Boldness at the Throne

This could be the most important
message that you'll ever hear. I'm confident of that. I want you to listen carefully
to every word I say today. Now just put aside whatever you
have to do, whatever you think is important, and you sit down
and you listen to this message. Will you do that? The subject
is this, boldness at the throne of God. boldness at the throne
of God now listen to the text it's found in Hebrews 10 verse
19 and part of verse 22 having therefore brethren boldness to
enter into the holiest into the holiest into the presence of
God right into the very presence of the high and holy God of glory
having boldness that's right you and me to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance." Now, boldness and assurance, those
are the two words that I want to look at first. Now, boldness
and assurance in religion is not hard to find. It's everywhere. You'll find boldness and assurance
in religion everywhere. In fact, men speak of their relationship
with the Holy Living God in the most familiar terms. Let me tell
you some of the terms that I've heard just lately. Me and Jesus
have a good thing going. That's pretty familiar, isn't
it? Listen to this one. I just had a little talk with
Jesus. Listen to this one. Somebody,
somebody up there likes me. How about this one? If anybody
makes it, Lord, surely I will. You can't get any bolder than
that. You can't get any more presumptuous than that. If anybody,
Paul, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, if any of them make it, I will.
How about this one? Build me a mansion next door
to Jesus. And we're not willing to live
two blocks from Him. We're going to live right next door to Him.
And tell all the angels that I am coming home. Yes, sir? You can find plenty of boldness,
and plenty of assurance, and plenty of confidence, and plenty
of presumption in religion today. In fact, as you go through the
scripture, you'll meet with a lot of this. One day a rich young
ruler stood face to face with the Son of God himself, who gave
him the law of God, the perfect, immaculate, immutable law of
God. And that young man listened to
it, and he replied, Well, I've kept all these from my youth
up. One day a religious Pharisee came into the temple of God and
walked right down to the altar and lifted his eyes and hands
to heaven and said, Thank you, Lord. I'm not like other men. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I fast and tithe
and give alms to the poor. And he pointed to an old publican
standing afar off and said, Thank you, Lord. I'm not like that
sinner. That's bold. And then one day
at the judgment, our Lord said, many, even at the judgment, even
when life is over and death is finished and the judgment has
come and God's on His throne and Christ is judging the nation,
there's people going to stand there and argue with Him. You
talk about boldness, you talk about presumption. They're going
to say, why Lord, we prophesied in Your name and we cast out
devils in Your name and we did many wonderful works in Your
name. Yes, sir. boldness and assurance is not
hard to find. And then I'll tell you something
else. I don't detect too much humility today or backwardness
on the part of people. I don't detect too much humility
on the part of people to express their opinion on the Word of
God. They'll tell you, I don't believe that. I just don't believe. Or I believe this, but I don't
believe that. Or this is my opinion. I don't care what Paul said,
this is what I think. And then I don't detect much backwardness
on the part of people just to rush into the presence of God.
Just any time, any way, in any attitude, just rush into God's
presence and say a few words, you know, and rush out. They
have more respect for the mayor of the town, or the governor
of the state, and especially the president of the United States,
than they have for God Almighty. And I don't detect much humility
on the part of people that claim a familiarity with the living
God. Nor do I detect much humility on the part of people to boast
and brag about their part in the kingdom of God. They're like
the old Pharisees of old who said, we be Abraham's seed and
were never in bondage to any man. And our Lord said, if you
were Abraham's seed, you would love me. You love your father,
the devil. That's a serious charge, isn't
it? Well, let me be perfectly frank with you now. I'll be perfectly
honest with you and tell you just exactly how I feel in my
heart. I want no part, no part at all of this empty, vain, presumptuous
religious show of 1977. I want no part of it. I claim no association with it
whatsoever. But I am interested in this.
