Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 4 * BOOK 51
Hebrews 10:1-22 – Part 2
Now let’s get back to where we left off in the last lesson and that would be in Hebrews chapter 10.
Remember we were talking about this new covenant that God is going to fulfill with the Nation of Israel which will happen when He leaves that position at the right hand of the Father, having defeated all of Israel’s enemies; and He’ll return and give them the Kingdom. And it’s going to be glorious. Of course, we will have already been taken up into Heaven and we’ll have had seven years of time with our Lord in Glory. We’ll have been through the Bema Seat experience where we receive our reward for what we have done in this old body while working for Him down here today.
But the main thing we’re looking at here is this new covenant as it’s directed to the Nation of Israel, and it will be fulfilled to the last jot and tittle. And every Jew will no longer have to practice the sacrifices. They will no longer have to battle the old sin nature and Satan, but it will be Heaven on earth. The Nation of Israel will be in their physical bodies in the Kingdom Age, along with all believers who make it through the Tribulation.
Hebrews 10:18
“Now where the remission of these is, (that is their sins and iniquities that God has now cleansed them of) there is no more offering for sin.” It’s all over. No more sacrifices. No more crucifixion. It’s all done with that one-time offering of Christ. All right, now in verse 19, we’re going right back again up into the throne room of Heaven as it were.
Hebrews 10:19a
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest…” The very Holy of Holies in Heaven, and we can enter in boldly. Now this is beyond human comprehension that you and I will one day have access literally, in physical ways. But now we have it in the realm of the Spirit where we can enter in to the Holy of Holies boldly because of what?
Hebrews 10:19b
“…by the blood of Jesus.” The blood of Christ. That all sufficient sacrificial price that was paid for our redemption.
Now before I go any further, I’m reminded of a couple books that I read when I was still rather young. I imagine I was in my thirties and I was just beginning to really get interested in the Word of God. And I read two books, both titled ‘True Spirituality.’ One was written by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, a tremendous Swiss theologian. But his was so deep that I would sometimes have to go back and read it over three, four, five times before I could get what he was trying to say. I finally came to the conclusion that I could not attain to that level of spirituality that he was writing about. It just seemed so far beyond me that I just finally quit reading it.
Then sometime later I read another book titled the same way, ‘True Spirituality,’ by Watchman Nee, the Chinese. Well, I had the same response to that one. I thought, there’s no way – I could never get this spiritual. I could never get to where these guys are. And I laid that one aside. But see, I can see now why young believers, or maybe even young people in physical age, cannot get exercised by these things because it just seems so unattainable, because we’re so wrapped up with the things of this world. After all, we’re trying to be successful in life. We’re raising our kids, and all the things associated with it and then these things just become almost mundane.
But I hope I can get people out of that rut regardless of where they’re listening to my voice – that these are attainable. Even for the young person. Even for the teenager. Even for the thirty-something covered up with activity. Yet, God wants us to understand that we can enter into the Holiest of Holies, right now today. And so it’s not something unattainable, it’s not something that only some great theologian or evangelist can attain. But you see, I keep myself at your level, so you and I can attain. I’m not one foot above any one of you.
And so now look what he’s talking about, that we have this boldness because of that tremendous sacrificial price of the blood of Christ that we can now come into the very throne room of Heaven, the presence of God.
Hebrews 10:20a
“By a new and living way,…” Again, that Greek word translated in English ‘living’ is more than what meets the eye. But it’s an ongoing thing that has potential for how long? Eternity. This living way is not just alive for today. It will be alive to the extent of eternity. It’s never going to run down.
Hebrews 10:20b
“…which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;” Now I’m sure many of you have heard the term that the body of Christ was ‘the veil.’ Or the veil was the body of Christ. And it’s always been an enigma to me. I think you know what an enigma is. It’s when you see somebody through a frosted glass and all you can see is the outline. You can’t see detail. Well, this whole concept of the body of Christ being the veil was an enigma for me, I think, until I started this series in Hebrews.
And hopefully I can pass it on to the ordinary everyday believer. When Christ took on human flesh and He became sin for us, it was that body of flesh then and that shed blood that opened up the way into the Holy of Holies. Now again, maybe I can better put it on the board. You know, that back there in the Tabernacle and later on in the Temple, this was the veil. Huge. Thick as the width of a man’s hand. And they would come in from the east and here were the furnishings of the front and right behind the veil was this Ark of the Covenant, with the wings of the cherubim over spreading it and so forth.
