Not Without Blood, Part 3

Thank you, Ingrid. And also thank you, Karen. Certainly appreciate that. Beautiful praise to God.

Today we're here to complete the third part of a series entitled, Not Without Blood. The title of this series comes from the Scriptures, comes from Hebrews 9 and in verse 7, where speaking in the midst of Hebrews it says, but into the second part, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sin committed in ignorance. We've come to understand that over the last couple of messages that that trail of red, the trail of blood, runs from Genesis to Revelation.

That from the beginning any approach to God, any relationship with God, is not without blood.

As I stated before, the spark of insight that enables me to share certain biblical concepts within this series comes from the writings of a gentleman named Andrew Murray, a South African writer, 120 years ago.

And the overarching concepts that we're studying and learning about as we approach the Passover of the New Covenant were captured in a book that is written called The Practice of God's Presence. Certainly appreciate it what Mr. Rudesh mentioned here, because he suggested that in his first message that what our God asked us to do is not just simply an event, it's a practice. It's a way of life. It's a lifestyle. As we complete the series, it's really important to ask why we are here today. I know that is a question that has often been asked in messages in the Church of God community for 50 years. Why are we here? And not only why are we here, but who are we hearing from?

When it is all said and done, when we open the Bible, which is the mind of God, which is the love of God, which is the revelation of God, revelation is just a fancy Latin word, which means that God is sharing his heart. We're here today. And why we are here today and who we are hearing from out of the Holy Word is to understand that God Almighty, the one that made all of those solar systems that Helmut just talked about, is wanting to share his heart with us today as to where he wants to bring us to and what he wants us to be.

Jesus certainly had that same MO when it came to sharing. Join me, if you would, in Luke 22 and verse 15 to begin to open up this message because what we're turning to speaks of the evening that we're going to participate in in another week, that of the Passover. And it's very interesting what is mentioned in Luke 22 and verse 15.

He said, speaking out of the King James Version, he said, then he said to them, speaking of his disciples, with fervent desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Fervent desire is not just so-so. Com sì, com sì. I'm okay, you're okay. He really wanted to be there with them on that evening of the Passover.

It was his fervent desire. It's interesting how that is mentioned in the Living Bible translation. I have looked forward to this hour with deep longing. I have been anxious. We all know when we have a deep longing to be somewhere, to be with someone, to do something, we know how anxious we are for that very moment, that very hour to come. How long? How long?

When will it be? Oh, it's right around the clock. Oh, it's right here now, and we're experiencing it. That never goes away from Jesus Christ, and it never goes away from his Father. They are looking forward with fervent desire for us on that evening to come before them and take the symbols of Christ's sacrifice.

I also know that many of us are are anxious towards participating in coming before God on this Passover of the New Covenant. But I want to stretch you some today. I presume that's why we come to church to be stretched. Because what I want to point you to is how truly anxious are you and I not only to come before God on that evening of the Passover 2011 and to sit out here and sit and be before the table that will have the symbols of our Lord's sacrifice, both the bread and the wine, and to, in a sense, go through the ceremony once more.

To come to participate. To go. And one more year we have done the Passover. But have we put it this way in our minds? Are we thinking this way that we're not only coming before that table that is set with the symbols of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, but that we are coming before the presence of God Almighty. And it is our heartfelt desire. It is our goal. And it is in our understanding that when we partake of the bread and the wine, we remain in the presence of God Almighty.

This is where I want to take you today through scriptural teaching and scriptural understanding. Because in this last, in this series of Not Without Blood, we are going to be speaking to the aspect of being in the presence of God, being in the presence of holiness, and how God achieves that. That's where we're at. Because what we're striving to do once we partake of the bread and the wine is that what we're saying is, Father above, we want to have an unlavened existence before you.

We want to have what Mr. Rudege was just speaking about. The Passover is not just simply an event, but it's a passageway. It's a renewal of the divine privilege that God grants you and me out of season as first fruits to experience Him, to come within holiness, to be able to maintain a relationship in the throne room of God Almighty.

That's exciting. That's wonderful. Before we get there, let's talk about where we were just a little bit last week, and then we'll move forward to set the stage for those that weren't here.

