Entrance

[0:00] Hebrews 10 from verse 19. It reads, 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.

[0:24] ! Really a plea this morning to enter into the holiest. These verses tell of an entrance. The same word enter in is also translated entrance. There's an entrance made.

[0:36] And firstly we see as we contemplate the pictures here, there is a curtain. There's a veil. Firstly there's a curtain. And we see this curtain as it could be pictured here.

[0:52] And in Matthew 27 verses 50 through 51 it says, Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost and behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

[1:10] So the temple veil was actually 60 feet high, if you can imagine that. 30 feet wide and as thick as a man's hand. Four inches thick. This was a very strong, thick curtain.

[1:24] And I've only just come to understand there wasn't actually an entrance through the curtain. It's quite an astounding thought that the high priest had to actually crawl under it.

[1:39] That's an amazing thought, isn't it? That he had to go on his hands and knees and crawl as a lowly, humble creature underneath the curtain.

[1:51] And the veil, the curtain of the temple was a symbol of the separation of God and man by sin. But Calvary changed everything. Calvary changed everything.

[2:03] At his very death, the temple veil was torn, it says, from the top to the bottom. And this sacred, glorious, tightly woven fabric was substantial and strong.

[2:17] But God tore it from the top to the bottom. It wasn't man tearing it from the bottom to the top. It was God tearing it from the top to the bottom. And the Lord chose to tear this amazing fabric and permanently open the way into the very holiest.

[2:33] Now the temple veil was made of four different colour yarns. Purple, the colour of kings. Scarlet, the colour of blood and of sacrifice.

[2:44] White, the colour worn by the common man. And blue, the colour of God's abode, heaven. So all these colours, purple of kings, scarlet of blood, white of man, blue of heaven, pictures for us the Messiah.

[3:00] Points to him. As all the four Gospels. Matthew points to the king. Mark to the suffering servant. Luke to the perfect man. And John to the son of the most high God.

[3:12] So friends, today there's a curtain and it's torn. The curtain is torn. The veil is ramped. Our verse tells us about the curtain between us and God. This curtain, his very own flesh.

[3:24] His body. As we read it there, that there's a way and it's through the veil. And his flesh is that picture of the veil. The holiest was entered into only once every year by the high priest.

[3:37] To make this sin offering for the whole nation. It was one tribe alone that was allowed to encamp around the tabernacle. Immediately around it.

[3:48] There was only one family of that tribe that was singled out and allowed to enter the holy place. And one man, one man alone. The one of the family.

[4:02] That one man alone had entry, had access into the holiest. And that man only once, once a year, with such awe-inspiring ceremonies, as must have filled him with fear and judgment of the most high.

[4:18] So the entrance was barred with this veil. Now it's wide open. The veil is torn in two. And there's no convoluted ceremony. No more human high priest. No more sacrifices.

[4:29] No more division that cuts us off. We've got entry. We've got entrance. God tore away that barrier that separated him from sinful humanity for more than 1,500 years.

[4:43] And simultaneously, as the veil was torn, was the death of our Lord and Saviour. This veil, this curtain, no longer interrupts our meeting with him.

[4:55] It was torn. And the body was torn at this time too. The sin that barred entry was taken away at Calvary.

[5:08] There's no reason we cannot be with him. An entrance has been made for you, for we that trust him. A point of entry, an open door. Really, he is the door, as he tells us.

[5:19] Will you enter in? That's the point. Don't close him off today. Enter in, as it were. Enter in, spiritually enter into that sweet communion. So there's a curtain, and it's torn.

[5:31] And secondly, there's a confidence. There's a confidence we can have. It tells us of a boldness there. There's a confidence. It's the same word. It's translated elsewhere. Confidence. It's the assurance that we have.

[5:43] That we've got a boldness. There's an openness. There's a freedom. There's unlimited access now. And we can have a boldness because of that. It tells us in Ephesians 3, verse 12, Of Christ our Lord, in whom we have confidence.

[5:58] We have boldness. And access with confidence by the faith of him. Because of Calvary, we've got access today into God's holy presence. And there's a great joy and privilege, a wonder for us.

[6:10] He is our confidence. It says in 1 John 5, verse 14, This is the confidence that we have in him. Speaking of prayer, the confidence, the boldness, the same word, is in him.

[6:23] And so let's not shrink back today as we have this little foretaste of heaven, this time of communion in this limited fashion that we can, in prospect of that eternal communion with him in heaven.

[6:38] Let's not shrink back, but have the holy boldness to enter in. And we don't come flippantly or carelessly, but reverently we come.

[6:49] Let a man examine himself. It says, Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. There's a complete and certain assurance for us today. We need not have dread or fear of his judgment upon our sin, because that's been venced at Calvary's cross.

[7:07] We can have a closeness and a forgiveness and an assurance of his forgiveness today. So we see a curtain, we see a confidence, and we see a consecration.

[7:18] It says that it was such that he consecrated this for us, verse 20. It's a new and living way. He's consecrated it. He's dedicated. He's made it possible for you and me, for me, even me, for you that trust him.

[7:33] It says, By a new and living way, he's consecrated it for us. Through the veil, that is to say his flesh. As his flesh was torn, as the veil was torn, there's a confidence for you to enter in, because he's consecrated it for you.

[7:51] In Isaiah 35, it talks about a highway, a way of holiness. Isaiah 35, verse 8. Now, this highway, this way, has been constructed for us, not by human effort, not by council workmen or by human construction labourers.

[8:10] This highway is not built by the hands of men. It's a highway of holiness. It's the way that he has made for us. It's a way made open, consecrated for us.

[8:20] And this roadway, this highway, is not built by the hands of men. This is a road that was built on a hill, a way that extends from heaven to earth, a path that's trod with blood-stained footsteps, a way that's built by the very act of God in being our substitute.

[8:39] He has consecrated it. He has laid it out. He has set that place for you, for me. He's purposed it for us. We have a sweet communion now, but we can have a sweet communion with him every day.

[8:52] Every day, every moment that we choose to enter in, we can enter in with boldness. And friends, we don't have to wait till Sunday to enter in, but we can enter in day by day, hour by hour.

[9:04] He has dedicated, consecrated this highway for us. He's cut the ribbon, and the way is made available.

[9:15] And we celebrate that. We remember that, this way. The way that he is. He is the way, the truth and the life.

[9:26] And he took our pathway and made that way of salvation because of his life blood shed for us. He is the way. And it tells us it's a new and living way.

[9:39] A new and living way. Verse 20 there. A new and living way. A new way of living is made possible. Will you walk in it? He wants you to know that new and living way.

[9:50] And each one, in simple faith, as you trust, Jesus paid it all. Jesus paid it all. That you can know that way. You can personally know, I'm on that way.

[10:02] I know him. And I can enter in, into his very presence by the blood of Jesus. There's a curtain. It's torn. It's rent. It's gone. The curtain has been made into an entranceway.

[10:16] And it's because of the blood of Jesus that we have entry. There's confidence we can enter because of the blood. And there's a consecration. He's consecrated for us that way.

[10:27] If you would but trust him personally, you can know that it is for you. When he says he has consecrated it for us, for us that believe, he's consecrated it.

[10:37] He's made it available. It's not restricted now. It's available. It's wide open. And so it goes on to say, draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

[10:53] Draw near today. As we think of Calvary's cross, we think that he's made that way for we that believe today. We can thank him for it.

[11:04] Amen. Amen.