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Everything We Need To Understand About Dwelling With God

Oct 31, 2017 | Hungering For God, Lessons | 0 comments

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Everything We Need to Understand

About Dwelling With God

Exodus 25:8

God wants to dwell with us and us to dwell with Him.

Jesus is named Immanuel, God with us in Matthew 1.

Heaven is described as the dwelling place of God is with men at the end of the Bible.

Today, we are confronted with what it means to dwell with God. God’s purpose is to dwell with us until we can dwell with Him. The start of the Tabernacle Scriptures states:

Ex 25:8 (NKJV) And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
In Exodus, God sent the plans to build a portable Doorway to Heaven where humans could come face to face with God, by way of substitutionary sacrifices. Coming before God is incredible.

That is what we need to think about more often, what it means to come face to face with God, which is only through Christ.

The Tabernacle was a reminder for us who live on Earth, of the reality of God upon His Throne. Today, what response does God expect of us when we see Him as He is this moment, seated upon His Throne?

MEETING THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE AT THE DOORWAY TO HEAVEN
The plan for the Doorway to Heaven that God gave is a guide for us to understand Christ’s work.
When God came down from Heaven to the Earth, the mountain began quaking, a cloud of fire surrounding God was burning the top of the mountain, and a pillar of smoke rose like from a blast furnace.
Each of the elements surrounding God’s Holy Throne, speak of a scene so awesome, and so massively powerful that frail creatures like we are as humans would have trouble surviving.
God left a visible plan of salvation for the world. For 500 years it was a tent that Moses built. Then it was in a Temple that Solomon built. Both portrayed:

THE PLAN GOD DISPLAYED
First, join me in a quick overview of how God laid out the plan of salvation so clearly in the detailed plans for the Tabernacle:
1. A sinner is outside the Tabernacle, kept away by a 7 ½ foot high white fence, set of posts held up by 60 solid brass sockets. There is only one way or gate into the enclosure, which opened directly in front of the Brazen Altar. That altar is the Cross of Jesus, which is where our spiritual life begins at salvation.
2. The next step after salvation is the regular cleansing at the Brazen Laver.
3. After being cleansed the next door leads to the Holy Place [about the size of a large living room (30 x 15)] where we find the Golden Table of Bread as we fellowship with Jesus through His Word.
4. Then guided by the light of the Golden Lampstand we are able to walk confidently as I John 1:7 says.
5. Then and only then can we understand the power of prayer as portrayed by the Golden Altar of incense.
6. Through prayer, we enter the Holy of Holies of God’s very presence.
7. In that Holiest Place, we find the peace and security of the Ark of the Covenant, the blood sprinkled mercy seat, and the glow of the Shekinah of God’s presence.

THE TABERNACLE ENTRANCE: GOD WANTS US TO COME TO HIM

Transcript

Let’s turn our Bibles. We’re going to Exodus 25, but if you want to get to Revelation 21, I just want to read a couple verses with you this morning… while I’m talking… The last book of the Bible, Revelation 21, almost the last chapter of the Bible. We’re going to read out of Revelation 21, and what we’re looking at is this, and we’re getting to Exodus 25:8, but Revelation 21 is connected to it. Everything we need to understand about dwelling with God. Did you know that God’s eternal purpose, changeless from eternity past purposes, that God, the God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, wants to dwell with us. God wants me to live near Him. He wants to dwell with me, and He wants me to dwell with Him.

Did you know that’s God’s changeless purpose? Before He created humanity, before He created the universe, He created the whole universe to create us because He wanted us to dwell with Him. That’s what the Bible’s about. And the New Testament opens with when the greatest event in all of history when God Himself moves down to live on Earth for 33 years. He is named Emmanuel, which being translated is what? God with us. God wants to be with us, so that we will get to know Him, so that we can be with Him forever. And this is how the Bible ends in Revelation 21.

And are you there? Two of you are. Okay, good. Are you there? Okay, good. Let’s stand up and we’re going to read it. You follow along in your Bibles, Revelation 21, because I want you to see everything we need to understand about dwelling with God. And everything we need to understand He’s told us, and it’s written down. It says in Revelation 21, and I saw a new heaven and a new Earth for the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away. Also, there were no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Now this is the key. Look at verse 3. And I heard a loud voice from Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. God’s eternal purpose fulfilled right there. God, before there was anything, knew that He wanted us to dwell with Him forever. Wow. Kind of gives you a whole new perspective on life, your part. And I’m a part of something bigger than this whole universe, before it even began, the Creator wanted that. How do I know that? Because God doesn’t change, and He doesn’t discover and add to His knowledge. This is what He has always wanted. He doesn’t do any mid-course flight adjustments like we do. This is His plan. Let’s bow together.

Father, I pray that You teach us everything we need to know this morning about dwelling with You. How to dwell in Your presence. How to experience more of the wonders of dwelling in Your presence. And I pray that through Your Spirit, using Your Word, for moving our hearts that we will choose today those little choices that we can make to draw closer to You in preparation to living with You forever. Thank you for the privilege, the awesome future destiny we have to dwell actually inside of Your house forever. We thank you, in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

You may be seated. As you’re seated, God wants to dwell with us, and He wants us to dwell with Him. Jesus is named Emmanuel, God with us, in Matthew 1. Heaven is described, we just read it, as the dwelling place of God with men at the end of the Bible. And today we are confronted with what does that mean? And so, let’s go to Exodus 25:8, because this idea surfaces in the longest single passage about any topic in the scriptures. There are more chapters devoted to this dwelling place of God than any other topic. There’s only two chapters in the whole Bible about the creation of the universe. Two. And yet, we have the 15 chapters from Exodus 25 to 40, plus all 27 chapters of Leviticus. That’s 42 chapters just there, about this thing, this portable doorway to Heaven, called the tabernacle and later the temple.

