Now, open your Bibles to Hebrews
9 first, Hebrews 9. Now, in this
chapter, Hebrews 9, the apostle tells us about two persons who
enter into the holy presence of God himself. two persons who actually enter
into the holiest of holies, into the presence of God, before what
we call the Shekinah glory. Now, here in Hebrews 9, verse
7, into the second, the holy of
holies, went the high priest, alone, once every not without
blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost, this signifying
that the way into the holiest of all, that's where he was,
that's where the high priest went, into the holiest of all. Like in the tabernacle, there
was the mercy seat, the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat,
and the cherubims And God said, I'll dwell between the cherubims
over the mercy seat. There was the Shekinah glory,
the very presence of God. And this high priest went in
once a year, once a year, alone, no one else, just the high priest,
with the incense and the blood. And that Holy of Holies would
be filled with the fragrance and the smoke of that incense,
which is a type of the prayers of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
then the blood, the hyssop dipped in the blood was sprinkled seven
times on the mercy seat. And then the high priest would
go under the veil and out. And no one else was allowed in
there until the next year when that high priest, or if The one
who succeeded him came into the holy of holies, the presence
of God. And what that is all signifying
is the way into the presence of God for men is not made manifest
while that tabernacle was standing until Christ came. Now, verse
11, but Christ, now here's the second person, the other person
who enters the presence of God. But Christ being come, a high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
we're talking about his body, he tabernacled among us. Christ
came, the great high priest. And neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once. once for all, into where the
holy place, the holy of holies, the presence of God, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now, no more high priest. Christ is our high priest. No
more blood atonement. No more going into the holy of
holies in a tabernacle which is a figure of the truth, a pattern
of things in heaven. No more. Christ, our great high
priest, sent from God with his own precious blood, putting an
end to all Passover and tithes and bloodshed and ceremonies,
went into the very presence of God, the Holy of Holies, heaven
itself, and obtained eternal redemption for us. Verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the truth,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us." That high priest in the Old Testament went in, made
the atonement, came out. Christ went in and stayed. Stayed. Our high priest, having a high
priest over the house of God, see, that's what All right, now
in chapter 10, that which I read a moment ago, the text talks
about someone else, now listen, someone else entering the presence
of God, bowling into the holiest, into the presence of God, and
that's talking about you and me. Now let's look at it. Verse 18
says there's no more sacrifice for sin, so we don't do it as
an earthly priest making a sin offering. The sin offering has
been, in verse 18 says there's no more sacrifice for sin, no
more offering for sin. Why? Well, verse 14 says by one
offering he has perfected us. We don't need a sacrifice. Verse 17 says our sins don't
exist anymore. in the mind of God, on the books
of God, in the presence of God, their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more?" God says, I don't even remember
them. That's the power and the greatness of the blood of our
Lord. Believers do not have any sin. In Christ there is no sin.
He presents us before God holy. and without blame, perfect in
Christ. All right, verse 19, therefore,
having therefore brethren, brethren, we're not talking about every
son of Adam, we're talking about brethren, believers, God's people,
boldness, liberty to enter into the holiest the holiest, the holiest of all,
the holy of holies, the presence of God, by the blood of Jesus
Christ. Now, in these next few words,
you want to look very carefully. We have liberty, boldness, to
enter into God's presence by the blood of the Son of God.
His blood cleanses us, purifies us, sanctifies us. and we can
enter into the presence of God. Look at verse 20, "...by a new
and living way." Not like the high priest of old who lifted
the veil and slipped under it and went in and sprinkled the
blood and slipped back out and dropped the veil. That's not
the way. There's no slipping around. by a new and living way which
he hath consecrated for us through the veil. We don't even lift
it. We don't put it aside. Through
it. How are we going to go through
the veil because it's not there anymore? Through where it was. Turn to Matthew 27, and let me
show you that. This is the grand declaration,
Matthew 27. That temple still stood there
in Jerusalem when our Lord died, Matthew 27, 50. And when He died,
and all this setup was still there. They perverted it and
twisted it and warped it and taken it out of context and every
other thing, but it's still there. But when he died, it says in
Matthew 27, 50, Jesus, when he cried again with a loud voice,
yielded up the ghost, and behold, the veil in the temple that separated
the holy of holies from the outer court and the holy place was
written in two from top to bottom. That veil was four to five inches
thick, from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor. That veil stood
all those centuries. And when Christ died, that veil
was rent in two from top to bottom. God showing that the way into
the holiest, into His presence, is open. Open to every believer. Every believer. It was rent in
two from top to bottom. God did it from top to bottom.
