Standing In Awe of our Heavenly High Priest

I'd like to begin by sharing a story with you. I could begin sharing a story with you long, long ago, far, far away. It was the tenth day of the seventh month, and people were... they were up early. For it was a special and a momentous day. It was the day of atonement. They were hungry for... it was a day of fasting, and the kids had just gotten up, and they looked at Mommy, and said, well, what are we going to eat? Mommy looked down, said, we're not going to eat today. It's the day of atonement. They were restless. They were disappointed, but they would get used to it, because it wouldn't be their first day of atonement, and they would grow into it, as all of us have grown into it over the years. The children of Israel, in each and every tent, as often was their case, they were standing outside their tents, because they always kind of wondered what was going on up towards the Tabernacle area, because, well, that's where God lived. And they were standing outside their tents. They were waiting to see a glimpse of a man, one man, and one man alone, to go before them on their behalf towards the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the tent. That's why it got its name in Hebrew, the Tabernacle. It was the tent of God. The High Praise, oh, there he is, right there. They recognized him, because, well, he was in his white tunic, white robing, that he would wear on that day. It was all basically that he would wear. He would not wear all of his high-caste paraphernalia, because he was coming simply as a man. He was coming as a simple servant and one of the people. And also, he was wearing white, because not just due to humility, but because of purity, because he was about to touch upon holiness, as he would later enter into the Holy of Holies. His day would be filled with activity. In the course of that day, he would completely bathe five times and wash his hands and feet ten times. Sounds like the age of COVID, doesn't it? Why? We say, why? Good question, why? Because he was approaching that which was holy. He was coming into the presence of that which is holy. And he would go into the tabernacle, and he would ultimately enter that Holy of Holies. It is where heaven touched earth, became one. After all, it was the resting place of God. The lid of the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat, was in a sense the throne of God. The Shekinina, that divine cloud of presence at time, was known to fill that room.

Why? Because God was there. To enter, the priest would have to go through a very heavy, heavy four-inch thick, that's a pretty good carpet, as we say, in the industry, four-inch thick tapestry.

An embroidered veil. And on either side, on either side, as he would be moving towards the veil to open it, there were on that tapestry two images side by side. And they were the carabim, the same carabim and type that guarded Eden when man made his choice and decided to be his own God and to follow self rather than the creator, that God put the carabim right at the doorway at the doorway of Eden. Man had made his choice. God does not always like our choices, but he will respect our choices. And thus the carabim went up to guard Paradise, to guard where God's presence was. No man was invited back to Eden at that time, at the creation, and no man was invited to enter into the Holy of Holies, except one man, stay with me, this is not going to be complicated math today, one man and one day of the year. And it was only by the invitation of God himself and his instructions as people watched and they wondered what was going on up there in the tabernacle, they were always concerned. They knew what Moses had shared with them when he came down from Mount Sinai, when he had that time with God. And he wanted to know that the presence of God was with them, that that God told Moses, you get behind the rock, you can't see me full front, you can't be there, because no man can see me and live to tell about it. So you can imagine that as you're looking down that roadway, that pathway, and all the tents and all of Israel, it's like this, they're out there, and they know something is really, it's just that one building, there's something happening in that, it's in that tent behind those curtains. What might be happening? And will he come out alive? Good question. Would they see him again?

In the course of that day, this one man would sacrifice a bullock, it's a hefty piece of cow, a bullock, for him and for his family, the house of Aaron, the high priest, so that they might then, in turn, offer one other sacrifice for the entire house of Israel. They would also have to separate two goats, set them apart. One as a sin offering, a yom kippur, a covering, and then there would also be another one, that placement of sin would be set on that goat. Be sent out the camp. The sin offering was in place, but also the sin was aspunched and taken outside of the camp. Reminiscent of what it says in Psalms, that your sins are as far as east from the west, and they were distanced from the camp of Israel. Interesting. All of this, we have the spiritual house of Israel and New Covenant Christians. I want to again remind you, it was a powerful statement. This moment, once a year, one man in one dwelling, one sitting, the setting, the tent of God. It was an awesome moment that mortal man was coming before God. Remember that, because we're going to build upon that. It was an awesome moment that one man could even come into the presence of the throne room of God. Interesting. Late in the day, the priest would emerge. A sigh of relief. Sins forgiven for another year. And you know what? He made it out alive, not half bad. A lot was going on in that tent. God had accepted the offerings. The atoning sacrifice was acceptable for now. Now for at least another year. So, the question I have for all of you, because we have some people that are keeping the Day of Atonement for the very first time here. Actually, I think three or four different individuals, and we welcome you. Why do we, as the spiritual Israel of God, as the body of Christ is defined in Galatians 6, 16, and why do we, as New Covenant Christians, gain from this holy day? Why are we here? What can we learn? And what can we place in our lives as we leave this spot today?

