Building
the right foundation part 21
Therefore,
brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy
Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us
through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great
priest over the house of God, let us draw
near to God with a sincere heart and
with the full
assurance that faith brings,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let
us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful. And
let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good
deeds,
not
giving up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing, but
encouraging one another
– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
New
International Version - UK (NIVUK)
*******
As
we continue in our series of “Building the Right Foundation” we
continue to consider the church covenant. Every church member agrees
to the covenant when joining the church. It is therefore important
for us to regularly consider it's content and to re-confirm our
promises. Today we will focus upon:
Church
covenant point 3
We
commit ourselves to worship
by reverent
and regular
attendance at services of praise, prayer and preaching, by sharing in
the celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and by
cheerfully giving our tithes and offerings.
The
writer of Hebrews in our passage speaks of the confidence that we
Christians have to enter into the most Holy Place. We will therefore
consider what he means by saying that. We will secondly consider
what reverent worship is and finally the importance of regular
attendance.
The
confidence we have:
Therefore,
brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy
Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us
through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great
priest over the house of God,
Firstly
we need to address what is the Most Holy Place. Hebrew's is a
letter written to a Jewish church and as such each person hearing
these words would immediately think of the central place in the
temple. The temple and also formerly the tabernacle was the place
where God had focussed His presence in Israel. He met in the Temple
with the nation's representative or High Priest in a very special
part known as the holy of holies or the most holy place. Only the
High Priest could enter and then it was only once a year after he had
been cleansed from the effect of sin through the blood of an innocent
victim. That place where God chose to meet with His people was a
pointer to the place where God lives eternally. It was a glimpse of
heaven on earth. It was also a a wonderful example which shows that
it is possible for sinful man to meet with God who is perfectly holy.
The way of meeting was directed by God and was only made possible by
the sacrifice of an innocent victim. All of this was a pointer to
what the Lord Jesus Christ did when He died upon the cross.
Instead
of a high priest who needed sin to be forgiven by sacrifice, Jesus
had to become sin in order to be sacrificed. He is now the Great High
Priest who has opened a way into heaven for all who are cleansed from
sin by His sacrificial blood.
You
see:
There
is a natural barrier between man and God. It is our sin that separates us from His
presence but by faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice and through
repentance we are forgiven and can then enter into the Holy Place
where we can freely worship our God. When Jesus died on the cross the
curtain which separated the Temple courts from the Holy of Holies was
torn from top to bottom. It was only God that could tear it from the
top to the bottom, by doing so He demonstrated that He had now opened
up a new way into His presence. Jesus His Son had just made the once
for all sacrifice which made it possible for any to enter into God's
presence. By His death a way into the holy place was achieved for all who will trust in Him.
It
is by repentance and faith that personal salvation is accomplished.
Repentance is simply turning away from self and sin and turning to
God for help and forgiveness and then in faith following Him.
Is
this your personal experience?
If
it is then:
“let
us draw
near to God with a sincere heart and
with the full
assurance that faith brings,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let
us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.”
How
should we worship?
Our
covenant tells us that we must worship reverently. But what does it
mean to worship reverently?
One
thing that is absolutely clear throughout the whole of the Old
Testament is that we cannot worship just as we want to. Cain who was
the firstborn of Adam and Eve discovered this to his cost. In his
attempt to please God he brought an offering of the fruits of his own
labours which was totally unacceptable to God. His younger brother
Abel's offering of a sacrificed animal was however accepted. As a
consequence of this Cain in a jealous rage murdered his brother. Also
King David learned the same lesson when he transported the Ark of the
Covenant on an ox cart in order to take it into Jerusalem. This
procedure ultimately cost the life of a man called Uzzah. By the
death of a man who simply touched the Ark in order to steady it David
discovered that God is angry with anyone even His anointed king if
they do things as they think is right. God had recorded in His law
that the Ark must be carried by the priests only and should never be
transported on a cart. When David did it the right way then blessing
came to the nation.
