Beth Moore - Freedom from Shame
Now, I want to go back to our text in Hebrews 10:19 through 20 with Hebrews 4 still in view. So keep it in mind. And I want to go through it. So if you're open to Hebrews 10, it says, "Therefore, since we have boldness," in 10:19, "to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus". So let's start talking about this for a moment. Now, by the sanctuary, he's using the terminology of the temple and tabernacle. But when Jesus went through the heavens to the sanctuary, it's talking about the true sanctuary, the reality which is heaven, which is where the throne room is. So I want you to keep that in mind as we're picturing, but it's all being depicted in the tabernacle and in the temple.
Now, once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest, just one man and one day, was allowed to go in through that veil, and before he went in there were all sorts of ways he had to be consecrated and cleansed; and we'll get to that in just a moment. But they're depicting Jesus the great high priest who is not only priest but also sacrifice. He's every part of this process. So the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 10 that we enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus. So Jesus is on the cross. Now, think with me. How did the bloodshed begin? The bloodshed is of great importance because without blood there is no remission of sins. This we get from the Old Testament, and it's completed in the new.
So where does the bloodshed begin? The crown of thorns, then he is hit, then he is beaten and whipped. And then when they go to crucify him, there are nails put through his hands or his wrists and then his feet. So he literally is covered from head to toe, the blood of Jesus that was shed for us on the cross. So what we're being told here is that to enter that sanctuary we do it through the blood of Christ. So let me get down on my knees a little bit and show you what this means. So think of this particular carpet, this red or crimson carpet way that is the blood of Jesus that is pouring through and under that veil that gives us access to what is behind it.
So instead of the blood coming from behind it and through, it's coming to this side because it's something that was happening on planet earth in and right outside Jerusalem. His blood was shed making a way, an entrance for us to get behind this veil where we'd have access because up to that time, remember one man going behind the veil making atonement for sins once a year, but the rest of the people still couldn't go in until Jesus because Jesus is going to make a way for all of us to be able to go behind that veil. Now, here is the connection between the throne of God and the mercy seat. So it says, I'm thinking Exodus 25:22 that tells us that God told through Moses to the people there on the mercy seat between the cherubim, "I will meet with you in that holy of holies".
That mercy seat over the ark with the testimony inside of it and the two cherubim overlooking at like this, that between those cherubim God would dwell as on his throne depicting the heavenly reality. So as the blood is shed, our way is open for us. Now, it says if we were to read Mark 15, verses 37 and 38 Jesus is on the cross. He's crying out with a loud cry, and we know from John's gospel what that loud cry was, "It is finished". He's not saying it's over, he is saying it's complete. "Everything that God sent me to accomplish here in this body has been completed". But notice with me it says in verse 38, "Then the curtain", So he's bled. He is about to give out his last breath, and it says, "Then the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom".
Stay with me here because this would have been one piece, but as Jesus breathed his last this is what happens. The curtain is torn right down the center from top to bottom. Now, remember in the terminology in the representation of the Book of Hebrews this curtain is being said to us in Hebrews chapter 10 being told to us compared with the very veil. So the body of Christ, his skin is torn as the veil is torn. He has been torn from head to toe. The curtain has been torn from top to bottom. Not from bottom to top but what? Okay, say it again. Because this is really, really important. Would you be willing to go with me to Genesis 28? Okay. Jacob is really, really important because Jacob is going to be the father of the 12 tribes. Okay? So stay with me there. He is the one whose name gets changed to Israel. So those 12 tribes are coming from him. So he's on his travels. You're going to look at the portion of the Scriptures that says Jacob at Bethel.
I want you to notice what happens here in verses 10 through 14. "Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. And he dreamed: a stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching the sky, and God's angels were going up and down on it. The LORD was standing there beside him, saying, 'I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, and the north, and the south. And all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.'"
Ultimately, this offspring of course would be... this is Christ. This is Christ. You see that in Galatians. Here's what I want you to see. Turn with me now toward the end of John 1. Okay. So this is when the very first disciples of Christ are being called to follow him, and it says, I want you to see that it says in verse 47 of John 1, "Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, 'Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.'" Israelite turn there and said, "Wait, wait, wait". See, Jacob's name means deceiver. It's the heel grabber. He's definitely, he is tying this all the way back to the Book of Genesis and he says, and Nathanael asked him, "How do you know me"? And Jesus says to him, "'Before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree I saw you,' Jesus answered. 'Rabbi,' Nathanael replied".