Last time I was here with you two weeks ago, we focused on two vivid pictures of the ultimate sacrifice of the universe. I think I can say that without grandstanding, because again it was none other than the Son of God, the one where God said, This is my beloved Son. He was the sacrifice, and He was the ultimate blood that was given for our sins. There are two very important pictures that we looked at. In Revelation 5 and verse 6, we caught a picture that Jesus has still spoken of as the Lamb of God, as one who has been slain.

That thought of sacrifice is not just something that came and went on the outskirts of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, but that in that heavenly throne, where Christ is at the right hand of God, there is a sense, there is a spiritual reality, that that sacrifice is still before that heavenly court. That that is what John was allowed to see envisioned, the Lamb.

And to recognize that that word, that term, that reality is mentioned 27 times in the book of Revelation. That gives us a portrait. That gives us a perspective that He is forever the Lamb of God. The other thing that we mentioned came out of Revelation 12 and verse 11. We turned there last time. I'm not going to right now, but just to back up for a moment, we came to understand that this blood of that Lamb is what has allowed Christians for 2,000 years to overcome the wiles, the tricks, the deceit of Satan. It says that they overcame Him by the blood of the Lamb. What does that tell you?

What does that tell me? The blood of Christ gives us power, and it gives us purpose. It gives us power to overcome, and it allows us to maintain the purpose of having the lifestyle, that Christ-like lifestyle, so that we might please our Father above. That now brings us into today's message. Today's message is designed to biblically answer how we are able to approach the holiness of God's throne and remain in that uninterrupted experience. Let's think about that for a moment. I realize that some of us have had a pretty challenging week going up and down the highways and byways, going up and down the interstates, dealing with family, dealing with self, dealing with the boss, and throwing the dog in the cat.

Probably for some of us, it has been a challenging week. So we get trapped for a moment in the goldfish bowl of time and space. And oh, by the way, I need to go to church because it says, do not forsake the assimiling of ourselves together. So I just got here because I need to be here. I know that doesn't suit any of you out there, does it?

But have we ever understood that as people that experience the new covenant, that we have uninterrupted access, uninterrupted presence through our prayers, uninterrupted relationship with God, which was just read by Helmut out of 2 Corinthians 6, verse 16, that I will be their God and I will dwell in them and I will walk with them.

How profound! That's why we are here to understand that, how that is to be accomplished by God's plan.

Join me, if you would, as an anchor verse for this message today, Hebrews 10. And let's pick up the thought in verse 19. I'm going to read it through, and then we're going to go back and we're going to, how shall I say it, pick it apart. Therefore, brethren, now this was written over 2000 years ago by the author of Hebrews, but let's just allow God's words. And I have a poor substitute, as you already know, for God's voice. But allow me to be a voice. And hear these words as we approach the Passover. For they are the words that God intends for you on this day. Therefore, brethren, having a boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He concentrated 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. You know, at first glance or first read, first hear, as we might say, what wonderful, wonderful news for us. But now let's take a closer look. Did you notice where it talks about in the first line? It says to enter the holiest. This is profound. This must not be passed over.

For in a sense, this speaks of the entire plan of God over 6,000 years since that first tragic incident in Eden, when humanity chose for themselves a lifestyle apart from the sufficiency of God, they said, we'll choose. We'll do our own thing. Thank you very much. And they sinned.

And that sin separated them from the holiness of God. It separated them from a relationship.

Now, in the book of Hebrews, we see that there's a complete reversal from Eden.

Rather, when you think of Eden, I think of Eden and what happened there, and then I think of the outskirts of Eden, where there was that door, there was that gateway. And just think of it, because of humanity's choices, that gateway had guards posted to it. It said that the caribs were there. And they had flaming swords. I've read what caribs look like. They don't even need the flaming swords. I'd stay out of there. But imagine caribs with flaming swords. No! You are not allowed back. You did not come to God in faith and believe in the sense of what David would later write, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. You wanted more. You wanted something that was off limits. You wanted to be your own God with a small g. You wanted to make your own decisions. You wouldn't hear the voice of God. Okay? That's what you want to do. For every cause, there's an effect. And thus, you are on the outskirts now. You will not have that relationship with me. I will post that. What do we verse so when we come to the book of Hebrews that we have boldness now to not just simply enter the Garden of Eden, but the holiest spot. Enter the holiest.

