Secrets of the Secret Place - Part 3

The secret place class is good to have you back with us again this week. Thank you for joining us. And what I want to do to the next session as well is to deal with some of the ways the enemy accuses us to try to thwart our secret place, and the truth that God has given us to empower our secret place relationship with Jesus. Let's pray. Holy Spirit come, we ask that you would be with us mightily now in our course together, in every home that is studying this course together, every nation where we pray that your presence would be with us now in a tangible way as we come to the word of God, in Jesus name. Amen. If you want to know what someone feels most strongly about, talk to them about their highest joys and their deepest sorrows. If you want to know what God feels most strongly about, talk to him about his highest joys and his deepest sorrows. I am persuaded there is nothing that God feels more passionately about than the cross of his son. Blood on his scalp, blood on his neck, blood on his shoulders, blood on his arms, blood on his hands, blood on his chest, blood on his back, blood on his legs, blood on his feet, blood on the cross, blood on the ground. It was a spectacle of blood. There's a scripture that says with God a day is as a thousand years, and there was a day beloved that to God seemed to last a thousand years. It went on and on and never seemed to stop. That same scripture says with God a thousand years is as a day. So an event that we look back and say oh that happened two thousand years ago to God, it happened a couple days ago. The cross of Jesus Christ is as fresh today in the heart of Abba Father as the moment it happened. He has not forgotten even a fraction of the horror and trauma and pain of Calvary, which is what makes the blood of Christ so powerful. Because when you place your faith in the blood of Christ, you are touching Abba Father at the center of his being. You are unlocking the infinite passions of an uncreated God, and when you place your faith in the blood of Christ, Abba Father opens to you the storehouses of heaven and lavishes upon you the abundance of his mercy, the riches of his grace, the fullness of his forgiveness and acceptance, and it's all because you place your faith in the blood of his cross. Now it's the blood of Christ that makes you righteous. Faith in the blood of Christ makes us righteous. Now I want you to hear this clearly. The basis of righteousness is faith. When you have faith in what Christ has done and who he is, Abba Father looks at your faith and considers it righteousness. So when you place your faith in the blood of Christ, Abba Father counts to your life the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. So faith in the blood makes you righteous, and then righteousness gives you access to God. That's why you want righteousness. It's the most valuable commodity in the universe. If there's anything you want, you want righteousness, because righteousness empowers and qualifies you to draw near to God. Jesus said, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Jesus said the first thing you want to go after is the righteousness of our God. Now we all know that our own righteousness will never qualify us to draw near. Even if you've had an exceptional week, your righteousness doesn't qualify you to draw near. I don't draw near because I've mastered Christianity and am some kind of super saint. I draw near because I believe in the blood of Christ. I'm under his blood, and I come in with boldness into the presence of God. So every time you hear an accusation from the enemy who accuses your standing before God, run into the blood of Christ. Faith, points in your outline, faith in the atoning power of the blood is our basis of access to the throne of God. Now I want to uh park on Hebrews 10 for the for this session in the one to come. Hebrews 10 19 to 22. Therefore brethren having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh and having a high priest over the house of God 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. Now this scripture talks about the sprinkling of blood. It says having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. There is an application of the blood of Christ to our lives that the Bible calls the sprinkling of blood. It's not simply the application of the blood of Christ to your life when you became a born again believer, a new person in Christ. When you confessed your sins and became a new person in Christ. Yes the blood of Jesus did cleanse you of all your sin and you became a new creature in Christ righteous before God. But how many know we live in a world that's we'll just say less than perfect and we get dirty in this world. We get soiled. We get defiled and we need more than just one lifetime application of the blood of Christ. So there is a provision in grace for us to come back to the cross again and again and receive what Hebrews 10 calls the sprinkling of blood which cleanses us from an evil conscience and gives us boldness to enter with confidence into the holiest. Peter also mentioned this in first Peter chapter one. It says Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Peter says there's two things that we're called to in the Christian walk. Obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. Whenever your obedience is less than perfect, then we come to the sprinkling of blood. Now if you've got obedience down perfectly, you don't have to worry about the sprinkling of blood anymore. But if you're less than a hundred percent mature and perfected, we obey Him to the fullest measure that we're able by grace. But then when we fall short, there is a provision in grace. It's called the sprinkling of blood. And so we obey, but then we receive sprinkling of blood, and that gives us courage and boldness to enter in with grace. Now Hebrews 10 makes it clear the purpose of sprinkling is to draw near. In other words, it's not simply to get