>> [ Congregation singing ]
>> Today we are blessed
with a wonderful gift from God,
the Bible.
This book is God's living word.
In its pages, we are told,
"For the word of God is living
and powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword."
It is in this book of books
that we find the answers
to all of men's questions
and need.
This morning, your area
Churches of Christ
welcome you to a program
committed to that perfect
law of liberty.
>> [ Singing continues ]
>> As we present
"The Living Word."
>> [ Singing continues ]
>> Now, here is your host,
Ray Sullins.
>> Jesus said, "On this rock,
I will build my church."
Thank you for joining us
this morning
for the "Living Word" program.
It is always a privilege
to have you with us
for this time
of offering to God.
And we welcome you to this
service for our creator.
Today, we have
the opportunity together
to worship and praise our God.
And this morning,
we will glorify our Lord
through songs of praise
and through the study
of his perfect word.
So won't you do your own part
to make this time acceptable
in his sight
and according
to his perfect will.
Now, as we approach
our Father God,
will you bow with me in prayer
at this time.
Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this,
another day of life,
the great many blessings of it.
Understanding, Father,
that all spiritual things
and all physical things
come from you.
And, Father, we understand
that the greatest of all gifts
was found in
and through Jesus Christ,
that we might not only be
presentable in this life,
but ultimately presentable
and justified
for that preparation
of the life to come.
And, Father, we thank you
that it is only through Jesus
that we are able
to not only know you,
but to obey your will
in the Bible.
And, Father, help us this day
and every day to shine
as lights in this world
that we might not only be
recipients of these things,
but also that we might
help others to know you
and to obey
your will as well.
Father, we love you.
And in Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
It's time to start
our songs of praise
this morning,
so won't you join in
with the congregation as we sing together the first song?
The name of the hymn,
"I'll Live for Him."
 My life, my love
I give to Thee 
 Thou Lamb of God
Who died for me 
 O may I ever faithful be 
 My Savior and my God! 
 I'll live for Him
Who died for me 
 How happy then
my life shall be 
 I'll live for Him
Who died for me 
 My Savior and my God! 
 I now believe
Thou dost receive 
 For Thou hast died
that I might live 
 And now henceforth
I'll trust in Thee 
 My Savior and my God! 
 I'll live for Him
Who died for me 
 How happy then
my life shall be 
 I'll live for Him
Who died for me 
 My Savior and my God! 
 O Thou Who died on Calvary 
 To save my soul
and make me free 
 I'll consecrate my life
to Thee 
 My Savior and my God! 
 I'll live for Him
Who died for me 
 How happy then
my life shall be 
 I'll live for Him
Who died for me 
 My Savior and my God! 
>> When you consider all that
God has done for us,
it is really hard
sometimes to believe
just how much he loves us.
How difficult it is
to comprehend such a magnificent
and a wondrous, loving God
doing so much for us,
such small and insignificant
people in this world.
All of this is further
compounded in the fact
that we are not
really worth anything,
especially when you consider
how often we let God down
and do things which are
contrary to his will.
However, despite
all of these facts,
God does love us
and has done so much for us.
Even today we are all being
blessed beyond understanding,
by a God who not only gives us
all the things that we need,
but also one who
actually created us
and gave us our very existence.
When I think about all that God
has done and is doing for us,
one of the things that
stands out foremost in my mind
is the fact that he even gave
his own son to die on the cross
for me as well as you,
an opportunity to be called
certainly out of the darkness
of this world
and to enter
into the light of Jesus.
An opportunity to even
be called a child of God.
Did you hear
what Jesus just said?
Why did he do this?
Again, the answer is simple --
for you and for me.
Jesus put it best himself
in John 3:16 when he said,
"For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten
Son that whoever believes
in him should not perish
but have everlasting life."
Now, as we think of all
that God has done
and why he is so worthy
of our honor and praise,
let me ask you
another question.
What was the significance
of Christ
shedding his blood for us?
Well, Paul sums it up well
in Acts 20:28.
There it says, "Therefore,
take heed to yourselves
and to all the flock
among which the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers
to shepherd the Church of God,
which he purchased
with his own blood."
Here we have clearly
given to us the evidence
that it is
with the blood of Christ
that the church was purchased.
So let me ask you,
are you serving this God?
The one and true and only God,
the one who established
his church
and purchased it
with the blood of Jesus itself?
And furthermore,
consider at this point
the importance of the church.
A church that, again,
Jesus was willing to die for.
As we consider these things,
may we understand
not only the importance
of the church,
but the love that God had
for the church
and you and I
who make it up.
And therefore may that challenge
us to be the type of Christians
that we need to be
for him each and every day.
