May 25, 2025: Sunday School

Order of Service

• Sermon
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: A Nostalgic Tour and Its Deeper Meaning

Scripture: Hebrews 9:1-10

I. The Nostalgic Tour of the Old Covenant Sanctuary (vv. 1–7)

A. The writer takes his audience on a guided tour of the tabernacle, pointing out tangible details to evoke memory and meaning

1. For the original audience, the temple carried deep sensory and spiritual significance — sight, sound, smell, and memory
2. Rick Phillips: the bread of presence symbolized fellowship with God; the light symbolized God's illuminating presence; the incense altar symbolized the prayers of the people

B. Tour of the first section — the Holy Place (Hebrews 9:2)

1. The lampstand, the table, and the bread of the presence
2. Priests entered regularly to perform their ritual duties

C. Tour of the second section — the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 9:3-5)

1. The golden altar of incense, the ark of the covenant, the golden urn of manna, Aaron's staff, the tablets of the covenant, and the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat
2. Only the high priest entered, once a year, with blood offered for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people (Hebrews 9:7)

II. The Explanation — What the Old Sanctuary Was Always Saying (vv. 8–10)

A. The Holy Spirit indicates through this arrangement that the way into the holy place was not yet opened while the first section still stood (Hebrews 9:8)

1. The structure itself proclaimed separation between God and the people
2. A hierarchy of access: the people, then the priests, then the high priest alone — layers of curtains and walls kept the people from God

B. The old arrangement could not perfect the conscience of the worshipper (Hebrews 9:9)

1. It dealt only with external matters — food, drink, washings, regulations for the body
2. No inner transformation, no true dealing with guilt and condemnation
3. It was imposed only until the time of reformation (Hebrews 9:10) — always meant to be temporary

C. The old covenant sanctuary was symbolic, not ultimate — always pointing forward to Christ

1. At Christ's death the curtain was torn in two — the separation is no more (Matthew 27:51)
2. All believers now have direct access to God in and through Christ who has gone behind the curtain on our behalf
3. The Holy Spirit now makes his home in believers — the believer is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19)
4. Communion with God now comes through the Spirit illuminating Scripture and through prayer — not through a separated holy place

III. The Question Put to the Audience — and to Us

A. The writer challenges those tempted to return to the old forms: are you going to go back to shadow and vapor when the substance has come?

1. The old is ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13) — it is a mist giving way to fullness
2. The old ceremonies were signposts pointing forward, not destinations in themselves

B. The danger of resting in external religion rather than in Christ applies to believers in every age

1. Resting in church attendance, devotional habits, or moral performance as the ground of standing before God
2. The temptation to a works-based confidence — do these things and feel you have done enough
3. The answer is always to rest in the finished work of Christ who perfectly kept the law in our place and who atones for our sin

C. What carries forward from the old covenant into the new

1. The moral law — including the Ten Commandments — transcends the Mosaic administration and is written on the heart under the new covenant
2. The Sabbath, giving glory to God, love of neighbor — these are not abolished but fulfilled and carried forward
3. The ceremonies and civil laws of the Mosaic administration were situational to that covenant and have been fulfilled in Christ
4. Christ is the substance to which all the shadows pointed: he is the light of the world (John 8:12), the bread of heaven (John 6:35), and his blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat