Today I attended a Presbyterian church (PCA) and was deeply moved by the worship service, particularly the progression from confession of sin to the assurance of pardon and finally to the hymn of response.
In confessing sin, we recited a portion of St. Augustine’s Confessions, from volume 1, v-vi; VIII, iv:
“Our soul is like a house, small for You to enter, but we pray that You will enlarge it. It is in ruins, but we ask You to remake it. It contains much that You will not be pleased to see; this we know and do not hide. But, to whom can we cry except to You? Forgive us, O Lord. Cleanse us from our sins, O Lord, and our secret sins. What wretches we are! In your mercy, Lord our God, tell us what You are to us. Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation’ (Ps. 35:3). Come, O Lord, and stir our hearts. Call us back to yourself. Kindle your fire in us and carry us away. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love You and hasten to your side. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Next, we read this assurance of pardon from Psalm 103:10-12:
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens above the earth, so great is is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Then, we sang “Before the Throne of God Above”:
Before the throne of God above I have a strong, a perfect plea;
A great High Priest, whose name is Love, who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heav’n he stands no tongue can bid me thence depart,
No tongue can bid me thence depart.
When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me,
To look on Him and pardon me
Behold him there, the risen Lamb! My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM, the king of glory and of grace!
One with himself, I cannot die; my soul is purchased by his blood:
My life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ, my Saviour and my God.
With Christ, my Saviour and my God.
I was quite moved as we sang this song, and as I type these words now I realize what a tremendous privilege it is to have a great High Priest on whose hands my name is graven and as long as he stands in heaven, I have a strong and perfect plea. Hebrews 7:25 says, “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”
Such a different picture these words paint compared to what they mean in the traditional Adventist sense. The investigative judgment makes the work of Christ an effort to find out whether I’m righteous enough to save, but God’s Word says he is my intercessor. He died for my sins and pleads his blood before the Father, who sees not my sin-stained flesh but a robe of perfect righteousness belonging to Jesus.
What a wonderful thing it is to have a great High Priest who is my advocate and not my adversary!
Greg