As far as our lesson today,
we will be continuing our study,
which is entitled The Better
Things from the Book of Hebrews.
This morning,
our specific discussion
will deal
with a better sacrifice.
So stay with us.
And in a few minutes,
I will return with this study
from God's word.
Now it's time to join in the
second hymn of the morning.
The name of the song,
"There is Power in the Blood."
>>  Would you be free
from the burden of sin? 
 There's power in the blood,
power in the blood 
 Would you o'er evil
a victory win? 
 There's wonderful power
in the blood 
 There is power, power,
wonder working power 
 In the blood of the Lamb 
 There is power, power,
wonder working power 
 In the precious blood
of the Lamb 
 Would you be free from
your passion and pride? 
 There's power in the blood,
power in the blood 
 Come for a cleansing
to Calvary's tide 
 There's wonderful power
in the blood 
 There is power, power,
wonder working power 
 In the blood of the Lamb 
 There is power, power,
wonder working power 
 In the precious blood
of the Lamb 
 Would you do service
for Jesus your King? 
 There's power in the blood,
power in the blood 
 Would you live daily
His praises to sing? 
 There's wonderful power
in the blood 
 There is power, power,
wonder working power 
 In the blood of the Lamb 
 There is power, power,
wonder working power 
 In the precious blood
of the Lamb 
>> We're so glad you've
continued with us today.
Now, as we go to God's word
and look at another lesson
from the Book of Hebrews.
As most of you know, we've been
looking at a different idea
or topic from the Book
of Hebrews each Sunday,
and really we've been
focusing on each chapter
and trying to draw something
out of each chapter
that might be of great benefit
to the follower of God,
the New Testament Christian.
And so today we will continue
by looking at something
that begins really
in chapter eight.
We find a little bit
more information
also in chapter nine
about this.
But it really focuses
on this idea of sacrifice.
And from the very
beginning of time,
we know as God
actually made man,
we find that from the beginning
that God really intended
that man would make
some sort of sacrifice
and that that would be essential
because of the sin of man.
And so there was a need
to pay a redemptive price,
a type of valued price for the
sin that they had committed,
that they might be redeemed.
And that's that idea
of redemption
and the idea of how
that under the old law,
the animals and animal
sacrifices would be made,
that men might be redeemed
of different types of sin
and different types of needs
would be met in relationship
to the old covenant.
And so the idea of sacrifices
or making sacrifices
is not really just something
that we see within the old law
or even the concept of the
discussion in the Christian age.
But we also really see it
in religions in general
that sacrifices
often have been made
and are made to God
in relationship
to a type of offering
or worship or redemptive price.
That being said, we then move
to the book of Hebrews.
And as we've been learning,
it's really a comparative book
between the Old Covenant
and the New Covenant.
And so under the Old Covenant,
we know that there were
sacrifices and animal
sacrifices made.
And so now let's compare
that to the New Covenant
and the better sacrifice.
And that's really what
these lessons have been about.
Those things that are better,
so much better, far better,
and why.
So there in chapter eight,
we begin actually by looking
at the idea of Jesus
as the high priest.
And so how neat that it
actually uses
the old idea
of the priesthood
and the high priest
being Jesus himself,
not just a mere man,
but God in the flesh,
and that he is now
our high priest.
And as we've already seen
in some previous chapters,
he is a high priest
not after the priesthood,
Levitical priesthood of Aaron,
but he is a high priest
after the order of Melchizedek,
which actually super--
or is before,
or even farther back
in the days of Abraham.
And remember that Abraham,
there actually paid tithes
to Melchizedek
at one time,
who was a priest of God.
So he follows a priestly order
that actually supersedes
or is farther before
that which was commanded
in the days of Moses.
So it was before Moses
and the Levitical priesthood
that was established
under the old law.
There in verse one of that text,
it says,
"Now, this is the main point
of the things
which are being said.
We have such a high priest
who is seated
at the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in the heavens,
a minister of the sanctuary
of the true tabernacle
which the Lord erected
and not man."
You see, he then really deals
with this idea
that Jesus is a high priest
who is actually in heaven
at the very essence
of the throne of God itself.
And He rules and reigns
and is high priest from heaven,
a tabernacle or temple
that is not made with hands,
but is spiritual
or in the heavens.
And so how much better than
a passing tabernacle and temple,
by the way, which no longer
exist in their original forms
because of destruction,
but of a spiritual tabernacle,
an idea where Jesus reigns
from the spiritual tabernacle,
the headquarters,
so to speak, of heaven itself,
the very throne of God.
And he is the very high priest.
