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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

The book of Hebrews, chapter 8. I want to speak on the two covenants, the two covenants. You might hear them call the Old Testament the New Testament, the Old contract, the New contract, the dispensation of law, the dispensation of grace. But there are two covenants in the Word of God, especially these that are used in the Bible to explain some things to you and I. If you’ll notice there in your notes that I gave to you, you’ll notice under Old Covenant, established upon man’s performance.

The new covenant established upon Christ’s performance. So one is ours and the other is his. The law, the Old Testament, the old contract, the old covenant that God made with man, the nation of Israel in particular, and gave them the law was based upon Israel obeying the law. And what they said was that whatever God commands us to do, we will do it. So that was a covenant, but it was based upon man’s performance. Man had to perform. He had to keep the law.

And if he didn’t keep the law, if he broke it, he was to pay the penalty. And if he didn’t want to pay it personally with his own life, then he had to offer the proper sacrifices. There were some crimes that they could commit, and a sacrifice would not atone for it. There were many of the laws that demanded the death penalty for breaking God’s law. And so the people were not too excited about this. Living under the law was not a joyful thing because the people were not able to perform, live up to the standard.

The bar was raised too high. And so for 1500 years, no one ever kept the law. No one ever kept the law. And so people have died for the last 1500 years up to the time of the cross without having kept the Ten Commandments without obeying the law. Now the New Testament is different. The New Testament is a new contract. It’s a different will. And God made it based upon His Son. His Son, Jesus Christ, would come and He would perform and He would make a covenant with us based upon what He will do.

law was based upon what we had to do. And we could not perform, no man ever has. And so therefore, to be under the law killed, but to be under Christ, under grace makes alive, is a totally different thing. Here in the book of Hebrews in chapter 8, I want you to look there in verse 6. In verse 6, It makes a statement now when these things were thus ordained. The priest went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.

But into the second went the high priest once alone every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the heirs of the people. The Holy Ghost is signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. While as the first tabernacle was yet standing, which was a figure for the time then present in which we’re offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience.

So there was a covenant that God had made with the people. The people were not able to be made perfect by the sacrifices that were made. When you read the book of Hebrews, you will find there’s several things mentioned in here, and it’s talking about making an individual perfect. If you’ll notice there in Hebrews, chapter 7, look at it in verse 19. He says, for the law made nothing perfect. And to go to heaven, you and I have to be perfect.

Well, the law couldn’t make you perfect. If a person really understands this, nobody would want to live under the law. No one would trust in their good deeds to get into heaven. Nobody would trust their righteousness. If a person really understands what the law says, everybody would trust Christ as their savior and not try to earn their salvation by their good deed, because the Bible says the law made nothing perfect. Now look, they’re also in Hebrews in chapter five, and notice what it says in verse nine, and being made perfect, Jesus Christ.

He was made perfect. He became the author of eternal salvation, the word eternal salvation, and the word perfect could be the same. You see, in order to be eternal, you have to be perfect. And that’s why to go to heaven, we have to be perfect, to have eternal life. Because the wages of sin is death, and so sin brings death. So for us to have eternal life, we have to be perfect. How does a man get to be made perfect?

Well, the law could not perform. I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Galatians and chapter 4. Galtranslation is chapter 4. There is an allegory that’s used by the Apostle Paul trying to help the Galatian Christians to understand why they could not keep the law to be saved or to keep their salvation once they were saved. So the law was That was not to be saved by and nor after you are saved are you supposed to try to keep the law in order to keep your salvation.

Both are wrong. Look what it says there in verse 22. Now referring to an Old Testament individual, he is using a story of a man, two wives, two children to teach the difference between law and grace. for every church today. Has to either teach salvation is by grace or it’s by works. See the one way or the other. Think of how many churches are. It’s either by grace or it’s by works. And they’re teaching one way or the other.

It cannot be both ways. Grace means without works. Works means without grace. So when we say it’s by grace means that we’re saying it’s free. That’s nothing that man has to do to save himself. In verse 22, look what he says, But for it is written that Abraham had two sons. One by bond made the other by a free woman. So there was two children that were born. And Ishmael was born by Hagar, which was a bond slave. And the other one was by Sarah, who was his wife.

