HEBREWS 10:19-232008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Hebrews 10:19-23

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. Hebrews chapter 10. Man, some exciting things here this morning in Hebrews chapter 10. But before we get into that...

I want to share with you something that really bothers me, and I hope you don't mind too much if I share these things, but they're just something that really bugs me, and perhaps you can relate. I don't know if Kim remembers, but it was quite a while back that her and I were at McDonald's together, and as we were at McDonald's, a course of nature just kind of happened, and I needed to use the restroom.

And so I went into the restroom and took care of, you know, what I needed to take care of. And afterwards I went to the sink and I'm washing my hands. And I see this guy come out of one of the stalls in the restroom and he walks right past me and then out the door.

Does that bother you? It bothers me. There was some interesting noises coming from that direction earlier and so it really bugged me and I came out and I told Kim about it because it bugged me. It was like, I can't believe that. Well, then it even got worse because we see him a little bit later at McDonald's. He's walking around and I think he had his daughter or maybe a fiance or wife or someone, some kind of female person next to him and he's enjoying an ice cream cone and

and sharing an ice cream cone with the person next to him. And I'm there like, this is torturing me, like I can't believe this is going on, and it's pretty hideous, it really bothers me. There was another time at Wendy's, it's no longer there, it shut down, and I think maybe this might be the reason. I was there at Wendy's, and I again needed to use the facilities, and so I go in, and then I'm washing my hands, and I got the water running, I get my hands wet, and I go to get the soap,

And I'm pushing and I'm pushing and I'm pushing and there's no soap coming out. And that bothers me already and you can understand that. But what really bothered me about that situation is as I was walking in, a Wendy's employee was walking out. So either he used the last of the soap, yeah right, or he didn't use soap or he didn't wash either. And so I was very uncomfortable eating my food that day. I don't know if I ate it or not. But...

It really bothers me. Those kind of things, they just, those are things that I don't get excited about. And I often am reminded of that when I use the restroom at a restaurant or some kind of facility. You know, they have the signs that say, "Employees must wash hands before returning to work." And, you know, they have the announcements, "The best way to prevent foodborne disease is to wash your hands thoroughly," and those kinds of things.

But the thing that really bothers me about those signs is where they put them. Have you ever noticed where they put those signs? Almost always, there's a few exceptions, but almost always those signs are placed right above the sink.

Now the problem with that is where are you when you're reading that sign? Right in front of the sink. And what are you doing? Probably you're washing your hands. So the sign is for those who are already washing their hands after they've used the restroom. Where they need to put the sign is like on the door or perhaps in the stall over the urinal. I mean somewhere where...

The people who walk out the door without looking at the sink would be able to recognize and remember, maybe I should wash my hands. Now I share that with you this morning, not just to have fun and talk about those things, but I share it with you because sometimes as we look at the Word of God, we need to be reminded. And sometimes we can feel like we're the person at the sink, washing our hands, looking at the sign saying, I don't need to have a sign for that. I don't need to be told. I'm already doing that.

And sometimes we approach the Word of God with that attitude. These things, yes, I know them, I understand them, I'm already doing them. I don't need to have a sign, I don't need to hear a message about these things because they're already taking place in my life.

But I want to share with you this morning, I want to encourage you and challenge you to try to take a fresh look at these things, even though they may be familiar to us, that God is speaking them to us for a reason. And there's some growth that He wants to take place in our lives in these areas, and He's placed this sign here. He's put us in this portion for today, because it's something we need to consider and evaluate, and God wants to work in our hearts. And so I ask you and I encourage you to really think,

Consider these things that God is saying and don't just dismiss them as if you are already doing them.

Here in verses 19 through 23, we have what I consider to be the core of Hebrews. It's really the central part. It's kind of a climax of all of the doctrine and things that we've been learning about throughout Hebrews. Now it comes to the real point, and the point is that we are to enter into the presence of God, that we're to walk in relationship with Him.

Andrew Murray says of this portion that we are to believe that a life of continual abiding in God's presence is most certainly your duty and within your power. He says you need to believe that continually abiding in God's presence is absolutely, most certainly your duty, your responsibility. You are to do this

this as a matter of obedience and it's within your power. It's not just for a select few that this is speaking. It's not just for, you know, when you get to a certain point in your Christian walk that now you'll be able to apply these things. But for every believer in Jesus Christ, God calls us to enter in to his presence and to continually abide in his presence as we walk in relationship with him.

And so in looking at these things, there's three points that I want to highlight with you this morning. The first one is having boldness. And we see this in verse 19. Verse 19 says, He starts out with the word therefore. And as we often say when there is the word therefore, you want to find out what it's there for.

Because the word therefore is connecting the current thought or what he's about to say, often it's application, with the things that he has been saying. In fact, we could really connect this therefore from the whole book of Hebrews up to this point.

All the things that we've learned about Jesus and that he is superior in all aspects, in every way, to any other religion, to any other law or legalistic system, any other way of approaching God, Jesus is superior. It's a superior covenant that we have through him. His sacrifice is superior to all other sacrifices. What he provides for us is

is the ultimate in relationship to God. It's the only way to have relationship with God. And so therefore, knowing all of these things about Jesus Christ, we are to have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. He's encouraging us here. He's educating us that we can have boldness to enter into the presence of God.

This holiest that he is referring to, if you haven't been with us throughout the book of Hebrews, the holiest is that place in the tabernacle where the presence of God dwelt. There in the Old Testament as God gave Moses the instructions and he built the tabernacle as the place of worship, the place where people could come to worship God, the holiest or the holiest of all, maybe it's also known as the holy of holies, was

was the smaller section of the tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was and God said He was going to dwell there. He put His presence there on top of the Ark of the Covenant between the wings of the cherubim. There God's presence dwelt and there He met with His people. Now, in the tabernacle and in the temple with that setup and with the presence of God there, it was very limited on who had access to the presence of God.

In fact, only the high priest was able to enter into the holiest. And he couldn't enter just whenever he felt like it and whenever he wanted. But he could only enter one day a year on the Day of Atonement

And he would have to come in offering a sacrifice for himself. And he would come in and he would sprinkle some on the mercy seat there. And then he would come back. He would offer a sacrifice for the people, for their sin. And he would come back in and he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. And he could come in those two times for that one day. And that was it for the year. And it was a good day for the nation. They rejoiced that their sins were atoned for, that their sin was covered temporarily, that it was taken care of.

But that was it. That was their extent of exposure to the holiest, to the presence of God. But here what the author of Hebrews has been communicating and is saying now is that we have boldness...

To enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. You and I. It's not limited to the high priest once a year. It's not limited to the pastor or to the seasoned Christian only. Every believer in Jesus Christ has access to the presence of God, to the holiest of all, to the throne room of God, or as I will share with you this morning,

We have access to the living room of God where God desires to live with us, in us, and we in Him. Now the interesting thing about all of the three points that I'll be sharing with you this morning is that they're all in the present tense. He says here, having boldness to enter the holiest. Having boldness is in the present tense in the Greek which means it's very specific in

And it means that it's to be continuous or repeated.

It means that it's not just a boldness that we're to have once in a while. It's not just a boldness we have when we first get saved. It's not just a boldness we have, you know, when we have the mountaintop experiences and the great times of rejoicing. But it's a boldness that we are meant to have continually and repeatedly. The boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Now, many people have been wondering all throughout the morning and

asking me questions and kind of tripping out and am I supposed to sit on this couch that's right there in front of the stage or what is that for and what is going on with the couch? Well, I put it here so that you would ask those questions and be considering so that, well, we could talk about God's living room. I don't know about you, but I've known some people and been around those homes and have family with those homes that have

that have the formal living room. You know what I'm talking about, right? Maybe you have a formal living room and you have this room. It's a designated room. It's maybe a more fancy room. It's decorated. It has the special furniture in there. And very often in those types of homes, the formal living room is, well, it's not used on a regular basis.

It's used maybe for Christmas, for those special gatherings when the family comes over. It's used occasionally, but it's not meant to be used every day. This couch, in fact, was once part of a formal living room. In fact, this couch is about 30 years old, and although it does show some wear and tear and signs of use, for 30 years it's in pretty good shape.

Because for most of that time, it was part of a formal living room. It was rarely used, rarely sat upon, and it was very limited. In fact, coming to sit on the couch, well, you had to follow some strict guidelines and rules.

When I was living with my parents, we never had a formal living room, but shortly before they moved up to Nevada, they purchased a very expensive couch. And they were all excited about this couch. And for me, you know, I was much younger, it was a couch. So they had to give me some pretty strict guidelines on what that couch was to be used for and what it wasn't to be used for.

And, you know, I couldn't lay down on it because I have an oily head. And so that would possibly damage the couch. And so I could sit on it. Definitely don't put your feet on it. You know, I had to be very careful how I used the couch. Now, our old couch wasn't that way at all. You just, everybody did whatever you want. You could sit on the top of it, the side, whatever, sit upside down. It didn't matter. You just use it however you want to use it.

