The Heart of The Matter

00:02 If you have your copies of the Scripture this morning, would you turn to the book of Hebrews? We're continuing to make our way through that book. We're looking this morning at chapter 8. Next Sunday morning, Brother Dwayne will be bringing a Christmas message. So we'll give a break from Hebrews there and come back to it on New Year's Day, Lord willing. 00:23 So this morning we would like to back up a little bit into chapter 7 and include that in our reading this morning. Beginning verse 23 of chapter 7 and reading through chapter 8. "Also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing. 00:45 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, 01:05 undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. Who does not need daily as those high priests 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. For the law points as high priests men who have weakness. 01:25 But the word of the oath which came after the law appoints the Son who has been perfected forever." Now begin reading at verse 8. "Now this is the 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. 01:44 A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this one also have something to offer. 02:00 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 shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. 02:15 For he said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.' But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises. 02:35 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, he says, 'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah. 02:51 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 disregarded them,' says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,' says the Lord. 03:09 I will put my laws in their mind and 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. 03:27 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. 03:41 Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.'" This morning we have a special blessing from Scripture in that we do not have to guess what the main point is. It specifically tells us what the main point is. Verse 1. 03:58 "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying." Now it helps to be able to cut through all of the reasoning and all of the arguments that are going into a point and get to the main point. 04:09 And here he gives us the main point is that this high priest that we have who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens is a minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle which is in the presence of God and not made with human hands. 04:27 And then he goes on through this at the end of this passage of Scripture to give us an indication of this new covenant as being a new covenant of the heart. 04:37 And so we've titled the message this morning, "The Heart of the Matter." We look beyond the stated main point to the main point of the entire chapter here which is the heart and the mind are the main points of the new covenant. 04:53 And the product of that is the changed life that results from that new inner person. Now I'd like to just review just a little bit up into chapter 7 which we read and have you turn to Leviticus chapter 21 and look at some of the requirements for the high priest. 05:14 Leviticus chapter 21 gives us a good overview and synopsis of these requirements for the high priest. We're not especially used to referring to people as priests and high priests. 05:31 But we don't have a priestly system today like they had in the Old Testament. So to get a picture of what this high priest requirement was, we should go back to Leviticus chapter 1. 05:44 And speaking to the sons of Aaron, he says in verse 10, "He who is the high priest among his brethren," by the way, Jesus was taken from among his brethren, among our brethren. Jesus, our elder brother, one of us and yet different. 06:04 One of us and yet different. "He on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes. Nor shall he go near any dead body nor defile himself for his father or his mother. Nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God. 06:25 For the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am the Lord." And this corresponds with what is said of Jesus, that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the captives and so on. So the Spirit of the Lord was anointing upon him. 06:43 "And he shall take a wife in her virginity." Jesus is looking for a virgin bride. He has purchased a virgin bride. Therefore the Apostle Paul says that we should be remembered to be chased, that we may be preserved as a chased virgin for Christ when he comes to consummate this marriage with the church. 