A Jew of that day and age would have understood that in a sense. This was the very epicenter of where God would be, where even all the priests other than the high priest would not be allowed that there would be this intimate relationship. How incredible. How wonderful.

God, from the very beginning, presented a way back for the children of Adam and Eve.

From the very beginning, when he talked to the serpent, he said this in serpent, that your seed, your seed will indeed bruise the seed of the woman. But I have something else to tell you that the seed of the woman will crush your head. There is always, since Eden, and since that first prophecies have been twofold in nature, that there would be victory when it was all said and done, that the seed of woman being Christ would crush the head of the serpent. But that there would also be struggle. There would also be challenge. And because of the struggle and because of the challenge, that for us, that would be of the new covenant, that it would take faith and belief. The faith and the belief that Adam and Eve put on the shelf. But because the second Adam came Jesus Christ, that you and I can have relationship with God. That you and I can be in the presence of God and have fellowship with God, never to be broken again. Let's talk about the Greek word for fellowship for a moment. What does that mean? What does that convey? I'll coin a phrase. I'll say that because the word is kononeia. That way you'll remember that. Kononeia, to coin a phrase, but it's not really coining a phrase because it's out of the Greek language. But kononeia is the Greek root for the word of fellowship. That is mentioned in the Bible. That means, for those of you that are no-takers, it means communion. It means fellowship. It means a sharing which is common. What's that mean? It means that this fellowship that God is desiring of us to be in His presence, uninterrupted, always, means that we're on the same page because we have the same heart, we have the same spirit, we have, again, out of the first message, that same Christ-like lifestyle. We've modeled ourselves after the Savior. You know, when you think about that, what kononeia means, the communion, the fellowship, the oneness, the unity, power begins to come out of certain verses out of the Bible. Join me in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 9.

Maybe scriptures that we've read, but have not really, for one reason or another, the full impact has not registered on us. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 9. It says that God is faithful.

That's why we're coming to the Passover service, two Sundays hence, because we have faith, and we have confidence that God is faithful by whom you were called. We didn't sign up. We didn't bump into God.

And sometimes we don't quite understand this, brethren, but allow me to take you down this path for a moment, may I? Sometimes we think we just joined up, and you know, we finally found a church that we agree with. We found something that, you know what, they think just like I think. That's giving ourselves too much credit, brethren. It says in Romans that it's the Spirit of God that leads us, that guides us, that we have a calling. And that calling is to sacredness. It's a consecration. It's a setting apart, because the calling ultimately means, as we accept the blood of Jesus Christ, as we accept the grace of God the Father and that whole purpose and plan and provisions that He set in store for us. We then have a faith. We then have a confidence. As we're being led by that Spirit, we're called into service. Called into service.

It's not about us. It's all about God. Now, as Helmut said in the first message, though, us has got to go. And that takes a while. And that's a struggle. I'm looking forward to bringing a series on that, probably around Pentecost time, of why it's so hard sometimes to get rid of us. So you have to come back. But we've got a calling. Notice what it says here.

You were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. That canonea, the communion, the unity, the bond. Something that is so deep that sometimes we frankly don't humanly understand it. And that's why we have to keep on going back through these scriptures. A bond that goes back to why Jesus said on that night of nights, the night before he died, that he said with eager desire, I look forward to partaking of this Passover with you, knowing exactly what those symbols were about, that that was going to be about his death, that he loved us so much that the eagerness was there. The relationship, that cononea of spirit.

He longs for us, as does his Father. It's their whole purpose and it's their whole plan.

Have you ever sat down by a table that has a picture of a loved one? Somebody that you really love, that you really want to be with.

And that can be a multitude of people. For some of you that are younger, it might be a boyfriend or a girlfriend that's not next door here in Pasadena, but lives all the way on the East Coast.

Or down in Latin America or over in Europe. And you look at that picture and, oh, you just wish that they were here. For some of us, maybe we have mates that travel all the time, sometimes gone two or three, four weeks at a time. And there's that picture that's on your nightstand or on that table where you sit down and just kind of meditate and ponder.

Maybe some of us that have lost mates, lost parents. We look at that picture and you just wish that that portrait was alive and came right out of that framework.

