NewCity Orlando Sermons

Hebrews: Unshakeable | Hebrews 9:1-10:18

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In this sermon, Pastoral Resident Kenny Dyches continues NewCity’s series in Hebrews by exploring chapters 9 and 10 and the insufficiency of the Old Testament sacrificial system. Pastor Kenny compares our modern reliance on systems—whether technological, biological, or religious—with Israel's sacrificial system, highlighting how all human systems inevitably fail when used to grasp for control or to justify ourselves apart from God. He emphasizes that these systems, while not inherently bad, become insufficient when they're disconnected from a relationship with God and used to avoid true dependence on Him.

Pastor Kenny calls listeners to recognize the futility of self-reliant spirituality and instead rest in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus, our great High Priest. Christ’s blood not only secures eternal redemption but also purifies our consciences from dead works, empowering us to serve the living God with joy and freedom. He concludes with an invitation to build life-giving systems—like confession, community, and accountability—that continually point us to Jesus, reminding us that our sins are forgiven and we are truly free.

Kenny:

I was getting anxious, and so, while the car's navigation system wasn't working, my internal system was creating anxiety and I just couldn't be present. I couldn't quite enjoy the moment with my dad because of really sin in my heart that was centered around a lie that I believed right, a wrong way of relating to God and to the world around me, which was that I needed to have control, I needed to do what had to be done in order to show up here, in order to preach a good sermon, in order to perform correctly, and then, in turn, that started affecting my digestive system. I started to feel it in my gut to feel this kind of low nausea, and so when I finally did get home, I was talking to Lauren about this and she was like you're probably nervous for tomorrow, and, of course, I'm just so distant from my emotions. I had no idea that was going on, and my wife is so emotionally intelligent she knew exactly what was going on. But in that moment I realized I have not, in the last 12 hours, just come to Jesus, and so I just sat down and I was like Jesus, what is going on in my heart? And Jesus said why aren't you trusting me? That whole the last 12 hours before that, I had just been leaning on my own understanding. I'd been leaning on my own internal systems, and so when my internal systems failed me, when the external systems failed me, it just reaped anxiety and sin.

Kenny:

And so the reality is, we want to be in control of our lives, right, peter William? Ernest Henley penned the famous phrase I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. And it's romantic. Many of us want to believe it, right? There's a sense in which, like when I imagine this verse, I'm like on a ship, you know, like Captain Morgan, with my leg up, and I'm like looking out to sea and there's something, you know, that really manly and exciting about that. But if we don't believe that with our head with our heads, because we know, we know that God is in control, we still want to believe it in our hearts. And so just look at the way we use our phones and our smartwatches right In the palm of your hand.

Kenny:

You have the ability to control so many systems. You can control your own financial systems. You can access your own bodily systems, your social systems, so much in the palm of your hand at all times. We control our calendars and our days, and so the temptation to constantly try and take control is always there. And systems themselves? They're a collection of elements or components that are organized in a way that achieve a specific purpose. So, like I said, you have financial systems, social systems, technological systems, biological systems, transportation systems all of these things working individually for a specific purpose, in which together add to your whole day. So when you go from point A to point B during your day, you've got internal biological systems that are constantly working. When you use the Starbuck Act, you're depending on financial systems. When you're going down the highway, you're depending on transportation systems. And if just one of those systems, one thing in one of those systems, fails, well guess what? Your whole day is thrown into disarray.

Kenny:

We use systems to control our lives and get what we want. If you need proof, just watch yourself the next time one of your systems fails. Maybe it's the navigation system in your car, maybe it's your ice maker that one's particularly bad. I spent I don't know how many months trying to fix our ice maker. Maybe your credit card won't work. Maybe your alarm doesn't go off when these things don't work. Do you get anxious and frustrated? It's a sign that you're trying to control your world through systems, and regardless of whether or not we believe we're in control, we can't help but try.

Kenny:

It's been in our DNA since the fall In the garden. Adam and Eve had a relational system with God based on steadfast love. In the garden, Adam and Eve had a relational system with God based on steadfast love. In Genesis 3, the snake offers Adam and Eve a new system to get what they want on their own terms, a type of control, the knowledge of good and evil, so they can be like God.

