Those Who Dwell Inside the Veil

Q: What does the Bible say about the tearing of the temple veil?

The tearing of the temple veil signifies that the way to God's presence is now open for all believers through Christ's sacrifice. The tearing of the temple veil at the death of Christ, as recorded in Matthew 27:51, symbolizes the removal of the separation between God and humanity. In the Old Testament, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year, with the blood of sacrifices. This event shows that through Christ's atoning work, believers now have direct access to God. Hebrews 10:19-20 emphasizes this new and living way opened through Jesus, allowing all believers to approach God with boldness and confidence.

Q: How do we know that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for sin?

Christ's sacrifice was sufficient because it perfectly fulfilled the requirements of the law and put away sin forever for those who are sanctified. The sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice is affirmed in Hebrews 10:12, which states, 'But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.' Unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament, Christ's single offering is enough to completely atone for sin. His blood, shed on the cross, cleanses from all sin, as noted in 1 John 1:7. Believers are sanctified by this powerful sacrifice, and thus, there is no need for further offerings since Christ's atonement is perfect and everlasting.

Q: Why is Jesus called our High Priest?

Jesus is called our High Priest because He intercedes for us before God and offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice. In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as our High Priest, representing believers before God. As the perfect mediator, He not only intercedes for His people but also offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 4:14). Unlike the Old Testament priests, who were many and temporary, Christ's priesthood is eternal. His sacrifice, made once and for all, satisfies God's justice and allows believers to draw near to God with confidence, knowing that their sins have been forgiven.

Q: Why is having access to God important for Christians?

Access to God is vital for Christians as it allows direct communication, fellowship, and the assurance of forgiveness through Christ. Having access to God is a profound privilege for Christians that was made possible by Christ's atoning work. The veil was torn, signifying that believers no longer need a human mediator or high priest to approach God. Instead, as Hebrews 10:22 encourages, Christians are invited to draw near to God with a true heart and full assurance of faith. This access allows for genuine fellowship, prayer, and the assurance that one can come before God, knowing their sins are forgiven and that they are accepted in Christ. It emphasizes the relational aspect of salvation and encourages believers to approach God confidently.

Q: How do Christians approach God according to Hebrews?

Christians approach God with boldness and confidence, relying on the finished work of Christ. According to Hebrews 10:19-22, Christians are urged to approach God with boldness because of the new and living way established by Christ's sacrifice. This approach is not based on our merit but on the faithfulness of Christ. Believers are encouraged to come with a true heart, fully assured of God's acceptance through the blood of Christ, and to hold fast to their profession of faith without wavering. This understanding frees Christians from guilt and fear, allowing them to enjoy a close relationship with God and to fully partake in the richness of His grace.