That you could be together again. That you could have that cononeus. You can have that fellowship. You could have that oneness. This is why the Bible is written for us, my friends. That we might understand more than that these are just simply words. This is God's love affair with His special creation. And He doesn't just want us to simply look at the picture. He wants us to exist in the picture. And He wants to exist with us. And it's as if He wants to walk out of these words, this print, and live in our lives. And He wants us to understand that when we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and repented of our sins and that we come to Him, that we have uninterrupted presence and relationship with Him at all times. That it's not just simply an event one night out of the year, but it's an existence that pleasures Him. That fulfills what He said. When He said, I'm making man in my image and after my likeness, someone that I can have a relationship with, someone that I can love and return that love to me. Have you ever tried to love a cow? But how much does the cow love you back? Have you ever tried to tell a fish, fish, I love you? And the fish swims away. Have you ever gone up to a gorilla and said, I'm ape over you? This is not in my notes. This must be a part of the prayer. Thank you.

I'm ape over you. And He takes the banana and wipes it down your nose.

God looked around and there were fish and there were apes and there were cows. But there was not the relationship that He desired. And God said, I know what I'll do.

Let us make man in our image and after our likeness. I want to have the kononea. I want to pour my love out on this creation and in turn, they'll worship me. They'll come to understand my provisions. They'll come to understand how much I really love them.

And forever, I want them to be my children. That's what our God did for us. 1 John 1, verse 3.

1 John 1.

For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and ... oh, that's 3 John. Pardon me. 2 John's over. Okay. 1 John 1, verse 3. That which we have seen and heard we declare to you that also you may have fellowship with us.

And then notice what it says. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son and Jesus Christ.

Fellowship is not just simply with your wife here today or our dear brethren. That God has called us together with. We come first and foremost to where God has set aside sacred convocation to worship Him, to fellowship with Him, to hear His voice read through an open Bible. Not about me. Not about Mr. Fish. Not about Mr. Garnet. Not about Mr. Gutierrez. Not about Mr. Elgi. Not about anybody else. We're nothing.

Our story is God's story. The words that are spoken on the Sabbath day come from Holy Scripture. That's where our fellowship is. Consider for a moment that the covenant people of Israel were granted through tabernacle worship a shadowy type of what is very real above. That the things that are here down below are modeled from that which is up above. And that indeed there is a heavenly tabernacle. And that there was an implied expectation of the ultimate removal of that partition from that which was the holy place to that which was the holy of holies.

The implied expectation when God instructed Moses and Aaron how to set up the tabernacle was always that there would be more. That it would grow. That it would be increasingly dynamic and thus to do. Year in and year out. Century in and century out. Sometimes millennium and millennium out. Notice David's words in Psalm 42 and verse 14. Psalm 42 verse 14.

Oh, pardon me, Psalm 42 and verse 1. Pardon me. As the deer pants for the water brooks.

And you just know when a deer is out there in the wilderness and it's been running and it's been jumping and perhaps there's little water here and there then comes up to a brook. As the deer pants for the water brooks. So pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirst for God, for the living God. I have a thirst. I languish. I want a taste. Then notice the question, when shall I come and appear before God?

David's question was simply this. When will I, when do I come before the presence of God? Well, that's what the Passover is all about. For as we in faith take the bread and we take the wine, the question of David is answered and that we can come and stay within the presence of God. I think the key, going back to Hebrews in verse chapter 10, is simply this. The key is, let us draw near. Let us draw near. The question then is, near to what? And how do we draw near? Let's go a little bit deeper and understand and appreciate what God has prepared for us. When you go up to Hebrews 10, Hebrews 10 verse 23, it's interesting. Allow me to set the framework here for a moment. It says, having boldness, boldness to enter the holiest. Let us draw near and have boldness to enter the holiest. That means having confidence to enter this realm and to understand that the boldness that you and I can experience as New Covenant Christians to enter that realm of the holiest is the desired result of Christ's redemptive work. Why did He live on this earth? Why did He live for 33 and a half years? Why did He suffer all through that night of nights? Why was He taken down the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha and nailed, a human being, nailed to a piece of wood like a lamb? It is so that you and I can have boldness upon being redeemed, that we can have boldness to enter into the holiest. And one cannot appreciate the fullness of that redemptive work if one does not center on what holiness is. Let's talk about holiness for a moment. What is holiness? Holiness can be described in a couple of factors, and I'll not be able to describe all the factors here. So don't hold me that I didn't cover everything. That's not my total point today, but just to make you think and then do your own Bible study on holiness. Holiness is where God dwells. Holiness sometimes we think, well, it must be up above the clouds. You know, the book of Matthew talks about the kingdom of heaven. That's the only gospel that uses that analogy, the kingdom of heaven. So maybe holiness is something that's up there. And if you say it's up there, yes, it's up there, but it's wherever God dwells. Holiness is where His throne is.

