14 July BS.

Hey all. =) yup..ok so I finally get down to doing this... =) The most recent BS was awesome!=) prophetic timing, it was on.=) ok here goes...

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Yup, and so pastor starts by re-affirming the body of Christ (i.e. the church!).. As Christ is, so are we in this world! As Jesus is ever-pleasing to the Father, so are we! As Jesus is ALWAYS healthy, wealthy, at peace, as He is righteous...so are we! For that was what He died on the cross for, to be everything that we lack. =)

Hebrews 10
11And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Yup, after Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, He had conquered all! All His enemies! Throughout Jesus' ministry, we see that He conquers sickness as He went about healing the sick, He conquers poverty, He conquers demons as He cast them out, the last enemy being Death, when He was resurrected by God on the 3rd day. And as He rose again to be with the Father at His right hand, Jesus conquered death for us. So what do we have in store for us? According to Paul in Hebrews (above passage), Jesus, after saving the world, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. We see the body of Christ throughout the ages...from the time of His sacrifice till now..2000 years have passed! In the recent century, we see the church getting healthier, getting richer, getting more sound, having more wisdom... church leaders rising up in faith... as one by one, the lack of mankind, the enemies of Christ, are swept under His feet, and under His footstool. this has got to do with the prophetic vision that Isaiah, David, Elijah and all the Prophets had. The vision of a generation that will not see Death, a generation that will be prosperous, healthy, wise, the rapture generation, the Gideon army, the Benjamin generation. The generation who just puts their trust in the goodness of God and receive 30, 60, a hundred fold. =) Sounds good ya? Well, this applies to us today because we ARE that generation of envy!

Well you know what? We don't have to wait to enjoy the benefits that Christ has for us! Because He HAS already conquered His enemies, when He hung on the cross and took all our shame. He has! Do you believe that? Do you really believe in your heart that you are free from sickness, poverty and death? Because that is what Christ redeemed you from.

Hebrews 1
¹ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ²has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself^[a] purged our^[b] sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

Hebrews 9
²⁵not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- ²⁶He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

In Paul's time, [about AD 70], he refers his era as 'these last days' and 'at the end of the ages'. It's really not that far off isn't it? =) At the time of Jesus' sacrifice was the 'end of the ages'...hmm what could that mean? Certainly not end of the world? The 'ages' referred to here having and 'end' must mean that there has to be a beginning of a new age! (okay..take some time, digest ...) Christ came to END the age of the law! Christ came to fulfil the law so that we can NO LONGER be cursed by it! *amazing* =) and it is the beginning of a new age of GRACE which is activated through FAITH in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. :D Wow. Looking at Scripture through unveiled eyes really does make a difference. Christ has embraced us with open arms! After having cried out 'it is finished!' and giving up His Spirit, having taken all our judgement, God has torn the veil and made away into the Holy of Holies.

Pastor went on to illustrate where the church is now, prophetically.

In the tabernacle of David where the Jews worship, there are 3 main areas. The outer court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

THE OUTER COURT


THE HOLY PLACE


INSIDE THE HOLY OF HOLIES


okay... yup I'm definitely not making this up either. =) As I said, Bible Scripture reinforces bible Scripture. God told Moses how he wanted His tabernacle (or simply put, a tent of meeting) to be made. You can read all about it from Exodus 25
onwards where God ordained the tabernacle for His own worship. Of course, this is not needed today for we ourselves are individual temples of God for we've been washed so clean. =)

Alright, so, from the top view, these 3 places are connected in this way:


The outer court containing the brazen altar, the Holy Place containing the Table of Showbread and the Lampstand, and the Holy of Holies containing the Ark of the Covenant (representing Jesus Himself).

Yup, Paul says of the old system of making offerings to God for atonement:

Hebrews 9
¹ Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. ²For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; ³and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All (i.e. the Holy of Holies), ⁴which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; ⁵and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Limitations of the Earthly Service

⁶Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part (i.e. the Holy Place) of the tabernacle, performing the services. ⁷But into the second part (i.e. the Holy of Holies) the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance; ⁸the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle (i.e. before Christ's sacrifice) was still standing. ⁹It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience-- ¹⁰concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation. (qsn: when is this time of reformation? =) )

The Heavenly Sanctuary

¹¹But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹²Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, ¹⁴how 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? ¹⁵And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

=) Wow. What a chapter. Paul speaks of the tabernacle of meeting that God ordained through Moses, before Christ came to take it away. The High Priest could enter the Holy Place but only ONCE into the Holy of Holies. That is, only on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest sacrifices bulls, calves, and sprinkles their blood on the 'mercy seat', under the wings of the Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant. He is only allowed to enter the Holy of Holies once a year to perform the sacrifice! and every year he has to do the same thing to ensure that the nation of Israel be blessed. For when there is shedding of blood, there is the covering of sins. and the blood of bulls and goats could only cover the sins of the nation of Israel. Paul speaks in verse 9 that these practices could not perfect the conscience of the people! They always had a debt on their conscience--have I been good enough lately? Did I offer enough to God? etc.. and the practices were concerned fleshly ordinances (verse 10) until the time of reformation come.

