That last verse, what have I
to dread? What have I to fear? Leaning,
leaning on the everlasting arms. Thank you, Drew. Turn with me
back to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. And for a few weeks now, we've
been looking at the book of Hebrews. And this morning, I would like
to look at this passage from Hebrews 10. In these verses,
a couple things. One, we have the entrance, the
believer's entrance into the holies, the holy of holies. The believer's entrance into
the presence of God himself. And then we also have the believer's
approach unto God. So let's look at this together
this morning. Look here again, beginning with
verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
boldness to enter in to the holiest of all, unto the holiest by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that for a minute.
We have full freedom and full confidence to enter in to the
very presence of God, into heaven itself. How? By the power and the virtue of
His blood. the blood of his dear son. If you turn back a few pages
to Hebrews 4, just a few chapters back, Hebrews
chapter 4, look at verse 14, seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of
God, let us hold fast our profession, for we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted, like we are, yet. without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need." Boldness. Boldness to enter in to the holy
of holies, the holiest. They're in the tabernacle, the
holy of holies. where the Shekinah glory of God
appeared. The presence of God Himself appeared. The residence of His divine majesty. You know, it was the priest.
Imagine the responsibility of that high priest that would enter
in once a year. And he would enter with a blood
sacrifice. and with incense, and he would
go in there, and there was the Ark of the Testimony, and the
Holy of Holies was the Law, and the Mercy Seat, all these things
that pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. He'd enter in with blood,
blood pointing to Christ, His person, His blood, His sacrifice,
His righteousness, His work of intercession for His people,
His mercy and His grace. the Lord Jesus Christ entered
into heaven itself for his people by his own blood. And in doing
so, he opened the way for his people that believers, his sheep,
may enter in. And listen, to enter in, not
just kind of like cracking the door and trying to slip in without
anybody seeing, he says enter in with boldness. I can remember as a kid, we would,
and my cousin, we would sneak into the fairgrounds. We didn't
have enough money to get in, so we found a way to sneak in. And
when we did that, we didn't really want anybody to see us. We didn't
pay our way in. We didn't have a right to be
there. But the believer can enter into heaven itself
with boldness, with the right, with the right to enter in, with
the liberty granted by Almighty God Himself. And the way of this
entrance, what is it? It's the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of His dear Son. Having our sin removed, our sins
taken away, removed from the sight of God. Sin removed from the conscience
of the believer. And we have peace. Peace with God. Pardon. a pardon purchased, God's law
and justice satisfied, boldness to enter in to the holiest by
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen, we can enter in without
fear, without fear of punishment, without worry, without anxiety,
entering into the presence of God Himself. Think about that, the very presence
of Almighty God, the God of whom it's written, Scripture says
this, God, who only hath immortality, dwelling in a light which no
man can approach unto. whom no man has seen nor can
see, to whom be honor and power everlasting." You know that priest
of old, when he would enter in, he entered in with the blood
of animals. I just imagined, and everything
had to be done perfectly when that priest went in. He had to
be dressed a certain way. It was very much like these things
had to be done. Can you imagine? I would just
think entering in, he would have entered in with dread, with just
absolute fear. What if I don't do this just
right? If he didn't do it perfectly,
God would strike that man dead. Just one mistake. Scripture says
it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. But what do we read here? The
believer enters with boldness. We enter accepted. Not in anything
we've done, excepted in the Beloved. We enter by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and we enter knowing this, that the believer
is perfected forever. How can that be true? How can
that be true of us, of sinful man? It's only by His blood. It's only through the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 20 again of our
text in Hebrews 10. This entrance, verse 20, it's
by a new and living way. A new and living way which He
hath consecrated for us through the veil. That is to say, His
flesh. The believer comes through a
new and living way. Not a denomination, not an association,
not through our works. We don't come through a priest. We enter through a new and living
way. That's what this is. The believer
comes through a new and living way. The Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way. That's what God's
Word says. He is the way. He's the truth.