The title of my message is simply this. Standing in awe. Standing in awe of our heavenly high priest.

That's going to be the reason why I'm giving this message to encourage you, to inspire you, to educate you, to enlighten you about the incredible privilege that you and I have of appearing before the throne room of God every day.

Every day. Not just one day. Every day. And to come before our God. By the end of this message, I want all of us to come to understand that Jesus Christ is not merely the Lord of our life. He's not merely the King of the wonderful world tomorrow. He is not only the great interrupter of human history, but He's our, my, your high priest, that willingly intervenes and interrupts even our heavenly Father on His throne. When we come before Him, I got a question for you. May I? How neat is that? I want you to really think about it. We're going to do some visualization today. We're not going to totally ascend. We're just going to talk about it a little bit in our minds and our hearts, but I think we need to kind of be jolted and really recognize what we do when we say our heavenly Father, which art in heaven. And then what happens at the end when we say in Jesus' name, things are happening.

We may not be going any place, but in that sense, our prayers are going someplace, and it's nice to kind of come along for the ride. And that's kind of what I want to share with you as we do this. Let's understand initially that God designed this specific biblical festival, there's seven, this specific biblical festival as a spiritual timeout. It was to be a solemn pause. It was to be in the present tense reflective, even though our church culture also projects it into the future.

And we'll talk about that at the end of this message. To recognize that we come, that ancient Israel was coming up to what we call the fall festivals, the time of harvest, the big harvest, the great harvest, and that they were to be solemn and they were to be thankful. There's a lot of typology that we'll talk about before this is over this message. God realized, and I share this with you quite sincerely, God realized that only a nation, whether physical or a spiritual nation, and we are a spiritual nation in that sense, can only be fully reconciled to Him. What's reconciled mean? Reconciled. We can only be reconciled to our Maker, true Atonement with His purposes and His way of being.

We can only move forward together by taking this pause and to reflect on holiness. Holiness, by the way, if you haven't noticed, is not really cool in today's society. Or am I the only one that's noticed that? People don't know what holiness is. Those that do know what holiness is don't understand how to approach holiness. And that's why we're fasting today, too. Why do we fast?

We've had—you know, it's interesting. You go to Leviticus 23 on your own and look at that. It says that you shall do no work. You shall do no work. It says it more in those three or four verses on the Day of Atonement than any other stretch of Scripture. It is on this day, on the Day of Atonement, that God kept on putting that stamp.

Have you ever, you ever gone to, you know, the post office, they've got the red stamping, fragile, fragile, fragile. I love to do that. Here, give it to me. I do it my own packages that I sent, the DVDs that I sent out, things like that.

Give me that. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Well, that's what God did. He just kept on stamping the Day of Atonement. He said, do not work. You shall do no work. Why is that? Because He was impressing us that to be called into the Holy, to respond to grace, to respond to our Maker. There is nothing down here with our own hands that we can do to make this happen. We can't buy it.

We can't make it because it's seven cent. We can respond to it. We can lean on the door of heaven. We can lean on the door of God's invitation, but there's no amount of human works. There's no amount of industrial labor that will move us out of simply being a physical creation to the new creation that God wants each and every one of us to be. Do you understand that? We understand that. Just talking to you with San Diego. There's no amount of human endeavor, no amount of human labor, not even any amount of commandment keeping of and by itself that merits salvation.

Salvation and experiencing holiness at the resurrection up close and personal one-on-one with God the Father and Jesus Christ comes by grace and comes by His gift. So He wants us to stop. He wants us to slow down. He helps us slow down because we're not eating. I don't think none of you look like you're ready to run a mile here right now. I don't want to bring it up, but okay.

So He wants us to slow down and to think of what He's doing rather than about us. It is in this slowing down as we move to the great fall harvest in typology, in prophecy, and towards the future, that we then can be prepared to enter.

Want to jot this word down? To enter the joy of the Lord. There is so much joy about the day of atonement. I am so excited about the words that I'm going to share with you in the next few minutes about what our Father has done for us. So therefore, there's a continuing need for Him to...

excuse me a second, wrong one. Let's go why we need to understand this. Join me if you would in 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2. This defines, you know, there are many things that define disciples of Jesus Christ. We can call it the Church. We can call it the Body of Christ. There is the elect. There are so many handles on the people that God is dealing with. But what is He doing with us? Notice verse 9. 1 Peter 2. But you are a chosen generation. Notice a royal priesthood. A royal priesthood. A holy nation. His own special people. That you may proclaim the praises of Him who worked... who... excuse me... who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. So you notice right here the definition that God gives the people that follow Him. We are a royal priesthood. A royal priesthood. We are training...

we are training to assist Jesus Christ in the wonderful world tomorrow.

Salvation is not merely personal. And yes, it is important and to the greatest personal. But we're not just simply being called for personal salvation. We are being called to assist Jesus Christ in the wonderful world tomorrow. And we are, in that sense, going to be a kingdom of priests. We're going to be teachers. Now, we're not going to be the main teacher. We're not going to be the main priest because there's only one high priest. That's Jesus Christ. But we're going to get to point to Him. We're going to get to point to Him as much as that Israelite that I made up. It's a story, but probably did happen maybe long ago and far away. Say, there He is! There's the high priest! We're not going to go, well, look at me. No. Our finger is going to go out. There He is. That's Jesus Christ. That is who God the Father has appointed as the high priest. That's going to be a part of our job. That's going to be part of our instruction. One of our major instructions in the wonderful world tomorrow is not to talk about ourselves, but talk about Him.

That's something that we can really think about during the Day of Atonement. That's not about us. It's not about everything that we're doing. It's not about all of our works. It's what His work is doing inside of us. He is the Savior. He is the King, and He is the high priest. Another thing I want to share with you. Join me if you would in 1 Peter 1, and why the Day of Atonement is so very, very important. We get a class on what it is to be holy and remind us that that's what God wants of us. It says here in 1 Peter 1, verse 16, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy.

And that's something that we in the 21st century have lost in this humanistic secular world that can also affect spiritual people. We've gotten out of touch with what is holy. To respect the holy. To understand the holy. To even know how to approach the holy. Because it's just basically, hey man, look, hey dude, I'm okay, you're okay. Got me? You know? No. No. God is not a dude. He's not a, hey man, he's God Almighty. And he deserves all honor and all respect and all glory. When we understand the sequence of God's plan of salvation for humanity and the role of the Festival of Atonement, the body of Christ pauses. That's what I want you to think about. We are on pause. Now to spiritually prepare for the Feast of In-Gathering, the great fall feast that is in the future. Just think about it for a moment. There's going to be an incredible spiritual harvest yet ahead. This is not the only day of salvation. There's going to be incredible spiritual harvest waiting to be reaped, and you're going to be a part of it as a kingdom of priest under the great high priest. But why do we do today what we do versus what ancient Israel did? If what I described out of Leviticus 16 and paraphrased it in story was the ultimate solution, why don't we do it today? No. It was but a forerunner of things yet to come. This law, this request, was imposed upon a covenant people to show that by its very nature that it was incomplete. It was incomplete and pointed to something greater to occur. I'd like you to join me if you would for a moment in Hebrew 7. Again, you've got to say, well, wow, God, why did you do that? But to recognize that God is the master teacher, sometimes you have to go through something before you realize that you need something else. Thus, there is the Old Covenant, and now there is the New Covenant. You notice what it says here in Hebrew 7. Join me if you would there for a moment. Hebrew 7.

Let's pick up the thought if we could in verse 11. For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribemosas spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. Verse 17. For he testifies, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. For on the one hand, there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness. For the law made nothing perfect on the other hand. There is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God, and inasmuch as he was not made a priest without an oath, for they have become a priest without an oath, but he with an oath by him. And it goes on. So there needed to be something to come along. I want to give you three points of why, under this system of old, why it was incomplete. Number one. Number one, there was no perfect mediator.

There was no perfect mediatorship in the priesthood. Good? Good is good. Very good can be very good. But God is not calling us simply, you know, good and very good is not holy and it's not perfect. There was no perfect mediator. Number two, there was no perfect atonement in the numerous sacrifices. There was no perfect atonement in the numerous sacrifices. Number three, thus there is no perfect sustaining forgiveness as a result of both.

In other words, had to start all over again. Next year, on the day of atonement, let's consider Hebrews 11. Excuse me, Hebrews 8. Try me if you were there. Hebrews 8.

And Hebrews 8. And let's pick up the thought in verse 1.

Now, if you ever wonder what a speaker is talking about, that's why we try to give you a specific purpose statement. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because this is the author of Hebrews SPS, specific purpose statement. In other words, with all these chapters, what are we really getting down to and talking about? Now, this is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected, and not man. Do you grasp the magnitude of what is being said here? For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and therefore it is necessary that this one with the capital O also have something to offer. So what is being talked about is that what was down here below was but, in a sense, a physical copy of that room upstairs, that great tabernacle, the ultimate throne of God that is in the heavens at this point in a spiritual realm. Now, is it afar from us? Yes, but is it distant? No, because of Jesus Christ and what we're going to be talking about a little bit later. Join me if you would, then. Let's just drop down a little bit here and let my eyes fall on verse 6. But now he, that's speaking of Jesus, the Christ, has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also a mediator of a better covenant which was established on better promises.