that clean feeling and then get on with your day. The purpose of sprinkling, yes, it is to cleanse a defiled conscience and to give us a sense of cleanliness and acceptance before Christ. But the purpose is to get sprinkled with blood and then draw near. Now just because you have the blood of Christ on your life does not automatically mean that you are brought near. It only means that it qualifies you to draw near. The blood of Christ qualifies you, but now that you're sprinkled, now that you're qualified, now that you're righteous before God, see that's what you needed. You needed righteousness to stand before God. So now that you're under the blood of Christ, sprinkled by faith, you now have boldness to come into the holiest. It's me again, and I'm qualified to draw near. Not because I've had a good day, not because I've had a good week, not because I've had a bad day. Only on the basis of one thing. I draw near to God based on the authority of the blood of Jesus Christ upon my life. Now back in the old covenant, this is point D of your line, back in the old covenant, people were able to approach God on the same basis. It was the shedding of blood back in the old testament that enabled them to draw near. So this term, sprinkling of blood in the new testament, actually has an old testament precedent to it. God has always wanted intimacy with man. It's the same story in the old covenant. He wanted to get close to us, but every time he got close to people, people died. It was a real problem. He's like, okay, I like you people, and I want to get close to you. But every time he drew close, just a bunch more of them would die. It would be like 3,000, then it would be like 14,000, then be like 24,000, and they had, it was just like thousands and thousands of people over and over again dying because God was hanging out with them. And God in his holiness says, you know, I'm not going to change, something is going to change around here. And because of their sinfulness, that at one time, at one point, the Israelites, they come to Moses, and they said, whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Shall we all utterly die? And God basically says to Moses, you know, they have a point. So, the Lord established a way where he could draw near to the people without them dying. And it was called the sprinkling of blood. It's the same thing that happens in the new covenant, but it was through animal sacrifices. The sprinkling of blood enabled God to draw near to them without killing them. But now we come to the new covenant, and we have the sprinkling of Christ's blood. I just got to say, we have such a superior covenant through the blood of Christ. When under the old covenant, there was one man who could come into the presence of God, the holiest, one man only could ever enter the holiest, and that was the high priest. But now, under the blood of Christ, anyone can enter the holiest under the authority of the blood of Christ. In the old covenant, it was once a year, one guy, once a year on the day of atonement. In the new covenant, it's all of us. Anytime you and I can come into the holiest anytime we want. And in the old covenant, the guy, once a year, one man, once a year, he'd go in, do his business, and get out of there as fast as he could. And now for us in the new covenant, we come into the presence of the holiest, and we can stay there. You know, I just want to talk to Aaron for a moment, Aaron the high priest. I just want to say to him, you know, Aaron, okay, think about it. You're the only guy who gets to go into the holiest. Why don't you slow down, enjoy the moment, gaze on the glory of God. You have an opportunity like no one else in the nation. I hear Aaron's reply, you kidding? I get in there, I grab the censer, I stick it in there, I grab a handful of incense, throw it on the censer, get the cloud in there so I don't die. I go out, I get the blood of the bull, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That takes care of me and my family. Then I go back out, I grab the blood of the goat, I go in there, sprinkle it, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Then I grab the censer, and I am out of there. It was one man, once a year, fast. Can I just say, thanks be to God for the blood of Jesus Christ, who has now qualified all of us to come in any time we want and stay there. When you look at the Old Testament pattern, the Old Testament pattern, they always drew near intimidaty. I've got a verse here in your notes Exodus 19, let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day, the Lord will come down from Mount Zion in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. So God's saying, don't touch the mountain or you die. Then he goes on to say, not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow. Whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds long, now look at this, they shall come near the mountain. So God says to them, you got to come close, but not too close or I'll kill you. So it's like, okay, what's your definition of near? Because if we come too near, we're dead. But if we don't come near, we're in rebellion. And I can just see the whole group of them kind of like, okay, how near is near? One guy says, I think two miles is near. Because if you got too close, you're dead. And in the new covenant, God changes all the rules. Now we're not nervous about getting too close. Actually, the new covenant invites us to get as close as you want. The new covenant says, draw near to God, he'll draw near to you. And it becomes an invitation to find out how close can you get? That's what the secret place is all about. The secret place is an exploration of the saint to find out how close can I get to God. If I come a little closer, he comes closer. Still, if I come closer again, he comes. How close can you get? And the blood of Christ has opened the way for this glorious exploration. Point E, the blood qualifies me to bring my issues into the throne