Which means in order for us
to access the father,
in order for us to be able
to offer those sacrifices
as they did under the old laws,
in order for us
to be able to approach God,
we need that intercessor,
we need that Christ,
we need that high priest
because He is the one
who is actually
in the presence of God
or is able to seek
an audience
directly in the presence of God,
and Him being in Heaven as God
certainly indicates
much more than that to us.
So Jesus now
is our high priest.
If you drop down to verse six
of that same text,
chapter eight says,
"But now we have obtained
a more excellent ministry
inasmuch as he is also mediator
of a better covenant
which is established
on better promises."
Last week we looked at the idea
of a better covenant
and the idea of how God
has blessed us with a covenant
that is far better
because it is based on
the shed blood of Jesus
and greater sacrifices
as we're focusing now.
And therefore the greater
promises, the greater rewards,
the greater
redemptive opportunities.
All of these things, again,
are discussed in the section
here as being far better.
But now let's focus a little bit
on what we are looking at,
because the farther parts
and points of the latter
chapter there
in eight really deals
with the idea
of the covenant itself.
And it says, well, this covenant
is a better covenant.
And the fact that there is
a new covenant in verse 13 says
that the old covenant
has become obsolete
because it has been replaced
with something better.
And so what is it
that makes the
New Covenant so much better?
Why does it supersede
in every way the Old Covenant?
Well, the key again is Jesus.
Jesus as the greatest
high priest,
Jesus as the builder,
as we have seen,
Jesus as
all of these different things
that are represented
throughout the Scriptures,
and specifically
Jesus as the sacrifice.
As we move over into
chapter nine,
it begins clearly to be seen
the idea of the sacrificial
purpose of this discussion.
There in chapter nine,
around verse 11,
you'll notice that none other
than the same
discussion is being had
that was begun in chapter eight
and verse one.
In verse 11 of chapter 9,
he says,
"But Christ came as high priest
of the good things."
You see, He is that one who came
and he lived and he died
and he shed his blood
and he was there,
there resurrected.
And he accomplished
all of that plan that God gave.
Why?
Look at verse 11 as we continue.
"He is high priest of good things to come
with a greater
and more perfect tabernacle
that is not made with hands,
that is not of this creation."
So that spiritual tabernacle.
But then how did he do it?
Verse 12, "Not with the blood
of goats and calves,
but with his own blood,
He entered the most holy place
once for all,
having obtained
eternal redemption."
What did Jesus do? Because
He was God in the flesh.
He was perfect. He was sinless.
There was no blemish at all.
And he was a man and God.
So much more valuable
than an animal
that obviously
would not even have a soul,
whereas a man has a soul
and God certainly is creator.
And Jesus, as we well know,
is identified
as the one who is creator,
even back in
Hebrews chapter one.
But here it says
it was by his own blood,
that he was what?
That he sealed the covenant.
That he was what?
That he was made high priest.
That he was what?
Able to again fulfill
and accomplish all that the old law was set in motion for
as a schoolmaster
to bring us to that thing
that was perfect in
and through Jesus Christ
and the shedding of his blood.
Notice that he is indicated here
as being one who offered
that sacrifice once for all.
We're going to come back to that
in just a moment.
So keep your mind on that.
But if you'll drop down,
it then begins to make
the comparison in verse 13.
You know, if the blood of bulls
and goats
and the ashes of a heifer
could purify the flesh
under the Old Covenant,
notice the reasoning
that he gives here in verse 14.
How much more
shall the blood of Christ?
If the blood of bulls and goats
were able to push sin forward
under the Old Covenant,
what are they able
to do now?
Even far more than
they ever did before.
Because the sacrifice
is a perfect sacrifice.
The shedding of blood,
the value of the thing
offered was perfect,
and there's nothing
that is comparable to its value.
That, no doubt, is why
if we back up in
chapter eight, verse 12,
that it says not only were
we forgiven of sins,
but it says there that our sins
under Jesus
are remembered no more.
You see the difference?
Boy, if the blood of bulls
and goats were able to forgive
but push forward,
the blood of Jesus is better.
It's able to not only forgive,
but to forget
or blot out that sin
from our record.
You see the power of that blood,
the power of that sacrifice,
the blessings of it.
Again, the one verse 15
who says again,
"He as our mediator
of the New Covenant
and by means of death,
has sealed the covenant
and the reward
and the promise
by and through
the perfect sacrifice."
Oh, yes,
Jesus is that perfect sacrifice
by the power
of his perfect blood.
But then the final thing
I want you to notice with me
is down in verse 23
of chapter 9,
and here it begins to talk about
the idea of the power
of the sacrifice itself.
