Boldness at the Throne

Now tonight's message, I know
this is a small church in a small town, but what I'm going to say tonight
is revolutionary. What I'm going to say tonight would disrupt, if I could get
it into the places where I'd like to preach it, would disrupt
ninety-five percent of what's going on in religion today. But I am confident, I am persuaded,
I am as certain as this Bible is the word of God, that what
I'm going to say to you tonight is true. Boldness at the throne. Now boldness
and self-assurance in religion is not hard to find. It's everywhere. It is everywhere. A rich young ruler stood face-to-face,
toe-to-toe, with the holy law of God Almighty as stated by
the Son of God, and boasted, all these things have I kept
from my youth up. That's boldness. That's confidence. That is self-assurance. And that's
human nature, and that's man. All these have I kept from my
youth up. What lack I yet? A Pharisee came
into the temple of God and stood before the altar of God Almighty
and gave thanks that he was not like other men. He confidently
boasted with great boldness and self-assurance. He confidently
boasted of his righteousness and his morality and his right
to be accepted of God. That's boldness. Our Lord said
at the judgment, at the judgment bar of God Almighty, call it
the great white throne if you please, but that place where
God Almighty in the person of Jesus Christ would judge the
world, people had the audacity and the boldness and the self-confidence
to look Him in the eye and say, we prophesied in your name, And
we cast out devils in your name, and we did many wonderful works
in your name. That is boldness. That's confidence. You talk about self-assurance,
that's it. But our Lord said to them, I
never knew you. And I do not detect today, that's
Bible examples, I don't detect today any backwardness or hesitancy
on the part of people today to express their opinion on anything
in this book. I must confess that I've been
in that state myself, of which I'm quite ashamed, ready to express
my opinion on anything that the Bible says. I don't find any
hesitancy on the part of men. I don't find any humility. I
don't find any backwardness. Ask them anything. They'll tell
you what they think. The character of God may be at stake, the honor
of God may be at stake, the purpose of God Almighty might be at stake,
but they'll render their opinion. without any hesitancy at all.
This is what I think. That's tragic. That's boldness. That's boldness. They may be
wrong on some material things, but they're not wrong on the
Bible. I do not detect any hesitancy on the part of men to rush into
the presence of God. We're taught by preachers today
that anybody, anytime can pray. That is not so. Not a word of
truth in it. We're taught by preachers today,
and the average church member believes in any time, any way.
He wants to bow his head and walk into God's holy presence,
into the holy of holies, before the throne of God Almighty, he's
welcome any time, and that's not so. Does that shock you? You wait till we read some more
in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10. I do not detect any hesitancy
on the part of any person to claim a personal, intimate relationship
with a holy God. I'm saved. I'm God's child. My name's in the book of life.
I'm on my way to heaven. I am redeemed. I have peace with
God. There's no hesitancy, no humility,
no backwardness, no shyness. None of that language of John
Newton. Oft it gives me anxious thought.
Am I the Lord's or am I not? None of that. If you doubt you're
damned. You don't want to give anybody
any idea that you have any doubt whatsoever that you are a child
of God. Of course I'm saved. I do not detect any backwardness
or hesitancy on the part of anyone to boast of a part in the kingdom
of God. Well, I want to be honest with
you, I want to speak from my heart, I want no part of this
type of religion, I want no part of this vain, empty presumption,
I want no part of this religious show, but I'm interested, I'm
interested, I'm interested in what Paul's talking about here,
boldness to enter the holiest. I want to be there. I do want
fellowship with God. I do want to know the Lord. I
do want some assurance that I am His. I do want to walk with Him. I want Him to walk with me. I
want this boldness to enter the presence of God. The presence
of God. I want to hear from God. Don't
you? I want boldness to stand before
the throne. It's possible. It's here. It's
here. Men can pray, but on one condition. Men can reach God, but on one
condition. Men can come into God's presence.
