March 31, 2025 • 31 mins
In this sermon from Hebrews 8, Pastor Benjamin Kandt explores the profound truth that God doesn't just manage the gap between heaven and earth—He closes it through Jesus. Drawing from the imagery of the tabernacle, Pastor Ben shows how God's desire has always been to dwell with His people. Just as Moses was commanded to build a tent patterned after heaven, we too are called to “heavenize” earth by following Jesus and forming communities of disciples who embody God’s presence. The church, made up of living stones, becomes the spiritual house where heaven meets earth—not through bricks and rituals, but through Spirit-formed lives.
The sermon also unpacks the better promises of the new covenant: new hearts, new belonging, new intimacy, and new mercy. Unlike the old covenant, which revealed the gap but couldn’t bridge it, the new covenant transforms us from the inside out by the Holy Spirit. This indwelling presence of God is the ultimate gift, empowering us to reflect heaven in our workplaces, relationships, and communities. Pastor Ben reminds us that we’re not just attending church—we are the church, the dwelling place of God Himself, being formed into a palace where He desires to live.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello everyone, this is Pastor.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Damian, you're listening to Sermon Audio from
New City, orlando.
At New City, we believe all ofus need all of Jesus for all of
life.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
For more resources, visit our website at
newcityorlandocom.
Thanks for listening.
Please pray this prayer ofillumination with me.
Please pray this prayer ofillumination with me, Eternal
God.
In the reading of Scripture,may your word be heard.
In the meditation of our heartsmay your word be known, and in
(00:35):
the faithfulness of our livesmay your word be displayed
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Today's Scripture reading comesfrom Hebrews 8, 1 through 13.
(00:55):
Now the point in which we aresaying is this we have such a
high priest, one who is seatedat the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in heaven, aminister in the holy places, in
the true tent that the Lord setup, not man, For every high
priest is appointed to offergifts and sacrifices.
Thus, it is necessary for thispriest also to have something to
offer.
Now, if he were on earth, hewould not be a priest at all,
(01:19):
since there are priests whooffer gifts.
According to the law, theyserve a copy and a shadow of the
heavenly things.
For when Moses was about toerect the tent, he was
instructed by God saying Seethat you make everything
according to the pattern thatwas shown you on the mountain,
but as it is.
(01:40):
Christ has obtained a ministrythat is as much more excellent
than the old, as the covenant hemediates is better, since it is
enact on better promises, Forif that first covenant had been
faultless, there would have beenno occasion to look for a
second.
(02:02):
For he finds fault with themwhen he says Behold, the days
are coming, declares the Lord,when I will establish a new
covenant with the house ofIsrael and with the house of
Judah, not like the covenantthat I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them byhand to bring them out of the
(02:24):
land of Egypt, For they did notcontinue in my covenant and so I
show no concern for them,declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that Iwill make with the house of
Israel.
After those days, declares theLord, I will put my laws into
their minds and write them ontheir hearts, and I will be
(02:47):
their God and they shall be mypeople.
And they shall not teach.
And they shall not teach eachone of his neighbor and each one
his brother, saying Know theLord, for they shall all know me
, from the least of them to thegreatest, For I will be merciful
towards their iniquities and Iwill remember their sins no more
(03:08):
.
In speaking of a new covenant,he makes the first one obsolete,
and what is becoming obsoleteand growing old is ready to
vanish away.
This is God's word.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Thanks be to God.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
You may be seated.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
We all have a problem and we're keenly aware of it,
and I'm going to summarize thatproblem in one simple
three-letter word the gap.
We have the gap, and this iswhat psychologists call it.
The psychologists talk aboutthis gap between expectations
(03:55):
and experience.
Marketers highlight the gapbetween what we want and what
we've got, and most of marketingis showing you how their
product bridges the gap for you.
Philosophers wrestle with thegap between the ideal and the
real, coaches address the gapbetween who you are and who you
want to be, and leaders areobsessed with closing the gap
between the present and thepreferred future.
(04:16):
You see, the gap is the problem, and your strategy is always
whatever you're going to do toshrink the gap.
Or, as the London Undergroundfamously advises, we all must
mind the gap.
Now, religions do this too.
Across the world, you see,religions have language of the
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gap between heaven and earth,the divine and the human, and
that's why so many religionshave temples and sanctuaries and
priests and sacrifices ways tomind the gap, if you will.
But every religion simplymanages the gap.
But what if God himselfpermanently closed the gap?
(04:58):
That's what Hebrews 8 is aboutthis morning, and so I want to
look at this together.
I want to look at how Godbridges the gap between heaven
and earth, between the divineand the human, under two points.
The first one is the pattern ofheaven on earth and the second
one is the promise of heaven onearth.
So if you have a Bible or adevice, go ahead and get Hebrews
(05:19):
8 out in front of you and we'regoing to look at this together.
Look at Hebrews 8, verse 1.
It says this.
Now, the point in what we aresaying is this Pause for a
moment.
Isn't it nice when a preachertells you what they're going to
say ahead of time.
This is just biblical, it'sright here.
Now the point in what we'resaying is this we have such a
(05:40):
high priest, one who is seatedat the right hand.
The author of Hebrews is sayingJesus ascended into the true
tent.
Now what is this true tent?
Well, you've got to hear this.
All of this talk about tent andsanctuary and priests and
(06:03):
sacrifices, all this talk isabout really one thing God wants
to dwell with his people.
He longs to close the gap.
That's what's going on here,and so you've got to go back
into the book of Exodus toreally track with what the
author of Hebrews is saying yousee, in Exodus, the famous
moment when Moses at Mount Sinaigets the Ten Commandments right
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and brings them down to thepeople.
Well, something maybe a littleless famous part of that story
is that Moses and 40 eldersactually go up on the mountain
and they meet with God.
It says that they saw God andthey ate and drank with him.
And the language if you payclose attention, it is actually
the same language that the bookof Revelation uses to describe
the throne room of God.
(06:47):
Let me make that plain.
Moses went to heaven Becauseheaven isn't some distant, far
off thing.
It's actually an overlappingand interlocking reality with
earth.
And Moses at the top of MountSinai caught a hyperlink between
heaven and earth.
Why, for what purpose?
Well, because in Exodus 25, 40,it says the Lord commands Moses
(07:11):
and says make everythingaccording to the pattern that
was shown you on the mountain.
This is a big deal.
Moses had a task to build atent.
And five times, as far as Icould count, in the book of
Exodus and then in Numbers, theLord emphatically insists that
the tent on earth has to be madeaccording to the pattern in
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heaven.
