INTO THE HOLIEST
Hebrews 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 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. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
The fervent desire that effects the entirety of the true believer is the yearning to be holy! Those who walk in a true God consciousness, and are not just religious tradition keepers, are ever seeking to be near him, and to be like him! And in this passage of Hebrews, chapter ten, we are given awareness that we can enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus! We are even given a boldness to enter in! How wonderful! Let us consider this thought for a little while.
There are three great things to consider in this thought. The first is The Witness. The second thing is The Remission. And finally The Entering.
The Witness: Hebrews 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: Old Brother Caldwell often said, “God has put the school house, the school teacher and the school books inside us!” – And he was right! For we no longer have only the witness of our eyes to look on tablets of stone to see the commands of God. But now, in this dispensation of the gospel, we have the law residing in a more suited place in our hearts!
The problem men have with the law is not found in the law itself! Romans 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. The problem with man’s relation to the law is man himself! Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: It is that our fleshly nature can’t keep the law wherein the problem arises. Therefore the Holy Ghost is the Instrument that places the law within the elect, and he it is who witnesses to the believer that this is done of God!
John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Heb. 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. In sovereignly imparted regeneration the Spirit, applying the blood of Christ to the heart, old things pass away, and all things become new! Not only the change, but the effects of the change can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. The believer, who was once darkness (Eph. 5:8), is suddenly the light of the world! (Matt. 5:14). And the only one who can witness to him that these holy deeds are flowing from his new nature is the Holy Ghost! Every one that has new life in Christ was “born of the Spirit!” He births us into holiness, and He alone manifests to us by inward consciousness that it is so!
Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. How was it that Abel “obtained witness?” Was it not that God did the testifying? Yes. God testified to his person concerning his sacrifice! Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Well did our brother Andrew Murray state, “Faith draws nigh to God through sacrifice!” (The Holiest of All, pg. 426). And as Abel had the inner revelation, witnessed to him by the Holy Ghost, that the blood of an innocent lamb was the acceptable sacrifice for the guilty sinner, he acted on this and God testified of his faith. But Abel’s story is not just that he was proper in his offering of a lamb. His story is only complete in the account of his own sacrifice of his very life, and that, for acting out his faith! And we, like Abel, must continually look unto Jesus in consideration of his patient endurance of sinners against himself, lest we be wearied and faint in our minds in our own self sacrifice! (Heb 12:1,2). In this alone will we be allowed to enter into the fellowship of his sufferings!
The Remission: We must always remember that every religious focus changed once the sin debt had been paid! The Father’s focus was fastened on the travail of the Son’s soul in order to see when the travail was full enough to bring satisfaction to God on behalf of his chosen people! (Isa. 53:11). And once God was satisfied by the remission having been paid, there remains no more sacrifice for sins! Consciences heretofore never sanctified, are now cleansed and at peace! (Heb. 9:8,9,14).
It is only by the revelation of this remission that Weeping John, a type of all true Israel after the tearing of the vail, becomes Worshipping John! In Revelation 5:4-6, John changes from hopeless weeping as the old covenant is done away, to joyful worship with just one look at the Lamb as it had been slain!
The Entrance: We are brought into the holiest by the blood of Jesus applied to our souls by the Holy Spirit. We, like Abel, have conquered death by God’s gift of faith. We, with him, have submitted ourselves to bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be manifest in our lives! (2Cor. 4:10-12).
Now we proceed from Abel’s Worship into Enoch’s Walk in fellowship with God. We have entered into the fellowship of his sufferings. For sacrifice is the root of faith! Then we go on into Noah’s Work within this new, living, holy place with God! For as soon as it is introduced to us in Hebrews 10:19, we are then given instruction as how to act out God’s part in verses 24 and 25.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
One cannot show his faith without those “ordained” works which the Lord has specifically set forth to reveal that true faith within believers. Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. For faith without works is not a true, living faith! There is no way that anyone can truly be a lover of God, whom they have not seen, with hatred in their hearts against those whom they have seen!
Now we are living sacrifices within the living way, having become holy, acceptable unto God, which is only spiritually reasonable!
Pastor Gene Breed