Alright, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Our text
will be found in verse 19. Hebrews chapter 10. In verse
19. And we'll read down to verse
24. Having Now I want you to understand
that's very important that word having because it's something
that you already have having having therefore What do we have
brethren? boldness to enter into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath
consecrated for us and through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God. Now he's
going to give us exhortation. He told you what you have. Now
he's telling you what to do. Let us draw near with a heart,
a true heart, in full assurance of faith. having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water
the second thing he tells you to do let us hold fast the profession
of our faith and that word faith is better translated hope matter
of fact in in scripture this is the only time this word is
translated faith so really it should be translated hope let
us hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering for
he is faithful that promised and thirdly let us consider one
another to provoke one to unto love and to good works and this morning i'm going to
only deal with two things there are four things here what you
have and three things you're given to do but in time i'm only
going to have time for for what you have and one of these things
will will hook conclude later on the other two but i'm gonna
focus on drawing near drawing near so the title the message
is what we have and what we do what we have and what we do what
is a scripture saying therefore having what brethren what we
have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now under the law, under the
law which he is talking about, there was only one place that
God would meet with sinners. Only one place that God would
meet in atonement, in reconciliation with sinners. Where was that? It was a mercy seat in that temple.
It was above the Ark of the Covenant. Matter of fact, Exodus 25, and
then again in Exodus, I believe, 30, he says this, I will meet
thee there. I will commune with thee from
above the mercy seat from between the cherubims in the tabernacle. That's where he said he would
meet under the law. Yet not all were allowed behind this veil.
There was a veil separating that room into the holiest, where
which God would meet with sinners. And only one person under the
law was allowed to enter into that place, and that was the
high priest. The high priest was to enter, but not without
this. He could not enter without blood. Without blood. Once a year this high priest
would take a sacrifice on the great day of atonement and he
would make two sacrifices really. One for himself because he himself
was a sinner and needed a sacrifice. Then he would make a sacrifice
for the people. And he would take this blood
into the veil. He would go into that curtain,
into the presence of God with the blood of these animals, sprinkle
it on the mercy seat, and come out. He would take those animals that
he had killed, and he would take them outside the camp, and he
would burn them. and he would wash his clothes,
put on a linen clothes. All of this pictures what? The
death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's what
this picture. The law could not and did not
take away sin. How do we know? Because they
had to do it every year. They had to do it again. It wasn't
enough. There was never going to be any
atonement by these things. The Holy Spirit, by the Apostle
Paul, testifies to believers that the offerings and sacrifices
of the Old Covenant were only a shadow, a picture of Christ,
that He would come into the world and by His one offering forever
atone for the sins of His people. You see, Jesus Christ is the
High Priest that all those high priests only pictured. Jesus
Christ is the sacrifice that all those animals only pictured. The offering and the bringing
in of the blood into the presence of God only pictured what the
Lord Jesus Christ would do for us, for His people. He would
shed His own blood for our sins, bring His blood before God, and
God should accept His blood as an offering for our sin. Jesus is the chosen representative
then. As a high priest, he is the chosen
representative of all his race. He has come Even as God promised
from the beginning, the seed of the woman shall crush the
head of the serpent. And you remember, He killed that
first animal to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. That is a picture
of what our Lord did for us. He Himself came as the seed of
the woman and sacrificed Himself to cover our nakedness before
God. And all the sins, You remember
that goat? He took his... High Priest put
his hand on the head of that goat and he confessed all the
sins of who? The world? No. All the sins of
the people of Israel. And I tell you, that's a picture.
It's a picture of what God did upon the head of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He imputed our transgressions
to Him. He imputed them to Christ, laid
on Him the iniquity of us all. And upon the cross, our Lord
Jesus Christ was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we
should be made the righteousness of God in Him. You see, God didn't
let you slide, sinner. God did not let us slide. You
see, the sins of His people were punished. They were just not
punished in us. They were punished in our substitute,
in Jesus Christ. And when justice was finished, isn't that a wonderful thought?