It
is exactly the same today we must only worship God in the way that He
proscribes. Both Cain and David on those occasions were guilty of
pragmatic worship. They had what they thought was a good idea and
offered the fruits of their mind as an act of worship and God
rejected it. We must worship God as he prescribes. Jesus said that
there was coming a time when His people would worship in Spirit and
truth. That is exactly what the writer to the Hebrews is saying in
our passage and it is also exactly what we have covenanted to do.
Let
us draw near to God with a sincere heart or as our covenant puts it
let us worship reverently. God is only interested in the sacrifice of
praise that come from a sincere heart. It is so easy for us to look
pious here in the worship service. Do you know God does not accept
anything that you offer whatever your words say if the your heart is
insincere. At this moment you know exactly what your heart is like,
some might say that you alone know but they are wrong.
Man
may look on the outward appearance but God is scrutinising your heart
NOW!
Let
us now draw near to God with a sincere heart!
PRAY
for a moment!
The
writer also talks about a full assurance of faith. That means to be
fully persuaded that you really are saved. This comes as the direct
result of true repentance. Ephesians tells us that faith is a gift of
God.
Do
you have full assurance of faith, if not ask God.
We
are a new creation the Apostle Paul said, we are no longer under
condemnation. Our sins are forgiven as far as the East is from the
West. God remembers them no more. Our hearts have been sprinkled and
our consciences are washed as was alluded to by Old Testament temple
ritual. But this is reality!
We
are saved!
All
of which means that we should:
hold
unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful. And
let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good
deeds,
not
giving up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing, but
encouraging one another
– and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
We
should regularly worship together:
Our
covenant says:
“We
commit ourselves to worship
by reverent
and regular
attendance at services of praise, prayer and preaching, by sharing in
the celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and by
cheerfully giving our tithes and offerings.”
This
is what we ought to adhere to. We ought to be regularly attending the
services and share in the celebrations and ordinances of the church.
Baptism
is a command of scripture. Have you been baptised. I know that there
are differing modes and ways and theologies surrounding baptism but
the scripture says that upon repentance baptism ought to be applied.
It is not essential to salvation but it is important enough to be a
command of God. Personally I am happy to accept those who differ from
my understanding that believers should be baptised upon the
confession of their faith. Some believe that in faith their parents
baptised them as infants and now they have since becoming a Christian
have confirmed that which was done for them in the faith of their
parents.
The
point made in our covenant is that as committed Christians we ought
to share in the celebration of baptism. That is we should be there to
support all who are baptised. If you have not been baptised then
please talk to me and we would love to explore the possibility.
We
are coming to a celebration of the Lord's Supper in a few moments.
The Lord's Supper is a celebration of the life, death, resurrection
and the future return of the Lord Jesus Christ. As such Christians
must celebrate it together regularly. In fact it is so important that
it is entrenched within the constitution (legal rules) of the church.
The constitution actually says that if it is missed for 6
consecutive months without reasonable excuse then the offender has in
effect broken covenant with the church. They cannot logically any
longer be a member.
That
is the outworking of what the writer of our passage is saying. He
tells us not to give up meeting together for at least two reasons.
Firstly because of who we are and what God has done in saving us; we
ought to be together to worship and praise Him. Secondly we ought to
be together for the mutual encouragement and blessing of each other.
Christians;
God has done everything necessary to accomplish our salvation. Jesus
did not stay in heaven because the work was going to be tough, He for
the joy set before Him (which is us as part of His church) endured
the cross and did not despise the shame that He encountered by it. He
knew the future benefits that it would bring. By His death He was
accomplishing the populating of heaven with His own people who are
His adopted family. We are amongst that number and as such we will
all one day be together enjoying each others company and all enjoyng
God together.
Our
church service is like a mini heaven where together we are of one
heart, one mind and one purpose which is to enjoy God together.
Why
miss out on such blessing?
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