Open your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. And we're going to be looking at verses 19 through 22 today. And the title of the message is, The New and Living Way, Part 1. Verses 23 through 25 will be part two next week, Lord willing, but the new and living way. So Hebrews chapter 10, beginning in verse 19, if you would please stand with me as we read the word of the living God. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. While Hebrews already has contained portions devoted to pastoral admonishment and warning in a few sections we've already covered in this epistle, we now begin really a new section in the book of Hebrews. Beginning here in verse 19 of chapter 10, all the way through chapter 12, verse 29, is a new avenue in this epistle that the writer now begins to flesh out how we take all of these truths concerning Christ, his priesthood, the new covenant, and how all of that impacts and influences us in our living. How do we as believers live within the realities of the New Covenant? With some professing Christ at one time, but it was only from their lips and they had went back to the old ways of Judaism, that is why the writer has spent a significant amount of time highlighting what it means that Jesus, and in him, there is a better priest, a better mediator, a better sacrifice, and a better covenant. Back in chapter 4, verses 14 through 16, was when the writer of Hebrews first introduced the notion that Jesus is our great priest. that we have this great high priest. And he ended that section about how we draw near and who our priest is. And that opens up chapter 5 verse 1 all the way through verse 18 of chapter 10, this section exploring the priesthood of Jesus as a priest after the order of Melchizedek and all the implications. that come from that blessed truth. He paused at one time early and talked about their spiritual dullness, and he gave the warning about apostasy, the end of chapter 5 and end of chapter 6. And then he picks up the argument again. In chapter 7, verse 1, and he has stayed with that all the way through verse 18 of chapter 10, which is the central thrust, doctrinally, of the book of Hebrews, that we have this priest in Jesus Christ. And so, with all of those great truths concerning the priesthood of Christ, the author comes to how they ensure the perseverance of true believers. Theology and doctrine are to impact how we live. We don't just discuss theology and study doctrine just to fill our minds with it, but it is to change our practice and influence who we are. Faith is not only a matter of mental comprehension, but it is heart devotion that comes forth from true saving faith. The writer of Hebrews, like Paul, or you might think that Paul is the writer of Hebrews, does here what we find in the epistle to the Romans. and to the Ephesians, where in both of those books, Paul gives a lot of time to doctrine, specifically in Romans. The first 11 chapters are dealing with doctrine, and then chapters 12 through 16 is practice. So we need our minds and hearts to be carried deep into the gospel of Jesus Christ. Before we are given imperatives concerning how to live, we need to meditate for a while on the indicatives, the propositional truths about who we are in Jesus Christ due to the gospel of grace. We have a tendency to want to know, what do I need to do? So that then we can say, I have done those things. But we need to first know who is Christ? What is the gospel? Who am I in Christ? What has God done in saving me? And think about that and dwell on that. And so in this book, there's a lot more time devoted to thinking about doctrine than there is about doing. Because you can't really be doing the doing. properly if you don't have the doctrine first. And so before we can know how to live, we need to know just what it means that we are living, that we've been made alive in Jesus Christ. And as the writer has traced out the beauties of the priesthood of Christ, he has equipped us for what it means to now be in this new and living way. We as believers have access to God through the priestly work of Jesus Christ. Our approach to the Father should be one of confidence due to the way being opened up by Christ. We draw near because our hearts and our bodies have been made new and true due to the new covenant. And so in chapter 10, here in verses 19 through 25, the author provides, first of all, a short summary of all that he's taught. And then he gives three exhortations that each one begins with, let us. And our focus will be on the first let us exhortation. That believers are drawn near to God by faith due to the blood of Jesus, opening the new and living way because our hearts have been made clean and purified. Brothers and sisters, the aim this morning is for us to stop and think about what it means to draw near to God. Now, I understand, as Americans, we are not under royalty here. We elect presidents, so we're not all about, you know, monarchy here. However, I'd venture to say that if we had the opportunity, and I'll at least speak for myself, to go see the Queen of England, and we were to have a five-minute audience with her, We would be what? Preparing ourselves. We would be thinking about, we are about to come into the presence of royalty. In a far greater way, we are given access to the throne of heaven. And we should make sure that we are prepared and think about what it means that God beckons us to come. So I want us to consider the new and living way first. The new and living way, verses 19 through 21, opens to us by the priesthood of Jesus. So in verse 19, the term therefore, especially