In Exodus, God sends the plans. In verse 8, it talks about it. And let them make, this is Exodus 25:8, and let them make Me, God is speaking, a sanctuary. That’s this holy place, that I may dwell among them. See, God wanted to dwell among us, and everybody that allows Him to dwell among them, they get to dwell with Him forever. So, you can know if you’re going to spend forever with God if you’re allowing His sanctuary to be your body. See, it isn’t just a portable tent. In the New Testament, God dispenses with the tabernacle and temple and says, I’m going to make you My dwelling place. So, you know you have eternal life if God is living in your sanctuary of your body as His temple, right now. But He said, look at verse 8. I want to make, them to make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

In Exodus, God sent the plans to build this portable doorway to Heaven. Where humans could come face to face with God. But they could only come face to face with God by following the pathway to God that God designed. See, religion is man making his own pathway. Revelation, that’s God inspiring His Word, the forever settled in Heaven Word of God, inspired by God and presented to us in the Bible, that is revelation that has the pathway God designed. Religion designs its own pathway, with all of its rules and its pilgrimages and its holy things you do and you never quite do enough and you never are sure, you’re hoping you balance out. That’s religion. That Satan’s religion. Satan’s the author of religion. God is the revealer of the one and only way to His presence.

So, in Exodus, God gives these plans for a portable doorway to Heaven where humans could come face to face with God. Only by way of a substitutionary sacrifice. A substitute that sheds its blood in place of the sinner. That was the whole idea of the tabernacle and later the temple. Coming before God is awesome. That’s why we need to think about it more often, what it means to come face to face with God. And what it means is, it’s only through Jesus Christ. And everything about this doorway we’re going to look at points in an incredible way to Jesus Christ. And how He is the way to God. The tabernacle was a reminder for us who live on Earth of the reality of God upon His throne.

Today, what response does God expect of us as we seek Him?

And basically, God wants us to think that we, at any moment, any time in our life, can meet Him as the king of the universe when we come through the doorway that He designed. But it has to be the doorway that He designed. Not religion, not our own self-appointed way. People say don’t talk to me about that, I have my own way. I’ve figured this out.

I don’t have my own way. There’s only one way and God designed it. And basically, this is the plan. This is right out of Sunday School material. This is what you saw as a kid in those little tiny Sunday School rooms when you grew up, and you had this elderly Sunday School teacher. I’ve seen this picture all my life since I was little. And by the way, I didn’t get to see that picture. I was so bad when I was in Sunday School. My Sunday School teacher that visited here about three months ago, she’s in her late 80s, and she was sitting right out there, and I went, oh no. And I walked up to her, I saw her before the service, and she said, I always remember making you stand in the corner, didn’t I? I was so, in fact, that affected me the rest of my life. They pushed my face into the corner because I was so bad, and I had to stand with my back to the class. But I listened. They couldn’t plug my ears. So, I know what the chart looks like. I heard her talk about it. But my second grade Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Keetch. Oh, thank the Lord for all those Sunday school teachers.

Okay, this is the plan of God displayed. You notice there’s only one door. There’s only one entrance. It’s right there. The exclusivity of the Gospel was designed by God. The Church is not the one that makes the Gospel exclusive. In fact, if I could do it, I wouldn’t. It’s just too hard to say there’s only one way, but God said it. And there is only one way to God. And it’s not religion. And it’s not you doing part and God doing part. And it’s not that Jesus paid part of it and God’s going to pay the rest by you helping out. No. One way. And the one way is portrayed by this one gate. A 30 foot wide gate that led into the tabernacle.

And what’s interesting is, this is enlarged upon in the cities of refuge. That’s another part that most people have never spent time studying about in the Old Testament. And the cities of refuge were six cities within a day’s run by anybody in Israel. They could get to a city of refuge if they were endangered because they accidentally harmed someone. And the thing about the cities of refuge is, the same as the tabernacle, the cities of refuge gates were never closed. Every other city in Israel, and probably the ancient world, closed their gates at night and in warfare, because there was danger. So, at sundown, they closed the gates and barred them and posted the guard. And everybody from the fields had to get in before dark from the fields to be protected inside the gates. But the cities of refuge, the gates never closed. 24/7 the door was open; you could flee for refuge. That’s why Christ is called the one to whom we flee for refuge. That actual is the city of refuge with the gate that never closed.

So, if we come through the one gate… a sinner stands outside, sees this white wall, sees the barrier. Any other direction you come; there’s no entrance. But if you come through the one gate that’s marked by the red to speak of the blood, the sacrifice, and you come through the one door, you’re confronted, first of all, with the largest piece of furniture in the whole tent, the brazen altar. The altar of brass, the altar of burnt offering, where you would bring your sacrifice. And, it had little horns on the corners, you would tie your sacrifice up there and wait in your line for the priest to come and to kill that animal that you put your hands on, identified with, and to shed its blood, and to offer its body as a complete burnt sacrifice. That’s a picture of the cross. That Jesus Christ is the one sacrifice that we can approach God through the one door, the one sacrifice.