But anyhow the veil is what kept the priests of Israel from coming into the presence of God because, after all, from Adam’s fall, what separated mankind for God? Sin! Sinful men could not come into the presence of such a holy and a righteous God. So it was that great veil that just kept us out. All right, but now when Christ came bodily – come back with me to Colossians, and the other one is in II Corinthians chapter 5.
Colossians 2:9
“For in him (that’s in Christ) dwelleth (and that means just exactly what it says. For in Christ dwelleth, or abideth) all the fulness of the Godhead (how?) bodily.” That body that Hebrews said was given to Him in the womb. That body of flesh that was prepared for thirty-three years of living on this planet for the sole purpose of going to that Cross, to shed divine blood as payment for mankind’s sin.
So we have to picture this veil then as Christ’s body of flesh because it stood for the sin of mankind. Now, come back to II Corinthians. Not that Christ was a sinner; don’t ever get that idea. He was holy. He was perfect. He was righteous. But, in order to fulfill the demands of a Holy God, what did He have to agree to do? To become sin for us. Now here again, these are things that are beyond human comprehension. I can’t comprehend it. But I can take what little bit I understand by faith. These are so profound that it’s way beyond us, but we take it by faith.
II Corinthians 5:21a
“For he (God) hath made him (Jesus the Christ) to be sin (why?) for us,…” Do you see that? He became that veil, that sin for us, that stood between us and the presence of God. But when that flesh was given up on the Cross, what happened to this veil? Well, in the Temple at the day of the crucifixion, you all know the account. It split from top to the bottom. Well what was the purpose? To show now that the way into the Holiest of Holies was wide open. But, what did the Jews of that day do? They sewed it up. With no understanding of what they were doing, they closed it back up. But you can’t undo the work of God. And so, spiritually speaking, they didn’t close it up. They couldn’t because it was a, once for all, done deal. That now, the way into the Holiest of all was made possible through the flesh, the body, the crucified body of the Son of God. All right, come back to Hebrews 10:
Hebrews 10:19a
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness…” No trepidation. There’s no shrinking back. We can just come right in and say, “Lord, I belong here. This is where I’m supposed to be. I’m not on strange territory.” Now, do you see what I mean when I said that I was reading about true spirituality back there in my thirties; I just thought there was no way I could attain to that kind of an act and that kind of behavior. Me? Able to come into the very throne room of God – boldly? Now I can tell you, and it isn’t just Les Feldick, it’s every one of you. Every one of you, if you’re a believer tonight, you’re in the same position I am. We go right into the throne room of Heaven. I’ll never forget a gentleman out in Ohio last year at our seminar. He came up. Big fellow. He came up and he grabbed me on one shoulder in each hand and he said, “Les Feldick, you have changed my life.” And his wife was sitting nodding her head. How true.
Well, this year we were back there and spent a couple of evenings in their home and what a joy! He said, “Now when I say that you’ve changed my life, God never had a part in my life before. “Now,” he says, “I talk to Him all day long.” This gentlemen is a well-to-do businessman. What a difference! Well can you say that? Do you talk to Him all day long? Don’t feel that you have to have some sort of a special status or you have to have some special way of approach. No. We can come in twenty-four hours a day, at any moment. Whatever you’re doing, you can come and you can approach the Father with your prayer needs.
Now of course, I’m a great proponent of a prayer time. I think every believer should have a few moments every day where you can come in and spend some time on your knees. But that’s not the only way of prayer. You can pray all day long, wherever you are. Because we have the right to go boldly into the very throne room, the Holy of Holies
Hebrews 10:19
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” The Holy of Holies. That place in the Temple that was behind the veil. That place up in Heaven where Christ went and presented His blood. Now verse 20.
Hebrews 10:20
“ (We come boldly) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;” So when that body of flesh hung there on that Cross and the blood was shed, this veil that had separated men from God for 1,500 years (Law) was now rent from the top to the bottom. And now we have full access into the throne room.
Hebrews 10:21
“And having a high priest over the house of God;” Now this is why, earlier in Hebrews, we spent all that time on the priesthood of Melchisedec – Christ’s high priesthood on our behalf. Not the Aaronic priests for Israel – this order of Melchisedec was for the non-Jewish world, as well as Israel. It was an all-inclusive priesthood. But it was that priesthood that now gave us this same kind of access into that very throne room of Heaven. Now verse 22.
Hebrews 10:22a
“Let us draw near (let us take advantage of this access into the throne room) with a true heart in full assurance of (what?) faith.” Now you see faith and feelings are miles apart. Faith does not demand feelings and feelings does not confirm faith. Faith is something that stands by itself. You just simply take God at His Word without any confirmation. Without any physical. Without any emotion. Faith is that abiding ability to trust the Word of God. Now completing the verse.
