FBCPS
What Does the Tabernacle Have to Do With Today? | Exodus 25-40
What if God's presence wasn't just an ancient promise but a tangible reality in your everyday life? Join us on a heartfelt journey through the final message in our series on Exodus, where we uncover the significance of God's presence in the Tabernacle and explore its profound relevance today.
Ever wondered about the difference between merely being physically present and truly engaging with God? Dive deep into this thought as we trace God's presence from the Garden of Eden to the Tabernacle, through Jesus' incarnation, and finally, to the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers. We emphasize that God's presence is not just a future promise but a palpable reality today. It’s a call to reciprocate through devotion, worship, and obedience, making His presence a cornerstone of our everyday lives.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
What if God's presence wasn't just an ancient promise but a tangible reality in your everyday life? Join us on a heartfelt journey through the final message in our series on Exodus, where we uncover the significance of God's presence in the Tabernacle and explore its profound relevance today.
Ever wondered about the difference between merely being physically present and truly engaging with God? Dive deep into this thought as we trace God's presence from the Garden of Eden to the Tabernacle, through Jesus' incarnation, and finally, to the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers. We emphasize that God's presence is not just a future promise but a palpable reality today. It’s a call to reciprocate through devotion, worship, and obedience, making His presence a cornerstone of our everyday lives.
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
Well, good morning and welcome to First Baptist Church, powder Springs. Put your hands together this morning If you're glad to be in church today. We are so thankful for all that God is doing. I just want to say a special thank you to our worship team, to our production team, to all of our small group leaders, sunday school teachers, all of our greeters and parking lot hosts and our Next Step Station leaders and everybody who's serving and kids and students, and all that you do to make church happen every single Sunday. As your pastor, I just want to tell you how thankful I am for each and every one of you, how much I love you and how excited I am to get into God's Word with you this morning. First of all, I just want you to know a few things. This week we have basketball camp. We have some 73 different people registered kids registered for basketball camp. These are kids not only from our church but from our community. If you want to still volunteer, you can let us know and we would love to have you a part of that.
Speaker 1:Next Sunday is June 30, so it's going to be our God and country service that we're having. We're going to have more of a traditional God and country service in our sanctuary and in here. We are still, of course, going to honor the military. Next Sunday. In fact, we're going to have First Baptist Church issued challenge coins for everybody who is active military and retired military who come next Sunday. So we want this to be an opportunity for you to invite active military and retired military who come next Sunday. So we want this to be an opportunity for you to invite active military, retired military, as we have those challenge coins to give to them, just as our way of saying we're behind you, we're thankful for you, we're praying for you and thank you for serving our country. Then the following week July 1 through 5, is going to be our Chick-fil-A wind-shaped camp and we have, I think, about 164 registered for that and, again, the majority of those are from our community. So we always want to be a ministry to our community and, again, if you have some time maybe a day that week or a few hours or all week long that you can come in, there are still some volunteers, that are some volunteer openings that you can come and you can be a part of, and we would love to have you for that.
Speaker 1:Let me pray for us, heavenly Father, we love you. God, you're so good and, father, we just pray in Jesus' name that you would speak to every single heart in this room from your word, through your spirit, for the glory of your son, god, I pray that you would show us what you want us to see, teach us what you want us to hear and change us in ways that you desire for us to live. God, we love you and we pray these things in Jesus' name. In all God's people said amen. Well, if you can believe it, this morning is our last message in our series on Exodus. We have been in Exodus for three months. They were at Mount Sinai for about a year, so we're still doing good, but we've been walking through this together. I have learned so much studying it. I pray that you have learned so much from this message series.
Speaker 1:This morning, we are gonna be looking at the last 16, yes, the last 16 chapters. We've already talked a little bit in the middle of those, but really looking at this huge topic of the tabernacle that shows up some 150 different times in the entire Bible. The tabernacle is a very important topic, it's a very important truth, it's a very important doctrine and I want you to see the way that I've titled this. What does the tabernacle have to do with today? Because when we look at the Old Testament, the way that it was written, the way that it was orchestrated, was not just to read about history, but it's to read about these living, active doctrines that supersede time, that also have to do with you today. So we're going to look today at the tabernacle together.
