If you have a Bible, turn with me now to the book of Hebrews as we continue our study of this great book and the New Testament. If you didn't bring a Bible, there are some Bibles underneath your chair. Just reach your hand up under that chair in front of you there and pull out a Bible. And could somebody give us a page number? I don't see it in the bullet in there. Hebrews 7 is our passage. 1188. Turn to page 1188 if you're going to use that Bible. Hebrews, wonderful book, our series that we are in right now is called Jesus the Crux. If you are jumping into this series just this morning, the reason for that name is that Jesus is the crux of life. He is the essence. He is the main thing about life. He's the crux or the main thing about the book of Hebrews as well. The book of Hebrews is all about Jesus, about his person, about his work. And today we're going to continue seeing how the author develops that theme. I want to read for you first, Hebrews chapter 7 beginning at verse 11 and then reading down through the rest of the chapter. Let me tell you what has just preceded this text. In the beginning of Hebrews 7 the author of Hebrews is comparing Jesus to Melchizedek. Now Matt preached on this couple of weeks ago so I'm not going to belabor this but Melchizedek is this strange mysterious figure that pops up in Genesis 14 and just as soon as he pops up he disappears. And you don't see him again until Psalm 110. He's mentioned there in one verse and then he appears all over the place here in the book of Hebrews. He was a priest of God most high. He was the king of Salem. And he functions as a type or a prefigurement of Jesus Christ. He is like Jesus in some ways and Jesus is like Melchizedek in some ways. And so the author pulls Melchizedek out of the Old Testament to say that just as Melchizedek was a king and a priest of God most high. So was and so is Jesus Christ not to be compared to the Levitical priesthood. He is far superior to the priesthood of Israel. And so with that said then the author of Hebrews begins at verse 11 to develop that even further to show us why Jesus is the superior priest in whom you and I should put our hope and our trust. So let me begin reading in verse 11 of Hebrews 7. If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood for on the basis of it the law was given to the people. Why was there still need for another priest to come? One in the order of Melchizedek not in the order of Aaron. For when there is a change of the priesthood there must also be a change of the law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry. But on the basis of the power of an indestructible life for it is declared you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless for the law made nothing perfect. And a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath others became priests without any oath but he that is Jesus became a priest with an oath when God said to him the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind you are a priest forever. Because of this oath Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing office but because Jesus lives forever he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need. One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other priests he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. No, he sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests, men who are weak but the oath which came after the law appointed the son who has been made perfect forever. The word of the Lord. Makes me ask you and me this question. What are you hoping in to be right with God? What are you hoping in to be right with God? One of my favorite movies is Saving Private Ryan. I'm not sure many of you have seen that as well. But if you haven't seen the movie, what it is is it's a story of four brothers who were fighting in World War Two, three of whom were killed in action on the same day, two on the beaches of Normandy and one in New Guinea at the hands of the Japanese. So that left the fourth brother and his name was Private James Ryan. He was played by Matt Damon in the movie. And so what happens is that Ryan's unit is with the 101st Airborne Division fighting somewhere behind enemy lines and Nazi occupied France. And Captain John Miller, played by Tom Hanks, is ordered by General George Marshall to take seven other men and go search for this fourth brother because God forbid that Ryan's mother would lose all four of her sons in the war. So Captain Miller is charged to take the seven men and go hunt for Ryan and find him and take him back home to his mother to get him out of the fighting and to take him back home to his mom. Well all along the way Miller and the seven men encounter the enemy and several of Miller's men are killed in battle. And so many times Miller and his men have this conversation going as they're trying to hunt down for Private Ryan. They have this conversation where they have mixed feelings about the worthiness of their mission. At one point Captain Miller says to his men, this Ryan better be worth it. He says he better go home and cure a disease or invent a longer lasting light bulb. In other words, there's got to be some justification for us risking our lives to go find this guy. Finally they locate