07:03 Verse 14, "The high priest was not to marry a widow or divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot. These shall he not marry but shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people for I the Lord sanctify him." And so it's very important that this high priest be pure. 07:23 Very important this high priest be undefiled. He could not touch dead bodies. He was not to be in contact with death. Now how does that work with Jesus when he touched the dead? Well, Jesus was filled with life. And when he touched the dead, they were no longer dead. So he was touching life. 07:42 There's life on life. And so he could do that and still fulfill this Old Testament requirement of the priest, the high priest. But what I want you to notice here in verse 17, "Speak to Aaron saying, 'No man of your descendants and succeeding generations who has any defect may approach to offer the bread of his God.'" In other words, 08:03 there were defects that would show up among the children of Aaron, among the priests and the Levites. And he says that no defective person, no defective body was able to come into the presence of God as a priest. Now you say that sounds like discrimination. 08:24 Oh my, we would get all worked up about that today if that were the case because we do not discriminate against the handicap. However, God discriminated in the Old Testament against the handicap being priests. Now he says in this later on, he says that these individuals may eat from the priest's table, 08:44 the things that were offered to the priests as part of the priestly family and Levite family. But they were not to serve as priests or high priests. And then he gives a whole bunch of defects as possibilities. "It's no man that is blind or lame or has a marred face or a limb too long. A man who has a broken foot or broken hand, 09:04 a hunchback, a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eyes or eczema or a scab or a eunuch. No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire. He has a defect. He shall not come to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread of his God, 09:23 both the most holy and the holy. Only he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar because he has a defect." And so there were two things that were necessary, at least two things. There's one thing that the high priest must not be defiled. And secondly, he must have no defect. 09:41 Now in the New Testament we know that the Old Testament requirements were physical indications of in the New Testament a spiritual restriction. 09:54 And so what we want to see is that no longer do we say, "Well, pastors can't be handicapped because pastors aren't high priests," for one thing. And secondly, what was in the natural in the Old Testament points to the spiritual in the New Testament. And so what we have to say is what Scripture says here in chapter 7, 10:13 that he is a high priest, verse 26, who is holy, harmless, and that means innocent. The word harmless can be translated innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. 10:29 In other words, Jesus was undefiled from sin and had no moral defect. He had no moral defect that you could point to and say, "This man is incapable of becoming an intermediary between man and God." There was nothing in his character, 10:49 nothing in his lifestyle, nothing in any part of his life that disqualified him from being the high priest. And so he is undefiled, holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners. And he does not need therefore to offer a sacrifice for himself but was himself the sacrifice. 11:10 That's the important part to realize is that there's nothing in Jesus. And we saw that we see that in the last week as the Passover Lamb was being evaluated to make sure that that Lamb was without blemish and was perfectly fashioned as a Lamb. 11:28 Even so, Jesus Christ was being tried in the court of public opinion under the scrutiny of the lawyers and the priests and the Levites and those who would look to find moral defect in him. And there was none to be found. Therefore, his sacrifice was a pure sacrifice. 11:45 And his present ministry is a pure ministry. It is undefiled. And while he associated with sinners and publicans, he did not participate in sin or deception or publicanism. I guess that'd be a word you could call it, publicanism. 12:06 And so therefore, he could enter into the new priestly service. In chapter 8 now in verse 1, we see the kind of high priest that he is. He is that priest according to the order of Melchizedek, king of righteousness, king of Salem, king of peace. 12:25 And the Scripture says in the book of Psalms that righteousness and peace have met together and kissed each other. They were brought together in one holy union in Jesus Christ. Righteousness, the righteous demands of a holy God, and peace, bringing peace between enemies, between that holy God and sinful man. 12:47 And so when he had done this, when he had offered himself as the sacrifice for sin, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens. Now there's very few places in Scripture where the presence of God or the person of God is referred to as the majesty. 13:05 But there's two places in Hebrews and I believe maybe one other place where God is referred to as the majesty. So Jesus Christ went into the heaven of heavens, to the right hand of God the Father, at the throne of God the Father in the heavens. 13:26 And he did this as a minister of the sanctuary of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected in the heavens. Now I tell you, it took a little bit of a look of a summary of what the throne is referred to in the heavens. 