Speaker 1:First of all, I want you to see that it would be understood in that the most overarching promise, truth in all of the Bible. If you ever wondered how do I boil all the Bible down to tell someone what it is all about, there are some 30 different verses in the Bible that say something like this. I believe it's the overarching truth promise of God in the Bible. He says that my dwelling place shall be with them, I will be their God and they will be my people.
Speaker 1:You know, if there's anything that we see in the book of Exodus is this that when God poured out his plagues on Egypt because they had enslaved his people for 430 years, that God had the Passover lambs that were sacrificed, that God delivered, he rescued, he led his people out of bondage and into the wilderness, he parted the Red Sea for them to walk across on dry ground and destroyed the wilderness. He parted the Red Sea for them to walk across on dry ground and destroyed the Egyptians. He miraculously provided water from a rock, quail from the sky, manna from the ground. He victoriously triumphed over battle for them as the Amalekites came upon them and as long as they were in prayer and worship to God, that God won the victory. And then we saw that they came to Mount Sinai and his presence came down, his fearsome presence. Moses went up on the mountain. God gave them his laws to reveal to him his character. And now we're seeing that God is showing them how to build the tabernacle so that he may dwell among them.
Speaker 1:If you could just look at Exodus and see, what does it all come down to? It comes down to this God sure did go through a lot of troubles just to show him how much he loved him. He sure did go through a lot of troubles just to show him how much he loved him. And guess what? God sure does go through a lot, through every extent, to show you how much he loves you too. God loves to be present with you. He loves to dwell with you. He loves to dwell with us. He loves to dwell among his people.
Speaker 1:I remember back in the day, back in elementary school or middle school or even high school I don't even know if teachers still do this back today but back in the day, whenever you'd sit down at your desk, they would always call, roll, take attendance, chip Dean, and I would always answer here. But I would watch on TV, school days, way before me, black and white television, nick at night, right. And as they would sit in school, they would call their names and they would say present. And I was thinking through this passage this week as I was studying to deliver this to you, and that there is a difference in being here and being present, that we can be here and not be present. We can be here and not be listening. We can be here and not be listening. We can be here and not be focusing. We can be here and not intent, but we cannot be present and not be here.
Speaker 1:See, I want you to know that this whole topic that we're talking about this morning is not just that God is here with you. Hear me, god is way more than that. He is present with you. In fact, god is way more than that. He is present with you. In fact, the most important question that I, or that anyone could ask you in your life, would be this Is God present with you? And the only way that you can answer that question is, according to your salvation, that God is present with you. If you are in his son, jesus Christ, is God present with you. The second most important question that I, that anybody could ever ask you, is this then are you present with God? It's not a question of your salvation, it's a question of your devotion, it's a question of your worship. It's a question of your obedience. It's a question of your obedience. It's a question of your relationship with him.
Speaker 1:What we see throughout the Bible is that God is constantly showing them how much he wants to be present with his people and how much he wants his people to be present with them. I'm amazed that, as God was taking them through the wilderness, taking them to the promised land, that God did not rescue them out of Egypt and say and when you get to the promised land, then I will be with you. No, he said I will be with you every single day along the journey. And in the same way God says to you not hey, I'll be present with you when you're in heaven. Is God present in heaven? Yes, but God is present with you every single day, all along the way of your life. We see here, exodus, chapter 25, verse 8, the whole point of the tabernacle. The whole point of the tabernacle says and let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst, or that I may be among them, or that I may be with them, or that I may rule among them. So we see what does the tabernacle have to do with today?
Speaker 1:Now, before we get to the tabernacle, I just wanna show you the whole Bible in one glimpse, in terms of the presence of God. The presence of God first started in the Garden of Eden, where he was present. He would walk with Adam and Eve, the Bible says, in the cool of the day. Then we see that God would show up in the tent of meeting with Moses. And then God calls them to build the tabernacle so that he could dwell in their midst. And then God calls them to build the tabernacle so that he could dwell in their midst. And then, in the days of Solomon, that God then instructed them to build a temple. It was destroyed during the conquest and then, after the exile, they were to build a new temple, the dwelling place of God. And then here's what's crazy you ever noticed this? The dwelling place of God makes a total shift in human history. And then the dwelling place of God becomes personal.
