This is the last night we can spend
together looking at this subject of the Lord
Jesus in the epistle to the Hebrews.
So we'll try to wrap up the thoughts
that we've had and trust that whatever is
lacking you'll be able to fill in the
gaps yourself and I would encourage you to
do that because we certainly have skimmed over
the subject perhaps very briefly and you'll find
there's so much more if you take the
time to study what the Spirit of God
has to say about the Lord Jesus in
this lovely epistle.
You can't help but appreciate the fact I
would believe if you read this epistle to
the Hebrews that it's a book that has
to do with the sanctuary.
It's a book that builds upon the Old
Testament pattern and it pictures of course that
Old Testament example what God had in mind
before it was ever instituted and that was
a priestly service of the Lord Jesus and
you and I as believers, believer priests found
an association with Him in our function as
those that are identified with Him.
And so when you think about this epistle
you'll find many, many references or suggestions shall
we say of what took place in the
Old Testament and you have to almost understand
something about that to be able to appreciate
what you have in this epistle.
So the two go together very closely and
I would suggest that if you look at
this epistle in a detail take time to
read in the Old Testament especially in the
book of Leviticus.
Now let's read in Hebrews chapter 6.
Hebrews chapter 6.
We looked at chapter 5 last night and
its reference to the Lord Jesus.
We're going to look at the end of
chapter 6 first of all tonight and we
find that in verse 17 the writer says
wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise the immutability, that is
the unchangeable character of His counsel, confirmed it
by an oath that by two immutable things,
unchangeable, in which it was impossible for God
to lie, we might have a strong consolation.
I think that word might make more sense
to us if we read it as encouragement.
God wants you and me to have every
ground for encouragement, who have fled for refuge
to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil.
Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even
Jesus, made an high priest forever, or having
become an high priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek.
Now we'll just stop reading there and say
a few things about that before we go
on farther.
It's evident if you look at the context
of this passage that God is going back
to what the kind of promises He made
to Abraham.
And He wants these believers who He's expressed
His confidence in, in verse 9, that we
are persuaded better things of you and things
that accompany salvation, and the evidence of it
that was seen in their life in verse
10, He wants to encourage them with the
absolute certainty that God's promises are to be
depended upon in every respect.
Now we haven't dealt with in any detail,
I don't think we've hardly done it at
all, the background of the readers of this
epistle.
But I would take it that if you
look at this epistle, you'd have to come
to the conclusion that there were obviously those
who were genuine believers.
And if you put yourself in their situation,
you would understand that as those that profess
the name of Christ and were identified with
Him, they were being assailed by those all
around them that were, shall we say, mocking
them or perhaps challenging them in the sense
that they didn't have any access to the
temple.
They didn't have a sacrifice.
They didn't have a priest.
They didn't have all the things that they
had been taught were so essential for their
access to God.
They had turned aside.
They no longer went to the temple.
They didn't believe in the priesthood that was
represented by those who were officiating the temple
and no longer offered animal sacrifice.
Well, they said, what do you have?
Well, you know, the writer wants them to
know that what they have in Christ is
far better than anything they've ever lost.
He wants to turn their mind and their
attention to recognize they have not lost anything.
In fact, they've gained everything.
You know, sometimes that happens in the lives
of believers today.
I know that I've experienced.
I've seen others who have trusted Christ as
Savior and their religious friends and their family
would assail them because they have abandoned the
faith of their fathers and they no longer
are involved in the religious activities that they
once were engaged in.
What do you have now?
Well, God wants you and me to be
sure of this.
We have the real thing.
He was assuring them in this epistle that
all that Old Testament picture was only like
a shadow that is cast by a building.
It's the it's that which indicates the reality
that is yet to come.
But he says, you have the reality now.
You don't need the shadow.
And so while there were those that were
challenging them and seeking to make them feel
like they lost everything, this epistle is designed
to make them absolutely sure that they have
lost nothing and they have gained everything.
And so he wants them to be able
to rest with absolute confidence that the same
God that made promises to Abraham and promised
him things that he could not see and
at that time did not experience.
That same one is the one that has
made promises to them.
And as God promised and and swore to
Abraham what he would do, he says, God
has done the same for you and me.
And you could be sure of that.
Along with that, I would take it that
there were some of these readers that had
in some way moved away from Judaism toward
Christianity.