There wasn't a little tear in it. There wasn't a little opening
cut in it. It was ripped. from top to bottom destroyed.
All right, read on. Having boldness, verse 19, to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and
living way which he consecrated, was made for us through the veil,
that is to say, his flesh, his death. And having now a high
priest over the house of God. We have a high priest. who has
somewhat to offer his own blood. Verse 22, let us, let us, redeemed
sinners, brethren, let us draw near, how near, right into his
presence, draw near, draw nigh to God, not with hypocrisy, with a true
heart, not playing at church hypocrisy, but a true heart,
in full assurance of faith, full confidence of faith, because
our hearts have been sprinkled with his blood from an evil conscience,
and our bodies have been washed with pure water. We've been justified
by his blood, sanctified by his life, redeemed by his and sanctified
by his obedience. Now, I want to focus your attention
on two words. In verse 19, boldness. That word
is confidence. Confidence, liberty, boldness
to come into the presence of God. And the other word in verse
22 is assurance. Full assurance. Full assurance. It says full assurance of faith.
Full assurance. This is what Paul was talking
about when he said, I know whom I have believed. John was talking about when he
said, we know we've passed from death unto life. That's what
David was talking about when he said, the Lord is my shepherd. Full assurance. Well, when we
talk about confidence before God and boldness before God and
full assurance before God, The question arises, Brother Mahan,
are you saying that people who have faith, true faith, saving
faith, God-given faith, are free from doubts? They have full assurance
and confidence and boldness before God and they have no doubts?
No. I'm not saying that at all. Not
at all. Being in the flesh, we have a
lot of fears and a lot of doubts. and a lot of pessimism, don't
we? But I'm telling you this, and
you get this now, there's no doubting in faith. Faith never doubts. No, sir,
faith and doubts are opposite. Faith and doubts are opposite.
There's no doubting in faith. There's doubting in me, but not
in faith. Paul describes that in Romans
7. Let me show you that, Romans 7. Now look over here a minute.
You'll know what I'm talking about in a moment. But you just
hold on to that. There's no doubting in faith.
Faith and doubts are opposite. The nature of faith is to believe
God and does believe God. The doubts are born of sin in
us. The new nature loves God. It's
the old nature that has a struggle. The new nature believes God 100%.
It's the old nature that struggles. The new nature serves God. Anything
contrary to holiness is of the flesh. That's what Paul is saying
in Romans 7, verse 20. Now, if I do that, I would not
doubt. It's no more I that do it, it's
sin that dwells in me. I find in a law when I would
do good, believe God, trust God, love God, walk with God, evil
is present with me. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man. My new nature, this nature of
Christ, this faith delights in the Word of God, believes the
Word of God. But I see another law and nature
and way in my members warring against this law of my mind.
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who's
going to deliver me from this other self, this body of death?
I thank God. Through Jesus Christ, my Lord. So then with the mind, with the
heart, with faith, with the new nature, I serve the law of God. But with the flesh, the law of
sin. In the believer, there are two armies at war. It's spirit,
and that spirit's not flesh, it's spirit. It's born of God. There's no flesh in it. And that
flesh is flesh, and there's no spirit in it. There's grace and corruption,
and there's no corruption in grace. And there's no grace in
corruption. There's faith in doubts, and
there's no doubts in faith, and there's no faith in doubts. That's
just so. There's love and hate, and there's
no hate in love. Perfect love casts without hate
and fear. And these are not the same. Spirit and flesh are not the
same. They dwell in the same person, but they're not the same.
Love and hate are not the same. They dwell in the same person,
but they're not the same. Grace and corruption is not the
same. They dwell in the same person,
but they're not the same. And one day the corruption and
the fears and the doubts and the hates and the sin will be
buried. And that nature of God, that
love and faith and godliness and perfection will live forever. That's right. You can just understand
that we're not talking about the same thing when we talk about
the renewed man and the old man. When I say faith has no doubts,
I'm not talking about that nature of yours that struggles with
sin and struggles with doubts and is full of human pessimism. I'm talking about that faith
born of God. It's not full of doubts if God
created it. No, sir. There is no doubt in
faith. I'll give you an illustration.