I'm interested in knowing the living God. I'm interested in
this boldness that Paul talks about here, this boldness, this
holy boldness. This holy boldness to enter into
the holiest, I'm interested in that. I'm interested. I'm interested
in entering the presence of the holy God. I'd like to walk with
God as Enoch walked with God, wouldn't you? Enoch walked with
God. And I'd like to be called the
friend of God, as Abraham. Abraham was called the friend
of God. And I'd like to know God as Paul knew Him, wouldn't
you? I know whom I have believed. And I'd like to be a son of God,
as John was a son of God, and a bondslave of Jesus Christ,
as Paul was a bondslave. No, I'm not interested in this
empty, presumptuous, idle, foolish vanity that's called religion
today. I don't even want to be associated with it. But I want
to know God. I want to know Christ. I want
to walk with the living God. I want this holy boldness to
enter into the holiest, to come before the throne of His grace,
the throne of His majesty, the throne of His glory, the throne
of His holiness, and find mercy and grace to help me in my time
of need. Well, where does one get this
boldness? Where does one get this boldness? Well, I'll tell
you this, it's not based on our having kept the law. The rich
young man claimed that. He was a liar, but he claimed
it anyway. And that's not where you find it because all have
sinned and come short of God's glory. And you're not going to
find your way into the holy presence of God boasting about the laws
which you have kept and the goodness that you have done and the morality
that you have produced. You're not going to find your
way into God's presence that way because you'll be weighed
in the balances and found wanting just like old Belshazzar of old.
And I'll tell you this, this boldness is not based on any
righteousness that we can produce, as the Pharisee boasted. Why
Lord, I'm not like other men. I do this, that, and the other.
I tithe and fast and give on. That's not going to get you into
God's presence. Because Isaiah said, your righteousness is a
filthy rag. The best deed you have ever done,
it has enough sin in it to send you to hell. That's so. Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. In my flesh. In the flesh no
man can please God. All of our righteousnesses are
filthy rags. The only reason our prayers get
to God is because Christ makes them holy. That's right. The only reason, the only reason
that our worship ever is accepted is because it's accepted in the
Beloved, in Christ. And I'll tell you something else.
It's not because of the good works you've done that are going
to get you into the holiest of all, into the presence of God.
That won't get you there. Lord, I gave a dime to a beggar.
Will you hear me? No, sir. No, sir. Well, Lord,
I fasted last week and did without food and water for ten days.
Will you hear me? No, sir. Well, Lord, I gave a tithe to
the church all my life. A tithe from the time I was a
paperboy. At fourteen years of age, and here I am seventy-five,
and I've helped your kingdom and helped your people and supported
your missionaries. Will you hear me? No, sir. No, sir. That's
not going to do it. Well, where is this boldness?
Where does it come from? How does one get it? Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, into the holiest. Where does it come from? Three
things. Now, you remember this, and this
will help you. I said to you, this is the most important sermon
you'll ever hear. Because getting into God's presence is what it's
all about. Fellowship with Him is what it's all about. Accepted
in Him, in the Beloved, is what it's all about. Communion with
God is what it's all about. Being able to say, My Father,
is what it's all about. That's right. Getting into the
presence of God. Look at Hebrews 10, verse 19. to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus. Look at verse 27. Having boldness
to enter into the holiest, having our hearts sprinkled and our
bodies washed with pure water. Look at verse 21. Having boldness
to enter into the holiest, having a high priest over the house
of God. There it is. There it is. Come
to God because of the blood, because of the high priest. because
of the washing. Come to the throne because of
the blood, because of the high priest, because of the washing.
Come for mercy, come for grace, come and dine because of the
blood, because of the high priest, because of the washing of regeneration.