Then what’s interesting is there’s this no man’s land between the inner place where every… This is all made of brass, out here. This is all made of gold. This speaks out here of sin being dealt with once and for all on the cross, daily in cleansing. The laver right there was the constant cleansing that was needed. Reminds me of growing up in Haslett, Michigan and we lived in this little tiny cabin. It was a cottage actually, on Lake Lansing. And between our little cottage and everybody else, there was this alley. It was a sandy alley. Oh, it was fun. We used to play out there, and we did everything with the sand. We threw it at each other. We played with our cars in it and everything. But when my mother would say, it’s time for lunch, come on in. And I would look up, and she’d look at me and say, and wash your hands before you come to lunch. Of course, I would place my car a little bit more, and then I would be late, and I’d run up to lunch. And I’d be standing there and she would not let me in to the meal until I had washed my hands, and a few other things, too. I was really dirty. And that wasn’t being mean. She kept the meal from me until I obediently was cleansed, but I was already a member of the family. That’s why I was invited to the meal.

Do you see the whole plan of the Christian life is here? You can’t get inside this enclosure without confronting the cross. You can’t get into the blessings of the back half here, which is the satisfaction of the bread, the illumination of the lamp, the benefits of the intercessory prayer, the altar of incense, and the security of the Ark of the Covenant which is the very presence of God, you can’t enjoy any of that even though you’re part of the family, if you don’t stay cleansed. And that’s where 1 John 1:9 comes. 1 John 1:9 says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. And by the way, forgive is an aorist active indicative. It’s a once and for all sacrifice. In aorist tense means that it’s accomplished once in the past and has continuing benefits. Jesus died once. But it says He’s faithful and just, present, active, indicative, to constantly cleanse us. See, we don’t need to beg God to forgive us. He already has. We need to enjoy the benefits of that forgiveness by asking for Him to cleanse us. Wash our hands and allow us to come into His presence because God does not allow uncleansed sinners into the benefits of him, satisfying us, illumining us, interceding for us, and securing us. You can’t have the benefits in God’s plan without being cleansed. That’s a quick overview.

So, what does that mean? Let’s go through the pieces, and if you’re in Exodus the first piece is the entry gate, and that’s in chapter 26. If you look at the 37 verses of chapter 26, it’s about the entrance. And basically, every one of these elements we’re going to go through of the tabernacle is God declaring something. That entrance gate, the 30 foot wide one I told you about, is a declaration God wants us to come to Him. The reason that there’s an entrance is He wants us to come. If He didn’t want us to come, He would have blocked it. There would have been no way in. You’d have to have a helicopter to get in that place. But God made this massive, disproportionate to the rest of the thing, 30 foot wide doorway. Why? Because God wants us to come to Him. But you have to come through the one entrance, bringing your sacrifice.

And for the Israelites, they had this roster of what the qualifications for a sacrificial animal that sounds like the pedigree of Christ. A firstborn, unblemished, spotless, perfect male. That was the very best from your herd. And you had to bring that innocent, perfect creature, the one that should have gotten the blue ribbon at the fair, and you had to bring it to a priest who would sacrifice it after you put your hand on it and identified your sins with that innocent substitute. And then that sacrifice would be completely consumed. And so, the tabernacle entrance is God wants us to come to Him. And the entrance is a graphic picture of Jesus Christ, who said, I am the way and I am the door. John 10. Jesus said, I am the doorway. You have to come through Me, by Me. And just as there’s only one entrance to that tabernacle, there’s only one way to God. The only way and the only door. And it’s Jesus Christ.

And Christianity is exclusive not because we want to be, but because God designed it that way. And God designed that there is only one way. And throughout the centuries of course, Christians have made the earthly Church exclusive in wrong ways. At times the illiterate and the poor didn’t feel welcomed, and all of the rituals may help people out, and those are wrong ways. But, God has intentionally made His spiritual eternal Church exclusive. It can be entered only through Jesus Christ. And that’s the door, and that’s the message.

In fact, the 100th psalm, and I’ll read it to you, is an amazing Reminder of what it’s like to be able to enter through into the… That’s what the 100th Psalm is about. Let me read it to you. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, Psalm 100 verse 1, all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. Where did they come before His presence? The presence of God was visibly portrayed by the flame, the Shekinah glory that hovered over the tabernacle during all the years of the wilderness wandering. That glowing cloud of fire was a constant 24 hour a day, 7 days a week reminder of God’s presence. And if you wanted to come into His presence, you had to come to that tent because it was embodied there. So come before His presence with singing. Know that He is the Lord. He is God. It is He who made us, not we ourselves.

This entire idea of the creator and the creation and the creative work of God and God being the creator is always tied to genuine worship. How can you worship the one who is not the creator? And how can you not, and I not worship the one who made all things? And that’s why even the 100th psalm is creator based. He is the one who made us. We didn’t make ourselves. We are His people, the sheep of His pastures. And Psalm 100 goes on to say, enter His gates with thanksgiving. Come walking into His presence. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him. Bless His name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. He’s good because He made an entryway.

