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Into Heaven Itself (Ascension Sunday 2023)

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INTRODUCTION

One of the reasons Christians are not as bold as they ought to be is because they do not know what covenant they are of. We have heard the stories of saints who have smelled of heaven; they have sizzled with the aroma of angels. And this is just what we are after. Some, not knowing the kingdom of heaven, have looked upon such saints and mistaken their boldness for pride, their freedom for madness. Some believers, even, who have drifted too far from the Heavenly Father, have made this same misjudgment. Even so, this is what we are after: the full assurance of faith seen in the likes of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before the fire, or Jonathan climbing up to the Philistine garrison, outnumbered.

THE TEXT

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,

Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:19–24).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After Moses spoke God’s Word to the people at Sinai, he took the blood of calves and goats, mixed it with water, and sprinkled both the book of the covenant and all the people (v. 19). This was not just any blood but the blood of the covenant (v. 20) that covered the covenant people, the altar Moses had erected, and the book of the covenant itself (Exodus 24:7). Thus far, Paul refers to Exodus 24 when the Mosaic Covenant was inaugurated in blood.

Then he carries this theme further into the history of Israel. The tabernacle itself and the vessels of ministry were also sprinkled with blood (v. 21). The tabernacle and vessels did not exist yet in Exodus 24. So Paul carries the theme of “sprinkled with blood” to the Day of Atonement which we hear about in Leviticus 16. On that day, blood was placed upon the horns of the altar and even brought within the veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat. This sprinkling atoned for the holy place and the tabernacle (Leviticus 16:16, 20).

This blood atonement was necessary for in the law nearly everything was cleansed by blood; without it there was no forgiveness of sins (v. 22). Therefore it was necessary that the patterns of the things in the heavens should be purified with blood sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with a better sacrifice (v. 23). For Christ didn’t enter into man-made holy places, which were antitypes of the true, but into heaven itself to appear before God for us (v. 24).

A BIT OF WORLD EXPLAINING

Those last two verses can raise the eyebrow. They don’t make sense without a little world explaining. God did not merely tell Moses to build a tabernacle, but He told him to construct a tabernacle according to the type he saw on the mountain (Hebrews 8:5; Exodus 25:40). The Old Testament tabernacle was constructed according to a real, heavenly one.

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

The pattern God regularly uses is: from heaven to earth. It was this way in the beginning. He made the heavens and the earth, not the earth and the heavens. We pray that our Father’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven not in heaven as it is on earth. David’s soldiers could go marching out to battle only after he heard the heavenly army marching atop the mulberry trees (2 Samuel 5:24). Many of our problems in life come from trying to boss heaven around. The other problems come from ignoring heaven, as if it had nothing to do with things down here on earth. The solution to these problems is to live on earth as it is in heaven.

THE HEAVENLY THINGS THEMSELVES

The stage is now set for the potency of our text. Where has Christ gone? Into heaven itself. What has He done? He has purified the heavenly things themselves by His blood. He is in heaven “for us” (v. 24). In another place we hear that we are seated with Him in those heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). If you are forgiven there, you are forgiven here. By faith, you are already there while you are still here.

 BOLDNESS TO ENTER IN

The veil of the true temple has been torn in two and that veil is Christ’s flesh (Hebrews 2:20). You are in the holy place right now by faith in Christ. The tent made without hands has been sprinkled with Christ’s blood. The water from his side has washed you clean. The blood of the better sacrifice has been sprinkled on the true mercy seat, the true altar. The heavenly tabernacle is purified with you in it. What could you possibly be afraid of?

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Hearts Sprinkled Clean (Ascension Sunday 2023)

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INTRODUCTION

The Ascension of Jesus is one of the key glories of the gospel, and it really is part of the good news. Our Conquering King is our High Priest, and He has gone ahead of us, appearing in God’s presence for us.