That's right. Men can have a fellowship with
God. You and I, sinners, sons of Adam, fallen creatures, we
can know God. It says so in this book. But
it's not based on our having kept the law as the rich young
ruler. That's not the basis. And it's
not based on our own righteousness as the Pharisee boasted because
both of these men, our Lord said, walked away unredeemed. And it's not based, it's not
because of our good works done in the name of the Lord as these
people boasted at the judgment. That's not the basis on which
I can come into God's presence. It's not the reason. It's not
the basis. It's not the foundation. I can't
come into God's holy presence, a guilty son of Adam, I cannot
come into God's presence, I cannot have fellowship with Him, I cannot
pray on the basis of my works, or my morality, or my righteousness,
or my religious profession, or the good things that I've done
in the name of the Lord. But there is a basis, and it's
based on three words here in Hebrews 10, all of them the same
word, having, having, having. Having. Back in Old Testament days, that
old tabernacle stood, which was the place of meeting. It's where
God met man and where man met God. That old tabernacle stood with
a place called the holy place and a huge veil and a place called
the holiest of all, the holy of holies, and that's where God
dwelt. And nobody dared come in there. They didn't dare come
in there. The only person who would go
in that place was the high priest. He was the only one who was permitted
to come into the presence of a holy God. The rest of them
stayed out. He came representing them. He
came and met God for the people and God met him. Only the high priest, only with
the blood atonement, only having his body washed with pure water.
Nobody else ever came into God's presence. Nobody else. Nobody was permitted. One fellow
came in there one time and walked out a leper white as snow. Two
fellows came one time offering strange fire and they carried
them out dead. God Almighty was turning people
into lepers now who approached his presence on the wrong basis.
Ninety-five percent of the religious people Preachers included be
walking around here with leprosy Or if God was killing all the
population that dared come into his holy presence uninvited Well, we wouldn't be many I was
walking and So Paul says here now listen to it and stay with
me. We'll learn something tonight Every son of Adam just doesn't
walk into the throne of grace into the present. God is still
holy. I Your sins have separated you from God, the scripture said.
God's angry with the wicked. God is holy. And he says here
in verse 19, now listen, having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus Christ. There's
got to be, any person who comes into the presence of God has
got to have, there's got to be, A sacrifice for sins. And it's
got to be an ordained sacrifice, it's got to be an acceptable
sacrifice, it's got to be a God-appointed sacrifice, or he better not come.
That's so. Well, how did these Old Testament
priests come into the presence of God? They came with the blood
of the lamb. They came with the blood of the
heifer. They came with the blood sacrifice.
not without blood. They didn't dare approach the
presence of God without blood. Now, look back at verse 9. This
verse is important here. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God, he taketh away the first, that he may establish
the second. What does that mean? Well, it's
referring to these Old Testament sacrifices back here in the first
eight verses. That's what it's referring to.
It's referring to all of the ceremonies and the laws and the
sacrifices that God gave to Moses. And God has taken away those
sacrifices. He's taken away those ceremonies.
He's taken away those tithes because they've been fulfilled
in Christ. Look at verse 4. Well, let's
start at verse 1 of Hebrews 10. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect, for then would they
not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshipers,
once purged, would have no more conscience of sin. But in those
sacrifices, there's a remembrance again made of sin every year. It's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. But now turn to verses,
back over here to verse 12. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, verse 14, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. We are sanctified by the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once more. He is our sacrifice. And you needn't encourage the
old G.I. Joe over there in war to pray
to God. If he doesn't have the sacrifice
of Christ, God won't hear him. You needn't encourage the people
out here nationally, let's all get together and let's all go
to the throne of grace. Let's all approach God in prayer.
There's none of you coming to God in prayer. None of you are
going to approach the throne of grace if you don't have the
blood sacrifice. If you don't have the atonement.