He's the life. And no man, no man can come to
the Father but by Him. I don't understand
how, I guess I do because of this sinful flesh, but how men
feel like that they can approach through another man on this earth,
that they can come through a priest. Listen, there's only one high
priest. There's only one entrance to
God and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. By Him. And He doesn't merely Show us
the way. He does. He doesn't merely open
the way, and He does that as well. He is the way. A way that He hath consecrated. A way that He hath opened for
us. He's able to save to the uttermost. Them that come to God, how? By
Him. By the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the veil. Through the
veil. You know, that veil, they say
it was, I think, 60 feet tall and 30 feet wide and 4 inches
thick, a hand's breadth, four inches thick. And that veil, which separated
God and man, what do we read? It's been rent in two, from the
top to the bottom. Those ceremonies and sacrifices
of old have all been laid aside for one sacrifice. One true sacrifice,
the Lord Jesus Christ. An effectual sacrifice, one that
got the job done. Paul writing to the Galatians,
he said, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made you free. And be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage, with this doing and dying. We enter in
through Christ. And the believer again enters
in with boldness, by new and living way. The believer enters, look at
verse 21, again in Hebrews 10. Verse 21, "...having a high priest
over the house of God, Listen to these verses that describe
our great high priest. He's holy. He's harmless. He's undefiled. He's separate
from sinners. He's made higher than the heavens. We can't exalt him high enough. We can't glorify Him to the glory
due His name. And yet, He is a high priest who can be
touched with the feelings of our infirmities. A high priest that knows our
pain, knows our suffering, A high priest who sits at the
majesty of the right hand of God. A high priest who has entered
into the holy place, entered into heaven itself, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. We have an eternal great high
priest who rules and reigns by virtue of who he is, by virtue
of what he's done, by virtue of his atonement, by virtue of
this, he is accepted and has absolute authority over all things. That's the believer's entrance
with boldness. A new and living way. Entering
in, having a great high priest, and then look with me beginning
with verse 22. What's the believer's approach
unto God? Listen to these three exhortations. Let us draw near. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith and let us consider one another. Verse 22, let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed. with pure water. Let us come forward in prayer
and praise before our God, listen, with an honest and open and sincere
heart. You know, what we're doing here
this morning, we draw near to God in our public worship. He's pleased. He says he's pleased
to be among you. He says, where two or three are
gathered in my name, I'll be in the midst of them. We draw
near. This public worship is so important.
Private worship. We draw near unto God. Listen, we're told to come again
with boldness. Let us draw near. Knowing this, you know, it's hard to draw near
to somebody if you don't know how they're going to accept you
or if they're going to accept you. But He'll receive His people.
He'll receive them. He receives us. Our hearts have
been sprinkled with the blood of Christ. He said our bodies
washed with Pure water, purified by His Spirit. Isn't that reason
to draw near? To draw near without fear, to
draw near with reverence, draw near knowing something of who
He is, and draw near with expectation that He'll receive us. Draw near
with a true heart, a new heart. He's given his people a new heart.
Jeremiah wrote this in Jeremiah 31. He said, this shall be the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those
days, saith the Lord, I'll put my law in their inward parts,
and I'll write it in their hearts, and I will be their God. And listen to this. They shall
be my people." Draw near with a full assurance
of faith. Draw near believing God. Hebrews 11, 6. Just turn over
a page there. Hebrews 11, 6. But without faith, it is impossible
to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." Remember that woman with the issue of
blood? She said she'd suffered that
ailment for many years and she said, if I can just touch the
hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. She came with expectation,
didn't she? She come knowing something of
his power, his ability to heal. If I can just touch his garment,
I'll be made whole. Draw near, believing. Draw near expecting. Draw near
having our hearts and our conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water. Our hearts sprinkled from an
evil conscience. An evil, that's a pretty good
description, an evil conscience. That's our conscience. Listen,
by nature it's evil, it's blind, it's perverse, it's corrupt,
it pronounces us guilty before Almighty God. But here we read that the blood
of Christ is, listen, it's sprinkled on our conscience by the Spirit
of God. Purged. Purged from dead works. cleansed from all sin. And our bodies washed with pure
water. David said this, he said, purge
me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me. You wash me and I'll be whiter
than the snow. Oh, let us draw near. In James
4, verse 8, God's Word declares this. Draw nigh to God. And what's the promise? He'll
draw nigh to you. Oh, that's all the more reason,
isn't it? Draw near to Him. Hebrews 10, verse 23, let's read
on here. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised."