when in the Pauline epistles, and we see it here in the book of Hebrews, We're in a new section now. Therefore points to all the glorious truths that have been expounded upon concerning the priesthood of Christ and the riches of the new covenant. So he says, therefore, brothers, his audience, believers, believing men and women in the church, he says, since we And this is another time where in this book he uses that term, we. And that's his pastoral heart. He does not write to them as some authoritarian over them. ruling, but as one guiding and walking with them in this pilgrimage. They are together. So he says, therefore, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. So he wants them to remember, lay hold to their confidence that is found, that they have now been given access into the very presence of God. The door is opened. We can come and approach God. The confidence, though, here is not rooted in any merit of us. We do not come with confidence or boldness because of who we are and what we have done, but we come with a confidence because of the merit of Christ. As he says there in verse 19, it is by the blood of Jesus. is by the person and work of our great High Priest, we are beckoned to come to the throne of Christ. Christ goes before us, and we are following behind the Savior, coming into the presence of the Father. Notice that term, confidence. Sometimes it's translated as boldness. He uses that term back in chapter 4 and verse 16, where he said, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. But the term confidence also has another meaning, and that is one of authorization. We are authorized. We are permitted. We are able to come. This is what this means. We now have the ability to come before the presence of God because of the blood of Christ. Our sin makes entering the presence of God, the thought of being in the presence of God, is a terror. Fear grips our heart, a dread that we defiled creatures would be exposed by the light of this holy God. So there's where the relationship was. But now, by Jesus, we have access with joy and peace. Due to his atoning work, we can come. Because the writer of Hebrews will say in chapter 12, God is a consuming fire. So we can't come to Him in our sin and deadness and violence, but in Christ who has gone before us and who clothes us. The wrath has been put on Him. He's endured it. Now the way is open. Now we can come. Understanding that this is our Father in Jesus Christ, we now come with peace, gladness, joy to come into the presence of the Almighty. We have known perfect and real cleansing from sin. This is contrary to everything that we read about and understand in the Old Covenant. Do you remember that under the old covenant, the people of God were not allowed into the most holy place, into that innermost part of the sanctuary? They couldn't go in there. They remained outside, waiting for the high priest to reappear after he'd been in there on the Day of Atonement. And remember that apart from that one day, he, the high priest, could go in there. He only had access one day a year. It was very restricted. If any of those Israelites had went into that inner place, they'd have died. And if the high priest had went on any other day except the Day of Atonement, he would have died. How much is given to us by the blood of Jesus? We can come boldly, with confidence, because we've been authorized, because we are in Him. Freedom! In Christ, by his mediatorial work, we're given access not to the innermost part of an earthly tent. We're not given access to go into the tabernacle or the temple of this earth that was once there in Jerusalem. This most holy place or the holy places in verse 19 is a reference to the very presence of God in heaven. that in prayer and communion we are able and given access to come boldly and come. This is revolutionary, isn't it? But how often has it become too common for us? Well, we know that. but yet we do not seize it. We do not delight in it. We do not enjoy it. Because what happens is, is we forget exactly what has taken place for us to have this access to draw near. The blood of Jesus. Remember in chapter nine and verse number 12 about Christ, he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Christ opens the way. It was costly. Brothers and sisters, when we pray, we need to remember it was costly for us to be able to pray. for us to be able to come before the presence of God. We would not know that except for the blood of Christ. And we live in a time, especially as we move more and more into the 21st century, where we see ourselves as the enlightened and civilized ones, and all that talk about blood. We don't want to hear that. But without blood, and without the understanding of redemption and atonement and sacrifice, you lose the Christian faith. Al Mohler writes, some individuals have sought to rid Christianity of blood language, speaking only about Jesus' love instead. His blood divides the sheep from the goats, but unites those, it says. If we lose the language of blood, we lose the gospel. Because we're talking about not fluid, We're talking about sacrifice. We are talking about what Christ did, and it calls our minds to the incarnation and the centrality of Christ, that here is the Son of God, truly God, but he takes on human flesh and is truly man, and he gives himself completely. to atone for our sins. He lived a life of perfect obedience. Therefore, he dies vicariously as a substitute in the place of his people. So we not only need forgiveness, but we need righteousness. And it is by his life and by his death that Christ gives us both of