Justice exhausted. Justice completely satisfied
with that offering, with that death. When justice was satisfied
and it could ask no more of the Lord Jesus Christ, he cried to
let us know, it is finished. It is finished. See then the picture, our Lord
Jesus Christ entered into the presence of God for us. God has
accepted his atonement for all our sins. And the difference
between the type and the real is that after the old high priest
came out, they had to do it again. But what does the apostle tell
us in our text? Look at this in verse 12, but this man. after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on
the right hand of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool for by his one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified and you remember what happened
after he cried it was finished Matthew tells us exactly what
happened. Matthew chapter 27 verse 50 and 51 tell us he cried
with a loud voice and gave up the ghost and the temple, the
veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. Now why didn't
he just say it was rent? Why didn't he say from top to
bottom? What's the necessity of that? To show us that God
rent it. It was God who rent the flesh
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was God who punished our Savior
in our stead. And because he was satisfied
with it, now there was no veil to separate us from God. Since there is no more sacrifice
for sin, seeing Jesus by His one offering has already perfected
you, the Apostle now declares the way into the holiest, into
the very presence of God is open. Look at verse 18, now where remission
Now, where remission of these is. There is no more offering
for sin. Listen. Having, therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now, how is this that you have
boldness? How is this that you now have the ability that no
one else had during the Old Covenant? The Old Covenant, only that one
person could enter in. Only that one person at one time
could enter in. Only if he had blood could he
enter in. But now, but now you see the
veil is rent for a reason. It's to show you that you and
I who are in Christ, we have something. We have something
that the old covenant could not provide. We have something that
is a new and a living way. It is a way open. You have it. You have access to God, not by
obedience to the law, not by human worth or human will or
human merit. The way is opened by the blood
of Christ. This way is open. It cannot be
closed by anyone. It is open by Christ. His blood hath made the way open. Now, I want to speak to any sinner
in need of atonement. Anyone who needs atonement for
sin, who needs redemption for sin, I want to tell you this. The way is open. It's not vague. It's not ambiguous. It's not
confusing. There is only one way to God. One way that a sinner may be
acceptable in the sight of God. Be made perfect in the sight
of God and have access to the throne of God. Only one way. Jesus said, without exception,
I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to
God but by Me. This is the only way for sinners
who are helpless and hopeless in their condition. You know,
that woman with an issue of blood is such a wonderful picture.
She was bleeding. She was bleeding and bleeding
out. She was dying. This woman needed healing. She
was dying. And she went as anybody would
do. She went to every doctor she
could find. She went to every good doctor. Every quack. Everybody she could
find. And she spent all that she had
for this. She had a need. Listen sinner, you have a need.
You're dead and you're dying. And the only hope for you is
not doctors. No doctor of human religion is
going to be able to heal your sin condition. No human will or merit can cure
your sinful disease. And I tell you, no man will come
to Christ unless he spent all he had. Isn't that a sad condition? I've already told you the way
to God and yet men will try and try and try to find some other
way. Why? I've already told you the way.
I've showed you the way. I've pointed the way. Christ
is the way. And only in Him can you have
boldness to enter into the presence of God. Only through Him. Look now then to Christ. Look
now then to Christ. Turn. Can anybody not understand that
word? Turn. Look. Trust. Believe. Words we can understand. But I tell you this, only God
can give it. Trust in Christ alone as the
way to God. In Him alone is fullness of joy
and peace and forgiveness of sin. Something sin promises but
cannot deliver. Peace. Happiness. Is that what
not sin promised us? It promised us joy, it promised
us satisfaction, and it gave us nothing but sorrow and grief
and pain. What gives joy? Only Christ. Only Christ can give you joy
and peace because He is the only way to God. The only way. There
is no other way. See this way, cannot be bought,
it cannot be earned, but it must be simply received freely as
it is given. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, the
apostle explains this in verse 9. He said, I have not seen, nor
ear heard, neither entered into the heart of man the things which
God prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them
to us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of man, save the Spirit of man that is in him? Even so
the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now,
we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things which are freely
given to us of God. You see, one that has received
the Spirit of God knows this, that all things that we have
are freely given. They're not earned. If you have
any merits by which to approach God, that is the Spirit of the
world. That is not the Spirit of God.
You hear someone say, well, you've got to believe and then you have
to be baptized in order to be accepted. That is the spirit
of the world. That is not the spirit of God.
