Boldness by the Blood

BOLDNESS BY THE BLOOD

Hebrews 10:19-21

 

Good morning. It is good to be here. He mentioned that I am a recent grandfather. It was just two months ago I became one. I'm going to show you pictures for the next 45 minutes. I could do that, but I'm not going to do that.

 

It is a blessing to be here and to teach God's word. We'll have a few more things to say at the worship hour. This hour, I want us to think about Boldness by the Blood. Of course, that’s the blood of Jesus Christ. That's the reason that we're here this morning, isn't it?

 

It’s because of the blood that Jesus shed on that cross. Without that, we wouldn't have a need to be here and we wouldn't have a need to look forward to anything. We’d just be like an animal. We die and that's the end of things. It's not like that with us.

 

Also, I want us to think that we're not just…I hope I'm saved, maybe I'm saved, rather we can know that we are saved. The Bible teaches us that. And we can live a life knowing without a doubt that we are saved. We have a lot of material with this. We'll try to squeeze it in, in this amount of time.

 

Starting in Hebrews 10:19-21, the Hebrews writer, a lot of people think it is Paul, but that doesn't matter as long as we get the message that comes from it. He says here“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God;”

That boldness we have because we're in Jesus Christ. His blood cleanses us from our sins. Are we perfect? No. We'll look at that here in just a moment. But because that blood continues to cleanse us of our sins and we're going to need that. We make mistakes, don't we?

 

As children of God, we fall short. We're not always everything that we need to be. Sometimes we go beyond and do things that we should not do. Sometimes we fall short and don't do what we should do. But we know as long as we're striving to serve God that blood continues to cleanse us.

 

In Romans 3:23, Paul said, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Think about that for a moment. He's writing to Christians, those at Rome, and he tells them, all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. What does that mean? We need that blood that Jesus shed on that cross so we could be saved from our sins.

 

There's no other way that we can be saved. Man cannot devise a way to be saved. You go back to Genesis when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. You see man’s first sins. They ate of the forbidden fruit that they were told not to, and they were punished for that.

 

Sin had entered the world. You also read in Ephesians 3:8-10, where God already a plan before this world existed. He knew that man would sin. He knew that man couldn't save himself. He had already devised a plan through our Lord Jesus Christ that we could be saved, and that is by his blood.

 

Let's go back to Romans 3. Let's back up in the chapter a little bit. Let's look at verse nine. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise. For we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. The Jews thought they were special because they were Jews. The Christ Child came through them, and had they obeyed as they should have, it would have been great, but what do we see through their history?

 

Constantly falling away from doing what God told them to do. Gentiles needed salvation. I was studying about Jonah on one of the airplanes, and you see some interesting things. Therefore, Jonah, a Jew, was told to go to the Gentiles, the Ninevites. I won't go into that because that's another study that is interesting.

 

We all need God, don't we? All people today, we need God. We look next at the book of Isaiah 58:1-2, and you see all through the history of men. It says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that he cannot hear.

 

That's not the problem. God can and is willing to save us. What is the problem then? He tells us there, but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear. That separation comes between us—God, man--and sins come between.

 

In order to be in the right relationship with God, I have to be free from my sins. God has made a way for that. Notice this. Go back to the New Testament in the book of Luke 19:10, and it tells us about Jesus. Here's where the good news comes in.

 

Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That's us. We have an answer, don't we? Jesus came to this earth and lived. Think about that for a moment.

 

Our idea, our plan is to go to heaven. What is our imagination of heaven? Whatever it is, it's greater than whatever we can think, isn't it? Our mind can't comprehend what it will be like to walk in heaven and be with God, to be with the Lord Jesus, to be with the Holy Spirit where the angels are where all the righteous of all time have been.

 

That's what we look forward to. Stop and think. Jesus left the glory of heaven and came here and faced all the same things that we faced. We'll notice that as we study today. He came to do that and go through the same things that we went through in our lives, and he went through much more, as we know. In John 3:16, (a passage that most of us can quote), for God so loved the world that what he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should be saved, that man shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That's a promise from God. Now stop. Which promise has God ever made that he failed to keep? Not a single one. So we can have that everlasting life in Jesus Christ, and it comes by the blood of Jesus.

 

Then going back to the book of Hebrews 9:22, this time, notice what the writer says. Almost all things are by the law, purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. Go back to the Old Testament, the Law of Moses, they had to offer animal sacrifices. Even Abel did that. You see throughout the Old Testament that they had to offer these blood sacrifices.

 

Those animal sacrifices, that blood could not wash away man's sins. It made a remembrance of sins. The old law condemned sin, but we had to look to Jesus Christ for our salvation, don't we? That's the only way that man can be saved.

