“Just a Closer Walk with Thee” – Hebrews 10:22

My dad died in August, 1986.

I was pastoring my first church at the time. One of the things we needed to do as a church was build a worship center and some education space for our congregation. We had everything lined up to do that by the fall. We had secured the land, found a plan we liked and contacted the BGCT Baptist Men for volunteer builders to help keep our costs down.

A group of men came to our church one weekend to get some work done on our building. The leader of the group was a man named Jeff. I remember his first name because the man had an uncanny resemblance to my dad. I found myself gravitating toward him throughout the day. I don’t remember much else about him or that weekend other than a man who looked so much like dad was there, and, somehow or someway, simply being closer to Jeff helped me get close to Dad again.

We want to be close to people we love and admire. That’s why the hymn, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” is so meaningful for us. It is a song that expresses our desire to be closer to our Savior and to become more like Him.

Background

Of the hymns we’ve looked at over the weeks, this is the first one that has an unknown author. There are a number of stories about the hymn, and most of the stories trace the origins of the hymn to African-Americans. One story that speaks of the hymn took place in 1940. A man who got off a train briefly to stretch his legs and get some fresh air. He heard a porter singing the hymn. The man didn’t think much of the song at the time, but as the train left the station, the man began to mull over the song. He was so transfixed by the song that he got off the train at the next stop, took a train to the previous stop and found the porter. The man asked the porter to sing the song for him again, and this time the man wrote the words down and later transposed the tune.

There are records of similar hymns being sung as far back as the 1800’s, even before the Civil War. Again, no one knows the actual source of the hymn, but there is no doubt the hymn has struck a chord with worshippers down the years.

We’ve looked at today’s passage a few times over the past 15 years, and we have preached from Hebrews many times. We know the reason the writer wrote the book was to speak to young believers who were possibly wavering in their faith. He is writing to remind them that Jesus is superior to the Law and the Prophets. He wants his readers to realize that the way to draw close to God is through Jesus and that it is in Jesus that we find a true relationship with the Father. Repeatedly throughout the book of Hebrews the writer has made a comparison between the Old Covenant and Jesus and then come to a conclusion.

In this particular passage, the writer has demonstrated that Jesus is superior to the priests and the temple worship. Having reached this conclusion, he then writes what it means for his readers and for us.

Because Jesus is superior in every way to the worship practices of the Old Testament, the writer lets us know that we have direct access to the Father through the Son. He makes it clear in 10:19-21 that our ability to enter into God’s presence is solely due to Jesus and His sacrifice and resurrection.

When the writer refers to Jesus as a great priest in v. 21, the reference is to Jesus as the intercessor for us. The high priest had several duties. One was to offer sacrifices to God on the Day of Atonement. The other duty was to speak to God on behalf of the people and to speak to the people on God’s behalf. Jesus, who is superior to the high priest, now speaks to God on our behalf. He intercedes for us, as John reminds us in 1 John 2:2. He also makes our prayers available to the Father. Jesus, acting as our priest before the Father and offering Himself as a sacrifice once for all for our sins enables us to enter into God’s presence. Because of Jesus, you and I are able to draw near to the Father. We are able to walk closer to Him through the work of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

God wants us to draw near to Him. In Jeremiah 33:3, God tells us to call to Him and He will answer us. In Jeremiah 29:12, He says He will listen when we come to Him and call to Him and seek Him. Jesus tells us that if we will ask, we will receive; if we seek, we will find; if we knock the door will be open for us. James tells us that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. The simple gift of sending Jesus into our world to die for our sins and bring us eternal life is the greatest evidence of God’s desire for us to walk closer with Him. This act of redemption is also an act of reconciliation and adoption. God wants us to walk closer with Him.

In this one verse, the writer of Hebrews tells us how we are able to walk more closely with God.

Central Truth: God wants us to be closer to Him. He shows us how to draw near.

We draw near to God:

1. with a sincere heart

“. . . let us draw near to God with a sincere heart . . .”

I find it interesting to look into the origins of things. It is not unusual for us to come to a point only after a round-about way of getting there. This is true of words.

The word “sincere” comes from the Latin word “sincerus,” which means clean or sound. It also finds some validity from the phrase “sine cera.” “Sine cera” means without wax. Apparently, it was not uncommon in ancient Rome for potters to mark their pots “sine cera” to indicate that there was no wax in the pot. Some potters would seal their pots with a wax that would hold liquid in the pot. Over time, the wax would melt or wear away, leaving a leaky pot that was no longer useful for holding liquid. So, when we say that something is sincere, it means that it’s genuine, true, pure.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that if we will come near to God, we must do so with a sincere heart. It means that we are to draw close to God with a singular purpose and without any ulterior motive. We cannot come to God with a divided heart, nor can we walk closer with Him if we are constantly distracted by other things. We walk closer with God when we walk with a sincere heart—one that is committed completely and absolutely to Him.

