March 23, 1997
Bethlehem Baptist Church
John Piper, Pastor
LET US DRAW NEAR TO GOD
(Hebrews 10:19-22)
A Zeal for God, but Lost
One of the passages of scripture from my own personal meditations that has
had the greatest impact on me in recent weeks is Romans 10:1-2 where Paul
says about his kinsmen, the Jewish people:
My heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For,
I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not according to
knowledge.
What struck me here is that it is possible to have a zeal for God and be
lost. A zeal for God and lost - perishing! "My heart’s desire is that they
be saved," he says. So they are not saved. Why? They have zeal for God.
They are, in fact, part of the chosen Jewish people. But he prays that they
would be saved. What’s wrong? What’s wrong with their zeal? And Paul
answers: It is not according to knowledge. True knowledge is necessary for
salvation. They have zeal. But it is not rooted in knowledge.
Now zeal - the passion of the heart for God - is important. Jesus said to
love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind (Matthew
22:37). He said that lukewarm people will be spewed out of his mouth
(Revelation 3:16). And just two chapters later, in Romans 12:11, Paul will
say, "Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord."
Literally: "Boil in the spirit." Zeal is important.
Draw Near!
But without knowledge it does not lead to salvation. Now here is the
relevance of this thought when we come to this passage in Hebrews 10:19-22.
In these verses there is one main, straightforward command, namely, "Draw
near!" That is what this writer wants you to do. Draw near. Look at these
verses: there is only one exhortation, once you pull away all the defining
and qualifying phrases and clauses.
Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the
blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which He inaugurated for us through
the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house
of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our body washed
with pure water.
He has one simple, deep, high, holy, happy, seemingly impossible goal for us,
his readers. Draw near. To what? Well, it is not hard to find out, since
this is a favorite word for this writer. Take just three of its seven
occurrences:
Hebrews 4:16 - Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that
we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 7:25 - He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through
Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 11:6 - Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who draws
near to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
seek Him.
The great passion of this writer is that we draw near to God. That we come
to his throne to find all the help we need. That we come to him confident
that he will reward us with all that he is for us in Jesus. And this is
clearly what he means here in Hebrews 10:22, because verse 19 says that we
have confidence "to enter the holy place," that is, the new heavenly "holy of
holies" like that inner room in the old tabernacle of the Old Testament where
the high priest met with God once a year, and where his glory descended on
the ark of the covenant.
So the one command, the one exhortation, that we are given in Hebrews
10:19-22 is to draw near to God. The great aim of this writer is that we get
near God, that we have fellowship with him, that we not settle for a
Christian life at a distance from God, that God not be a distant thought, but
a near and present reality, that we experience what the old Puritans called
communion with God.
This drawing near is not a physical act. It’s not building a tower of Babel,
by your achievements, to get to heaven. It’s not necessarily going to a
church building. Or walking to an altar at the front. It is an invisible
act of the heart. You can do it while standing absolutely still, or while
lying in a hospital bed, or while sitting in a pew listening to a sermon.
Drawing near is not moving from one place to another. It is a directing of
the heart into the presence of God who is as distant as the holy of holies in
heaven, and yet as near as the door of faith. He is commanding us to come.
To approach him. To draw near to him.
The Center of the Gospel
In fact, this is the very heart of the entire New Testament gospel, isn’t it?
That Christ came into the world to make a way for us to come to God without
being consumed in our sin by his holiness.
1 Peter 3:18 - For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the
unjust, in order that He might bring us to God.
Ephesians 2:18 - [Through Christ] we . . . have our access in one Spirit to
the Father.
Romans 5:11 - We exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
have now received the reconciliation.
This is the center of the gospel - this is what the Garden of Gethsemane and
Good Friday are all about - that God has done astonishing and costly things
to draw us near. He has sent his Son to suffer and to die so that through
him we might draw near. It’s all so that we might draw near. And all of
this is for our joy and for his glory. He does not need us. If we stay away
he is not impoverished. He does not need us in order to be happy in the
fellowship of the Trinity. But he magnifies his mercy by giving us free
access through his Son, in spite of our sin, to the one Reality that can
satisfy us completely and forever, namely, himself. "In thy presence is
fullness of joy, at thy right hand are pleasures forever more" (Psalm 16:11).
