Christ's Better Ministry
Hebrews 9

Intro.:  
 There is a joke about a man on a flight that was in very bumpy weather and this was his first time on a plane. As the weather got worse, and he became sicker with each bump, he began to wonder if he was going to make it. There was a priest beside him who heard the man pray, _ Oh, Lord, if you will bring me safely down on the ground,
I‘ll give you half of all I make. The weather eventually was passed thru, and the plane make it down safely. The two men walked out of the terminal, and the priest reminded the man of his prayer of giving half of what he makes to the Lord. The priest asked him, "Are you going to keep your promise?" The man reply with a twinkle, “No, I made the Lord a better deal. I promised him that if he ever gets me back on a plane, I‘ll give him everything I make."

2. The joke does have a certain insight into human nature. We are always inclined to make some bargain deal with God. Bargaining with God usually involves the position that we want God to do our bidding. But man does not have much to stand on. Rather in the Bible we have the contrary position that God makes deals with us. Two of the most significant deals involve the agreement in the Old Testament and the
New Testament. The Old Test. involves the regular priestly function around the Temple. The function of the Law was to make people aware of their sins. The temple rites made them ceremonial clean.

3. A phrase may be used to describe the theme of the chapter, Christ's Better Ministry. The life and death of Christ are compared to the role of the priest in the old testament. Daily offerings versus one offering. an early sanctuary vs. a heavenly one.
a dying priesthood vs. a living priest, ceremonial cleansing vs. cleansing of the conscience, an old covenant vs. a new covenant.

4. Let us look at three of the points of the better ministry of Christ.

I. He mediated a new covenant. v. l5.

1. God’s first covenant was begun with Abraham when God's animals were used to seal the covenant. The taking of blood or life was the basis of the covenant in Gen.15. Now the New covenant involves a life or blood, and it was the life of God's son. The Old Covenant depended up on man's performance. The New Covenant depends up on God‘s faithfulness. The Old C. required man's full obedience to the law for him to be successfully rewarded. The New Covenant is based upon God's
faithfulness in performing his word. The Old Covenant was terminated because of man’s disobedience. The New Covenant is not terminated because of man‘s faithlessness.

2. A promise and a covenant are different. A promise can be changed or withdrawn while the promiser is still living. A man can promise to marry a girl and may back out a time or two and not even marry her at all. But a covenant, a will is significant only after there has been a death. The testament of death cannot be changed after the death. As long as it is written clearly, the will‘s intent is not to be changed.

3. God has come in the person of his Son, he has died, upon the event of making a new covenant. This is my blood which is poured out for the sins of man. The initiation sign of the covenant is baptism. ln baptism we die with Christ
and we are raised with Christ.

II. He purified our consciences   14

l. The Old Testament writings speak of ceremonial cleansing. One can perform rites for the cleansing of the body, but how do you cleanse the spirit? The answer is found simply in the fact that God‘s Spirit is at work in our lives. The Covenant that God has made is sealed by his Spirit and the benefit of the covenant is forgiveness, for one thing. Cleansing of the heart, forgiveness of the Spirit, that is to purify our consciences. Purification of conscience also means that we become sensitive to sin and the problems of the heart. One may make a point about integrity right here. The Spirit of  God desires to make us live rightly. You may remember the pictures of
Nixon going to China and standing on the great wall of China. It was built to keep barbaric hordes of the north from invading. It was so high they knew no one could climb over it, and so thought that nothing could break it down. But within the first hundred years China was invaded three times. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and marched right thru the gates. One may build walls but unless there is integrity practiced, then there is no safety. The conscience must be purified and made whole.

2. People are not sure that God's word is true and they live with tortured consciences. In the Journals of Kierkegaard there is a brief entry: "The dreadful case of a man who, when he was a little boy, suffered much hardship was hungry, benumbed with cold, stood upon a hillock and cursed God--and the man was not able to forget this when he was 82 years old." The enlarged story: Michael Pederson Kierkegaard had a hard life in Jutland, western Denmark. Shortly after he had cursed God for his miserable conditions, an uncle took him to Copenhagen, helped him get started in business and he prospered. Soon he became wealthy, and soon he became
the father of several children. His fortune had changed and life was now good, but the man could not have peace in his heart. He deliberated set out to be religious. He
wanted to instill religion in his children. He had gifted children and universal esteem, but inwardly he was miserable. He felt that God was now blessing him in order to mock him, and eventually he was going to pull the rug out from him, and bring him toppling down. Tragedy did strike; all but two sons died before their 33 birthday. But the old man could not find peace. He regarded God as a grudge-bearer. His conscience was stricken. The New Covenant is God‘s sure word to us of his forgiveness. He has come to purified our consciences. If you are tormented
by your past, it is because you want to be, not because God has not made provisions for your forgiveness.

Ill. Christ is the giver of a new world. V. 28.

l. There are many utopias, or ideal societies, written as ancient as Plato's Republic and as recently as Walden Two by B.F. Skinner. They have much in common. They
echo the longing of man--in his better moments--for a world of peace, friendship, concern, and health. They set forth a society in which man has his needs fulfilled, and he can be truly man. In each case, there is a certain idealism man can become a creature of peace if he will live under the rule of reason as in Plato, or under the programed world-directors of Walden Two. In either case, the utopia is to be achieved by planning and education.

The Bible gives a more pessimistic view of these possibilities. Man is a sinner, he is selfish, and the reason utopias have failed on a large scale is that man's sin is overlooked. The impossibility of building the Great Society, as Johnson
put it, is because man is corruptible.