 

Isn't it good news that we can live our lives with joy? We're going to notice that after we eat lunch today, that it could be dangerous. Everybody has eaten, the preacher has eaten. Everybody is ready for a nap.

 

That hour may be the most challenging of the whole week right there, but we'll give it our best shot. We also notice there's a song that everybody pretty much sings at every congregation. What? There's Power in the Blood. We understand that men have written songs about that and we sing it, there's power in the blood, not of those animal sacrifices, oh, no.

 

In the Lord Jesus Christ, there's power, how much power? It can take us from a lost state when we're washed in the blood of Jesus at the point of baptism and we're in Christ, we are saved. That is power. That is tremendous power, isn't it?

 

Then we see in John 14:6, Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one cometh unto the Father but by me. There’s our answer, there's our boldness. We want to look at three ways this morning that we can walk with boldness that will help us in our daily walk as we strive each day of our life to serve God and to keep his commandments. I want you to think today and throughout this week, we'll look at some different subjects, obviously, but let's think about how we can live our lives with confidence.

 

We can know that we're safe. Sometimes we live with doubt, even if we're a member of the church. I've been baptized, that is great, but how do we live our lives? We should live our lives knowing that whatever we face, God is there for us. He never will fail us. He's not going to leave us.

 

There's never going to be a time that we call upon Him, that he will not hear us. That makes us live our lives differently, doesn't it, when we understand that.

Number one, let's draw near to God. That's one thing that we are told to do. Notice in Hebrews 10:22, let us draw near with a true heart. Notice this in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. What happens at the point of baptism? We contact that saving blood. Jesus shed his blood in his death on the cross. John 19:34.

 

Romans six, three and four says, we're baptized into his death and we're resurrected to walk in newness of life. That's what Jesus talked to Nicodemus about, wasn't it? He came and Nicodemus talked to him and Jesus said, you must be born again. Nicodemus said, how are you going to do that? You can't enter the second time into your mother's womb.

 

He said, you must be born of the water and the Spirit, and the Spirit through the apostles. And of course, we have the word of God today and it tells us what we need to do to become Christians, to live our lives as Christians. He says, draw near to God. God is there to comfort us. Thinking about that grandchild, I already miss him.

 

I just left yesterday, but I already miss him. Think about that child as he grows up. He's going to face difficulties. Even when he's small, a child he faces difficulties that sometimes we may think are nothing. It is to him, it is to that child.

 

What do we want to do as parents and grandparents? Come here, I will help take care of you. We comfort that child. Our Father says, draw near, I will give you comfort, I will take care of you. There's not going to be a time that you can't be near me. You can always be near me.

 

Draw near to God. God is always going to be where he always has been. So what do we need to do? Draw near to God. Sometimes we have to refocus. This includes me. I'm not just saying this to other people. We have to refocus. Sometimes we have to sit down and think, I need to do some self inventory, looking over myself, and I want to draw near to God, how's my prayer life? Am I praying to God?

 

That's our communication to God. You ever thought about prayer and the effectiveness of prayer? Think about this. We're going right before the throne of God when we do that. That is some thought, isn't it? God does not allow just anyone to come before his throne, but his children.

 

He will allow us to come before his throne. What a privilege and what an honor! We can come and talk to Him, and he does hear us. He takes care of us. He understands us. Sometimes people, we do help each other, we understand that. There are times we may feel nobody understands me.

 

God does. God always understands. He knows what's going on. He knows what's taking place in our lives. In John 3:5, as we were mentioning, Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of the water and the spirit (noticed the other part that I didn't say), he cannot enter the kingdom of God, so you must be born again. Go back to the part of baptism that we just mentioned, what do you bury? You bury something that is dead. What's dead? That old man of sin, what we used to be.

 

That man is buried, resurrected to walk in newness of life, a new child, as though I never sinned. We may remember what we used to do, but that life is over with. I'm walking with God now, so my life will be different. Let's read Romans six, three and four. I referred to it, but let's read it specifically and see how he starts out.

 

That part is important. Know ye not? We might say this today, don't you know? Don't you understand this? Again, he's writing this to Christians.

 

When you write this to Christians, why are you writing to Christians about baptism? You're reminding them. That's what even those that have been members, I'm sure some of you have been members for a long, long time. What do we gain? We may say I've studied that subject before.

 

We need to be reminded about things, don't we? When you go back to the Bible, and I know we would make statements very similar to this, “I've studied that before, but I never noticed that.” Some other preacher comes and preaches on the same subject, and covers that, but in a completely different way. We still gain from that. Know ye not that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ? What? Were baptized into his death. There's what we were covering. Notice the next word. Therefore, because of what just took place, that you were baptized into the death of Jesus, therefore, we are buried with him.