So Moses gets called up, caughtup, into the throne room of God
and, as Moses is there, theLord is showing Moses what it's
like to be in the very presenceof God and then saying hey, now
you go back down on earth andrecreate this.
Why?
Because God wants to dwell withhis people.
(07:55):
He wants to bridge the gap, andso Moses' role was to
faithfully replicate heaven'sdesign on earth for the sake of
God's presence dwelling amongGod's people.
That's what Moses is doing.
But Moses did not build thetrue tent.
In fact, verse 5 calls it acopy and a shadow of the
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heavenly things.
Now, I was a high school teacherwhen I first got to New City
and I was broke and I needed todecorate my classroom, and so I
found this website that gave methree posters for $20.
It was a deal, and I chosethree different Van Gogh
paintings.
They were Starry Night, almondBlossoms and Cafe Terrace at
(08:40):
Night, if that means anything toyou.
But here's the thing they werebeautiful, but they were posters
and I hang them on the wall.
And if you, apparently, if youlook at the real Van Gogh
paintings, if you look up close,you actually see brush strokes
and textures and patterns, andall of those things are missed
in a $7 poster.
(09:01):
Remember, I got three of themfor $20.
It was a good deal.
Now, that's the differencebetween a copy and a reality.
You see, a copy of a greatmasterwork of art is not the
real thing, but it gives someidea of what the original is
like.
The tabernacle really was alegitimate copy of the heavenly
throne room, but you don'treally notice how incomplete it
(09:23):
is until you get up close to thereal thing.
And when you get up close tothe real thing you realize, as
is the case with the Van Goghpainting and Moses' tabernacle,
that this is simply a copy, ashadow, as the author of Hebrews
says, of the heavenly reality.
So why does this matter?
What's the big deal?
Reality?
(09:46):
So why does this matter?
What's the big deal?
Well, in verse 2, it says Jesusis a minister in the holy place,
in the true tent that the Lordset up, not man.
Just as Moses went up to heavenand was told to replicate the
pattern on earth, jesus camedown from heaven and told his
disciples to replicate thepattern of his life on earth.
You see, this is significantbecause in the new covenant we
are not building tabernacles ofstone, we're forming a people
(10:10):
into a temple, a place for Godto dwell.
This is the way that Peter in 1Peter 2, 4 says it.
He says as you come to Jesus.
That's a continuous, ongoingreality for all of us that
belong to him.
As you come and keep on comingto Jesus, peter says you
yourselves, like living stones,are being built up as a
spiritual house to be a holypriesthood to offer spiritual
(10:35):
sacrifices acceptable to Godthrough Jesus Christ.
Or the Apostle Paul tellsTimothy in 2 Timothy 1.13,.
He says this follow the pattern, follow the pattern of the
sound words that you have heardfrom me, in the faith and love
that are in Christ Jesus.
You see, just as Moses was topattern earth after heaven by
(10:58):
making the tabernacle, so we areto pattern earth after heaven
by making disciples.
Jesus' great commission inMatthew 28 was a continuity of
God's mission in the world, whathe's been up to for thousands
of years.
It's not a new thing, you see,because discipleship is the
lifelong process of learning todo God's heavenly will in our
(11:19):
earthly lives.
If you were to ask a friend, orif you were to talk to some
friends and say, hey, what doesit look like for God's will to
be done in your workplace as itis in heaven.
I'd be curious to hear whatthey'd say.
I'd be curious to what some ofyou would say.
I texted a couple friends thisweek and one of them I asked her
(11:40):
that question and she saidshe's a project manager.
She said this you know, doingGod's will in my workplace, as
it is in heaven, looks likebeing kind, attentive, loyal,
helpful rather than merely beinga boss.
She goes on to say that sheholds this tension of grace and
truth.
She forgives but holds peopleaccountable for their actions.
(12:00):
She also said that when she'sworking on a project, something
that she really values is thateveryone on the project feels
seen and heard and valued,because she's a strong believer
that diversity actually leads toa better outcome.
Now, in some ways, valuingdiversity is almost a cliche in
(12:22):
our society, but what we don'trealize is that that is just the
vestiges of a Christian culture, that diversity is something
that matters to us as disciplesof Jesus.
Why?
Because it's patterning earthafter heaven.
Another person besides Mosesthat went up into heaven was the
Apostle John in Revelation 7-9.
And this is what he says hegets up to heaven.
(12:42):
He's caught up there and helooks around.
And this is what he says hegets up to heaven, he's caught
up there and he looks around andthis is what he sees A great
multitude that no one couldnumber, from every nation, from
all tribes and peoples andlanguages standing before the
throne.
Why does diversity matter somuch?
Because diversity matters inheaven and so it must matter on
(13:04):
earth.
It must be part of the patternthat we're supposed to work out
here and now in our lives.
But notice, heaven is a placeof great diversity, unified
diversity around the throne ofGod, the ultimate reference
point to reality.
This is what it looks like topattern earth after heaven.
We get caught up into theheavenly place and we, what is
(13:24):
it like up there after heaven?
We get caught up into theheavenly place and we, what is
it like up there?
But if you think you need to goup to heaven to figure that out
, you're okay, don't worry.
Heaven came down.
His name is Jesus.
We look at the life of Jesus,and this is why our vision here
at New City is to see our Fatheranswer the Lord's prayer.
And the reason why we believethat our mission is going to
help us move in that directionis because we call and form and
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send disciples who makedisciples.
Let me say that, differently,jesus taught his disciples to
pray in the very center of theLord's prayer your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
You see, this is not somemarginal, outlier theme in
scripture.
This is the core of God's taskfor humanity Heavenize earth.
(14:07):
And so we pray God.
We want your will to be done inour lives, in our hearts, in
our homes, in our families, inour workplaces, in our
neighborhoods, in our city, inour church, on earth as it is in
heaven.
So we call and form and senddisciples who make disciples,
who can do that, and we believewe will see the Father answer
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the Lord's prayer in fresh andexciting expressions in our
generation.
And we get that from Hebrews 8.
We get that from Exodus 25.
We get that from Matthew 6, allthese places about heavenizing
earth.
And so if you, I hope you seethis congruence, that
heavenizing earth.
And so if you, I hope you seethis congruence Old Testament,
new Testament because as we makedisciples, jesus promised I
(14:53):
will build my church and thegates of hell will not prevail
against it.
That's a promise.
You're not building the church,you're making disciples.
Jesus is building the church.
And so why that matters isbecause the blueprint is Jesus.
Why that matters is because theblueprint is Jesus.
The building is not made ofbricks but living stones.
God's pattern of heaven on earthis the church.