But the first one was by the slave. But he who was in verse 23 of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise, means by faith. So there is a child by law and there is a child by grace. And these two children are a type of law and grace. Hagar was a slave, so her son was a slave. And because Sarah was a free woman, she wasn’t a slave, she was the wife.

Her child, born by a promise from God, was a faith child, born by faith. When she was 90 years old, and Abraham was 100 years old, that’s a miracle child. So there was one child that was born as a slave, had no rights. To claim anything from Father Abraham. Though Abraham was the father, but he was not considered a legal son, Isaac was. And so you have these two children, but the flesh was born before the Spirit. You and I, when we’re born in this world, our flesh birth was born first, and then when you heard the good news, you were born by faith and became a child.

a child of God, free. You’re not under bonnet. You’re not under the law. Your first birth was under the law. Your second birth is not under the law. And if you ever understand it and become that clear picture in your mind, it’ll help you as you go through the Bible and understanding this. Now look what he says there in verse 24, which things are an allegory, characters or types, for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gender to bondage, which is Hagar.

So look up here. There was in the Old Testament, Moses, Mount Sinai, the law. You have a different story in the New Testament. You have Christ, Mount Calvary, a new birth. And this one is free. This one is not under the law. So there were two covenants, two agreements that God had made. And then He makes the statement in verse 24, 5, for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, an answer to Jerusalem which now is in his in bondage with her children.

In other words, this is a type of the people that are born into the world. They are a type of the flesh, first birth that fail to keep the righteousness of God. They could not keep the law. So they have all sinned and none of them can inherit what God the Father has. Or at this point Abraham, their Father, had. Only those who are the true seed in verse 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of a song.

For it is written, Rejoice thou barren, that beareth not, break forth and cry, thou that travaileth not for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath and husband.” Now the words, Hagar didn’t have a husband. She was a handmade slave, but she has a lot more children than Sarah who was the wife. Even today, how many nations are there of the Arab nations, about thirteen nations. How many nations are there of Israel? One nation. Are the Israelites outnumbered?

Are they outnumbered? Are there more Arabs than Jews? Yes, there are. And so this is what it’s talking about then. Are more people who are children of the flesh than there are that are children of God. Because everybody born into the world is a child of the flesh, but out of those who have trusted Christ as Savior, there’s a fewer number that are the children of the Spirit. So there’s a flesh birth and a spirit birth. When I was born into the world I receive my flesh birth.

When I trust the crisis my Savior I receive my spirit birth, my new birth born of God. This one can’t sin. This one is born and created in Christ Jesus. Perfect. This one cannot sin. If you can’t sin it cannot die. That’s why once you trust Christ as your Savior you’re a child of God for how long forever. And so whenever you physically die, the flesh will die and you will never die from the first birth that will, but the second birth can’t die.

That’s why Christ says, if a man dies yet shall he live and those that believe in me shall never die. That’s talking about the second birth. So it’s a tremendous portion of scripture. Look there in verse 28. Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of the promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit. Is it the Arabs that are persecuting the Jews or is it the Jews that are persecuting the Arabs?

Arabs are persecuted in the Jews. It’s always been that way. It’s never stopped. This was true then. And now here you are. You have a flesh birth and you have a spiritual birth. Which one? Persecutes which one? The flesh is always persecuting. You have a flesh nature that it will always try to destroy you. But you have a new birth. And you have a new birth. and you can become spiritually stronger than the flesh birth if you will obey God.

And then you can have victory in the Christian life. Many of God’s people never have Christian victory. They’re always defeated because, see, they try to feed both of them. See, your flesh birth has desires and your new birth has desires. These are the desires of God that feeds upon the word of God. And these desires are the desires of the things the world and these desires are misleading. And you could spend your whole life fulfilling these desires instead of these desires.