Because not only was it able
to forgive and forget sins,
not only was it able
to accomplish all things
according to the covenant
and the sealing
of the New Covenant,
replacing the old,
not only are all these things
that we've studied true,
but here we learn
that it was again once for all.
Jesus did it
and he only had to do it once.
Remember that the animal
sacrifices were regular,
the sin sacrifices with animals
that the high priest had to make
on behalf of the people
was a yearly sacrifice,
every year,
and all the sins
would be brought back up
and then all the sins would be
pushed back forward
through the sacrifice.
But Jesus, only one time,
only one time
had to give his blood
and shed his blood. Why?
It was perfect. It was perfect.
And we understand
and we know that it was perfect
because verse 23 again
uses the very phraseology
of our discussion today
that he was a better sacrifice.
He was a far greater
and better sacrifice
as the high priest, verse 25,
as the one who again offered
that perfect blood.
But now what I want you
to notice with me
is what verses 26
through 28 say.
"He then, if he were like
the old high priest,
would have had to suffer
many times
from
the foundation of the world.
But he, Jesus, appeared to put
away sin by a perfect sacrifice.
And as it was appointed
for men once to die,"
and after this,
the judgment, verse 28 says,
"So Christ was offered
once to bear the sins of many
that all those
who hear might have" what?
Ultimately,
salvation from sin.
So Jesus' sacrifice
was so perfect,
so powerful, so pure,
that one time was enough
not only for everyone
who lived in that day
or everyone
who would live today,
but everyone who ever lived.
A full, complete fulfillment
of the things
that God himself has said.
And guess what we also see again
in chapter 10.
He doesn't leave it there.
In chapter 10,
he says in verse 10,
"By that we have
all been sanctified
through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ,
given once for all."
And again in verses 12 and 14,
he says the same thing,
that Jesus died once for all.
Oh, how beautiful.
How beautiful the gift of Jesus,
the sacrifice,
the shedding of the blood
on the cross,
the burial and the resurrection.
Reminding us that that
sacrifice,
that great and perfect
and awesome
and wondrous sacrifice
was so sufficient
that given once for all,
it was able to offer redemption
to man and all men of every age,
and to accomplish the purpose
that began to be set forth
from the very beginning of time
through the Old Testament
into the New Testament.
Therefore, may we always
be not only thankful
for that sacrifice,
but may we respond
and live righteously every day
to make the sacrifice
and the gift of it worthy,
for our sakes.
>>  I know that
my Redeemer lives 
 And living, cares for me 
 I know eternal Life he gives 
 And gave on Calvary 
 O 'twas wonderful,
wonderful love 
 That brought him,
from Heaven above 
 As a ransom,
to die on the tree 
 To save a poor sinner
like me 
 I know the promise
cannot fail 
 The hour is drawing nigh 
 Though cruel death
may flesh assail 
 My soul shall never die 
 O 'twas wonderful,
wonderful love 
 That brought him,
from Heaven above 
 As a ransom,
to die on the tree 
 To save a poor sinner
like me! 
 I know my mansion
He prepares 
 Beside the crystal sea 
 That where He lives
and loves and cares 
 There I may ever be 
 O 'twas wonderful,
wonderful love 
 That brought him,
from Heaven above 
 As a ransom,
to die on the tree 
 To save a poor sinner
like me! 
>> Let me thank you again
for choosing to be
with us this day
for the "Living Word" program.
I hope and trust that together
we have all benefited
from this service to our Lord.
And let me invite you
to join us
each and every
Lord's Day morning at 7:30
as we give this time
to our creator.
But for now, let me ask if you
have any questions or comments
about today's lesson, maybe would like a free transcript
or free CD
or DVD of the program.
Possibly we could assist you
with free Bible materials,
or free
Bible correspondence courses.
Or we might help you
with other needs
if you will contact us
and let us know.
No matter what that need is,
please feel free to contact us
in one of the following ways.
Our address,
"The Living Word" program,
2540 North Kansas Expressway,
Springfield, Missouri, 65803.
Many of these items are also
available on our website.
That address,
TheLivingWordProgram.com.
Or if you prefer, you may
call us at (417) 869-2284.
How blessed we are to have
a perfect sacrifice
which sealed the covenant
that God has with us today.
May we therefore live
in such a way
as to live up to the standard
of that great gift,
that greatest of all gifts,
that we might be found
ultimately pleasing
in the sight of God
and thus recipients of
His wondrous promises.
>> Our prayer is to help
the world know
more about God through
this television program.
"The Living Word"
has been brought to you
under the oversight
of the elders of the Kansas
Expressway Church of Christ
in Springfield, Missouri,
with the assistance
of the following area
Churches of Christ.
>> [ Congregation singing ]