Now let's look at Hebrews 10
for a little while tonight. I have four things that I want
to say in the main body of this message, but in leading up to
those four exhortations, I want to make a few introductory comments,
the first of which is this. Now there were many wonders and
miracles surrounding the death of our Lord on the cross. It's
not surprising to me at all that the sun should refuse to shine
when the Lord Jesus died. That is not in the least amazing. It's not amazing to me that the
earth should quake nor that the graves should open. The very
fact that the God of glory should condense Let an angel become
a worm and you don't have the condescension that you have when
Christ becomes a man. Let a butterfly become a maggot
and you don't have the condescension that our Lord should condescend
to be born of a woman. That he should be born under
the law, under his own, in subjection to his own law. That he should
be actually robed in human flesh It's beyond understanding. It's
beyond human comprehension. The eternal ancient of days becomes
an infant in the arms of a mother. When you think about that, anything
else fades into insignificance as far as wonders and miracles
and great signs are concerned that God should become a man.
Or that he should subject himself to the temptations of the flesh.
I know there's a lot of argument about the impeccability of Christ,
the possibility of his being able to sin and not sin, but
if we're not careful, we'll get carried away and forget the significance
of our Lord's trials and temptations. Let's listen to the Word and
believe the Word and preach the Word. He was tempted in all points,
as we are, yet without sin. and that he should subject himself
to temptation at all is a marvel and a wonder, or that he should
become a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and that he should
actually turn himself over into the hands of his creatures to
be spit upon, to be beaten, to be lied about, and finally to
be nailed to a cross between the lowest forms of humanity. The hymn writer says, O wondrous
love to bleed and die, to bear the cross of shame, that guilty
sinners such as I might plead his gracious name. Well might
the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in when God,
the mighty Maker, for man the creature's sin. Yes, there were
many wonders and miracles at the cross. And yet one of the
most significant miracles to take place at the death of our
Lord is recorded in Matthew 27, verse 50 and 51. I want you to
look at that. Matthew 27, verse 50 and 51. It says here that when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he yielded up the ghost. Now
listen. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain
from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the
rocks rent. And the veil in the temple was
rent in twain from the top to the bottom. This is one of the
most significant miracles. It carries more hope for you
and me than any other of the miracles that took place surrounding
his death. It opens for us the gospel if
we can understand what happened when that veil was torn in two.
Now while the temple stood with its ceremonies and its sacrifices,
while that temple stood The high priest, not all the people, not
all the priests, but the high priest, once a year would come
to the altar, slay the lamb, burn its body, take its blood,
go into the holy place, go about some sacrifices, and then finally,
only once a year, was he and no one else permitted to go under
that heavy, heavy veil that could not be torn by human hands under
that veil into the Holy of Holies, into that room in which God's
presence was manifested, into that room where was the Ark of
the Covenant overlaid with gold, the Mercy Seat. And once a year,
for his own sins and for the sins of the people, with the
blood atonement Signifying the sacrifice of our Lord he'd go
in under that veil into the awesome holy presence of the Living God
Put that blood on the mercy seat And then go out again, and you
look at Hebrews 9 a minute Hebrews chapter 9 and this tells you
what that's saying in Hebrews 9 verse 1 then verily the first
covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly
or material sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first wherein was the candlestick, the table, and the showbread
called the holy place or the sanctuary. And after the second
veil, after that heavy veil, the tabernacle which is called
the holiest of all, the holiest of all. which had the golden
censure and the art of the covenant, overlaid round about with gold,
wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that
budded, and the law, the tables of the covenant. And over it
the cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot
now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priests, plural, went always into the first tabernacle.
accomplishing the service of God, but into the sacrament,
under the veil, past the veil, into the presence of God, into
the Holy of Holies, the high priest alone, once every year,
not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins
of the people, The Holy Ghost, this signifying, this is what
he's showing, that the way into the holiest of all, into the
presence of God, was not yet made manifest while as the first
tabernacle was yet standing. That's what he's saying. Now,
that high priest is a picture of Christ. He's a type of Christ.
when he would go once a year into the Holy of Holies, into