room. Now, aren't you thankful that you can bring your issues before God? Because if I had to deal with my issues first, before I drew near, I'd never get there. But the blood of Christ has qualified me to come before God, issues and all. It's me again, the one you love. And now I come into the holiest and burn before him. And I am changed in his presence because his presence is the place of change. And if I want to get changed, I don't get changed first and then draw near. I draw near and thus am changed. I am changed in his presence. And the blood of Christ has empowered us to draw near. Now, I don't have patience personally for a 15-minute warm-up. Maybe you do. Maybe you've got the patience to just take 15 minutes to kind of get the juices going, 15 minutes to get in the holiest. But I don't have that kind of attention span. I need instant intimacy. And I found it. It's through the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. I just pray a simple prayer, Jesus, sprinkle me now with your blood. And with that simple prayer, I see the blood of Christ upon my life. I see myself righteous in the sight of God. There is no accusation that can land on me. And now I come into the throne room with boldness to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like you to look with me at Daniel 7, verse 13, please. Daniel 7, 13. Daniel says, I was watching in thy visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. Now, Daniel's seeing a glorious vision. He's seeing the Lord Jesus Christ in his pre-incarnate state, the Son of Man, Son of God, coming on the clouds of heaven, approaching the Ancient of Days. And he says, they brought him near before him. When I read that, I paused. I said, who are they? Who are these creatures that are escorting Jesus Christ, second person of the Trinity, riding on the clouds of heaven? Who are they that are escorting him into the presence of the Almighty? The Bible doesn't tell us who they are. Are they angels? Are they cherubim, seraphim? Scripture doesn't tell us who they are. But whoever they are, I promise you this, they're heavyweights, glorious, mighty, powerful. I mean, can you imagine what kind of creature would have a hefty enough resume to qualify as an escort to the Son of God? I don't know who they are, but I started to imagine in my sanctified imagination the glory of this scene, the Son of God being escorted into the presence of the Ancient of Days. And as I'm imagining the glory of his escort, the fire, the mass of the strength, the power, when I started envisioning these creatures, I found a prayer going up in my heart. Lord, give me an escort like that. Give me some of those glorious creatures, those angels, those cherubim burning ones on this side and on this side. Let them escort me into the presence of the Ancient of Days. And as I prayed that prayer, it seemed like the Holy Spirit came back and said, I'll do that and one better, Ephesians 2 13. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Beloved, you have a more glorious escort than angels. Since you have a more dignified escort into the presence of the Almighty than cherubim or seraphim, you, sir, come into the presence of the Almighty, escorted by none other than the sprinkled blood of Jesus Christ. And when you have the blood of Christ upon your life, I take Hebrews 10 19, literally, where it says we come into the holiest. When you have the blood of Christ upon your life, you come to where the holy angels are. Now, understand holiness, there are degrees of holiness. And it's based on proximity to the throne. There's holy, there's holier, and there's holiest. And the closer you get, the holier it gets. And you, with the blood of Christ upon your life, the blood of Christ escorts you to where the holy angels are that stand around the throne of God. And it says, excuse me, this one's coming nearer. You come to where the cherubim are, those glorious creatures that have torches of fire passing between them. They've actually got lightning coming out of their being. And the blood of Christ says, excuse me, this one's trying nearer still. You come to where the cherubim are, eyes everywhere, six wings living inside the throne of God itself. And the blood of Christ says, excuse me, this one's coming nearer. You don't stop drawing nearer until you come into the very throne room of heaven, into the very bosom of Abba Father. You live in the holiest place of the universe now. When the veil is removed, and you get to the other side, and you see what you believe right now, in that day, you will realize, I am no holier now than I was back then, beloved. Today, this is not theoretical, it's real. You and I come into the holiest place in the universe, on the authority of the sprinkle blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus died to get you into Abba Father's bosom. He took it in his hands, and in his feet, so that he could get you into the throne room. God forbid that I should look at the very reason for which Christ died, and somehow neglect it, or blow it off, or forget about it, or despise it. No, I'm not going to despise the thing that took Christ to the cross. He died so that you and I could get sprinkled with blood, enter the throne room with boldness. It's me again, and come into the holiest place of the universe. If you want to honor the blood of Christ, I'm about to tell you how you can do it. If you want to honor the blood of Christ, simply do this, get sprinkled with blood, and draw near to God, and stay there. That's why he died. That's how we honor it, and we give thanks to God for the privilege we have. No accusation can deter or thwart what I'm talking about. The authority of the sprinkled blood of Christ upon your life empowers you to step into holiness and stay there. Lord Jesus, would you give us this reality in our hearts, we pray. Now, your group leader will take the meeting, and we'll all break up into our group discussions at this time. We'll see you next week.