God never permitted anybody in the Old Testament to come into
his presence without a blood sacrifice, and he doesn't permit
anybody in 1977 to come into his presence without a blood
sacrifice. And he taketh away the first,
he's taken away that first sacrifice, those first offerings that he
may establish permanently forever the second, which is the offering
of the body of his Son. Now that principle is seen throughout
the whole Word of God. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. He took away the first covenant
of works. He established the covenant of grace. The first
man Adam sinned and died, rebelled. God took him away. He established
the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. The first paradise, Eden,
has been swept away. The second one awaits. The first
priesthood, Avon, is gone. The second priesthood, the eternal
priest is Christ. The first tabernacle is gone.
The second tabernacle is Christ. The first birth, born of the
flesh. The second birth, born of the
Spirit. The first heaven, the first earth, shall pass away.
There'll be a new heaven and a new earth. This body has got
to pass away that God might establish a second, a new body, fashioned
like unto the body of His dear Son. He taketh away the first. that he may establish the second.
And that's our sacrifice and that's our offering. It's Christ. He bore on the tree the sentence
for me. And now both the surety and the
sinner are free. Without the shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness of sins. And we cannot exhort all men
to pray, or all men to come to God, or all men to approach the
throne of grace, or any man to come to God without the blood. And that's so. So Hebrews 10 verse 20 says,
Having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the presence of
God. How? By the blood of Jesus. Now if you've got the sacrifice,
If your confidence, and your faith, and your hope, and your
trust is in Christ, and you come to the Heavenly Father in prayer,
or come for salvation, or come for mercy, or come for cleansing,
or come for grace, you come pleading the blood of Christ. Not your
works, not your faithfulness, not your faith, but pleading
His blood. All right? Secondly, verse 21.
boldness at the throne. First of all, we got a sacrifice. It's not the blood of an animal,
it's the blood of his soul. It's not a temporary sacrifice,
it's the permanent one. It's not the first which he's
taken away, it's the second which he's established. By one offering
he has perfected for us. We've got the right sacrifice.
Nobody knows your heart but you. Nobody knows whether you believe
it or whether you've received it or whether you've trusted
it, but that's so. Not without blood. Not without
blood. Secondly, and having a high priest
over the house of God. Come on. Come on to the presence
of God. If you have a high priest. If
you don't have a high priest, don't you come. Now that's so. Don't you come. Now let me emphasize
this again. The people of Israel would not
dare enter the tabernacle. the people of Israel would not
dare enter the holiest of all, the presence of God. Once a year,
the high priest ordained of God, and no man took this office on
himself, but he who was chosen of God, once a year the high
priest with the blood would go into the presence of God. And
you know, he had bells on the bottom of this thing that he
wore, this linen garment. And the people outside would
listen, and they'd hear those bells ringing while he was in
the Holy of Holies, while he was in the presence of God. They'd
hear those bells ringing, and they knew that God was speaking
to him, and he was speaking to God, and God was pleased with
his sacrifice. They knew he was still alive.
They knew he was still alive. The awesome, holy presence of
God. And no one would go into God's
presence except that high priest once a year, and the people came
through him. He represented them. Now turn
to Matthew 27. You say, how does it stand today?
All right, turn to Matthew 27. In Matthew 27, verse 50. I want you to listen to this,
verse 50 and 51. When our Lord died on the cross,
that veil in that temple was still there. Those sacrifices
still were in effect up till that time. Matthew 27 50 and
Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice yielded up
the ghost and Behold the veil in the temple That heavy veil
that separated God's presence from the people Was ripped in
two from the top to the bottom It was torn apart signifying
that the presence of God was open to the people and And now
we're all priests. And now we can all come into
the presence of God, not without blood, not without a sacrifice,
and not without a high priest. I went home from church this
morning and I turned the television on to watch some preachers. And
on the television was a Catholic mass being conducted. There was
the priest. He had on the priestly garments.
