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Please be seated.

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Grace and peace to you from God, our Father and from our Lord and

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Savior Jesus Christ.

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Amen.

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The text for our meditation

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this morning is from Hebrews chapter 9.

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It was on Mount Sinai that God gave his law to his people there on the

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day of the Assembly, the Lord from the mountain had spoken to his

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people out of the midst of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness.

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With a loud voice

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he spoke to the people.

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He gave them his law and they were afraid.

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And so the people ask Moses to go and be the one to listen to God and

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to speak for him.

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They wanted to live.

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And God had compassion on them.

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And Moses ascended the mountain and appeared before the Lord.

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He was the mediator between God and his people.

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On Mount Sinai

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God gave his law to his people. Commandments for their life before him

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and with one another penalties and punishments for disobedience for

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sin against God.

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God gave rules for burnt offerings and sacrifices, tithes and other

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contributions that were practices to follow and ceremonies to conduct.

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And even after Sinai God established the place of sacrifice and a

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place for his people to worship him.

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A sanctuary made with hands, a tent.

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He gave instructions for worship rules for priests.

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But there was more. God established the Day of Atonement. Once a year on

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the tenth day of the seventh month

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God prescribed ritual sacrifices to cleanse the sanctuary, the Tent of

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Meeting the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation.

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The cleansing was accomplished through the shedding of blood. The high

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priest offered a bull, as a sin offering for himself and his

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household.

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And he offered to goats as a sin offering for the people.

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The first goat was killed

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it's bloodshed and sprinkled on The Mercy Seat to atone for the Holy

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Place because of the sins of the people.

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And on the head of the other goat, the priest laid his hands

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confessing the sins of the people.

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He placed the sins of the people on the head of the goat and sent it

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away into the Wilderness.

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This is what God required in his law.

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This is what he established to deal with to cover the sins of the

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people.

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But from the beginning, God's promise was attached to his law, a

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promise meaning, even more.

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On Mount Sinai

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God gave his last will and testament to his people, his brief, his

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deataka

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 his Testament, that promised an inheritance.

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This Testament would be in effect at the death of the one who

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established it.

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It was on Mount Sinai that God undertook to die for his people.

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And year after year, God's law was followed. Year after year

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there were sacrifices and offerings.

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Every year was the Day of Atonement sin offerings bulls and goats

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their blood shed to cover sins.

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This was because under the law, the shedding of blood is required.

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And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

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Year after year

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this was done.

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And yet God's people continued to sin against him and his law

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and against one another.

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The sin continued to separate God's people from them from him, but God

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had not forgotten the promise that he made to them.

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In time, God sent his own high priest.

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He sent his own son, God in human flesh.

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He put on humanness like ours because our very humanity had been so

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thoroughly corrupted by disobedience.

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And God was keeping his promise in words and works Christ

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revealed the heart of God and his enduring love and compassion for the

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people that he created. The people who were dying in their sins

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people like us.

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In our sin, we cannot stand before the righteous.

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God and bear

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his speaking to us.

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We cannot deal with him face to face.

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Sin is the problem.

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And so God's own son comes to be with his people to intercede for

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them.

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He is our mediator, but he's not a mediator merely like Moses. Christ

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the Son of God is mediator because he was first the sacrifice.

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He was first, the sin offering.

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The goat, whose blood was shed to atone for our sin.

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The Christ sacrificed happened at one moment in time.

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Once in human history.

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It was not year after year and Day of Atonement after Day of

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Atonement, but once at Calvary, but once on the cross.

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With hands nailed and feet spiked, and side pierced with his blood

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shed and with his death.

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The one offering for all sin. All sins covered once for all.

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But the result of Christ's sacrifice is everlasting.

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And now, after the cross Christ has entered, not a sanctuary made with

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hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on

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our behalf.

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Christ now appears in heaven before God enthroned in glory.

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Christ appears before the face of God on our behalf.

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Is there any more comforting message?

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Have you ever heard a sweeter word than this? Christ

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now appears before the face of God on our behalf.

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But he shows the Father no bull or goat

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making atonement in the old way.

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Christ himself is the new way.

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Christ shows his Father, the wounds that he received for our

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redemption.

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He shows the Father, his own hands, his feet, his side.

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His own body offered his own blood shed at the cost of his life.

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These shown before the Father

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on our behalf.

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Christ, who is our own flesh and blood shows compassion for us.

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He loves us and cares for us because he redeemed us at the price of

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his own life.

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This is why he died.

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And this is why he now appears before the face of God on our behalf.

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So what then is the result of all of this for us?

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What does this mean for us?

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Well, it means that the atonement has been made.

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Now

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we have God's fatherly love and favor.

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No longer does sin separate us from God.

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No more has sin any hold on us.

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Christ has removed our sin from us entirely.

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Our deliverance, even from sins, death is final. The result of Christ

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mediation on

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our behalf means that the old barriers are broken down.

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Now we have access to all of God's holy and gracious gifts.

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His speaking directly to us through his holy word.

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His holy baptism his holy supper, his complete forgiveness of sins,

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his glorious salvation, his everlasting life. And now we draw near to

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God with a true heart, full of assurance of faith with our hearts

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sprinkled clean from an evil conscience

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and our bodies washed with pure water.

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Now we hold fast to Christ and we have a hope that does not waver for

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God's

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promise is fulfilled.

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This also means that now we serve the Living God in Christ, the great

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high priest we too are priests. We have confidence to enter the

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sanctuary by the blood of Jesus by the new and living way that he has

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opened for us through his death and resurrection

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and through his intercession for us.

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And now we come before God's presence with our prayers and our

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supplications.

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And we come together encouraging one

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another bearing one another's

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burdens comforting, consoling, one another with God's promises.

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Rejoicing praising God

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all the more

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as we see the day of Christ's return drawing near.

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And he returns bringing his ultimate salvation.

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This is God's promise to us.

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The Christ who offered himself once to bear the sins of the world will

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appear a second time, not to deal with sin

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but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

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And we will receive our promised eternal inheritance fully

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through Jesus Christ

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our mediator.

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Through Jesus Christ

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our Savior.

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Amen.

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Peace of God

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which passes all understanding.

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Keep your hearts and minds steadfast in Christ

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Jesus, our Lord.

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Amen.