the presence of the Father, and put the blood atonement on the
mercy. See, he's showing the sacrifice of our Lord, because
our Lord went not into the holy place made with hands, but into
heaven itself, into the presence of the Father, and not with the
blood of others, but with his own precious blood. And not that
he should offer himself often, as the high priest did every
year, but once in the end of the world hath he appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So when
he died, when his blood was shed, and when he cried, it's finished
on that cross, that heavy veil that had stood the years was
as if God himself reached down and took hold of the top of it,
was ripped into it. A little piece of it wasn't torn
off the corner. It wasn't taken down and folded
up to be put back up again. It wasn't torn from the bottom
to the top as if by accident. It was torn from the top to the
bottom. God ripped it aside, signifying what? All right, look
at Hebrews 10, what I read a moment ago. Four or five things. In verse 17, "...and their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more." Signifying, first of
all, that the sins which separated us from God are all gone. They're
all removed. David said, your sins have separated
you and God. Like a cloud, your sins are between
you and God. Like a cloud, your sins keep
you from God. They shut you out from God, as
sins shut Adam out of the Garden of Eden. But now, they're there
no more. God says, I will remember their sins no more. David said,
my sins are ever before me, but God didn't say they were before
him. Why, He said, our sins are cast away from us as far as the
east is from the west. He said, I will remember them
no more, no more. Our sins are gone. They're put
away. Completely put away. Now watch
this. Hebrews 10, go back. to the first part of Hebrews
10. It says in verse 2, in verse 1 says that these sacrifices
which Aaron and the sons of Levi and the priests made, they couldn't,
the last line, make their comers down to perfect. They couldn't
put away sin, for then would they not have ceased to be offered?
Sure they would have. If that atonement, say a hundred
years before Christ was born, or a thousand years, if that
one atonement could have put away sin, they'd have never offered
another one. The people, if I look at the
next verse, the next line, "...because the worshipers once purged would
have no more conscience of sin." No more sin if it was purged
and put away. It wouldn't be there anymore.
But now, in these sacrifices, there's a remembrance of sin
made every year. Every time the high priest brought
the blood atonement, it just reminded Israel that they had
sinned, had sinned, had sinned. But our Lord, in one offering,
put our sins away, and that veil was just torn in two, ripped
apart, because we don't have any sin between us and God anymore.
They're gone. They're put away. All right,
look at verse 18. Verse 18 says, now where remission
of sin is, where forgiveness is, where purging has been accomplished,
where sin has been put away, there's no more offering for
sin. That's what he's saying. When he ripped the veil in two,
he's saying they don't have any more sin. They don't have any
more sin. There's nothing separating me
from my people and my people from me. It's open door now.
And we don't need this veil anymore. There's no sacrifice to bring
unto the Holy of Holies. The ultimate sacrifice has been
offered. The sacrifice of which all the
sacrifices as a type have been offered. And there's no more
sacrifice to be offered, so there's no more need of the picture down
here. It's been accomplished. All right?
Thirdly, verse 19. Having, therefore, because we
don't have any sin and because we don't have any sacrifice anymore
to offer, no more sacrifice for sin, because Christ has perfected
us further. Therefore, brethren, brethren
now, you'll find in the New Testament, not one time is an officer of
a New Testament church called a priest, not one time. They're called deacons, they're
called elders, they're called bishops, they're called pastors,
they're called evangelists, never priests. There is no such thing
as in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ as such a thing
as a priest as far as an officer is concerned or representative.
You know who the priests are? Every believer. Every single
person here, the youngest believer in Christ, the least believer
in Christ, the most unworthy believer in Christ, is a priest.
But we have a high priest. Christ is our high priest. So
he calls us brethren. He says, therefore brethren,
brethren, grace is the leveler. John the Baptist, he says, is
the greatest born of woman, because of his office, because of his
calling, because of his ministry. But he, this least, is greater
than he in the kingdom of heaven. There are no great ones. We're
all little ones. Little ones. Suffer the little
ones to come unto me and forbid them not. That's where you come
to Christ. But we're brethren. Though brethren, not priests
come into the holy, but brethren. You have boldness. Liberty is
the word. To enter into the holiest, and
we're not talking about Moses' tabernacle either, we're talking
about, what are we talking about? The very presence of God. I don't
think we realize what a tremendous miracle this is. What a tremendous
blessing. Let people stand around and wonder
about the rocks renting and the earth quaking and the sun covered
in darkness and all these things, but to me the miracle of miracles