Well, you have to join the church, you have to do this, you have
to take the Lord's Supper, you've got to obey the law. That is
the spirit of the world. The spirit of God which we have
received teaches us that we have things freely given to us. These things we have received
are free. God gave them to us without merit. They're freely given to us. In my hands no price I bring,
simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress,
helpless look to thee for grace. to the fountain, I to the fountain
fly. Touch me, Savior, or I die. See then what doth hinder you
from coming. If you are a sinner in need,
hopeless to approach God, I am showing you the way open. Christ is the way. the truth
and the life. If you come by law or merit,
you will be hindered. You will be hindered, you will
not be allowed in. You remember in that wedding
feast, the Lord had prepared a wedding feast. And in this,
He had prepared garments for His guests. And He went out to
the highways and the hedges and He brought them into the feast.
And the feast was ready and the Master was walking through the
crowd. And He saw one man, He saw one man out of place. This
man was different, and he did not have a wedding garment on.
It was probably one his mommy made him. It was probably one
his dad made. It was probably one his family
inherited. It was very precious to him.
And he thought he would honor the king by wearing his robe. And he said, Friend, how art
thou come hither? Where is thy wedding garment?
And the man was speechless, and he was cast out into eternal
darkness. And if you come to God by your
own works, you'll be cast out. But see, we don't come that way.
We who have boldness to enter in the presence, we come because
we have a robe prepared of God for us. We have a sacrifice already
offered. We have a sacrifice God already
accepted. How do I know? The Holy Ghost
signified it by tearing the veil in two. The way is open. So you
have boldness to come in. All who believe on Christ, you
have it. Therefore, Paul says, having
boldness. Having you have it. It's yours.
It's yours believer. You believe on Christ you have
this no question No question you have this You have boldness those who have
been represented By Christ regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Listen, you
have constant continual access to the presence of God Every
time You have it now. You have it. I don't feel like... I don't
care how you feel. That's not... It's irrelevant.
Your feelings didn't earn it. Your feelings didn't merit it.
The way has been opened for you. You have boldness, confidence
to enter into the very presence of God. You have it now. Have it now. here is the evidence and so what
then is the evidence that you have it right now Well, seeing,
first of all, that God has put his laws in your heart and mind. Isn't that the covenant he just
mentioned here before? He said, after he had showed
that Christ perfected the saints forever, he re-mentions the covenant
just to remind you of it. He says, this is the covenant
I will make with them after those days. I will put my laws in their
hearts and in their minds and will write them. Now, is his
gospel written in your heart and mind? His gospel is written in my heart,
in my mind. I know Him. This is evidence
that I have boldness to enter into the presence of God because
His gospel has entered into me. His gospel has been written in
my heart. I am willing, able to believe on Him. Are you willing
and able to believe on Him? Do you believe on Him? That gospel
has been written in your heart and in your mind. secondly we
know we have this access because we love the people of god this
is an evidence john says don't tell me you love god and hate
his people you're a liar in the truth is not in you if you have
no love for god this is a this is a problem people they say
well i don't have to go to church to to worship no you really don't
have to what does that say about your love for the brethren sounds
like he loves himself my love you guys don't wanna
be around i don't sound like love to me see i i'm here because
i love you i'm here because i want to be with you yet you're not
forcing me to preach the gospel to you i do it because i love
you some say i do it for the money yeah i hope I'm not a very wise
economic master then, am I? No, but I love you. This is it. I love you. I love you because
I seized my savior in you. I identify with you and you identify
with me in this gospel, in this savior, and we desire to worship
him together in love. Don't tell me you love God and
hate his brethren. John says you're a liar. This
is the manifestation that we love God is that we love the
brethren. I love you. That's an evidence,
isn't it? The third evidence is this. Christ is all. He's just not part of the equation. Is He all of it to you? Then you have this, I will, God
says, remember your sins no more. Now if God don't remember your
sins, why then would God refuse you to approach before Him? Wasn't
it sin that kept you out? Well now, if God won't remember
your sins anymore, if Christ has already suffered, then why
do you hesitate to think you have not this boldness to enter
in? What doth hinder you from coming
to the presence of God? I tell you, it is not on God's
part. There is no hindrance on God's
part. Why? therefore bread i'm telling you something you
have to the presence of god into the
holiest of all it is not our uh... and i want you to see this
it's not our unworthiness that causes us to have this boldness
many times we think well we should be accepted because we're unworthy
that's that's that's not why you're accepted You come to Christ
because you are unworthy. You always are recognizing your
unworthiness. But don't use that as a means
or grounds by which you are accepted. How many people come in and weep
and cry over their sins, lament over their sins, and then they
trust in that to have acceptance? Well, I'm a sinner, just like
everybody else. So obviously Jesus must have died for me.