He had all of the decorations, the cross. Now listen, we're
being honest. We've got to be honest with one another. We've
got to be truthful. We've got to be pointed and plain and deal
with things as they are. And he stood there in front of
the people with the altar boys on either side with the cup and
with the bread. And he was representing the people.
He was the priest. He was between the people and
God. And he was offering again, he said, this is the body of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was breaking that body
and dipping it in the wine and giving it to the people. But
what he was conveying was this, that he was the mediator. They
come to God through him. Now, the principle of that is
true. We dare not approach God without a high priest. Every
one of us, even though we are priests, and even though we come
into God's presence to offer sacrifices of love and faith
and thanksgiving, even though we can come into the presence
of God and the holiest of all is open to us, but still we must
have a high priest. And that high priest is the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let us come boldly into the presence
of God, having a sacrifice, having a blood atonement, But having
also a high priest, having a high priest over the house of God,
and that's Christ. And that's Christ. Now, verses
11 through 14 is a comparison between the earthly priest and
the priesthood of Christ. It says here in verse 11, and
every priest, there were many of them, Christ only one. Their ministry was temporary,
his is eternal. It says they standeth daily.
They never sat down. He finished his work and sat
down. They ministered daily. He only once. Offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices. He one sacrifice. Which can never
take away sin. Theirs was never effectual. The
blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. Verse 12. But
this man After he had offered one Sacrifice for sins forever
sat down on the right hand of God Because verse 14 by that
one offering he had perfected forever them that are sanctified
Thy blood not mine. Oh Christ thy blood so freely
spilled Has cleansed my blackest sins and purged away my guilt
thy righteousness Oh Christ alone doth cover me No righteousness
avails except that which is in thee. I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. And what I'm conveying to you
tonight is that God has not changed. That the instructions for coming
into the presence of God are still the same. There must be
a sacrifice, God appointed, God anointed, God-ordained and God-accepted,
and that sacrifice is the blood of Christ. There must be a high
priest who is God-appointed, God-anointed, God-ordained, and
God-accepted, and that priest is Christ. And I'm saying that
just as in Old Testament days, so in this very day, for he's
the same, there is no one who can walk with him or commune
with him or fellowship with him or dare come into his presence
except with the blood of Christ and through the priesthood and
intercession of Jesus Christ. God never heard a prayer offered
in the name of Mary God has never heard a prayer offered in the
name of a church. God Almighty has never heard
a prayer offered in the name of a saint. God Almighty has
never heard a prayer offered by anyone who does not have a
knowledge of and faith in Jesus Christ. That's so. I know, like I said, that's not
what's believed. That's not what is preached.
But that's the scripture. Having boldness, brethren, to
enter into the holiest. Is that where you want to be?
That's where I want to be. By the blood of Jesus and having
a high priest over the house of God. I know there are a lot
of little devotions that are going to be said tonight, but
God's not going to hear them. I know there are a lot of people who
are going to bow on their knees before they go to bed and say
their prayers, but God's not going to hear them. And I know
there are a lot of churches where people are standing praying tonight
or saying words and being led in prayer, but I guarantee you
God's not heard of one of them unless they are offered in the
name of Jesus Christ on the basis of his blood and depending upon
his intercession and his mediatorial work. Let me tell you this. If
we didn't have the mediator, With our sinfulness and our foolishness
and our filth, the awesome holy presence of God would destroy
us when we came. God Almighty cannot receive filth
and guilt and sin. And even our righteousness is
a filthy rag. Would God receive the offering
of filthy rags? God's holy. And this is the third
thing. Now watch verse 22. Let us draw
near with a true heart in full assurance of faith that we'll
be heard. And brother, this is something. Now you think of this.
God is going to let me call his name. God is going to let the
king of all kings is going to let the beggar of all beggars
come in his presence. How far do you reckon you would
get If you dressed up in some old filthy rags tonight and went
over to England and rushed into Buckingham Palace and told the
Queen you'd want to sit down and have a little chat with her.
