The Way Heavenward

“For thus saith the high and holy One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15

The “way” into the presence of God is assured the believer, that is, if he comes God’s way, and in an attitude that God recognizes and accepts.  For example, Scripture tells us that the Lord knows the proud man “afar off.”  Scripture also tells us that our sins can make “a separation” between us and God. If there is one certain lesson that the disciple in Christ must grasp in reading David’s fifty-first Psalm, it is this: God will certainly accept the one who will truly, and honestly come to Him in a right heart and mind, a right spirit, receiving the grace of God as he comes because his heart is right, and his hands are clean.

If the believer in God, who truly seeks God with his whole heart, is to come to Him, and truly “draw nigh” to Him, knowing and realizing something of His blessed presence, what is he to do specifically, and completely, so that his assurance will be without doubt? A great part of the answer to this question is found in the hymn, Eternal Light! Eternal Light! It is here that the author writes very simply, and clearly: “There is a way for man to rise, To that sublime abode; An Offering and a Sacrifice, A Holy Spirit’s energies, An advocate with God.” In these simple phrases is laid out for the believer that which he needs to know and grasp concerning the certain, assured ways of God that He has provided so that one can come to Him in full assurance of faith, there to have communion with God.

The first thing that must be grasped is that having fellowship with God in that quiet place of mind and heart, regardless of where one is on the face of the earth, is a certain reality. In the letter to the Hebrews, we find written: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (4:16) Here is a promise of proximity to God, even the very presence of the Almighty God where in His mercy and grace He not only meets us personally, but communicates to us that which we need to receive in order to live and glorify Him. Another hymnwriter put it like this: “Complete in Thee! each need supplied, And no good thing to me denied: Since Thou my portion, Lord wilt be, I ask no more, complete in Thee.” It is in that place of certain good, before the throne of grace, that in the presence of the Father, we are called to come, to receive all from Him for His glory, and the blessing of God upon His creation.

Secondly, the only basis for the saved sinner to come to God, and having assurance of being accepted, is by the “offering and sacrifice” of the Lord Jesus.  Thus, the believer can only come into the holy presence of God on the basis of the precious blood of Christ, which has bought him out of the slave-market of sin and death, cleansing him fully. The believer’s justified position before God is only assured by the blood of Christ. So, he is to come in Jesus’ name, trusting in the righteous merits of Christ in His precious blood applied to the soul.

Thirdly, the believer is to come by the “energies of the Holy Spirit.” If one is to approach God in faith, it must be by the Spirit’s quickening and enabling power to come in faith, with thanksgiving and praise. The Father gives this quickening to the one who appeals specifically to God for it.

Lastly, it is by wholly relying upon the Divine Advocate, Christ, that one can worship in peace and truth.

Dear Father, Lead us upward, onward. In Jesus’ name, Amen.