Kenny:

At the root of all of us is that same, now broken relational system. It comes out in sin as we use systems which are neither good or bad in and of themselves, but we use them for our own selfish and prideful ends rather than to get more of God, and the Old Testament sacrificial system was no different. The people of Israel were given a system by which to draw near to God. The problem is that they are still sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, a people with a broken relational system, stained by sin, pridefully grasping for control. Simply put, in our broken condition, we wield systems in order to be like God, instead of getting more of God. Because sin is at work in our members, these systems will always fail us because sin taints the members of the system unless they're organized around something that can cleanse that sin and never fail. However, jesus can heal a broken people and empower broken systems. I'll say that again Jesus can heal a broken people and empower broken systems. My first point today is the insufficient systems of worship. Let's go ahead and look at chapter 9, verse 1. And actually go ahead and look at chapter 9, verse 1. And actually, sorry, before I do that, let me give you an illustration of a type of system which is the immune system.

Kenny:

For millennia, the virus that causes smallpox plagued humankind. It killed hundreds of millions of people. Until May 8th 1980. The World Health Organization declared smallpox a thing of the past. So how was it vanquished? By boosting the immune system through vaccination, a technique discovered by 18th century English physician named Edward Jenner. He observed that milkmaids often contracted the less serious cowpox and that, upon recovery, they were immune to the smallpox. Jenner knew that two viruses were closely related and he hypothesized that intentionally exposing humans to cowpox could protect them from smallpox. Thus the birth of vaccination, the activation of an immune system, or rather an immune response in our bodies that produces virus-killing cells. As a result of this discovery, the World Health Organization launched a smallpox eradication campaign in 1967 that used extensive vaccination with incredible success. See, vaccination is a system that exposes the body to harmful disease and consequences, but in a form that it can take. In so doing, the body is prepared to fight the actual virus when it encounters it. The vaccine isn't what will kill the virus when you encounter it, though, that is your body.

Kenny:

Likewise, the sacrificial system exposed God's people to the depth of their sinfulness, while also protecting them from being fully exposed in the presence of a holy God, which would have meant their death. In so doing, it prepared them to repent and receive God's promises. The system itself wouldn't kill sin. That would one day be God in them.

Kenny:

Now look with me at verse 1, chapter 9, verse 1 of Hebrews, which reads Now, the first covenant, see regulations for worship. That's our system, right there. And then we see an earthly place of holiness. That's its insufficiency. And so these regulations for worship were in an earthly place of holiness, the earth is temporary, right, it will be renewed, but how we experience it now is temporary, and so this system of sacrifices was also temporary. This earthly place of holiness was ultimately going to fail, it was ultimately going to pass away, and so we see our insufficient system from the beginning. And so what we have here is the tabernacle right.

Kenny:

So this was in the middle of God's people, which were organized around it, the 12 tribes of Israel, in the wilderness after the Exodus, and in the tabernacle they had the outside, where they would make the actual sacrifice and sacrifice the animals. Then they had the exterior tent, where they would go in the priests and make the regular offerings, and then the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest would go once a year. And so how, though, did that restore broken relationship with God? Well, look with me at chapter 9, verses 6 and 7. Verse 6 reads these preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties. But into the first section performing their ritual duties, but into the second section, only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. And so we see the daily ritual sacrifices and the once a year day of atonement. Twice a year the priest would make no, I'm sorry, twice a day. Actually the priest would make sacrifices outside the tent and bring those offerings in for sins, and then, only once a year, the high priest would go into the inner sanctuary, into the Holy of Holies, for the day of atonement to cover all intentional sins of the people.

Kenny:

But why the shedding of blood? Turn with me to chapter 9, verse 22, which reads Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. See, the shedding of blood has inaugurated covenants since Abraham, signifying that if the covenant is broken, that the penalty is death, but also revealing the consequence of sin, which is spiritual death and separation from God. And so we see that the old covenant and the sacrificial system was meant to point us to the reality of sin and the consequences of sin. But it's also meant to point forward. Look with me at chapter 9, verses 8 through 10. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing, which is symbolic for this present age.