(15:14):
Not a place, not an event, buta people where the presence of
God fills them and fills theearth as it is in heaven.
That's God's plan for the world.
Now, if you ask some of yourfriends who are not yet
disciples of Jesus hey, where doyou think you can find God on
earth?
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How many of them do you thinkwould say, oh, the church.
Our PR's not great right now,and so my guess is they wouldn't
say that.
But the church filled with thespirit of Jesus is the new locus
and focus of the presence ofGod on earth.
This is the way Paul says it in1 Corinthians 14, 24.
He says if an unbeliever or anoutsider enters talking about
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this gathered worship space,enters, he may declare that God
is really among you.
That's God's plan.
That's what he's up to when wegather here on Sundays.
New City, that's God's geniusfor you.
What a calling, what aprivilege.
This is why I've catechized myson, augie, named after
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Augustine of Hippo, the greattheologian.
I say, augie, do we go tochurch?
He says no, we don't go tochurch, we are the church.
That's Augustine of Orlandoright there, just like getting
that ecclesiology on lock, baby.
That's what that is so proud ofhim.
When he says that, you see,because we don't go to church,
we are the church, we're thelocus and the focus of the
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presence of God on planet earth.
Locus and the focus of thepresence of God on planet earth.
What a privilege, what a timeto be alive in this generation.
That's the pattern of heaven onearth.
That's God's design, that's hisintention.
That's what we get to be caughtup into, yeah, but how?
But how Do we have to getreally strict and disciplined
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and morally reform our lives andthen God will be with us.
Is that what it is?
Is God like the prima donna onevery home makeover show, where
all that happens is theycomplain the whole time until
the home reno is done?
Is that God?
Absolutely not.
But let me show you in the pointnumber two, the promise of
heaven on earth.
Look with me at verse six, thepromise of heaven on earth.
(17:24):
But as it is, christ hasobtained a ministry that is, as
here.
This is important language asmuch more excellent than the old
, as the covenant he mediates isbetter, since it is enacted on
better promises.
For if that first covenant hadbeen faultless, there would have
been no occasion to look for asecond.
(17:47):
Now, in our text, verses 1through 13,.
There's this contrast here.
That's happening.
Here's the contrast.
There's a bunch of them.
Between the second covenant andthe first covenant, that's
verse 7.
Between Christ and Moses,that's verses 5 and 6.
Between the true tent and thecopy or the shadow Verses 2 and
verses 5.
Between God made and man madeverse 2.
Between heavenly and earthlyverse 5.
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Between new covenant versus theabsolute, growing old and
vanishing away covenant, verse13.
What is going on here?
Well, we want to ask thequestion what is so much better
about this new covenant?
Or to invert that, becausecontrast is the mother of
clarity.
What was so much worse aboutthe old covenant?
Well, look with me at verse 8.
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It says this for he, that is,god, finds fault with them.
That's important.
The problem was not the law.
The problem was not the oldcovenant or the Old, not the Old
Covenant or the Old Testament,the first two-thirds of your
Bible.
That was not the problem.
It's you and me.
We're the problem.
(18:53):
You see, the Old Testament, theOld Covenant, showed the gap but
couldn't close the gap becauseit couldn't change human hearts.
That was what was faulty, thatwas what was needed to go
obsolete.
That was what was growing oldabout the Old Covenant.
God's purpose has always beento marry heaven and earth
through his people, but God'speople became the single point
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of failure for his plan toheavenize earth.
That's why it seems like it'sall for loss until we get a new
covenant.
You see, because the newcovenant is not a new plan, it's
not a new people and it's not anew purpose of God on earth.
It's none of those things.
It's the same plan, the samepeople, the same purposes, but
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it is enacted with betterpromises, verse 6.
This is really important forunderstanding how to read your
Bible, but I don't have time toget into that, which makes me
sad.
The new covenant closes the gappermanently because of these
better promises.
So I want to spend theremainder of our time looking at
these better promises.
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Look with me at Hebrews 8, verse8.
Verses 8 through 12, this isthe longest quotation of the Old
Testament in the New Testament.
This is significant.
And what is the author ofHebrews' quote Jeremiah 31.
Now, jeremiah 31 is the onlyplace in the Hebrew Bible that
refers to the new covenant usesthat language.
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Now, I know this is gettingheady and nerdy, so let's dig in
and look at these promisestogether.
There's four of them, fourpromises that make the new
covenant better than the old inthis text, and I'm calling them
a new heart, new belonging, newintimacy and new mercy.
Look with me at verse 10.
It says this, for this is thecovenant that I will make with
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the house of Israel.
After those days, declares theLord, I will put my laws into
their minds and write them ontheir hearts.
The new covenant promise comeswith the promise of a new heart.
You see, god doesn't justcommand from the outside, he
changes us from the inside.
This is a heart-leveltransformation that he has on
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offer.
The law is no longer just thisexternal standard.
It actually becomes an internaldesire for those of us in the
new covenant, because externalreligion cannot change the human
heart.
And so God reprograms ourinstincts so that we love what
he loves.
How does he do this?
Well, an old hymn put it likethis to see the law by Christ
(21:22):
fulfilled and hear his pardoningvoice changes a slave into a
child and duty into choice.
You see, our staff prayedthrough Psalm 119, which is long
, in one sitting on Monday ofthis past week, and we got to
verse 97, and it says this oh,how I love your law.
Anybody else, anybody else like?
(21:45):
Laying on their bed at nightjust going, oh, I just dream
about your commandments?
Jesus David did.
He was a little bit weird, tobe honest.
Read Psalm 1, psalm 19, psalm119.
This is the way that people talkabout the law of God.
Why?
Because these aren't mereabstracted laws like speed
limits.
These are the personal laws ofa personal God that reflect his
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character, who he really is.
And so, because we love theLord, we love the law of the
Lord.
That's what the Spirit does inour hearts in the new covenant.
The second thing, verse 10,gives us new belonging.
Look at this with me.
It says and I will be their Godand they shall be my people, no
longer just servants but sonsand daughters.
(22:33):
God binds himself to us withthe language of deep, personal,
covenantal commitment.
He gives himself to us andclaims us as his own, just in
practice.
This is what this looks likefor me If I have a day or a week
or something like that.
That is just.
I feel anxious or guilty.
I'll put my hand on my heartlike this and I'll walk and I'll
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just say, lord, I am yourbeloved and my beloved is mine.
Jesus, you bought this mess.
I'm your mess and you're notgonna give up on me now because
you promise I will be your Godand they will be my people.
I lay claim to this promise andI just bring it before him like
you've kind of thrown in withme.