Hebrews 10:22b
“…having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,…” This word sprinkling goes all the way back of course, to the sacrificial worship in the tabernacle first, and then later on in the Temple. Now, when the high priest would go in on the day of atonement, he’d come in and he’d make his way back behind the veil (once a year). And what would he do? He would take the blood of that sacrificial animal and he would sprinkle it. In other words, he wasn’t just pouring the blood all over that golden piece of furniture. But it was a sprinkling. And it was God’s way of accepting the fact that the blood had now been offered and it covered the sins of Israel. It didn’t have to be completely bathed in blood; it was a sprinkling that God recognized as sufficient. The next word I’m going to spend a little more time on as we complete verse 22.
Hebrews 10:22c
“…having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and with our bodies washed with pure water.” The blood of Christ has cleansed us. Because it’s been applied to our hearts by faith and our bodies washed with pure water. Now that’s not baptism. Some people will try to associate it, but this is not a reference to baptism. But again, it’s a symbolic thing that we have to understand; that, even though all of these things we’ve been speaking about are in the realm of the spirit and the soul and we speak of the salvation of the soul, where is the soul residing? In this body.
And so what does Paul teach concerning the body? Hey, it’s the Temple, it’s the Tabernacle, it’s the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. And we’re supposed to treat it accordingly. This is not just some ramshackle piece of cloth that’s a tent. This body is the temple of the Holy Spirit when we become a believer. And so it has to be reckoned as such and we are to reckon it as cleansed.
Now there’s several verses that refer to the body. Go back if you will, to Ephesians chapter 1, starting with verse 13. The same writer that writes these things in Hebrews; the only thing is, he’s writing to Jews who had an understanding of the Old Testament economy, which of course, the Gentiles of Paul’s day knew almost nothing of – but nevertheless, he brings about the same basic truths only from a different perspective.
Ephesians 1:13a
“In whom ye also trusted,…” Most of you know now, even my television audience understands, who did Paul always write to? Believers. Paul never writes to the unbeliever. And so to the believer he says:
Ephesians 1:13
“In whom ye also trusted, (placed your faith, you believed) after that ye heard the word of truth, (well, naturally you can’t believe something until you hear it. And what was the word of truth?) the gospel of your salvation: (how that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead) in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” The Holy Spirit came in as God’s mark of ownership. Now verse 14.
Ephesians 1:14
“Which (this indwelling Holy Spirit in this tabernacle of flesh) is the earnest (down payment, earnest money) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory.” Now you’ve got to really pick this apart. If the Holy Spirit came into this tabernacle of flesh at the moment of salvation, then you would think that this body was redeemed as well as the soul was, wouldn’t we? But it wasn’t. The soul was redeemed. We know that. The soul and the spirit are already God’s, they’re His, they’re marked as His. But this old body is still down here under the curse, isn’t it?
Not a one of you are immune to sin or pain or suffering or death. None of us. Because this old body is still an unredeemed piece of flesh. Got that? But, the indwelling Holy Spirit is God’s what? Down payment. And it’s a down payment of such a size that one day He’s going to finish the payment.
All right, now let’s see, I think I can come to Romans chapter 8. And this all has to do with our physical body of flesh. It’s the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. It’s the dwelling place of our now-redeemed soul and spirit. Consequently, we are responsible with what we do with this dwelling place until we leave it. All right, Romans chapter 8 verse 18.
Romans 8:18
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us. 19. For the earnest expectation of the creature (or the creation, all of creation) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Or the children of God. You and I. All of creation is waiting for the day when we’re suddenly going to be ready for that glorious Kingdom. Now verse 20.
Romans 8:20
“For the creature (creation) was made subject to vanity, (the curse) not willingly, (it wasn’t the animal kingdom’s fault that Adam sinned.) but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.” In other words, just as soon as Adam sinned, God came right back with the plan of redemption in Genesis 3:15. So, He subjected everything under the curse but, at the same time, He subjected it in (what?) hope – that one day the curse will end. Now verse 21.
Romans 8:21
“Because the creature (creation) itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption (the curse) into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (That’s you and I.) 22. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23. And not only they, (not just the animal kingdom and the birds and the fish and everything else) but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, (we believers, we’re still under the curse. Now here it comes) even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption, (or this great transaction) to wit, the redemption of our (what?) body.”