“You never have to advertise a fire. Everyone
comes running when there’s a fire. Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it.” Leonard Ravenhill
May we be filled with the fire of the Holy Ghost !
You can be enthusiastic without being anointed. Don’t confuse the two.
God pours His Spirit out where Christ Jesus is exalted.
If someone gets up to preach and exalts himself- no matter how inspiring the message, no matter how much he has done for the Lord- rather than exalting Christ , then that is not of the Holy Spirit.
It is always the flesh versus the Spirit. Flesh will exalt Self. The Spirit will exalt Christ.
There is a trend to put down doctrinal truth nowadays – ‘God is not doctrine, He is bigger than that’. Let’s just talk about experiences.
Yes there is absolutely a place for sharing testimonies and stories about what God has done or is doing.
The problem is when doctrinal truth is thrown away then so is the exaltation of Christ. It becomes all about Self. My experience, my exploits. Me, me, me. Thus there is no witness and no anointing of the Spirit. Give me a person who knows the Word of God, and thus the God of the Word, any day over someone who is simply enthusiastic about what they’re going to do for the kingdom.
You will find that it is the one who seriously and deeply seeks the God of the Word, who it is that really knows Him and that that is the one that shall be strong and do exploits.
God bless,
Belinda
So far we have made our way through the Outer Court of the Tabernacle and into the golden fellowship of the Holy Place.
Now as we approach The Veil, illuminated by light of the Golden Candlestick, we feel a sense of awe, even fear. The inwrought Cherubim tower
source: blog.ninapaley.com
above us on the four meter high Veil as if to protect the Most Holy Place. On the other side of the Veil is the Ark of the Covenant – where the presence of God, or the Shekinah glory, dwells. The Ark of the Covenant was the throne of God on the earth and it was awesome in its majestic holiness.
But we will see the beauty and divine truths of the Veil too, of how once again it is a picture of God’s precious Son Jesus Christ and His work to remove the separation between God and man.
“Therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the Veil, that is, His flesh.” Hebrews 10:20
The Three Doors of the Tabernacle of Moses
The Tabernacle of Moses contained three doors, one for each area of the Tabernacle:
Contrast Between the Door and the Veil
The Door |
The Veil
|
| Provided access to fellowship with God | Provided access to worship of God |
| No Cherubim embroidered on Door | Cherubim embroidered on Veil |
| Door held up by 5 pillars | Veil held up by 4 pillars |
| Set in brass sockets/foundations | Set in silver sockets/foundations |
| Door for entrance into the Holy Place | Veil to keep out from the Most Holy Place |
Separation from God
In contrast to the Door as the access point into the Holy Place, the Veil was rather a curtain of exclusion. It was designed to keep anyone from entering the holy presence of God in the Holy of Holies and thus keep sinful man from polluting the Holy presence of God.
“…The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy.” Exodus 26:33
Only once a year on the Day of Atonement could one man, the High Priest, enter the Holy of Holies and not without blood. Therefore even the priests daily ministering unto the Lord within the Holy Place could not access the Most Holy Place through the Veil.
The Cherubim
The Veil had inwrought Cherubim on it. Cherubim are not merely angels, they are seen throughout scripture in relation to types of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Cherubim speak to us of the Holiness of God.
It is Cherubim that are wrought from the gold of the mercy seat and are thus overlooking the Ark of the Covenant.
It was Cherubim that guarded the Tree of Life with a flaming sword after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
And just as the Cherubim prohibited sinful man accessing the Tree of Life, so too they prohibit entry into the Holiness of God.
The Material of the Veil
“You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, scarlet thread and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim.” Exodus 26:31
The Veil was made of woven blue, purple, scarlet and white fine linen.
Four pillars supported the Veil. These were made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. The sockets for the door were made of silver.
Significance of the Materials
God specified the exact materials and proportions to Moses that were to be used in the Tabernacle, in order to convey eternal truths to us:
The Fabric
As Hebrews tells us that the Veil is a picture of Christ’s flesh, we see how the material used details divine truths of Him:
White fine linen- a picture of Christ’s righteousness
Blue – His heavenly nature
Scarlet – His sacrifice
Purple – His Kingly nature
The Four Pillars
Acacia wood overlaid with gold is such a beautiful picture of Christ. The incorruptibility and earthliness of acacia wood signified His incorruptible (sinless) human nature and the gold signified His heavenly divine nature. Both God and Man in the one Person.
Whereas the Door into the Holy Place had five pillars, the Veil was upheld by four pillars.
The four pillars represent the earthly ministry of Christ: when God came to earth in the flesh. The four gospels witness to His earthly ministry. Thus the four gospels uphold the earthly ministry of Jesus, as the four pillars uphold the Veil, “that is His flesh”. (Heb 10:20)
Sockets of Silver
The five pillars upholding the Door were founded in sockets of Brass, however, the four pillars upholding the Veil were in sockets of silver. Brass speaks of judgment, whereas silver speaks of redemption. The silver used to create these sockets would have come from the Israelites redemption money (Numbers 18:15, 16) and so the Veil literally stood in redemption metal.
The Significance of the Veil
The Veil as Separation
Thus we see the Veil’s effectiveness in keeping sinful man separated from a holy God. Sinful man could only enter through the Veil once a year on the Day of Atonement, with the blood of an animal shed as substitutionary atonement for the sin of the High Priest as well as Israel.
If any tried to enter the Most Holy Place by any other means than God’s proscribed way he would be struck down dead immediately.
The Veil as Intercessor (between God and man)
We see it is no trifling matter to approach God in His majestic holiness. We see He is to be approached with awesome reverence, something much of the professing Church is missing nowadays. To approach Him lightly is to make light of the blood of Christ. Just like the substitutionary animal, someone had to die for us to be able to approach the Throne of Grace. And not just anyone, God. God died so that we could approach Him.