these things. That's why we have confidence this morning. We don't have confidence that our slate has been wiped clean, and this past week, we filled it up with good deeds, and so we've come here this morning to present God with our good deeds, and maybe he will let us come. No, friend, our access this morning is because we have been forgiven, and we've been clothed in righteousness, and that righteousness is steady. It's eternal. It doesn't change. And that's why we have confidence to come boldly. Let us consider what it means that we enter by the blood of Christ. There we read in Genesis 1 and 2 of the communion and the fellowship of God, Creator, and Adam. But in Genesis 3, sin comes. That fellowship, that sweet communion is no more. Because what does sin cause us to do? It takes us away from God, doesn't it? When Adam had transgressed and broken the covenant and broke God's law, and he heard the voice of God, he heard him coming in the garden, Adam did not go running to God. He ran and hid from God. There is where we are because of Adam. We have no communion with God. We have no fellowship with God. And in the old covenant sacrifices, there was a limited opening. He did go once a year, but only to be repeated the next year, and only one man out of the whole nation could go in. And so it was limited in that, but it pointed to a greater reality. A.W. Pink writes, the blood of Jewish sacrifices did not and could not obtain liberty of access into the immediate presence of God. The blood of Jesus has done so. both in respect unto God as an oblation, and in respect unto the consciences of believers by its application. As an oblation or sacrifice, the atonement of Christ has removed every legal obstacle between God and believers. It fulfilled the demands of His law, removed its curse, and broke down the middle wall of partition. in token whereof the veil of the temple was rent entwined from the top to the bottom when the Savior expired. So, too, the Holy Spirit has so applied the efficacy of the blood to the consciences of Christians that they are delivered from a sense of guilt, freed from their dread of God, and enabled to approach Him in a spirit of liberty. This is where our confidence is this morning, by the blood of Jesus. That's why Paul says in Romans 8.15, we have confidence because we've been adopted. And Ephesians 3.12 says our confidence is in Christ. So where are you putting your confidence and trust at this morning? The relationship between you and God is broken because of sin, and you are a sinner. You cannot mend that relationship. You can't fix it. You can't change it. But Christ has come, and by His blood, He changes that relationship. And it goes from the dread fear of the judge who condemns to our Holy Father who has adopted us in Jesus Christ. Only in Christ this morning can you know freedom and communion with God. And by the blood of Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection, the gates of heaven are open to us to draw near in him. And so now we have this access in Christ. I pray that each of us would have that today. that we would know what it is to draw near and know God. I'm not talking about knowing some doctrinal facts about God. That's important, yes. But to know Him, to know God, to commune with Him. Because we read in verse 20, this is all because of this new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh. We're not invited to go into an earthly tabernacle. And access is not by the blood of animals. We are called into the heavenly reality that has been opened by the new covenant sacrifice offered by the eternal son, which is himself. So as the writer said back in chapter six, verse 19, Christ goes before us as the forerunner in victory and triumph. But remember that in the old covenant, the high priest went in by himself. Nobody in Israel followed him. Christ has went before us, and He draws us to come follow. We come behind the Savior. But why does He say, new and living way? Well, it's not saying that the Old Testament saints were redeemed and justified by some other means. They are there just as we are, by the blood of the new covenant. New, I believe the writer uses here, to call us back to the riches of the new covenant, as well as the unique role of Jesus Christ. No one had gone this way before as a mediator and priest the way that Christ carried those offices and functions. It is by this new covenant that all believers are saved and redeemed, and it is also why it is the living way, because life is only found in Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews loves to use this term, living, to describe. In Hebrews 3.12 and Hebrews 9.14 he says, God is living. Hebrews 4.12, he said, the Word of God lives. And in Hebrews 12.9, he says, those who are truly in Christ live. So living here brings us into the living way. But it also reminds us that Jesus Christ and his priesthood is different. Because in chapter 7, verse 16, and verse 25, it contrasts how Christ lives forevermore. All Levitical priests died, and their term ended, and somebody else had to come replace them. But He lives forevermore, never to be replaced. And it is by His sacrifice. He's the only way of life. Jesus said in John 10 verse 7, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. John 10 10, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. And John 14, 6, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. This way is living because it is the way of eternal life. This is no stagnant ritual. And Jesus is not some mere figure of history that we read about and observe and take away some life lessons. He