Speaker 1:The dwelling of God was through Jesus. In the New Testament, in the gospels John 1, 14, the word became flesh, meaning Jesus, and he dwelt. Did you know that New Testament word right there means tabernacled, that Jesus tabernacled among us, that we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and full of truth. And then it shifts again. Jesus ascends into heaven, he pours out his spirit. And then who is the dwelling of God? You and me, us as a we? It is the church, ephesians 1.22,. And God put all things under Jesus' feet and he gave Jesus as the head over all things to the church. And we as the church, are his body and we are the fullness of Jesus who fills all in all. In other words, where is the dwelling place of God? It's right here, but not in this room, not up in our sanctuary, not in any other church building across the world.
Speaker 1:The dwelling place of God are the very people of God that God dwells with you, and it's all culminating toward eternity. Revelation 21, three. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place, the tabernacling of God is with man. He will dwell with them, tabernacle with them, and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. What we see? That God is culminating everything toward eternity. But God is promising even though eternity is gonna be perfect and it's gonna be glorified and it's gonna be forever and it's gonna be unimaginable and awesome that we don't have to wait till then to enjoy the very presence of God in our lives, in your life. So here we go.
Speaker 1:Let's look at the tabernacle. We're going to jump around in Exodus. You can turn there if you want to, or you can just watch the screens and I will take you through this last portion, this important portion of Exodus. First of all, we see the contribution of the tabernacle. Exodus. First of all, we see the contribution of the tabernacle. In other words, you've got Israelite slaves that had nothing for 430 years traveling through a wilderness. God is calling them to build this huge tabernacle out of all of these materials, including gold and bronze and silver, and all of these things. Where did they get it? Exodus 12, 35. The people of Israel. This is back when they were still enslaved in Egypt.
Speaker 1:The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold, jewelry, for clothing, and the Lord had given the people of Israel favor in the sight of Egyptians so that the Egyptians let the Israelites have whatever they asked, and therefore they plundered the Egyptians. They're leaving Egypt. 10 plagues just happened, all of the firstborn, of all the Egyptians just died. And before they leave, they say oh, by the way, could we have all of your stuff too? And the Egyptians, by the grace of God, just say here you go, take it, you can have whatever you like. It's crazy. You can't make this stuff up, people, you can't make it up. That's how God gave them everything that they needed. So watch how they used it, how God called them to use those contributions that the Egyptians gave to the Israelites.
Speaker 1:And they came, and everyone this is the Israelites, everyone's whose heart stirred him. How does your heart stir you? Your heart stirs you by the Spirit of God. So the Spirit of God is constantly stirring our hearts. How has the Spirit of God been stirring your heart lately?
Speaker 1:And everyone whose spirit moved him brought the Lord's contributions to be used for the tent of meeting and for all of its service and for the holy garments. So they came, both men and women, all were who of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets and all sorts of gold objects. Every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord, and everyone who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goat's hair or tan ram skins or goat skins brought them. Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze, they brought it as the Lord's contribution. And everyone who possessed a cashew wood, any use in the work, brought it. And all the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a free will offering to the Lord.
Speaker 1:Here's what we see. God gives his people everything that they need so that they can contribute it to the building of his tabernacle. They can contribute it to the building of his ministry. Isn't it interesting that the Israelites?
Speaker 1:The Israelites didn't say, no, god, you can't have it, it's mine, why not? They didn't say that because this, because it was given to them by God in the first place and that's where me and you need to be in our life is that everything we have is ultimately given by God, and when God stirs in our hearts to give it back to him, then we have open hands because we have open hearts, because here's the deal, here's a promise that God has taught me over and over again you can't out give God. I'm just gonna be real honest with you. The Lord has, and he's continuing to call me at times to give more than I ever thought that he would call me to give. And I'm amazed every single time that when God calls us to give in faith, every single time, that when God calls us to give in faith, he always gives back even more. Why? Because God loves to bless the giver. The more your hands are open to give, the more your hands are open to receive. Would God want to give more to a person who gives, or would God want to give more to a person who keeps? God loves to give to those who give.
