ENTRANCE INTO THE HOLIEST
[p. 195] ENTRANCE INTO THE HOLIEST
I desire in these addresses, if the Lord permit, to bring before you the blessings which are peculiar to christianity. I beg you to bear in mind the words I use, ‘peculiar to christianity’, that christians only enjoy those blessings, and that they are connected with Christ’s exaltation to the right hand of God. I dare say some here may not quite understand what I mean by peculiar to christians; I mean peculiar to the saints of this present period during the rejection of Christ. I suppose there is no one here who will not admit that Christ has been rejected on the earth. Apparently, as to the two disciples journeying to Emmaus, His going away shattered all their hopes of blessing here; so much so that they said, “Thou sojournest alone in Jerusalem, and dost not know what has taken place in it in these days?” All was over. It is a terrible thing that God’s Son was refused here; hence you read in Psalm 110, as the Lord quotes it in Matthew 22, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool”. He is called away for a certain time. Now what occurs in that interval? It is of the deepest importance that you should bear in mind that He has been called away, but instead of thinking, like the two disciples, that all is over, new blessings come out from Christ in His exaltation; a new company is found on the earth.
I desire to describe the blessings which have come out, and I begin with entrance into the holiest; though I must remark that the varied blessings are so interwoven that you cannot put them in succession. Still, I think it is a main point for the young believer to get hold of the fact that there is a class of blessings which are connected with Christ’s exaltation at the right hand of God, in addition to all that He accomplished on the earth, and that it is into this class of blessings that you are brought.
I refer first briefly to Leviticus 16. There are plainly two classes there; there was the high priest and his house, and there was the congregation. The high priest and his house typifies Christ and the saints of this present time. The confusion of christendom arises from trying to mingle the two classes, and to bring in the congregation as if that part of the type was fulfilled. The congregation was not blessed till the priest came out; and the Priest has not come out yet. He has gone into heaven itself, gone in for His house; “Whose house are we”, thank God! You see this is connected with the fact of His exaltation.
I submit that in Leviticus 16 there is a great difference between the scapegoat and the high priest gone within the veil. Now that is exactly the difference between the christian blessing, and the blessing of the congregation in the millennial day. But many christians do not get in their souls beyond the latter blessing. The scapegoat carried away the people’s sins into the land of forgetfulness. The people of God on the earth, where all their sins were committed, had this wonderful assurance in their souls - all our sins are carried into the land of forgetfulness. But when the High Priest went into the holiest, it was not a question of sins at all, it was the contrast to sins - the holiness of God. If you apprehend this one sentence, I think you will understand my aim. I maintain that in the holiest there is no thought of sin at all, because it is the holiness of God’s presence. It is a wonderful grace to be assured that in the place where all our sins were committed, they are completely removed into the land of forgetfulness; but then you are in the place where they occurred. But when you enter the holiest of all there is no sin there; it is the contrast - the holiness of God’s presence. You get the idea where the apostle says, “righteousness unto holiness”. Now many are justified by faith, but they do not know entrance into the holiest. We have sung, ‘His presence is our home’. There is not a shade there, not a spot. You can never understand the holiest until you are in it.
I now turn to the scripture I read, to show you that we have the right to enter the holiest; this you get in verse 19, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus”. Christ is there, and we have now the antitype of Leviticus 16; the High Priest has gone in, and we are His companions who share with Him in that place. I shall prove this, and show you that it is our right.
The first thing in the opening of this chapter is that “the worshippers once purged” shall have “no more conscience of sins”; it does not say ‘consciousness’, but ‘conscience’; nothing can be stronger. In Hebrews 1 we read, “When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down”; here (chapter 10) it is definitely in connection with His exaltation. Verses 11 - 13 say, “Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, [or continually] sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting [or waiting] till his enemies be made his footstool”. (See Psalm 110 to which I have referred.) The fact of His sitting down there proved that all was done; “there is no more offering for sin”. I dare say some will say, We commit sins; I will come to that presently. But there are two things which it is necessary to see. First, that it is God whom you have offended; and secondly, that it is God Himself who has reconciled you to Himself. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself”; He has effected the reconciliation. I refer to this passage to prove that His sitting down is proof positive that sins are [p. 198] gone. I do not want to occupy you with sins. I know some quote Revelation 1 and Revelation 5; but in those scriptures the reference is to the earth, and not to the holiest. You may ask, Do you object to the recalling that sins have been put away? I say that if you are in the place where the sins have been put away, as in the millennial day, then there will be a continual recalling of the fact; but you have a right to enter the holiest, where there could not be a sin, and this is of the deepest importance. I believe (I speak advisedly), that if you do not understand the wonderful place of nearness into which you are brought, even that you have the right of entrance into the holiest, you will never understand the blessings which are peculiar to a christian. If I look at the Corinthians or the Galatians, where did their failure begin? They were not dead to sin. I believe no one advances till he has learned to be dead to sin. But this is not my subject now.