 

How? By baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Christ was in that tomb three days. The tomb couldn't contain him.

 

Death, he overcame it, and up from the grave he arose. Like our Lord, we rise from that watery grave. That old man's been buried. That new man has been resurrected. In the book of First John 1:7, and in thought we have referred to this.

 

We didn't read this. It says, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, (God, the Lord Jesus, is always in the light). Never was a time that they were outside of the light. Jesus is that light. As we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

 

The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from how many sins? I can see that God will forgive me of some sins, but there's some he just can't forgive. No, no, he forgives us of all sins, whatever it was. Think back to what you read in the Bible.

 

What about Saul of Tarsus that persecuted the church, and he even held the garments while they stoned Stephen to death. Do you think that wasn't something that bothered him even after he became a Christian? My point is, the power that is in the blood of Jesus even washed away his sins. Why tarriest thou rise and be baptized and wash away thy sins calling on the name of the Lord. That blood will save you, Paul. You can be saved by that blood of Jesus Christ.

 

There's a word here, a phrase here, the first two words. But if—but if we walk in the light.  Sometimes I like to say it like this. What if we don't? We get the point real quick, don't we? All those things we just talked about, we don't have the benefit of. I want to think about and I want to take advantage of what's been offered to me by God.

 

He has blessed us. He's made the way for us. This life can be difficult at times, we know that. There are always some bumps in the road, isn't there? A lot of potholes. Some of those are pretty big, but nothing that we can't live with in this life. This life is brief. James said that. It's like a vapor. It appears for a short time and vanishes away. I just turned 60. When I was 30, 60 sounded like an old man.

 

Dale and I we're talking about this yesterday when he picked me up from the airport. 60 don’t seem so old now after I got to this age. It sure did when I was 30. Take whatever age you happen to be. How old does man live to be in his 70s, maybe in his 80s and some, if they even live to be real old, might hit 100.

 

I know a lady that used to be a church secretary made that age. Even with that, if I make it to be 80, I've got 20 years to live. That's pretty short, isn’t it? That means two thirds of my life is already over. That's if I make it to 80. If I die in my 70 less than—you get the idea, don't you? This life is brief. It's only for a short period of time, and then we have that benefit.

 

Here's one thing I like to do, and it's beyond comprehension. We already talked about how beautiful will heaven be, what is it going to be like? If we die now, before the Lord returns and we're faithful to God, we go to paradise. What do we think paradise will be like? That must be something to behold, paradise, we think, even in living here.

 

What's the greatest place you've ever been to? I've been talking to people this week about that. What's the greatest place that you've ever been to? Why? I’ve been to this place? You ought to see this place. It is something to behold. What about paradise? You die and you go to paradise before the Lord returns. How beautiful heaven must be.

 

You see how limited our mind is about what we can even behold, about what awaits us. That's what we need to live our lives for, not always looking at the negative things. Oh, they're going to be there, but don't let them control your life. Live as though we're going to heaven, because if I'm serving God, I am.

 

If I see myself and I need to take care of some things, I'm going to take care of them. God wants you to go to heaven. That's one thing that we must understand. God wants you to go to heaven. Some people, I think, in life, and this may not fit as much in this group, but I think they think that God's looking up from heaven just waiting for us to make a mistake.

 

I got you. That's not the picture of God. In the Bible, we have a God that loves us even when we fall short. We've read that in First John, chapter one. He still loves us, he still cares about us, and he still wants us to go to heaven.

 

We notice in Romans 3:23 and 25, this is prior to chapter six of what we read. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We notice that already being justified freely by his grace through the redemption what that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Oh, I need to do what God tells me to do. I need to obey him. Yes, indeed, but I still can't be saved because of my good deeds. I still need the mercy of God, the grace of God. It's two parts—God's part and man's part. God has made it available.

 

Everything that man needs, God has made available. He wants us to do, take advantage of it. Living down close to New Orleans, just outside of New Orleans, we have some hurricanes sometimes. Hurricane Katrina was something else. It wiped out our house.

 

I worked at a community college there and the church building. A wave of water came through, (the building's brick) water washed through one side of the building, went right out the other and everything was gone. That's tremendous power there destruction.

 

When we finally could come back at nighttime, there were no lights anywhere. Let's go over to McDonald's and grab something to eat. There's not a McDonald's. Let's go to Home Depot and get some supplies. There's not a Home Depot.