Private Ryan, but before they can bring him back to the States they have one last horrific battle with the Nazis. And during that battle, spoiler alert. Close your ears if you've never seen the movie. During that last battle with the Germans, Miller gets mortally wounded right next to him is Private Ryan. And as Miller dies, he says to Ryan, earn this, earn this. The movie ends with Elderly Private James Ryan kneeling at the grave site of John Miller, the man who gave his life for him. And as Ryan kneels at the grave site of his captain, he begins to weep. His wife is standing there next to him and he looks up at his wife and says, tell me I've lived a good life. Tell me I'm a good man and she says you are. Now you and I can understand fully why a veteran of World War II would say something like that. After his life has been saved at the cost of somebody else. We can certainly identify with him saying, I hope that I've earned it. I hope that I've justified the death of my captain. But when it comes to the salvation of our souls, so many people get it wrong. So many millions of people imagine a very similar situation with Jesus being like Captain John Miller. So many millions of people imagine Jesus dying on the cross as it were, saying to the human race, earn this. This better be worth it. I better not die in vain. You better show by your life that you earned my death on the cross. So many people think that way about religion. And so as a result of that view of salvation, many, many millions of people go through life wondering, and maybe they don't say it out loud, maybe they don't think it until they're on their deathbed. But they sometime in their life say something like, have I let a good life? Have I been good? Have I passed muster with God? Am I ready to meet God? Will I enter into heaven? Am I qualified to go there or have I blown it? Am I good enough or do I need to do more? Not long ago a person came to my office with that very question. He said to me, I don't know if I'm going to heaven or not. That's a good question to be asking. I don't know if I'm going to heaven or not. Have you turned from your sins to the best of your knowledge? Have you left your sins and turned to Jesus for your salvation knowing that there's no hope for you apart from Jesus? And he said, yes, I have done that. But I don't know if I'm going to go to heaven. And I began to press him. Why? What's wrong? And it was one string of things after another that he is not doing well enough. I don't think I read my Bible enough. I don't think I pray enough. I don't think I do this enough. I don't love people enough. I don't share my faith enough. And I kept budding in and saying, but wait a minute, we're talking about going to heaven. Have you turned from sin and Jesus? Is he your Savior? And he very clearly said yes. But it was like James Ryan at the grave side of John Miller. Tell me I'm a good man. Tell me I'm good enough that I've done enough to please God. What about you this morning? What are you putting your hope in to be right with God? What are you trusting in to be ready to meet God? The book of Hebrews that we've been studying recently was written to people who were in danger of putting their hope in the wrong thing. They were Jewish people, as we've learned, who had, at one point in their lives, been living under the old covenant. The law of Moses, the priesthood, temple worship, temple ritual, and all of that. And now those things weren't bad. Those things weren't bad. The law of Moses, temple worship, and all that were good things. But the gospel is a better thing. The word better, which is the Greek word Creiton, appears in the book of Hebrews more than all of the other books of the New Testament put together. The word better is in there all over the place. And we've learned about that so far in our study. Think of the better, quicker, picker, upper. What is that bounty paper towels, right? Well, the new covenant is the better covenant compared to the old one. And we've seen in our study that Jesus is better than the angels, chapter 1. He is better than Moses, chapter 3. Better than Joshua, chapter 4. Jesus is better than Aaron, chapter 5. In chapter 6 and 7 we've been seeing that Jesus is better than Melchizedek. And in chapters 8 and 9, which we're going to look at in the next few weeks, we're going to find out that the new covenant is better than the old covenant. Well, see, these people to whom the letter was written, had heard the better news about Jesus. They had heard that Jesus died on the cross and fulfilled that old covenant. He had put an end to sacrifices once and for all. And many of these people to whom the letter was written seemingly embraced that better news. They'd experienced the freedom that comes when you realize that God loves you, not because you're good, but because Jesus is good for you. They had turned from their old religion based on works. And they had begun to follow Jesus. But now they were discouraged. They were discouraged because they were suffering persecution. And they were being told by some experts, I suppose, that if they would only go back to Judaism, all would be well. You know, go back under the old covenant. Get onto the old covenant ways again. Go back to the temple, return