This couch, in the same way, once had those strict rules applied to it. But now, it's not in the formal living room any longer. It's been in the youth house. It's been in the mother's room. It's been in the sanctuary for a couple of weeks. And we are trying to get rid of it. So if you want it after the service, it's yours. You can take it.

But now, you know, you can see the signs of use and people don't have a problem. They got a cup of coffee. They just kind of plop down a little spills and just kind of rub it out. You know, it doesn't matter. It's not a big deal. There's no panic. You know, there's no, oh, let's find out. How do you get coffee out of the couch? It's meant to be used. It's meant and you can see the signs of use as a result. In the same way, God's living room is not meant to be

A formal living room in the sense that it's there for decoration, it's there for occasional use. His living room and what He is inviting us to is a continual, daily access to His presence. Not just once in a while, not just on those special occasions.

But he's inviting us in. He's saying, having boldness continually to enter the holiest of all. God is inviting us into his living room and he says, come on, sit on my couch. Come and talk with me. Come and spend some time with me. Hang out with me. Share with me. Come and sit at my feet and worship me. Come bring others into my presence and let's share some time of fellowship together. It's meant to be used. It's meant to be

taken advantage of and not in a negative sense but to take the opportunity god doesn't just kind of set it all up and look what i have for you look what i've done for you no don't touch it don't no no no don't come in just just look at how beautiful it is this work i've accomplished for you no god sets it up he's accomplished this work and so he says have boldness to enter in

Just as you would have boldness to enter into your own living room and sit on the couch and lay on the floor, grab a pillow if you want, and just make yourself comfortable and to be there and enjoy that time in your living room.

This is the boldness that God wants you to have. Now, please understand, I'm not saying it's brashness, it's disrespectful, and we can be disrespecting God and He's inviting us into His presence. You understand that's not what I'm saying. But we do have a boldness, a confidence, the ability to come. And we don't have to fear anything.

Why don't we have to fear? Well, he goes on to tell us some reasons why we can have boldness to come. It's not a boldness that's based on how good we've been or how well we do in reading our Bibles or attending church. It's a boldness that's based upon Jesus Christ. He says there in verse 19, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

The boldness that we have is based upon the blood of Jesus Christ. We have boldness because of what His blood has accomplished for us. And we've seen this already in the book of Hebrews.

The blood of bulls and goats, the author of Hebrews has been sharing, and the Bible has proven all throughout, the blood of bulls and goats was not able to really deal with sin. Not able to put away sin. It was a temporary covering. It provided a temporary solution, but it really couldn't deal with the heart. It couldn't take care of the conscience, and it could not deal ultimately with sin.

But the author of Hebrews has been explaining to us, although the blood of bulls and goats was very limited, he says it was useful for that time, and how much more the blood of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, the perfect and holy Lamb of God, His blood was shed. God made it very clear. Life was in the blood. His life was given. The blood of the Son of God is what...

enables us and gives us boldness to enter in. Because the blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that is effective at putting away sin. Because by Jesus shedding His blood, He received upon Himself the fullness of judgment that was due to us.

And so we don't have to come in fear or with timidity. We don't have to come with expectation of judgment because Jesus received that judgment upon the cross for us. We come with boldness to His presence because of the blood of Jesus Christ. And so we're to have boldness. Now again, I remind you, this is in the present tense. We're to have boldness continually, repeatedly because of the blood of Jesus.

Not only that, but in verse 20, he goes on to give us another reason why we're to have boldness. He says, What is this new and living way?

We dealt with this in Hebrews chapter 9 verses 1 through 11. And again, the portion we're looking at, that's why I say it's the core, because he's referring back and tying in all these things we've been learning into this important point that we're to draw close to God and walk in his presence and relationship with him. And so he's opened for us a new and living way. He's consecrated for us a new way. Now, the old way into the holiest, again, it was very specific.

Only the high priest could go. An ordinary Jewish person, you or I, we would not be able to go into the holiest. Even the normal priest could not go into the holiest. Only the high priest. And the high priest could only go in on the Day of Atonement. That was the old way. But the new way is entirely different.

The new and living way which he consecrated for us to go through the veil. And then he expounds a little bit on what the veil is. The veil was representing, it was symbolic of his flesh, the body of Jesus Christ. And as his body was broken, as his body was pierced, as his body died, we know from Mark chapter 15 verse 38, that the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

All speaking about this new way that God has opened up. By one man's disobedience, many became sinners. That's you and I. But by one man's obedience, many became righteous. Jesus' blood was shed, and so our sin is taken care of.

