Can You Know God Personally? (The New Covenant) | Season 06, Episode 7 | Simple Truth Podcast

Can you really be close to God? Not just believe in him, but actually know him. You believe in Jesus, but sometimes you feel like he is far away. You wonder why it seems like other people are so much closer to him and whether that kind of relationship with God is really possible for you. And when you're struggling or unsure of what to do in your life, is it easier just to pull back and try to fix it on your own instead of coming to him? In this episode, we're going to answer three important questions about having a relationship with God through the new covenant. First, how did Jesus make it possible for you to come to God? Second, what does the new covenant change about your relationship with God? And third, how can you draw closer to God in everyday life? [music] Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast. I'm Ted Ross and this is season 6, episode 7. Why can you know God personally? We're talking about the new covenant. Last episode we saw that righteousness comes from faith in Jesus Christ and righteous living, it comes from a heart that wants to please God. Today we're going to see how Jesus makes that whole relationship even possible. So, we're going to answer three questions. Starting with question number one. How did Jesus make it possible for you and I to come to God? To understand the path Jesus opened for us, we need a quick picture of what came before the Old Covenant as found in the Old Testament of the Bible. Under the Old Covenant, Israel, the Jewish people, they worshiped through a tabernacle. It was a sacred place with three different areas, right? an outer court, a holy place, and the holiest of all, and access to God's presence. It was carefully restricted. Listen to how Hebrews 9 describes it. Hebrews 9:6 through8. As a reminder, all Bible verses are from the New King James Version of the Bible. So, feel free to follow along. Here, we're going to see that God provided a way for his people to approach him, but it was limited, right? So, let's see why. Hebrews 9:6. Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle performing the services. Verse 7, but into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. Verse 8, the Holy Spirit indicating this that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. There's a lot of meaning in this. It says, "Now when these things had been thus prepared, the things that were described earlier in Hebrews chapter 9, the priests, the Levitical priesthood, they always went into the first part of the tabernacle. They went to the holy place to perform the various services. the tabernacle. That's it was a tent. It was a portable sanctuary. It was seen as the dwelling place of God under the old covenant. It says, "But into the second part, the high priest went alone, went by himself only once a year and went with blood which came from the offerings that he did for both himself as well as for the people's sins, right? Committed in ignorance." That second part, it's second in order. It's the holiest of all. It's the holy of holies. The high priest went by himself once a year and not without blood. That's the animal sacrifices, right? And what did it mean? What was it? A representation of that sin requires life be given. So under the old covenant, they would commit sin and then as a part of their repentance and for them asking forgiveness, they would commit an animal sacrifice. something that would show that life had to be given for the sins and the transgressions of the people who did it. A very difficult and a very bloody and a very impactful type of experience. And then in verse 8, it says the Holy Spirit indicating this that the way into the holiest of all, the way into God's presence, the way into the holy of holies was not yet made manifest while that first tabernacle was still standing because it was showing its limits. It was showing that whereas before once a year a high priest would go into God's presence and it required sacrifices to do it. It says in contrast, it says the Holy Spirit was indicating through the old covenant that there was clearly a way that needed to be made manifest that all of us could go into God's presence. All of us could go into the holiest of all. And we could only do it when the first tabernacle was removed. when the old covenant was set aside and a new covenant established. Do you think closeness to God is just for pastors, for priests, for spiritual people? Are those the only people who can be close to God? Under the old covenant, access was limited. It was just one high priest who once a year would go into the holiest of all. But we now have better. That's what this scripture sewing. And we're going to see more scriptures throughout the course of this episode of how we're under a new covenant established upon better promises. Under the old covenant, access to God's presence, right? Was limited and blood was required. That's what we see here in these verses. So what changed? What changed? Jesus came. And when Jesus came, he didn't come with animal sacrifices, but he came with his own blood. Hence why we're here in season 6 talking about the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and its impact on your life and my life. So let's see this in Luke 22. Luke 22:19 and 20 at the center of the new covenant is Jesus's sacrifice. Right? The gospel, his body was given and his blood was shed