Well well, what is this time of reformation then? It has been revealed for all to see that this time of reformation is indeed the time of GRACE that has been brought into the world through Jesus Christ. Jesus has obtained eternal redemption for our benefit! No longer is it needed for us to offer sacrifices yearly to atone for our sins. Jesus has taken ALL the wrath of God for US! God has judged Jesus instead of us so that we can be freely blessed. For when there is shedding of blood, there is forgiveness of sins. That sin has been paid by that someone else. And He came to taketh away the condemnation and guilt that we would otherwise be feeling everyday. Jesus has perfected our conscience! something that the blood of bulls and goats could never do.

Okay, having laid the background... let us proceed to crunch time. In the tabernacle, The Holy Place and the Holy of Holies are separated by a thick veil. For what stands behind the veil, in the Holy of Holies is the light of God Himself.

Matthew 27
⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
⁴⁷Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" ⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.⁴⁹The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."
⁵⁰And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

⁵¹Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵²and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

An account of what happened when the judgement of Jesus was complete. the veil of the temple was torn in 2 from top to bottom! God couldn't wait! He tore the veil (which was four cubits [1.8 meters] wide by the way) and made a way into the Holy of Holies. Jesus' blood has washed us so clean that we can see God's face and behold His glory, and receive His love, enjoy His blessings.

[Quick Fact: the number 1000 in the bible refers to many/innumerable. When the psalmist proclaims that the Lord owns a 1000 hills, it doesn't mean He doesn't own the 1001th! The Bible says Jesus will come back and reign for 1000 years. Doesn't mean that He won't reign the 1001th!]

Okay, and here's the interesting part. The Holy Place is 20 cubits by 10 by 10 wide. 20 x 10 x 10 = 2000! and the Holy of Holies? 10 cubits by 10 by 10. 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000. The Church has been in the Holy Place in spite of the veil already being torn 2000 years ago! And now, prophetically, the Church of Jesus Christ is realising their full inheritance in Christ and is now seeing the light! The Church of Christ is prophetically moving into the Holy of Holies. Crossing over from the Holy Place. And as we view the world through our eyes of grace, we see indeed the message of the gospel spreading like wildfire. The message of GRACE GRACE GRACE, and not the law... transforming lives. The body of Christ becoming richer and richer. More word of faith churches, more word of faith grace preachers all over the world, much more than ever. More people praying in tongues. No longer is the belief that we have to 'endure' till Christ comes. Rubbish! Those who know that they are righteous in Christ reign on earth! and reign on earth at present! means NOW! Kings and priests! We were in the outer court, then in the Holy Place, right now heading into the Holy of Holies. Where we are to enjoy the Feast of Tabernacles with God Almighty Himself!

We are at that point of crossing the river Jordan with Joshua and the ark of the covenant. Remember that story?

Joshua 3
²So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; ³and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. ⁴Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before."

Even the story of Joshua prophesises this coming time. The awakening of the body of Christ, realising their true and full inheritance. The ark of the covenant represents Jesus Himself! and they crossed the river Jordan into the Promised Land with the ark of the covenant first! = ) But note that the rest of the children of Israel were 2000 cubits behind the initial crossing of the River Jordan. 2000 years have passed since Christ gave Himself. Wow, prophetically amazing!

I would also have you know that the years that passed from generation to generation from ADAM to ABRAHAM was 2000 years. (40 cycles of Jubilee by the way). ABRAHAM to JESUS? 2000 years. JESUS to now? 2000 years! and Jesus rose on the 3rd day, conquering death, and rose up to be with His Father. The time is now!

Joshua 5
⁸So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. ⁹Then the LORD said to Joshua, "This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal (rolling away) to this day.

And right after they crossed the Jordan, the first truth that God would have you know is that He is no longer angry with you. =) No condemnation! There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION! for those who are in Christ Jesus, for He has perfected our conscience!
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*takes a deep breath* Wow. must be the longest so far. :) For you Limz. =) And all who have ears to hear, let him hear. You know, it does take humility to admit, to accept and to appreciate the reality of the truth that Jesus indeed die to take away the old, so that we can put on our new man in Christ. It does. =) For it's when you know that there is a real God out there, a real God who loves you with a real love, with real power, that you wanna fall in love with His perfect sacrifice over and over and over again. =) It's a beautiful picture to behold.

Be blessed folks!