And yet we think that we and our filthy, beggarly rags of
sin can rush into the awesome, holy presence of the King of
Kings. It's not so. God's still a God of holiness
and a God of character and a God of righteousness and a God of
justice and we will not be received. The people of Israel knew that.
They didn't even use the name God. They called him Jehovah.
They were afraid to call him Elohim by his awesome, absolute
character. God of mercy, Jehovah Savior. There's no reluctance in this
day. We are so familiar with holy things. We toss them around
on the tips of our fingers and the tips of our dirty tongues,
just like they were. God said, you thought I was altogether
such a one as yourself, and that's where you're wrong. There's too much of this so-called
praying going on. There's too much of this so-called
religious talk going on. There's too much of this familiarity
with God going on. There's no awe, and there's no
reverence, and there's no fear. Holy awe. God is in his holy
temple. Let all the earth keep silent. Let thy words be few. When you
stand in the presence of God, be not rash with your mouth.
We have, think of it, we have boldness to enter the holy presence
of God. because Christ has shed his blood
and given us an acceptable sacrifice. That Old Testament priest came
into God's presence and he came with fear and trembling. He had
offered the sacrifice, he had brought the blood, it was the
firstling of the flock, it was without spot or blemish, it was
all these things were taken care of, but he still came with a
trembling heart. If you call God Father past the
time of your sojourning, how? Fear and trembling. Not us. Jesus loves me. I'll be a friend
to Jesus. Jesus and our buddies. We're
going to build me a mansion next door to Jesus. I'm going to cut
his grass and he's going to cut mine. That's awful. But that's
today's familiar talk. Sweet Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
When a fellow went off the television today, he said he wanted to thank
Jesus for making this program possible. That's blasphemy. blasphemy. Now we'll wait and
see. We have boldness to enter into
God's holy presence because we got the right sacrifice, that
precious blood that was shed on Calvary. And we've got one
standing there, sitting, sitting at the right hand of God, who's
our high priest. He wears our names on his breastplate. He's got the scars in his hands.
He doesn't plead my My soul my works and my morality and my
righteousness. He says Lord except father except
except that That no good sinner because I died for him Because
I suffered for him because I'm I'm pleading for him father.
Let him in. I Want him in I will that those who now has given
me be with me where I am The father's not gonna hear you.
He's gonna hear Christ. That's so Charlie never heard
a word you ever said He's heard Christ on your behalf. That's
so. You pick out the holiest man
that ever lived on this earth, John the Baptist, and God never
heard a word he said except as Christ spoke. And God never heard
a word you said yet except as Christ made it holy. You say,
Butch, you talk like people ought to quit praying. In the way that
people are praying, they better quit. That's absolutely right. I'm going to give an account
of these idle religious words someday. If we can't stand with
fear and trembling and humility before his awesome presence and
realize we've got no right to be there. Except in Christ. And God's not
going to hear us except in Christ. Christ plead for me, pray for
me. Make my prayers acceptable. Make my offerings and my gifts
acceptable. And then thirdly, you watch this.
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water. Let me tell you something. Who
shall stand in his presence? We better get the Bible. We better
blow the dust off of it. We better go to reading it. He
that hath clean hands and a pure heart There were two things that
that old priest did before he dared go into that tabernacle.
The first thing he did was wash himself in pure water. Did you
know that? He took a bath. He cleansed himself,
he washed himself, they washed his clothes. Before he went into
that temple, into that tabernacle, he was spotless from the top
of his head to the bottom of his feet. His skin was clean,
his hair was clean, his hands were clean, his feet were clean,
his body was clean, his clothes were clean. And then what's the
second thing they did? They sprinkled him with blood.