to the priests, send the sacrifices in the endless cycle of sin, confess, resolve to do better. Sin, confess, resolve to do better. See, that's really what old covenant thinking is. It's God loves you if you meet the conditions. God loves you. If you jump through the hoops, God loves you. See, that's what we might call old covenant thinking. If you keep yourself pure and holy, God will accept you. If you obey the rules, God will accept you. That's what these people, the Jews, to whom this letter was written, were being told. They were saying the old covenant is better because you can see all this stuff. Who can believe in a Jesus you can't see? Why put your hope in a Savior that's not even here anymore? Here, you've got real priests you can go see. You've got a real temple you can go visit. It's a whole lot better they were saying. And the letter of Hebrews is saying, no, no, no, don't go there. Don't go back. Don't turn away from the gospel. Verse 19 that I read, Jesus is your better hope. Verse 22 that I read, Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant. All right, that's where we're coming from. That's the whole purpose of the text that I read. But now what I want to do is answer the question, why is Jesus a better hope? Why is he a better hope for these people? Why is he a better hope for you than anything you might be tempted to put your trust in? Your own goodness, your own religiosity, your own devotional life. Anything that you put your hope in besides Jesus would be called an idol. And so let's answer the question, why is Jesus a better hope? And I've got four reasons that we'll look at and then we're going to celebrate communion. First reason, why is Jesus a better hope? Because he removes all the barriers to God. Jesus removes all barriers to God. Look at verse 19 of our text. Says the law made nothing perfect. And a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to God. Jesus removes all barriers. See, under the old covenant, and we've said this before, priests were really the only ones who could approach God physically. You had the tabernacle, right? You had the temple. And there was the ark of the covenant on the inside, little part of the temple. And it was separated from everybody by this veil. You might want to call it the veil of shame. Every time a Jew would look at that veil, he would be reminded that I'm far away from God because of my sin. And the only person that can get behind that veil is my high priest. And he can only do it once a year on the day of atonement. So the whole old covenant just roared separation from God. Jesus is a better hope because he removes that veil of shame. The other day, true confessions, my wife and I had a discussion. No, really, we had an argument. No, really, we had a fight. We did. And at the end of that fight, you know what I said to my wife, I said, Susie, I am so sorry, because she had to confront me about something I had done. And my typical way of dealing with shame and guilt when it comes to my wife is to believe that I can mope around for a while and atone and pay for what I've done. Anybody else do this? So I mope around for a couple of days, you know, just beating myself to a pulp. How could I have done that? I'm so sorry, I wrote her a long note and everything, really pulled out all the stops. And what's really going on in my mind is if I can mope around enough, and look sad enough, then she'll have so much pity on me and we'll be back together again. I couldn't believe that she would just forgive me, you know. No, no, no, I have to do something to earn that. And isn't that the way we are with God? I am. So many times when I know that I've failed the Lord, I will tell myself, okay, Mike, you can't pray, not yet. You can't open the Bible and start reading God's promises of love. You should feel bad for yourself for a little while longer. And the whole thing that whole mindset is old covenant thinking. It's that veil of shame. I need to look at my sin long enough to where I feel so bad about it that God will almost feel sorry for me and welcome me back into his fellowship. Folks, if you deal with the Lord in that way and this rollercoaster of shame, victory, shame, victory, that is so unlike the gospel. And the gospel is a better hope because all the barriers have been removed. You can fail God miserably and still go boldly into his presence because the shame and the guilt have already been paid for and already been experienced by Jesus on the cross. And we live in the sunshine of the new covenant in which God is always smiling down upon his people, always receiving us, even when we have blown it. Jesus removes the barriers. That's what the new covenant is all about. New covenant thinking says, my God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for his child. How can I any longer fear with confidence I now draw? Now draw now with confidence I now draw now and father, father, father. So Jesus says to you, believers, you who have done business with God, who have turned from sin and trusted in him, never is there a barrier between you and God. Do you fail him? Yes. Do you sin? Of course. Must you let God know that? Yes. But he always says, I'm dancing over you. I'm rejoicing over you because you are always my