so that we, you and me could have a new relationship with God. a relationship very different than what we saw under the old covenant. Luke 22:19. And he took bread. This is Jesus. Gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them. This being the disciples, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Likewise, he also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you." He says he gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them. And he said, "This is my body which is given for you." That word given means it's offered. It's given on behalf of another. He offered up his body. He gave up his body as a sacrifice for the disciples and for you and me. And he says, "Do this. Do this breaking of bread and this drinking of wine, right, of the fruit of the vine. Do this in remembrance of me." Jesus said, "So do this in remembrance." That means deliberately calling to mind the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood. You do these things so that you can call to mind his death, burial, and resurrection. You can call to mind the body that he gave and offered on behalf of us as a benefit to us and the blood that he shed that he could establish a new covenant so that you and I could have a personal relationship with God. Thank God. And he says, "This cup is the new covenant." What is a new covenant? It's a new agreement. It's a new arrangement by God. So the old agreement was the old covenant as found in the Old Testament. But the new covenant which Jesus established through the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood. It's a new arrangement. So therefore, it's it behooves you and I to understand what are the terms of this arrangement? What are the details of this arrangement? One of the reasons why we felt it was very important to have a season, season six of the simple truth podcast dedicated to discuss the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ because it gives us the ability to establish, to teach, to make sure that you and I are reading through the scriptures and gaining a revelation of the new agreement, the new arrangement that God has with Christians. He says, "The cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you." Shed means poured out, spilled, right? Jesus's blood, his death was shed for us and it established a new covenant. Do you believe Jesus made a way for you to know God personally? His blood was shed and it opened a new covenant relationship with God. Praise God. So, what did Jesus's blood actually accomplish? This wasn't just another sacrifice that would have to be offered again and again as it describes in the book of Hebrews. Jesus gave himself and he secured eternal redemption and he did something that those previous sacrifices, those animal sacrifices can never do. It cleanses us on the inside so that we could come to God and serve him. Let's see this in Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews 9 12-14. Jesus didn't just improve the old covenant. We're going to see here. He gave his blood to secure you and I a lasting redemption and a cleansed conscience before God. You can tell I'm getting excited about this because this is good news, brothers and sisters. Hebrews 9:12, "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Praise God. He did not enter with animal sacrifices, with the blood of goats and calves. But it was with his own blood that he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. You learned about this earlier in this season in our redemption episode. He obtained eternal release by paying a ransom. He obtained eternal liberation for you and me because he paid a ransom for us that you and I could be released. Praise God. It says, "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, if those sprinkling the unclean, that's you and I, sanctified, right, made us holy or set us apart to God for the purifying of the flesh, then how much more shall the blood of Jesus Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God with no sin at all cleanse your conscience." Right? Cleanse your inner awareness of sin. Right? This awareness of right and wrong. So if the animal sacrifices were able to do something for you, how much more would Jesus Christ, without sin, offering himself to God, not only purify, but cleanse your conscience, clean you from the inside out, clean your inner awareness of sin and of right and wrong, and cleanse it from dead works so that you could serve the living God. Do you still carry guilt for the things that Jesus has already paid for? Are you carrying a guilt inside of you for the things that Jesus has already paid for and released you from? Stop trying to pay for your past. You and I can do nothing to pay for our past except we can serve God now. And we should serve God with a clear conscience. A conscience that's been cleansed from dead works to serve God. God doesn't want us operating in the past, carrying burdens and convictions and guilt from sins done in the past. He wants us to accept that Jesus obtained eternal redemption. He paid a ransom and liberated us from those sins so that we could be free to serve him now and fulfill our purpose and to do so through thanksgiving and faith for the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and through his resurrection. Jesus didn't just give himself as a sacrifice that opened the way of God. He also became our high priest, right? He prays for us now and he helps us come to God through