The nature of the eye is to see. The eye always sees. If it's
a living, healthy eye, it sees. When is the eye, when is the
seeing impaired? When you close the lid. The eye
still sees. The lid's in the way. My eye
didn't stop seeing. The lid got in the way. The nature
of the eye is to see. The nature of faith is to believe.
Something gets in the way, though, doesn't it? But it still believes. You move what's in the way, and
it'll see. It'll believe. That's right.
The nature of the sun is to shine, to give light. Does it ever not
give light? Yeah, when something gets in
the way. A planet eclipses the sun. Is the sun still shining? You haven't changed it one bit. Not one bit in this world. It's
still the sun. It's still shining. Something
got in the way. Move it. Move it. The nature of fire. When I was a kid, we used to
bank the fire. Did you ever bank the fire? You
know what you bank the fire with? You just keep shoveling ashes
on it. Pile ashes on it. The nature
of fire is to give heat. You pile enough ashes on it,
you won't feel a thing. It's still there. and still giving
heed. And I'm saying this, faith does
not doubt. It's us. It's the old nature,
it's the old circumstances and things that get in the way. You
see what I'm saying there? Faith believes God. Now I'm going
to show you that. I'm going to give you five things
here. You walk out of here if you do
believe. If God's given you faith to believe Christ, and you do
believe Him, you walk out of here rejoicing in Him and saying,
oh nature, just get down and stay down. Oh man, just get down
and stay down. And don't bother me anymore.
Don't bother me. All right, He will, but you can
say that to Him anyway. He'll be back tonight. All right,
number one. This faith, this saving faith,
it receives Christ. as he's presented in the Word
of God, and does not doubt anything written of him. That's what I'm
saying. I'm saying your faith, you who
believe the record God had given concerning his Son. Let's look
at that verse, 1 John 5. Listen. 1 John chapter 5, verse
6. Listen to this. 1 John 5, 6. It came by water and blood, even
Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water
and blood. It's the Spirit that bears witness
because of the Spirit's truth. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. And there are three that bear witness in the
earth, the Spirit, the Word, and the blood, and these three
agree in one. Now, if we receive the witness
of men, and we do, The witness of God is greater. And this is
the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that
believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. And he
that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he doesn't
believe the record that God gave of his Son. This is the record
that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. Do you believe his word? Well, yes. Do you doubt his word
at all? No, sir. I believe his word.
I believe what he says about the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
not a doubt in my mind that this word is true about Christ, his
eternality, his incarnation, his righteous life, his sacrificial
death, his ascension to heaven and his exaltation and his intercession. I believe it. And what is there
to doubt about the Word of God? Faith does not doubt the Word
of God. It believes the Word of God. I don't understand everything
that's in the Word. I don't comprehend everything
that's in the Word. There are a lot of mysteries
in the Word, the secret things that belong to God, the revealed
things to us, but I believe the record God has given of His Son.
Don't you? That's what I'm talking about.
Faith has no doubts. If it does, it's not... If I
say, well, I don't know whether He's eternal or not, That goes
your faith. But I don't know whether he came
to earth or not. You don't have any faith. You see what I'm saying? You
can't doubt anything that God says about his Son and still
claim to believe God. No, if you believe God, you believe
God lock, stock and barrel. And that's clear, number one.
Faith receives Christ as he's presented in the Word. It's not
me seeing Him in a dream or a vision or a feeling, it's the Word!
And I don't doubt the Word of God. That's why we're here. All right, number two. Faith,
true faith, claims nothing of God or from God except in Christ. You don't have any trouble with
that, do you? You don't have any doubts about that, do you?
Everything I have, from God, of God, that brings me to God. It's not because of me or what
I've done or doing or will do. It's Christ. Faith lays hold
of Christ. Over there in Ephesians it said,
at that time you were without Christ and without God. And a
man who's without Christ is without God. A man who has Christ has
God, because God's in Christ. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily." We're complete in Him. And God has
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in
Christ. In Christ. The Father hath given
all things to the Son. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. He said, without
me you can do nothing. And God, who spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, with
Christ, give us all things? So what is there to doubt? Christ has made unto me wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I don't have
any doubts about that. Preacher, don't you have doubts?