So he is tops over any man down through the centuries, down through millennia, that was a physical high priest, and he's bringing an even better promise to each and every one of us. Hebrews 9.

Hebrews 9, and let's pick up the thought in verse 6. We're going to do a little reading, and what I hope you'll do is just kind of let it soak in. Let it just kind of get in there and think about what is being spoken here. But now he, who's the he?

I don't know. Oh my! We're having fun waking you up. Who's he? Christ. They'll join you next time, April. Okay, here we go. But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry. Excuse me, did I switch here? One second. Okay, nine. Okay, nine verse six. Here we go. Now, when these things had been thus prepared, the priest also went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the surfaces. The tabernacle was divided into two rooms. There was the holy place. Then there was the veil. Are you with me? No man went behind the veil because that then was the holy of holies. That was the throne room of God on earth. Now, when these things had been thus prepared, the priest also went to the first part of the tabernacle, performing the surface. But into the second part of the high priest went only once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. Sometimes people would commit sin out of knowledge. There were other times when people would commit sin out of ignorance, not even knowing that it was a sin. There were also times when people committed sin that was not by commission, but by omission. It wasn't what they did. It's what they did not do. Jeremiah 48, 23, cursed is he who draws the sword deceitfully and cursed is he that does not draw the sword at all. To him that knoweth what? To do good and does not do it? To the same it is sin. Understood? So God's got this all covered through the sacrificial system. But it says here that, but into the second part of the high priest went once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience. Concerned only with foods and drinks and various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation. But Christ, are you with me now? Verse 11, but Christ came as high priest of the good things to come with the greater and the more perfect tabernacle, not made without hands. That is not of this creation or may say not of this world, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself out without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, for this reason, he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death, not the death of a turtle dove, not the death of a bullock, not the death of a goat, nobody else's blood, nobody else's sacrifice other than God incarnate on earth.

This is the reason he is the mediator of the new covenant, because he gave himself for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Good. I want to draw your attention to another verse here. My eyeball is on it. Chapter 10.

It's always fun to read more scripture than see your own words in a service. You know why? Because if somebody doesn't like it, they get to argue with God, not me. Okay? So we're just going to go through some scripture here for a moment. Hebrews 10. Verse 1, for the law having a shadow of good things to come, and it was a shadow, and not the very image of those things, can never, with these same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? It was working. Why do they keep on doing it? For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciences of sin. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sin every year. It did not perfect the individual, but it was given as a reminder that because we broke God's law, another life had to be used up. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when he came into the world, he said, sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, you have had no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come, and in the volume of this book, it is written of me to do your will, O God. And that's what Jesus did. Jesus did the will of the Father. Jesus emptied himself of his glory. Jesus came to this earth and lived for 33 and a half years as a man. Jesus, who was the word as mentioned in the Bible, the one who was God, the one who was with God, by the one by whom God created all things, was then crucified by the creation, the creator crucified by the creation. And he did it willingly. He did it. He let go of being God. He let go and said, I'll go. And he came down.

And we're going to read at the end, and I'll just mention now, well, what is the big story that God shares with us in the Bible? And what does he want of you and me as living witnesses? That is that somebody here down below believes that God the Father sent his only son.

Right there. That's golden. That's big stuff. Everything else is added onto that. There are certain things that are in the Bible that are germane, cardinal. In the beginning, God let us make man in our image and after our likeness. But then you go to John 17 and his prayer that last night of his life, when you go through John 17, he mentions three or four times in that final prayer to be with those, you know, Father, there are some down here that get it, that I am the one. I am the fulfillment of the prophecies. I am that lamb. I am that one that is mentioned in Isaiah 53 that comes amongst people and that there was nothing special about him that would should draw our attention. A man stricken with grief, a man tossed aside and expelled from the land of the living. Not for what he did wrong. The worst thing, April got this, the worst thing that Jesus ever did was be perfect. Think that one through for a moment. That's not bad. In other words, that's our sacrifice and he did it willingly. Previously saying, sacrifice and offering burnt offerings and offerings for sin you did not desire nor had pleasure in them which are offered according to the law. And then he said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God. The glory of Christ was in the crucifixion. He gave glory to his father by performing his will. Giving glory to God is not always something that is happy, happy. Oh, glory be. It's when you do something that is against your very nature. There's nothing more important in humanity than self-preservation. And he gave it away. And he gave it away. And in that crucifixion, in that death, was the glory of God. And that's something we need to think about here on the Day of Atonement. But that we all have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, this man, who's that? This man. Yes, Jesus Christ. After he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Ladies and gentlemen, I've got a question for you, okay? That's something... What do you do at the end of the day when you've done all of your work? And it's all over.