But if you try to satisfy both, you can’t get victory and you’ll battle all the days of your life. You have to commit one to the other. That is a tremendous battle that you and I face. He says in verse 31, so then brethren, We are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free woman when you trust the Christ as your Savior. Now look there at your notes again. Number two, Moses is a mediator of the law. That is found in the book of Galatians where the Bible says in chapter three that God had a mediator, this law was brought down and given by angels to God’s man, Moses.

the people says, we don’t want God to talk to us directly. The thundering that they heard scared them to death. Just be near that mountain that was radioactive. The Bible says, if any man touched it, it’d be shot through a dart. They were scared of God. They didn’t want to see God, talk to God, nothing like that. They said, you talk to Moses and let Moses talk to us, But we don’t want to talk to God. The people were afraid.

Now, when it comes to the new covenant, we have access unto the Father through who? Through Jesus Christ. Look at this very quickly. You need to see this. First Timothy chapter two. First Timothy chapter two, and notice there, in verse five, if you do not have it underlying in your Bible, I would underline it. It’s a tremendous verse. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There is only one. In other words, you don’t go through no woman, no other priest, nobody.

You go to God through Christ, and that’s the only way you get there. Christ says, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. That’s the only way. There is no other way. Anybody who teaches something other than that is teaching contrary to the Word of God. The Bible is our authority. You have to go by what the book teaches. Look now in Hebrews chapter 7 and look there in verse 23. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 23. Under the law in the Old Testament there were many priests and the reason there were many priests is because there were many people and many people, many priests because many people who sinned had to offer many sacrifices.

And one priest couldn’t handle everything. So they had many priests. Not only was that a problem, but the priest after a while, guess what they did? They died. They died. So because they died, another priest would have to do it. And when that priest died, another one have to do it. So look there in verse 23, notice what it says, and there truly were many priests because they were not suffered or permitted to continue by reason of they kicked a bucket.

They died. That’s why they couldn’t continue. They were an eternal. They didn’t have everlasting life here. And so that’s why the priest, there had to be many of them and a chain of succession all the way back from Aaron. Aaron was Moses’ brother, but he was made a high priest of the tribe of Levi. Now if you look over there at the other one concerning Jesus Christ… Under the new covenant, look at Hebrew 724, one priest in verse 24, but this man, now in contrast to the many priests in the Old Testament in verse 24, but this man Christ, because he continued for how long?

In other words, he is eternal, half an unchangeable priest. In other words, he can forever make intercession for all of us from now on forever. And therefore, we only needed how many high priests, only one. Because he has an unchangeable priesthood. He can’t die. He continues forever. He’s not like those in the Old Testament. The other thing, look there in Hebrew 7 and verse 27. Hebrew 7 and verse 27, and inferior priesthood. Not only was there a problem with the priest, but they were inferior and here’s why.

Who, referring to these priests, these interceders in the Old Testament, need if not daily as those high priests, who offered up sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the peoples. So these Old Testament priests had to offer sacrifice not only for the people but for somebody else too. Who was that? Themselves. Why? Because they were sinners. They were no better than the people that they offered the sacrifices for. See, there’s people the day to consider themselves priests and they like to act as the go between between God and the people and so forth.

This is what they had on the law. That God says, that was inferior. What I have in my belief is far superior to anything that they had in the Old Testament. You and I have a high priest, Jesus Christ, who forever liveth, make it the intercession for us. And also notice there at number four under New Covenant, a superior priesthood. Hebrew 726 says, for such and high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from what? Separate from the sinners.

Who would this be? Ask Jesus. Jesus Christ, he is not like those people in the Old Testament. Christ when He interceded to God on our behalf was a man like you and I. He was holy, he was perfect, he was separate from sinners. And He ever lived to make an intercession for us. I think this to me is awesome, awesome stuff. Now in the Old Testament, what did they use as a payment for sin. It was the animal, the blood of animals, but the animals could not take away sin.

The blood of animals was corruptible blood. It couldn’t pay for sin. And God never gave it to pay for sin. It was only a type of an innocent life paying for somebody else’s life. And it was a type until Jesus Christ came who was the embodiment of all those Old Testament types. They were the shadow of the real thing. Jesus Christ was coming to make this total payment for all the sins of all the world. So number five under the New Testament, the New Covenant is the blood of Jesus Christ was incorruptible blood.

