The "Let Us" Series From The Book Of Hebrews
#5
"LET US DRAW NEAR TO GOD!"
TEXT: Heb.
10:22
INTRO: In the Old
Testament it was very dramatic when God was approached. First, only the high priest could ever
actually enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year. If he approached God’s presence in an
impure state or not properly cleansed he would die immediately! It was almost scary to enter the Holy of
Holies, inside was the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy seat where the blood
was to be sprinkled, the high priest would wear a bell around his ankle with a
rope attached just in case he did die going into God’s presence they could pull
his body back out – no one else could enter or they would die. That one day a year when it was time for
the high priest could go in and sprinkle blood for the remission of
How different under the New Covenant! Jesus served as both high priest, and as
the blood sacrifice – as well as the mercy seat and Ark of the Covenant. In doing so He forever changed the way
we approach God! This is GOOD NEWS!
– the very meaning of the word “Gospel.”
ILLUS:
How
it must have startled those early Jewish Christians to read in the letter to the
Hebrews, "Let
us draw near."
Their whole Jewish tradition said
just the opposite: "Stand back!" The architecture of their temple said it
with an outer court for the Gentiles, an inner court for the women, and an
inmost court for the men. After
that came the temple proper, which only the priests could enter. The whole message of that architecture
was "Stand back!" There were ranks
of people to match the temple's architecture--a high priest, and then lesser
priests, then the men, then the women, and finally the Gentiles. There were rituals to match the ranks.
Burnt offerings were offered at an
open-air altar in sight of all. The
altar of incense was inside the temple, seen only by the high priests and seen
only dimly by them, in a shadowy room lit by seven candles. Shed blood was offered for the sins of
the people in the inmost room, shrouded in complete and perpetual darkness.
All was calculated to say, "Stand
back!" Against this background, the
letter to the Hebrews offers us a blessed assurance: "Let
us draw near to God, with a sincere heart in full assurance of
faith"
(Hebrews
10:22). -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio:
Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
PROP.SENT: The
Scriptures teach us that we have complete access to God through Jesus Christ and
His sacrifice on the cross. Because
our lives are cleansed by Christ’s blood we can draw near to God with full
assurance that He will receive us.
This is so very different from the Old Testament era when approaching God
was scary!
I. AUDIENCE! Heb.
10:22a
A.
Access!
Heb. 10:22a
1.
The lead in statement here is amazing – “Let us draw near
to God!” To a Jewish
audience this was an amazing statement!
2. It
was amazing because the very that anyone could approach God was nearly
impossible under the Old Covenant.
3.
The writer here however is stating unequivocally that access to God is
not only possible; we are encouraged to do
so!
4.
God has granted access – through His son Jesus!
5.
How many people are missing out on God’s presence because they simply do
not know how available it is?
ILLUS:
The
6.
Sadly, so many people are not aware in their spiritual thirst that He who
is “living
water” is readily available and can quench their thirsty soul and
grant access to the very presence of God
Himself.
B.
Attitude! Heb.
10:22a
1.
Sincerity is more than just a light emotion, it means to come to God with
a genuine desire to be truthful with Him as well as truthful with
ourselves.
2.
God does not do well with hypocrites!
a.
Jesus had some of the strongest words with hypocrites in His own day,
sincerity is more than just attempting to be honest, it is being
honest!
b. It
is possible to be sincere and sincerely wrong too! It is thus more than a surface
understanding of “sincerity” that is being spoken of here.
c.
The literal idea is “with a truthful heart.” It is the idea of what Jesus meant when
He said that those who wanted to worship God must worship Him in “Spirit and in
truth.”
3. To
be pure means to come sincerely.
ILLUS:
A
girl in Sunday school had read the Beatitudes in Matthew. She was asked which of
the things mentioned she would most like to have. She said, "A pure heart." When
asked why she preferred that, she said, "If my heart were pure, I believe I
would have all the other virtues mentioned in this chapter." - Unknown
4.
The Lord never turned away from a sincere heart reaching out to him,
whether it was a fallen woman of low regard, or people with addiction problems
like drunkards, or those who were known sinners in his culture like tax
collectors, etc.
a.
Whenever Jesus met someone who was truthful He reached out to them.
b. He
would go out of his way to spend time with a truthful sinner – like
Zacchaeus.
c.
The woman at the well was another truthful person – although Jesus had to
kind of pull it out of her, but her sincere heart brought her into the light of
God’s saving grace.
5.
When we come with a sincere heart God grants full and quick access –
always! It is a door
opener.
II. ASSURANCE Heb.
10b
A.
Assurance! Heb.
10:22b
1. It
is important to note that assurance comes only with
faith!
2.
This of course means that one cannot be assured of their place before God
without faith, and indeed the writer of Hebrews said this in the next chapter,
“Without faith
it is impossible to please God…” Heb.
11:6
3.
Our assurance is the result of Christ’s sacrifice, and our faith in Him
and that work He has done. Only
when that faith is properly placed do we experience this absolute
assurance.
4.
Sometimes it is hard to have faith, because things don’t always work out
the way we want them to or expect them to.
a.
But when that happens that is exactly when our faith works
best!
b.
And it is then when our faith gives us the greatest
assurance!
c.
If we belong to Christ we need not fear anything that might come down the
pike!
ILLUS:
An
engagement ring that fell into the sea off the west coast of
5.