Speaker 1:But did you ever think about they didn't just use all of that gold and silver and stuff on the tabernacle, they also used it on the golden calf when God gave it to them for the building of his tabernacle. They first used it for an idol. And that's our sinful hearts. We first want to use what the Lord has given us on our idols rather than to use what the Lord has given us on our worship of him. Amen, it says in 2 Corinthians. 8.1.
Speaker 1:In the New Testament it says we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for even in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty they have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part, for they gave according to their means and, I can testify, beyond their means, of their own accord. They even begged us earnestly for the favor. Can we please take part in the relief of the saints in this? Not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then, by the will of God, to us, says they. Not only do, are they giving their resources, they're giving their very selves. That's who God calls us to be, as Christians. That's who God calls us to be as believers, as disciples.
Speaker 1:I just wanna stand up here as your pastor and I just wanna say thank you. I just wanna say thank you for the way that you give. You are a very faithful, obedient church in the way that you give to God through your local church, as the word of God calls you to do. I just wanna say thank you. I just want you to know that all of your giving goes in some way, shape or form, to reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want you to know that you're gonna start to see even more enhancements around here.
Speaker 1:But let me explain something. We are not making enhancements because we are called to be a megachurch. I don't believe that our church, I don't believe that any church, is called to be a megachurch. I believe that we are called to be a missional church. A megachurch is all about size. A mission church, a missional church, is all about souls. Can I get an amen? We are called here to build up the body of Jesus Christ so that we reach people with the gospel. It's not about size, it's about souls. And what we wanna do is we wanna have a church where we can reach the most people that God has called us to. Just this past week, I was in a meeting and we're putting together a long range campus development team so that we can see what is God calling us to build here facility-wise, so that we can reach as many people as possible Already.
Speaker 1:Some enhancements that have been completed We've put new parking lot lighting, in new CPR units, new microphones in our sanctuary. We've smoothed out our green space for our wind-shaped camp. We've got a new student room up here. We've got a new backyard in our kids' ministry area and a new kids' welcome area and nursery and so many other things. Some coming enhancements that you're going to see we're going to update some of our screens in our worship spaces. We're gonna update our signage outside to reflect our new logo. We're gonna have some audio enhancements here in this room. We're gonna have a brand new lobby experience here in the coming months. We're looking at updating our bathrooms. We're looking at updating our paint. We're looking at even updating a new tech booth in our sanctuary. Some future enhancements we're looking at putting out a new tech booth in our sanctuary. Some future enhancements we're looking at putting out more parking, laying more parking so that more people can come and have. You don't have to walk so far.
Speaker 1:Can I get an amen? We're looking at maybe even a new building, like a new lobby space, even a new worship center for this service, so that we can use this building for what it was built for to bring the whole church together in fellowship and to reach the community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. All that to say, I just want to say thank you, thank you for giving in the way that God is calling you to give, because here's what I believe that when we give, even over and beyond the budget that God uses to do things, even over and beyond what we see, and then we start tapping into his vision, can I get an amen? That's exactly what God has called us to do. So I wanna say thank you for giving and for anyone that maybe the Lord is calling you to give, all I ask you to do is be faithful to the way that God has called you to give.
Speaker 1:Let's look at the next, not only the contribution, but let's look at the construction, or, in other words, how God called them to build the tabernacle. This is fascinating. Watch this. Don't miss this.
Speaker 1:Exodus 31.1, the Lord said to Moses see, I have called my name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of Judah, and I filled him with the spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with all knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood, and to work in every craft. And behold, I've appointed with him a holy ab, the son of Ahishmahash. Now, listen, I don't know how to read these words, but when you don't know how to read the Bible, big words, just say them loud and proud. They don't know how to read them either. They'll believe that you know what you're doing Of the tribe of Dan, and I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you. And Moses called Bezalel. You know what God was doing.