If you will have a closer walk with God, come with a sincere heart.

2. in full assurance of faith

“. . . let us draw near to God . . . in full assurance of faith . . .”

A commentary I was reading on this verse speaks about an assurance of faith as a child running to his or her mother or father when the child is frightened. The child has absolute faith that the parent will protect them from harm.

When Laura was a little girl, she’d be playing in the back yard. I would be sitting nearby, watching and enjoying my little toddler of a daughter. We lived not too far from a railroad track. When a train would approach, Laura would immediately drop whatever it was she was doing and run as fast as she could to me. She’d scramble into my lap and I would hold her close to me. We would stay that way until the train had passed. Once she was sure it was safe, Laura would climb down and go back to her playing.

We come closer to God when we come with a full assurance of faith. When we have a faith in God, we believe He is who He says He is and that He does the things He says He does. By faith, we learn to walk in His ways, because we are confident that His ways are the best ways, the true way.

We must be people of faith. In Hebrews 11:6, we are reminded that, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Faith looks beyond the horizon to confidently believe that what is unseen is still true and real. Faith knows that God is real and that God is consistently able to do the things He says He will do.

If we want to have a closer walk with God, we must come with a full assurance of faith.

3. cleansed from a guilty conscience

“. . . let us draw near to God . . . having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience . . .”

We are all familiar with the idea of a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. The devil on the shoulder is tempting us to do the wrong thing, while the angel on the other shoulder is urging us to do the right thing. Literature is filled with stories about this struggle, and the struggle speaks to our conscience. When a person listens to the devil on his or her shoulder, he or she then has to deal with a guilty conscience.

Jesus came to overcome our conscience. Instead of trying to police ourselves, through the ministry of Jesus we are given the Holy Spirit that acts as our conscience. The Spirit’s role is to lead us into the truth, to remind us of what Jesus has said and to direct our steps. The Spirit brings conviction and leads us closer to the Father through the Spirit’s ministry.

The idea that is hear presented to us is that of a heart that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and ridding us of the guilt that is associated with our sin. When Christ saves us from our sin, the past becomes exactly that. The guilt that travels with sin is washed away, and we can come into God’s presence not guilt-ridden and anxious but joyfully and at peace. Just as the high priest was commanded to spring the altar cover with the blood of the atoning sacrifice, so Jesus has sprinkled our hearts with His blood, and we are free of sin and its consequences.

If we will walk closer with God, we must come with hearts that are sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.

4. washed with pure water

“. . . let us draw near to God . . . and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

When Aaron was being commissioned as the first high priest of Israel, God told Moses to wash Aaron in front of the entire nation of Israel. In bathing Aaron’s body, Moses was demonstrating that Aaron had been made clean and therefore able to stand before God as His servant. From this practice, Israel came to equate a clean body with a clean spirit.

It wasn’t that long ago that Americans and the world did not have indoor plumbing. To take a bath was a major endeavor, requiring getting out a wash basin, boiling water on the stove and pouring the boiling water into the wash basin. The basin would also be filled with cold water to keep the bath from scalding the bather. It was only after boiling gallons of water and painstakingly filling the tub with hot and cold water that a person could then take a bath. I’m told that it was not unusual for an entire family to use the same bath water before the tub was emptied and put away for the next time baths came about.

It’s not surprising that bathing was a once a week experience, if that often. Usually, the bathing would take place Saturday night, so that everyone looked their finest when they when to church Sunday. Church was a time when people would wear their best and look their best. They did it out of respect for God.

Washing the body has been a part of worship since before God gave the Law to Moses. It’s doubtful that the writer of Hebrews is here speaking about baptism, but baptism would not be too far off. The rite of baptism does not save us, nor does it cleanse us. What baptism does do is demonstrate that God through Jesus has set us free from our sins and that we now walk in a newness of life in Him. The water is symbolic of the cleansing that comes from Jesus’ work at Calvary.

Jesus tells us that He is living water and that if anyone would drink from the water Jesus gives will never thirst. Jesus is the pure water of which the writer of Hebrews speaks, and it is the water that comes from Jesus that washes our body and brings us a pure and clean heart.

When we want to walk closer with God, we must come with a body washed with pure water.

Conclusion

We don’t know the exact origin of the hymn, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” What we do know is that the person who wrote it had a keen understanding of our relationship with Jesus. He understood that we are weak, but Jesus is strong. He understood that Jesus cares about us and shares our burdens. He understood that Jesus will see us safely over when our time on earth is done. We may not know the author, but we know of his faith.

Something else we know is that we can walk closer to God. We can walk closer because of what God has done through His Son for us. We can walk closer as we follow the Spirit’s guidance.

A closer walk is always possible if we will give up the ways of this world and come to Him with a sincere heart, a full faith, a clear conscience and a pure spirit.

Are you ready to walk closer with Him?