Sure I do. But my faith doesn't doubt. My flesh doubts. my flesh, not my faith, because
my faith knows this, what God says about Christ is true. And
my faith knows this, that everything that God has for sinners in Christ,
I don't go anywhere else. If I go anywhere else, if I go
to a picture, I don't have any faith. If I go to works or the
law or These things, I don't have anything, but I go to Christ.
Everything's in Christ. I know that, I understand that,
I believe that, I'm confident of that. That's full assurance. I'm fully assured that the record
is true. Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
I fully believe, my full assurance is in this, that everything God
has for a sinner is in His Son. You believe that? Has anybody
got any objections to that? Does anybody in here doubt that?
Well, of course not. Of course not. Well, here's the
third thing. Faith receives Christ according
to the order in which God has revealed Him in His offices. You go back to the Old Testament
scriptures, and God set forth three offices in things pertaining
to Him. In anything pertaining to God,
God who spoke to our fathers, how? Through the prophets. Hath in these last days spoken
to us, how? Through his Son. He's that prophet. He's that prophet. No man knows
the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal it.
You have any doubts about that? We've never seen God. We've seen
Christ. Christ reveals God. He's the
prophet. He brought the message, the good
news, the gospel. Christ is the gospel. Alright,
back in the Old Testament there was a priest, ordained of God
in things pertaining to God for men. And the priest slew the
lamb. And the priest collected the
blood. And the priest went under the
veil, and the priest went into the Holy of Holies and applied
the blood. And the priest went out and said,
another year, another sacrifice. God has accepted it. Wait till
next year. Christ, our high priest, came.
I preached of good things to come, by greater, more perfect
tabernacle, with his own blood, not typical blood, with his own
blood, went not into the place made with hands, into heaven
itself, and appeared before God. And that blood, effectually,
put away all our sins. He's my priest. He's my prophet. He's my priest. And then God
revealed a king, David. God was their king, but God put
a man over him called David. He talks about the sure mercies
of David, the reign of David. He says to David's throne, there
will be no end. To David's kingdom, there will
be no end. He raised up the son of David, my king. I have a sovereign. I have a
master. I have a king. I have a lord.
He's my lord. He's my master. I don't have
any doubt about that. Do you? That's full assurance. That's total boldness. Do you
ever rebel against Him? My faith doesn't, but my flesh
does. My heart doesn't, but my nature does. But you cut into my heart, you'll
find out Christ is my King, my Lord. Yours too. That's where it is. Any doubt
about that? Anybody doubt who the prophet is? Ever voice in
you and say no? You doubt who the priest is?
You got problems with that? Well, yeah, I do, preacher. And
you're not of faith anyhow. I'm not even talking to you this
morning. I got no message for you whatsoever. If you got a
rival for Jesus Christ, you need to go somewhere else. I got nothing
for you. I'm talking to people who have
no rivals for Christ. He's king. Prophet, priest, and
king. Sovereign. There's no doubt about
it. I don't even entertain any doubt. My flesh does. My flesh says,
how can this be? My flesh says, who am I? What
is my people? And then I look back to Christ,
and I see it's all, it originated with Him. That's the reason it's
perfect. The covenant, the love, the grace
originated with Him. That's the reason it's perfect.
And where our doubts come from is when we try to interject some
self into it. We try to put a little flesh
in there to help God out. That's when we have trouble.
But I don't feel right. See there? But I have so many struggles. Who struggles? Flesh struggles. Spirit rests. No doubts in faith. Fourthly, now watch this. Faith maintains its claims. on Christ, it's confidence in
Christ, based on His Word, whatever the circumstances. Whatever the
circumstances. Take Joe. He had everything. Suddenly he had nothing. No riches,
no animals, no herds, no cattle, no sheep, no children, no health. boils all over, no friends. He's sitting, scraping his balls
with potsherd. And he said two things, though
he slay me, I trust him. His faith never left, did it?