Speaker 1:Not only was God calling the people to contribute the materials for the building, but he allowed the people to take place, to take part in the building too. And the same thing is true for the church, that God calls us not just to contribute to the upbuilding of the body of Christ, as he says in Ephesians, chapter four, verse 12, but God even calls us to contribute our very spiritual gifts that he's given us. Did you see it? The Bible says that he put his Holy Spirit in them to know what to do, to know how to serve, to know how to build. Do you know something? Do you have a gift? Do you have a talent? Are you good at something that maybe you're better at than other people? Did you know that that's not just something in you, but rather that is something that God put in you? And God put a spiritual gift in you to serve him through his local church for the upbuilding of the body of Christ, him through his local church for the upbuilding of the body of Christ. Do you know it takes a church to reach a community, it takes a church to reach surrounding counties.
Speaker 1:I believe that churches grow according to the people who step up to serve, because God doesn't want to bring in people to churches if they're not going to be served well. This is something that I just wanna say again as your pastor, first Baptist Church, powder Springs. You are a serving church. I just wanna say thank you for the way in which you serve. Ephesians 4,. 4 says now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. There are varieties of service, but the same Lord. There are varieties of service but the same Lord. There are varieties of activity, but it's the same God who empowers them all and everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. I just wanna say thank you, thank you. We have hundreds of people that serve here want to say thank you, thank you. We have hundreds of people that serve here. I want to say thank you, but I also want to say that if maybe you're someone that's been coming and you've not yet been serving, there's no guilt trip from your pastor. I just want you to know that God has an extra blessing, extra blessings for you as you serve him, as you obey him, in the upbuilding of the body of Christ, because we're not trying to be a big church, but instead we want to be a church who's passionate about seeing people saved. Can I get an amen? I want to take you through We'll just take the next 10 minutes very quickly and I want to take you through a tour of the tabernacle. I just want you to experience it, as they would experience it, because I believe that God didn't just put it in the Bible so that we know what happened days long ago. But I believe that God has a blessing for you today as you walk through this tabernacle together.
Speaker 1:First of all, we see the court. The court is what is on the outside. The tabernacle is about 75 feet wide. It was about 150 feet long. God said you shall make the court of the tabernacle the court of the tabernacle. Actually, only the priest could enter into the court. The people had to stay outside the court. Only the Aaronic priest could enter into the court. The people had to stay outside the court. Only the Aaronic priest could enter into the court. It's fascinating that, as you saw that gate into the court that only the priest could go to.
Speaker 1:John 10, 9,. Jesus says I'm the door. He says I'm the gate to the sheep pen. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and I will go in, and they will go in and they will find pasture. In other words, the Bible says that when you get saved you become a part of his royal priesthood. See, the tabernacle was the very presence of God. It was mobile, it was portable. They would pack it up and they would set it back out. Every time the spirit of God would move to a new place. And the Bible says that wherever they camped, the tabernacle was always right in the middle, where all of the tribes would camp. Why? Because God wanted to not just be there, he wanted to dwell in their midst. In the same way, god, the Bible says that he wants to dwell from within you, not just beside you, not just with you, not just among you. He wants to dwell within you. He wants to be the center of your life, so that your life is the best that it can possibly be. We see the altar when you walk into the gate, the first part of the court, you walk up to the altar. It's the very first piece of furniture. It's a bronze altar. Everything on the outside is bronze, everything on the inside is gold.
Speaker 1:Exodus 27.1, you shall make the altar of acacia wood. What is acacia wood? It's one of the only wood, one of the only trees that would grow in the desert, in the wilderness that they were in, and it was a very thorny tree. Jesus's crown of thorns was probably most likely from the acacia tree, meaning Jesus being our altar, being our sacrifice. He actually wore the very wood that the altar was built from. It should be five cubits long, five cubits broad. The altar shall be square and its height shall be three cubits. The altar was probably about seven and a half feet long, seven and a half feet wide, five feet tall.