“And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.” Isaiah 59:16
We see that as the Veil, Christ, as the second person of the Godhead, stands in the gap between Holy God and sinful man. We see that He is the way through to the Most Holy Place, the awesome majesty of God.
It is only through His torn flesh that we can approach God. It is through the blood that He shed on the cross that we can now come before the Throne of Grace.
“ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh…” Hebrews 10:19, 20
The Veil as a Picture of Jesus Christ
Jesus Himself said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
We must go through the Veil to approach the Father. Remember the Veil stood in redemption metal (silver) and so it is by personal faith in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work on the cross that we are saved. There is no other way in to the Holy of Holies, no other door, no other Veil.
It was when Jesus died, and that Veil was torn from top to bottom, that the way was made open for sinful man to be able to enter God’s presence.
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;…” Matthew 27:50, 51
Hallelujah! The separation between God and man is now removed in Christ and we have the privilege of being able to “come boldly to the 
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
What an immeasurable honour that we can approach God now and boldly! That word “boldly” means “freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; openly, frankly, i.e without concealment; free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance”.
Because of Jesus Christ’s earthly work at the cross we can now approach God as a child approaches his father. We can go with full assurance that in Christ we are acceptable to Him. We will not be rejected because we are no longer sinful in His sight, but we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
Christ Jesus is truly our Great High Priest. He stood in the gap for us, He paid the penalty of sin for us and He made the way open for us. Hallelujah to the Lamb!
Belinda 🙂
Sensitivity to the Spirit of God is driven primarily by being able to hear Him.
“The Lord God has given Me
source: catechismway.blogspot.com
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned” Isaiah 50:4
Again, sensitivity to the Spirit of God is driven primarily by being able to hear Him.
“He awakens my ear to hear as the learned”
This hearing happens within our spirit. This can be sometimes channelled through our physical ear as we listen to a sermon, or someone gives us an encouraging Word, but not always. But it is always through our human spirit.
What do I mean by our human spirit? When we are followers of Christ, His Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our human spirit and quickens (or makes alive) that inner part of us which was previously dead through trespass and sin. With our spirit now alive to the Lord and His Spirit dwelling within us we have the ability to hear His voice.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” John 10:27
Whether we hear a sermon, read something or feel a prompting in the spirit, we know it is of the Spirit of God when it bears witness with our spirit.
Sometimes you may listen to a whole sermon and nothing registers in your spirit. It could be an intellectual masterpiece, or it could stir our emotions, but if it doesn’t penetrate through the realm of our soul and into the spirit it is simply the flesh and profits us nothing spiritually. Another time you may hear a couple of words, a line of a song, read one verse and your spirit suddenly jumps. You know like you know that that is a Word for you. That is the Holy Spirit speaking, bearing witness to your spirit.
When that happens we need to slow down and listen. We need to allow it to really sink in and take root in our hearts because the Spirit of God is trying to tell us something. We need to wait on God. But even more than that, we need to be so intimate with Jesus that we are constantly in a pose of listening to Him. Remember Mary sitting at His feet… We are with Him where He is so that when He speaks a Word, or wants us to do something we are so close to Him that we know like we know immediately.
“He who has ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches”
Jesus said something similar to this multiple times through the gospels and also repeatedly to the churches at the beginning of Revelation. Since He repeated this phrase so often there must be a reason for it.
Hearing in the Spirit Leads to Speaking Forth in the Spirit
Notice in Isaiah 50:4 it says “The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary…”
The hearing in the spirit and the speaking forth of a word in season to those around us are connected. How do we speak forth with the tongue of the learned into people’s lives in order to minister and be a blessing? By having our ears awakened to hear as the learned! We need to hear from Him first or else we will have nothing to offer others.
The deaf-mute man whom Jesus healed in Mark 7 is a picture to us. This man could not hear, thus he could not speak. Jesus first touched the deafened ears, then spat and touched his tongue.
“Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”
Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.” Mark 7:34,35
Are you wondering why you have nothing to give others? Do you not know what to say when someone comes to you for help? Do you feel like you have failed them?
You need your ears opened by the Lord. Go wait on Him. Confess your need, confess your desire to be able to feed others with the Word and ask Him to open your ears to the Spirit. Then when He tells you to do/say something, do it. Prompt obedience to the Lord is a sure-fire way He will keep speaking to us.
Blessings!
to know God and make Him known
Are you prepared?... Eternity is real!
I never thought it could happen to me. Could it happen to you ?
Applying the Gospel to life
ministry Jesus Prison Hard Times Church Christ
...all the words of this life...
Praise 2 Worship exists to encourage us to enter deeply into worship and experience what it means to give Jesus all our praise.
Dave Orrison's thoughts on grace and more
I'm Color-Blind, I Paint...Enjoy My Work
Go To The Place of Shame, Pain, and Despair and Bear the Image of God There
Hosea 6:5: "Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth."
Kingdom Minded living with issues related to discipleship, the Holy Spirit, and power.
Smiting Theological Philistines with a Great Slaughter
On Christ the solid Rock I stand...All other ground is sinking sand
Pouring
Isaiah 64:8
Exploring what it means to LIVE Torah ...
End Times Bible Prophecy and News, End Times Deception, Societal Collapse, Apostasy, False Christs - Prophets - Apostles - Teachers, Whore of Babylon Church, Opinion, Commentary & Bible Teaching, Demonic Power, War, Rumors of War, Famine, Pestilence, Familiar Spirits,Salvation in Jesus Christ, NWO, UFOs, Earthquakes, Counterfeit Christianity, New World Order, Conspiracies, Nephilim, Giants, Signs and Lying Wonders, End Times Sin & Corruption
Grace and Truth 