is the true and living Son of God who is priest and king and prophet who lives and he reigns right now. And he's interceding for his people and he's building his house right now. This is the new and living way. And brothers and sisters, we've been given life in Him. Don't lose sight of that. Of the precious hope that we have been raised with Him spiritually. When we were born again, we were raised with Him and given new life. And it's just the beginning. Because we're promised glorification. And eternal life will be that we will see Him and be made like Him and we'll never depart. You know, when I was growing up, we always used to sing the hymn sometime, till we meet again. I won't sing it this morning, but it said till we meet again at Jesus' feet. One day we won't leave from here and part from each other, never to see each other again. We will be gathered together, all the saints of all the ages, there with Christ. And there will be no benediction and dismissal. We will be with him. for all time. Now let's get to the kind of the controversy here in verse 20. What does this mean though? This opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh. How do we interpret that? Well, reading this week, it's a lot of complex interpretations. That may just be because I'm a Mississippi boy. I found one that I thought was the most logical, simple, and consistent. And that is that we have seen him use analogies and figures and we don't press them too hard. That's where we can get into some strange views, we'll put it that way. If you press figures too hard, what's he telling us? What does this call to our mind? By the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh. Remember when Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. That restricted the access was torn. And the body of Christ was torn with His blood being shed, giving us access to the heavenly sanctuary. Through His flesh will not provide us an opportunity to think lightly about the incarnation of Christ, what it means that God took on Flesh, and why that is important. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14, he said, Therefore the children share in flesh and blood. He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil. And verse 17, therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. What does it mean that by his flesh being torn, we have access? That is his offering of himself as our priest and sacrifice. Now we have this full confidence and boldness to come, not into a place in Jerusalem in the temple, but into the place of God himself in heaven by taking on human flesh, by being the perpetuatory sacrifice that satisfies God's justice. The sun brings us into full communion with God. Our access to God is not premised on passing an earthly curtain this morning. We don't go to God through the means of anybody else. We go ourselves to him through Christ Jesus. We come boldly and with confidence because Christ has offered up himself. His once for all time death provides real atonement for his people by which we draw near to God. And Spurgeon said, the veil has not been merely lifted up for a while and then dropped down again. It is not rolled up ready for future use. It is torn in two, destroyed. Let us never try to pray without Christ, never try to sing without Christ, never try to preach without Christ. Let us perform no holy function, nor attempt to have fellowship with God in any shape or way except through the tear that He has made in the veil by His flesh, sanctified for us. and offered upon the cross on our behalf. He's done it once for all perfectly. By his sacrificial death, by his mediatorial work, by the perfect accomplishment of redemption, we now understand, verse 21, we have a great priest over the house of God. Our confidence to come before God is due to the superiority of the priesthood of Christ. By His priestly sacrifice, believers come, hold fast to Him. And it says there, great priests over the house of God. Not merely a priest in the house of God, as would have been said by all of the Old Testament high priests. But He is over the house. Do you remember back in chapter 3 when He distinguishes why Jesus is greater than Moses? He said Moses was a servant in the house, but Jesus is the Son over the house. What is this house? It's not an earthly building. It's the people of God. The true people of God in Jesus Christ are the true house of God. We're made that house because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. He purchased us with his own blood, and at the appointed time the Holy Spirit applies that redemptive work to our hearts. Think about this. This house of God. is made up of a people from every nation and every tongue and every background and every category made one in Christ. This is the house that Christ builds and Christ is over. And why is he called the great priest? I just go back to Hebrews 1. He's the only begotten Son of God. who, when he had purified his people, sat down at the right hand of God, clothed in majesty and glory. No Old Testament priest. Aaron or his sons could never say those things, but they are said about Christ, which is why in verse 12 it says in chapter 10, but when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Christ conquered death. and his work will never be undone. The new and living way is the way of salvation and life. It is rooted and founded upon the new covenant sacrifice and the priesthood of Jesus that is forever. Is that the way you're trusting in today? For in Christ is the only way of forgiveness and the only way of righteousness. What does sinful man need to see? that