Bonus points right there. Yeah. When you're done, you sit down. The job is done. He stopped standing for the moment. He sat down. And he sat down at the right hand of the Father. Why did he sit down at the right hand of the Father? Number one, he'd come to this earth and lived a perfect life. Number two, he experienced in humility an ignominious death for you and for me. Number three, you might want to jot these down. Number three, this is the whole work of Christ. Number three, the Father raised him from the dead. Earth could not hold him bound. And that was the glory of God. So he lived a perfect life. He died an ignominious death. Number three, he was raised from the dead. Now, there have been other people in the Bible that have been raised from the dead, but they got to die twice then. Okay, there's some that, you know, so like Lazarus. He was raised from the dead and stayed alive. Number three, number four, he ascended to heaven. And number five, as it tells us in the book of Ephesians and Philippians, he was exalted. He was exalted by God the Father and by the heavenly host. And he was at the right hand of God. See, that's very important. We've got to get the whole picture of what the work of Christ is. Because, you know, some people just want to have Jesus as a nice man, and he lived a nice life, nice precepts, and nice morals. And then he died. But he didn't die just like any other lamb. Then he was resurrected. It wouldn't be good to have a dead Jesus.

There were enough Jews in the first century that came along and said that they were Messiah and died, and they didn't come up. This one lived, this one died, this one was resurrected. But it would not even be enough. Are you with me? Because this falls into being in awe of our great high priest. It was enough that he was resurrected. The key then is that he ascended. No, like in Acts 1, he ascended. He didn't stay down here. Job over, game done, he ascended. And it's not only that he ascended, but then he was exalted. And he had prepared himself as a spirit of experience then. He was always our Savior. Stay with me. He was our Savior from the foundation of the world, Revelation 13 and verse 8. That was never going to be in question. He got in the flesh. But he came to this earth to, in that sense, qualify. And I'm using my words very carefully when they say qualify. He qualified to be the high priest by living like we did, knowing what we're going through. Are you with me? He qualified. He'd never been in this human fleshly goldfish bowl. And so this is why it is so important and so exciting. I'd like to have you join me if you would. Let's just go over to a couple verses here. First, I'm going to start with Hebrews.

I'm going to find it here a second.

Yeah, let's go to Hebrews 10. You're going to be very happy because I just skipped through two pages of notes because I'm going to, I want to get to, I want to get to the good stuff at the end. Okay?

In Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10 and verse 10. But that, but that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all, once and for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Now, when we use that phraseology for some of our younger people, when you say at the right hand, we often talk about your right hand man, your right hand individual in this day of men and women working together. The right hand is a position of responsibility and, yes, authority. But this man, after he sat down at the right hand, from that time, waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will. Now, I want you to notice something.

It's what God is doing. Let's understand that God is the engine of our life.

Grace is what God is doing. Responsiveness is what we're doing. Notice the proud nouns as we go through this. I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them.

And then he adds, their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now, where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Now, therefore, with all of this said, brethren, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, to be bold, to be assured, to be confident, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and a living way which He consecrated for us. We couldn't have come up with this. We never would have thought of having one of the members of the deity sacrificed.

Watching a turtledove would probably be hard enough. Getting its throat slit or a lamb. Not sure about the bullock. But He did this in His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Stay with me a moment. Let's capture the picture. 3500 years ago, the high priest, he's walking through the sand, swishing the sands underneath his feet. He's got that white tunic on him, and he's moving into and towards the tabernacle, and then moves in there, and then he moves through that veil. One time a year, one man. That's it. And he is in the presence of God, and or God's Spirit in that room. Sometimes the shekinah would come down. Sometimes the shekinah would hover over the tabernacle. He was in a one-on-one experience with God. Here's what I want to share with you. Okay, please? Can we visualize that when we have the invitation? See, he was summoned, wasn't he? He was summoned. He was summoned to come and offer up that sacrifice. You and I are summoned, and we are invited by none other than God Almighty to meet with Him in His throne room. To boldly, in that sense, as it mentions elsewhere, to go through the veil. It's interesting that when you think of the veil in the temple, the veil in the temple, Jesus as the Lamb of God dying three o'clock in that afternoon of Passover, to recognize that it was at that time, that it was at that time that He said His last words. He says, it is finished. And then He said, I commit my spirit to you, and to recognize what was going on there. And then, at that moment, even as the Lamb was being sacrificed at the temple, as the Lamb of God, Jesus was being sacrificed on the altar of Gogotha to recognize that the veil in the temple rent in two. Not from the bottom, but from the top. Because it's only what God and what Christ could do in partnership, that it was all about God. God was totally in control at this time, working this out, for you and I to recognize that we could return to Eden. You and I could begin to enter into the heavenlies, and to begin to enter into the presence of God one-on-one. I want you, if you want our prayer life, and we want our growth life to grow. That's kind of good, if you want to have a growth life to grow. Can you visualize? And maybe you already do. Maybe you're ahead of me. I've gotten more excited about this today. You know that message I recently gave about Buckle Up? I'm buckling up. I'm excited. I want to embrace this. I hope you do too. I want us to visualize that we are in training as a kingdom of priests. We're in class, and God is inviting us into His throne room. Do you, when you pray to God, you say, our Father, which art in heaven, do you have that sensation? I'm not talking about something funny, but do you have that reality? Because Spirit is more real than the flesh. Do you have that reality? Do you have that sense that you have moved from the Holy Place, because we are a holy people, and have literally in that sense moved into the very presence of God? And He welcomes us, and He's listening to us. And it's not like we're going to lose our life over it, like the people of old, but we have life, because that's what we're doing. Can you picture that?