Next when you, by the way, I’ll back up just for you to see the proximity. You’re walking through the gate; the first thing you bump into is the largest piece of furniture. And that largest piece of furniture is the altar of brass, which is a declaration. What does the gate say? God wants us to come in. What does the altar of brass say? God wants to forgive us. God doesn’t hide it. It’s not like finding the way of forgiveness is you have to go through some exotic maze to figure it out. It’s just front and center. God says, I want you to know that. I want you to be forgiven. I want to forgive you. Did you know that Jesus embodied that too? The religious people didn’t like Him because they didn’t think they needed anything to be forgiven of. They couldn’t think of anything they’ve done wrong. The common people, the poor people, the defiled people, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the publicans, they loved Jesus because they knew they were bad, He knew they were bad, and He wanted to forgive them. The religious people didn’t like Jesus because they didn’t know they were bad. He thought they were bad, and they didn’t think they needed forgiveness. Isn’t that interesting? God says, I want to forgive you if you know you need to be forgiven.

And when you come into the tabernacle, this altar of brass points to Christ saving us. It’s only when you admit you’re outside can you come in. You could stay outside that tent and think that’s an interesting tent, but I’m not interested. I don’t have any need of it. But if you realize that God is there dwelling and there’s only one way to get to God, and when you find out that one way, you bump into this, you must either deny, turn around, and leave, or say, yeah, I need a substitute. I can only come in here with, I can only come in towing my sacrificial substitute that’s going to die like I should die for my sins.

And what does this portray for us? At the altar of brass, this box of acacia wood covered with brass, with this grate that had coals underneath it to burn the sacrifice, that’s what the furniture piece looked like. At the altar of brass, I see Jesus on the cross, paying completely the penalty for my sins.

Now, if you’ll take a minute, take your hymn book and turn to number 210. Now, we haven’t grabbed our hymn books since the last “sang-spiration” night we had a few Sunday nights ago, but let’s try it. We’re not going to sing, so don’t be alarmed. 210. I want you to see something. The hymn writers illustrate all these truths in a remarkable way. And every one of these pieces of furniture has a hymn about it. I don’t know if you realize that. It’s amazing how, historically, the doctrines of the truth of scriptures have been all reflected in this hymn book. But number 210. The title of this hymn is, Jesus paid it… what? All. Now, this is significant. Religion says, no, you got to pay part of it. The Gospel says, Jesus paid it, what? All. In fact, let’s read the refrain together. You ready?

Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

Do you know what religion says? Religion, and I’m talking about all religions. You can put Romanism, Mormonism, Islamism, Confucianism, Hinduism, all of religions. You notice they’re all isms. All of them equally say, you got to pay part of it. You’ve got to. You know Hinduism? You’ve got to be reincarnated and keep going upward. And if you make any mistakes, you’re going to have your bad time until you get reincarnated and elevated. But it’s no different than Romanism. What does Roman Catholicism say? Jesus paid most of it, but you have got to come and confess and do your penance and take part in the Mass. And if you don’t do that, you’re going to go burn for a while. There’s a summary in one sentence of Roman Catholicism, the majority stakeholder in global Christianity who have religion that’s polluting the Gospel, which says, look back, Jesus paid it all.

How do I know that? Because by one sacrifice on the cross, Jesus died once for all. Hebrews 10 says that by His one sacrifice, we can be completely cleansed. Now, here’s the mathematics of salvation. If Jesus died for even one of my sins, He died for all of my sins. If Jesus didn’t die for some of my sins, He didn’t die for any of my sins. It’s interconnected because He only offered one sacrifice. And either on the cross, portrayed by this brazen altar, Jesus died in my place for all of my sins or He didn’t die for any of them. So, on the altar of brass I see Jesus on the cross paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God. That’s what John 1:29 says.

You know what John 1:29 says? The last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist, was standing by the river Jordan, baptizing people when Jesus came along to be baptized and he pointed at Him and said there is THE Lamb of God. There had been many lambs of God, many lambs offered to God by the millions in the tabernacle, but all of them pointed to that one, THE Lamb of God. And when I point my faith on Him as my sacrifice on the cross, I am trusting He completely paid the penalty for all my sins. And that’s the entry into this incredible tent.

But once I come through Christ trusting in His cross, I begin to have the evidence of salvation. This is the justifying work of Christ. This is the sanctifying work of Christ. If you have a coin, let me get my dark one. If you have a coin and you only have something on one side, and the other side is blank, you have a dud. If you have a dollar bill, or a twenty, and you only have, who’s on the twenty? Hamilton? No, he’s on the ten. Who’s on the twenty? Jackson. Is it Jackson? Bonnie doesn’t give me any twenties. No, I’m teasing. No. No, no, she’s very generous. She gives me tens. No, not really. But if you have currency, and there’s only one side of it and the other side’s there, run back to the bank. Actually, take it to the coin collector shop, it’s probably worth a fortune. But it’s not legitimate, it’s not all there. If you have a justification that does not have attached to it sanctification, it’s not legitimate.

We have many people that say, pray this prayer, you’re going to Heaven. Live like the devil, you don’t have to worry because you’re going to Heaven. If you have a justification without the other side of the coin being sanctification, it wasn’t minted by God. God puts sanctification and justification as two sides of the same coin. The constant need for cleansing, for repentance, for turning from and forsaking sin is the message of the Gospel. And any Gospel message without the constant, lifelong, sanctifying work of Christ is not a biblical Gospel presentation. We don’t try Jesus and oh, I did that, yeah, hasn’t changed a thing about me, but I did that. Yeah, you might have done that, but He didn’t do what He does because the salvation Jesus does on the cross puts His Spirit within us, who is the Spirit of holiness. See, if we’re truly born again, the Holy Spirit moved within, and we long to be sanctified by Christ. And if we are not sanctified, we have no access to the benefits of that second half. That’s Christ serving us.