he cannot. John Owen wrote, he cannot make himself righteous by atoning for his sins. And he cannot make himself righteous by perfectly obeying God's law. It is the Holy Spirit's work to convince him of this. So being brought to an end of himself, he is ready to learn God's way of making him righteous. And this way can only be learned in Christ. Are you tired of trying to make yourself righteous? Are you tired of trying to do things to appease God? Are you trying to remove that guilt that Him was saying, just as I am? Not one spot. We don't come, we can't remove any of them. If we just had one, one spot of sin, we could not remove that. So we come to the Lamb. I come because He is the one who cleanses and forgives. It is His priesthood. That is why we come to Him alone. Do not try works of your own creation. Don't try to redeem yourself. Trust in Christ alone, for it is in He alone that we have this access. Well, in point number one this morning, I have essentially summarized what we've preached for the last five months. So, now we come to point two. And with all of this in mind, this new and living way, what does it do? I want you to see in verse 22, it draws us by inward faith. It draws us by inward faith. We come to these exhortations. And the first one there, verse 22, 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 with pure water. We have been changed. The New Covenant, these realities, how do they affect us now as we live? How do we live in the New Covenant as believers? David asked this question in Psalm 15, 1. O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? Who can? And the answer is, those who come by the priesthood of Jesus. Because verse 22 is a description of everything that is found in those who are truly regenerate, true believers, all of these things. This is what has happened. This is why we can come before God. This is why Peter teaches in 1 Peter 2, 5, that we're priesthood in this house. So these are our priestly duties. We're a kingdom of priests. Each of us can come into the presence of God. Worship, prayer, communion with God, they form blessings. They are duties. Verse 22, and we'll see what the other, let us, these are commands. These are exhortations. We're to do these things. So it's a duty, it's a duty to come draw near to God. It's a privilege. It's a privilege to pray, isn't it? It's a privilege to be able to go and worship God. And it's different ways that we pray. I was listening to Peter Masters, the pastor at Metropolitan Tabernacle, last night on this text. I don't know if I agree with everything he said about prayer a little bit, but he said that we have those emergency prayers that we offer through the course of the day. Nehemiah is an example of that. When the king said, why do you look so gloomy and sad? And he said, then I prayed to my Lord in heaven, and then I began to talk to him. We have those emergency prayers sometimes, but we don't need to just be praying people in emergencies. We need to be praying constantly, and there needs to be the time when we come, as verse 22 lays out, with much intention and focus and worship to pray. So, how do we draw near? Well, that's the blessing of what Christ does. Back in chapter 7, verse number 19, it says, For the law made nothing perfect, but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. Brothers and sisters, we do not draw nigh to Sinai. We draw near to Zion. We come not with the dread and the terror of the law condemning us, but we come with grace, more grace, the fountain of grace and Zion in Jesus Christ. The law could not perfect anyone, but the resurrected Lord has and does. So joy is ours to delight in because our guilt is washed away by the blood of Christ. Hence the true, genuine, sincere, opened heart that comes with full assurance of faith, it says there in verse 22. And that's pointing us to what we're going to be looking at much in chapter 11, on faith. What is this full assurance of faith from a true heart? What is the heartfelt trust and reliance upon the promises of God? This is faith that clings to the work of Christ and it rests upon him in righteousness alone. So we come with boldness and access and draw near, remembering and reminding and trusting anew in what Christ has done. We must be careful. to not wonder if we have enough fruits or if we've been faithful enough to come and draw near to God. James Haldane wrote, let us ever keep faith and its fruits in their proper place. Faith receives Christ. and in him eternal salvation. Fruits prove the faithfulness of him who saves his people from their sins and gives them the witness in themselves by the change produced in them by their receiving the love of the truth. There are times when we pray. It's been maybe a dry week. It's been a hard week. It's been challenging. Maybe it's been a month like that. So what do we do? We've been commanded to come draw near. It does not say now draw near if and provide the list. We draw near and confess and say, God, it's been hard. I'm struggling, but I'm clinging to Christ. I'm trusting in Christ. I'm resting in Christ. My confidence is in the blood of Jesus. that has opened the way. So we draw near with full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. So we come resting in Christ, believing in Christ, trusting in Christ, and then This sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Well, there's Old Testament imagery that the writer is drawing from. Isaiah 52, 15, speaking about Christ, the suffering servant, so shall he sprinkle many nations. Ezekiel 36, 25, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols. I will cleanse you. That imagery is in the New Testament again. 