At the cross of Christ is when God tore that veil in two. And
God said, come on in. Every one of you believers, come
on in. Well, back in the Old Testament,
men were turned to lepers for venturing inside that holy place.
Back in the Old Testament, they pulled them out dead by the heels
who dared to go into that holy place. And now God tells me,
not a son of Avon, not a tribe of Levi, Me, the chief of sinners,
come on in, come on in, with boldness, liberty, brethren,
into the holiest, into the holiest. All right, the fourth thing,
verse 20. But by a new and living way. Don't you go back there
and put that veil back up. Don't you go back there and restore
that furniture and tabernacle. Don't you go back there and pick
up those old feast days and Sabbath days and holy days and ceremonies
by a new and living way, a living way, not a representative way,
a living way, which He hath consecrated, now made, new made for us through
the veil, that is to say, the new way is Christ. Christ is
the door. The only access that a sinner
has to the Father is through the door, Jesus Christ. God will
not be approached any other way. Anybody that climbs up any other
way is a thief and a robber, and God will cast him out. Now
this is the way to come. When God rent that veil in two,
he says, come with boldness into my presence, anyone but this
new way. by Christ, not by your burning
candles and not by your superstitious crosses and so forth, and not
by a representative down here on the earth, but you come by
Christ. He is able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God through him and by him. Now fifth thing,
verse 21, and having a high priest. Oh yes, oh yes. The priesthood has just changed
hands. I'm a priest, you're a priest,
we're a holy priesthood, but we also have a high priest, and
that high priest is over the house of God, and that high priest
is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our high priest.
He intercedes for us, just like the priest of the Old Testament.
There were many of them. There were many of them because
they died. And somebody else had to take their place. There
were many of them because their ministry covered many years,
many decades, many centuries, even two millenniums. And so
there were many of them, but only one Christ. And their office
was temporary. His is an eternal priesthood.
And they died, but He ever lives. And they offered many sacrifices.
He only won. And they offered the sacrifice
of another. He offered His own blood. And
their sacrifices could never sanctify His sanctified once
for all. And they never sat down because
they were never finished. When He offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, He sat down on the right hand of God, having
finished His work. And as that Old Testament priest
would go into the Holy of Holies with the names of Israel written
on his hands or his breastplate, Christ our Lord as our great
high priest stands in the presence of the Father now with the name
of every believer in his hands. No, our Lord's not making an
effort to intercede for anybody. He's interceding for a special
people. He knows who they are, and they
know who they are, as He's pleased to reveal Himself to them. And
those who refuse Him, refuse the only access to God. Come through Christ, and come
freely. Refuse Christ, and there stands
between you and God that inseparable veil that'll never be removed.
But in Christ, you know where you are right now? You're seated
within the veil. That's right. Now these next
few verses, I want you to watch this. So, all of this being true,
now here, when that veil was rent in two, five tremendous
themes and truths. First, their sins will I remember
no more. Listen to me. Take heart, weak
believer. In God's eyes, you have not one
sin. That's what it says. Now look
at verse 17. Is God's word true? Their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now if Christ, if the
blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin, we're cleansed.
If Christ put our sins away, they're put away. If God says
I'll remember them no more, he means I'll remember them no more.
And I'll tell you this, if that were not true, you couldn't come
into his holy presence. Because when his son on the cross
bore not his sins, but our sins, God turned his back on him. You
say, the Bible says if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just
to forgive us. Why? Because you confessed them?
No, sir, because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses
us from all sin. I tell you, you better be careful.
You'll find yourself, Satan is a very deceptive, crafty, subtle
character, and I'm telling you, he'll deceive you into hell if
you're not careful. If you think for one moment that you sinned
today and you bowed your head and prayed and God forgave you
because you prayed, you're in a mess. God forgave you because
Christ died for you. So we'd better get that straightened
out. Prayer is not a remission for sin. The blood is. The blood
makes atonement for the soul, not prayer. And I'll make up
for what I've done wrong by doing something good. I tell you, now this justification
is either by the grace of God or it's by your works. It's no
mixture. It's pure grace or pure works. Paul tried to tell us
that. That's where our theology is all gummed up today. Christ
died and saved us. Now we do all these different
things and God accepts us. Let me tell you this. Outside
of Christ and His blood, you are as filthy and wicked and