Let's take those one at a time and look at them. Now, first
of all, Paul said there in verse 19, Brethren, you have boldness,
a right, a privilege to come into the holiest right into the
presence of God by the blood of Jesus. Now friends, from the
book of the beginning, that's Genesis, from the book of the
beginning all the way to Calvary, no man dared, no man dared to
come into the presence of God without a blood sacrifice. No
man dared do it. The scripture says without the
shedding of blood there's no forgiveness for anyone. No forgiveness. The scripture says in Leviticus
17 11, It is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. The Word
of God declares in Exodus 12, 13, when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. Not when I see your good work,
but when I see the blood. In 1 Peter 1, 18, the scripture
says we're not redeemed with corruptible things, the silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. You start in
the book of Genesis and go all the way through the Old Testament
and follow that trail of blood. All the way from the Garden of
Eden, when Adam and Eve fell, when they sinned, and they discovered
they were naked, and they began to take fig leaves and make themselves
aprons to cover their nakedness, and God said that won't do. It's
a self-made covering. It's a temporary covering. It's
not a permanent covering. And it'll decay and wither and
rot and fall. And God slew an animal, and that
was the first shedding of blood on the face of this earth. The
first death. The first blood shed was shed
to cover our sins. And it pictured Christ, the slain
lamb who shed his blood, who gave to us a perfect covering
and a perfect righteousness. And then you come on to Abel's
offering. Abel came to the altar and he brought an animal, the
first thing of the flock. And he slew that animal and put
its blood on the altar. And God accepted his sacrifice.
Because it says Calvary. It says Christ. It says substitution. It says death for life. It says
the innocent for the guilty. And right down the way here,
his brother, Cain, brought an offering. But he didn't bring
the blood. His brother, Cain, brought the fruit of the field.
His brother, Cain, brought the things that he had raised with
his own hands and with the sweat of his brow. He was proud of
it. He'd done a good job. He'd raised some beautiful apples
and beautiful tomatoes and beautiful corn. And he brought them to
God. All of his good works and all of his efforts He crowned
his efforts by bringing the best to God. God wouldn't have it.
Because without the shedding of blood, there's no remission.
It's the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. And you bring your
good works, and you bring your religious efforts, and you bring
all of your sacrifices you want to, and God will turn them down
just like he turned down Cain's offering. Cain got so mad he
killed his brother, and that's what brought religious persecution
through the years. It's the blood. It separates
the believer from the unbeliever. It separates the righteous from
the unrighteous. It separates the sons of God
from the sons of evil. It's the blood that makes the
difference. And you come on down to Israel and Egypt, when God
would lead them out of Egypt, He told them to put that blood
on the door. And He said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over
you. Not when I see your determination, not even when I see your faith,
when I see the blood. It's Christ that makes the difference.
It's Christ that saves. It's not faith that saves. It's
Christ that saves. Faith didn't die for you, Christ
did. It's the blood that make of atonement for the soul. That's
right. You won't be saved without faith. It's faith in Christ,
faith that brings us to Christ and receiving Christ. But it's
Him, it's the Lord Himself that redeems sinners by the shedding
of His blood. And that old high priest would
crawl under the veil once a year out yonder in the tabernacle
in the wilderness and take the blood and put it on the mercy
seat. That ark of God that was covered
over with gold, the mercy seat, inside it the broken law. And
he put that blood once a year on that mercy seat, and it was
a picture of Christ dying. Christ, our Lord, instituted
the Lord's Supper before he went to the cross, and he broke the
bread, and he said, this is my body broken for you. And then
he held out the wine, and he said, this is my blood, which
is shed for the remission of sins, the forgiveness of sins.