They had come to see the reality of
what was being preached and they believed in
some measure that Jesus was indeed the Christ,
the Messiah.
And they had seen some of the reality,
the evidence of it in those that professed
to be saved, but they themselves were not
saved.
And they were in danger of going back
to the old thing.
That's why I take it you have five
warning passages in this book, warning these people
that if they abandoned Christ and if they
turned back from genuinely going in for salvation
in Christ alone, they've lost everything.
So he assures the believers that they've gained
everything in Christ and it wants these others
that have a possibility of going back to
that which is old to realize that they
do that.
They've lost everything because there's no salvation.
There's no sacrifice.
There's no future in that which he says
is perishing and about to vanish away.
And so he's contrasting the two and trying
to impress them with the fact that what
Christ is brought in by way of his
sacrifice and his continuing priesthood is what God
had in mind for the beginning.
Wasn't an afterthought.
It was the real thing and everything preceding
this was only leading up to it.
Now he says in relation to these believers
that he's speaking to in this passage, he
wants to make that very sure, make them
very sure in the fact that God has
made these promises to them in his word
and through his son and God is not
a God that ever lies and God would
confirm it to them just like he did
to Abraham, not with an oath, not with
a, uh, he speaks in verse 18 of
two unchangeable things, which is God's word and
God's oath.
God swore to Abraham in relation to the
promise seed.
He doesn't say that you'll, that you'll have
the same kind of confirmation that Abraham had,
but here's what your confirmation is.
He says, those two same things are intended
by God so that you might have a
strong encouragement that you who have the same
faith like Abraham might appreciate the fact that
you have been brought into a place of
absolute perfect security.
Just like that manslayer in the old testimony
says that fled for refuge.
He fled to the city of refuge and
there he found absolute safety and his safety
was guaranteed by God himself.
He says, really, there are three pictures of
this passage.
There's a picture of the city of refuge
to which a person could flee and they
would be protected and preserved from harm and
danger as long as they were in that
city.
And he says, you yourselves, you have fled
for refuge to lay hold of that hope
that is set before us.
And he says that hope second picture is
like an anchor of the soul.
The picture is really the thought of a
ship that is perhaps out of the outside
the harbor and is not able to enter
in because of adversity and because of the
waves and the tide.
But the anchor is gone within and the
anchor is securely fastened to that which will
never fail.
And he says, while you're not in yet,
you're anchored like a ship would be anchored
and your safety is absolutely guaranteed.
And the anchor, he says, is this hope,
the hope, which is the confidence that is
set upon the Lord himself.
Now he says this, we have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope that
is set before us, which hope or which
we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast.
The word sure means it will not be
affected by adverse conditions.
It will not be dislodged by all the
events that take place in life.
And he says a steadfast that is it
grips and it cannot be removed from that
which is attached to.
Oh, he says, you have a hope that
is just like an anchor that is steadfast
and is sure and is entered into that
within the veil.
Of course, then he's moving to another picture.
He's moving to the idea of the entrance
into the presence of God.
He says, that hope is like a link
with the presence of God itself, where you'll
one day be.
And he's thinking of the tabernacle in this
particular case.
So we have the city of refuge.
We have the anchor that is linking us
with the harbor.
And we have here as well, that which
has brought us into contact with the presence
of God itself.
And who's that one?
Who's the city of refuge?
Who is the anchor?
And who is the one who has gone
into the veil?
He says, it's Jesus.
He's the one that is a forerunner.
Now, this word forerunner is only found here
in your Bible.
You'll never find it anywhere else.
And it really was a word that was
used for a scout or a spy that
went ahead of the army.
You know how they go ahead and they
determine where the enemy might be and where
the army ought to attack and what ought
to take place in terms of their movements.
And he says, this is like the scout
that has gone before.
He's a part of the army that's coming
behind, but he's out ahead and he's going
ahead of the rest of them.
He says, this one who is Jesus is
the forerunner.
He's gone ahead of the rest.
He's identified with us, but he's gone ahead.
And that forerunner is entered within the veil.
That is, he's in the presence of God
today.
What a wonderful thing to know that the
one who is now the presence of God
is the one who has gone in on
our behalf.
And faith sees the risen Christ in the
presence of God.
And that gives us the absolute assurance of
this.