child. Second reason why is Jesus a better hope? A better hope than this old system that the people were being tempted toward? It's because not only does Jesus remove all these barriers to God, but in the second place because he never changes in his love for you. Jesus never, never changes in his love for you. Look at verses 23 through 25. It says now there have been many of those priests since death prevented them from continuing office, because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood, therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him. You see, what the author is saying is that old Testament priests were like U.S. presidents. They always had term limits. And in the case of the Old Testament priests, their terms came to an end when they died. They had term limits. When they died, they were not priests anymore. And somebody else out of their levitical line of descendants had to come in and take their place. Also, some of the priests were good, and some of them were not so good. And so you had good priests and bad priests. You had priests who died, priests who got sick, priests who left, priests who were no longer around. But Jesus is different from that because he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus never changes. We're told later in the book of Hebrews that he will never leave you and never ever forsake you. Nothing you do right will make God love you anymore, and nothing you do wrong will make God love you any less. God's love is changed less. Says in the Old Testament, he has loved you with an everlasting love. So that's why Jesus is a better hope, because he stays the same in his love and affection for each and every one of you. Do you wake up some mornings and feel God's far, far away? Yes. Guess what? He's still there, loving you, delighting in you, proud of you, calling you his son or his daughter. He didn't change. Now, maybe your emotions tell you differently, but he has not changed. His love for you is sure. And why is Jesus a better hope because he is praying for you. Jesus is praying for you. Look at verse 25, it says, he always lives to enter seed for you. I love Romans 8.34. It's up here on the screen. It says, Christ Jesus who died more than that who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also enter seeding for us. Look at that word, interseeding. Do you know what it means? It means to come between, it means to petition or to appeal or to intervene or be an advocate for somebody. And this Bible verse says that Jesus is continually present tense. He is always interseeding for you. If you're his follower, Jesus is praying for you. He is petitioning the Father for you, appealing to the Father, being an advocate to the Father. Now look, we must correct something here because this is somewhat metaphorical. When we think of somebody praying for us, especially if it's Jesus praying for us to the Father, we can sometimes think it goes to them like this. Okay, just imagine you're in the throne room of Jesus praying to the Father and he's looking down at you and he's saying, Father, see Joe down there? He screwed up. But please, God, please have mercy on him. Just give him one more chance. Next time he'll do better. That's not the prayer life of Jesus in heaven at all. No, forget that image and think of a different image. Think of Acts chapter 7. You know what happens in Acts chapter 7 is the story about Stephen, a fellow by the name of Stephen. Stephen is a follower of Jesus in Acts chapter 7 and in that chapter he gives a stirring defense of Christianity. And at the end of his defense of Christianity, the religious leaders that have listened to this long speech are furious. They are ready to get rid of Stephen. They cannot stand what he's just said. And in fact, they stir up the people and they order them to start stoning Stephen to death. And so people pick up stones and start hitting Stephen. Before Stephen dies, he says in Acts chapter 7, it says that full of the Holy Spirit, he looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Look, he said, I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God. As many of you know, Jesus is usually in the Bible pictured as seated at God's right hand, right? But Stephen looks up in the hour of his agony and he sees the Son of God standing next to the Father. That's the image you should have of Jesus' interceding for you. He felt what Stephen felt. His heart broke at what Stephen was going through. And he stood up out of his throne and at the right hand of the Father, he was pulling for Stephen. He was representing Stephen. He was standing up for Stephen. He was affirming Stephen. Asking the Father, Lord give him strength to withstand what he's going through right now. Asking the Father, Lord help Stephen be faithful. That's how God, that's how Jesus is praying for you. Do you know in Luke chapter 22, we're told that Jesus was at the last supper with his disciples? And he looked over at Peter, Simon Peter and he said to Peter, Peter Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. In other words, he was predicting that Peter was going to suffer. And then Jesus said to Peter, but I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith will not fail. Jesus prays for you that your