This is it. Here's where it is. Life in the
blood. There's life in the blood. There's a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners All kind of sinners,
sinners of every nation, triad, kindred, and tongue unto heaven,
sinners, not good people, not religious people, not moral people,
sinners, plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty
stain. That old dying thief rejoiced
to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, that's right,
though vile as he, though vile as he, wash all my sins away. Dear dying Lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more. Call it what you will. Call it
first century ancient foolishness, but the preaching of the cross
has always been, is now, and always will be foolishness to
them who are perishing. Call it a slaughterhouse religion
if you want to, but what can wash away my sins? Nothing, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
nothing but the blood of Jesus. No man, and I want to be understood
perfectly clear here now, no man, no man, ancient or modern,
no man can come to God, to a holy God, to a just God, to a righteous
God. He can come to his idols, he
can come to his self-made gods, he can come to the peanut gods
of this world, but he can't come to the holy God, the just God,
the righteous God, without a suitable sacrifice, without a without
a sacrifice of blood, and that sacrifice is Christ. Listen to
Hebrews 9, 12. By his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, not made with hands, but into
heaven itself, and obtained eternal redemption for us. Yes, sir. You come on to the throne of
God, you're welcome. You come on right to the bosom
of God, you're welcome. You come on, right to the heart
of God. You're welcome. You come on, sinner. That's right.
You out there drunk, sinful, evil, wicked. I don't care what
your past is. Though your sin be as scarlet,
he said, I'll make them white as snow by the blood. That's
right. You come on. Though your sin
be red like scarlet or crimson, I'll make them white as snow.
That's what he said. Come unto me, all you that labor and are
heavy laden. I'll give you rest. But don't you come except by
the blood. Don't you come. Don't you come
any other way except by the blood of Christ. Boldness to enter
into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. He's able to save to
the uttermost them that come to God by him. All right, point
number two. Now listen. We have boldness to enter into
the holiest by the blood, and having a high priest over the
house of God, let us draw near. Now you listen to me. He said,
Preacher, do we have a high priest today? Yes, sirree, we do. He's
not in Rome. He's in glory. That's right.
And during that, when that Old Testament tabernacle stood in
the wilderness, the people of Israel would not dare enter into
the holiest. No, sir. They wouldn't enter
into the holiest, into the presence of God. They had a representative
who was called the high priest of God. That's right. They weren't
welcome. They couldn't come. There was
a veil. that separated that holy place, 15 by 15 by 15, and in
there was the Ark of the Covenant, and the Broken Law, and Moses
rod that budded, and the manna, you know, and the mercy seat.
Once a year, their representative, their great high priest, would
go there into the holy place, into the holy of holies, with
the blood, not without blood, and nobody else dared go in there.
Nobody else dared go in there. They would not go. That heavy
veil stood between the people and the presence of God, and
only their representative could go. Well, I'll tell you this,
when our Lord died on that cross, have you ever read it? The veil
in the temple was rent in two. Not from the bottom to the top,
not a piece torn out of it, it was torn from the top to the
bottom. As if the hand of God himself gripped that great thick
veil separating the presence of God from the people and ripped
it asunder. And now he says, come on, come
on, come into my presence. You're welcome into my presence.
But my friends, we have a high priest. We have a high priest. We have a high priest who can
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, because he was
tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. And that's our
Lord Jesus Christ. He's our high priest. He's our
high priest. And he's not here in the old
tabernacle made with hands. He's in the very presence of
the living God himself. Now, this Old Testament priesthood
that's been done away with, because it's been fulfilled, it was a
type, it was a picture, it was a shadow of the coming of Christ.
And when he came, we don't need it anymore. We don't need an
earthly priest anymore. We're all priests. Every believer
is a priest. We are a royal priesthood. He
hath made us kings and priests unto God. We are priests ourselves. Every believer is a priest who
offers to God sacrifices, that's right, of praise, of worship,
Thanksgiving. But this Old Testament priesthood,
there were many of them. Christ only one. And this Old
Testament priesthood was temporary. These men served for a while.
His priesthood is eternal. These Old Testament priests offered
daily sacrifices. There was a morning sacrifice,
and a noon sacrifice, and an evening sacrifice. He offered
one. They stood. They never sat down. There wasn't
a chair in that tabernacle. Why? Their work was never finished.
But when he offered one sacrifice for sin, he sat down forever,
having finished the work. He cried on the cross, it's finished.