We're going to be there one day as
well.
In chapter two, I would take it that
a verse nine or verse 10, where it
says that we see Jesus who is made
for a little lower than the angels.
That in that case is the evidence to
our faith that God's promise and purpose regarding
the sovereign will one day be accomplished.
He's going to sit upon the throne.
But in this case, the eye of faith
sees the Lord Jesus is the one that
has gone in.
Having finished his pathway of faithfulness and service
for God, there he is in the presence
of God for us.
He's linked with those that are coming behind.
It's like the first route in that sense,
but it's a forerunner.
And it says that he is entered into
that within the veil.
And he is the one who was made
and high priest who has become a high
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
He's going to assure them in chapter 10
that all this system of sacrifices and temple
worship is going to come to an end.
That day is approaching when that's going to
be destroyed.
What are you going to do then?
Well, you're linked with the one who has
gone in.
And you don't have a link with an
earthly tabernacle.
In fact, he's going to go on in
the verses of the chapter that follows to
emphasize the fact that this place where our
Lord Jesus officiates, this temple where he is
working on our behalf is not made with
hands.
It's not according to the carnal commandment, a
worldly sanctuary.
No, it's that which is within the veil.
And thank God that you and I today.
I take it as a great thing that
in a world that is full of confusion
and a world that is degenerating rapidly, we
have a hope.
You know, it's a wonderful thing, worth your
trouble to examine what the word of God
says about the hope of a child of
God.
It's a blessed hope.
It's the anticipation of his coming again, that
the one that has gone in is going
to come back out to receive us and
take us to be with him for eternity.
So we have a place of refuge.
We have a link with security.
And we're also tied to that which is
indicating where we will one day be because
our forerunner as a great high priest has
already gone in.
And he's gone in to God's presence as
a glorified man.
And he's there representing us.
Now, quickly, let's go on to chapter seven.
I'm skipping over, of course, obviously a lot
here, but we want to look at verse
21.
For those priests were made without an oath.
That is the priesthood of the Old Testament.
There was no oath that was ever pronounced
in terms of their being put in the
priesthood.
But this, this priesthood with an oath by
him that said unto him, the Lord swear
and will not repent.
Thou art a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek.
Again, Psalm 110.
By so much is Jesus made a surety
of a better testament.
And we mentioned last night the principle of
the covenant.
That's what this word testament is.
He is the surety of a better covenant.
A covenant that is not based on man's
obligation as the law was.
A covenant that is not a matter of
simple law and do's and don'ts and requirements.
It's a covenant that is far superior because
God himself is the one that makes all
the terms good.
And he says this one, he says, is
made a surety of that better covenant.
Now, what is a surety?
Well, it's interesting that the word surety is
a word that signifies bail or the bondsman.
You know, when a person is released from
prison, they have to post bail, don't they?
Never had to do it myself, but I
understand that's the way it goes.
And dependent on the severity of the crime
or whatever the judge decides, that's the amount
of bail that has to be posted.
That is a guarantee, hopefully, that the person
who is given that privilege of liberty is
going to show up in court.
That is the guarantee of his meeting those
obligations.
So he says this one, the Lord Jesus,
or Jesus himself in his single name, is
the bondsman, the one who answers for another
one.
He is the personal guarantor of the terms
of this covenant.
He's the one that makes it good.
It's made sure by the fact that he
is the one upon whom everything depends.
We have a relationship with God that is
not based upon our do's and don'ts and
our reaching to a certain standard of behavior,
although we ought to behave in a right
way.
The entire work of Christ is that which
is accomplishing.
We depend entirely upon him as the one
that is assured him and the one that
guarantees the terms of the covenant.
Now, he says in verse 23, they truly,
the Old Testament priests, are many priests.
And it's in a present tense because they
were still continuing at that time because they
were not suffered to continue by reason of
death.
That simply means that over the history of
the Levitical priesthood from the beginning, there has
been a succession of priests.
One after another, they have died and another
has taken their place.
So down through the history of Israel as
a nation, there have been many, many priests,
many high priests because of the fact they
all died.
Now he says in contrast to that, verse
24, this man, because he continueth ever, hath
an unchangeable priesthood.
That is his priesthood will never give way
to another.
It doesn't mean that he himself in the
sphere and the entirety of his priesthood would
change.