But also his body was broken. He was obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And so by believing in him, his righteousness is credited to our account. And so now you and I, by believing in Jesus, have the credentials to enter into the holiest. We have access now because we've been given the authority by this new way that Jesus has opened for us through his flesh, through his body being broken.

We're able to enter in. That's why Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. It's this new way that he's entered, that he's open, that you and I would enter in. And so we can have boldness to enter in, not because of who we are or what we've done, but because his blood washes us and cleanses us. Because Jesus Christ was obedient and has opened up this new and living way which he consecrated for us.

And finally, we can have boldness looking at verse 21. He says, We can have boldness to enter. We're commanded to have boldness to enter. We're to constantly and continually have boldness to enter because we have a high priest over the house of God. We've seen this high priest as Jesus Christ throughout the book of Hebrews. Specifically chapters 5, 7, and 8 say,

Deal with this subject of Jesus Christ as our high priest and all that that means for us. We can have boldness because as we enter into the presence of God, it's not on our own, but Jesus goes before us on our behalf.

And he represents us before the Lord. And he ever lives to make intercession for us. And his priesthood is not limited by the duration of a lifetime like the old high priest. But his priesthood is for eternity, for forever. And so he is always available as our high priest to represent us before God. To ensure, to make sure that

We're able to come into the presence of God. To make sure and ensure that we have right relationship with God. He ever lives to make intercession. These three things he gives as the reason why we are to have boldness to enter in. And again, having boldness is in the present tense. I make a big point of that and I'm pointing it out a lot because it's to be continual and repeated. When am I to have boldness? All the time.

Not just when I've been at the youth retreat and had a glorious time and God was speaking and pouring out His Spirit and man, it was wonderful. It's not just then that I have boldness, but it's also those other times that, well, maybe I haven't been experiencing those wonderful moves of God's Spirit. Maybe I've needed the blood of Jesus to wash my sin. Again, looking at the formal living room,

There was very strict guidelines. There's some certain things. You know, you don't just trample in there with your muddied shoes into that living room. Oh no, don't do that. Don't come, you gotta clean. You know, the wife says, you go hose off outside and then you can come in. But what God is inviting us to, God's living room where He lives, where He desires for us to be with Him. He doesn't say, go clean yourself up and then come. He says, come. Just as you are, like the song we sing, come. Come.

Yeah, you've blown it. Yeah, you've messed up. Yeah, you need the blood of Jesus Christ. Yeah, you need His righteousness. But that's why I sent my Son. Come. And so we're to have boldness. And if I stay away when I've blown it, if I stay away for fear of judgment, if I stay away and I don't enter into the presence of God, if I don't have boldness, it's because, well, I'm forgetting the truth.

About the blood of Jesus. I'm really professing. It's my testimony that I don't believe that the blood of Jesus is sufficient to atone for my sin and take care of my sin. To stay away from the presence of God when I don't deserve to enter, well, that's all the time. It's to forget that the righteousness of Christ is attributed to me, is accredited to my account when I believe in Jesus Christ. And so to stay away is to really say that I don't believe that

His sacrifice, His obedience was sufficient for me to have relationship with God. That's not how God wants us to be. Yeah, your feet are muddy. Yeah, you're filthy. Yes, you sin. You blow it. You fall short. Yes, you mess up. That's not a reason to stay away. God says, have boldness to come.

It doesn't mean that we can just live our lives however we want. We can, you know, live in sin and pursue the things of the world and then try to have access to God and relationship with God. No, not at all is it saying that. But what it is saying is that even if you've blown it, even if you've messed up, even if you're struggling, even when you're having great difficulty, God says, I want you to have boldness to enter in.

Come and spend time in my presence. Come and spend time with me. Come sit on the couch. I've taken care of your sin. I've taken care of your failures. I've taken care of your lack of righteousness through my son Jesus Christ. And so number one, we're to have boldness to enter in continually. Number two, this morning we find in verse 22, it says, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Number two this morning is drawing near. Because he says, let us draw near. Now again, the command to draw near is in the present tense. Which means that it's not a one-time thing, but it's a continual and repeated thing that needs to take place. Obedience to this command is to be done continually for us.

We are to draw near to God because of His blood, because of the way that He has opened up for us, because we have this high priest over the house of God, because He has called us to have this boldness to enter in. He says, let us draw near. Again, because He's set up this living room, we're to come in and use it. We're to come and spend time with God and get to know Him. We're to draw near to Him.

And he gives some insight on the way that we're to draw near, the things that we're to have in place as we draw near. He says, draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. So as we draw near, something that needs to be in place, an important element of us drawing near, is that we need to have a true heart. A true heart. That means that we're not faking it.