faith will not fail. And when you're really going through it, I don't doubt for a moment that Jesus is standing up next to the Father, pulling for you, asking that your faith not fail, affirming your faith, boasting in you to the Father. See, it's not Jesus is trying to convince God to have mercy on you. God loves you the same way Jesus loves you, but he is standing, identifying with you, praying for you. What are you going through this morning? Are you suffering today? Are you in a relationship that's painful? Are you being pushed off over the edge, over the top, beyond what you think you can withstand? I want you to know Jesus is pulling for you. He is interseeding for you. He is standing there, feeling what you're feeling, going through what you're feeling, and offering you the strength that he gives to his followers. So Jesus is praying for you. Look at this beautiful answer from the Westminster can larger catechism. It says, how does Christ make intercession? Now I know this is somewhat complicated, but listen, if you can capture some of these chief ideas, Christ makes intercession by his appearing in our nature continually before the Father in heaven, in the merit of his obedience and sacrifice on earth, declaring his will to have it applied to all believers, answering all accusations against them, and procuring for them quiet of conscience, not with standing daily failings. Oh, I love that phrase, don't you? Listen to that again, that part right there, that Jesus, at the right hand of the Father, is bringing to your conscience quiet. He is calming your fears. He is doing that, not withstanding the fact that you still fail every day. He still loves you. He gives you access with boldness to the throne of grace and acceptance of their persons and services. That's how Jesus intercedes for you. In other words, he's your advocate. He is your advocate. And if there's any prayer that the Father will hear, it is the prayer of his son. Fourth and finally, why is Jesus a better hope? Because not only does he remove all these barriers to God, never changes in his love for you, always praying for you, but in the fourth and last place, Jesus offered himself as your perfect final sacrifice for sins. Verse 27 of our text says, unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. Some of you have been told this before. Forgive me if I'm running this illustration into the ground. But when Jesus was dying on the cross, are you aware that one of the things that he said before he died was it is finished. It is finished. But actually, those three English words it is finished are a translation of but one Greek word. It's the word to tell a style. And it is finished is not really the best translation of that word to tell a style. Some archaeologists were doing some digging in the Holy Land some years ago. And they uncovered a bunch of what appeared to be receipts, receipts that dated all the way back to the time, roughly the time of Christ. They were receipts that a merchant gave to the customer. When a customer would come into his shop and purchase a material or a good or a service, the merchant would give that person a receipt. And guess what? The merchant would write on the receipt when the bill was paid. He would write the Greek word to tell a style. So what it really means is, paid in full. Jesus Christ on the cross said, paid in full. Your debt has been paid. It has been eliminated. You don't know anything. Go free. Jesus was the final perfect sacrifice for sin. That's why he is a better hope. So please, please don't live your life like private Ryan. Don't come to the end of your life and say something like, have I lived a good enough life? Have I done it? Have I done enough? Am I a good person? Because you know what the answer to that question is? You haven't lived a good enough life. Not to please a holy perfect God. But the gospel says, Jesus lived the perfect life for you. He died. The death he deserved to die. And by putting your trust in him, his life becomes yours. His death becomes yours. His righteousness becomes yours. And you stand before the Father, complete and whole. Put your faith in a better hope, a better Savior, because Jesus paid it all. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the good news. Jesus, thank you for being the bringer in of a better hope. Thank you that you came to die to set us free from the old covenant way of living, the old covenant way of trying to do better, trying to be better, trying to meet the conditions. Jesus, thank you that you met them for us. And as we come to your table now, we ask you that you will bless this meal, this bread, this wine, this juice. Jesus, will you set apart these common everyday elements for the special use of being means of grace, a sign and a seal of the covenant of love that we've been talking about, the new covenant that has freed us from the veil of shame, that has given us a Savior who is praying for us always, and that has eliminated the need to pay off debt anymore because you've paid it once for all. Jesus, meet with us now and let this table be a place where we gather around your body and your blood to celebrate your death, your resurrection, and your coming again. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.