him. Hebrews 7 is going to make this plain. Hebrews 7 verses 23-25. The new covenant gives us more than just a sacrifice from the past. We have a living high priest who's there for us now every time we come to God. Hebrews 7:23 also there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing but he that's Jesus because he continues forever has an unchangeable priesthood verse 25 therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him that's through Jesus since he always lives to make intercession for them. The book of Hebrews has so much insight and we're going to go through the book of Hebrews in a later season of the simple truth podcast. We'll go verse by verse, but it says there were many priests because they were prevented by death from continuing. A priest would do their priestly service, then they would grow older and they'd pass away. Then another priest would come and they grow older and pass away. But he, that's Jesus, because he continues forever. Jesus does not pass away, right? He has an unchangeable priesthood which means he is a priest. He is an intermediary. He has a position where he performs service before the father and he's an intermediary between us and God. Jesus is fully God and Jesus is fully human. And so it gives him this unique position as intercessor and intermediary between us. The book of Hebrews goes to this in great detail. And so he has this unchangeable priesthood, right? Therefore, he is able to save, to rescue, to deliver, to set at safety to the uttermost. That means in perpetuity, in finality those who come to God through him since he, that is Jesus, always lives to make intercession. That is, he appeals to God on behalf of others. He always lives to make intercession for you and for me. Praise God. Do you think of Jesus's work as something that only happened in the past? That Jesus died for his sins. He was buried and rose again the third day and it ended there. That is not what the Bible says. The Bible says Jesus is still at work for you and I now helping you and I come to God through him as a faithful high priest with an unchangeable priesthood. So, let's put it all together. First, Jesus gave his blood and he established a new covenant. Second, Jesus opened the way to God. And third, Jesus is today our high priest. And that brings us to our first simple truth. Simple truth number 115. Jesus's blood established the new covenant that brings us to God. Jesus made it possible for us to come to God. But the new covenant, it gives us more than just access. So, what kind of relationship does God now want for us to have with him? Question number two, what does the new covenant change about my relationship with God? The new covenant doesn't just change how we come to God. It changes the kind of relationship we can have with God, too. God promises forgiveness, inward change, and the opportunity to truly know him. Let's see one of God's promises about you and me in Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews 8, we're going to look at verses 6 and 10. We're going to see here that God didn't just open the door and then just leave us outside in the new covenant. God brings us into a relationship. He teaches us his ways and he calls us his own. Hebrews 8:6, but now he has obtained a more excellent ministry in as much as he, that's Jesus, is also mediator of a better covenant, right? A better agreement, a better arrangement, as we saw before, which was established on better promises. Verse 10, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I, that's the father, will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people. It says, but now he has obtained Jesus a more excellent ministry in as much as he is a mediator of a better covenant. That's a superior arrangement made by God. It was established upon better promises. Superior promises, right? He said he would fulfill. If you were to compare the arrangement of the old covenant and the promises of the old covenant with the arrangement of the new covenant and the promises God makes under the new covenant, it shows quite clearly that under the new covenant which you and I are under today that we have a superior arrangement and superior promises. Let's embrace and let's go for it. Let's go as they say and let's get on it. Am I right? And it says, "For this covenant I will make with the house of Israel, with God's people," he's saying, "After those days, says the Lord, I the father will put my laws in their mind." That's his instructions and his will. And he will write them on our hearts, right? On our spirit and our soul, on the inward part of us, the hidden part of us as we saw from the whole Christian season. And it says, "And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. I will be their God." That's such a powerful expression. That means it's not just rules he's establishing in the new covenant. It's a relationship he's establishing. He will be their God. That's our God, and we shall be his people. It's a declaration of ownership, of connection, of intimacy. And God doesn't just stop at saying, "You'll be my people." The new covenant goes even further. It promises that you and I could actually know God personally. In other words, Christians won't just know about God. They will know God for themselves. Hebrews 8:11 and 12. The new covenant is deeply personal. God promises that his people can truly know him and that our sins no longer stand between us and him. Hebrews 