abominable in God's sight as any devil that lives in hell.
That's so, and I am too. You're a vomiting dog and a wallowing
sow and a wiggling maggot in the sight of God Almighty, for
in the flesh no man can please God. And you can go through all
your piety and righteousness and holier-than-thou religiosity
and God will send you to hell if you don't somehow come by
faith, Spirit-led, to a knowledge of and trust in and hope in the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son. Now that's so. I don't have to make it any plainer.
But that's the way it is. And God never has forgiven anybody
anything because he prayed. He forgives them because the
blood of Christ makes atonement for the soul. Now I don't know
how to straighten that out for you. You'll just have to ask
the Holy Spirit to straighten it out or make it understandable
to you. But I do know this, that salvation
is by grace, grace alone. No works enters in in any shape,
form, or fashion. And God sees Christ and God sees
me. And where remission is, there's
no more sacrifice, no more sacrifice. My sins are either gone or they're
not gone. They're put away or they're not
put away. They're cleansed or they're not cleansed. one or
the other. And if they're not, I'm in bad
shape because it says there's no more offering, Joe. Christ
didn't put them away when he died. I'm in bad shape. There's
no more offering. Now, you can run down to the
Catholic Church next Sunday morning at 6 a.m. to early mass and watch
that fellow go through all that paraphernalia, turning that wine
into the blood and turning that wafer into the body And I said,
you might call that a sacrifice, but there's no more sacrifice
for sin. There's no more offering. There's
one been made. And if you're not in that offering,
if you're not in that atonement, if you're not in that sacrifice,
if you're not in that act of God, you're out. That's what
he says. There's no more offering. And if I'm in that, if my sins
are put away by the blood, if my sins have been remitted and
purged, then come on in, God says. Come on in. Come on in. Brethren, brethren, come on in. But you better come by that new
and living way. That's Christ and His flesh.
And remember that you have a high priest over the house of God
that makes your prayers holy. though they're unholy, and makes
your religious deeds holy though they're unholy. Realizing those
five things, here are four things I wish to say. Number, verse
22, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Now is it possible, listen to
me just a minute, I wrote this down, I looked at it again and
again and again, I'm still looking at it. that a man who has been blessed
with the greatest privilege of all, access to the presence of
God. Access to the presence of God.
There was a day when nobody but Aaron had that. There was a day
when nobody but the high priest had that once a year. Access
to the presence of God. Is it possible that a man who
has been blessed with the greatest privilege of all, access to the
presence of God, should have to be exhorted to avail himself
of that privilege? Huh? Yes. Yes. And you know why? And here's
why. I started to say no when I wrote that down. I started
to say, if a man is saved, he knows he has that, but then I
got to thinking. Perhaps our sense of sinfulness, huh? Yeah,
that's right. Perhaps our sense of unworthiness. Perhaps our sense of weakness. Perhaps our awareness that we're
going to sin again. That's right. Don't look down
your nose. Perhaps that makes us reluctant
to claim this blessed privilege. Oh, I know the religious fellow,
you know, that thinks he's holy and perfect and good and all
that sort of thing, and God ought to be honored that he should
grace the presence of God with his presence. I know he rushes
into the presence of God, but the man that really knows himself
and the woman who really knows herself and is aware of their
unworthiness and weakness and sinfulness and aware of the fact
they'll sin again, they're a little bit reluctant even to claim this
blessed privilege. But Paul waxing boldly says,
let us, brethren, let us, you and me, let us, the weakest Sinfulest,
the lowest, the least. Come boldly. Huh? Come boldly. Not in your merit. Not in your righteousness. But
in Christ. You come. Let us. That's right. I don't care how weak and sinful
and infirm you are. Let us! Who trust the blood. Believe on Christ who rests in
him. Let us come boldly with a true
heart. What's a true heart of faith?
It's a sincere heart. That's what it is. Insincerity
will damn you a lot quicker than drunkenness. Insincerity will
damn you quicker than murder because God saved murderers,
but he don't save hypocrites. Insincerity will damn you a lot
faster than treason, because God saves some traitors, but
he never saved a hypocrite. Let's come boldly, boldly. Let
us come boldly with a true heart, with a sincere heart. Come like
you are. If we deny our sins, God will
deal with us in judgment. If we confess our sin, God deals
with us in mercy. You see that? Come like you are.
Quit playing. Quit playing holy. Quit playing
religion. God looks on the heart. He's
not paying a bit of attention to how low you bow and how many
times you bow. God's looking on the heart. That's
the reason Peter said, Lord, you know all things. You know
I love you. I don't need to tell you that.
I don't need to tell you that. You come with a true heart. God
already knows it. He knows all about it. He's there.