Kenny:

According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings regulations for the body imposed until the time of the Reformation. So the way to restore relationship with God is still closed. Only the high priest can come into the Holy of Holies, and only once a year. So, god's people, they weren't fully restored in relationship yet. Right, the Holy Spirit by the sacrificial system was showing something. More is needed, right? This system by itself does not draw you near to God. It shows you your sinfulness and it invites you to look forward to when God will fulfill his promises, because that time has not yet become manifest. They needed to look forward to the time of the reformation, depending on God's promises, to restore them through the seed of the woman promised to deliver them, which even Moses referenced.

Kenny:

The problem with any system, not just this one, is that the more complex it gets, combined with the greater dependence of the system's parts means the more likely it is to fail. The reason the sacrificial system is insufficient and would always fail is because of the sin in the human heart. We make it complicated because, from the very start, we aren't seeking God, we're seeking to be our own gods. So the more Israel practiced the sacrificial system, but with a broken relational system and therefore a system of wrong motives, the more they actually condemned themselves. And so I wonder what are our insufficient systems of worship?

Kenny:

On the one hand, maybe you show up to church every Sunday, you're involved in circles and or communities, you serve in City Kids and you practice the common rhythm which is our own system of the spiritual life here at New City. However, you can do all of these things, but this system of the spiritual life made up of these parts is insufficient by itself to bring you near to God. And so you know that it's an insufficient worship system, that you're using it wrongly when you do all of these things but fail to experience joy in the Spirit and freedom from sin and brokenness. In one sense, on one end of the spectrum, you can call this a legal system or a system of legalism rather right when we're doing all the right things but we're not seeking the person for whom they're for. On the other hand, you may be aware that this is a reality. Maybe you don't want to fall into legalism, and so you kind of go the other way. You attend Sunday worship and community as you're able, but maybe you don't feel any urgency to be there. You sort of practice the common rhythm, but you spend far more time video gaming, netflix, binging, working out, socializing or filling your times with things that aren't bad in and of themselves, but rather are what our flesh feels is restful. Like the former, it will lack true, lasting joy and freedom from sin, and you could call this the antinomian or worldly system. Right, both are ends of the spectrum that we don't want to fall on.

Kenny:

And this reminds me of the other day. I was at Lineage, of course, and there's this guy who thought he recognized me. Turns out there's no possible way we can know each other, but it ended up being a great conversation. He told me about his life, his family, he lives in Tampa, he owns a business and he did lots of really cool things. He would most of the money that he made for his business he would then turn around and put into charity and he served a lot in his community. And so I asked him, like, what motivates you to do these things? And he said well, I'm culturally Jewish, but I actually admire a lot about the teachings of Jesus and Christianity, and so I was like oh yeah, so like, what does that look like for you? Tell me more about that?

Kenny:

And it turns out that he doesn't call himself a Christian or religious or spiritual, but he just really appreciates what he sees from some Christians and some Christian charities and the good works that they do, and so I invited him to lean in. I said, well, good works that they do. And so I invited him to lean in. I said, well, jesus claims to not just be a good person but to be God, and so this is an. I wonder if it would be worth inviting Jesus through prayer into your life. Is that something you've considered before? And he said well, you know, when I look at religion, when I look at the church, I see a lot of hypocrisy, and so I'm not really sure that that's something that I want or desire.

Kenny:

And so, again, we had a longer conversation and it was a good one, but by the end of it and after he walked away, I realized that he was able to see the insufficient systems. Right, He'd been exposed to them. He's seen hypocrites in his life, in the church, but he wasn't able to see how they pointed to his need for Jesus right, the person of God. We have insufficient systems all around us, but what they do is point us to our need for a Savior to look forward to the promises of God being fulfilled in him. We all need true forgiveness of sin and cleansing of the conscience to restore the lost relationship with God, both one time and ongoingly. And so if my first point was about insufficient systems of worship, my second is about insufficient systems. I can say that of the heart.