God is not calling us to fake it with Him. To pretend like everything's okay. To pretend like we never messed up. To pretend like we never blew it. He's not calling us to pretend like we're worthy of it. He's not calling us to, you know, put on our Christian smile and come to God. Oh, everything's great. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. When really inside we're torn up and we're hurting. He wants us to come with a true heart. Sincerity with reality.

not hypocritically, not putting on the false facade that often we use around others, but being truthful in our hearts towards God. Sometimes that means acknowledging, yes, Lord, I have blown it. Sometimes it's acknowledging, Lord, I don't even feel like coming to you right now, but I know that I want to, and I know that it's out of obedience, and I know you want to have a relationship with me, and so, Lord, here I am, I'm drawing near to you,

even though I don't really feel like it right now. Being truthful. You can't fool God so it doesn't make any sense to lie to Him anyways. Try to pretend like, oh, He doesn't understand what's going on. You can't do that. So give up the games. Be honest. And draw near with a true heart. Now, He says a true heart in full assurance of faith. Those two things are interesting being coupled together because sometimes we feel like, well, I heard a pastor say one time, you know, if you knew...

what was going on in the heart of the person next to you, you wouldn't want to be sitting next to them. If you knew their background and what they were going through, you'd be in a different row or on the other side of the sanctuary if you knew the truth. And sometimes we feel that way. We feel that if I'm truthful, if I'm honest, there goes my assurance. Nobody's going to want to

Hang out with me. They only want to be with me. They only want to hang out with me. They only want to be next to me or love me as a Christian brother or sister when they don't know the full truth, when I don't have a true heart, but when I have the Christian facade. And then we carry that over into relationship with God. God says, look, I don't want you to fake it. Have a true heart in full assurance of faith, knowing that God says, hey, I already knew you.

and everything about you and I knew all your failures and your weaknesses and I knew all the deep dark secrets and I knew all the ways that you were going to blow it I knew all those things but I still chose you and I still love you and I still command you to draw near so be honest and come to the Lord in truth come to Him and enter into His presence being real hey you have struggles it's okay let Him know share with Him those things you have difficulties

You need the mud cleaned off your shoes because you've been trampling around where you ought not to be. Come before Him in truth. Let Him take care of those things. Let Him work in those areas of your life. He says we're to draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. But also, He says, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. So we're to draw near with a true heart, but we're also to draw near with a sprinkled heart.

This idea of sprinkling comes from, again, the Levitical system where the priest would take a hyssop branch and he would dip it in the blood of the sacrifice and he would sprinkle it in order to consecrate, in order to cleanse according to the law. And so he gives us this picture that our hearts now are given this application. The blood is being applied to our hearts. Our hearts are being sprinkled by the blood of Jesus from an evil conscience.

An evil conscience. And that was the limitation of the old covenant. That was the limitation of the law. In fact, that's the limitation of every religious system apart from Jesus Christ. It cannot deal with the conscience. It cannot cleanse the conscience. You remember the verse in Romans chapter 8 verse 1? There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Our hearts are sprinkled with

The burden of guilt that we carried for so long. The burden of our conscience even before we were believers, even before we were really desiring to walk with God. Our conscience was there convicting us and there was this burden of guilt upon us.

And people deal with that in many different ways and they try to be religious to deal with that guilt and take care of that pain and that burden that they have. Their conscience and their guilt lays upon them.

People try to drink themselves out of that pain and that guilt and to take care of that burden with relationships or drugs. We try to meet that need and take care of that in a variety of ways. But the only thing that is successful at cleansing our conscience is having our hearts sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. Believing in Jesus Christ. Knowing that there is no condemnation. No condemnation. No more guilt. No more guilt.

Because He paid the price for us. And He sets us free from that burden. He sets us free from that bondage. And so we are to draw near to Him with a true heart, but also with a sprinkled heart. Receiving that cleansing. Being set free from that burden and that bondage. And He concludes, and our bodies washed with pure water. So we draw near with a true heart. We draw near with a sprinkled heart. And we draw near with a washed body.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the work of Jesus Christ cleanses every aspect of us. Our heart, our body, our soul, our conscience. It's all taken care of by what Jesus did for us upon the cross. And so we can come to him. Yes, we're filthy. Yes, we struggle in the flesh. Yes, we're weak and we blow it. Yes, we mess up. But we can come to him. We're to draw near to him. We're commanded to draw near to him.

And so we're able to have boldness to enter in, to draw near because of what Jesus has done for us. Now again, this command to draw near is a command that's to be obeyed continually and repeatedly. The formal living room picture, it's used once or twice a year. It's used a couple times occasionally, but that's not intended for God's living room, for the relationship that He desires with us.