And you can read that in the book of Peter. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 25. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 25. In the Old Testament the High Priest had to continually offer these offerings. And this is what people are doing today. You see all this continuing stuff that doesn’t work. That’s what you have by people who go to church continuously. They go to church every Sunday and they’re and it won’t save them. They give money every week, and it won’t save them.

And they pray, and it doesn’t save them. They do all these good deeds, and they may even sacrifice, do so much. All to no avail, it will not save them. And yet there’s multitude of churches that are doing just that. There may even be somebody here at Northside Baptist Church doing the very same thing. You can hear what I’m saying and still never hear a word of what I’m saying. Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing that when it’s all over with?

And we get to heaven and we say, well, we’re so and so and we’re so and so and so. Well, they came to church all that they heard it a thousand times. You know, they never did really trust Christ as their Savior. They were believing that all those good things was going to help. They never really trusted the Lord. They thought that they’re a good life. They’re attendance and they meant well and they were sincere. Like all of that, it helped a little bit.

Like, I’m going to be good just in case of then you’re not trusting Christ. You can’t do that. You can’t play a game with God. Christ says, you either trust in me and only me or you don’t have my salvation and you will not get eternal life and you will not be saved. You cannot trust your works. All of this that I’m talking about now, all these scriptures and Hebrews and all these Old Testament time is all trying to tell you to make sure you do not think that you have to continually Keep doing good things in order to get to heaven and if you don’t you’re not going to make it you can I can save you a lot of time You can’t earn eternal life.

You cannot work for it. You cannot buy it look in Hebrews 925 nor yet that we should offer Himself he should offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of other Every year they had to do this. But God says that Jesus Christ didn’t have to do that like they did. And then He makes this statement. They’re in chapter 9 and verse 28. Look at verse 28. So Christ was, and you ought to underline this in your Bible.

Once offered to bear the sin of many and under them that looked for Him, shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. In other words, the second time He comes, He’s not coming to pay for sin. That’s not why he’s coming. He’s not going to come back again to pay another payment because he paid for all of the sin all at one time that time that he did come. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 4. I want you to see this.

Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 4. The blood of the animals in the Old Testament only covered sin. It was called an atonement. It means at one meant it is a covering. It does not take it away. It only appeased God’s anger upon the sin looking forward to the day that Jesus Christ would come to the cross and make a complete payment for all the sin. And a person made these sacrifices, not trusting in them for salvation, but as a sign of their faith that they were believing in a sacrifice that one day would come and they were acts of obedient.

But no sacrifice ever saved anybody in the Old Testament. The Bible says here in verse 4, for it is not possible. Look at that. It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. So if this is true, then we know that nobody in the Old Testament was ever saved because they offered up blood sacrifices because he says it’s not possible that the blood of bulls and goats can take away sin. And that’s true.

And they would have said, he just said right there, not one person in the Old Testament after 1500 years was ever saved because they offered all those sacrifices. They were not saved that way. Every man’s always been saved the same way by faith. They look forward to the Messiah or a payment being made and simply trust in Jehovah. We are saved looking back that the payment has been made. So we’re both saved by faith on different sides of the cross.

Hello friends, thank you for listening to Bibleline. And thank you to those who write in and tell us how Bibleline is making such a big impact in your lives. It’s such an encouragement when we receive your letters and emails. Can I ask, how is your prayer life? Does it need some help? Most Christians think of prayer as a secondary or last resort. Do you realize that Jesus spent hours upon hours in prayer to His Heavenly Father? And yet we so often fail to practice prayer as a priority in our lives.

Well, during this month, for a gift in any amount, we’re going to send you Dr. Arnold’s four sermon series on the power of prayer. Perhaps prayer is a shortcoming in your life, and this teaching is surely able to help. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. God bless you, and thank you again for supporting Bible Life. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up. Lookin’ up!