Let’s go through this. The laver, God wants to cleanse us. At the laver, I see Jesus on His knees cleansing my sins. Do you remember the apostles? They came to the Last Supper. In fact, we just did that a few days ago on Mount Zion. Went up to the upper room. We re-enacted and relived that event. Where all those men came in, and they knew, like my mom had said, you can’t have lunch without washing your hands, they knew you couldn’t have supper without washing your feet. That was customary. You did not go through the front door without taking your sandals off. And every time you came for a meal, you took your sandals off, and you put your foot in the bowl, and the slave, or the designated slave washed and dried your feet. And you put the other one in, washed and dried, and you’d go get to the table for the meal. The disciples had lived their entire lives washing, having their feet washed and dried before they had the meal.

They came that night and they looked around and they said there’s no servant. And all of them said, I’m not going to be the servant, you should be the servant. And so, they all proudly went to the meal with dirty feet and proud hearts. And John 13 says, all of a sudden, they heard the sound of Jesus getting up, taking off His outer coat, going and taking the towel that was already by the door, and the basin that was already by the door, that everyone walked past proudly and cold heartedly. And Jesus took that and started at their feet and washed each of their feet as a picture of how He wants to keep cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

When we look at the tabernacle and the temple, we think of Jesus. He’s the one that wants to cleanse us, so that we can enjoy the benefits of our salvation. And what are those benefits? The benefits, the holy place, all that stuff, the four pieces of furniture, there’s the four of them, are all Christ serving us. How does He serve us?

Number one, the lamp stand says He wants to illumine us. Bonnie and I recently were visiting some people, and they had a project, and they took us in their basement to see the project, and they didn’t have electricity yet, in their basement. And so, all of us they said, take your phone out and so we all took our phones out. And they said, put on your flashlight, and so here we were like this, looking at their project in their basement, like this. And I was looking, and all of a sudden, I saw water, and I said what’s that? They said, don’t step in it, and I thought boy, I’m glad I have my light, I might have drowned or something in their basement. And did you know, a lot of people go through life without the lights on because of not being cleansed? You understand, that if we do not allow Jesus Christ to be and the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved, blameless unto the coming. If He is not sanctifying us, we don’t get the benefits, number one, of Him illumining our lives.

How does He want to do that? The lampstand, the golden lampstand. I see Jesus in the upper room. He illustrated this in Luke 24:45. They didn’t understand the Bible. He illumined. He opened their understanding. Do you know why a lot of people don’t understand the Bible? They haven’t asked Jesus to cleanse their mind. They understand every game there is. They understand every movie there is. They’re deadened by everything. But they can’t seem to get the Bible because they haven’t stopped and let Jesus cleanse and open our understanding to His Word and His plan. What an awful thing to go through life not knowing what’s going on.

Secondly, the golden table, that’s the table of showbread, it is a declaration. Now, does God want to illumine and show me why I’m here? He wants to satisfy us. Did you know God invented all of our appetites? Jesus’ first temptation, do you remember what it was? The devil said to Jesus, command that these rocks be made into bread. Why? Because Jesus was hungry. Is there anything wrong with hunger? No. Any appetite we have, God created those physical appetites. Appetite for food, appetite for pleasure, appetite for sexual things. Every one of those God designed. None of them are wicked and horrible. But boy, we pervert all of them. Like the overeating thing. The utter slavery, overindulgence, and everything. We want to satisfy a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way. And God says, no. If you come to me, the one who created the desire knows best how to satisfy it completely. That’s why the wicked are like the restless sea. They’re always wanting more. They’re insatiable. Solomon put it well. The eyes of a man are never satisfied. Apart from God’s grace, we’re never satisfied. We just want more. We want different. We just can’t get enough of anything. You come to Christ, He says I designed all those hungers and desires, I’ll satisfy them.

At the golden table, we see Jesus on the hillside, feeding the bread of life. Do you remember when he fed the 5,000? Was there anything wrong with them being hungry? No. When Jesus fed them, He didn’t just give them, throw them a crust of bread. He fed them with the five loaves and two fish until there were twelve baskets left over. Do you know what that means? Everyone had more than enough. They had an overflowing satisfaction. Wow. At the golden table, Jesus says, I want you to see Me as the one that wants to feed and satisfy you.

The altar of incense, that next piece. God wants to care for us. Do you remember what Jesus did? This is Jesus on His face at Gethsemane praying for us. Hebrews 7 says He ever lives to pray for us. We just did that in the Holy Land too. We went up to the mountain where Jesus was watching them in the storm out on the boat. And He watched them until 3 AM. And when they were desperate and thought after 9 hours of paddling, they were going to never make it home and drowned, He walks across the storm and gets in their boat and calms it. He was watching them the whole time. They wouldn’t have drowned. He just waited to be invited into their boat. And once He got in… See, Jesus is praying for me. Jesus wants to care for me. That’s what this is about.

And then finally the back part. Remember that’s the holy place, the holy of holies you’ve heard of. It had another piece of furniture with a top and a bottom. The mercy seat. The top is where the Bible says God wanted to meet with them. That’s where He talked from, to the High Priest, they could hear His voice. And at the golden mercy seat, we see Jesus pouring Himself out, His blood. See, this is the mercy seat right there.