13:44 The throne of God is referred to as a throne of justice and righteousness and peace. This comes from the Old Testament and the New Testament where God's throne is called a throne of justice and righteousness and peace. And Jesus fit in. He fit in. He was qualified as the king of righteousness and the king of peace, 14:06 the prince of peace. God's throne is of eternal duration. It is from eternity past to eternity future. God's throne is a throne of ultimate holiness. Jesus Christ, the high priest, fit in that setting. We cannot fit in that setting without him. 14:25 But he himself could fit right there in that throne of ultimate holiness. The Scripture says it is a throne of complete uprightness. It is a throne which is over the nations and over all of the universe. 14:42 It is a throne which is high and lifted up both in proximity to the earth as well as in moral superiority over the earth. It is high and lifted up. His throne endures to all generations. It is also a place of dazzling and brilliant beauty, 15:01 the throne of God, the throne room of God. Daniel 7 says, "I watched till thrones were put in place and the ancient of days was seated. His garment was white as snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire, 15:22 a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him. The thousand times ten thousand stood before him." It is a place where Jesus experienced the glory that was with the Father before the world began. Turn over to the book of Revelation. 15:42 You see that which Daniel saw repeated in Revelation chapter 4, verses 4 through 11 where the revelator says, "Around the throne were 24 thrones and on the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, 16:00 clothed in white robes and they had the crowns of gold on their heads." Now picture this. Picture this in your sanctified imagination, these graphic, vivid descriptions of the throne of the majesty of God. "And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. 16:19 Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion. The second living creature like a calf. 16:39 The third living creature had a face like a man and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. 16:50 And they do not rest day or night saying, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.' Whenever the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne who lives forever and ever, 17:05 the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and to worship him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, 'You are worthy, oh Lord, 17:18 to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created.'" Into that majestic setting, Christ sat down. 17:31 He has no uncomfortability with being in that setting as the perfect high priest for mankind. "This is the true sanctuary," in chapter 8, verse 2. He says, "This is the true sanctuary, the true tabernacle. 17:52 This is the place where God dwells." Now in chapter 9, we're going to find out that what was the dwelling place of God in the tabernacle in the Old Testament was only a picture, was only a photograph as it were. And he would have no place in verse 4, verse 3. 18:12 He says that he entered it with the gift and sacrifice that is customary for a high priest to offer. Therefore, he had to have something to offer. That's what high priests do. They offer things to God. And so he offered himself. He could not have offered something on the earth because he wasn't of the tribe of Levi, 18:33 verse 4, since there are already priests who offer the gifts according to the law who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things as Moses was divinely instructed. Now here's what we'll find in chapter 8 and chapter 9 is that the tabernacle was only a picture of the heavenly throne room. 18:53 It was only a replica. It was a crude illustration to mankind of what God experiences in relation to his people in the high priestly ministry of Christ. 19:08 Now what happens is in the Old Covenant, people fell in love with the picture rather than the person. They fell in love with the picture of God and the tabernacle and the heavenly being. But they did not fall in love with the person of God in the heavenly realm. 19:28 And so it would be similar to when I was dating and courting my wife. We were 2,200 miles apart. And I relished having a picture of her. I wanted a picture of her. Well, early in our relationship, she sent me a picture. 19:46 It wasn't a very good picture in the sense that the quality wasn't good, but it was good enough for me, 2,200 miles away. And I enjoyed that picture. And I had showed my mom and dad that picture. "You ought to meet this young lady. She's a beautiful young lady. She's a beautiful grandma now too, by the way. But I don't want to diminish that." But the picture was wonderful. 20:08 But I didn't fall in love with the picture. I fell in love with the person. And the picture became an insufficient reminder. All it was was a reminder. And I didn't find it sufficient to go to bed at night with her picture beside me. 20:29 I wanted to marry her so I could go to bed at night with her beside me. And I wasn't sufficient with just driving down the road with her picture on the dashboard. I wanted her not her on the dashboard, but I wanted her in the seat beside me. And I wanted to have a relationship. 