8:1, "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, "Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds. I will remember no more." So powerful. It says, "None of them shall teach his neighbor. You and I don't have to teach another person, another Christian, and none his brother, saying, know the Lord." He says because all shall know me. That word all means all. Every without exception. All shall know God. All shall know him through experience. All shall know him through a close relationship. That's what that word know means in the Greek says from the least to the greatest. I don't know exactly how God defines the least. The least in stature or the least insignificance or whatever that may be. I don't know how God represents the greatest. Whatever it is, you and I land somewhere in there. Whether you're in the least or the greatest or somewhere in between, that's all of us, folks. And we are included in this. It says, "For I," right, the father says, "will be merciful. I'll be gracious toward wrongdoing. I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness." Right? Under unright, inappropriate actions and their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more. He will forget them. Can you really know God for yourself? Not just through someone else, right? That's the question you might be asking. Can I really know God and not just know him through a preacher or a priest or a pastor? Yes. [snorts] Yes, you can. God wants you and I to know him personally and directly. Of course, there's value in ministers who preach the word and teach the word to you. Of course, there's value in the assembly of Christians at church and in hearing and receiving God's word. But God doesn't want want you to go to church and to just observe and watch everybody from the outside. He wants you to know him personally. He wants you to know him directly. He you have a purpose in your life and God wants you to fulfill it. And this is how you're going to fulfill it is you're going to use the access given to you by Jesus Christ. And you're going to approach and come into God's presence. Come to know God, understand what God wants from you, and serve God because all shall know God. God says from the very least to the very greatest. And he's merciful to our unrighteousness and our lawless deeds. He remembers no more forgiveness. It removes the sin that stood between us and God. But that's not the end of it. God wants his people to know him and to have a close relationship with him and to fulfill our purpose in life. In fact, through Jesus, you can come near to the father yourself. Ephesians chapter 2 shows this. Ephesians 2:13 and 18. We're going to see that through Jesus. You're not kept at a distance from God anymore. His blood brings you near and gives you direct access to the father, which is so important because I don't know about you, I've had times in my life where I really, really needed God. And it gave me great comfort when I would read these scriptures and I would start to mix my faith with it. I'd come to the father and say, "Father, I don't always feel like I'm in your presence, but I know I'm in your presence. My spirit bears witness that I'm in your presence, and you have said I am in your presence." And then I would make my prayers known, and God would bless me for it. God would bless me for it. And it takes faith. That's why it's really important. We have faith in what God says about us. We often have to push past our own doubt and our unbelief and our cynical mind and something someone taught us about who God is or how God is that was completely untrue. And we have to detangle and set those things apart and cast them down and read God's word and seek him by his spirit and receive that and walk in that power because God has tremendous power and love and forgiveness and mercy and he wants us to be his people and he will be our God. And we can move by his spirit throughout the earth fulfilling his purpose and we deserve no credit. We get no glory or honor for it. It was God from start to finish. And we abide in his presence and we thank him and we enjoy the beauty of his holiness. And we enjoy the blessings of serving him. It doesn't mean that there won't be challenges. There's going to be challenges, but thank God that we could overcome challenges in Jesus' name. And we could serve him with our spirit in the gospel in Jesus' name. And we could overcome. Praise God. Because even if the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord raises up a standard against him that we could submit to God, pursue and persevere and overcome everything that would resist us because Jesus came to bring us salvation, which is deliverance from anything that would hinder us. Praise God. And he did it through the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And is up to us to read, to receive, to understand, to keep these things. And God is so good and he's so faithful. It says, "But now," this is Ephesians 2:13, "but now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Verse 18, for through him we both have access by one spirit to the father. Praise God. But now in Christ Jesus, you who are far off as you and me. Before we were born again, we were so far off and going even further off with that matters, right? We were far off, but we have been brought near. We've been brought close. We've been made near. We've been given access. That's what that word means, right? We were brought near by the blood