Nope. There's no grounds there. Your
sin is no grounds for boldness. Your sin is the grounds for uncertainty,
isn't it? What is the grounds of your boldness?
The blood of Christ. The blood of Christ. The blood
of Christ. There's your grounds. You want
to come to God? You have grounds. You have a
right. I like that. You have a right
to come before God. You know that? Why? Because of your union with
Christ. Because He has a right. I have
a right in Him. Everything that belongs to Him
belongs to me. Everything that's His is mine.
God does not accept us because of our need, but because of Christ's
fulfillment of our need. if christ then is the grounds
if his blood is your plea brethren we have boldness to enter into
the presence of god we have boldness you have boldness because you
were accepted in the below in that what it says in the in
the pages one first six That we should be to the praise of
the glory of his grace who have made us accepted in the beloved. Who's the beloved? Who's the
beloved? Christ is the beloved. Now you
see, God did not set his love off of Christ and try to find
another beloved. You see, you're not another beloved.
You are beloved because you are in the beloved. I saw this on a picture of prism.
You ever seen one of those? Awesome how they work. Get a
beam of light going into one end of this prism and out comes
this beautiful array of colors. You see, without the prism, the
light of God would destroy us. But through Christ comes out
all of the beams of God's love to us. All of your acceptance is in
Him. You are beloved because God loves
His Son. Wedding feast, who is it set
up for? Who is it for? It's for the Son. Who were you saved for? You were
saved for the glory of the Son. We're guests. We're guests at
this table. He's provided everything for
us to sit at this table. We are guests and we worship
who? The Beloved. You know what? We
have something in common then with the Father, don't we? We
love the Beloved. Even as God loves who? The Beloved.
And why does He love you? Because you're in the Beloved.
And everything you have is in the Beloved. Not in you. So if
you have trouble accessing God, if you have trouble approaching
God, know this, it's because of you. You're looking to you
for boldness to come. You're looking for something
in you. Stop. Why would you look for something
you already have? You have access. You have access in Christ Jesus. Now he calls this a new and living
way. He says it's a new and living
way. It's new in opposition to the
old covenant, but I tell you it is new in its perpetual state. In other words, this boldness
I have now is just as new as it was from eternity. It's ever
fresh. It's always new. Why? Because it is a living way. It is a living way. My Savior
not only died for my sins, He also rose again and is seated
at the right hand of God ever living. to make intercession. You see,
I have boldness to come because I have a Savior who is ever living
to intercede. That's what he says in the next
verse. He says, through his flesh, through his offering, we have
a high priest over the house of God. How is it that I can
enter in today? How is it that I can have confidence
that I will enter because my high priest liveth? He enliveth
and maketh intercessions for me, and even now, come to Him
now. Believe on Him now. Trust. Come to God now. Why? You have boldness. You have confidence
that you'll be accepted. On what grounds? On the grounds
that your Savior is the way. And He's the way today. He'll
be the way tomorrow. He'll be the way the next day.
He'll be the way for all eternity. He is the new and living way
by which we come to God. We have access. And this veil
was his flesh, and now that his flesh is rent, the way is open.
Now, I told you what you have. I'm going to skip ahead just
a minute, but I've told you what you have. Now then, the apostle
tells you what you should do. He says in these two words, let
us. Let us. He says it not only in
verse 22, but verse 23 and verse 24. Matter of fact, in this book
of Hebrews, he says it in 13 chapters, no less than 12 times,
let us. He's talking to you who have
access to God through Christ. You are believers in Christ.
You are brethren. He said, let us do something.