Aren't you so glad we don't get to know what was he thinking? What was going on? Was he having doubts or was he having faith? What was happening? "'Rabbi,' Nathanael replied, 'You are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.'" He is confessing faith. "Jesus responded to him", you ready? Verse 50, "Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this. Truly I tell you you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man". He is saying, "Listen, this is what is happening. That which was given to Jacob, who is Israel, all the way back in Genesis chapter 28, it is being fulfilled before your very eyes".
Now, what's my point? My point is this. By the sovereign plan of God, the way that redemption had to take place is from the ground to heaven so that the veil could be torn from heaven to earth. God had to come in fully God, fully human to walk among us, the Word made flesh to dwell among us, to be betrayed, to be beaten, and to be crucified. After a sinless life, holy God give his life on the cross and from the ground up. That's the stairway. So God comes to earth in Christ, he gives his life on the cross, and all of a sudden there is access then from earth to heaven therefore, the veil can be torn from heaven to earth. Once the plan is fulfilled, now it is torn. So what has happened, I'm going to come back here and you can still hear me. What has happened is that it has been torn.
Remember, the stairway went from earth to the sky, but God overseeing what Christ has done and knowing that the work has been finished... now, with the last breath of Christ it is finished, the veil tears top to bottom; and from that moment on this is how we have access, and we have access to the very throne of God. Your curtain has been completely open. One of the things, I love this saying. I'm not against it. When we talk about the veil thinning, that sometimes there are environments where we're so filled with the spirit and soul it's such an environment of worship, and it is such a holy place that we feel like that veil is thin, and we mean between heaven and earth, and I love that thought. But I need you to go further with me than that. I need you to understand it's not just thin, it's wide open.
Could I hear somebody say it's wide open? I'm going to ask you a question. This is not to be, this is not a rebuke of any kind. It's just that I'm passionate. Sometimes my passion sounds like it's like talking with some kind of condemnation. Nothing could be further from my mind. I'll always, always ask myself these questions before I ever ask you. Why on earth would we not have prayer lives when we have an opened veil by the blood of Christ to go before the throne of God at any time? Oh, no, I need more from you than that. Completely open to us. And we've got better things to do than pray because our worry is helping our family a whole lot more than going before the throne. Our control of our people is helping a whole lot more than the fact that he who can do all things.
Nothing is too difficult for him. He's seated on the throne just there going, "Ask me. Seek. Knock. I will always respond to you. I may not always respond the way you want me to, but I will always respond in the way that is best and most glorious for you". Number five is this. The ultimate blood-bought miracle of prayer is no mere answer. It's access. Okay, now listen, listen, listen, listen. Yes, we get answers. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ according to 2 Corinthians 1:20. Glorious, glorious. Beautiful, beautiful. We do have answers. There is answered prayer we keep and we stay persistent, but I want you to understand with me the miracle is this that literally... try to wrap your mind around this. We are going direct... did I say directly? We are going directly before the God of all the universe who spoke and it was accomplished. We are born before his throne, and you know what? We are going as his children.
So what does it mean when you and I are called by God to come and confess our sins and that he will be faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us completely from all unrighteousness? What does it mean? Because it's the same word that is being used for our confession of faith, for the confession of what we believe, the confession of our hope. It's all the same thing. So what are we doing when we confess sin? We're coming before him and saying, "You were right about that". Can you track with me there? "You were right about that". We're under conviction. We know we talked awful about somebody and we come back. It's eaten away at us because if we don't quench the Holy Spirit and, man, does he do his job. And I'm going to tell you something.
One thing I say this because this is life-and-death matters, life-and-death matters when it comes to eternity because if you have no conviction of sin something is amiss. So I say that just so that we'll know because it would be an important thing to know today. "You know what? I don't think I'm in Christ". 'Cause that can be settled today, today. But something's wrong when the Holy Spirit's not doing his job because he's going to do his job and he's going to bring conviction. So we confess our sins by going, "Okay, you were right. I can feel it on my conscience. I can feel it in my spirit. I confess that to you. I agree with you on it. It's damaging. It's damaged my soul, and it was wrong to my sister. It was wrong to my brother. I repent of it". So we come and we say the same thing as him about that sin. "Yes, this is wrong". And so now we change our mind about it. "I don't want to do that. It eats away at my soul".
Okay, stay with me here. Stay with me here. How many of us have had the experience of thinking, "Oh, there's nothing wrong with this. This is just puritanism". Would anybody admit to that with me? "There's nothing wrong with this. I mean, everybody does this. And this is just old-fashioned ways, and there's really, those things are just old and we're just free". And then the erosion starts happening inside every time. We go for a while that we keep convincing ourselves that that same thing. No, no, no. All you're doing is you're thinking those old archaic thoughts again. You're just getting back into that puritanism. You're doing all that kind of stuff. And so, you know, stop doing it. You're free. Only we've twisted what we mean is freedom because it's just getting darker and darker and darker in there because he knows.
