“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4
How can a believer come into the presence of the Almighty, Holy God, Maker of heaven and earth, and the sole Redeemer of men, with thanksgiving and praise, blessing His name? What is the reason for which he is to come “before His presence with singing,” all the while, “serving the Lord with gladness?” (Ps. 100:2) The basis reason for the Psalmist is found in his knowledge of who God is. He writes at the end of Psalm 100, “…For the Lord is good: His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.” (v.5) This basis reason for coming to God, and the manner in which one is to come with great assurance is found in the knowledge of who God is eternally, that revelation in Christ. The truth is that God is good, and the expression of that goodness is not only revealed in the beauty and the wonder of His creation, but in the revelation of His character and nature that we see in Christ. The love of God is boundless, pure, good, and wholesome, never changing. The wonder of that love is that it is revealed to sinful men, ever appealing to them in His mercy for them to come to Him, believe in Him, committing themselves entirely to Him, that they might know Him, the very source of all true goodness, life, and peace. This mercy of God, looking beyond any and every reason not to save the sinner, is unchanging. By that mercy there is a way into the presence of God that is assured, and where, in full assurance of faith, the believer can come rejoicing, singing, and giving thanks to his Maker and Redeemer. That “way” is through the singular sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, His precious blood, the power of the Eternal Spirit, and the constant invitation to come. It is in the book of Hebrews that we discover the specifics of this assured access to God, with the admonition, and exhortation, to approach the eternal throne, there to be received by the Father, and blessed as one worships.
Assured entrance into the literal presence of God is provided for by “the word of God.” The declaration of the expressed mind and heart of God, His will and purposes, with His precious promises, is given so that by the gift of faith, the believer can approach in truth. What is this truth? According to His word in Hebrews, there is first the knowledge of the fact that one’s approach to God has NOTHING to do with one’s own works, but entirely rests on the work of Christ. To rest from one’s own works of righteousness, discarding them as unacceptable to God, and embracing the righteousness of Christ alone to save, is the beginning of entering. Those vile and offensive works to God, must be left at the door, to be forever condemned, discarded, and renounced, by the believer approaching God’s way.
Secondly, there is a singular High Priest in heaven who alone presents us to God the Father, forever claiming that His blood has bought the sinner out of death, given Him life by the Spirit, and is now acceptable to God. As to one’s conscience before God, and one’s full assurance of faith being assaulted by the enemy, being very conscious of the conflict within and without, the Great Shepherd who was tempted in every way as the believer is, comes to comfort and strengthen, for He has overcome, not only to provide a path to God the Father, but to give the strength to walk upon it. Then there is the truth of coming to the throne of grace, that place where heaven’s power and goodness is revealed, and where the believer can receive God’s all-sufficient grace for every need. God gives His assurance by the Spirit, when one comes His way, in Jesus’ name, trusting wholly the Holy Spirit.
Dear Father, Fill us with faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.