What is he doing? He is moving us to action. He's moving us to action to mind
the duties that we have as believers in Christ. These words are no
idle words, but they inspire us. And I want you to know that they
inspire us to the three graces. You remember those three graces
Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 13? He said, Now remain with
faith, hope, and love. And I want you to see that this
is no accident. He is mentioning all three of these in these next
responsibilities. Look at this. Let us draw near
with a full heart of assurance of what? Faith. Verse 23, let
us hold fast the profession of our, that word is translated
hope. Hope, that's a better word, better
translation, without wavering. And notice this, let us consider
one another to provoke one another to love. The three graces are
all mentioned here. It is our responsibility to stir
these graces up, to move to these graces, to obey them, to exercise
them. And this is the one I want to
deal with just now. Since you know what you have,
you have access, you have boldness, let me exhort you to this. Let
us draw near to God. Draw near to God. To draw near to God, both in public worship and in
private prayers and study. The believer may at any time,
at any place, draw near to God because we have boldness to enter. But I want you to see that the
two are not necessarily the same. Having boldness and actually
exercising that boldness are two distinctly different things. How often do we neglect to draw
near to God? Now you have boldness, you have
the access. Why then will you not use it? Having boldness indicates you
may come without fear to God and draw near to Him for help. But how often do we reason wrongly
that if we go through the motions of corporate worship, if we learn
and approve of true doctrines, we assume that that is drawing
near? No. Notice what he mentions. Draw
near with what? a true heart. Don't just go through the motions.
Don't be satisfied with the routine. Don't be content unless you are
near to God. Let us, with all we have, draw
near to God. draw near to God. Some think that just if you feel
good that that's drawing near to God. No. To approach to God
is not a passive but an active engagement to believe from the
heart. Believers, we are surely passive
in our salvation, in the boldness to approach But since we have
been made living stones, we must and should not be just hearers
of the Word, but what? Doers. Did your God make a way for you
to have access? I'll tell you why. Sin and unbelief. And the only remedy for sin and
unbelief is what? Faith. Faith. Trusting you have a way. Only then can you have full assurance. You don't approach unto God because
you're looking to self for a motive or a merit, and you're hindered. If you would look to Christ,
you would have full assurance. If you would take your eyes off
of self and put them on Christ, then you would know you have
boldness. You would then be able to draw
near to God with confidence. I'm telling you, God is not arguing
among Himself to accept you. You're arguing among yourself
whether you can be accepted. But there's no argument with
God. The Father and the Son have the
same will. What's His will? His will is
that you draw near. Isn't this what He uses troubles
and trials for? to draw us near to Him with a
full, true heart, a full assurance. That new heart that's created
is fully willing and desires to enter the presence of God.
The God of grace awaits all those who draw near by Christ. James with confidence gives you
this word. Draw near to God. And He will
draw near to you. Are you torn? Are you suffering? Does your heart condemn you?
John says, if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart. God is greater than our heart
and knoweth all things. Draw near to God. It's not presumptuous, friend,
to draw near to God, but to not draw near is nothing less than
unbelief and dishonoring to God. You don't draw near, it's because
you're not trusting Christ. You are saying, by not drawing
near, Christ is not enough. That is dishonoring to our Father. Therefore, our remedy to doubt
is faith, and full assurance of faith is only seen by looking
to Christ. Draw near in faith. Why? Because you have a right. You are accepted. without merit of your own. Christ is your merit. Draw near. It is though your
God holds out His arms to His children. It's like the bridegroom knocking
at the door of the Shulamites' home. Open to me my love, my
dove, my undefiled. And I will come in and sup with
you, and you with me. So many times we use our excuses. I've put off my shoes, how can
I come? I'm busy, I have too many things,
how can I come? Oh, my sin is too great. How
can I come? And you remember then when she
had her heart struck, she went and got that sweet-smelling stuff
in her hands, and she went to the door, and he was gone. Why? Your sweet-smelling stuff is
not your boldness to enter in. It don't cause you to have any
access to God by your sweet-smelling works. Don't bring them. Don't
bring them. you're accepted and have boldness
by one way the blood of jesus christ come back that way and
god will embrace you ask what you will in that nice what you you're accepted you have boldness
let us therefore Draw near believing in Christ. May God help us. I like this
hymn. Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything
to God in prayer. What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege it is to carry
everything to God in prayer. Seeing then we have grounds,
why then would we not use it? Let us draw near to God. I pray
God will teach you what you have. You have boldness through the
blood of Christ. Now then, let us use it. I pray
God give us grace to do so. I stand to be dismissed.