Faith brings this important assurance to our hearts and minds! We are His, and because of this we have
full access to Him now as well as in the
future.
B.
Acquitted! Heb.
10:22b
1.
Our hearts are clean when we come to Christ, He has acquitted us of all
our sins by the work on
2.
Guilty we could not come before His presence. Like the high priest in the Old
Testament, entrance into the Holy of Holies with sin in their heart meant
immediate death – but Christ’s sacrifice was perfect, and His shed blood made
possible our cleansing from all sins, and thus freedom to stand in His
presence.
3. It
is important to realize that this cleansing is true whether we always feel it or
not, faith works in good times and bad
times.
ILLUS:
Faith
on a full stomach may be simply contentment--but if you have it when you're
hungry, it's genuine. --
Frank A. Clark, Christian Reader, Vol. 35, no. 2.
4. No
matter what we face in life, good things or bad things – we can face God at all
times because we belong to Him, and He has cleansed us and acquitted us of all
guilt and sin.
a.
We must never fear to come into His
presence!
b. We
must always come with a cleansed heart, He will never push us
aside.
III. ACCEPTED! Heb.
10:22c
A.
Accredited! Heb.
10:22c
1. No
more guilty conscience when we have come to
Christ.
a.
So many people hold on to their past sins, and by doing so they are
robbing themselves of the joy of being
saved!
b.
They also make it harder to come into the presence of God with a clear
conscience when they don’t allow their own forgiveness for past
sins.
c.
Jesus made it pretty clear, when we come to Him and receive Him, ALL our
sins are forgiven and we are “new” creatures – “born
again.”
d.
Old things pass away, all things become
new!
2.
Approaching our Lord is suppose to be a thing of joy, not of fear! This is why the Bible states, “perfect love
casts out all fear.” 1 John 4:18
3.
The bottom line in an imperfect world is that we are the winners! This is true whether current realities
seem to show that – we are tuned into another kingdom which will never lose or
pass away.
ILLUS:
On
a balmy October afternoon in 1982, Badger Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, was
packed. More than 60,000 die-hard
What seemed odd, however, as the score became more lopsided, were the
bursts of applause and shouts of joy from the
Many of the fans in the stands
were listening to portable radios--and responding to something other than their
immediate circumstances. Paul
encourages us to fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen
(2
Cor. 4:18).
When we do, we can rejoice even in
hardships because we see Christ's larger victory.
-- Greg Asimakoupoulos,
4. We
need to act and live like winners no matter what we are facing in life. God has already determined the outcome
of our faith and that is eternity with Him!
5. We
can live in a fallen world like victors with a clean conscience – our sins have
been taken away.
a.
This was symbolized even in the Old Covenant by the “scapegoat” that had
the sins of
b.
Why do so many Christians allow themselves to be trapped by their
past? It is unnecessary and
unproductive, and can spoil the joy of coming into God’s
presence.
c.
Like the hit song in the recent animated movie “Frozen” says, “Let it go, let
it go, let it go.”
6. It
will be hard to “draw near to God” if we cling to our past sins or guilt of
them.
B.
Accomplished! Heb.
10:22c
1.
The final statement in this verse clearly indicates a complete
“washing.”
a.
And washed with “pure
water.”
b. It
is not from human effort that this “pure water” comes from; it is from the fountain
of Christ’s shed blood!
c.
Too many people think they have to earn their salvation, and that getting
clean is a work of their own power.
d. It
is NOT our power; it is God’s power and cleansing!
2.
When we falsely assume it is up to our ability to cleanse ourselves from
our sins we will discover that it is nearly
impossible!
ILLUS:
Everyone
is familiar with Murphy's Law, "If anything can go wrong, it will." That has
spawned a whole set of such tongue-in-cheek laws. One of them is O'Reilly's Law of the
Kitchen: "Cleanliness is next to impossible." We've all heard that cleanliness is next
to godliness, but doesn't it sometimes seem that cleanliness is truly next to
impossible? Spiritual cleanliness
is only possible through the grace of God, by the blood of Christ. -- Robert C. Shannon, 1000 Windows, (Cincinnati, Ohio:
Standard Publishing Company, 1997).
3.
God desires us to come to Him, He calls us to fellowship with Him, He has
made the way possible, He has paid the price, He has opened the way – all
through the work and sacrifice of His son Jesus. Why would you hesitate to come to a God
who has done all the work, paid the price for all sin, and beckoned you to come
to Him.
4.
Jesus aid this during His ministry on earth, “Come to me, all
you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matt.
11:28
a.
Unlike other religions on this earth, all but one make it up to you to
earn your way. With some you have
to beat yourself, or try and discipline yourself to earn God’s favor, some teach
that you will not likely ever reach “nirvana” in this life, but keep
trying. Some teach you have to
prove yourself by forcing others to submit. There is only one “religion” however
that God says, “come ... I’ve done it all for you” and that is
Christianity.
b. It
isn’t about how good you can be for God to love you; it is about how good God is
that He loves you!
c.
How can anyone resist the love Jesus Christ showed by taking the price of
sin upon Himself?
5.
LET US DRAW NEAR TO GOD!
CONCLUSION:
The writer of Hebrews was writing to a people who had always known fear
in coming to God. They had
understood by the Old Covenant that approaching God was a frightening
thing. All of that was because
Christ had not yet died as the perfect sacrifice, and as our high priest. Now that He has come entrance into the
very presence of God is wide open,
COME!