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Jesus, you're stuck with me.
That was your doing.
But here we are, come throughon this new belonging that we
share.
But not only a new belonging,but a new intimacy.
A new intimacy.
Look at verse 11.
And they shall not teach eachone his neighbor and each one
his brother saying know the Lord, for they shall all know me,
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from the least of them to thegreatest.
In the new covenant there are nospiritual elites.
There's no upper class in thekingdom of God.
There's no special access tohidden knowledge that some
people have and other peopledon't, no insider access to God.
That's not the way it works.
Every believer, from theforgotten to the powerful, has
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direct personal knowledge of God.
In the new covenant.
You don't just know about God,you actually know God.
It's true, personal,experiential knowledge of the
Father, the Son and the HolySpirit, the transcendent
sustainer of all things.
That's the invitation of thenew covenant.
It's personal knowledge, it'snot secondhand religion.
(24:24):
Let me ask you this John Owensays it like this in his
commentary on this text he saysthe new covenant is an expressed
promise of an internal,effectual teaching by the Spirit
of God.
Do you know that teaching?
Do you know the Spirit of Godteaching you who God is, what
God's like?
That's the invitation of thenew covenant.
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Fourth and finally, there's anew mercy.
Look at verse 12 with me.
It says this for I will bemerciful toward their iniquities
and I will remember their sinsno more.
This is a new mercy where ourrecord is wiped clean no guilt,
no shame, no divine coldshoulder.
This is a total pardon, fulland free, so much so that God
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doesn't just forgive, heactually chooses never to bring
our sins up again.
The new covenant brings thiscommitment not only just to
forgiveness on God's part, butforgetting even on God's part.
I'll remember their sins nomore.
So in the new covenant we getnew hearts, new belonging, new
(25:31):
intimacy and new mercy, and it'sall summarized in a poem by a
guy named John Barrett.
He says it like this the newcovenant and the old covenant
relate like this Run John, run.
The law commands, but gives usneither feet nor hands.
Better news the gospel brings.
It bids us fly, but gives uswings.
(25:53):
You better believe.
Red Bull stole that from thisdude.
I'm telling you like there'scopyright infringement or
something.
The gospel gives you wings, notRed Bull.
That's what?
If you get a sound bite today,that's it right there.
But what are these new wings?
Well, I want to submit to youthat the new wings are the new
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wings.
Is the Holy Spirit dwellingwithin us.
Let me close here.
Look at verse one again with me, if you would Look at the text.
It says this Now, the point inwhat we're saying is this Okay,
here's the point.
This is what it's all about, ifyou've noticed this so far.
It says this we have such ahigh priest, one who is seated
at the right hand of the throneof the majesty in heaven.
(26:35):
For some reason, the author ofHebrews is so captivated by this
idea of the ascension of Jesus,far more captivated by it than
I am.
It's actually been instructiveto me.
Wow, I don't make enough of abig deal about the ascension of
Jesus, because Hebrews does.
What's going on here?
Well, according to Acts 2, 32,the risen and ascended Jesus
(27:00):
received from the Father thepromised Holy Spirit and then
poured out the Spirit on thechurch.
If Jesus is not ascended, theSpirit will not have descended.
That's essential.
That's why the ascensionmatters so much.
I wanna go as far as to to saythe promise of the new covenant
(27:20):
is the giving of the Holy Spiritto dwell in you.
That's the definitive promiseof the new covenant.
They're all wrapped up in thatone thing.
If you don't believe me, let'sjust walk through this again.
The new hearts the Spirit takesout our hearts of stone and
gives us a tender heart,according to Ezekiel 36.
The true belonging the Spiritbears witness with our spirit
(27:41):
that we are sons and daughtersof God.
That's Romans 8.
The deep intimacy the Spirit isthe one who leads us into all
truth.
Jesus says I got a lot more totell you than I can tell you
right now.
I'm going to send the Spiritand he's going to lead you
deeper into the knowledge of Godthan I ever could.
I'm going to send the Spirit,and he's going to lead you
deeper into the knowledge of Godthan I ever could.
And fourth and finally, totalmercy.
The Spirit of God according toRomans 5, pours out the love of
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the Father into our hearts, sothat we respond by saying Abba,
father, it's the Spirit ofadoption dwelling in us.
You see, the Holy Spirit is thegift of the new covenant.
How do we go about bringing thepattern of heaven on earth?
Only according to the promiseof heaven on earth, which is the
Holy Spirit.
(28:24):
That's the summary of what I'mtrying to get across, and so
let's settle this once and forall as a deeply held conviction,
what I like to call a heartaxiom upon which your entire
life revolves around, and thatis this God wants to be with you
(28:46):
, he desires to dwell with you,so much so that he sent his son
from heaven to earth to live anddie and resurrect and ascend.
He sent his spirit from heavento earth to dwell in you, to
give you a new heart, newbelonging, new intimacy and new
mercy.
This is God's plan for theworld.
Now here's a little preacherhack.
When in doubt, pull CS Lewisout.
(29:07):
So here we go In mereChristianity.
He says this.
Imagine yourself as a livinghouse.
God comes in to rebuild thathouse.
At first, perhaps you canunderstand what he's doing.
He's getting the drains rightand stopping the leaks in the
roof, and so on.
You knew that those jobs neededdoing, and so you're not that
(29:28):
surprised.
But presently he startsknocking the house about in a
way that hurts abominably anddoes not seem to make any sense.
What on earth is he up to?
Pause for a moment.
That's a great question to askthe Lord often.
Lord, what on earth are you upto?
What on earth are you up to?
What are you doing in my lifeand my family?
What on earth are you up to?
(29:48):
That's what CS Lewis asked.
The explanation is that he isbuilding quite a different house
from the one you thought of.
Throwing out a new wing here,putting on an extra floor there,
running up towers, makingcourtyards.
You thought you were being madeinto a decent little cottage,
but he is building a palace.
He intends to come and live init himself.
That's the good news of the newcovenant.
(30:11):
That's what we have.
The gap between heaven and earthis not closed by our own
efforts.
It's closed by the sending ofthe sun and the spirit.
And so you are not just a copyor a shadow.
You are the real deal.
You're the living temple of God, most high New city, the people
of Jesus.
And so Ephesians 2.22 says inChrist, you also are being built
(30:35):
together into a dwelling placefor God by the Spirit.
God's presence lives in you.
Let him reshape your life toreflect heaven here and now,
because this is the pattern andthe promise of heaven on earth.
Let's pray Come, holy Spirit.
We take that ancient prayer onour lips.