We know he wouldn't do that anyway.
But the idea of unchangeable means it doesn't
change from one priest to another.
He'll never give way to a successor.
It's an unchangeable priesthood.
It's forever.
It's eternal.
And so we find that it contrasts the
Old Testament priest that died and another took
their place.
In this case, he says, it's a priesthood
that goes on without anyone to succeed him.
Unchangeable because he is always the same and
because he will never pass away.
Verse 25, because of this, or wherefore he
is able also to save them to the
uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Now, what is that teaching?
Well, first of all, is not teaching primarily
salvation.
Not having to do with salvation.
It's not the fact that we have come
to Christ and trusted him as Savior that
is primarily in view here, although that's likely
in the background.
He is able to save.
That means he will preserve them.
That means he will guard them.
That means he will express the abundance of
his mercy and kindness and grace toward them
to keep them from falling.
The word save is used different ways in
our New Testament.
He will maintain them completely.
And the word to the uttermost doesn't primarily
indicate time, but it means extent.
He is able to preserve or to save
his people completely without any hindrance, without any
reservation, without any defect.
There's not one thing that he is not
able to do for you and me if
we have trusted him as Savior.
That's a wonderful thing to remember because the
high priest of the Old Testament couldn't do
that.
He couldn't save the people.
He couldn't preserve them from getting away from
God.
He couldn't preserve them in a right relationship
with God if they didn't want it.
He couldn't preserve them in a right standing
even if they turned away from God.
But this one, he says, is able to
save and preserve without any reservation, without any
deficiency.
And he'll do it till the end of
time also.
He's able to save to the uttermost all
that draw near to God by him.
It's the word draw near that we have.
We saw it on the Lord's Day.
We have it in chapter 10 and verse
1.
We have it in chapter 10 and verse
22.
The idea of drawing near is the act
of a believer in worship.
It's the response of a believer to the
Lord Jesus and to God himself.
We draw near unto him.
And so he is able to preserve or
to save to the uttermost all that are
drawers near, all that are the ones that
know what it is to come into God's
presence because of a relationship by him.
Now that is to be the continual exercise
of every child of God.
I wonder sometimes how often we exercise that
and are occupied in it, in genuinely personally
drawing near to God in presentation of our
worship and our praise and our supplication and
thanksgiving.
But that is the characteristic of a believer.
They draw near to God.
And you'll find it many times in this
epistle.
Now that's in contrast to those that are
shut out from God's presence because of their
sin and the fact that they don't know
the Lord Jesus, his Savior.
So he is able to save or to
preserve them completely that draw near to God
through him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them.
So that our ground of drawing near to
God is because of the continual, unbroken, unhindered,
intercessory work of our Lord Jesus.
We could never approach to God and ourselves
on our own merits, our own abilities.
No, we depend upon him entirely.
You know the function of the priest in
the Old Testament, you know I'm talking about
the common priest, shall we put it that
way, was always dependent upon the reality that
there was a high priest.
The priestly family was always associated with the
high priest.
And you and I as believer priests today
that draw near unto God are able to
do so because we are identified and seen
in the person of our great high priest.
And we draw near because he ever liveth
to make intercession for us.
He is the one that makes it possible
for us to draw near unto God and
to come into God's presence.
So he says that is our privilege and
that is the assurance that he gives us
that he will save to the uttermost all
of them.
For verse 26 tells us what kind of
priest is he or the one that we
need.
Such a high priest became us.
That's the same word as what we have
in chapter 2.
I think it's verse 17.
Such a high priest became us.
Chapter 2 and verse 10 rather.
I think it's verse 10.
Better look back and see.
It says in that verse anyway, it became
him, verse 10.
For it became him for whom are all
things and by whom are all things.
In other words, it was suitable to him.
It was fitting to him.
It was adequate.
It was exactly what he intended.
And in the same way, the same word
is used here.
For such a high priest is perfectly suited
to our needs.
What kind of high priest do we need?
Well, every kind of, every aspect of the
high priest that we need is found in
the Lord Jesus.
Do we need one that would provide access
to the presence of God?
The first thing he says that he's holy.
He must be holy or he could never
function in the presence of God.
He must be holy or he could not
provide the ground upon which we can approach
unto God.
He is first of all holy.
