-4! Shows That If You “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you!” (James 4:8)
- A Reminder Of God’s Love For His People!
- 9:4b-5 - “And the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly!”
- Through His Presence! (“Ark Of The Covenant”)
- Through His Provision! (“Manna”)
- Through His Plan! (“Aaron’s Rod”) - Numbers 17:10!
- Through His Protection! (“Tables Of The Covenant”)
- Through His Preservation! (“Mercy Seat”)
- Did They Remember Him? Usually, Not!
- But Not Only Did The Place Where They Worshiped & Served Remind Them Of God, It Also Reminds Us Of The Lord Jesus Christ!
- God Offers Us Fellowship With Him Through Christ!
- God Provides Us Access To Him Through Christ!
- God Demonstrates His Love Toward Us Through Christ!
- Yet, When We Are Reminded Of The Lord Jesus Christ, What Does It Do? Does It Stir Your Heart? Because, If What We See About The Lord Does Not Affect Our Hearts For The Lord, What We Do For The Lord Will Be Meaningless!
- Where Should We Worship & Serve The Lord?
- In Our Hearts!
- John 4:24 - “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth!”
- Does Your Knowledge About God & His Word Stir Your Heart To Worship & Service? If Not, Anything You Do, From A Religious Standpoint, Will Be “Motion Without Meaning!”
II. Let’s Remember Why We Ought To Worship & Serve!
- The Tabernacle & The Things In The Tabernacle Were Beautiful, Valuable & Full Of Meaning And Importance!
- But That Is Not All They Were For! They Were Not Designed To Be A Museum Or An Art Gallery! They Were Not Just For Show, But For Service! And So We See The Old Testament Priests Using The Tabernacle & Its Artifacts They Way They Were Told!
- 9:6 - “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God!”
- And So It Is With Our Church & Facilities!
- But They Needed To Be Reminded Of Their Performance Of Their Worship & Service To The Lord! They Needed To Be Reminded That Their Service Was Really Not Sufficient & Not Able To Bring Their People Into The Presence Of God!
- A Reminder Of Their Limited Service To God!
- 9:7 - “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people!”
- Here We See “Restricted Access” Into God’s Presence! One Man! One Person! One Time! One Offering!
- A Reminder Of Their Temporary Service To God!
- 9:8 - “The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing!”
- Their Service Was Only A “Shadow Of Things To Come!” (Colossians 2:17)
- A Reminder Of Their Faulty Service To God!
- 9:9 - “Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience!”
- Their Service Was Just A Part Of A Parable - “Figure”! Their “Gifts & Sacrifices” Had No Power Or Ability To Give Them The Purity Necessary To Enter God’s Presence!
- A Reminder Of Their External Service To God!
- 9:10 - “Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation!”
- Their Service Could “Clean Up” The Outside, But Could Never “Clean Up” The Inside!
- Did They Remember Their Limitations? Usually, Not! They Became Proud In Their Service – Thinking That They Were Pleasing God By What They Did! But In Reality, Since What They Saw About The Lord Did Not Affect Their Hearts For The Lord, What They Did For The Lord Was Meaningless & Empty! It Did Not Bring Them Any Closer To God!
- Yet, When We Are Reminded Of Our Own Limitations, What Does It Do? Does It Stir Your Heart As Well?
- Because, If What We See About The Lord Does Not Affect Our Hearts For The Lord, What We Do For The Lord Will Be Meaningless Also!
- Why Should We Worship & Serve The Lord?
- Because Our Hearts Have Been Stirred By Him! Because We Know That We Cannot Offer To Him What He Deserves! But We Can Give Him What He Desires!
- Psalm 51:17 - “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise!”
- Does Your Service To The Lord Come From A Heart Of Love For The Lord? Your Service Of: Singing / Praying / Giving / Baptizing / Attending / Reading / Preaching / Etc... If Not, Anything You Do In “Service” Will Really Be “Motion Without Meaning!”
Conclusion:
1. God’s Word Has Just Reminded Us Of Where We Ought To Worship & Serve The Lord & Why – It Must Begin In Our Hearts!
- Has Your Knowledge Of The Lord Stirred Your Heart & Conscience To Worship & Serve Him?
- Or Are You Just “Going Through The Motions”? “Performing” Service & Religious Duties Out Of A Feeling Of Obligation, Necessity Or Even Pride?
2. If So, You Are Very Much Like The Old Testament Priests!
- Making A Lot Of “Motion Without Meaning!”
3. However, When What You See About The Lord Does Affect Your Heart For The Lord, What You Do For The Lord Will Be Meaningful, Useful & Powerful!
4. So, Stop Worshiping & Serving God On The Outside! Start Worshiping & Serving Him From The Inside – From The Heart!