20:47 That's why we have to remember we don't fall in love with the picture, the tabernacle, he said, reminding you that was only to point us to the relationship that we have with God through the great high priest, our brother, our Savior, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. And so the Old Testament, 21:09 especially coming out of that Old Testament system as it evolved through the years until you come to the time of Christ, they were totally enamored with the picture. And the picture no longer represented very well the person. 21:23 And so what we have here in verse 6, he says, "Now he has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises." We have three better things here: a better ministry, a better covenant, and a better set of promises, 21:45 a set of better promises. The deficiency of the old we find in verse 7 as we come from the new priestly service to the new covenant. 21:57 Verse 7 then, he says, "For if the first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second because finding fault with them," he says. Now let's stop there for a moment and just talk about the deficiency of the old covenant. Now the old covenant was perfect. 22:17 "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever." And if you read the book of Psalms, you find out David was taking great love in the perfect law of God, the word of God. 22:35 But what was not perfect about it was its ability to change the heart. It had no ability to change the heart. Paul tells us in the book of Galatians that the purpose of the law was to bring us to Christ, to teach us of our need of a Savior. And so in that sense, there was nothing wrong with the law. 22:57 It just was not equipped to do what needed to be done. And that was to bring mankind to wash away his sins. The law couldn't do that. It could not do that. And in fact, it does say here that the covenant was not faultless. It was not faultless in the sense that it could not do what needed to be done. 23:19 What needed to be done was man's sin washed away and man's heart changed and transformed. The law could not do that. It still cannot do that. It never could. It never will. But what the problem was, was not with the law which was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. 23:39 The problem was with the people and their sinfulness. Because in verse 8, he says, "Because finding fault with them, the fault was in the heart of the people who could not change." They were powerless to change from the inside out. 23:58 And so the deficiency was with the people. And I remember Jay Vernon McGee using an example, a kind of a crude everyday example, but I've still remembered it after many, many years. 24:11 He talked about when you take a roast out of the freezer and you take a fork and you take that fork or maybe it's been in the refrigerator. You take that fork, you put it in the roast, and then you lift it up and you put it in the roaster. And then you put that roaster into the oven and it bakes and becomes a soft piece of meat. 24:33 Then you get that out of the oven and you take that fork and you try to get it out of the roaster. What happens, ladies? Well, the fork doesn't work. You need a spatula. You need something else to get it out. And that's because there's something happened to the meat. It has happened to the meat. Nothing wrong with the fork, 24:54 but it's not enough. It needs something more. So it needs a spatula to do what needs to be done to serve that meat. Crude illustration, but I think it works because there's nothing wrong with the law of God as it stands for the purpose for which it was given. 25:11 But the purpose for which it was given was not to perfect mankind and to sanctify his conscience and give him direct access into the throne room of God behind the veil. The purpose now in the high priestly ministry of Christ is to do that. 25:31 And so we need a different covenant, a different system of operation. The new covenant would be an internal reality, verse 10. Verse 8 and 9 and 10 here, all the way down to verse 12, is almost a direct quote from the book of Jeremiah. 25:52 And we've read that, "The days are coming. I'll make a new covenant and not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers which didn't work as proved by the fact that he led them out of Egypt, but their hearts were not changed. He led them into the land of Canaan. Their hearts were not changed. They were continually, continually, continually falling away, 26:13 falling away, falling away." So God says, "I'm going to disregard them," verse 9, "and I'm going to give a new covenant that I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they shall be my people." What had been external is now moving internal, 26:35 internal where the law of God and the word of God and the person of Christ and spiritual things, the spiritual laws of the universe are now incorporated in our thinking, in our mind, and in our heart. And that's the relationship of the new covenant that he's speaking of. 26:54 And so he's spoken in relation to Israel, verse 11. 26:58 He says, "None of them shall teach his neighbor and none of his brothers saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest." And he says here in verse 10, "I will make this covenant with the house of Israel after those days." Now this has eschatological implications to the last times, the last days. 27:20 There are implications of this during the millennial period when even Israel itself will be turned to Messiah and loving God with their hearts. But we get to participate in this new covenant. 