of Christ. For through him, through Christ, we both have access. Who is we both? It's Jew and Gentile. Remember in the New Testament, Jewish and non-Jewish was a really important conversation. Remember, the Old Covenant was entrusted to the Jewish people. Jesus was Jewish, right? But it says Jew and Gentile. We both have access. There's no difference in the new covenant. It doesn't matter. Let's fast forward today. It doesn't matter what your skin color is. Doesn't matter what family you were born into. Doesn't matter where you were educated, what nation you were born in, right? Doesn't matter what language you speak. These things do not matter. These things are on the outside of you. God judges us on the inside by his spirit. Neither Jew nor Gentile, neither bond nor free, neither black nor white, neither male nor female. These things do not matter in Christ Jesus. And he says we both have access by one spirit to the father. That access is means we have admission. We can approach into God's favor. Right? And we have it by one spirit. That's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps you know and follow God. Right? One note here that's worth making. Jesus didn't just give you access to God. He allows you to come to him as your father. Right? We see this in scripture. So too often when we think of God, it may have been how we were raised or maybe we were in some religion before, right? We became born again or we were a Christian, but we maybe grew and were taught some things about God that God was this distant entity and that he was very far removed. Maybe he just transmitted us a set of rules and we had to keep them. And there's a lot of things that people were born and were raised and shown that don't match in line with scripture. And and on the Simple Truth podcast, it's about scripture. We want to know God through his word as confirmed by his spirit. Right? So remember, he didn't just give us access to some amorphous God. He gives us access to the father. And when it describes how God wants to be our father, that's a descriptor that's very powerful. That describes God caring for us, God protecting us, right? God teaching us, God correcting us. There's a lot of terms in here to give us an understanding. It's much like how we saw in the previous verse. He wants to be our God and wants us to be his people. He wants to be our father and he wants us to be his children. So this isn't just some kind of amorphous access. This is amorphous to a spiritual father and a brother that we have in Jesus Christ. And it's done through his holy spirit. Right? And so this holy spirit is really important. It's described as the comforter, right? The paraclete. It's described as our guide. It's described as uh our advocate. There's so many powerful scriptures on how the father, the son, and the holy spirit are bringing us into a very personal and close relationship with God. It's so powerful. When you need God, do you go to God or do you assume that he's far away? Right? He's far away. Or maybe in your mind you say, "Oh, I know God's close." But your actions show that you think he's far away. Right. Jesus's blood, it brought you and me near so we could approach the father, our father, with confidence. We have earthly fathers and and praise God, some of them better, more godly than others. That's fine. God bless them. We have a heavenly father. And that is a wonderful, wonderful thing. And that's where we're coming to. And if you have a righteous earthly father, they will want you to be close to your heavenly father. And if you have an unrighteous earthly father, they may not care at all. But either way, God bless them. We came from them. We came out of their lineage. They they helped form us in many different ways. Whether we appreciated what they did or we don't appreciate what they did, we thank God for them. God gave us that father and that mother as parents. And we pray God bless them. But we have we're being taken over by our heavenly father. We are submitting ourselves to a heavenly father who knows how to give us good things and to give us things from above and to teach us and to correct us and to protect us and to care for us and to do all those things. And if your earthly father maybe wasn't there or wasn't able to show you a righteous model, you've got a heavenly father just like you and me. We both have that. We have that in common. We both have the same heavenly father and we're going to learn from him at his feet and he's going to teach us by his spirit and we're going to become more like the son Jesus Christ because it has been God's will and his good pleasure to conform us into the image of the son Jesus Christ. Right? We can approach the father with confidence. We can go to our daddy in Jesus' name. We can go right before to our father and we can seek and get help. We've seen that the new covenant gives us access, gives us a relationship, gives us nearness to God as a father. Now, let's make sure we understand what the new covenant actually is. Right? The meaning of the new covenant. So, what exactly does the new covenant mean? A covenant is a serious committed agreement that establishes a relationship. An example of a covenant is a marriage, right? It's a serious commitment between a husband and a wife. And in that serious commitment, it establishes a relationship with expectations. The new covenant is a new relationship that God established with us through Jesus's blood. Remember, we