But more than that, it's where He is at any time. Just think of the burning bush to understand that it's His presence. It's who He is. Let's consider for a moment, I'm going to take the Bible for a moment, but basically if you take the Bible from cover to cover, let's just say basically from the book of Leviticus to the epistle of 1 Peter, there is a rhythm and there is a cadence of Scripture, especially caught in Leviticus and the epistle of Peter. And it is the anthem of Scripture. It's simple. God's not here to confuse us. He says, I am holy. Therefore, you be holy. That's it. That's the rhythm. That's the cadence of Scripture. It's what may call his divine self-disclosure. He shares what he is. It's what he is. It's his essence. And it's his call to us to remove the lifestyle that we were in as a child, as simply a human being apart from God. And it is the call to holiness, to be a sacred instrument before God, to be a kingdom of priests. I remember many, many years ago, what is it? 2011. I remember a man on the stage of the auditorium on the other side of the Arroyo, 30 years ago, saying, brethren, God is calling us now to be teachers. He's calling us as a kingdom of priests.

Where'd that come from? It comes from the Bible. Priests teach. It's not just something that's off in the future that all of a sudden we land upon and start doing. It's something that we're learning now as we are concentrated, as we are set apart, as we respond to the calling, that God is calling us to be a kingdom of priests. God sees things as if they already are. He sees you there. He sees me there. And we are in training now to set aside the ways of this world and to live in that relationship with God Almighty. Oh, yes, God is holy. Jot down Isaiah 6, 1 through 2. I'll just paraphrase it. God is so holy and so incredible that, you know, that He created angels. They're called seraphim. And what seraphim do is they have six, they have three different pairs of wings. And a part of those wings go over their eyes in a symbol of humility, and a part of those wings cover their feet in a symbol of humility. And what they say in Isaiah 6, let's go to Isaiah 6 for a moment just to understand who we are worshiping and what it's about in Isaiah 6 and verse 1. I wasn't going to go there, but I want you to see it.

Isaiah 6, verse 1, In that year of Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim, and each one had six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. Now, here are these seraphim. They're around the throne of God. And what is the function? This is where they are mentioned in the Bible, and it describes their function. What they do. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. God is so all-knowing, all-loving, all-wise, all-powerful, all, that in that creation above, here are two incredibly, probably powerful angels that have access right beside Him. And God that we appear before on Passover evening, and beyond that have uninterrupted access to and relationship to, has these angels, and that is their job, and it doesn't say they've stopped here. And this was written a long time ago. This is who has called us to a new life and into a new living way. It's just utterly incredible. Here's the God who is holy. How do we have admission then to that which is holiest? I'd like to give you three points in conclusion here. We'll go a little bit, but let me just give you some points. As we begin to wrap up this series, and I hope it's been a blessing, and open up your eyes and your hearts to what we're about, how do we move into that holiness? Number one, our walk in holiness begins by entering with the blood of Jesus.

Our walk into holiness begins by entering with the blood of Jesus. Therefore, brethren, having a boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. That's the first step we need to understand. Having faith that Jesus' blood is what it is supposed to be and that it grants us freedom to enter. Now, we've covered that, and we've come to understand some very powerful points about the rule and the role of substitutional sacrifice in the Bible. And to recognize that the Lamb of God is so different in the lambs of Bethany or Bethlehem because those lambs were taken and they didn't have a choice in this discussion. But we recognize that while the rule of substitution applies to the ultimate Lamb of God, He was not just taken. He volunteered. He divorced Himself of His immortality.