This spot between the two cherubim on the lid of the Ark. This is the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat on the top. These are cherubim and they’re looking down at where the blood was poured. And once a year the High Priest came in and poured the blood on that spot. And that was called the mercy seat which, interestingly enough, comes through in the New Testament with that huge word a lot of people stumble over. Propitiation. What is that? Hiláskomas is the Greek word. What does that mean? It’s actually the Greek word for mercy seat. Jesus is the one whose blood shields God’s wrath from seeing the law.

What was in the bottom half of this chest? The Ten Commandments. The two tables of the law. And those tables of law were crying, guilty, guilty, guilty, you can’t keep the law. And the mercy seat was the blood through which God did not condemn us for all of our sins because Jesus said, I paid for that. He took away my sin. He is the propitiating sacrifice. Not for my sins only, John says in 1 John 2, but for the sins of the world.

That connects to the Ark of the Covenant which is the underneath part, and the totality, the mercy seat, and the bottom chest is called the Ark of the Covenant. God wants to secure us. He wants us to be the most secure people in the world. And in the golden ark, I see Jesus now in Heaven. He is my mercy seat, and He’s holding the rope that anchors my soul to Heaven.

You say, what’s that? One last verse. We have one minute. So, let’s see how fast we can go to Hebrews chapter 6. And some of you have never seen this before. This is what Jesus calls Himself. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 19. This… well, verse 18. That by two immutable things, Hebrews 6:18, in which it is impossible for God to lie. We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge. Remember the city’s refuge. The gates are always open to lay hold in the hope set before us. And this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, verse 19, holding the rope, anchoring my soul, in Hebrews.

Now listen to this. This is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. Both sure and steadfast, and it enters into the presence behind the veil. This is all a picture of us outside and the Ark of the Covenant behind [all] that veil. And Jesus is portrayed as the one that is holding the anchor behind the veil. But look at verse 20. Where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become our High Priest forever.

What is that? Let me tell you one snatch of history. Remember, I was a history major. They didn’t have wonderful natural harbors in the ancient world. They had rocky coasts, and they had trouble bringing boats. So, most boats just went into rivers. They didn’t have harbors. But in cities that didn’t have a river, what they did is, they cleared the rocks and made a shore place, and they put a winch on the shore, and they had that winch to pull the boats ashore in that little narrow spot for safety in storms. And one person was designated on the boat, called the prodromos. Pro means to go before, and dromos is the direction. He would tie a rope around his waist, dive into the ocean, swim to the shore with the rope attached, untie it, hand it to the winch operator who would connect it, and that boat would be tugged one crank at a time, safely into harbor until it was up on shore. But during the storm, lashing it around, it was still connected to the rope. And even though there was a storm, it knew, the people on it knew they were being pulled closer and closer. Prodromos is that person.

Now look at verse 20. Where the… what does your Bible say next? Forerunner. Jesus. That’s the word prodromos. Jesus is the one that jumped in with the rope connected to us, tied in Him. And He went before the Father and He connected us in the veil, the anchor in verse 19. And every day He’s cranking us a step closer home. In the golden Ark I see Jesus in Heaven holding the anchor to my soul and tugging me every day closer. That’s such a beautiful picture of His work.

So, the Ark of the Covenant, as the hymn writer said, can it be that I have this kind of an interest in heavenly things?

Before we go, the message of salvation is we can meet the king of the universe. But only in the doorway He designed, which is Jesus Christ. In that doorway we find Jesus Christ has His arms open like that big gateway to the tabernacle.

And when we respond to Him, we find He wants to forgive us, and cleanse us, and illumine us. That’s the altar, and the laver, and the candlestick, and the bread of the showbread. He wants to satisfy us. He wants to ever care for us like that altar of incense. He wants to meet with us daily like that mercy seat, and He wants to secure us forever. And that’s God’s plan, so we can dwell with Him.

Let’s all stand together. It’s time to go. And as you stand, I would like to say this. For some of you, in a group this size, you say I’m not sure all that stuff’s happened to me. You can be sure that you’re tied and anchored to Heaven. You can be sure that you are clinging to Christ. Jesus Christ is actually here. He attends Calvary Bible and every other place where the Word of God is proclaimed and the Gospel is presented. And His arms are open wide. And He said, all you have to do is call out to Me and hold on to Me as the only one that can save you. Religion says you do part of it; He does part of it. The revelation says He does it all. We just, in faith, cry out to Him and He saves us.

If you know the Lord, but you’ve gotten off track, at the end of the service there’ll be men and women here in the front with the Word of God to pray with you. If you have never met the Lord, and right where you’re standing, you’re calling out to Him, but you’d like to talk to someone, they’ll be here. And if you want to get scared to death, come back tonight, and I’ll tell you some exciting stories. Let’s bow for a word of prayer.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that You are the sure and steadfast anchor for our souls that have entered into the veil, there to appear in the presence of God for us. You want to secure us and want us to be satisfied and illumined and cared for. And You have made the way. And I pray that we would go through that doorway by faith. And that we would cling to Your sacrifice and keep asking for Your cleansing, so that we can enjoy the blessings of all that You want to do in and through us here on Earth and get us ready for dwelling in your house forever. In the precious name of Jesus, we pray. And all God’s people said, Amen. God bless you.

Notes

God wants to dwell with us and us to dwell with Him.

Jesus is named Immanuel, God with us in Matthew 1.

Heaven is described as the dwelling place of God is with men in the end of the Bible.