Where is it? Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Good night.

Do we recognize who we have the privilege of coming before? This is the day of atonement, 21st century, Israel of God, New Covenant Christians, that you and I are able, in that sense, figuratively to walk through the veil of Jesus Christ. His flesh that He gave. What a horrible thing to have a gift given to us, and we don't appreciate it fully, and use it. I'm sure sometimes we've gotten there, you know, we've had a birthday, or we've had a wedding, and somebody thinks we really need something, and it's still in the cupboard in the back 40. You know, we don't use it. God wants us to get Him. He wants us to be intimate with Him. He wants us to experience Him, and He wants to experience us, and He wants us to He wants to experience the boldness that we have, because if we have that confidence and that assurity, that's telling Him more than the other. There's a cocky so-and-so. No, it's telling Him, and it's telling Christ next to Him. They're going like this. They get it. They're here. They understand what we did, that we all might be at one mint together. Let me take you to another verse, Hebrews 4.

Another verse about boldness.

It says here, I'm going to kind of break this down a little bit.

Seeing them, that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. That's why that term ascension is so important to understand. Understand those steps. Life, death, resurrection, ascension, exaltation. This is the entire work of God the Father through Jesus Christ that draws Him, having been in heaven, come to earth, now in heaven, that allows heaven and earth to be one. Our Father, which art in heaven, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, right, that your will be done in heaven as in earth. God looks at heaven and earth as being one. It's only man that separates it. So here we go. Let's see what it says here. Seeing them, that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. Not a son of Aaron, not of the Aaronic priesthood, but the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession. What does that mean? Another word that is used to hold out of the New Living Translation is to firmly. It's like this. Am I holding it firmly? You don't like it? Am I very firm? Hold firmly. This one's for you. This one is for me. This is a gift. Think of ancient Israel, one man, one time a year. Bish, boom, bam, all over. Have to wait another year to be forgiven. Have to have another year of that intimate relationship and representation before God. It says to hold fast our confession.

If somebody were to ask me and I'll tell you, oh, thank you for asking me, Skip. What is my confession? I'll tell you what my confession is. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed within Him should not die, should not perish, but should have life, and that He sent this special individual to this world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. That'd be the first part of my confession. The second part of my confession understanding that would be simply this. The confession and the creed of the early Jesus followers, the disciples of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord, He is King. He is Jesus, He is salvation, and He is Savior. He is Christ. He is the anointed, He is the Messiah. But beyond that, today we've also learned something else. He is the High Priest. He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Let me talk about Melchizedek. If you want to look at Genesis 14 sometime, you might want to shot that down. Melchizedek was the one that Abram brought offerings up to after the battle of the kings, and he gave tithe of all that had been taken from those kings. And he said, and he came, he gave it to Melchizedek. Melchizedek actually means, the word Melchizedek, you might want to shot this down, literally means Prince of Righteousness. Prince of Righteousness. And he was a priest of God. It says right there, he was the priest of God. And Melchizedek, he was the Prince of Righteousness. And what city did he rule over? Pardon? Yeah, Prince of, yeah, Salem. Salem means peace. And so, and not only that, if you wanted to do something interesting, look at the meal that he served up, and we'll find out one day what it really meant, but just a little aside, this not heavy doctrine. But it's very interesting that when, when he came and Abram came to him, he served Abram bread and wine. Isn't that interesting? We'll have some conversations in the future. Don't take that in concrete, just kind of an interesting thought about what's going on. He was the Prince of Righteousness. He was the Prince of Peace. So then we do this, so hold fast our confession. Hold fast that which God has given us, that we recognize that we have this great High Priest. And it says here then, for we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, and yet without sin. This is so beautiful to recognize this. He was us, fully God, fully human, Son of God, Son of Man, went through what we went through down here below, and it's ascended.