He put His divinity on the shelf. And He came down here because He and the Father love us so very, very much that He was willing to undergo. Not just the sacrifice as the partial Lamb of old, but the beating and the suffering of the night before. As the book of Leviticus says, life is in the blood. Life is in the blood. Thus, the power of the blood is the worth of the life that is shed. And what makes His sacrifice so incredible is where He came from and who He is, and that He is a part of all that is holy as a member of the Godhead. And the creative power that was His, because it says that the Father used Him to create all things so that power is oftentimes used in the redemptive work and discussion of the blood, that there is power that is in that blood. We need to understand and fully appreciate the power that is in the blood of Jesus Christ and that unceasing power that is ours. That's very important. The second point that we want to remember is our walk in holiness. Our walk in holiness.

See, can I talk to you a moment? May I? We're not just keeping the Passover this year to come back to church the following week. We're not keeping the Passover as United Church of God Christians.

Because the body of Christ is a spiritual organism, and God knows who are His.

In fact, Jesus was speaking back in His time when He walked on this earth and He says, there is going to come a day when either your folk or my folk will worship on this mountain or that mountain, but you will worship God in spirit and in truth. What is the truth of the matter? God is calling us to holiness. God is calling us to be apart from sin, which separates us from God. God has given us a model to say that He is ours. You know, as Helmut brought out that when we divorce ourselves, when we use that bumper sticker phrase and there's great truth in it, to let go and to let God, to recognize that when we divorce ourselves from loving our Father and our Mother less and this less and that less, that God gives us something. Remember when Peter said, you know, Lord, I know that you are the Christ and says, whither shall I go? And Christ said to Peter, He says, listen, there is nothing that you have not given that I will not add and replace and return. I will give you fathers and I will give you mothers. But the most important thing that we come to understand through this calling in this new and in this living way is that God, our Father, is given to us and we have access to come before His throne and through Christ remain in that presence uninterrupted, a relationship that stays intact. That's worth laying down your life, isn't it? Because that's what we do when we come to the Passover table on that night and we renew the covenant. We say we are but nothing. There is no worth in us. Worthy is that Lamb and Father above, you have opened up this relationship. It's a revelation and you're calling me now, not because of who I am, but because of who you are. Sometimes people get the spooks before they come to Passover. What's that mean? I'm not talking about demons. They get the creepies. They wonder, should I appear? Oh, look at me. Look what I've done this year. Look at this. All they are is they're looking at a mirror of themselves. They're looking at their own reflection. And if you just look at your reflection so long, just like I am right now, you get paralyzed. You go, yuck! How could anybody love me? That's our difficulty sometimes. And that is that God doesn't want us to use a mirror. He's opened an entire window to us to see what he's doing, to see what he is about, to be reminded that while we were yet in sin, that he gave his son's life for us.

When we come, when we come to the Passover that evening, it's not about what we're doing. That doesn't mean that we are not to take note, to take responsibility.

That we see, yes, our shortness. That, yes, we see while the desire is there that we're still in this human flesh and we will fuebo, we will mistake. And, yes, indeed, we will sin. But we are not in the practice of sin. We're not in the lifestyle of sin. We're not planning sin.

But that that sin will still be nipping us at the heels until the resurrection.

But we recognize worthy is the Lamb. And thus we come to recognize that we're called to this new and this living way. Our walk and holiness comes by recognizing what He did for us.

He gave His blood. He gave His flesh. You know, it's very interesting when you look at that verse. It says, therefore, brethren, having a boldness enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and a living way, He consecrated for us through the veil. I don't know if you've ever noticed that. Let's take a real look at this from Him through the veil that is His flesh.

Oftentimes we think of that veil that separated the holy of holies from simply the holy place. And our focus is there. It's interesting how it mentions here about the veil of His flesh. And we recognize that Jesus came to this earth both as the Son of God and He came as the Son of Man. He came in the flesh. And what He experienced in the flesh on that evening before He died. And went through that without talking back, without sin, without reviling, without being anything less than God in the flesh, encapsulated in this human tent as the Son of Man, setting us an example. And it is through that flesh that we can have this new in this wonderful way. Join me if you would in Galatians 4. Galatians 4. Excuse me, Galatians 5 verse 24. Galatians 5 and verse 24. And those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and with its desires. Those things that we started out with when we were young folk, when we thought as kids, we've crucified that. We say, well, no, wait a minute. I thought the crucifixion was about Christ.