Kenny:

So now look with me at chapter 9, verse 11. Which reads but when Christ appeared as high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent and actually I'll pause there Christ has appeared as the high priest of the good things that have come and so that have come. Word in the Greek has a sense of manifest, and so the good things have become manifest in Jesus Christ. God is no longer just in the inner sanctuary, in the sacrificial system. He has become manifest in the world through his incarnation, his becoming man in Jesus Christ. Let's continue on to verses 12 and 14.

Kenny:

The ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh. How much more will the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal spirit, offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. As the priests on the day of atonement would sacrifice outside the tent and then bring in the blood for offering into the inner chamber, so also Jesus sacrificed his life in his earthly tent that he might offer up his blood in the blood for offering into the inner chamber. So also Jesus sacrificed his life in his earthly tent that he might offer up his blood in the more perfect tent in heaven. The earthly high priest could not forgive sin, but Jesus' blood, being eternal, could eternally forgive the sin of those united to him by faith. The sacrificial system could not cleanse the conscience, but Jesus' blood cleanses our conscience. In other words, the sacrificial system could not heal us. Religion cannot heal us. Nothing can restore the ache that we all have that leaves us longing for healing, nothing except the blood transfusion from Jesus.

Kenny:

So how has he done this? What we see in these verses is that he's redeemed us, which, if you look up that word in Google, it has the sense of compensate for the faults or bad aspects of something, or to gain or regain possession of something in exchange for payment. God and Jesus Christ came and died and was raised in order to redeem those who would believe by faith, and died and was raised in order to redeem those who would believe by faith. And he did this once and for all. We no longer need to do anything to maintain relationship with God, but we've been purchased forever by the sufficient blood of Jesus, and he did this with his own blood. Right God. Such steadfast love had he for us that God and Jesus Christ gave his life for ours. This is his goodness, this is his steadfast love and mercy poured out to us so that we can participate in the beautiful community of the Trinity. This is God and Jesus Christ saying I've made you worthy of love. And he secured eternal redemption. The work of Christ and the Holy Spirit we're able to trust, and God has proven himself trustworthy by making good on his promise to bless the world. And he's purified the conscious by the spirit sent into our hearts. We are made people able to serve him.

Kenny:

And so, to illustrate this, there was a gathering of friends at an English estate which nearly turned to tragedy when one of the children strayed into deep water. The gardener heard the cries for help and he plunged in to save the drowning child. The youngster's name was Winston Churchill. His grateful parents asked the gardener what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor. We'll see to it, churchill's parents promised.

Kenny:

Years later, while Sir Winston was Prime Minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. The country's best physician was summoned. His name was Dr Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered and developed penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved young Winston from drowning. Later Churchill remarked rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person. The gardener redeemed Churchill by throwing his own body into that water to save a boy who could not save himself. The boy's bodily systems were insufficient, but the Gardner's were not. What is more, he redeemed his future son, the future of his son. Rather, his son's social and monetary prospects were insufficient for that social and financial system. He had neither the means or connections to go to college, but the Gardner's redeeming act gained possession and secured that future for him, enabling both sons to accomplish amazing things in the service of their nation.

Kenny:

We can't depend on our own systems for what only the person of God can offer us. Our insufficient systems of the heart need to be redeemed by one outside of ourselves who has the power to do so. That's why Paul in Romans, chapter 6, verses 10 through 11, says for the death, he died to sin for us once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives unto God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. He renews the spirits, the systems of our heart. And so if my first point was about insufficient systems of worship and my second was about insufficient systems in the heart, my third and last point is about insufficient systems that are renewed. So go ahead and look with me at chapter 10, verses 11 through 14. Which reads at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet, for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Kenny:

As I mentioned earlier, the sacrificial system was meant to be a warning sign to turn away from sin. So we know that those who receive Christ by faith can be forever forgiven and cleansed of their sins. So we know that those who receive Christ by faith can be forever forgiven and cleansed of their sins. However, in our day-to-day lives, we can still fail to see how we begin to depend on those insufficient systems and therefore fail to bring our sins to Jesus in order to experience his goodness manifested in our lives.