He's with you all the time. And come in full assurance, come
with a true heart in full assurance that the Lord loves Christ, and
because He loves Christ, He loves you. The Lord God of glory is
satisfied with Christ, and because He's satisfied with Christ, He's
satisfied with you. Outside of Christ, He's never
satisfied with you. In the flesh, no man can please
God. God's not pleased with anything this flesh ever has done, is
doing, or ever will do. But God's satisfied with Christ.
This is my Son. In Him I'm well pleased. God
never said that about any son of Adam. You come in full assurance
having your heart sprinkled from an evil conscience. I see the
Old Testament priest taking the blood and sprinkling the book.
And sprinkling the priest, and sprinkling the altar, and sprinkling
the tabernacle, sprinkling the people to make them holy with
the blood. Christ has sprinkled my heart
with his blood and made it as holy as God's heart. That's right. Made it as holy as himself. That's
right. Holy and without blame. That's
what he says in his words. and your body washed with pure
water, not baptismal water. This is the Word. This is the
Spirit of God that sanctifies and makes us holy. I see that
old high priest as he's going to go into the presence of God,
and first thing he does, he washes his body clean with water, and
he puts on clean clothes. He doesn't have a spot of dirt
on him. He's clean shaven, and he's getting ready to go into
God's presence. And he takes the blood. He's
got the two ingredients that lets him in. He's got the blood
and he's got sanctification. And you know how I'm going to
get in there. Boy, I'll tell you, I can wash this old flesh.
Old Job said, what did he say? Wash it with lye water or something
like that. That would burn, wouldn't it?
But it wouldn't burn deep enough. It wouldn't burn out the impurity
of heart and conscience and mind. That's right, it wouldn't burn
deeper now. If I washed my hands with soap, they'd still plunge
me in the ditch. But I have in Christ the two
ingredients that are necessary to come into God's presence.
I'm washed in the blood, I'm washed with the pure water of
his Word and of his Spirit, and I'm sanctified. And he says,
let us come boldly. into the presence of God. Now,
do it. He sells you to do it. Do it. Dare to do it. Dare to come like
a son into the presence of the Father. It pleases Him. And let me tell you this, it
doesn't please Him when you cast a doubt on His grace. It doesn't. I know we're timid and unworthy
and all that sort of thing, you know, and we're humble, you know. We say we are. Well, we are not.
But we kind of stand outside the door, and that doesn't please
the Lord. That puts a question mark on His grace, on His mercy. But how pleased He is when that
old sinner comes bold and says, Lord, I believe You. I believe
what You said. I believe what You said. I believe
what You said! Yes, I do. I believe Your mercy
is unlimited. I believe Your blood is effectual. I believe your grace can save
to the uttermost even me!" And God says, bless you, my son.
You glorified my grace. You glorified my grace. And then
look at the second thing. Let us come, let's draw near.
And the second thing, verse 23, it says, let's hold fast. Having all of this beauty here,
let's not only come into His presence, let's hold fast the
profession of our faith. without wavering. Now, he's saying
here, the things you have believed, keep on believing them. Keep
on believing. This is the thing that's disturbing
to me. I just weep over this as you
watch people, as you watch them slip through their fingers the
things that they used to claim to hold so fast. Doesn't that
bother you? That troubles me more than anything in the world.
I see a man who says he lays hold on Christ, and next thing
you know, he doesn't hold it fast. He lets it slip. Now there may be an advance or
a change in politics. I think there ought to be. We
go from bad government to good government or from the feudal
system to the republic. There may be a change in education.
There may be a change in medicine. But there can be no change and
no advance in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the same.
Yesterday, today, and forever. Now, you might learn a little
more about it, but it's all right here. It's all right here. Give me the apostolic faith.
I want no new revelations. I want no new theology. I want
no advanced thinking. I want no new revelations from
some religious organization. I want no one to say, well, that's
what Paul said in his day, we're living in a different day. Christ
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hold to the apostolic
faith. That's another one of Satan's
deceptive devices to make you think you're smarter than Paul
was. We're living in a different day, that's right. But sin's
the same, and God's the same, and hell's the same, and heaven's
the same, and the Bible's the same, and flesh is the same. It's just wearing different style
clothes now, that's all. You hold fast to your apostolic
faith. You hold fast to the Word of
God. You hold fast to your hope in
Christ. And when He shall appear, we're
going to be like Him. It never changes. There's change
in all these other areas, but not here. Not here. I want a
first century faith. I want the faith that God talked
about through Paul and Isaiah and Abraham and Moses. And then
verse 24, the third exhortation. Let's draw near. Let's hold fast. And look at that parenthesis
there in verse 23. Let's hold. He's faithful. This