That's right. They died. These Old Testament
priests lived a while, 70, 80, 100 years, and died. Christ ever
liveth to make intercession. Their sacrifices could never
take away sin. The blood of bulls and goats
can never put away sin. But he, by one sacrifice, perfected
forever them that are sanctified. The songwriter said, Thy blood,
not mine, O Christ, Thy blood, so freely spilt, has cleansed
my blackest stains and purged away my guilt. Thy righteousness,
O Christ, alone doth cover me. No righteousness avails except
that which I find in Thee. Yes, sir, you've come to God,
but only by Christ. There's one God and one Mediator
between God and men, and that's the man Christ Jesus. Now you
listen to me. Don't you pray to Saint Henry or Saint Jude.
Don't you pray to your pastor or priest. Don't you pray to
the church or to Mary. Don't you pray to anybody but
God Almighty and your high priest is Jesus Christ and nobody else.
And that's so, that's what the Word declares. I'm the way, the
truth and the life, Christ said, no man cometh to the Father but
by me. That's the Word of God. We come boldly into the presence
of God because we come by the blood. We come bold into the
presence of God because we come by the high priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's still my representative.
He has been since God made him my surety for the foundations
of the earth, and he's my surety right now. And one of these days,
I'm going to stand in his presence and be just like him. All right,
thirdly, you have boldness to enter into the presence of God
by the blood, through the great high priest. Now watch this,
verse 22. Draw near, having your heart
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and your bodies washed with pure
water. Now before the high priest went into the tabernacle, before
he went into the place of divine service, into the sanctuary,
into the presence of God, two things had to be done. Number
one, he had to be sprinkled with blood. They sprinkled the book,
they sprinkled the priest, they sprinkled his clothes, they sprinkled
everything with the blood. Everything was purified by the
blood. Everything under the law. And
before he went into the presence of God, he himself, because he
had sinned too, had to be sprinkled with the blood. And the next
thing that had to be done, his body was washed thoroughly with
pure water. Now that's true of you, true
of me. First of all, before we can enter the presence of the
living God, we must be sprinkled by the blood of Christ. We've
got to be cleansed. His blood cleanseth us from all
sin. That's what the scriptures say,
cleanseth us. His blood redeems us. His blood
atones, makes an atonement for our soul, makes us one with God,
at one with God. His blood is sufficient to put
away all of our guilt. In His blood we have pardoned
In his blood we are holy, unblameable, unreprovable, in the very sight
of a holy God. That's right, in the blood of
Christ. But also we must be washed in pure water. What does this
mean? In John 19.34 the scripture says,
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith
came out blood and water. Blood and water. Top lady picked
it up this way, he said, let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flowed, be of sin the double cure. Save me from its wrath and power. Save me from its penalty and
power. Now many writers suggest that
the water here symbolizes baptism. The washing of the water, you
know. Maybe, but I don't think so. It's more likely the word
of God. The word of God. Now listen to
these scriptures. Ephesians 5, 25 and 26. I'm saying this, that
we can come into the presence of God by the blood of Christ,
having a high priest, and because we've been sprinkled with the
blood and we have been washed with pure water, we have been
sanctified, we have been declared holy. Alright, listen, Ephesians
5, 25, 26. Husbands, love your wives. As
Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify it and cleanse it, and cleanse it with the washing of
the water by the word, by the word. Wherewithal, David said,
shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed to the word
of God. If I'm going to come into the
presence of the holy God, I've got to come washed by the word,
sanctified by the word, cleansed by the word. I've got to listen
to his word. My life has got to be ordered
by his word. You see what I'm saying? We can
have boldness at the throne, but we can't have boldness at
the throne in disobedience to the king. You're not going to
get a good welcome there. Not if you're living in disobedience
to his laws, disobedience to his command, and disobedience
to his word. Being sprinkled by the blood
and sanctified by the word of God. Come boldly. The way is
open. This message is available on
tape, cassette tape. We'd be glad to hear from you.
Until next week, at the same time, Henry Mahan, bidding you
a very pleasant good day.

Boldness at the Throne

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Boldness at the Throne

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