The New Testament is different. Every believer can worship within the Holy of Holies, and no one can worship in place of another. Strictly speaking, even the Lord Jesus cannot replace us in our worshipping. It is true that the Old Testament divides the worshippers into the congregation, the priests, and the high priest. Only the high priest could go into the Holy of Holies once a year with the blood. No other person could enter into it. But everyone of us is like the high priest; we can all enter into the Holy of Holies. We say that the Lord Jesus is the High Priest; it is true that He is our High Priest before God in heaven and that we are all individual priests. But at the time of worship, it is a different story.

Some say that we need the Lord Jesus to do everything for us and that He is our Mediator and go-between. But there is no such thing. Hebrews 10:19 and 20 tell us that the Lord died for us in order that we could come directly to God. Both in the Old Testament and New Testament, the blood on the altar is for the remission of sins. But at the same time, the blood shed on the cross is also for us to draw near to God. Some have thought that a person receives forgiveness through the blood but that he worships and draws near to God through his works. This is why some think that when they do well that week, read the Bible, and pray all the time, they can come boldly to worship God, sing, and pray. Others think that they have not done well and therefore are not worthy to worship; they cannot sing and have no faith to pray. By doing this, they have made the blood worthless. We worship God through the blood, just as we are forgiven through the blood.

The book of Romans mentions the blood and the book of Hebrews also mentions the blood. But these two references are different. Romans speaks of the blood on the propitiation cover that is for redemption, whereas Hebrews speaks of the blood before the veil that is for drawing near to God and worshipping Him. The blood not only forgives and cleanses us from our sins but brings us near to God and leads us to worship.

You may argue, in spite of this, that you have not done well this week and cannot come boldly to God. What should you do? Let me ask you, when will you ever do well? When will you ever be able to think that you are good and can worship Him with all boldness? When will you ever be able to cry out “Hallelujah”? If you have to wait until you are able to do these things, you will wait until you are raptured before you can worship Him. You cannot determine your eligibility for worshipping based on your good or bad conduct. Instead, your worship should be based on the blood.

Suppose the Lord’s beloved disciples, Peter, John, or Paul, could meet with us today. The way they would come and worship before God is the same way we come and worship before God. They have to trust in the blood. Do not think that they are nearer to God, more acceptable to Him, and more capable of worshipping. There is no such thing. If anyone says this, I will be the first one to stand up to refute it. Peter, John, and Paul are the same as we are; everyone has to draw near to God through the blood alone.

I heard that someone said that as long as he can crawl into heaven and stand inside the gate, he will be satisfied. But no, we do not crawl before the Lord and worship Him in such a fearful way. We come to God in boldness and without fear. We have the right to be God’s children; this is God’s promise to us.

When I was young, whenever I went to visit someone, my heart would pound wildly. I was afraid that others would not be happy to see me. When I knocked at someone’s door, I dared not knock twice out of fear that I would make others unhappy, or that the person inside would open the door to rebuke me and immediately shut the door. I did not have the boldness to meet people.

But this is not the way we come to God. We come with authority and a commission. We come to Him as if coming to our own house; we knock at the door boldly and enter naturally. We should all come to the Holy of Holies and meet God with such an attitude.

If we know the worth of the blood, we will surely have boldness. The knowledge of the blood’s worth is the condition for worship. If we want to have power in our worship, we have to abide under the blood. Even the weakest and poorest believer has the same authority as the apostles did to worship God. His weakness can never lower the value and effectiveness of the blood. Every time we worship, we do so according to the blood. Our good works cannot add anything to the worth of the blood.

Our breaking of the bread (the Body) is a sign that the veil (the Lord’s body) has been broken. The barrier has been removed, and we can now enter the Holy of Holies. The cup is a symbol that the Lord has died for us and that His blood has led us to come near to God. I have to emphasize again that our qualification for coming to God has nothing to do with our weakness; we come because of the blood. If we look up to the blood, we can come before God every day, and we will not lose our boldness. Consider how you came to God the first time with your burden of sin, drew near to Him, and called on Him. Similarly, when we come to Him to worship Him, we can come boldly without being hindered by our own work or feeling but with a single heart that looks up to the blood. May we realize this more and more. In this way, we will be able to worship and praise God in oneness and harmony. By the Lord’s blood, we can serve and worship our God boldly and with authority.
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