They sprinkled him with blood. Brother, this has got to be true
of us. If you want to tell that fellow, if you want to mislead
him, if you want to throw him a curve, that's all right. You
go right ahead. His blood be on your hands. I'm not going
to do it. If you want to tell that fellow, just go. God will
hear you. Just go to God. You tell him that if you want
to. You tell him to use the name of God and call on the name of
God. That's all right. I'm not going to tell him that. Because it says here that you
don't have any right to come into his presence until you've
been sprinkled with blood and washed with water. And washed
with water. We know what the sprinkling of
the blood is, don't we? It's the blood of the Redeemer.
Our Lord has cleansed us from our sins. As I come into God's
presence tonight, as I stand right now in his presence with
the opening this book and reading it, Representing him and preaching
in his name and call I prayed while ago brown you pray some
of the rest of you pray But I can do that because Christ died for
me and because Christ the Lord the mediator says father Hear
him hear him. He prays for me and then I can
come because in Christ I'm holy That's right. Turn to Colossians
We read this in our Sunday school class this morning Colossians
chapter 1. I Look at Colossians chapter 1. It says, verse 22,
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in his sight. He's made me holy. Look at Ephesians
chapter 2. Let's look at chapter 1, Ephesians
1. He said in verse 4 of Ephesians 1, he chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame. Turn to the book of Jude. Look
at Jude verse 24. Listen to this. Now unto him
that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless. Oh boy, think of it. Faultless. I've been sprinkled with the
blood. The way is open. Paul Williams, come on into the
presence of God if you've been sprinkled with the blood. Jim
Spence, come on in if you've been sprinkled with the blood.
But if you hadn't, you better not come. You better not come. That high priest stood out there
before he came into God's presence and they sprinkled him with the
blood. If they had not gone through that ceremony, God would have
killed him dead as a donor. The second thing let him be washed
with pure water now brethren I'm gonna work something over
right here. What are we talking about this water? Well turn to
John 19 John 19 Verse 33 There are many writers you wouldn't
believe this but there are many writers who have this water Symbolized
baptism. I don't believe a word of it
I don't believe a word of it. When you go home, and I hope
you do, I hope you always do this, when I preach, go home,
get your concordances, and get your commentaries, and get your
other translations, and read. I don't want you trusting your
souls in my hands at all. I want you to go home, search
the scriptures, see if these things be so. But I read a half
a dozen fellows yesterday, and five out of six of them said
that's baptism. And they compared it with that water out there
in the labor before the high priest came in. But Toplady said
this, John 19, look at verse 33 and 34. When they came to
Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But one of the soldiers with
a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came forth blood and
water. Now, we could go into all of
the impossibilities. They say if a body's dead, blood
won't spurt forth. And then somebody said, well,
the Lord Jesus' body did not see corruption, therefore it
had the ability to spurt forth blood. But water wouldn't come
out, they say. Well, out of his came blood and
water. And Toplady said, let the water
and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the
double cure. save from wrath and make me pure."
That's what he said the water is. It both came from Christ.
That the blood which they sprinkled on the high priest before he
came in the presence of God, that put away his sins and justified
him, made him acceptable before God because of transgressions
put away. And the water, the sanctifying
water, The cleansing, purifying water by which his body is washed
is the water that came from Christ too. But, let's look at that
more closely. There are three scriptures that
I want us to look at that I think will help us. Now here's what
I believe, and I say I believe. That the water here is a two-fold
thing. It's the Word and the Spirit.
Now turn to Ephesians chapter 5. In Ephesians 5 it appears
that the water which purifies us, and I'm not leaving my subject
now, the only way we can come into God's presence is with the
acceptable sacrifice, the blood of Christ, with an ordained high
priest who is Christ, and having our hearts sprinkled with his
blood from an evil conscience. But here's what we're on. Our
bodies washed with pure water. That priest had to be cleansed
by pure water. Now what is the water in reference
to us? Top lady says it's Christ, just
like the blood is. There's no argument there. It
is Christ. Everything is Christ. But Ephesians 5 verse 25 says
this, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it. with the washing of the water
by the Word." Have you got another one preached yet? Yes? Turn to
Psalms 119. Psalm 119, verse 9. Now listen to this. Psalms
119, verse 9. And this says, Wherewithal shall
a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according
to thy word." Thy word. You're not coming into God's
presence and bypass his word. Any more than that high priest
is coming into his presence and bypass the washing of the water.