2. The pessimisms of the Bible about man's world is not a full pessimism. The optimism comes in this: Christ brings about a new world. What man cannot do, God does. A new world shall come to pass and this is part of his better ministry. The people of Israel could have been a utopia. They had the Law, the prophets, and God was near to them, but their sin, selfishness, sensuality, brought them to the point of falling away from God time and again. The Old world is not our goal. The New world
coming is our home.

3. The hopes that we have as Christians is frequently misused. Because we hope in Christ's coming, we are inclined to write off the world in which we live. One of my friends has written a book on the subject. He has charged that people who accent the view of things as found in the Late Great Planet Earth forsake the world looking for better things when Christ come. This neglect is wrong. We become so busy charting the return of Jesus, that the commands of Jesus are forgotten. My friend charges that preoccupation with the schedule of Jesus return has caused people to neglect everything but evangelism. Christians have not been faithful in bringing justice and equity to government. Christians have neglected their concern for poverty, and the harsh realities of hunger. There will   be no hunger there, but there is hunger here.

4. The phrase about his coming says "those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (28) There are those who are too concerned about his coming, and there are those who are not concerned enough. We may be inclined to write off the coming of Christ
as a religious hope without much reality. But the return is as emphatic as the Scripture. The return of Christ will mean the fulfillment of our salvation as well as usher us into God's utopia.

Conclusion:
1. The boy fell overboard a little after 7 a.m. No one saw him fall. He had been clearing a scupper, an opening in the ship's side to allow water to run off the deck, and lost his balance. When he hit the water he fought against the wild surge and suck along the vessel's hull. The propeller missed him by inches. As the choking water eased its tug, he broke the surface and saw the blue sky overhead. For a moment a feeling of relief relaxed him. The Mate must have seen him fall and he would be picked up quickly. But the vessel kept going at full speed, and he threshed the water in panic, trying to overtake her. Suddenly he remembered something the Captain had said one day after a boat drill: "lf you ever get in a tight spot, keep your head. If you panic, you'll lose it sure's this vessel’s got keel. You’ll run round and round like a chicken with it’s head chopped off. So keep your head, and think. The boy steadied the paddling, his hands and feet and thought. I didn't know I could swim, but I'm not sinking. I'm swimming. He managed to kick off his heavy pants and boots. He realized that he was paddling as he had seen dogs do in Maine. But the vessel kept going. He could now barely see her funnel and masts when he was heaved up on a high wave. He did not know for what was going to happen. A breaking wave slapped
him in the face, choking him. Salt burned his eyes. The sailors were at breakfast when they missed the boy. Where is he? After questioning each other, they began looking and did not find him. They told the Captain who was on the bridge.
The vessel was on a safe course, 100 miles eastward of Jacksonville and seating at full speed in the Gulf Stream. The Captain was making up for lost time. A sailor rushed up, shouting, Sir. the Boy. We can’t find him. We’ve looked everywhere. He's lost. and waved a hand out over the sea. The captain summoned the chief mate from the dining room. The time was ascertained. The boy brought coffee to the
bridge at 7:10. It was not 8:21. An hour and 11 minutes, 18 miles back. Quick orders were issued. Some fuel oil was pumped onto the sea. The vessel held her course for a few second until the oil had a path behind her. When that was well defined the vessel reversed her course and steamed back along the oil path exactly the way she had come. The boy keep paddling slowly, facing in the direction of the vanished ship. He was weakening and he wanted to cry. He would have cried, but the Captain was before him on the deck again addressing the men: The sea’s a hard life. Emergencies pop up, in storms, in fogs, and you can't  go running to the Five and Ten for a piece of string or a box of nails to fix things. You’ve got to use your head. Remember more
men get lost by losing their heads than for any other reason. Then a series of waves washed over him, half-drowning him and he struggled in a smother of foam and fear.
The Captain did not expect to find the boy. Cross winds and currents cause drift, and a head in such a vast body of water is hard to find. What chance was there for a boy who could not swim. As the hour and twenty minutes came they began to slow the ship and look around. Suddenly they saw a head in the water, the boat was manned and the boy was picked up.  One hollered to him, "the seas for sailing boats, not swimming." Another said, "the Old Man's going to get you. Three hours and you‘ve got to go swimming.    He knew they were teasing, but was to weak to appreciate the humor. After they wane rested up, the 17 year old boy was sitting on deck washing brushes.

The captain walked by and asked, "You couldn't swim and you were in the water over 2% hours. How did you manage to stay afloat? You told me so, sir. I? "Yes sir, you told me to use my head. You tell everyone that, sir. And I knew you would come back. "How in the devil did you know that," the captain asked. He was lost in thought for a while, he squeezed the paint brush, glanced and said quietly, "Because you are like that, sir." Because you are like that .....

This story is a parable on what our Scripture says. We were lost at sea. The ocean is huge and over whelms us We are paddling and getting nowhere. But  the Captain
of the Ship comes back and seeks us. Why does he do it? Why is He searching for us? Because he is like that. Why does he promise us a new home? Because He is a giver of life, not death. Why does he give us a clean conscience? Because he is like that. Why does he make a new covenant with us? Because he is like that

2. When you feel like you have been swept overboard, plunged into the sea of life without a float, wondering when you last breathe will be,  remember God is searching for you, waiting for you to call to Him for his help.   He is ready to throw you a life-line.