It's not just decoration that we set it up and we put a plastic cover over the couch and say, wow, look how beautiful it is. Nobody touch it. God says, look, this is a beautiful thing I've done for you. It's amazing what I've done. This gift of my son, it's more than you'll ever really understand. But it's not just for decoration. It's so that you will come, that you will draw near.

It's not just for us to say, look how beautiful as we are looking towards Christmas and we're celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We're saying, oh, look how beautiful this work of God, that God would become man, that He would be born of a virgin, that He would send His only begotten Son. Oh, how beautiful. Yes, it is beautiful. But it was for a purpose that you and I might enter into a relationship with God, that we might draw near.

And so He commands us. He tells us, this is what you need to do, you must do. Draw near to God. Being real, with a true heart. Not faking it, not just kind of pretending like everything's okay. No, come to Him. With your hurts, with your concerns, with your doubts, with your failures. Come to Him. Being sprinkled, being set free from the burden of guilt and the evil conscience.

Come to Him. Draw near. Now, how do we do that? How do we draw near to God? And as I've been sharing throughout the book of Hebrews, really what this book is all about is relationship. It's about God desiring a relationship with us. How He desires for us to walk with Him and to really know Him and to have some intimacy, to have great intimacy with Him. And so as we look at relationships, we get a good idea of how God wants to

draw near with us or how he wants to get to know us. Just as relationships take some effort and you cannot just continue, you know, doing the same thing over and over and over again in a relationship, having the same conversation over and over and over again. There's a need for us to be diligent and spend time with God. And I want to close with that. So I'm going to just leave it at that for now. But we need to be diligent and enter into a relationship with God.

To draw near to Him in the present tense, continually. Can I ever say, well, I did that already? I already drew near to God. When I first got saved, I said the sinner's prayer. I'm done. No, you can't just put it in neutral or hit on cruise control. Relationships just don't work that way. There needs to be growth. It needs to be fresh and alive. It needs to be continual.

In the same way with God. You can't just put it on cruise control. That's why back in Hebrews chapter 6, the author of Hebrews says, look, we've dealt in these elementary essentials, these basic essentials of the faith for long enough. We need to move on. And you need to go on to maturity and you need to grow in your relationship with God. Not just revisiting the same things. And every time you come to Him in prayer, it's the same conversation. You need to grow in those things.

You need to grow in your reading. You need to grow in your relationship with Him. Draw near to Him. We can't say, I did that already, I've already done it. It's something we're commanded to do continually. And I also like that it's continual or repeated action. So those times when I...

When I rebel, those times when I walk away, then it's not continual any longer because I've broken that relationship and I've walked a different way, but it's also repeated, which means I can repeat it. I can come back and draw near to God. It's meant to be continual, to be repeated, to be daily, day in and day out, moment by moment, drawing near to God, walking in relationship with Him. So we're to have boldness.

continually, repeatedly. We're to draw near continually, repeatedly. And thirdly, we're to be holding fast. Look at verse 23. He says, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promises is faithful. He adds on to this, let us hold fast. Again, it's in the present tense. Let us continually be holding fast.

What are we holding fast to? He says, holding fast to confession of our hope without wavering. The word confession here, it's not talking about confession in the sense of sin. It's not talking about confession in the sense of sharing your sin with someone else or spiritual authority or even with God. It's talking about, really it could also be translated, a profession. It's something that you profess.

Something that you proclaim. It's a proclamation. He says, holding fast the proclamation of our hope without wavering. What we have proclaimed is our hope holding fast to it without wavering. And our hope is not a hope as in the sense of wishful thinking and maybe it will happen but possibly won't. No. A hope in the Bible's dictionary is a confident expectation of eternity.

It's not just wishful thinking. It's absolutely guaranteed. And our hope is eternity with God, eternity with Jesus Christ. He promised, I'm going to prepare a place for you and if I go, I'm going to come back and receive you unto myself that where I am, you may be also. Our hope is eternity with God, eternity through Jesus Christ. And so he says,

We're to draw near to God. We're to have boldness holding fast this profession of our hope, this confident expectation of eternity. And he says, without wavering. Even when it's difficult, holding fast. Even when you don't have much evidence. Even when it doesn't look like it's going to be fulfilled. Even when you have failed, holding fast to our profession of hope. Why?