 

Everything was wiped out, but as things came back and sometimes there would be places that would either sell food or even given away food, you would notice people got in line. Why? To take advantage of the benefits that were being provided. That's smart, isn't it? We need to eat.

 

Even if it's given to you or you're buying it, we need that. Why not take advantage of something that is far, far greater than that? Then in First John 5:13, John says, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. That's who he's addressing. You believe.

 

He's writing to the members that you may know that you have eternal life that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. That you may know. Go back to where we started. Not just I think and I hope that you may know. He has made a plan that will save us, and it's 100% perfect because God did it. He set the perfect plan in process. Man just simply needs to take advantage of it.

 

Number two, and I'm heading number two at this point. I said there's a lot of material to cover, but number two, Hebrews 10:23, but let's notice fast. Number two is hold fast.

 

We need to draw near to God, but hold fast once you get there, where salvation is, where God provides the benefits. Hold fast, don't leave it. If just a storm is coming through, and I say an average storm, the wind's blowing really hard and it's raining really hard, I want to go in the house where there's safety. I want to stay there. Hold fast in that house, but let's hold fast in Jesus Christ.

 

Notice Hebrews 10:23. Let us hold fast their profession of our faith without wavering. For he is faithful that promised.

 

Who promised? God did it, and he's faithful. He's going to keep his word. He will not fall short of it. He's going to do what he said that he would do.

 

When we read his word, He's made some promises to us about salvation. You go back and read Matthew six when Jesus was talking about the necessities of life. I'll provide those. Come to verse chapter six, verse 33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

He's going to take care of the things here. He's got something better that awaits us, so take advantage of those things. Then we notice in First Corinthians 15:58 therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord.

 

Notice for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, we can know, we can have assurance, we can have boldness in the Lord. Not our greatness, not our goodness, but that of our Lord. Hold fast to what we have available for us, that has been made possible for us. There's so much that Jesus has done for us. You see these verses in the Bible and it's telling us, stay faithful, keep on doing what you're doing, it will be worth it.

 

I imagine all of us can think about some people somewhere that have fallen away, no longer serving God, and that hurts. We hate to see that. That's the reason. Some of these verses you see here written to Christians.  Christians, stay faithful, don't give up, don't quit. It will be worth it.

 

There's something that awaits you, and I'm here to help you. In Second Timothy 4:7 Paul says, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. We know what Paul went through. He was beaten on several occasions, left for dead, in a shipwreck, bitten by a snake. Bitten by a snake would be enough to be dead. I'd probably die of a heart deck right there, just bitten by a snake, but he survived all these things.

 

When these things were happening, when he was beaten and left for dead, what did he get back up and do? Let's go back just a little bit further. Paul and Silas were in prison. What would we do today if we're put in prison because we taught the gospel to somebody?  Is this what I get for serving God? Is this what God has for me?

 

The prison that Paul and Silas were in is not like the local jail, not that the local jail is where we want to be, but these prisons were not of that nature. What were Paul and Silas doing at midnight, singing praises unto God. What faith they had. They were determined. You're not going to stop me, whatever you do, from serving God.

 

Peter and John did the same thing. They told them not to speak in the name of Jesus. They could only speak the things that that saw and heard and were not going to stop doing it. They were determined to keep on doing that.

 

Oh, what it cost them. It cost them dearly, but they kept on doing it because they knew that it was worth it. In First Corinthians 16:13, watch ye stand fast in the faith. Quit ye like men. Be strong. That means we have to grow stronger. Sometimes people become members, and at the point of baptism, yes, we need to do that, but they stay at that level. Ten years later, they're still at that level.

 

We need to grow well. We start out on milk. That's natural. My grandson certainly likes milk, but eventually he's going to grow stronger. He's going to want something besides milk.

 

He's going to want some of that table food. He's going to grow stronger. We need to do that in the faith. In First Peter five, verse seven, it says, casting all your care upon Him, for he careth for you. Cast your care upon him. What are you going through?

 

What are you struggling with? Don't try to bear your burden by yourself. To start with, you can't, but with Jesus Christ you can cast your burden upon Him. He's able to handle it. He's able to do whatever is necessary. There's no problem that is too big for God. He's able to do everything.

 

We see in Hebrews 10:23, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. Don't waver, don't go one way or the other, you stay solid. We've seen several verses already. In Second Timothy 1:12, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.  He had confidence, didn't he?

 

Paul was writing to a young evangelist. You stay strong, Timothy. You may be a young evangelist, and you're going to face some things. You've been left there to take care of some things, but you stay strong. I know who I have believed and am persuaded that he is able he is able to do all these things and provide all of our needs.