Because that is a God word attribute that
is absolutely essential.
So God puts that first.
He is holy.
He always was holy.
Even when he suffered for sins, he was
holy.
He was that holy one who endured the
judgment for sin.
He was never contaminated by sin in any
way.
And as the risen man of the glory,
he is holy.
That's the kind of high priest we need.
You can think of how many high priests
in the Old Testament.
They weren't holy.
They were holy in terms of their position,
but they were not holy in terms of
their character.
But the Lord Jesus is holy.
Not only that, it says he is harmless.
And that word harmless means that he is
guileless.
Absolutely innocent.
One who is free from every defect.
With no hypocrisy.
Everything about him is absolutely genuine and real.
He is guileless.
No deceit.
Nothing to cover over.
So in other words, in that sense he
can be trusted.
He is guileless.
He is harmless.
Not only that, he says he is undefiled.
Uncontaminated by the time of the life that
he spent here in this world.
He is absolutely pure.
Absolutely perfect in every way.
So he is holy, harmless, undefiled.
Separate from sinners.
Now literally that word is separated from sinners.
But it could read separate from sinners if
you like it that way.
The idea isn't that he avoided contact with
sinners.
You know that's not true.
He identified himself with sinners.
In Luke's gospel we find that he ate
and drank with sinners.
Publicans and sinners.
So it wasn't that he avoided all contact.
So what does that really mean?
Well one thing it means first of all
is that he had a character and a
nature that set him apart from all sinners.
He never had a nature within him that
was inclined towards sin.
He could move in and out among sinful
men and never be contaminated by their sin.
He was separated.
There was something different about him.
And so he was set apart in that
sense.
He was like Joseph in the Old Testament.
It's a word that's used for Joseph.
He was separate from his brother.
He was different from them.
He wasn't the same kind of man as
his eleven brothers were.
The Lord Jesus moved in and out among
sinful men in a sinful environment.
But he was separate.
The word also indicates that the present time
that he is the exalted man and there
he is in the glory.
And he's separate from all that is connected
with sin here below.
He's taken up out of the sphere.
And there he is in the presence of
God today as the holy, harmless, guileless, undefiled
high priest on behalf of his people.
And though he bears us in the presence
of God in that sense he is separated.
And he's exalted in the glory above.
And that's the place of his high priestly
work.
Separated from sinners and made higher than the
heavens.
And there in the presence of God he
represents us.
That's the high priest that is suitable to
us.
Not a failing man.
Not a defective man.
Not a insensitive man.
Not a unholy man.
But one that is perfectly compatible with all
that God requires.
And one that is perfectly suitable to represent
us in the presence of God.
We have a tremendous high priest.
And all that we have depends upon him.
And we're sure of this that he will
never fail.
Then just notice the last two verses.
Who needeth not daily as those high priests
to offer up sacrifice.
First for his own sins and then for
the people's.
That's what they had to do because of
course primarily referred to the day of atonement
here.
Because that's what the priest had to do.
The high priest.
But this he did once.
When he offered up himself.
Now the fact that he offered up himself
makes it very clear that he didn't offer
sacrifice for his own sins.
Because if he offered up himself he couldn't
have done so.
If he had had any sins.
Absolutely pure.
So in contrast to the Old Testament high
priest who first had to offer sacrifice for
his own sins.
And then for the sins of the people.
The Lord Jesus had no need of that.
He offered up himself.
And he offered up himself for the sins
of the people.
He says for the law maketh men high
priests which have infirmity.
Are weaknesses but the word of the oath
which was sense or after the law.
Make of the son.
Who is consecrated forevermore.
Now that word consecrated should be read perhaps.
Brought to a state of completion.
Perfected.
And it's not in any way moral perfection.
It's not in any way sense that there
was any defect or lack in the person
of Christ.
It means that he's brought to a state
of official completeness.
In relation to the function that he is
undertaking as our great high priest.
Is having passed through this scene of sin
as we've said before.
Is that which has equipped him and made
him fully capable of representing us in the
presence of God.
And he does so in all the completeness
of what he has been brought to as
a result of these experiences.
So he is the one who is perfected
or brought to a state of completion forevermore.
Now just for a few more minutes.
I know I'm going probably fairly quickly here.
But I want to look at two more
little passages in the book before we sit
down.
Look with me at chapter 9.