It is wonderful grace that in the place where we are, sins are carried into the land of forgetfulness, but we have the right of entrance into the holiest; the difference is, one is negative, and the other positive: one is that sins are gone; but the other is that you enter the sphere of holiness where there never was a spot; you draw near with your heart purged from an evil conscience and your body washed with pure water. You may say, Do we not get soiled? I am coming to that presently. As I said before, you must see two things - that man has offended God, and God Himself has removed the offence: it has been, for every believer, removed from His eye for ever in the sacrifice of His own Son, “that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus”.
Take a history of a soul. Many a convert has got relief in his conscience from his sins, because of faith in the blood of Jesus Christ; that is, he does not see further than Romans 3, he has faith in the work of [p. 199] Christ, but he has not come in faith to Christ. He is like the woman who touched the hem of Christ’s garment, assured of His work but not yet acquainted with Himself.
Turn now to the end of Romans 4; there we read that He “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification”. I believe Romans 3 answers to Exodus 12, and Romans 4 answers to Exodus 14 - the Red Sea; you not only know that you have shelter, because God sees the blood, which is true, but you believe that God has raised Christ from the dead. This is a wonderful moment for the soul. You see a man out of death - God raised Him from the dead. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved”. The first eleven verses of Romans 5 describe your state; I do not say your standing, justification is your standing; those eleven verses unfold the terms on which God is with you. The prodigal son could say, when his father kissed him, I now know something of my father’s feelings towards me. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”, the conclusion is (verse 11), “We are making our boast in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom now we have received [not the atonement, but] the reconciliation”; that is, you are brought to God on the terms which He Himself has effected. You have not to make terms with your Father, but He has made terms with the believer in Jesus, and it is on His own terms you meet Him, on the terms of affection and intercourse which He has effected for you through Christ. We were estranged from God, He has reconciled us unto Himself; we created the distance, and God has removed it. He was the first relieved.
[p. 200] I now turn to Romans 8, though I cannot go into it fully. Here I may remark that the Holy Spirit coming down from a glorified Christ to dwell in the believer is another blessing peculiar to a christian. No saints of whom we read in Scripture will be equally favoured. They will have the Holy Spirit on them, but not in them; the distinction is an important one. Hence when Peter quotes Joel to show that the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, he adds the present blessing, “Having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”. The Holy Spirit was to remain with them and to be in them according to John 14. We read in Romans 8, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus”, and then (verse 2), “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”. You are justified, and you know the terms on which God can meet you. Thank God! That we saw in chapter 5. But here it is the blessed state in which you are before Him in Christ; the Spirit is in you, and you have liberty. “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”, that is, sin has been condemned, not only is there no more remembrance of sins, but sin has been condemned. At the close of Hebrews 9 we read that He hath appeared “to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”, and He “was once offered to bear the sins of many”.
I trust you apprehend this twofold state; that you are justified, and that sin has been condemned in the cross of Christ. Still, the entrance into the holiest is not yet; you are ready for it. It has been well said that Romans rather describes Exodus, that is, escape, deliverance, redemption; and Hebrews describes [p. 201] Leviticus, which is approach. This is most important, because I think many are satisfied with the knowledge of justification who do not know approach. The blessed God looks for approach. We see in the case of the ten lepers (Luke 17), they were all cleansed, and nine went to ritualism according to Leviticus 14, to work up to approach; only one came directly to the Lord (I believe he is a sample for us), “and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks”. This was approach.
I now turn to Hebrews, to present the way we approach. We are through grace Christ’s companions. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. He has gone within the veil, a priest after the order of Melchisedec. There is a remarkable difference between the present and the millennial day. In the latter the high priest comes out and blesses the people. Hence in christendom a clergyman cannot pronounce the blessing until he is priested, on the ground that a priest only could pronounce the blessing. It is all a mistake; the High Priest has not come out yet. The blood was carried in, that the high priest might come out and bless the people. It is quite true Christ has gone in, but He has not come out yet. We know Christ will bless the people when He comes out; but now we are to know Him where He is within the veil. In Hebrews you do not get beyond the right of entrance into the holiest; you do not get to Ephesian ground.
Now in Hebrews 2: 11 we read: “He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”. In chapter 3 we read we are His house - “Whose house are we”. We are the consecrated company; I refer to Leviticus 8, the consecration of Aaron’s sons. We, as Christ’s house, are identified with Him. Aaron and his sons went in, in a common fragrance; they were filled with what he was, it was a common filling; and that was the consecration. People speak of [p. 202] consecration as what they give the Lord. The consecration, or the filling of the hands, is from the Lord. We are His “companions”, we are “all of one”, we are His “brethren”. As in John 12, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”; that is, many grains; we are altogether a new order. We are not of the stock of Israel, but of quite a new one. May the youngest in this room ponder it for himself or herself. We are justified; “our old man is crucified with him”, we are His companions in the fragrance of Himself; but more, we are of His own order.