Today we are confronted with what it means to dwell with God. God’s purpose is to dwell with us until we can dwell with Him. The start of the Tabernacle Scriptures states:

Ex 25:8 (NKJV) And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

In Exodus, God sent the plans to build a portable Doorway to Heaven where humans could come face to face with God, by way of substitionary sacrifices. Coming before God is awesome.

That is what we need to think about more often, what it means to come face to face with God, which is only through Christ.

The Tabernacle was a reminder for us who live on Earth, of the reality of God upon His Throne. Today, what response does God expect of us when we see Him as He is this moment, seated upon His Throne?

 

Meeting the King of the Universe at the Doorway to Heaven

The plans for the Doorway to Heaven that God gave is a guide for us to understand Christ’s work.

When God came down from Heaven to the Earth, the mountain began quaking, a cloud of fire surrounding God was burning the top of the mountain, and a pillar of smoke rose like from a blast furnace.

Each of the elements surrounding God’s Holy Throne, speak of a scene so awesome, and so massively powerful that frail creatures like we are as humans would have trouble surviving.

God left a visible plan of salvation for the world. For 500 years it was a tent that Moses built. Then it was in a Temple that Solomon built. Both portrayed:

 

The Plan God Displayed

First join me in a quick overview of how God laid out the plan of salvation so clearly in the detailed plans for the Tabernacle:

  1. A sinner is outside the Tabernacle, kept away by a 7 ½ foot high white fence, set of posts held up by 60 solid brass sockets. There is only one way or gate into the enclosure, which opened directly in front of the Brazen Altar. That altar is the Cross of Jesus, which is where our spiritual life begins at salvation.
  2. The next step after salvation is the regular cleansing at the Brazen Laver.
  3. After being cleansed the next door leads to the Holy Place [about the size of a large living room (30 x 15)] where we find the Golden Table of Bread as we fellowship with Jesus through His Word.
  4. Then guided by the light of the Golden Lamp stand we are able to walk confidently as I John 1:7 says.
  5. Then and only then can we understand the power of prayer as portrayed by the Golden Altar of incense.
  6. Through prayer we enter the Holy of Holies of God’s very presence.
  7. In that Holiest Place we find the peace and security of the Ark of the Covenant, the blood sprinkled mercy seat and the glow of the Shekinah of God’s presence.

 

THE TABERNACLE ENTRANCE: God Wants Us To Come to Him

THE COURTYARD OF THE TABERNACLE (Ex. 26:1-37) was one hundred fifty feet long and seventy-five feet wide. Its single gate, on the east side, was thirty feet wide and seven and a half feet high, allowing a large number of people to enter at the same time.

This entrance is a graphic picture of Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way” and “I am the door.” Just as there was only one entrance to the Tabernacle, there is only one way to God-the only Way and the only Door, Jesus Christ. Christianity is exclusive, not because Christians make it so but because God has made it so.

Throughout the centuries, of course, Christians have made the earthly church exclusive in many wrong ways. But God has intentionally made His spiritual, eternal church exclusive. It can be entered only through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 100: Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He isGod; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

 

ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING: God Wants to Forgive Us

The first article of furniture in the outer court was THE BRONZE ALTAR (Ex. 27:1-8). It was made of acacia wood sheathed with bronze. It was seven and a half feet square, stood four and a half feet off the ground, and was topped with a bronze grate. The coals were placed underneath the grate and the sacrifice was placed on top.

On the four corners of the altar were horns, to which the animal was bound when it was being sacrificed. The bronze altar is again a perfect picture of Jesus Christ, who Himself was a sacrifice for sin.

At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Revelation 5:9-10 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

“Jesus Paid it all” # 210

At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.

 

LAVER: God Wants to Cleanse Us

The next piece of furniture in the court was THE LAVER or basin, also made of bronze (Ex. 30:17-21). In it the priests would wash their hands, and even sometimes their feet, as they went about the bloody services of sacrifice.

Here is a picture of Jesus Christ as the cleanser of His people. Once we have received forgiveness for our sins through Christ’s sacrifice of Himself, we still need His daily cleansing that restores fellowship and joy.

At the Laver of Brass I see Jesus on His knees – cleansing my sins.

John 13:4-10 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” 8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”

Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

“There is a Fountain” # 196

  1. At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.
  2. At the Laver of Brass I see Jesus on His knees – cleansing my sins.

 

LAMPSTAND: God Wants to Illumine Us

On the left, as the priest entered, was a solid GOLD LAMPSTAND having seven branches, each filled with the purest olive oil (Ex. 25:31-40). “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world,” Jesus said (John 9:5).

When He left the world, the world was left in darkness, and only for believers is He the light of life. He is the light that directs our paths, the One who, through the Spirit, illumines our minds to understand spiritual truth. He is the One who, by the indwelling Spirit, guides us through the world of darkness. He is our light.

At the Golden Lamp Stand I see Jesus in the Upper Room – opening my mind to His Word.

Luke 24:45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Ephesians 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

“Spirit of the Living God” # 247

  1. At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.
  2. At the Laver of Brass I see Jesus on His knees – cleansing my sins.
  3. At the Golden Lamp Stand I see Jesus in the Upper Room – opening my mind to His Word.

 

Table of the Bread: God Wants to Satisfy Us

On the right was THE TABLE on which was THE SACRED BREAD, or show-bread (Ex. 25:23-30). This table, like the base of the altar, was of acacia wood overlaid with gold. It was three feet long, one and a half feet wide, and two and a quarter feet high.