Speaker 1:You would bring an animal as a dad for your family, for your sins, your family's sins. Bring them to the gate. The priest would meet you at the gate. The priest would take it and lay it on the altar and sacrifice the animal on your behalf, on your family's behalf. But today we know Hebrews 10.10, as everything in the tabernacle points to Jesus. Why? Because it's Jesus now that is the presence of God in our life. It just says we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Speaker 1:Once you get past the altar, then you have to go to the basin. The basin is where the priest had to wash after they made the sacrifices in order to go into the holy place. Exodus 30, verse 17,. The Lord said to Moses you shall also make a basin of bronze with its stand of bronze for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar and you shall put water in it with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water so that they may not die. So the priest would have to always be cleansing themselves, constantly be washing themselves. There's millions of Israelites that are bringing all these animals every day, food offerings and sacrificial offerings and burnt offerings and drink offerings, and so they're always making these sacrifices. So they're constantly, constantly, constantly washing themselves.
Speaker 1:And we see the Bible say in 1 John, 10, 9, if we can just confess our sins to God, he is faithful and he is just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, well, you walk inside the tent. When you walk inside the tent again, only the Aaronic priest from the tribe of Aaron can walk into the court and only they can walk into the tent itself. If you turn and look to the right, you would see the bread of presence. Exodus 25,. You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit shall be its breadth, a cubit and a half shall be its height.
Speaker 1:Just for time's sake, I just want to show you the picture of the bread of presence. There would be 12 loaves, one loaf for every tribe, and the priest would be able to walk in and eat from the bread. It was a part of their diet, it was a part of their sustenance. Why their sustenance? Because, let me go back. One is it there, john, chapter 6, verse 51. I, jesus, said I, am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. It is pointing to Jesus.
Speaker 1:See, the whole point is that a holy God came to be present among an unholy people. How does a sinless God dwell among sinners? Well, it can only be done that we can only approach him in the way that he says is appropriate. But now he's saying that we can approach him through his son, jesus Christ. In other words, we have the presence of God through Christ. We see the lampstand you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. The lampstand was probably about five to six feet tall, and the lampstand reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world.
Speaker 1:When Jesus spoke again to the people is the light of the world. When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. Jesus is saying I wanna give you clarity for your life. I wanna shed light on your situation. I wanna give you truth. I wanna give you wisdom, I wanna give you direction. I wanna give you wisdom, I wanna give you direction. I wanna show you my will and that my will is best for your life. And then Jesus turns around and he tells his disciples and, by the way, through me you're the light of the world too, and people are gonna see me through you. So you live as the light, as I am the light, the Ark of the Covenant.
Speaker 1:In the back you would walk into the holy place. The whole tent, if you can imagine, is only about 45 feet long and about 15 feet wide. It sounds so small, it seems so insignificant. But hear me, that was the very center of the earth. It was the very center of God's focus, the very center of God's attention. It was the very nucleus of God's presence. That this was the special covenant presence of God. We're not just talking about the existence of God, we're not just talking about the omnipresence of God, we're talking about the covenant presence of God.
Speaker 1:And so the only person that could walk into the holy of holies was one man, one time, one day of one year the high priest, on the day of atonement. The Bible says that the curtain, the veil, doesn't even have an opening. The veil, some say, was four inches thick, others Bible says that the high priest would have to get down on his belly in humility and crawl under the veil. He would stand back up. There was the Ark of the Covenant, this box that was some four feet long, about two feet wide, about three feet high, and in that box are just three things A jar of manna, the stone tablets of the law and the rod of Aaron that budded. But the Bible says that on that box was a golden lid and on that lid were cherubim wings. That was the mercy seat, the very throne of God. The Bible says that they were to make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, the cubit and a half its breadth. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half. Its breadth, a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold.
Speaker 1:And here's the point Hebrews 8.1. The point in what we are saying is this the author of Hebrews says that we now have a high priest who is seated at the right hand, not Aaron, but Jesus, at the right hand of God, the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, and Jesus is our minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord has set up, not man. The Bible says when Jesus is hanging on the cross and he cries out my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. It is finished, and at that point the scriptures say that that temple veil, possibly 18 inches thick, was torn in half.