THE TEXT

“For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people…” (Heb. 9:19-24)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

From the time God first confronted sin in this world, it has been accompanied with blood (Gen. 3). So when Moses renewed covenant with God’s people at Sinai, everyone and everything was sprinkled with blood for the remission of sins (Heb. 9:19-22). Hebrews seems to combine a number of different cleansings, summarizing the whole system from the initial covenant ceremony with various rites prescribed in the law (e.g. Ex. 24, Lev. 14:4ff, Lev. 16, etc.). What that earthly tabernacle pictured was Heaven itself and God’s presence, and therefore, what that Old Covenant dedication and cleansing foretold was the purification of the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices (Heb. 9:23). Thus, it was necessary for Christ to ascend into Heaven itself – the temple made without hands – to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (Heb. 9:24).

WHY DOES HEAVEN NEED TO BE CLEANSED?

One immediate question that ought to occur to us is: why does Heaven need to be sprinkled clean by the blood of Jesus? Isn’t Heaven perfect, pure, and sinless? Remember that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and therefore, they are both places that God created side by side, intending for them to mingle and overlap. We see glimpses of this with Enoch walking with God, the burning bush, Elijah riding fiery chariots into Heaven, the vision of the heavenly armies surrounding Elisha and his servant, the transfiguration, and of course the Ascension of Jesus. Heaven is not far away; it is near, but the original unity has been terribly strained by our sin. Thus, the ultimate goal is pictured in Revelation in the imagery of the Heavenly Jerusalem coming down to earth from heaven, and the dwelling place of God being with men (Rev. 21-22).

But that still doesn’t really answer the question of why Heaven needs to be sprinkled clean. Oscar Wilde once told a story about a picture that told the truth about a man, and while he miraculously remained young, the more wicked the man became, the more the picture grew old and hideous.

On the Day of Atonement, in the Old Covenant system, two goats were chosen, and the sins of the nation were confessed over one and it was released into the wilderness. The other was killed and the blood was brought into the tabernacle in order to cleanse the tabernacle from all the uncleanness of the people, their transgressions and sins (Lev. 16:16, 19). In other words, because Heaven is not far off, and God in His mercy has drawn near and bound Himself in covenant to a sinful people, there is a sense in which our sinfulness stains God’s glory and collects in Heaven – like in The Picture of Dorian Gray – and must be cleansed.

THE GREAT MERCY OF GOD

We live before God constantly, and in our sin, we foul His presence. As His image bearers, our sins lie about Him. God is the Great King of the Universe, and we are insolent rebels, spitting on His mercies, despising Him and His goodness, mad with our lusts and envy and bitterness and complaints. And He gives and upholds us, and like Israel in the wilderness, we only complain and turn to idols. But God in His great mercy sent His only begotten Son into the world to be the true tabernacle (Jn. 1:14), which means He came to become that Image where all our hideous sin might collect. And so it did. And when He was lifted up on the cross, He was lifted up like the hideous serpent pierced (Jn. 3:14). But whereas Oscar Wilde’s image only mocked and caused despair, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and all our sin gone forever. And if that wasn’t enough, He ascended into Heaven itself, into the presence of the Living God, appearing there in the presence of God for us (Heb. 9:24).

CONCLUSION: HEARTS SPRINKLED CLEAN

In the following chapter, it says that because of the blood of Jesus, we enter the Holy of Holies with boldness, because He is our High Priest (Heb. 10:19-20). We draw near with true hearts with full assurance of faith because our hearts have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:21).

How are our hearts sprinkled clean? First and fundamentally by agreeing with God that you are a sinner in need of His great mercy. But then whenever you confess your sins to God and anyone you’ve sinned against, He promises to cleanse us by the blood of Jesus and wash us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:7-9).

Which means that part of what Jesus is cleansing in Heaven is us because that is where we are seated with Him (Eph. 2:6). This also means that Heaven and earth have been reunited, and while we do not yet see all things under His feet, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:8-9).

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Better Things

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THE TEXT

For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard itbegged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:18–29).

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