And it won't. It can't. What'd he say? Well, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. And on this earth he'll stand,
and though worms destroy this body, I'll see the Lord. That's
right. You know those two houses our
Lord said, one built on the sand, and one built on the rock. And
the rains came, that's trials from heaven. And the floods came,
that's trials from earth. And the wind blew, that's trials
from you don't know where. Mysterious. That house is built
on the sand fell, and it will. Presumption will fall when attacked
if the attack is strong enough. Feelings will fail if the attack
is strong enough. Self-righteousness will fall
if the attack is strong enough. This excitement and emotion and
whoop-de-doo will fail if the loss is great enough. Church
affiliation will lose its attraction if the trial is hard enough. Trials will break down a man
who trusts in himself because himself is destroyed and he has
no one to whom he can look. But the true believer, his confidence
is not in himself, his faith is not in himself, his hope is
not in himself, and when himself is destroyed and broken and stripped
and humbled, He's looking the same direction He was looking
when He had the help, looking to Him. The fall of the flesh only reveals
that that's what it was, and that's all it was. Christ never
fails. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to its foes, that
soul though all hell, should endeavor to shake, I'll never,
never, never, never forsake." Never. No doubt about it. This word's true. No doubt about
it. Christ is all. Ain't no doubt
about it. He's the prophet, priest, and
king. And I challenge any believer
to say there's a doubt about it. Isn't it? I have doubts, sure I do, but
not about Him. In all my circumstances, whatever
they may be, He's on the throne. It'll work together for my good,
no doubt about it. And last, but preacher, The way you talk in confidence
and assurance and boldness, doesn't that beget pride? Doesn't that
beget a self-sufficiency? Well, in most areas it does,
it may. But not in the area of faith. In fact, actually, it's the opposite. It's the opposite. True faith.
The more true faith is exalted, the lower it is in its own estimation. I'll show you that. For example,
the more I understand of God's holiness, the more I understand
of my sinfulness. Where is boasting? It's excluded.
By what law? Love. Revelation. The more He reveals to me about
His Word, the more I realize I don't know. the more areas
that I come in contact with about which I know nothing. So there's no room for pride.
Only the self-righteous have trouble with pride. Mercy-beggars
don't have any trouble with pride. When they're dressed up in His
beauty, they know it's His beauty. When they're given knowledge
of Him, they know it's His knowledge. When they have an open door,
they know He opened it. When they have a blessing, they
know He sent it. When they have a trial, they know the Father
ordained it. So what is there to be proud
about? No doubt about it, not a thing. Not a thing. I don't have anything. The only
reason I'm not a bumbling moron right now is by His grace. The
only reason I'm not in jail is by His grace. That's right. The
only reason that I'm not a murderer is by His grace. What on earth
is there to be proud about? What do you have you didn't receive?
If you received it, why do you boast? Boasters are fools. They're not believers. Proud
men are fools. They're not men of faith. Self-righteous fools. A very
shabby old man, very poor and very shabbily dressed, was working,
Spurgeon said, in a gentleman's garden with a group of laborers. Just a bunch of laborers working
in this flower garden and yard. And the gentleman came out and
was watching them work. He was particularly attracted
to this old, ragged, dirty, poor man. And he looked at him and
he thought, well, he's about my size. So he went in the house. Before the men left that afternoon,
he bundled up a suit of clothes and some shoes and a nice shirt
and a hat. And he brought it out and he
slipped it under the arm of that poor shabby workman. He said,
here's some things for you. Later, the gentleman saw this
man, this old man in the village. He was all dressed up. All dressed
up. And a gentleman walked up to
him and said, I hardly recognized you. He said, you're a different
man. You're just a different man.
He said, no sir. I'm not. I'm the same. I'm the same fella. I'm the same fella. I'm the same
beggar. It's just your clothes that make
me look so good. And that's true, there's no doubt
about it. It's His beauty. It's His grace. It's His love. It's His mercy.
And so I say to you, do you believe His Word? Him. All things are
in Him. He's Prophet, Priest, and King.
All and in all. And under every circumstance
and every occasion, it's the will of my Lord to accomplish
His glory, His purpose, and my good. Do you believe that? Preacher,
I do. There's no doubt about it. Then
you ascribe these fears and doubts to that old rotten flesh that
by God's grace, one of these days, you're going to put in
a tomb. And you won't be bothered with it no more. And we'll worship
Him like He ought to be worshipped and love Him like He ought to
be loved.