Wonder-Worshippers - Come and Worship
Introduction
Spiritual wealth does not consist merely in possessions but in knowledge and use. God’s grace needs appropriation if it is to be operative. In this passage we see the association of “having” and “let us”; because we possess, we ought to use and enjoy.
The believer today has an access to God far greater than anything allowed by the O.T. rituals, and he, therefore, needs to avail himself of it. The worshipper who has come to know the Lord through drawing near must beware of the danger of drifting back into a dead Judaism. The believer needs to press on in his new relationship with Jesus. They were tempted by persecution, along with other challenges, to give up Christ, to be quitters. Boldness (courage) is the need of the hour.
The writer is exhorting believers to faith and patient endurance based on the theological truth it presents. He is not so much attempting to enlighten their minds in important doctrinal issues as he is attempting to use those doctrines to move their wills to obedience to the truth.
I. THE INVITATION TO WORSHIP. 19-21
“enter the Holiest”. “let us draw near”
The word worship became worthship and involves attributing worth to God. Hebrew word means to bow down, to prostrate oneself. The act of bowing is intended to reflect one’s acknowledgement of God’s worth. It reflects the ancient custom of kissing the earth as a means of honoring deities.
William Temple (Archbishop of Canterbury 1942-44)
“Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose, and all of this gathered up in adoration.”
A. THE ACCESS TO THE ONE TO BE WORSHIPPED. 19
“therefore” – reminds us that in vv.11-18, God makes known that Christ’s death perfects the sanctified (those set aside for worship).
1. Place of Entrance.
“to enter the Holiest” – the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwells. This immediately reminds us of how separated God is from man and his world of imperfection and sin.
Man’s sin and imperfection made him unacceptable to God.
The veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies symbolized that man was cut-off from God. The message to the Hebrews concerning access to God has been “stay back” yet now we hear of access with boldness.
“having” - reminds us of our present possession. As a result, we have liberty or freedom to enter into God’s presence with boldness (courage). We are so apt to associate the Christian life either with the past (had) or the future (shall have) that we often lose blessing and power through the forgetfulness of our present possibilities.
“boldness” – speaks of freedom of speech; courage and conversation.
Provision of Entrance. 19
“by the blood of Jesus” – we can approach God by virtue of the sacrificial atonement of Jesus. Jesus, through His blood, satisfied God’s justice on our behalf, so that we can now claim God’s mercy and grace.
Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Jesus was the High Priest that offered the sacrifice: Himself
Jesus was the Sacrifice offered by the High Priest: Himself
B. THE APPROACH OF THE ONE TO BE WORSHIPPED. 20
“by a new and living way which He consecrated for us.”
“new” – freshly slaughtered; Martin Luther says, “It seems but yesterday that Jesus died on the cross.”
Suggests that the sacrifice of Christ never grows old.
Song expresses:
“Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
Should never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.”
Hebrews 8:13: “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
“living way” – no longer dead sacrificial animals but the living Lord Jesus.
Hebrews 7:25: “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
“He consecrated” – inaugurated or dedicated for us.
Hebrews 6:19-20: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
“through the veil, that is, His flesh”
Matthew 27:51: “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split”
In the O.T. the veil was the only way into God’s presence.
In the N.T. Jesus is the only way to God. The rent veil (body) means:
Christ bore the sins and guilt and judgment for us
Christ frees man from sin and judgment by His rent body.
Christ has opened up the way for man to enter God’s presence
John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
Ephesians 3:12: “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.”
The veil is that which hid Him instead of revealing Him.
The flesh of Jesus veiled the glory of God even as the veil in the temple veiled the Shekinah glory of God.
C. THE ARRANGEMENTS MADE FOR THE WORSHIPPERS. 21
Jesus not only opened the way to God but He is now our High Priest over the House of God” He does not merely show the way to God, or even just provide the way to God; He takes us with Him to God and ministers for us in heaven.
1 Peter 2:4-5: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:10 paraphrased, “If His death could do so much to save me, what must His life be doing in the presence of God to keep me.”
II. THE PREPARATION TO WORSHIP. 22
“Let us draw near…” – the language of worship from the O.T.
James 4:8a: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
The Israelite family brought a lamb to the Priest to offer as a sacrifice to God. As it was sacrificed and placed on the altar to be consumed by fire, the family watched as the smoke ascended upward and they would draw near.
Present tense: continuous
Command to be obeyed
“Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have. Whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship.” Oswald Chambers
A. SINCERITY IN WORSHIP.
“To worship in spirit is to draw near to God with an undivided heart.” Erwin Lutzer
“true heart” – honest, meaningful, without hypocrisy. Speaks of being thankful and appreciative, glad and joyful, and is excited and enthusiastic about entering.
Jeremiah 3:10: “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense," says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 24:7: “Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.”
TRUE WORSHIP CALLS FOR 3 RESPONSES:
1. Upward 22
“let us draw near”
2. Inward 23
“our hope”
3. Outward 24
“consider one another” – it is not part of the Christian life to willfully “go it alone.”
B. SECURITY OF APPROVAL.
“full assurance of faith” – unqualified assurance in Christ. Jesus is God’s acceptable sacrifice that gives me access; He is absolutely sufficient.
It requires commitment that is genuine. The writer encourages a faith that progresses.
Hebrews 6:9-12: “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
C. SPRINKLED HEARTS.
“Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience”
Hebrews 9:22: “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Hebrews 10:1-2: “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.”
Inner perfection
Hebrews 9:14
“how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Conscience condemns us and reminds us of our guilt; and the guilt cannot be removed until the sin is removed. When Jesus died, His blood removed our sins, and when we embrace Him by faith, our conscience becomes free from guilt; we are cleansed from an evil conscience.
SPIRIT’S PURIFYING.
“our bodies washed with pure water” – this speaks of the Spirit of God purifying one’s life by means of the Word of God.
Ephesians 5:26: “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,”
Sprinkled Hearts – blood and Spirit’s Purifying with water. When a person comes to Christ, both of these take place. Christ’s death pays the penalty of sin for us and God is satisfied; and the cleansing act of the Holy Spirit begins to change us on the inside and He is satisfied. God’s justice and righteousness are both satisfied; and because of this, a believer can come into God’s presence with confidence.
John MacArthur tells about 3 THINGS THAT ARE REQUIRED for this to happen:
1. Felt Need
Felt need does not require theological understanding if the doctrine of salvation; only a sincere heart that knows it needs salvation. On the other hand, a person who does not feel a need for salvation, no matter how good his theology, is far from faith in God. Felt need is essential, but inadequate on its own.
“He creates the need He satisfies.”
2. Content
A person does not have to comprehend the full knowledge and understanding of the doctrine of salvation before he can be saved, but he does need the gospel truth (1 Corinthians 15:1-5) that he is lost in sin and needs the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
3. Commitment
The climax of faith is commitment. Professing Christ, without commitment to Christ, is not saving faith.
Faith alone, by Grace alone, in Christ alone.