Every Sabbath twelve loaves of fresh bread were set on it, one for each of the twelve tribes. At the end of the week, the priests, and only the priests, were allowed to eat the loaves.

Jesus is our sustenance. He is our table of sacred bread. He is the One who feeds us every day, who sustains us with the Word. The Word is not only our food but our light. And the oil is the Spirit of God, who lights the Word for us.

At the Golden Table I see Jesus on the hillside – feeding me the Bread of Life.

John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

Hebrews 2:14-18 on screen: Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. 17Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.

“Break Thou the Bread of Life”          Hymn #274

  1. At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.
  2. At the Laver of Brass I see Jesus on His knees – cleansing my sins.
  3. At the Golden Lamp Stand I see Jesus in the Upper Room – opening my mind to His Word.
  4. At the Golden Table I see Jesus on the hillside – feeding me the Bread of Life.

 

Altar of Incense: God Wants to Care for Us

Farther in and to the center of the Holy Place was THE ALTAR OF INCENSE (Ex. 30:1-10). It, too, was of gold-overlaid acacia wood, one and one-half feet square, and about three feet high. On this altar were placed the burning coals from the bronze altar in the courtyard, where sacrifice was made. The altar of incense pictures Jesus interceding for us, the perfect Sacrifice becoming the perfect Intercessor.

These three pieces of furniture also picture Christ. Everything in the outer courtyard was connected with salvation and the cleansing of sins.

  • Jesus accomplished His sacrificial work on earth, outside God’s heavenly presence.
  • The outer court was accessible to all the people, just as Christ is accessible to all who will come to Him.
  • But in His heavenly sanctuary He is shut off from the world, temporarily even from His own people.
  • From His heavenly place now, Jesus lights our path (pictured by the golden lampstand), He feeds us (pictured by the table of sacred bread), and He intercedes for us (pictured by the altar of incense).

At the Golden Altar I see Jesus on His face in Gethsemane – praying for me in Gethsemane.

Hebrews 7:24-27 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

  1. At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.
  2. At the Laver of Brass I see Jesus on His knees – cleansing my sins.
  3. At the Golden Lamp Stand I see Jesus in the Upper Room – opening my mind to His Word.
  4. At the Golden Table I see Jesus on the hillside – feeding me the Bread of Life.
  5. At the Golden Altar I see Jesus on His face in Gethsemane – praying for me in Gethsemane.

 

Mercy Seat: God Wants to Meet with Us

In this holiest of earthly places was only one piece of furniture, the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:17-22). On the lid was the mercy seat, on which were the cherubim of glory, angelic figures made of solid gold. It was between the wings of those angels, on the mercy seat, that God met men.

“And there I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel” (Ex. 25:22).

If God and man were to meet it could only have been there.

John, in using the term “propitiation,” in 1 John 2:2, relates Jesus to the mercy seat, since that very word is used for mercy seat in the Septuagint translation of Exodus 25:17[1].

At the Golden Mercy Seat I see Jesus pouring out Himself (His Blood) as my Advocate- taking away my sin (propitiation)

1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Romans 3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

  1. At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.
  2. At the Laver of Brass I see Jesus on His knees – cleansing my sins.
  3. At the Golden Lamp Stand I see Jesus in the Upper Room – opening my mind to His Word.
  4. At the Golden Table I see Jesus on the hillside – feeding me the Bread of Life.
  5. At the Golden Altar I see Jesus on His face in Gethsemane – praying for me in Gethsemane.
  6. At the Golden Mercy Seat I see Jesus pouring out Himself (His Blood) as my Advocate- taking away my sin.

 

Ark of the Covenant: God Wants to Secure Us

The central, in fact the only, thing in the Holy of Holies was THE ARK, which represents Jesus Christ, the true mercy seat (Ex. 25:10-16). Made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, it was about three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches wide and two feet high.

When we meet Jesus Christ as Savior, we are ushered into the presence of God, into the true Holy of Holies.

God no longer communes with men between the wings of cherubim on a gold mercy seat. He communes with men in His Son, by whom the veil was torn in two. Jesus Christ is the mercy seat. Only on the basis of the blood of a goat would God have fellowship with Israel, and only on the basis of the blood of Christ will God have fellowship with men.

At the Golden Ark I see Jesus in Heaven holding the rope anchoring my soul.

Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,

Hebrews 10:19-22 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 13:8, 20-21: 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

         “And Can it Be”                               Hymn #203

 

Meeting the King of the Universe At the Doorway to Heaven

 

Do You See His Arms Open Wide?

  1. At the Altar of Brass I see Jesus on the Cross – paying completely the penalty for my sins as the Lamb of God.
  2. At the Laver of Brass I see Jesus– cleansing my sins.
  3. At the Golden Lamp Stand I see Jesus – opening my mind to His Word.
  4. At the Golden Table I see Jesus – feeding me the Bread of Life.
  5. At the Golden Altar I see Jesus – praying for me in Gethsemane.
  6. At the Golden Mercy Seat I see Jesus pouring out Himself (His Blood) as my Advocate- taking away my sin.
  7. At the Golden Ark I see Jesus in Heaven holding the rope anchoring my soul.

 

Almighty God Wants to:

Forgive Us

Cleanse Us

Illumine Us

Satisfy Us

Care For Us

Meet With Us Daily

Secure Us Forever

 

[1]MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Press) 1983.

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