is what Cecil was praying a while ago. Thank God that he's faithful. You may not be, but he is. That's
what Abraham rest his whole faith upon, that what God said, he'd
do. That's the whole story of Abraham. Look at Romans, just a moment.
That's a summary of Abraham's faith, the whole thing. It says
right here, watch here, verse 20 and 21 of Romans 4. Here's
a summary of Abraham's whole faith. This whole thing. You might talk about how long
you've served the Lord and all these things, but Abraham, this
is a summary of his faith. Right here, Romans 4, verse 20. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, and he was fully persuaded that what God had promised,
he was able to do. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. That's the whole summary of his faith. He believed
God. Do you? Verse 24, let's consider
one another. Now listen to me here a minute.
Will you listen a minute? Let's consider one another as
men and women. Don't ever forget this. We are
human beings of like passions and infirmities and none are
without fault. There's not a person out there
without fault. And we need to make allowances for this. Love
covers a multitude of infirmities. Let's consider one another as
people. People. Now, someday we're going
to be perfect, but we're not yet. And let's consider one another
that. Now, secondly, let's consider
one another as saints, redeemed by the blood of Christ, partakers
of the same grace, loved with the same love, redeemed by the
same Lord, children of the same Father. I'm not above you in
the family of God, we're brethren. And you're not above me or the
fellow sitting next to you. You're not love. You know, somebody's
always said, Lord, draw us nearer to thyself. You couldn't be any
nearer than you are if you're in Christ. Now, you draw nigh to God, but
now wait a minute. You couldn't be any nearer than
what you are. God doesn't love some of his children a whole
lot and some of them less and some of them less. He loves them
all the same. And they're all in his heart
and in his hand. And we're all, let's consider
one another. Then third, let's consider one another as members
of the same body. We have gifts differing according
to God's will, but we each one need the other. We each one need
the other. Now watch this. Let us consider
one another to provoke unto love. Spurgeon said this, listen, he
had a sense of humor, he read this scripture one night to his
church, let us consider one another to provoke, and he says they
stop right there. I fear that some consider one
another just to provoke. They observe a brother's tender
spot in order to criticize and find fault, they observe a brother's
weakness, they observe a brother's failure in order to criticize
and find fault, and this is evil. He says, let us consider one
another, not just to provoke one another, but to provoke one
another to love and good works. Let us love one another, and
by loving one another, encourage one another. And let's not look
for the evil in one another, but let's look for the grace
of God in one another, and then overlook the rest. Isn't that
good? Let's look for the grace of God
in one another and then overlook the rest. And then last of all,
verse 25, "...not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together."
Now, I changed the wording a little bit. Having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near, let us hold fast the profession
of our faith, let us consider one another to provoke one another
to love and good work, and let us assemble together. There are
three reasons for assembling together. Three reasons. I close with this. One is on
account of God, who appointed and commanded it. He said, where
two or three are met in my name, I'll be in their midst. He wrote
in Acts chapter 2, verse 41 through 47 about the early church, that
they continued in fellowship And they continued in one accord,
and they continued in breaking of bread from house to house,
praising God and having favor with all the people. God commanded
it. Secondly, let us assemble together,
not only on account of God, but on account of one another. Believers
need one another. The Lord kept his disciples together.
Even when he sent them out to preach, he sent them out never
alone. Did you ever notice that? Two
by two. We need each other in order to
be encouraged, to be edified, to be comforted, to be instructed. And then thirdly, let us assemble
together on account of God, on account of one another, and on
account of other people. We need to be identified with
the things of God. And I'm talking about more than
just with our mouths. We need to be identified with
the things of God, with the gospel of Christ, with the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ, with the people of God, with those at
least who are professing his name. We need to be identified
with them. They may not think just like
you do, they may not dress just like you do, they may not In
all of their habits be just like you But if they love Christ and
his word and are a holy happy honest people be identified with
them Be identified with them You can't stand alone You can't
stand alone everywhere Paul went in preaching. He looked up the
church. It didn't everywhere He went he went and he looked
up the people of God Oh that church at Corinth was boy. They
had some characters in there, but he looked them up And all
these Galatians, they had all these Judaizers in there, and
they were split over law and gospel, but Paul looked them