Maybe you can fill in the gaps here.
By what we've looked at you'll be able
to appreciate more what lies in between.
I hope you will anyway.
Verse 24 of chapter 9.
For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands which are the figures
of the true.
That is the physical tabernacle and temple were
only figures or types of the true in
God's mind.
He hasn't entered there because he didn't function
in the earthly tabernacle or the temple.
But he says he's entered into heaven itself.
Now to appear in the presence of God
for us.
Or yet that he should offer himself often
as the high priest entereth in the holy
place every year with blood of others.
Again that's the day of atonement.
Well then must he often have suffered since
the foundation of the world.
But now once in the end of the
age hath he appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself.
And as is appointed unto men once to
die but after this the judgment.
So Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many.
And unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin or
apart from sin.
The entire matter of sin unto salvation or
deliverance.
Just want to call your attention to three
different expressions in which we find this word
appeared.
In verse 24 appear in the presence of
God for us is present appearing.
Verse 26 he appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself that's the past.
His work of atonement or of salvation.
In verse 28 he shall appear the second
time without sin unto salvation.
That's the future.
And if you stop to think of it
a little bit you'll remember that on the
day of atonement which is in the background
of all these expressions.
On the day of atonement the high priest
first of all appeared.
At the altar burnt offering.
That's where he offered the sacrifice for himself
first of all.
And then for the people.
He appeared there at the altar burnt offering
to put away sin.
To accomplish that sacrifice that was required.
That relates to verse 26.
The appearance of the burnt offering relates to
what the Lord Jesus did when he came
into this world to go to the cross.
And there he offered himself as a sacrifice
for our sins.
And to accomplish what was necessary in the
sight of God.
He appeared to put away sin.
Then in verse 24 the high priest you
remember he went in with the blood into
the presence of God within the veil that
one time of the year.
And there he sprinkled that blood upon the
mercy seat that was over the ark.
And on the ground in front of the
mercy seat.
The blood upon the mercy seat appeared in
the eye of God.
To meet God's righteous requirements and to bring
about what would equate to propitiation.
The blood on the ground would indicate to
us the standing that is provided for a
believer as a result of the work of
Christ at Calvary.
But there he's appeared.
Where did he appear?
In the presence of God.
That's verse 24.
Now to appear in the presence of God
for us.
So he appeared once at the altar.
The place called Calvary.
He is appearing now in the presence of
God.
In the value.
He didn't take his blood into heaven.
Don't think that I'm saying that because he
didn't.
That blood remained at Calvary.
But in the value of that blood he
went into heaven.
And the evidence of it is seen in
the presence of God.
And the value of it can be appreciated
by him.
There he is now.
As our great high priest inside the veil.
But notice that he says he shall appear.
Without sin or apart from sin unto salvation.
That's the time you remember the high priest
came back out.
And he came back out there and there
was the work done when the sins were
confessed upon the head of the scapegoat.
And that goat was led away into the
wilderness.
And when they saw that goat going away
into the wilderness.
They had the assurance that those sins that
they had committed over the course of that
year were being taken away.
Now that's the future.
I would take it that his appearing in
verse 28 is not the rapture.
His appearing is in view of his coming
back in glory.
And bringing about the national repentance of Israel.
And he's going to bring about that salvation
of that nation that has rejected him now.
And the ultimate fulfillment of the day of
atonement will be when he comes back.
And is seen in all of his regal
splendor.
So we have the one that appeared.
And he appeared to put away sin.
He's appearing now in the presence of God
for us.
And we're linked with him who was within
the veil.
And he's coming back to appear to the
nation of Israel.
And to the world.
And he's going to bring about salvation.
Thank God that you and I have one
who is not only in the presence of
God for us.
But he is going to receive us to
be with him.
And when he comes back out, you know,
we're going to come with him.
We're going to be part of his glory.
That regal train of followers that will swell
his honor.
And will express the praise that should be
due to him.
We're going to come back with him.
And God is going to bring about salvation
for a nation that Zechariah tells us.
They will look upon him whom they have
pierced.
And their eyes shall mourn for him.
So we have three appearings.
And I would take it those three appearings
relate to the three appearings in relation to
the day of atonement.
Now just come with me to chapter 10.
We have about five more minutes.
We started in chapter 10 on the Lord's
day morning.
