"The LORD loveth the gates of Zion." -Psalm 87:2 [KJV]
What
are gates for? Two purposes, entrance and exit. And Zion, too, has her
gates of exit and entrance; she has her gates of access to God, entrance
into the presence of the Most High; "the door of hope," opened in "the
valley of Achor." And who has opened the door; or, rather, who has not
only opened it and made it, but Himself is the Door? "I am the Door,"
says Jesus. And was not "the door" opened through His rent flesh? As the apostle speaks: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh" (Hebrews 10:19-20.)
Through His bleeding wounds, through His pierced side, through His
mangled feet and hands, there is now access to God: "A door of hope is
open'd wide In Jesus' pierced hands and side." Is there any other access
to God, but through the slaughtered Lamb? "Through Him we have access
by one Spirit unto the Father." There is no other; for He is "The way,
the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father but by Him." Is
not this an open way?
Does not the soul through this door "walk in and
out and find pasture," and enter into the immediate presence of God? Do
you, my friends, ever find access to God, a heart to pray, a sense of
acceptance in prayer, an open door, and power to enter therein? What
opens it? Merit? Set up merit, and we are all damned to a man. It is not
merit, great or little; it is the blood of the Lamb which alone has
opened a way for poor lost sinners to draw near to God.
-preacher J.C. Philpot (1802-1869 A.D.)
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