Well, because we're really good and we work really hard and we try real hard and we're real committed and dedicated and very sincere. No. Why? Because He is faithful. He who promised is faithful. The reason why we hold fast is not because of what we do or who we are, but it's because God is the one who promised it and He is faithful. And so we can hold fast because we know that His promise will be fulfilled. He will be faithful forever.

to complete the work that He began in you. We can hold fast to this hope that He has given to us, confidently expecting with certainty eternity with Him. A few chapters earlier in Hebrews 6:19, the author of Hebrews says, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." This hope that we have is the anchor of the soul. We can hold fast to it because it's the anchor.

It's not moving. It's sure and it's steadfast. It's solid and we can grasp hold of it. And we're too, we're commanded to hold fast continually to this hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Yesterday morning I was having a discussion with a brother at breakfast and we were talking about similar types of things and we kind of came to the conclusion or kind of came to this thought that you can base each moment on eternity and

And that's the idea of without wavering. Or you can base eternity on each moment. Basing eternity on each moment is looking at the moment, looking at the situation, looking at what's going on, and then looking at eternity and saying, well, I don't know if I'm going to make it. I don't know if I'm going to be saved. I don't know if God's going to be faithful. I don't know. Look at all these things that are going on and look what I'm experiencing and look what I'm going through. Look what I'm struggling with.

Look how I've failed. Look how I've blown it. If you look at each moment, eternity will be uncertain and you'll be wavering back and forth. But he says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. And so if you base each moment on eternity, then your eyes are fixed on that which is to come and the promise of God, knowing that he is faithful and you can grasp hold of him and his promise. You can grasp hold of this hope that he has given to us and not waver.

but persevere and endure and press on, drawing near and entering into the presence of God. And so the author of Hebrews this morning challenges us, the climax really of the book to this point, to enter into the presence of God, continuously, repeatedly, stay there in the presence of God, live with Him, abide in His living room, but if you do leave, then come back and continue to dwell with Him.

It's not a formal living room meant only for special occasions and decoration. It's meant to be lived in. He says, come on in. Yes, you're muddied and you're dirty. You're messed up. That's okay. Yes, you don't qualify. Yes, you don't measure up. That's okay. That's what I've sent my son for. By faith in Jesus Christ, because of what he has done for us, we can have boldness, confidence to enter into the presence of God, to draw near to

As David Guzik was sharing on this portion of scripture, he said some interesting things. He started out saying the Hebrews of the day probably thought that they had very many problems. They were looking at persecution and difficulties in relationships as a result of their commitment to Christ and coming out of Judaism. So they had hard times with the culture and everything. And he said,

But he shares that the real problem was their relationship with God and it really wasn't on track. They weren't drawing near to God on the basis of what he had done. This is the main point of the author of Hebrews here. But then Pastor David Guzik, he goes on to say and really kind of hit us with a challenge. He says, are you in a tough time? Maybe you are. Maybe you're experiencing a tough time.

He says, are you in a tough time? And then he goes on to say, many people have gone through worse times and have had a better attitude and more joy than you do right now. I don't know about you, but that's kind of like, boom, straight, ouch, straight to the heart. Many people have gone through worse times than you and have had a better attitude and more joy than you do right now. He says, what's the difference? They knew how to draw near. They're holding fast this hope because he who promises faithfulness.

And when we have a bad attitude and when our joy is gone, we've forgotten. We've let go of this hope that He has given to us. We've ceased to enter in and draw near to God. We're lacking in our relationship. Because even in the midst of great difficulty and trial, as we dwell in the presence of God, He gives us abundance of joy, great hope. And so it's all about relationship.

I want to close with a few last thoughts about drawing near. How do we draw near to God? You know, it's interesting as Christians, we can often make things so complicated. You know, when you start out, it's simple. It's so simple. You know the things. And in fact, the things we're often encouraged to share with those who've just made professions of faith are, you know, very basic things. What do you share with them? Well, you share with them about prayer. And you share with them about

And how you can communicate with God just like I'm communicating with you and you can share with God. And so we encourage those who have just made a profession of faith, those who are new to the faith, to spend time in prayer and communicate with God. We encourage them to spend time in the Word of God. Start to read through the Bible and allow Him to speak to us.

We encourage them to take part of a church that's teaching the Bible and get around other Christians and learn how to have fellowship with one another. We encourage them to learn how to worship the Lord and to sing praises to Him. We encourage them to share what He is doing in their life with people around them. And we encourage them in all these things as they're beginning a walk with God, but then later on in our Christian life and our maturity, then we go...

Let us draw near. Now, Pastor, what does that really mean? Like it's some mystical, you know, you got to get to some plateau or some really great height in order to understand what it means to draw near. Hey, listen, it's like riding a bike. The things you learned at first are the things you do to grow. In the same way that we first began to walk with God and draw near to God, we continue to draw near to God.