Speaker 1:The Bible says from top to bottom, meaning by the very hands of God, so that not just one man, one day out of a year, could go into the very covenantal, glorious presence of God, where the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud would come down, but so that you could come in. It's so that I could come in and so that he could come out, so that you can know that God is not just here in your life. He's not just existing in your life, he's not just omnipresent in your life, but the Bible says so that God can be in you. He goes on to say it was the filling of the tabernacle. The cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle and Moses wasn't even able to enter the tent because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all of their journeys. You would not ask an Israelite where is your God? He was very visible. But God has given you a greater miracle than he's given them, because in them they are able to see the visible, manifest presence of God on the tabernacle.
Speaker 1:But today the Bible says that your body itself is the temple of God, that he is pleased to dwell inside you. We know that he did that through Jesus. Jesus became flesh and he dwelt among us. We've seen his glory Ephesians 3, 19. And we know that the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God, you don't know what you have in you, you don't know the fullness of God that is pleased to dwell inside you. But when you get it, comprehend it, acknowledge it, accept it, believe it, you start to live differently. You start to worship differently, read your Bible differently, pray differently, witness differently, because the God of the universe has orchestrated everything to be able to be within you and it's all culminating in eternity.
Speaker 1:John said I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold, now the dwelling place of God is perfectly with man, is what he's saying. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God will be their God. And he who is seated on the throne said behold, I am making all things new. Also, he said write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. This is the day that we are looking forward to. But today is the day that we're called to be a ministry to others, as the living God is living inside you, to be a witness and say I want you to experience what I'm able to experience, that we get to be the fullness of Christ together. So when we invite people to church, we're not just inviting them to a religious service, we're not just inviting them to a time of music and a message. We want them to be surrounded by the fullness of God all around them, because God has elected and chosen to fill us with his spirit. So we're called to be his missionaries, so that other people get to experience in him what we experience in him.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna ask you all just to bow your heads and close your eyes. With every head bowed and every eye closed, I just wanna encourage you just to say a simple prayer like this God reveal your presence to me and heal my presence with you. God reveal your presence to me and God heal my presence with you. And maybe you're here this morning and you don't feel the presence of God and you don't feel present with God because you haven't given yourself to God. He's given all of himself for you so that you can give all given yourself to God. He's given all of himself for you so that you can give all of yourself to him. I can't pray this prayer for you. I can't save you, but I can help you. Pray this prayer so that you can invite the God of the universe in your life and he can be present in you. You can pray something like this you can say dear God from your own heart and your own words.
Speaker 1:God, I believe in you, god, I need you and God, I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead. So I turn from my sinful life and I want to now live my life for Jesus, because he's alive, he's real and I want a relationship with him. The Bible says that if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead and call with your mouth Jesus, be my Lord, you will be saved. Call on Jesus right now to be the Lord of your life. Jesus, that's what we believe that you are the Lord of all life, and we pray these things in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1:And all God's people said would you put your hands together right now for anybody that has given their life to Jesus? We're so thankful. We just wanna say welcome to the family. We love you, we are here for you, and I just wanna ask us all to stand right now. Is everyone standing? I'm gonna say one more prayer, but I wanna give us an opportunity to close this service in worship of God and, as we sing this last song together. Look at me as we sing this last song together.
Speaker 1:I want you to be aware of one thing that God is present with you. I want you to think about one thing that God is present within you, that God desires your presence, your worship, because he desires you. Heavenly Father, we love you and God. We pray in Jesus' name, lord, that you would just help us to understand these timeless truths that are so miraculous, they're so powerful, they're so life-changing, god, they're so beyond us.
Speaker 1:There's so much I don't understand. But, god, I pray that you would give us faith even in all of our doubt. Give us hope even in all of our questions. God, give us belief in all of our desire of you, and I pray that we would be a church. I pray that we would be Christians, that I pray that we would be Christians, that we'd be known for one thing, and that one thing is that you are dwelling within us and that you are our God and that we are your people. God, we love you. We bring our worship to you through this time. In Jesus' name, we pray amen, and all God's people said amen. Let's sing to him right now, because he is present with us.