The Lord give you to understand that you are of this consecrated company, that is, that you are of His house. And the consecration took place (which is important to bear in mind) after all the offerings, which typified Christ’s work, were offered; then followed the consecration; and as the consecrated ones, they accompanied the high priest into the holy places. If the veil were removed, they would have the right of entrance into the holiest.
Now I pass on to chapter 10, which I read, and here I find in verse 19: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high (or great) priest over the house of God; let us draw near”. It does not speak as it does in Ephesians of what occurs there; all you get here is the right to go in. There is not a shade of sin there. I press on you earnestly, that if you are dwelling on the great fact that your sins are gone, which is true and most blessed, you are connected with the earth where they were committed; hence many christians refer to their sins being gone, in order to revive the assurance of the grace; but they have not left the earth, they have not boldness to enter the holiest.
Our hymns suit souls in a variety of state, and to [p. 203] choose one is often a test of your spirituality. It is plain to any one who considers it, that if your place is on the earth, you will speak of sins being removed; but if you are in the holiest, you will be occupied with the order of things there.
First, you must apprehend God’s grace in its fulness, and then we may consider for a little the objection, ‘But when we fail, we lose it’. Certainly, when we fail we lose the enjoyment of it; but first be assured of enjoying it, before you speak of losing it. Do you know that you have the right to enter into the holiest, where there is no spot, and all through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the infinite satisfaction and glory of the blessed God? Now, you say, I may lose the sense of it: that I do not at all deny; but I say, first you must have it. God does not send angels to teach us; He sends teachers who are just as feeble and just as liable to fall as anybody else; and therefore it is only by the grace of God that one is kept or restored.
Now I turn for a moment to speak of failure. You have lost your true place; you find that practically you are not walking in the Spirit. What is to be done? Well, beloved friends, the first thing I must press is, that if you fail and do not judge yourself - discern yourself is the more correct expression - you will be judged of the Lord; you are chastened of the Lord that you should not be condemned with the world. “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep”. It is important to bear in mind that God has judged your flesh in the cross, and He never revives it; but when we revive it and do not discern it before Him, He chastens us: that is discipline. There are two classes of discipline: one is to correct you when you are wrong, and the other is to help you when you are doing rightly. When any sin is on your conscience, confess it. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. And I believe, if you are truly exercised, you will have the sense by the Spirit of God that Christ bore the judgment of God for that gratification of the flesh to which you have yielded, according to the type of the ashes in the running water in Numbers 19. This is true exercise, and you are cleansed; you are brought back, or restored, to the place you lost. The Advocate is with the Father; He restores to communion. If any one has enjoyed being in the holiest where there is not a spot, and has lost it, when you are restored you are restored to what was lost, and not to anything less. The priests were consecrated only once. You are not newly consecrated, you return to your consecration, you come back to what you are; but not without exercise.
There is one point more I would like to say a word on. It is as to losing communion; I think sometimes we are not sensitive enough about it; and it is connected with the holiest. It is a remark of much value, that Peter’s conscience was relieved in John 20, but his heart was not until chapter 21. Many christians walk with a clear conscience who have not yet known intimacy with Christ. If you are not acquainted with Him, you cannot be conscious of a break in it. You may be like Peter, with your conscience relieved, and happy affections restored, but the root of the failure not touched, as in John 21, when the Lord said to him, “Lovest thou me more than these?” The root of his failure was that he was seeking to be prominent above all the disciples for loving the Lord. The very quality for which you think you are creditable is the one in which you will fail most, and then you will be humbled; here the washing of the feet applies. As has been said, and very truly, advocacy is always going on; but when your feet are washed you are conscious of it.
I have said this to show you how you are restored [p. 205] to communion, but the great point I had before me is the holiness of the place to which we are brought - the holiest.
Oh what a great thing if every one in this room had that sense; not only, I am on this earth where all my sins are gone into the land of forgetfulness, but, I have got to a new place where there is no sin at all; and what occupies me there is the wonderful perfection of the blessed Lord, by faith and in spirit in association with Himself, where there is no shade of sin, no question of sin, but of holiness, where everything is in keeping with God’s mind! We do not go in alone, we have “a great priest” over the house of God.
I have no doubt at all that if you once had the sense that it was not a question of sin being gone, but of your being brought into a scene of unclouded light, where all is according to God - the holiest, where the cherubim of glory rested on the mercy-seat, of which the antitype is Christ in glory, your heart would be more and more set on enjoying this great blessing.
The Lord lead each of you to apprehend the great portion of every believer. May you say, I know the desire of my Father’s heart for me, and I look to Him that I may be up to His desire. Is there one in this room who would not say, I should like to be up to His desire? - not only to receive the Father’s kiss, but to share in the joys of the Father’s house - blessed be His name! - in heart assured that we have “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh”.