It is about Christ. His is the ultimate crucifixion. But Paul here speaks metaphorically and figuratively as that we too are to crucify ourselves. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1531, we are to die daily. And thus, as we have that desire, as we have that hope, as we have that faith, we have that unbroken relationship with God that when we say in Jesus' name in our prayers, and we've probably been there this time this year where things are happening in our life or something that we have done to make happen that is opposite of what we know, that we know as broken, one of God's commandments. And we know that it's wrong. Our heart is with God, but our flesh is here and we've done something wrong. And we know that, wow, we really blew it. God, how come it's taken so long down here? But nonetheless, on our knees we say, Father, forgive me. And we say in Jesus' name, Amen. What you're saying when you're saying in Jesus' name is not just a filler, it's just not an end. That's not just a sincerely. You're saying to the Father above, as you come into His throne room, in that uninterrupted presence that we have with God, that, God, Father, I understand what this is all about, that you gave your great love through your son, his perfect life, his ignominious death. And you were there and you watched all of that. Yes, Christ volunteered Himself as our substitute, as that Son of Man, that Son of God, all wrapped up into one. And as He groaned on that stake, and as that spear was thrust into His side, that one that you had shared forever with, all worthwhile eternity with, the one that you had said in the beginning, let us make man in our image and after our likeness, and knowing what that would bring about, and when you could have rumbled the whole universe upside and down and stopped it, you didn't. And I love you for that. And I love the Christ for that.

And that's why when we say a prayer and Jesus said, whatever you ask of the Father, ask in my name, that forever postcard of imagery of that moment at Gogatha, with the Father looking down from His sovereign heights, comes into play. And He says, these are people that I can have a relationship with. They understand what Adam and Eve did not understand. And thus, the carobim are not posted. The welcome mat is out, which leads us to the third point. I'm just going to go about 10 minutes. I'm only here every other week, and there are points that I want to share with you. It says here in Hebrews 10, where it says, and I want to do the point after the flesh, having a high priest over the house of God. And having that high priest, it says, let us draw near and with the full confidence. The reason why we can approach and maintain status in the presence of God in the holiest is because we have a high priest.

The beauty of this set of verses and the previous two points that I brought out magnifies this third point. It's not only what Christ has done, it's what He is doing. His active work right now, even as I'm talking, trying to describe in human shallow terms of the glory that's happening up above, that Christ is working on our behalf before the Heavenly Father. Remember what Jesus said, my Father works, and so do I. It never stops. It never ends. You know, the priest of old could only enter the sanctuary because of their identity with Aaron. The priest of old, think this through, are you with me? The priest of old could only serve God through their identity with Aaron. They could only come, they could not go into the Holy of Holies, but we're talking about the Holy Place, they could do that because of their identity through Aaron. Now, let's go a step further. But you and I have unaltered access with God the Father, and we can come through our prayers right now into His presence, not because of identity with Aaron, but because of identity with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who is of that order of Melchizedek, that you and I, understanding that, can come. Hebrews 1 and verse 3, very interesting comment here. Hebrews 1 and verse 3.

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. You might say one day, did Mr. Weber ever have a favorite verse that he shared with us when he was amongst us? This is one of my favorites. Hebrews 1 and verse 3, speaking of Jesus, who being in the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power. Remember? There is power that is behind that blood. When He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. What do you do at the end of a day, being in downtown or over in the Wilshire district or over in Century City or over here in downtown Pasadena? You've had a day. You've been at work. You've done the work. You've put it all out. What do you do when you come home? Your work is done. You sit down. Now, some of you guys out there, you have that favorite reading chair and there's Papa or there's your husband and he's sitting down. You know, he's done it. He's through. For some of you ladies, you might have one of those really nice office chairs or maybe just a rocker that you like to sit into or just something that a lady would like to sit in after a long day of work at home or away from home. And you sit down. What does that mean? When you sit down, it means the job is done. You've done it. You've done it.

You've completed what you were sent to do. And you see, what it mentions Jesus here in Hebrews 1, verse 3, that's why it's one of my favorite verses. I had to share it with you. It says that he sat down. I believe in full confidence and that's why I can partake of that bread and that wine as you can on that night. That the redemptive work that God the Father sent Jesus Christ to this earth to do to destroy the work of the devil and to create a pathway and a movement towards that holiness for us through his sacrifice, not because of what Satan did, but because of our own bad choices of sin, that Jesus Christ can sit down. But here's the point. He not only sits down because he has done the work of being our Savior, but he is also still very, very active doing the work of being a high priest. You know, when you shed your own blood, you're very, very careful how you dispense it.