(30:58):
We ask you to come and be withus, fill us afresh.
This morning, we refuse to beabout the task of heavenizing
earth without the promise ofheaven on earth dwelling in us
by the Spirit.
Spirit of God, come, exaltJesus, bear witness to him in
all of his grandeur and glory.
(31:18):
We pray for his matchlessnamesake, amen.
Hello everyone, this is Pastor.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Damian, you're listening to Sermon Audio from
New City, orlando.
At New City, we believe all ofus need all of Jesus for all of
life.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
For more resources, visit our website at
newcityorlandocom.
Thanks for listening.
Please pray this prayer ofillumination with me.
Please pray this prayer ofillumination with me, Eternal
God.
In the reading of Scripture,may your word be heard.
In the meditation of our heartsmay your word be known, and in
(00:35):
the faithfulness of our livesmay your word be displayed
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Today's Scripture reading comesfrom Hebrews 8, 1 through 13.
(00:55):
Now the point in which we aresaying is this we have such a
high priest, one who is seatedat the right hand of the throne
of the majesty in heaven, aminister in the holy places, in
the true tent that the Lord setup, not man, For every high
priest is appointed to offergifts and sacrifices.
Thus, it is necessary for thispriest also to have something to
offer.
Now, if he were on earth, hewould not be a priest at all,
(01:19):
since there are priests whooffer gifts.
According to the law, theyserve a copy and a shadow of the
heavenly things.
For when Moses was about toerect the tent, he was
instructed by God saying Seethat you make everything
according to the pattern thatwas shown you on the mountain,
but as it is.
(01:40):
Christ has obtained a ministrythat is as much more excellent
than the old, as the covenant hemediates is better, since it is
enact on better promises, Forif that first covenant had been
faultless, there would have beenno occasion to look for a
second.
(02:02):
For he finds fault with themwhen he says Behold, the days
are coming, declares the Lord,when I will establish a new
covenant with the house ofIsrael and with the house of
Judah, not like the covenantthat I made with their fathers
on the day when I took them byhand to bring them out of the
(02:24):
land of Egypt, For they did notcontinue in my covenant and so I
show no concern for them,declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that Iwill make with the house of
Israel.
After those days, declares theLord, I will put my laws into
their minds and write them ontheir hearts, and I will be
(02:47):
their God and they shall be mypeople.
And they shall not teach.
And they shall not teach eachone of his neighbor and each one
his brother, saying Know theLord, for they shall all know me
, from the least of them to thegreatest, For I will be merciful
towards their iniquities and Iwill remember their sins no more
(03:08):
.
In speaking of a new covenant,he makes the first one obsolete,
and what is becoming obsoleteand growing old is ready to
vanish away.
This is God's word.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Thanks be to God.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
You may be seated.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
We all have a problem and we're keenly aware of it,
and I'm going to summarize thatproblem in one simple
three-letter word the gap.
We have the gap, and this iswhat psychologists call it.
The psychologists talk aboutthis gap between expectations
(03:55):
and experience.
Marketers highlight the gapbetween what we want and what
we've got, and most of marketingis showing you how their
product bridges the gap for you.
Philosophers wrestle with thegap between the ideal and the
real, coaches address the gapbetween who you are and who you
want to be, and leaders areobsessed with closing the gap
between the present and thepreferred future.
(04:16):
You see, the gap is the problem, and your strategy is always
whatever you're going to do toshrink the gap.
Or, as the London Undergroundfamously advises, we all must
mind the gap.
Now, religions do this too.
Across the world, you see,religions have language of the
(04:36):
gap between heaven and earth,the divine and the human, and
that's why so many religionshave temples and sanctuaries and
priests and sacrifices ways tomind the gap, if you will.
But every religion simplymanages the gap.
But what if God himselfpermanently closed the gap?
(04:58):
That's what Hebrews 8 is aboutthis morning, and so I want to
look at this together.
I want to look at how Godbridges the gap between heaven
and earth, between the divineand the human, under two points.
The first one is the pattern ofheaven on earth and the second
one is the promise of heaven onearth.
So if you have a Bible or adevice, go ahead and get Hebrews
(05:19):
8 out in front of you and we'regoing to look at this together.
Look at Hebrews 8, verse 1.
It says this.
Now, the point in what we aresaying is this Pause for a
moment.
Isn't it nice when a preachertells you what they're going to
say ahead of time.
This is just biblical, it'sright here.
Now the point in what we'resaying is this we have such a
(05:40):
high priest, one who is seatedat the right hand.
The author of Hebrews is sayingJesus ascended into the true
tent.
Now what is this true tent?
Well, you've got to hear this.
All of this talk about tent andsanctuary and priests and
(06:03):
sacrifices, all this talk isabout really one thing God wants
to dwell with his people.
He longs to close the gap.
That's what's going on here,and so you've got to go back
into the book of Exodus toreally track with what the
author of Hebrews is saying yousee, in Exodus, the famous
moment when Moses at Mount Sinaigets the Ten Commandments right
(06:26):
and brings them down to thepeople.
Well, something maybe a littleless famous part of that story
is that Moses and 40 eldersactually go up on the mountain
and they meet with God.
It says that they saw God andthey ate and drank with him.
And the language if you payclose attention, it is actually
the same language that the bookof Revelation uses to describe
the throne room of God.
(06:47):
Let me make that plain.
Moses went to heaven Becauseheaven isn't some distant, far
off thing.
It's actually an overlappingand interlocking reality with
earth.
And Moses at the top of MountSinai caught a hyperlink between
heaven and earth.
Why, for what purpose?
Well, because in Exodus 25, 40,it says the Lord commands Moses
(07:11):
and says make everythingaccording to the pattern that
was shown you on the mountain.
This is a big deal.
Moses had a task to build atent.
And five times, as far as Icould count, in the book of
Exodus and then in Numbers, theLord emphatically insists that
the tent on earth has to be madeaccording to the pattern in
(07:33):
heaven.
So Moses gets called up, caughtup, into the throne room of God
and, as Moses is there, theLord is showing Moses what it's
like to be in the very presenceof God and then saying hey, now
you go back down on earth andrecreate this.
Why?
Because God wants to dwell withhis people.
(07:55):
He wants to bridge the gap, andso Moses' role was to
faithfully replicate heaven'sdesign on earth for the sake of
God's presence dwelling amongGod's people.
That's what Moses is doing.
But Moses did not build thetrue tent.
In fact, verse 5 calls it acopy and a shadow of the
(08:16):
heavenly things.
Now, I was a high school teacherwhen I first got to New City
and I was broke and I needed todecorate my classroom, and so I
found this website that gave methree posters for $20.