So that when we're talking to God the Father, and we're coming in Jesus' name, and say, by the way, Jesus, bring him into the conversation a little bit. He knows what we're going through. I was talking to somebody the other day, and they live in over in central Los Angeles. Some of you know I used to be an insurance inspector. And so as an insurance inspector, I know probably about every 20th, not every other, but every 20th block of Los Angeles. Susan seemed to do this many times. And I was talking to somebody, I said, well, where do you live? It's like, you know, would you have, are you a genie? Or what? No, I just said, where do you live? You know, they told me to live. And, you know, I'll do the number. Oh, you're at the 4800 block, and so and so, you know, about like, just like that. This has been 40 years ago that I was doing this. But immediately there's a bond. There's like, he knows the neighborhood I'm from. He gets me. He's maybe walked down the same sidewalk that I've walked. I know he's a pastor, but maybe I can do some business with this guy, you know? I mean, he's kind of like, he's been there with me. He knows what he knows. He knows the hood. I know a lot of hoods in Los Angeles over the days. So anyway, that that's the bondedness that you and I have with the great high priest. Let's continue here for, for we, okay, I read that. Let's go here then, and let us therefore come boldly, just like the other, come boldly to the throne of grace.

Not to the throne of works, but to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let's break that down for a moment. And that we can boldly do this. I want you to think about this for a second. Stay with me. We're going to go about five more minutes here, and we'll be done. When you were summoned before a king of old, some oriental potentate, and you were going to plead your life and plead for mercy, you know, your, your, your knees were going like this, you know, and your heart was a little wobbly along the way. You didn't know, you didn't know which way this deal was going to go. And, or if you boldly went into the king's room and you were not invited, what could have happened? What's the story in Esther? Remember Esther? If you walked into the room of a Persian king without being invited, you were a dead woman walking, men included, too. You were dead. You were dead. And that's why it says here that you can approach the throne of grace anytime, recognizing that you are coming before that great throne with that rainbow of faithfulness that's behind it. As you come across, your prayers come across that sea of crystal and recognize that Jesus is there right by his father, spirit of experience, been through what we've been through, and we're seeking mercy, and we're, we're seeking after grace. Grace is not an event, it's an experience, it's lifelong. Don't mistake it for just simply an event. We often think of grace simply being unmerited pardon for sin done, but there is sustaining grace. There is that sustaining element of God just being with us, being our engine, being our locomotive. And yes, we've got to hop on the car for the ride and trust and have confidence of where he's taking us, but it's about what God is doing. And then our faithful responsiveness to let him use us to come along the way. And this grace that's being talked about, this judgment, this grace that you and I can experience, the grace that was experienced by ancient Israel on Yom Kippur is the grace that we can experience here, sustaining grace to help us, to guide us, to keep us, to stir up his spirit in us.

God is grace. God extends grace. We live a life of grace.

We only draw breath because of God.

We only exist because of God. And that's by God's grace. I'm going to conclude. I told you I get excited on the Day of Atonement.

If we cannot get fired up on the Day of Atonement, I'm going to pack it in. This is so unbelievable to think of our Savior, our Lord and our King, and our high priest at the right hand of God. And you think of all of that activity that occurred in Leviticus 16 and other verses that are in the Bible and Leviticus and Exodus about everything that a priest did. I want to tell you something. He never stops. Jesus doesn't go to sleep. He is always leaning over, always ready to receive our lives and to deal with them. He doesn't stop. If you see all of that activity that the high priest did, what would he do? He took a bath five times a day. He washed his feet and hands 10 times a day. Killed a bullock, killed a goat, made sure the frankincense was, it's just like that. Here's what I want to share with you. If you want to write it down. Dynamism. Dynamism in the holy place of God. And he never rests. And he is up there in that when you repent of something that you have done, and even if Satan is there whispering in God's ear, and I'm only using that figuratively like Job. Jesus Christ is not there to defend what you did wrong. Right? Think that one through. He says, well, I've been down there before. They didn't really mean it, Father. No, no. He's not there to defend what you did wrong. He's saying, Father, remember that moment. Remember on the altar of Golgotha, you and me. And remember what we did together. I sacrificed myself, and you accepted that. They get it. They understand it. And my blood covers that. I want to share a thought with you. Join me in Revelation 1 for a moment. In Revelation 1.