And the book of Hebrews speaks that he did not shed somebody else's blood, but he shed his own.

It's one thing to tell somebody, you go do it. Jesus Christ said, I'll do it. And Jesus gave his own blood. Now, the high priest of old in the tabernacle of old out in the wilderness or in the temple, he would take the blood of a bullock or a lamb, and he would take the blood of an animal, and he would utilize that blood. But Jesus uses his own blood for you and for me. And so he knows exactly what he's doing to bring us into relationship with God the Father. And that's why we can have confidence in that boldness. Because he's gone through what we've gone through. Hebrews 14 through 16 says, we have a high priest that can be touched with our infirmities. Jesus of Nazareth, man on earth, son of God. He understands pain, he understands heat, he understands cold, he understands rejection, betrayal, he understands illegal trials. Has anybody been lonely this week? He understands lonely better than anybody that ever walked on two feet. He understands what it's like to put yourself out and have friends and strive to make friends and choose people to be a part of your life only to have them scooped when the pressure is on. Whatever you're going through in your life right now, he knows exactly where you are at and where I am at. Shakespeare said it best. He said, he just had scars that never felt the wounds. And Jesus of Nazareth was wounded for our transgressions so that you and I, when we pray to our Father above and say in Jesus' name, God says, I will dwell in them and I will walk with them. That's what we're saying. I don't know what you're saying in your mind when you partake of the bread and the wine on that evening.

I'm saying, God, you've had mercy on me as a sinner and I know that you love me and I know that you gave your Son for me. And as Jesus said from the cross, as I must, as I partake of that bread and that wine because you have forgiven me, I too must forgive others. And with that belief and with that confidence, as Jesus said on the cross, I want to say, as I partake of that bread and that wine, I commit my spirit into your hands because I know I can do that with boldness. I know that I can do that because that veil has been taken away by His flesh. And I recognize that I have a high priest up there that is working, that welcomes my prayers and actively takes them to the Father and shares them. And Christ is, or Satan is up there saying, yeah, but look what they did and look what they did and look what they did. And He puts out the whole rolodex of what we have done and it looks really bad. And then He looks over at Jesus Christ and He says, Son, what should I do? And the Son says, remember what I did and what we did. And God the Father says, yes, they do believe. They're weak, but I have called them to be a kingdom of priests and sacred. And I want to dwell in them and I want to have a relationship with them.

Let's have that confidence. Let's have that boldness. Reminds me of the story of the young boy that was on a train. It's like an evening out of the movies. The train is kind of going along a crooked path along the valleys and up into the mountains. And of course, I've got to share in the story that is very, very, very dark and there's lightning and there's thunder. And even the grown-ups on the train are very, very worried and they are scared, spitless. They're wondering what is going to happen. Maybe lightning is going to strike the train or maybe the train is going to go off the tracks. And they noticed this young child and the young child was there and he was playing with his toys and reading his books and they couldn't figure it out. They thought, here, we're coming to pieces and we're going to pieces and look at the kid. The kid's just going about their matter and so the people got more restless. And finally, they went to the little guy and they said, little man, aren't you scared? Don't you know what's happening? And the little boy looked up to the people and said, I'm okay. The engineer is my father. And that's what I could share with all of you is just simply one Christian to another. I'm just Robin. We're just all going through it together and we've been called into this incredible, beautiful way of life, this calling. And I'm just here to remind you about God's purpose. It's right on track. God is the engineer. He and his son, from the very beginning, had a purpose. That purpose has a plan. That plan is given foundation by promises and those promises are outlined by the provisions. And the provision is simply this, that I will never leave you nor forsake you. And I bid you welcome to that evening called the Passover of the New Covenant to renew with me the ability for us to have uninterrupted presence within the throne room of God and come before his presence. But always remember, always, always, always remember that the anthem of the Bible is it's not without blood. Susan and I are going to look forward to sharing that evening with you. We'll be here next Sunday evening and we look forward to coming into the presence of God.