That is God’s will for you, even as I preach - that you will draw near to
God. That you will speak like the psalmist in Psalm 42:2, "My soul thirsts
for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?"
Answer that question like this: "Now. I will come now, while John is
preaching. I am praying. Father, I come, I come. I draw near."
But we must go back and pick up the thread of thought. I was trying to show
you the relevance of Romans 10: 2 for this passage: there is a zeal that is
not according to knowledge, and there is a zeal that is according to
knowledge. This zeal is important. Most fundamentally this is a zeal to
draw near to God. To be right with God. To enjoy a relationship with God.
In other words, the central point of this text is that we have a zeal for
nearness to God. That we have a zeal for drawing near to God. We should not
draw near lukewarmly, or indifferently. Even when we feel dull and lifeless,
we should say, "O God, I am dull and lifeless, and there is only one hope for
me, nearness to you. I come. Have mercy on me and touch me with your flame
and set me on fire again. Give me life in your presence. Open my eyes to
your glory and make me live again."
This text is calling for zeal - a zeal for nearness to God.
Zeal With Knowledge
Now if that is true, look how the text illustrates Romans 10:2, that a zeal
without knowledge is worthless and leads to destruction. Everything in these
verses (Hebrews 10:19-22) is meant to help us draw near to God by giving us
knowledge. You could say that it is all written so that your drawing near to
God will be "according to knowledge." So that it will not be said, "This
people zealously tries to draw near to God, but their coming is not according
to knowledge." These verses are packed with knowledge about drawing near to
God. They are like hot coals packed around the exhortation, "Let us draw
near to God," to keep it warm and earnest. They are also rock-hard coals
with a shape that holds the exhortation in place and keep it straight.
That’s what knowledge is for: it is for life and warmth of zeal and firmness
of conviction. It’s to keep the heart burning with true zeal. "Did not our
hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to
us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32). While he packed our hearts with the coals
of knowledge!
We don’t have time to look at each of these coals but let me show you at
least how they are packed. And my hope is that you will see the importance
of taking the coals of truth in God’s word and packing them around the
prayers and purposes of your life to draw near to God. And, O, may they make
your pursuit of God burn with true zeal.
First notice the word "therefore" at the beginning of verse 19. "Therefore .
. . let us draw near to God." This directs our minds back to truth that has
gone before. Verse 14 has said, "[God] has perfected for all time those who
are being sanctified." Therefore draw near. In Christ, you who are being
sanctified by the Spirit, day by day, you are now, already, before God
perfected. Therefore, because of this truth, draw near to God! Let your
zeal for drawing near accord with this truth.
Then he quotes the new covenant promise from Jeremiah 31:33-34. Verse 17: "I
will remember their lawless deeds no more." Therefore, draw near to God.
Are you staying away because of sins in your past? He says, "I will not
call them to mind against you ever. I virtually forget them as far as
punitive effects are concerned. They are gone. Therefore, because of this
truth draw near." So the "therefore" in verse 19 points to coals of
knowledge and truth packed behind this zeal for drawing near to God.
Then, in verse 19, the main exhortation, "Let us draw near," is preceded by
two other clauses that begin with "since." Since this is true . . .
therefore, draw near to God. So the command to draw near is being packed as
densely as possible, it seems, with coals of truth. The first "since" clause
(verses 19-20) says, "Since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the
blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which he inaugurated for us through
the veil, that is, his flesh" . . . since things are true (and you have this
knowledge) therefore draw near!
You are entering a holy place when you draw near to God. That is a truth.
So don’t come carelessly or flippantly. But here is another truth: the
blood of Jesus, the Son of God has been shed for you, so that your sins are
forgiven and the holiness of God will not consume you but thrill you. And
here is another truth: the way to God is new: it is not the old covenant way
with dead animals and priests who die and have to be replaced. It is a
living way, with one sacrifice and one priest: Jesus. And he is alive and he
intercedes for you. Since this is true, draw near to God.