27:35 We get to participate in the new covenant as the future fulfillment with a present reality. "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds. 27:49 I will remember no more." In that, he says, "A new covenant he has made the first obsolete now that what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." Hence the climax 28:08 here of his dependence on the new covenant and his point that is being made is that the old covenant with its mosaic laws and systems and washings and so on is now being set aside, having done what it was intended to do. It is no longer sufficient. 28:27 We have a new covenant based on new promises and a new high priest that is better, good, better, best, good, better, and best. So how do we apply this this morning? 28:42 Well, the first application I want to apply is that what is at stake here is the condition of the heart, the condition of the heart. What is the condition of your heart this morning? 28:56 A number of years ago when I preached on the subject of the heart, I went through the scriptures and I listed all of the descriptive words about the heart. I've got about a half a page here of different words that describe the heart as it's described in scripture. 29:16 And I realized that there are aspects of the heart that are sinful. There are aspects of the heart that are righteous. And then there are aspects of the heart that are broken. And so you have words like this to describe the sinful heart: "It's blind. 29:37 It's covetous. It's deceitful, deceived, despising. It's dull. It's double-minded. It's evil. It's fearful. It's foolish. It's impenitent. It's naughty. It's obstinate," and on and on and on. 29:53 And then there are descriptions of the heart that are truly righteous such as a believing heart, a burning heart, a circumcised heart, a heart that is contrite, fearing, a fearing heart, fearing the Lord, free, glad, graceful or grateful rather and graceful, 30:13 upright, willing, wise, approved heart, a pure heart, a rejoicing heart. And so we have the old and we have the new. But then we have this middle ground of a heart that's troubled. It's troubled. And so it's sick. It's broken. It may be afflicted, 30:33 anguished, a broken heart, a crying heart, a discouraged heart, a faint heart, a grieved heart, a sorrowful heart, a trembling heart, a troubled heart. And I find that many times we see people fit in one of those three categories. On the unbeliever, 30:52 we see this belligerent, rebellious heart that is far from God. The believer, we see the characteristics of the new heart that is believing and it is grateful and graceful and pure and holy. And then we see this middle which can kind of cross over to each side of hearts that are sick and wounded at times. 31:15 And what we see here in the heart is that what's important for us is the condition of the heart. Now what we're talking about here is not just knowing the will and word and requirements of God, but actually having our hearts transformed to delight in God. 31:35 That comes from a regenerate heart wherein the law of God is written on our minds and our hearts where we actually delight in the Lord. And so this morning, if you are a believer and your heart is, well, 31:54 let me just say it like this: if you are concerned about doing the right thing, that's good. That's good. We should all be concerned about doing the right thing. But we can be concerned about doing the right thing and still have a heart that is not in touch with God, right? Amen? I see some nodding. 32:15 I don't hear any amens, but I think it's right. We can be concerned about doing the right things. And we ought to be concerned about doing the right things. But we ought to be as much or more concerned, is the law of God written on the mind and the heart? And is it changing the attitude from which we live, 32:36 out of which we live? 32:39 So the condition of the heart is man cannot change his own heart. He cannot give himself the want to. I oftentimes said to my children, "Do we have to?" they would say. Well, 32:58 then as parents respond, "Well, you don't have to if you want to." Well, how do you get some want to? You can't get some want to based on your own stuff, your own intellect. I guess you can kind of try to get there. But especially when it comes to the things of God, we can't give ourselves the want to. 33:17 We have to come to God and let God change our hearts. Amen? And out of that then comes the impetus, the motivation then for the doing, for the doing and the holy living. So the new covenant deals not just with external sin, 33:39 but with internal sin where we become vexed not with just what is around us, but what is within us. We ought to be just as vexed with the sin within us as we are with the sin around us. And yes, we're like Lot. 33:57 Many times we look at the sin around us and our soul is vexed every day. And we say, "How can it be that we live in a country that is deteriorating so rapidly and our souls are vexed every time we turn on the radio and every time we look at the news and listen to the news?" But we ought to be just as vexed, if not more so, 34:17 when our heart is filled with sin, not just what's around us, but what is within us, the sins of pride and of lust and of an ungrateful spirit, the sins of a lack of love, of bad attitudes, 34:39 of covetousness, of rebellion, of greed, of manipulation and power and control, the sins of evil thoughts and unjust judgment of others, the sins of the untruth. And the list can go on and on. 34:56 And scripture says in the writings of Paul and Second Corinthians that God wants to cleanse us from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And so what we should be also concerned about is the sins of the inner man. But the promise is even better than ever before. 