saw in that verse that Jesus established it with his blood. This new covenant. In this new covenant, God promises to forgive our sins and to not hold them against us. So our past doesn't have to keep us distant from him. to know God. He doesn't just give us rules to follow under this new covenant. God actually works in our hearts and in our minds. He teaches us his ways from the inside out. So this is different than some list of rules or or ethics for us to practice. This is a spirit that God says my spirit will be in you, right? You will be joined. My spirit will be in you and you will serve me. You will submit and you will follow my guidance and I will be your God and you will be my people. That is a different arrangement. Right? And through Jesus we can come directly to God. We can know God personally and we can live as his people. Right? This is what makes the new covenant so different. God forgives us. He works in us. He brings us close enough to truly know him. Which brings us to simple truth number 116. The new covenant forgives, changes, and brings you close. So, the new covenant has already brought you near to God. But there's a difference between having access to a relationship and actually growing close in the relationship, right? Which begs the question, if I'm close to God, why do I need to draw near to God? Right? Some of you may be asking that. I've been asked that before. If Jesus already brought me near to God, then why do I need to draw closer to God? Well, Jesus already brought you near to God. So, you don't have to earn your way into God's presence. Jesus earned it. Jesus paid the ransom. Jesus liberated you through his blood, the shedding of his blood on the cross. But drawing closer isn't about getting more access. You've got the access. Drawing closer is about growing in the relationship that Jesus has already opened for you. Jesus opened it. Jesus opened the door, but he wants you to step in. He wants you to repeatedly step in, to draw close. Because it's one thing to be given access. It's another thing to grow that relationship. You grow closer by using your access and coming to God, talking with God through prayer, trusting God, and following him. In other words, obeying him in your everyday life. You don't need to get God to accept you. Jesus gave acceptance through his blood, but you're learning to live closer to the God who has already welcomed you. And that is drawing near. So drawing closer isn't about getting God to let you in. You're already welcomed. He's already letting you in. The question now is how do you do this in everyday life? Which brings us to question number three. How can you draw closer to God in everyday life through the new covenant that God established? Getting closer to God doesn't have to start with some big spiritual moment. I know sometimes we're looking for some big thing, right? Some kind of burning bush moment. And for if you had a burning bush moment, God bless you. Praise God. But it doesn't have to be. And for many of us, it's not a burning bush moment. It's not some big spiritual moment, but it absolutely happens. It starts by coming to God honestly and trusting that Jesus already made the way. Hebrews 10 verses 19-22. You don't have to feel worthy to come to God. Jesus opens the way and calls you to come in faith. Hebrews 10:19, "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus." Remember that's the holiest of all, right? The holy of holies that we were looking for before back in a physical tabernacle in the Old Testament. And yet spiritually, it says we have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Verse 20, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, aka the new covenant, right? Through the veil, that is his flesh, right? His body that was given for us as he said. Verse 21. And having a high priest over the house of God. See how this is pulling all of this episode back together. Remember, he didn't just give his body and shed his blood. He became our high priest, right? An unchangeable priesthood, it said. So verse 21, "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." It says therefore brothers and sisters in Christ having boldness that's having confidence that's having a freedom to approach God openly right to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus to enter God's presence it says by the blood of Jesus Christ anytime any day it could be on any day that ends with a Y right every day all the time morning noon and night you have the ability to come boldly before God's presence through the blood of Jesus Christ. And it says, "By a new and living way which he consecrated for us, right?" And it says, "Having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near. Let us approach. Let us come near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith." Have faith in what he has done for us. Right? Praise God. What do you need to fix before you could come to God with boldness? What what part of your life do you need to get straight or make right before you could come to God? I'm I'm trying to tick you. It's a trap, right? You don't have to get anything together first before you go to God. Jesus made the way. You do not have to sit aside and say, "Well, you know what? When I fix this issue or when I stop using this or when I get off of this or when I stop this behavior, then I can have boldness to come to God." It never it never goes away, folks. You need to go boldly to God to