up. He didn't say, well, they're not straight, you know, on the
church, or they're not straight on prophecy, or they're not straight
on something. You are, you know, we're straight,
but they're not straight, and so we can't fellowship with them.
I'll tell you this. If the people of God are meeting
together, praising His name and glorifying Christ and preaching
the gospel, and I can't fellowship with them, somebody's not in
Christ. And I don't think it's them.
I think it's me. And all those folks out there
who can't find any place to go to church, can't find any people
that suits them to the T, and does everything like they think
they ought to do it, that person is a hypocrite. That's right,
he's a hypocrite. He doesn't know the Lord. Because
you go through the Bible and you'll find the Apostle Paul,
even when Peter went over there with those Jews against his teaching,
Paul never left. He never withdrew his letter
and ran off somewhere else. He went over there and Peter
said, you're wrong, bud, but we're still brothers. But you're
wrong, but we're still brothers. I get so tired of people quitting
church, getting offended at the preacher, getting offended at
this person, getting offended at that person. I tell you, one
fellow over in Winston-Salem, Joe, I was over there one time,
I don't know whether you know, dear, but he might get this taste,
better not call his name, but anyway, he came to hear me preach.
I said, you still worshiping over at that church? No, I quit.
I said, why'd you quit? He said, you know what that preacher
said? I said, what'd he say? He said that preacher said that
that wine that they used in the New Testament was fermented.
I said, he did. He said, he sure did. Now you
think about that. I said, well, brother, there
ain't no other kind of wine but fermented wine. Boy, his chin
dropped clear down here on his tie, you know. I said, that's
right. Grape juice is not wine. It's
just plain old fermented wine. But he quit church over that.
I could stand up here tonight and tell you dozens and dozens
and dozens of illustrations of people who withdrew their fellowship
from the people of God because of some little insignificant
thing like that. Something somebody said, something
somebody did. Let me tell you this, I say it
to everybody who does that, you've missed Christ. That's all there
is to it. One of the two, you're either
a babe who needs to be taught and spanked or you don't know
Christ. Because people who know Christ
want to be identified with the things of Christ and the people
of Christ and the gospel of Christ. And brother, I'll tell you this,
if you're eating at the table of the Lord and he's fed you
with some good food, you'll be a mighty hesitant about leaving
that table and going down and slopping at those hogs. Isn't
that right? You'll be mighty hesitant. You'll
be careful you don't leave the table of the Lord. He just might
let you slop with the hogs a little while. He might let you, like
the dog, return to his vomit, or the pig to wallow in the sow.
And then I'll tell you this, we need each other because we
can do things together for the glory of Christ we never could
do separately. We need every one of you to have
these missionaries out there, to have this television program,
to have this service tonight, to have these lights burning,
to help people with assistance and all these things. We can't
do that alone. We can't do it alone. Christ said, My church
will stand. The gates of hell will not prevail
against it. He's going to have his church
and his people, his church. And the church is not the building,
it's his people. They're going to be together. And they're going
to pray together and sing together and praise God together and preach
together and support missionaries together. And they're going to
do that. His people are. And God's going to bless them.
And I'll tell you, I count it one of the greatest privileges
God's ever given a human being to be part of. I'm glad I'm here,
aren't you? And I ain't going to get mad
and quit. I'm not going to get mad and quit. Our Father in Heaven, Thank you
for your word and for your presence. Thank you for this church. Thank
you for your people. What an encouragement, what a
fellowship, what a joy divine together leaning on the everlasting
arm. What strength, what happiness.
Only be exceeded by that blessed time when we'll stand in thy
presence and we'll be perfect. But here, O Lord, grant that
we may understand and know ourselves, that we might forgive and love,
and with real patience and tenderness and longsuffering, walk together
in the beauty of unity, the unity of Thy Spirit and Thy grace.
We pray these things in Christ's name, for His sake. Amen.

Those Who Dwell Inside the Veil

What does the Bible say about the tearing of the temple veil?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for sin?

Why is Jesus called our High Priest?

Why is having access to God important for Christians?

How do Christians approach God according to Hebrews?

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Those Who Dwell Inside the Veil

What does the Bible say about the tearing of the temple veil?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for sin?

Why is Jesus called our High Priest?

Why is having access to God important for Christians?

How do Christians approach God according to Hebrews?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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