It was a deal, and I chosethree different Van Gogh
paintings.
They were Starry Night, almondBlossoms and Cafe Terrace at
(08:40):
Night, if that means anything toyou.
But here's the thing they werebeautiful, but they were posters
and I hang them on the wall.
And if you, apparently, if youlook at the real Van Gogh
paintings, if you look up close,you actually see brush strokes
and textures and patterns, andall of those things are missed
in a $7 poster.
(09:01):
Remember, I got three of themfor $20.
It was a good deal.
Now, that's the differencebetween a copy and a reality.
You see, a copy of a greatmasterwork of art is not the
real thing, but it gives someidea of what the original is
like.
The tabernacle really was alegitimate copy of the heavenly
throne room, but you don'treally notice how incomplete it
(09:23):
is until you get up close to thereal thing.
And when you get up close tothe real thing you realize, as
is the case with the Van Goghpainting and Moses' tabernacle,
that this is simply a copy, ashadow, as the author of Hebrews
says, of the heavenly reality.
So why does this matter?
What's the big deal?
Reality?
(09:46):
So why does this matter?
What's the big deal?
Well, in verse 2, it says Jesusis a minister in the holy place,
in the true tent that the Lordset up, not man.
Just as Moses went up to heavenand was told to replicate the
pattern on earth, jesus camedown from heaven and told his
disciples to replicate thepattern of his life on earth.
You see, this is significantbecause in the new covenant we
are not building tabernacles ofstone, we're forming a people
(10:10):
into a temple, a place for Godto dwell.
This is the way that Peter in 1Peter 2, 4 says it.
He says as you come to Jesus.
That's a continuous, ongoingreality for all of us that
belong to him.
As you come and keep on comingto Jesus, peter says you
yourselves, like living stones,are being built up as a
spiritual house to be a holypriesthood to offer spiritual
(10:35):
sacrifices acceptable to Godthrough Jesus Christ.
Or the Apostle Paul tellsTimothy in 2 Timothy 1.13,.
He says this follow the pattern, follow the pattern of the
sound words that you have heardfrom me, in the faith and love
that are in Christ Jesus.
You see, just as Moses was topattern earth after heaven by
(10:58):
making the tabernacle, so we areto pattern earth after heaven
by making disciples.
Jesus' great commission inMatthew 28 was a continuity of
God's mission in the world, whathe's been up to for thousands
of years.
It's not a new thing, you see,because discipleship is the
lifelong process of learning todo God's heavenly will in our
(11:19):
earthly lives.
If you were to ask a friend, orif you were to talk to some
friends and say, hey, what doesit look like for God's will to
be done in your workplace as itis in heaven.
I'd be curious to hear whatthey'd say.
I'd be curious to what some ofyou would say.
I texted a couple friends thisweek and one of them I asked her
(11:40):
that question and she saidshe's a project manager.
She said this you know, doingGod's will in my workplace, as
it is in heaven, looks likebeing kind, attentive, loyal,
helpful rather than merely beinga boss.
She goes on to say that sheholds this tension of grace and
truth.
She forgives but holds peopleaccountable for their actions.
(12:00):
She also said that when she'sworking on a project, something
that she really values is thateveryone on the project feels
seen and heard and valued,because she's a strong believer
that diversity actually leads toa better outcome.
Now, in some ways, valuingdiversity is almost a cliche in
(12:22):
our society, but what we don'trealize is that that is just the
vestiges of a Christian culture, that diversity is something
that matters to us as disciplesof Jesus.
Why?
Because it's patterning earthafter heaven.
Another person besides Mosesthat went up into heaven was the
Apostle John in Revelation 7-9.
And this is what he says hegets up to heaven.
(12:42):
He's caught up there and helooks around.
And this is what he says hegets up to heaven, he's caught
up there and he looks around andthis is what he sees A great
multitude that no one couldnumber, from every nation, from
all tribes and peoples andlanguages standing before the
throne.
Why does diversity matter somuch?
Because diversity matters inheaven and so it must matter on
(13:04):
earth.
It must be part of the patternthat we're supposed to work out
here and now in our lives.
But notice, heaven is a placeof great diversity, unified
diversity around the throne ofGod, the ultimate reference
point to reality.
This is what it looks like topattern earth after heaven.
We get caught up into theheavenly place and we, what is
(13:24):
it like up there after heaven?
We get caught up into theheavenly place and we, what is
it like up there?
But if you think you need to goup to heaven to figure that out
, you're okay, don't worry.
Heaven came down.
His name is Jesus.
We look at the life of Jesus,and this is why our vision here
at New City is to see our Fatheranswer the Lord's prayer.
And the reason why we believethat our mission is going to
help us move in that directionis because we call and form and
(13:46):
send disciples who makedisciples.
Let me say that, differently,jesus taught his disciples to
pray in the very center of theLord's prayer your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
You see, this is not somemarginal, outlier theme in
scripture.
This is the core of God's taskfor humanity Heavenize earth.
(14:07):
And so we pray God.
We want your will to be done inour lives, in our hearts, in
our homes, in our families, inour workplaces, in our
neighborhoods, in our city, inour church, on earth as it is in
heaven.
So we call and form and senddisciples who make disciples,
who can do that, and we believewe will see the Father answer
(14:29):
the Lord's prayer in fresh andexciting expressions in our
generation.
And we get that from Hebrews 8.
We get that from Exodus 25.
We get that from Matthew 6, allthese places about heavenizing
earth.
And so if you, I hope you seethis congruence, that
heavenizing earth.
And so if you, I hope you seethis congruence Old Testament,
new Testament because as we makedisciples, jesus promised I
(14:53):
will build my church and thegates of hell will not prevail
against it.
That's a promise.
You're not building the church,you're making disciples.
Jesus is building the church.
And so why that matters isbecause the blueprint is Jesus.
Why that matters is because theblueprint is Jesus.
The building is not made ofbricks but living stones.
God's pattern of heaven on earthis the church.
(15:14):
Not a place, not an event, buta people where the presence of
God fills them and fills theearth as it is in heaven.
That's God's plan for the world.
Now, if you ask some of yourfriends who are not yet
disciples of Jesus hey, where doyou think you can find God on
earth?
(15:34):
How many of them do you thinkwould say, oh, the church.
Our PR's not great right now,and so my guess is they wouldn't
say that.
But the church filled with thespirit of Jesus is the new locus
and focus of the presence ofGod on earth.
This is the way Paul says it in1 Corinthians 14, 24.