Kenny:

In their book Meltdown, chris Clearfield and Andras Tilksic show how ignoring warning signs in systems can sometimes have catastrophic consequences. So, as an example, in Washington DC in 2005, three metro trains came within a few feet of crashing deep under the Potomac River. Only luck and quick action by the train driver saved the day. So engineers suspected that the underlying cause was a problem with the track sensors, but before they got around to fixing it, the problem went away. So they investigated a rather than invented a testing procedure, hoping to ensure the same glitch couldn't happen again elsewhere. The trouble was, their bosses soon forgot about this near miss and stopped running the tests. Four years later, the same error showed up in a different spot, causing a horrific crash and the deaths of nine people.

Kenny:

We often ignore the clues and small errors as long as things turn out okay. The near disaster in 2005 was a warning sign that the Metro organization chose to ignore. An essential feature of complex systems is that we can't find all the problems just by thinking about them. We can't just hear a sermon, think about it and see all of our sins wash away, all the struggles that we deal with go away. We still, in this life, live in the already and not yet. Sin is still present in our bodies and we need to bring it to Jesus. But that makes me wonder what systems in our lives are giving warning signs that we are choosing to ignore. Jesus has perfected us, but we are also being sanctified, scripture says, and when we come to our high priest we participate in the sanctification in which the Spirit enables us to experience greater freedom from the guilt of sin and its effects and a life pleasing to God.

Kenny:

In a strange but also true study of airline crew errors, the US National Transportation Safety Board, ntsb, found that between 1978 and 1990, nearly three-quarters of major accidents happened when it was the captain's turn to fly. That is, not the less experienced officer. Three quarters happened during the more experienced officer. That was alarming because the captains were flying 50% of the time, so their errors should have been equal or less than their deputies. So the NTSB dug deeper. They confirmed that the captains weren't worse at their jobs, far from it. Their seniority meant that mistakes were going unchallenged. The first officers lacked the tools with which to give the captain feedback and were bottling up concerns or giving vague hints instead of raising alarms. Hierarchy was putting lives in danger. They would go on to solve the issue by providing a system for critiques and concerns by which the other captains could speak into it, and so my question is do we have helpful systems in place that point us to Jesus?

Kenny:

It's true that showing up to church and doing all the church activities in and of themselves, they won't bring you lasting joy and freedom from sin. However, pursuing the person of God in those places will. For example, are there people in your life that you've given permission to call you on your errors? Do you have spaces where people are asking you about what you need to confess, what hard things are going on in your life, what you need to lament and how sin is plaguing your personal life, your family life or your work life? When those spaces exist, then you give people opportunity to be priests unto you by interceding for you and bringing you to Jesus so you can experience his mercy and grace. They can see those warning signs, they can speak into your life, they can lead you to Jesus.

Kenny:

In 1 John 1, 6-9, the apostle says if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. We need to build systems in our lives that point us to Jesus. Here at New City, we believe the church and its people are one of those essential systems.

Kenny:

So finally, let's look at verses 17 through 18. This is his mic drop of sorts. So this is chapter 10, verse 17 through 18. Then he adds I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Kenny:

Let's turn now from our insufficient systems of worship, the insufficient systems of the heart, and to the living God who restores every system to its intent. So hear this over your life from Jesus I will give you rest. I will remember your sins and lawless deeds no more. Your sins are forever forgiven. You are free. Be with me. Let's pray.

Kenny:

Heavenly Father, you poured out the blood of Jesus, your Son, that we might be covered and cleansed by it. Thank you, oh Lord. We know that there are insufficient systems in our lives that we turn to in order to get what we can only get from you. Would you help us, oh Lord, through your Spirit, bring conviction of sin, bring people into our lives that can lead us to you, that can be priests unto us, so that we can come to our great high priest, jesus Christ, and hear him say you are forgiven, so that we can be sanctified, so we can experience true joy in relationship with the living God who makes himself known and present to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. We give you all thanks and praise, oh Lord, in Jesus.