35:17 The promise is that when we bring our sin to God through Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness, not just a temporary cover-up, 35:29 but a long-lasting transformation that comes from having had our sins washed away by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ, not because some sacrifice covers it, but because the blood of Jesus removes it. How can God forget something? 35:49 Let's look at this in Chapter 8, Verse 12. He says, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." I've heard it said, and maybe you have too, that when God forgives sins, he casts them in the deepest sea and puts up a no fishing sign. Well, that sounds good. It's wonderful. 36:07 I think it's similar to that. But sometimes people use some unbiblical terminology and they say that God casts them in the sea of forgetfulness. Now how can it be that God can forget anything? I think there is a biblical term. We don't find that God forgets our sins, 36:28 which would be somewhat of a show of weakness. Well, just like us, we forget things. I forgot to do this. You forgot to do that. We forgot this. We forgot that. We left this. And it's a symbol, a symptom of weakness that is different than choosing not to remember. 36:47 And God does not forget in some act of cosmic weakness, but he chooses not to remember our sins and bring them to remembrance, continually bringing them up before us and before him. 37:04 There's many things that we have forgiven in the past that I have forgiven of people and situations that if I want to, I could go back and dig it up again and rehearse it. But once you forgive, you kind of lay it aside and you don't bring it up again. It's gone. It's done. It's over. 37:22 It's finished. We move on. And so it is with God. If God forgot all sins, he would have to forget major portions of his word. And his word is eternal, forever settled in heaven. 37:34 But the point is that he remembers them no more, not as a passive forgetfulness, but as an active choice to disregard that information and move forward with us on the basis of forgiveness and not on vengeance or justice. 37:56 So this is a wonderful promise, a wonderful promise. The word remembrance in the Old Testament from which these words are taken, the Hebrew, has the idea that he no longer chooses on those sins. He no longer dwells on them. He is no longer mindful of them. 38:16 But he now deals with us as sons and daughters on the basis of forgiveness, not of throwing up our past in front of our faces all the time to make us pay. 38:29 And thank God that the blood of Jesus—we'll deal with this more in Chapter 9 and 10—that the blood of Jesus is able to remove the stain of sin, the guilt of sin, the, well, not always the consequences of sin, 38:43 but the stain and the guilt and cleanse us so that if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature. Old things have passed. And behold, all things are new. His promise is better. His ministry is superior. 39:02 And his covenant is the best. It is better. 39:08 So here's what we need to know this morning as we bring this to a conclusion: conversion, as reflected in this new covenant, quoting from Jeremiah, is not merely about having our guilt removed, but also about having our heart, 39:28 mind, and direction changed forever. That's what God is after: a turning from self to God, a turning from anger to love, a turning from pride to humility, 39:49 a transformation from rebellion to submission, a change from following one's own agenda to surrendering to God's agenda and God's plan and purpose, a change and a turn from bitterness to forgiveness. It is a total change of heart, 40:08 a change of mind, and a change of direction that results from a change of covenant and a change of lordship and a new high priest who not only takes our sins and administers reconciliation to God, 40:25 but takes God's blessing of grace and administers to us in the form of a heart change and transformation of life. I will say this: I am thrilled to hear whenever someone has received Christ. But what does that mean in terms of daily living? 40:45 This is especially important when it comes to childhood conversions. I'm thrilled when I hear of a child who has received Jesus Christ as Savior. But I am also recognizing that as that young person grows and becomes more aware of the things of God, 41:05 there must be an ongoing surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And that is true not only for young people. It's true for us as adults. It's true for grandpas and grandmas. It's true for the elderly. It's true for the middle-aged. It's true for young parents. 