There's got to be the sprinkling of the blood. Well, I believe
in Jesus. I know that. It's got to be the washing of
the word. Turn, if you will, to 2 Corinthians 7. Here's another
one. 2 Corinthians 7. And we'll get
to this other one. I know some of you already hit
them, but don't do that. Stay with me. Now, 2 Corinthians
7, verse 1. Having, therefore, these promises,
dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.
And what I'm saying is this. It may be a babe in Christ, is
going to have communion and fellowship with God on the basis of his
blood and the light he's received. But now, some of you folks have
been Christians for a long time. You've been believers a long
time. And unfortunately, you've neglected God's word. You've
neglected to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. And
that fellowship is going to be interrupted Unless you, like
having these promises, having the Word of God, we need to grow
in grace. We need our lives to be cleansed
of intemperance and the things that are not pleasing to God.
You see what I'm saying? And that's done by the Word of
God. Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow
thereby. You cannot neglect this book and have fellowship with
God. This is what I'm saying. We cannot just lean back, well
I believe, I've had faith, I'm trusting Jesus, and neglect the
Word of God. It's by the Word of God that
we're cleansed, it's by the Word of God that we're purified, it's
by the Word of God that we're sanctified. Sanctify them by
thy Word, thy Word is truth. There's another washing, turn
to Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3 verse 5. Titus 3 verse 5. Now listen to
this. It's not by works of righteousness
which we've done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. The washing
of regeneration. That's the sanctifying work of
the Holy Spirit. So I'm saying this, and turn
to 1 John 5. Let's look at this scripture
before we move off of this. 1 John 5. Now listen to this.
In 1 John 5 verse 6, this is He that came by water and blood,
even Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water
and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. There are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and these three are one. There
are three that bear witness in the earth, the Spirit, and the
Water, and the Blood. Where would you say is the Word
of God? It's the Water, the Spirit, and the Word, which is what we're
reading tonight. and the blood. Those are the
three witnesses. I'm just confident that the Word is the water there.
The boldness at the throne, we go back and look at this Old
Testament priest, and the boldness in the Holy of Holies, the boldness
which permitted him to come into God's presence, was given him
by the right sacrifice. and because of the high priest, and because of the sprinkling
of blood and the washing of water. And you and I, now we can, as
I say, we can play it. Our souls are so important. Our relationship with God is
so important. And I want to meet here, I think
next Sunday in a bulletin I'll notify some of our folks. We
have evening services too. But I want to meet with God,
don't you? When we come together, I want to call on Him and know
that we're heard. I want to come into the Holy
of Holies, not carry on a religious ceremony. But we're going to
have to know on what foundation we can approach God and by what
right we have to come into His presence. And this gives us right
here, having boldness, brethren, to enter the presence of God
by the blood of Jesus, having a high priest over the house
of God, and having our hearts sprinkled with the blood of Christ
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with the water
of the Word, growing in grace, God's Word doing something about
our needs and our growth. You see what I'm saying? Washing
of the Word, washing of the Word, day by day. Needs to be done.
You haven't arrived. Paul said that. I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, I press towards the mark of the prize
of the high calling of Christ Jesus my Lord. And the things
that God permitted as a babe in Christ, I don't believe God
will permit now. I don't believe He'll permit. I'm supposed to grow. Our Father
in heaven, We call thy name because we feel
this confidence and full assurance that Christ died for our sins
and that he anoints even this prayer, these words,
so full of self and sin, so unconsecrated in themselves, so wavering He
consecrates these words, and it's not our words you're hearing
at all. It's Christ pleading for us. He makes them holy. And our hearts have been sprinkled
with the blood.

Boldness at the Throne

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Boldness at the Throne

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