fix it. You're not going to fix it before you get to God. You need to go to God to fix it. That's why Jesus came. You and I weren't looking for Jesus and he died for us. He died for us because he knew we needed a way. So Jesus made the way. And you do not have to get it together first. In fact, it's better that you take advantage of that access so that you can get it together because you're going to need the spirit of God to get it together. Drawing closer to God isn't just about having access to God. But it's about knowing what to do with that access when you're weak, when you're struggling, when you're tempted, right? You can come to God for mercy and for grace and for strength. Hebrews 4 verses 14- 16, drawing closer to God means bringing him what you're really dealing with honestly and asking him for mercy and for help. Hebrews 4:14, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession." Verse 15, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." Verse 16, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace. There's that word boldness again. Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Seeing then we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens was resurrected seated at the right hand of the father. Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast our confession, our profession, right? What we speak of saying the same thing as God says about us. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize. There's a double negative there. So it might be a little confusing. Basically it says we have a high priest who can sympathize. Right? He can understand. He can share in our suffering. Right? He understands our weaknesses. He understands our suffering. Because Jesus became some of man and he walked the earth. He had to eat and he had to go to the bathroom and he had to grow up and he had to care for his elders and he had to care for younger brothers and sisters and he had to go get water out of the well and he had to go work a job. Jesus understands the temptations and the sufferings. He understands when friends are mean to you. He understands when people say mean things or bad things. He understands when something tries to challenge confidence. Jesus walked a mile in our shoes to use that expression. And he understands it says he was in all points tempted just as you and I are tempted. Yet he didn't sin because he had the spirit of the son of God. And so when these things came, his heart was fixed. his spirit was focused and he was being ruled by his spirit and not by the desires of his flesh. That's the main difference is that Jesus would be led by the spirit. He would submit to the spirit whereas you and I too often are wrestling with flesh and temptations. It says because of these things because Jesus sympathizes and understands. Let us therefore because of that because we have this great high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses who is tempted at all points as we are but didn't sin. Let us therefore come boldly. It doesn't say in here that you got your act together. It didn't say you fixed everything so now you can come boldly. It says no no no no no. Jesus. Jesus came and Jesus became our high priest and Jesus sympathizes. He knows our weaknesses. He was tempted but he didn't sin. Therefore you and I can come boldly. We can come boldly. We come in confidence. We can gain access right to the throne of grace. That's God's presence where favor is freely given. We can come directly into God's presence to receive favor. Right? That's grace. That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Anytime you need it, you can come boldly before him. What are you carrying right now that you haven't brought to God? What is something that you are carrying that's a burden that you have not brought to God? You don't have to carry it alone. You have Jesus as a high priest who sympathizes with your weaknesses, with your suffering, right? He was tempted, but he didn't sin. That means he knows how to do the right thing. He has power and strength to do the right thing through those temptations. You don't have to carry your burden alone. You can come to God honestly, and you can ask for help. Coming to God for help matters, but the relationship doesn't stop when the prayer ends, right? When you make that prayer, it doesn't end there. We also want to stay close by letting Jesus's words guide our everyday choices. Let's see this in John chapter 15. John 15 verses 7-10. We're going to see that getting closer to God. It isn't only about talking to God. It also means taking his words into our heart and putting them into practice in our life by his spirit. John 15:7, if this is Jesus talking, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By this my father is glorified. He's honored that you bear much fruit. So you will be my disciples. As the father loved me, that's Jesus. I also have loved you. That's his disciples. That's us Christians. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. Such powerful verses. If you abide in me, Jesus said, if you remain, if you continue, if you dwell together closely in me and my words remain, continue dwell together closely in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be done for you. What a powerful promise. By this my father is glorified. He's honored that you bear much fruit. So you will be my disciple, right? You'll bear fruit. You'll have a byproduct of his words inside of you and you keeping them. And the father is glorified, is honored by you keeping Jesus's words. And so you'll be my disciples. You'll be his followers. You'll be a Christian. And as the father has loved me, I have also loved you. So abide, remain, continue, dwell together closely in Jesus's love. He says, "If you keep my commandments, if you observe if you obey, if you put into practice the things that he commands, his instructions, right? His words, you will abide in his love, just as he has kept the father's instructions and abide in the father's love." Can I say I want closeness with God while I ignore what he tells me to do? I can't, can I? I can't say I really just want to be close to you, God, when he tells me things all throughout his word and I ignore every bit of it. When Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my words." Right? He says that in another part of the book of John, right? That's what he's getting at. We can't say we want closeness with God if we just ignore what God tells us to do. Closeness grows as his words stay in us, right? And they shape the way that we live. And this is what everyday closeness with God looks like. We come through Jesus. We talk with God and we follow his word as led by the Holy Spirit. And that leads us to simple truth number 117. Closeness with God grows through prayer, trust, and obedience. Through the new covenant established by the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God has opened the way for you and I to be close to him. Now you can grow in that relationship through prayer, through trust, through obedience. So what does this look like in everyday life? Well, what should I do now? Okay. So, God through Jesus's blood, God has opened the way for you and for me to know him personally and to come to him boldly with confidence as the scripture says. I now know that I need to trust that Jesus really made the way for me to come to God. I need to have faith in that. Says it all through scripture and your spirit will bear witness. But sometimes you might be challenged. Some might be you might be attacked to not believe that. But oh boy, it's true. Jesus made the way for you and me to come to God, to know him personally. We can bring God what we're really caring instead of handling a little alone, right? He is our God. He wants us to be his people. And we let his word by his spirit shape what we do next. So, what's one thing that you need God's help with right now? We asked you earlier in this episodes, what's one of those things you're carrying? What's one thing you need God's help with? Consider trying this for the next seven days. You don't have to change everything at once, but for the next seven days, take one part of your life and try bringing it to God this way. What we call the open door, 7-day challenge. Day one, walk through the door. Remember, we talked about access. God gave us access through the blood of Jesus. Find a part of your life where you're keeping God at a distance. You're keeping him away from that part of your life. Talk to God about it plainly. No polished prayers. Honestly, open up your heart. Let your requests be made known to God and pray it to him. Let him know. Days 2 through 7, use your new covenant access. What we're discussing throughout this episode, when a decision or a temptation, that area comes up, bring it to God instead of trying to handle it alone. I know it may be your inclination to try to just go attack it on your own and to do your own thing. And you probably have very mixed results when you do that. Instead, say, "Listen, I've got access to the father directly through the blood of Jesus Christ and bring it to God through prayer and submit to him. Listen for his will instead of just trying to handle it alone. Ask God for wisdom in that area, for mercy, for strength, and for help, and ask for it right then and there. Come boldly before his presence by the blood of Jesus Christ." Days 3 through 7, commit to the relationship. Talk to God about what's really happening in your life, especially in that area. Notice what he's showing you through his word as well as through his spirit. Right? That's what you're focusing on. What is his word telling you? You're reading scriptures and he may be revealing something to you regarding that area through the work that he's doing as well as through his spirit. And watch Simple Truth podcast episodes 03.06. If you would like to learn more about why prayer builds a powerful Christian life, it's directly related to this 7-day challenge. God bless you as you gain a revelation and understanding of the new covenant that Jesus died for your sins. He was buried and he rose again the third day. And in doing so, the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has established a new arrangement with superior promises and superior benefits. and that you can come boldly before God and have a personal and close relationship with him through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And don't miss next episode. If Jesus already finished the work, how should his blood shape the way that you and I live today? In our last episode of this season, we are going to put it all together on what the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ means in the life of a Christian. So, watch the video on the screen for more practical Bible teaching that answers the questions that you're asking. And subscribe for more simple, biblical, and essential truth. [music]