We're coming back to it.
Coming right back to where we started.
I guess we've been going in a big
circle.
But we're back.
But I'm not going to read those verses.
We're going to read the verses ahead of
that.
Verse 19.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus.
By a new and living way which he
hath consecrated or he has initiated for us
through the veil that is to see his
flesh.
And having a great high priest over the
house of God, let us draw near.
And so on.
With a true heart and full assurance of
faith and so on.
We read that on the Lord's day morning.
I just want to concentrate our attention on
verse 19 and 20 and 21.
You remember that back in chapter 2, was
it?
Chapter 2, at the end of chapter 2,
he says we are to have boldness.
To come unto the throne of grace.
There we might find grace and mercy to
help.
That we might find grace and mercy to
help in time of need.
Mercy and grace to help, I guess is
the order of it.
There we have the availability of all that
you and I have need of.
No matter what the difficulty might be.
Our weakness.
Times of stress that put pressure upon our
testimony.
And give us difficulty.
We can be sure of this.
There's an open door into the presence of
God.
And there's one there that is available to
meet the needs of his people.
But this in verse 19 is a boldness
to enter in.
Not as supplicants.
But the boldness to enter in as worshippers.
God wants you and me as believers to
be worshippers.
To know what it is to come into
his presence with our incense of worship and
praise.
To magnify his name.
And to give him the honor that is
due to him.
He says, let's have boldness.
I would take it as a suggestion in
the background there that the Old Testament priest
had a certain measure of fearfulness.
We don't have that recorded in the Old
Testament.
But in view of the awesomeness of entering
into the presence of God.
I would doubt that they would have had
any assumption or presumption in any way in
that sense.
But he says, you and I are to
have boldness.
It's a holy boldness.
It's the assurance of access.
It's the assurance of acceptance.
It's the assurance that there is one who
is there who wants to hear our expressions
of worship and praise.
Let's not deprive him of it.
Let's give it to him.
Because he is worthy to receive it.
He says, having therefore, that's based upon the
fact of verse 17 and 18.
Their sins and iniquities will I remember no
more, God says.
And he says, where remission of these is,
where sins and iniquities have been remitted.
There is no more or no further offering
for sin.
We need nothing more.
And because of this, he says, we are
to have boldness to enter in.
Into the holiness, holiest or the holies by
the blood of Jesus.
It's by a new or a freshly sanctified
and living way of freshly instituted way.
Something different from the Old Testament.
It's always fresh is always is also the
suggestion of it.
It will never become a thing of the
past.
It will never lose its effectiveness or its
value.
He says is a freshly sanctified and it's
a living way.
I think it is living because it's linked
with a priest, a high priest that is
living at God's right hand.
And it will always be available.
And so it's freshly sanctified.
That's a living way which he initiated for
us through the veil, that is to say,
his flesh.
Now, if you read many commentators, which I
do as well, you would find that most
of them would say that the veil in
that case is the Lord's flesh.
That is his humanity.
And there's a lovely thought really in relation
to that.
That is the veil.
You remember with all of its different colors
and the cherubim embroidered upon it, the blue
and the purple and the scarlet and the
fine twine linen.
It certainly speaks of the Lord Jesus.
It speaks of the perfection of his life
and the deity of Christ and the sacrificial
work and the servanthood of Christ.
All those colors of that veil in the
temple and the tabernacle speak of the Lord
Jesus.
And so some would say, well, the veil
then is the flesh, the humanity, the life
of the Lord Jesus.
And that life and all of its beauty
and holiness was like the veil that it
could be touched.
It could be interacted with.
But in that sense, separated between man and
God, because it represented a character of holiness
that man could never attain to.
And in that sense, in all of its
beauty and attractive features, it was really a
barrier.
And as long as the Lord Jesus was
living in this world, as a man here
below, then there was no access that had
been provided in the presence of God.
It required the veil to be wrecked.
That's going back, of course, to what took
place when the Lord Jesus dismissed his spirit
when he hung upon the cross.
Well, there's a lovely thought on that, and
I wouldn't totally throw that out, but I
don't think that's what it means.
I think that the veil, I should say,
I would think that the flesh, that is
the humanity and the life of Christ, the
life that was given for us is the
new and living way.
That is, we have been brought into the
presence of God through the life of the
Lord Jesus Christ given for us.