He says if an unbeliever or anoutsider enters talking about
(15:58):
this gathered worship space,enters, he may declare that God
is really among you.
That's God's plan.
That's what he's up to when wegather here on Sundays.
New City, that's God's geniusfor you.
What a calling, what aprivilege.
This is why I've catechized myson, augie, named after
(16:19):
Augustine of Hippo, the greattheologian.
I say, augie, do we go tochurch?
He says no, we don't go tochurch, we are the church.
That's Augustine of Orlandoright there, just like getting
that ecclesiology on lock, baby.
That's what that is so proud ofhim.
When he says that, you see,because we don't go to church,
we are the church, we're thelocus and the focus of the
(16:42):
presence of God on planet earth.
Locus and the focus of thepresence of God on planet earth.
What a privilege, what a timeto be alive in this generation.
That's the pattern of heaven onearth.
That's God's design, that's hisintention.
That's what we get to be caughtup into, yeah, but how?
But how Do we have to getreally strict and disciplined
(17:02):
and morally reform our lives andthen God will be with us.
Is that what it is?
Is God like the prima donna onevery home makeover show, where
all that happens is theycomplain the whole time until
the home reno is done?
Is that God?
Absolutely not.
But let me show you in the pointnumber two, the promise of
heaven on earth.
Look with me at verse six, thepromise of heaven on earth.
(17:24):
But as it is, christ hasobtained a ministry that is, as
here.
This is important language asmuch more excellent than the old
, as the covenant he mediates isbetter, since it is enacted on
better promises.
For if that first covenant hadbeen faultless, there would have
been no occasion to look for asecond.
(17:47):
Now, in our text, verses 1through 13,.
There's this contrast here.
That's happening.
Here's the contrast.
There's a bunch of them.
Between the second covenant andthe first covenant, that's
verse 7.
Between Christ and Moses,that's verses 5 and 6.
Between the true tent and thecopy or the shadow Verses 2 and
verses 5.
Between God made and man madeverse 2.
Between heavenly and earthlyverse 5.
(18:09):
Between new covenant versus theabsolute, growing old and
vanishing away covenant, verse13.
What is going on here?
Well, we want to ask thequestion what is so much better
about this new covenant?
Or to invert that, becausecontrast is the mother of
clarity.
What was so much worse aboutthe old covenant?
Well, look with me at verse 8.
(18:32):
It says this for he, that is,god, finds fault with them.
That's important.
The problem was not the law.
The problem was not the oldcovenant or the Old, not the Old
Covenant or the Old Testament,the first two-thirds of your
Bible.
That was not the problem.
It's you and me.
We're the problem.
(18:53):
You see, the Old Testament, theOld Covenant, showed the gap but
couldn't close the gap becauseit couldn't change human hearts.
That was what was faulty, thatwas what was needed to go
obsolete.
That was what was growing oldabout the Old Covenant.
God's purpose has always beento marry heaven and earth
through his people, but God'speople became the single point
(19:15):
of failure for his plan toheavenize earth.
That's why it seems like it'sall for loss until we get a new
covenant.
You see, because the newcovenant is not a new plan, it's
not a new people and it's not anew purpose of God on earth.
It's none of those things.
It's the same plan, the samepeople, the same purposes, but
(19:36):
it is enacted with betterpromises, verse 6.
This is really important forunderstanding how to read your
Bible, but I don't have time toget into that, which makes me
sad.
The new covenant closes the gappermanently because of these
better promises.
So I want to spend theremainder of our time looking at
these better promises.
(19:57):
Look with me at Hebrews 8, verse8.
Verses 8 through 12, this isthe longest quotation of the Old
Testament in the New Testament.
This is significant.
And what is the author ofHebrews' quote Jeremiah 31.
Now, jeremiah 31 is the onlyplace in the Hebrew Bible that
refers to the new covenant usesthat language.
(20:19):
Now, I know this is gettingheady and nerdy, so let's dig in
and look at these promisestogether.
There's four of them, fourpromises that make the new
covenant better than the old inthis text, and I'm calling them
a new heart, new belonging, newintimacy and new mercy.
Look with me at verse 10.
It says this, for this is thecovenant that I will make with
(20:40):
the house of Israel.
After those days, declares theLord, I will put my laws into
their minds and write them ontheir hearts.
The new covenant promise comeswith the promise of a new heart.
You see, god doesn't justcommand from the outside, he
changes us from the inside.
This is a heart-leveltransformation that he has on
(21:00):
offer.
The law is no longer just thisexternal standard.
It actually becomes an internaldesire for those of us in the
new covenant, because externalreligion cannot change the human
heart.
And so God reprograms ourinstincts so that we love what
he loves.
How does he do this?
Well, an old hymn put it likethis to see the law by Christ
(21:22):
fulfilled and hear his pardoningvoice changes a slave into a
child and duty into choice.
You see, our staff prayedthrough Psalm 119, which is long
, in one sitting on Monday ofthis past week, and we got to
verse 97, and it says this oh,how I love your law.
Anybody else, anybody else like?
(21:45):
Laying on their bed at nightjust going, oh, I just dream
about your commandments?
Jesus David did.
He was a little bit weird, tobe honest.
Read Psalm 1, psalm 19, psalm119.
This is the way that people talkabout the law of God.
Why?
Because these aren't mereabstracted laws like speed
limits.
These are the personal laws ofa personal God that reflect his
(22:11):
character, who he really is.
And so, because we love theLord, we love the law of the
Lord.
That's what the Spirit does inour hearts in the new covenant.
The second thing, verse 10,gives us new belonging.
Look at this with me.
It says and I will be their Godand they shall be my people, no
longer just servants but sonsand daughters.
(22:33):
God binds himself to us withthe language of deep, personal,
covenantal commitment.
He gives himself to us andclaims us as his own, just in
practice.
This is what this looks likefor me If I have a day or a week
or something like that.
That is just.
I feel anxious or guilty.
I'll put my hand on my heartlike this and I'll walk and I'll
(22:55):
just say, lord, I am yourbeloved and my beloved is mine.
Jesus, you bought this mess.
I'm your mess and you're notgonna give up on me now because
you promise I will be your Godand they will be my people.
I lay claim to this promise andI just bring it before him like
you've kind of thrown in withme.
(23:15):
Jesus, you're stuck with me.
That was your doing.
But here we are, come throughon this new belonging that we
share.
But not only a new belonging,but a new intimacy.
A new intimacy.
Look at verse 11.
And they shall not teach eachone his neighbor and each one
his brother saying know the Lord, for they shall all know me,
(23:37):
from the least of them to thegreatest.
In the new covenant there are nospiritual elites.