What did he promise? He promised eternal life for
his people. Titus 1 verse 2, in hope of eternal
life, which God that cannot lie, promised when? Before the world began. Oh, let us persevere in faith
and grace, whatever the trial, whatever the fear, whatever the
doubt. How is that? Because I'm just
going to tough it out? No. Because God is faithful. God is faithful to his promise
and that he has promised. That promise, listen, he made
a covenant, made a covenant and put it in Christ's hands before
this world began. And it's now declared in his
word, it's now declared through the preaching of the gospel. Let us hold fast. Knowing that God is faithful
to all His promises. God cannot fail. He's all wise. He foreknows all
things. And everything that He has purposed,
He is going to bring to pass. Unlike us, He doesn't change
His mind. We change our mind a hundred
times, don't we? God doesn't. We forget, don't we? He never
forgets. Never forgets His word. And listen,
what He has promised, what He has promised, He is able
to perform. He's the God of truth who cannot
lie. He cannot fail. He never has
failed. Not one of His promises shall
ever fail. His faithfulness. It never fails. He never fails. Well, that's a pretty strong
argument to hold fast, isn't it? To just rest in Him. And then we read this, let us
draw near, let us hold fast the profession of our faith. In verse
24, let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works, let us consider one another. That's not just a passing consideration. It means to consider attentively,
to fix our eyes, to fix our mind upon something. It's, again,
more than just a general consideration, but a compassionate, caring,
and loving consideration for our brethren. Is that something we need to
be reminded of? It's so easy to find fault. I guess I'll just talk to myself
here and you all listen in. It's so easy to find fault. And in this flesh, I tell you,
we give people no shortage of reasons to find fault. Again, I say this to myself,
how often when we hear something or don't hear something, our
automatic thought is just to consider the absolute worst. What do we read here? Let us
consider one another. Paul writing to the Ephesians
in Ephesians 4.31, he said, let all bitterness and wrath and
anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you. Put away
with all malice. and be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Why? Why should I ever do that? Somebody
that's wronged me, why should I ever forgive them? What's God's word say? Even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Has He forgiven you? We should consider one another
as what we are, frail men. This flesh is weak, isn't it?
This flesh is dying. We should consider one another
as brethren in love. You know, if we could spend more
time considering one another, truly considering one another,
loving one another, I believe we'd have less time to find fault,
less time to complain. Well, turn over a couple pages
to Hebrews 13. And as you turn there, let me
just read this passage to you from 1 John 4, 20. It says, if
a man says, I love God, and he hates his brother, that
man's a liar. How can a man who can see his
brother say, I hate him? and then say he loves God who
he has not seen. Hebrews 13.1, let brotherly love
continue. Let brotherly love continue in
you and among you. We're to love all men. We're
told to love our enemies. But the love Paul is talking
about here, It's a special love of family between people who
are in a spiritual relationship one to another in Christ. We pray for one another. We're
to bear one another's burdens. We're to forbear and forgive
one another. We're to meet together and encourage
one another. And you know, without that love,
As we read there earlier in 1 John 4.20, without that love, professing
faith in Christ is useless. This love is to continue without
failure. As we grow in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we grow in love for Him, and
you know it should not surprise us, this thing of love, it covers a multitude of sins. Truly His love did, didn't it?
When He suffered and died on the cross for His people, it
covered a multitude of sins. Scripture says this, our Lord
said this, He said, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples
Is it because you built great buildings or you made some kind
of big sacrifice publicly for all the world to see? Is it based on your attendance
record or anything like that? What is it? By this shall all men know that
you're my disciples if you have love. Love, one for another. And then it goes on in our text,
he said, let us consider one another to provoke unto love
and to good works. I don't know about you all, when
I hear that word provoke, I've heard that a number of times
and I think about this, provoking someone to anger, provoking someone
to a fight. Provoking someone into trouble
or jealousy or whatever it might be. Provoking trouble. Have you
ever heard, I used to hear this, don't provoke me. Don't provoke
me. Well, according to what's written
in God's word, I need provoked. But this is what I need provoked.
I need to be provoked unto love and unto good works. Not to justify
me before God. Not to merit salvation, but that
God might be glorified. The gospel of His grace adorned. The mouth of those that would
speak evil, those gainsayers, that their mouths would be stopped. That faith would be evidenced
to those around us. and our gratitude for God's benefits
toward us. People should see that. That's not works. We're God's children. There should
be something that sets us apart just a little bit. His benefits
shown, the profit and benefits that we have as His children, And this love, this love, it's on full display when we
worship together, when we gather together as a family. The psalmist
wrote this, David said, behold how good and how pleasant is
it for brethren to what? Dwell together in unity. Verse 25, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is. Let's not forsake the assembling
of ourselves together. It's the duty of the believer. It's the privilege of the believer
to gather together and worship, to praise him and have fellowship
one with another. Why is this thing of this public
worship, why is this so important? Public worship, God appointed it. He approves of it. He's glorified
in it and He alone is worthy of it. He's worthy of all praise,
all honor. Why is it so important? It's important for us. We need to be edified. We need
to be instructed. We need to be refreshed. I need
to be comforted. I need to be encouraged. How? By His Word. By the Word of God. Why is it important? Because
of others. We never know who might hear
His Word, that they might be convinced,
that they might be converted, that they might be brought to
a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, look at the rest of verse
25 here in Hebrews 10. He says, and so much more as you see the
day approaching. All right. Isaac, you come lead
us into closing hymn.