We approach to God on the grounds of
one who has satisfied all of God's righteous
claims.
And, you know, when you think about the
veil being wrecked in twain from top to
bottom when the Lord dismissed his spirit, that
is totally irrelevant to this passage altogether.
That wrecking of the veil did two things.
It indicated to the Israelites that the Old
Testament's priestly service was terminated.
That veil was wrecked, indicating that there was
no more a continuation of the normal sort
of thing.
You know, there's another thing that veil would
have revealed to them, the priests.
It would have showed them there was nothing
inside.
The holiest of all was empty.
Out of stone, we understand.
The ark was no longer there.
So it would indicate very clearly that that,
which was the center of their occupation of
worship, really had no more any value, had
no value so far as God was concerned.
So this is not the rending, there's no
mention of the rending of a veil here
in this passage.
It's that you and I have access into
the very presence of God by this new
and living way, which is the Lord Jesus
Christ himself who gave himself for us.
And he is the one that has provided
the means in.
And in fact, it's interesting that if you
look at the context of the passage, you
find there is no veil at all.
It's taken away because that veil was a
point of separation between the priests and the
presence of God and what he is really
telling us is there's no veil any longer.
We just have access right in the very
presence of God because of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
And based upon him having this high priest,
this great high priest over the house of
God, he says, let us draw near with
a full heart, with a true heart and
full assurance of faith.
And so on all the results that are
involved in it.
So we have a way right in.
And in fact, we function as priests in
our worship and our activities for God right
in his presence.
We ought to be more conscious of his
presence.
We ought to cultivate in our own mind,
I believe, more of a sensitivity to the
fact that we are in the presence of
God, not at certain sanctimonious moments, but we
can be conscious of the presence of God
at any moment.
We can enjoy his presence and we can
offer up worship and praise.
We don't have to be with the other
saints of God to do so.
We should be able to do that at
any moment in our lives.
And we have a consciousness that as believers,
we can enter right into the presence of
God and know the reality of that presence
with nothing, nothing between.
And it's all been accomplished.
We come by way of the Lord Jesus.
We find a perfect access and acceptability in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we are encouraged in this epistle.
We're exhorted in this epistle.
We're warned, of course, in this epistle as
well, that we might lay hold of those
things that we have received through the Lord
Jesus and give thanks to God that we
have such a great high priest.
Wonder of wonders that he would ever condescend
to bring us into the presence of God.
At so great a cost to himself.
We find in chapter 12, he says that
we have come not to Mount Sinai, not
to all these other things that were connected
with the law.
No, he says we've come ultimately to Jesus.
And here we are able to enjoy the
presence of God and relationship with him because
of a man.
A real man.
And you come to chapter 13, he reminds
him that he's the man that is outside
the camp.
Let us go forth unto him, therefore, without
the camp, bearing his reproach.
So the entire aspect of the epistle of
Hebrews is the identification of a believer with
the Lord Jesus.
And thank God we have such a high
priest.
One that is perfectly suitable to us.
One day we'll see him.
One day we'll be with him.
And we'll be like him forever.
May God bless his word and encourage our
hearts until that day comes.
Let's pray.
Our Father, our gracious God, we bow with
gratitude to thee.
Thanking thee that thou hast looked upon us
in our unquestionable weakness, and our failure and
our sinfulness.
And yet to think in thy perfect wisdom,
in thy matchless grace, thou hast made it
possible that we can enjoy fellowship with thee,
that we can know this blessedness of access
into thy holy presence, and that we can
speak to thee as our Father, and that
we can worship thee in a real and
genuine way.
Thank thee, O God, for that one who
is the mediator between God and man.
We thank thee that he is our great
high priest there seated at thy right hand.
And we're linked with him.
And because he is there, we know that
we will one day be there as well.
But until then, O God, help us to
depend upon him in every time of need,
and to know the reality of the fact
that there is an unlimited supply that meet
the need of thy people in every circumstance
of life.
We thank thee for these precious truths concerning
our Lord Jesus.
We pray that it might enlarge our hearts'
understanding of him, and all that he is
doing on our behalf.
We offer thanks for those of thy people
here, and for the meetings that have been
passed, and for this time together we ask
thy blessing upon thy precious word, and give
thanks for it in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.