Let me tell you something. God hasn't called us to a pursuit of holiness so that we can be miserable until we get to his presence. But because he said, "I'm going to test them, let me help you out here". Those are the things that erode the soul. Those are ways we just sell our soul. Those are ways that we do damage. I mean, we get in a mess of a relationship and it's like so many regrets? Anybody? He said, "If you'll do it the way that I've laid it out for you..." Not to earn your salvation. You can't earn your salvation. It's by grace, not by your works. But if you will pursue what is good, what is light, and what is true liberty, you won't have so much of that trash to deal with. But make no mistake, he's paid for that trash.
So here's what I want. We got to over the next couple of minutes deal with our problems of guilt and chronic regret because what happens, for me when I've done that, I've reasoned out, so as a young person reasoned out, you know, for one thing I had no capacity to say no whatsoever. For the other thing then I would think in my mind, "Well, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay". Over and over my soul would just get darker and darker and darker, then come before the throne. I'd get on my knees. It doesn't have to be this way. I just like it especially with the chair right here. Get on my knees and come to him and say to him ordinarily in tears, and this might be after how many months? Maybe years.
"You were right. You said it was going to hurt me and it did. And now what? I confess to you you were right". And you know what he does? "I confess to you you are spotless and you are made clean in my sight because of what my son has done for you. He already beat you here with his blood. So you come with an awe that says you know the price that was paid for you. You come with full knowledge that you know that the reason why you get to come to me and be made completely pure, be made completely clean is because of what Jesus has done for you". And you're just like... Somebody needs to know today, either on the other side of that screen or in this room, it's over. Are you in Christ? That blood has been shed for you. Acknowledge it. Acknowledge the grace and don't let the grace be to you in vain.
But you need to know and here the writer of Hebrews chapter 10 say it to you. So it's not me saying it to you, but the writer himself under the unction of the Holy Spirit. Twenty-two, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water". This was what happened to the priests. You'd have to look it up. You'd look in Exodus chapter 28, then you'd look in Exodus chapter 30. For the rituals that we're the priesthood of believers now. The rituals that the priests went through in order to go that one time a year into that particular Holy of Holies.
Now remember they're going underneath that heavy veil. They even would put bells on them so that they would know if they were still alive in there or did they get killed while they were in there by the glory of God. Y'all, it's just wild. You'd have to read it for yourself. But they were sprinkled with blood from a sacrifice and they were also washed with water. Now, listen to me carefully. What happens when we're just loaded down with an evil conscience and with guilt and so much regret and so much remorse? What happens is because those are the things we most believe, when we believe that our badness exceeds God's goodness, all we would do is keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
I say to a woman in this room, you will notice that until God brings some healing to your heart you will choose the same guy over and over. He just looks different. He will treat you the same way because there's something about you that you believe deserves to be abused and misused. Is anybody tracking with me? 'Cause you've made, so much has happened to you or you've made so many mistakes or you've made unclean from the time you were a little girl like me. Of course, that's not true, but this is what we think. And, brothers, you have your own versions of all of this. Whatever it may be that gets us to a place where we just like, "This is what we believe about ourselves".
And so we just keep on and keep on and keep on and keep on because we're redefining ourselves after our own view of ourselves and it just puts us back in that pit over and over. But what if today you believed God about yourself? What if today you believed what Christ did for you on the cross and that you don't have any shame when you come here? Come with confession so we can get up free and have that burden off of us? Not just so we can do whatever we want then we can go repent. He knows what's sincere and what's not. One of my favorite things about God is you cannot bull God. You can't. You can't. So he's going, "You know what? You go and come back when you really want to talk about the truth". But I want you to picture with me being sprinkled, our hearts sprinkled with the blood. Would you just figuratively for a moment would you picture yourself before the cross?
Now, Christ is wearing the crown of thorns and his head is not held up, just his arms. And so his head is hanging down like this as he gives us life for our sins. The thorns are so important because the thorns are, that's the curse of the earth. The curse of sin on the earth, the thorns and the thistles. So the thorns, so the blood is dripping off the ends of those thorns, not to mention off of his hands, his feet. Would you picture with me that we're just beneath that cross. And I asked you a question. What posture would you have to have for that blood to sprinkle your heart? I just, again, this is just figurative. But you'd have to lift your head and lift your chin to just stand before the cross and say, "You did this for me, and I receive it. Sprinkle my heart clean".