Let's go to Revelation 4. Grace to you and a peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. I was just thinking, man, this is like heraldry. This is just opening up the book of Revelation. I think sometimes when they introduce the different kings of Austria, Hungary, you know, Holy Roman Emperor, Viscount of Carpathia, Lord of Hungary. No, this is better. This is who is to rule our life. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead. That means there's going to be more that are going to join him. That's you and that's me.

And the ruler over the kings of the earth to him who loved us and notice, notice, very descriptive and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

Soaked us, saturated us, saved by the blood and has made us kings and priests and priests to his God and father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

But we're not going to be able to be a priest in the wonderful world tomorrow, unless we wrap our minds about what I've been talking about today, about the glory of God in Christ and what he did for you and me and continues to do and is there for us.

John 1720, Last Scripture.

Here we are on the day of atonement, a day of unity and of oneness. And again, just a portion of the prayer of Christ on that last night of his physical life.

Let's pick up the thought in verse 20. And I want to share something with you. If your blood sugar is low, understood. But this is a Bible news alert, hot out of the Scriptures.

Because our Savior on that night in 31 A.D. looked down through the ages and this is talking to you and me personally. I do not pray for these alone, but also those who will believe in me through their word. That's you and me. That they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they may be one in us. And notice, remember what I was talking about earlier? That the world may believe that you sent me. I'm the one. And they believe that, bless them. That will be the unifying force. Why are we all here together today? Susan and I don't live in San Diego. Used to. When I was a boy. We all come from different races, different ethnic groups, different linguistic groups, different economic groups, different personalities. You're saying, thank God I don't have his. No, just you. Okay, so me. So that you... What binds us? What binds us first and foremost is that you and I believe that God the Father, sovereign over the universe, sent Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary, raised in Nazareth, and died on the cross at 33 and a half years in 31 A.D. is the Son of God. You and I believe that the earth could not hold him down. And that the power of the Father resurrected him. But he wasn't just staying down here walking on this earth. He'd done that already for 33 years. He ascended. And not only ascended and kind of said, well, you know, kind of good job. Next time, maybe. No, no. And he was exalted and put at the right hand of God and is there always to hear you and me as we understand the gravity of entering into the presence of God and the holiness of God. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one just as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world, here it goes again, that the world may know that you sent me and have loved them as you have also loved me. Father, I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me. You know, the presence of God to behold the glory more than the cloud, more than the Shekinah, being able to ultimately move beyond the unapproachable light as Paul mentions in his epistles. And you have known that you sent me and I have declared it to them your name and will declare it that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them. This is just the beginning, brethren. This is just a, do I dare say, sober us up to get our attention, to be thankful, to have thanksgiving as we approach the festival of harvest, and to recognize that ultimately that those two harvests that were in the Mediterranean, there was a spring harvest and a fall harvest, the spring harvest was a smaller harvest, and of course, Pentecost falls around that time. And that deals with the first fruits that God is working with now. But there's going to be a great harvest, and you're going to be hearing about that more. Some of you that are new that we're not going to be alone. Jesus is given as God's gift to bring all things into reconciliation. As I said before, this is one of the most powerful truths. I've got to tell you something. The first time I heard this word was 58 years ago as a boy in Lamesa, I was reading the Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course. And the writer said, this is not the only day of salvation.

Remember, I started out as a Baptist.

Graduated to being a Lutheran.

More Latin, a little German. But this shook me as a young boy. I was all boy. I wasn't a goody-goody, but I had a mind towards God based upon what I had learned in Sunday school. From my mother, who is my Sunday school teacher for those that knew Tommy, that God was bigger than anything I'd ever imagined before and has a plan for every human being that has ever lived. He doesn't want to lose the one of us. And that's why Jesus gave his life. And it will always be the sacrifice. There is only one sacrifice. There is only one high priest.

And you and I, that's what we're going to be teaching. There's going to come a time when it says, in all nations, we'll flow up to Jerusalem. And we will say, come, come, and let us learn in his ways. And, you know, it'll be kind of like tourists from out of town. And they'll say, well, where is he? Where's that great high priest? Well, you're not going to start talking about, oh no, you bring it up. No, no, not you. He's the one over there in the white, right there. He's in the white. Yeah, that's the one that lived for you and lives for us. That's the one that died and was risen from the dead and ascended and was exalted. That's the one that you want to follow. He's right over there. From the dusty road to the tabernacle of old to the roads in Jerusalem, when Jesus lands, we're in training. We're in training. Buckle up. Embrace it. Get used to it. Be bold. Our Father is going to want to hear from us this afternoon. And by the way, as you do, go boldly through the door, which is Jesus Christ. We'll look forward to talking to you after services.