41:22 There must be an ongoing surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ and asking God to write by his Holy Spirit his law in our minds and on our hearts. 41:36 Until that happens, there is little, if any, chance for restoration or for—what's the word I want?—for change in behavior other than what I call sin management. 41:53 We must move beyond sin management to transformation. The man, woman, boy, or girl we once were is now coming under new ownership and new management with a new direction and a change of direction, a change. 42:15 Everything changes. It doesn't change all overnight, but it does change. And it must continue to change as we continue to grow. As our great high priest—oh, we're preaching Christ this morning. We're preaching Christ. The great high priest not only acts as our mediator, 42:34 but as our transformer, offering our prayers and petitions to God and delivering and dispensing the resources of God's grace from heaven to the heart of the sin-sick soul. And at this Christmas time, brothers and sisters, wouldn't this be a good time to surrender your heart to Jesus? 42:57 Wouldn't this be a good time to ask God to write his law, the law of love, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, on your mind and your heart? 43:12 Wouldn't this be a good time to take that old stony heart and lay it at the cross and that sin-sick, troubled, broken, weeping heart, suffering heart at the foot of Jesus to be transformed and healed? 43:35 This morning, I'd like to ask you to bow your heads. I don't know the condition of your heart today, but God does. Has your heart truly been transformed? Is it being transformed? Is there a new desire there to follow God? 43:55 Or are you just simply looking at your list of dos and don'ts and saying, "Well, as long as I do this and don't do this, I measure up and I'm okay"? No, my friend, it must be far deeper than that. There must be a surrenderedness and a submissiveness to the heart of God saying, 44:15 "Lord Jesus, come and take my heart." Oh, I love that song by Keith Green, "My Eyes Are Dry." My faith is old. My prayers are—I forget exactly the words—but my heart is cold. But I know what I ought to do: become alive, dead to sin and alive to you. 44:37 Oh, what could be done for an old heart like mine? Soften it up with oil and wine. The oil is you, your spirit of love. Oh, wash me anew in the wine of your blood. We're going to give you an opportunity to do that this morning after we pray. 44:58 Father, I pray today that you would write your will in my mind and on my heart and that out of that transformation would come to my life. And I pray that for each one. 45:20 Lord, if there's someone here this morning that is broken, that is unsaved, they're still in their rebellion. They've only been concerned with their outward appearance and not with the reality of faith on the inside, that they would repent and come to Christ and receive eternal life. 45:39 I pray for others this morning that may have a broken heart, a disturbed heart, a crying heart. And they need to once again ask God to heal that heart so that transformation of life can come forth out of the brokenness of pain. 46:00 I pray, Lord, that as we enter into this time of invitation, that you would move and that you would give us freedom to respond to the spirit of God so faithfully calling and drawing us to Christ. Brother Travis, if you would find the number there for that song, 46:19 "My Eyes Are Dry," what could be done? I don't even know what it's called, how it's referred to. And if you could announce that number, we're going to sing that. And if you would like to come front this morning to rededicate your heart to the Lord Jesus, 46:40 now would be a wonderful time to do that right before Christmas, right before Christmas, to give him your heart, brothers and sisters. Give him your heart. Give him the brokenness. Give him the sin. Give him the obstinance. Give him the rebellion. And take in its place the peace of God. Do we have a number yet? 47:03 792. 47:04 792. We're going to sing this as a prayer. And if Jesus is calling you this morning to surrender your heart, you come and someone will meet you here to pray and help you to lay down your burdens at the cross. 47:21 Lord, thank you for this brother who responded this morning and others who are responding from their seats. We ask, Lord, that you would take what we offer, heal it, touch it, mix in your grace and your mercy and your peace. 47:40 And out of that troubledness and out of that surrender, bring forth a transformation that we ourselves can never bring, can never create, can never perform. And so, Lord, may your spirit continue to take the things of Christ, 47:59 make them real to us this Christmas season. 48:03 And may you do a work in us and through us and in our church that would deal with hearts that need to change, mine beginning with mine. 48:22 Now and to him that is able to keep you from falling, to present you faultless before the throne of his grace with exceeding joy, the only wise God, be glory and dominion, majesty and power forever and ever. Amen.