There's no upper class in thekingdom of God.
There's no special access tohidden knowledge that some
people have and other peopledon't, no insider access to God.
That's not the way it works.
Every believer, from theforgotten to the powerful, has
(24:02):
direct personal knowledge of God.
In the new covenant.
You don't just know about God,you actually know God.
It's true, personal,experiential knowledge of the
Father, the Son and the HolySpirit, the transcendent
sustainer of all things.
That's the invitation of thenew covenant.
It's personal knowledge, it'snot secondhand religion.
(24:24):
Let me ask you this John Owensays it like this in his
commentary on this text he saysthe new covenant is an expressed
promise of an internal,effectual teaching by the Spirit
of God.
Do you know that teaching?
Do you know the Spirit of Godteaching you who God is, what
God's like?
That's the invitation of thenew covenant.
(24:47):
Fourth and finally, there's anew mercy.
Look at verse 12 with me.
It says this for I will bemerciful toward their iniquities
and I will remember their sinsno more.
This is a new mercy where ourrecord is wiped clean no guilt,
no shame, no divine coldshoulder.
This is a total pardon, fulland free, so much so that God
(25:10):
doesn't just forgive, heactually chooses never to bring
our sins up again.
The new covenant brings thiscommitment not only just to
forgiveness on God's part, butforgetting even on God's part.
I'll remember their sins nomore.
So in the new covenant we getnew hearts, new belonging, new
(25:31):
intimacy and new mercy, and it'sall summarized in a poem by a
guy named John Barrett.
He says it like this the newcovenant and the old covenant
relate like this Run John, run.
The law commands, but gives usneither feet nor hands.
Better news the gospel brings.
It bids us fly, but gives uswings.
(25:53):
You better believe.
Red Bull stole that from thisdude.
I'm telling you like there'scopyright infringement or
something.
The gospel gives you wings, notRed Bull.
That's what?
If you get a sound bite today,that's it right there.
But what are these new wings?
Well, I want to submit to youthat the new wings are the new
(26:13):
wings.
Is the Holy Spirit dwellingwithin us.
Let me close here.
Look at verse one again with me, if you would Look at the text.
It says this Now, the point inwhat we're saying is this Okay,
here's the point.
This is what it's all about, ifyou've noticed this so far.
It says this we have such ahigh priest, one who is seated
at the right hand of the throneof the majesty in heaven.
(26:35):
For some reason, the author ofHebrews is so captivated by this
idea of the ascension of Jesus,far more captivated by it than
I am.
It's actually been instructiveto me.
Wow, I don't make enough of abig deal about the ascension of
Jesus, because Hebrews does.
What's going on here?
Well, according to Acts 2, 32,the risen and ascended Jesus
(27:00):
received from the Father thepromised Holy Spirit and then
poured out the Spirit on thechurch.
If Jesus is not ascended, theSpirit will not have descended.
That's essential.
That's why the ascensionmatters so much.
I wanna go as far as to to saythe promise of the new covenant
(27:20):
is the giving of the Holy Spiritto dwell in you.
That's the definitive promiseof the new covenant.
They're all wrapped up in thatone thing.
If you don't believe me, let'sjust walk through this again.
The new hearts the Spirit takesout our hearts of stone and
gives us a tender heart,according to Ezekiel 36.
The true belonging the Spiritbears witness with our spirit
(27:41):
that we are sons and daughtersof God.
That's Romans 8.
The deep intimacy the Spirit isthe one who leads us into all
truth.
Jesus says I got a lot more totell you than I can tell you
right now.
I'm going to send the Spiritand he's going to lead you
deeper into the knowledge of Godthan I ever could.
I'm going to send the Spirit,and he's going to lead you
deeper into the knowledge of Godthan I ever could.
And fourth and finally, totalmercy.
The Spirit of God according toRomans 5, pours out the love of
(28:03):
the Father into our hearts, sothat we respond by saying Abba,
father, it's the Spirit ofadoption dwelling in us.
You see, the Holy Spirit is thegift of the new covenant.
How do we go about bringing thepattern of heaven on earth?
Only according to the promiseof heaven on earth, which is the
Holy Spirit.
(28:24):
That's the summary of what I'mtrying to get across, and so
let's settle this once and forall as a deeply held conviction,
what I like to call a heartaxiom upon which your entire
life revolves around, and thatis this God wants to be with you
(28:46):
, he desires to dwell with you,so much so that he sent his son
from heaven to earth to live anddie and resurrect and ascend.
He sent his spirit from heavento earth to dwell in you, to
give you a new heart, newbelonging, new intimacy and new
mercy.
This is God's plan for theworld.
Now here's a little preacherhack.
When in doubt, pull CS Lewisout.
(29:07):
So here we go In mereChristianity.
He says this.
Imagine yourself as a livinghouse.
God comes in to rebuild thathouse.
At first, perhaps you canunderstand what he's doing.
He's getting the drains rightand stopping the leaks in the
roof, and so on.
You knew that those jobs neededdoing, and so you're not that
(29:28):
surprised.
But presently he startsknocking the house about in a
way that hurts abominably anddoes not seem to make any sense.
What on earth is he up to?
Pause for a moment.
That's a great question to askthe Lord often.
Lord, what on earth are you upto?
What on earth are you up to?
What are you doing in my lifeand my family?
What on earth are you up to?
(29:48):
That's what CS Lewis asked.
The explanation is that he isbuilding quite a different house
from the one you thought of.
Throwing out a new wing here,putting on an extra floor there,
running up towers, makingcourtyards.
You thought you were being madeinto a decent little cottage,
but he is building a palace.
He intends to come and live init himself.
That's the good news of the newcovenant.
(30:11):
That's what we have.
The gap between heaven and earthis not closed by our own
efforts.
It's closed by the sending ofthe sun and the spirit.
And so you are not just a copyor a shadow.
You are the real deal.
You're the living temple of God, most high New city, the people
of Jesus.
And so Ephesians 2.22 says inChrist, you also are being built
(30:35):
together into a dwelling placefor God by the Spirit.
God's presence lives in you.
Let him reshape your life toreflect heaven here and now,
because this is the pattern andthe promise of heaven on earth.
Let's pray Come, holy Spirit.
We take that ancient prayer onour lips.
(30:58):
We ask you to come and be withus, fill us afresh.
This morning, we refuse to beabout the task of heavenizing
earth without the promise ofheaven on earth dwelling in us
by the Spirit.
Spirit of God, come, exaltJesus, bear witness to him in
all of his grandeur and glory.
(31:18):
We pray for his matchlessnamesake, amen.
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