 

We all have needs. I can say it without doubt and I don't know all of you. Some of you are dealing with some problems right now. It's been said you're either in a problem, you just got out of a problem, or one's about to start. Sometimes it may be a combination of some of those things.

 

God's there, that's real life. Some people, I think, have the idea when you become a Christian, there are no more problems. That's not true. If you have too many bills, and you become a Christian, guess what? After you're baptized, you still have too many bills. It doesn't work that way. That's not what God's promised us.

 

Number three provoke each other. Now, sometimes we use the word provoke in a different way. You may take two guys that are provoked him into a fight. That's not what we're talking about. I like Westerns. Sometimes the guy that is really fast with a gun, will provoke somebody that he knows is not as fast into a gunfight, knowing that he's going to win. We're not talking about that, though.

 

That word is used to encourage. Notice this verse, Hebrews 10:24. We usually look at Hebrews 10:25 about, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. That's fine. That is good, but notice the verse before it, and let us consider one another to provoke, encourage unto love and to good works.

 

Brother, I want to encourage you to do this. How about go with me, make this visit. We haven't seen so and so in so long. I did something one time. I'm still preaching there, though. In the front, there are two different artificial plants. One weekend I took one in the back. I wanted to see how long it took for somebody to notice that it was gone. At the first service somebody knew there was a plant missing.

 

Where's that plant at? What about some member? I haven't seen them for two years. We need to go check on them too. It's more important than that artificial plant is that you're going to eventually throw in the trash. Encourage each other to do those things.

 

In Second Corinthians 9:10, Paul says, for I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia that Achaia was ready a year ago, and your zeal hath provoked very many. It has encouraged very many. You have this zeal to serve God, and it has encouraged others. Look at those folks, how they love God and serve God. It encourages others to do the same thing.

 

We're told to do that. Consider one another to encourage unto good works. John 13:34. Jesus said a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another. How much did he love us?

 

We know that. We already talked about that. He loved us to the point of death on the cross. We are to love one another. That's the way that the world will know that we are God's children, that we love one another.

 

If they see the Lord's church fighting amongst itself, it's hard to invite others to want to be a part of that. We love one another. We care about each other. You have a need. I need, to help you with that if I possibly can, and vice versa.

 

In the book of Revelation 20:12, we see this John said, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. That's how it's going to take place. You may be faithful, but I'm going to have to stand on my own two feet when it comes to following God.

 

I worked with a guy one time and there was a conversation going on, but he said, I believe in Jesus when I see Him I’ve got some questions for Him. I beg to differ. He'll be the one asking the questions. Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess.

 

You won't be asking the questions, and you can't serve God on your terms. A lot of people do that. I believe in God and I do this and that, but they're serving God on their own terms. We must serve God on his terms, but what about our name in that book that was opened? Is our name written in the book? I want my name there. Sometimes our name could be removed. It is possible that we can stop serving God. In Galatians five, verse four, it says, if you're justified by grace, you are falling from grace.

 

That is possible, not only for that reason, but many more. What about our name in the Lamb's Book of Life? Is our name there? We can't directly see it, but do you realize that you can really know? That's what we've been discussing, isn't it? We can know that we're saved. God has made his plan known to mankind. If I follow this plan that he's given me, I can know that I'm saved. Not maybe, not that I hope I'm saved. I will be saved. So I can know that my name is written there. And what a great day it will be when my Jesus I shall see and I look upon his face the one that saved me by his grace. You ever been around anybody that's important?

 

Usually, if you are, you probably get nervous, don't we? After one storm hit up in the Baton Rouge area, since we had been helped with Katrina, and other things, some of us went up there and I got near, most important person ever.  It wasn't like he was standing here. He's in the automobile, you could say when he passed by, he was president at the time. President Obama came through and I said to the guy standing next to me, “There he is.”

 

He looked, there he was. That's him standing next to a president. Of course, it wasn't like we were standing there talking, but still, it doesn't matter what president it happens to be. We would be nervous, wouldn't we? Maybe being near some star, we might be nervous. They're famous for this. They fail in comparison to the Lord. I want to be with Him, but I don't have to be afraid. I can live with confidence.

 

Notice this in 1st John 3:1, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. What manner of love God has shown to us because we do love Him. That's a great love, isn't it? That's what we need to dwell upon. Think about what we dwell upon.

 

I'm going to be guilty sometimes knowing I shouldn't be doing this, but things that are bad, this happened, that happened. Sometimes we'll let the least little thing dominate our day. That's not what we're supposed to be thinking about all the time, is it?

 

Philippians 4:8. Those things that are good and lovely think about those things. Think about going to heaven. Our time is up, so we shall stop there and we'll look forward to the worship hour.

 

Thank you.