In fact. it says in verse 21 - this is the second "since clause" - he is a
great high priest over the house of God. He has made a way for you by the
spilling of his blood and the tearing of his flesh - like the curtain in the
temple - and he is alive as your priest today who will always cover you and
advocate for you and be your mediator in the presence of God. Since this is
true, draw near. Draw near according to this knowledge.
Draw Near with a Sincere Heart
Then comes the command itself in verse 22: "Let us draw near to God." But he
is not finished packing coals of truth around this exhortation. He says to
do it "with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith." This is the zeal
he wants us to have: as we come to God, come with full assurance of faith,
or, as verse 19 says, come with "confidence" or "boldness."
But the heart wavers. It begins to grow cold. It trembles with uncertainty
and a sense of utter inadequacy. And so he packs in this last truth at the
end of verse 22; your heart is sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and
your baptism was the sign of it. "Having our hearts sprinkled clean from an
evil conscience and our body washed with pure water . . ." The blood of
Christ so completely covers our sin and removes our guilt that the conscience
can rest at peace - not because we are sinless, and not because the
conscience doesn’t sometimes accuse us, but because when it does, we by faith
speak to it and say, "I know I have sinned. It grieves me. I hate my sin.
But I have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who shed his priceless blood for me, to
bear my sins and cover my transgressions. Therefore be silent, O conscience.
Be at peace in Jesus."
And because that is true, let us draw near.
This is a zeal for nearness to God that according to truth.
The Example of John Owen, a Puritan
I mentioned earlier that the old Puritans called this drawing near "common
with God." We need to learn from them. J.I. Packer says that the Puritans
differ from evangelicals today because, with them:
communion with God was a great thing; to evangelicals today it is a
comparatively small thing. The Puritans were concerned about communion with
God in a way we are not. The measure of our unconcern is the little that we
say about it. When Christians meet, they talk to each other about their
Christian work and Christian interests, their Christian acquaintances, the
state of the churches, and the problems of theology - but rarely of their
daily experience of God.
According to Packer the greatest of the Puritans was John Owen. Owen’s
experience of communion with God is a great example for us. God saw to it
that Owen and the suffering Puritans of his day lived closer to God and
sought after communion with God more earnestly than we. Writing a letter
during an illness in 1674 he said to a friend, "Christ is our best friend,
and ere long will be our only friend. I pray God with all my heart that I
may be weary of everything else but converse and communion with Him." God
used illness and all the other pressures of Owen's life to drive him into
communion with God and not away from it.
But Owen was also very intentional about his communion with God. He said,
"Friendship is most maintained and kept up by visits; and these, the more
free and less occasioned by urgent business . . ." In other words, in the
midst of all his academic and political and ecclesiastical labors, he made
many visits to God.
And when he went, he did not just go with petitions for things or even for
deliverance in his many hardships. He went to see his glorious friend and to
contemplate his greatness. The last book he wrote - he was finishing it as
he died - is called Meditations on the Glory of Christ. That says a great
deal about the focus and outcome of Owen's life. In it he said,
The revelation . . . of Christ . . . deserves the severest of our thoughts,
the best of our meditations and our utmost diligence in them. . . . What
better preparation can there be for [our future enjoyment of the glory of
Christ] than in a constant previous contemplation of that glory in the
revelation that is made in the Gospel.
The contemplation Owen has in mind is made up of at least two things: on the
one hand there is what he called his "severest thoughts" and "best
meditations" or in another place "assiduous meditations," and on the other
hand relentless prayer. The two are illustrated in his work on Hebrews.
One of his greatest achievements was his seven-volume commentary on Hebrews.
When he finished it near the end of his life, he said, "Now my work is done:
it is time for me to die." How did he do it? We get a glimpse from the
preface:
I must now say, that, after all my searching and reading, prayer and
assiduous meditation have been my only resort, and by far the most useful
means of light and assistance. By these have my thoughts been freed from
many an entanglement."
Thus Owen drew near to God by prayer and assiduous meditation and found light
and freedom. In this way his was a zeal to draw near that accords with
knowledge. This is the kind of zeal that we want. This is the sweet
personal knowledge that keeps the zeal in bounds and makes it burn the more
brightly. With this knowledge and zeal let us draw near day by day and hour
by hour.
Copyright 1997 John Piper
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