Blessed Boldness

[WordSword]

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:19-22).

 

Here we reach the highest point as to our nearness and privilege. We have boldness to enter into the holiest, by the Blood of the Lord Jesus. The word here in the original is not only “the holiest,” but “the holy places,” both the holiest and the outer sanctuary. When the perfect work of the Lord Jesus was finished, the veil was rent; thus the holy place and the most holy were united, and made one sanctuary for the priestly family.

 

The word for boldness means “all speech,” speaking everything, no concealment—perfect liberty. We do not come as those who have some reserve in mind or heart, some things that have never been brought into the light of His presence and which we would be afraid to have brought out. Nay, the mouth is opened wide in full confession of all sin; as the woman of Samaria said, “Come and see a man that told me all that I ever did.”

 

Those holy eyes, like flames of fire, pierced into the innermost regions of her being, dividing between soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intents of her heart; nothing in His creation was hid from His holy view. He saw all about us; He knew the whole record of our past; He knows everything as to our present; His eyes scan the future too, and know all the way that we shall tread. What possibility of concealment is there in His holy presence—or elsewhere? Yet we have boldness, we have all speech, to enter into His sanctuary by the Lord Jesus’ precious Blood.

 

But confession is two-fold. Not only do we own our sins, the whole record of our lives, but, oh, we also confess the glories of His blessed Name, while His praises fill the heart. Thus we have boldness—not silence, not fear, not constraint—but holy boldness in the power of the Spirit, as priests, to offer the fragrance of the Son before the Father.

 

What is our title there? It is the Blood of the Lord Jesus. Do I have boldness to draw near to my Father on the ground that I have known Him for many years? Or that I have had a happy past experience? Or that I have been doing faithful service for the Lord, and have honored Him? No! But by His shed Blood, which has glorified the Father, and is alone our title to enter there.

 

This is a “new and living way” by which we enter; and this word “new” is not merely new in contrast with old, by literally it is “a newly sacrificed way,” a way opened by the new sacrifice which the Lord Jesus offered—new, in contrast with all the sacrifices under the law. Then, too, it is “a living way.” Under the law, for one to draw near to the presence of God was death; under Christ, it is death to stay away. What a blessed contrast! Under the law, anyone daring to draw near would be stricken with the fire coming from the sanctuary; through the work of Christ we now draw near, and the way is a way of life.

 

The nearer we live to our Father, the more we will realize the peace, the freshness and vigor of that life which we draw from a divine Source. This new and living way is through the veil that was rent; the veil was His flesh, as He tells us. His work is finished—His Blood shed—the veil is rent! A crucified Christ is the rent veil through which we draw near to our Father. The marks of the rending will ever abide. In our risen Lord we have the memorial of His finished work and the witness of His perfect humanity all there, not as a barrier to the soul, but as the very way of access to our Father.

 

We have seen that we have a sacrifice; it is the one finished sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. We have seen that we have a sanctuary; it is the holy place, the presence of our Father Himself, and absolute nearness to Him. Now we have a High Priest over the house of God. Let your mind rum back upon what Hebrews sets forth as to this Priest. Think of Him as the Son of God in the first chapter, and all the perfections that are unfolded as to Him there.

 

Think of Him as the Son of Man, as you have Him in the second chapter, humbled unto death, able to succor His tempted people. Think of Him as the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, as you have Him in the third chapter. Think of Him as the great High Priest with a tender heart of sympathy, who has passed through the heavens, as you have Him in the fourth chapter; as called of God unto that priestly place and saluted of the Father a High Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec, as in the fifth chapter.

 

Think of Him as He has gone in within the veil, carried the anchor of our hope and fastened it securely there to very throne of God, as in the sixth chapter. Thing of all the unfolding of truth as to that Priest according to the order of Melchisedec in the seventh chapter, and gather all there is as to His sacrifice and work, as you have learned in the ninth and tenth chapters; then, beloved, as the heart revels in all these truths, you know something of what is meant by the expression, “having a High Priest over the house of God.”

 

Oh, whom do I meet in the sanctuary, whom do I see there before the Father? I see the Priest in all the glory of His person, in the perfection of His life, in the fullness of His character, that has opened up this way for me who was far off, now made nigh by His Blood. How these things stir our souls to praise Him for this new and living way in which we draw near to our Father!

 

Now what is the practical effect of all this? First of all, “Let us draw near.” Under the law the people removed and stood afar off, but we draw near: it is not a command, but an invitation. “Let us, brethren, draw near in full assurance of faith, with all boldness.” Are we practically there, brethren? Do we draw near daily in full assurance of faith, no wavering of uncertainty, no shadow of unbelief in the heart at all? Does conscience suggest that there is sin? Is conscience fully at test, as purged from all sin by the Blood of the Lord Jesus?

 

Therefore, “let us hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised.” Let us not be uncertain, let nothing shake our confidence as to the future, as nothing can as to the past, or as to the sense of present nearness to our Father. If I am in His presence now, why should I be uncertain as to the future? Is He not fully able to carry us through, in spite of all difficulties? So we are to hold fast that confession of faith, remembering that He is faithful that promised.

 

- S Ridout

 

 

Devotional compiled by Miles J Stanford: http://www.abideabove.com/hungry-heart/