1 Peter 1-2, speaking of believers, So this imagery here of being sprinkled from an evil conscience, made clean in our hearts, draws us to what has happened that the old covenant sacrifices could never do. Remember verse 2 of chapter 10 said, if they'd been perfect, there'd been no need for another offering to cleanse the conscience. Back in chapter 9 and verse number 9, it said that those offerings could never perfect or cleanse the conscience. But verse 14 says the blood of Christ has. Our guilt is removed and dealt with by the blood of Christ. What a great contrast between the old covenant and the new covenant. Why can we have assurance when we come before God? Brothers and sisters, it's not about how perfect our character has been in a day. It's not about what we've done, but it's our position that's in Christ. We are accepted in the beloved Son, and we have been cleansed. Tom Schreiner says, our assurance and confidence do not reside in themselves. If readers consider their worthiness to enter God's presence, they would rightly be filled with fear. But fear has no place, for they've been sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ. Just as the blood sprinkled Israel under the Old Covenant, so the blood of Christ sprinkles clean believers under the New Covenant. The evil that defiled the conscience is washed away. So we come in confidence, trusting and remembering Christ, and knowing that because of Christ and the blood of the new covenant, we've been cleansed, our guilt has been dealt with at the cross. And then he says, our bodies have been washed with pure water. What does that mean? What is he referring to there? Our bodies washed with pure water. Well, always regeneration is described in terms of washing, cleansing. There's no doubt he's speaking about the new birth. John 3, 5, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. First Corinthians 611, it lists all of the sins that had marked the people in the church. And it says, and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. In Titus 3 and verse 5, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. The new birth. And in the picture of the whole body, we've been made new completely. The Holy Spirit doesn't regenerate half of us, and then, well, the rest of it's up to you. We've been made a new creature. We're transformed and made alive in Christ. This does not mean that we are coming and drawing near, stating we're sinless and we've done all things perfect that day. What we do know is we've been made new in Christ. And our confidence is in what He's doing. That our lives aren't the same. Now, I do believe it's proper to see there is probably a reference to baptism here. Not that baptism regenerates us. That's not what he's saying. It does not wash away our sin. But what does it picture? What does baptism publicly picture? Well, it pictures externally what's taken place internally. That we have been made new in Jesus Christ. And in baptism we have been buried with him in death. and were raised with him to the newness of life. All of this language is priestly. Every one of the Old Testament priests had to have ceremonially these things, the blood sprinkled, the ritualistic washings. This is worship. This is our coming to God as a kingdom of priest. And John Owen said, it is only when I am near to God in Christ that I know my sins are forgiven. I feel his love. I know him as child and I enjoy the priceless blessings of peace with God and peace within and peace with others. I am aware of his love and I'm given a joy that the world can neither give nor take away. And so when we think about verse 22, that's all taken place in our lives. But it also is to mark how we see worship to God each day and when we gather on the Lord's day. Do we come with our hearts truly devoted to God? It says with a true heart, a full heart. We don't come here half-hearted, I pray, but come with our hearts fully to worship God. We also come with assurance, knowing that he accepts us in Christ, not because of what we've done this week, but because of what Christ has done. We do know coming we've sinned. And we've broken the law of God this week. That's why in our worship service we have the corporate confession of sin that we pray as a church. We confess we've sinned this week. But we don't stop there, though. We also remind ourselves of the full pardon we have in Christ and that we're dependent upon the Spirit. We need Him to teach us, enlighten, convict, and renew us through the ministry of the Word. So, brothers and sisters, this is the new and living way. It has been opened to us by the priesthood of Christ, and it beckons us to draw near from our hearts. Let us ever see Christ and what Christ has done for us. Friend, this morning, the old and dead way is found in the lie of the serpent. and the pleasures of sin and the vanity of self-righteousness. But the new and living way is bound up in Jesus Christ, and it's in him that there's assurance and forgiveness and righteousness. May we cling today to these truths concerning the new and living way open to us in Christ. Father, we do indeed thank you for this marvelous gospel the wondrous tidings that we find in Christ. Oh, as we read the quote earlier, may we never do anything apart from Christ. And we thank you that in Christ, we know new life, eternal life. May we see the riches of communion with our God, And may we draw near with full hearts assured of faith in Christ, sprinkled clean and washed, made whole in him. I pray in Christ's name, amen. Would you please stand?