We don't stay in the same place, but we continue to grow in those same things. The author of Hebrews here is encouraging us to enter into the Holy, to enter into the presence of God. And in Psalm chapter 22 verse 3, it tells us that God is enthroned or He inhabits the praises of His people. If you want to enter in, if you want to draw near to God, one aspect of that is you need to worship Him.

Sometimes as we're gathered together for service, there's a lot of people that aren't really worshiping. Sometimes, you know, you're looking through the bulletin, you're coming in the middle of worship, you're distracted by other things. And please understand, worship is not just about singing, but we saw all throughout the Psalms as we studied it on Wednesday evenings, it is also about singing. It's about using your voice and praising Him and

rejoicing and worshipping Him with song. And maybe you wonder sometimes, why am I not experiencing it? And what is it that I'm lacking to draw near to God and enter into a closer relationship with Him? And perhaps you need to take some time, dedicate some time, even if you don't feel like it, but worship the Lord. Because He dwells within the praises of His people. He inhabits the praises of His people. You want to draw near, you want to enter in.

Worship Him. Praise Him. In 1 Samuel 3, verse 21, it tells us that God revealed Himself by the Word of the Lord. The Lord revealed Himself by the Word of the Lord. You know, God's Word is... Well, it's the way He has chosen to reveal Himself to us. In order for us to draw near to God, one aspect is, yes, we need to be worshiping God, but another aspect is we need to be involved in the Word of God. We need to be spending time in His Word. To draw near to Him...

We need to be diligent in allowing God to speak to us and meeting with Him in His Word that He would reveal Himself to us. He's given us this glorious opportunity, this glorious privilege of prayer where our prayers are brought immediately before Him, before His presence. It's why the altar of incense was right there before the holiest of all.

And we can be praying about our own needs, there's our own life and our own situations, but there's also intercession that we can be praying on the behalf of others. There's all kinds of prayer that's available to us. That is an aspect of our relationship with God that's part of how we draw near to God. And these are things we need to be developing in our lives so that we draw near to God, just like a real relationship.

It needs to be living and active and growing. Another aspect of relationship with God is fellowship with one another. In 1 John 4, verse 12, it tells us if we love one another, God abides in us. You want to enter into the presence of God? Well, an aspect of that is fellowship, loving one another.

connecting with other believers and having an impact in their life and allowing them to impact our lives and having this relationship because we're a part of the body of Christ and as we join together, as we love on one another, God abides in us. See, it's very simple things, the same things that we started out with and yet as we go on to maturity very often, we put aside certain things, we discount them, we water them down, we

We do all kinds of things and then we think drawing near is some mystical thing and it's only those mountaintop experiences and it's only when we have those, whoa, that we really think we met with the Lord. But in reality, drawing near to God is about daily walking with Him in relationship, worshiping Him, spending time in the Word with Him, praying to Him. God says, come sit on my lap, let's have a chat, let's talk.

Spending time sharing your heart with the Lord and lifting up the needs of others. Fellowshiping and ministering to one another. All of these things are an aspect and different parts of our relationship with God. And so the author of Hebrews says to have boldness. Continually, repeatedly, you can come to the presence of God. You can walk with Him. He gives you the credentials. He gives you access by what Jesus Christ has done for us. So draw near. It's not meant just to be looked at and just ooh and aah.

It's not just for decoration, but it's so that you and I would draw near, so that we would draw close to him, that we would enter into his presence and hold fast to the hope that he has given to us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I lift up our hearts to you. And God, I thank you for the cleansing work and the power of your blood that was shed for us. Jesus, we thank you for your gift and your sacrifice that we might have access to God through you.

So, Lord, we ask that you would take us into your presence. Help us, Lord, to abide there, to live there, to walk with you continually, daily, moment by moment. And, Lord, I pray that you would help us to look at these things not as a sign that's not needed for us because we're already doing it, but to recognize, Lord, these are areas you want to speak to us that we would recognize where we're lacking, that we would draw near to you. Help us, God, to pay attention.

I pray, Lord, that you would draw us close to you. And I thank you for your work on our behalf and how it's all about you. Lord, that it's not complicated. And it's not only for the select few. Lord, thank you that you allow us, as unworthy as we are, as filthy as we are, Lord, you wash us up, you clean us up, and you say, come on in. You invite us to know you intimately. Help us, God, to stay there, to walk with you. And God, if there's any that

do not have relationship with you at all. I pray, Lord, that you would give them the strength to turn to you, the desire, Lord, remove blinders that have been placed over them, that they would see what you have done and that they would receive your gift of Jesus Christ upon the cross. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.