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The Sanctuary Message

"WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?"

When it comes to studying the subject of the Sanctuary, one of the most commonly asked questions is, "What's In It For Me? - why should I take time to consider something so far removed from who I am, and where I am at?" And rightly so, should one ask! We are busy people, and don't appreciate having our time wasted with frivolous "side issues." These days we hear that sentiment voiced quite frequently, in regards, primarily, to what our politicians do with their personal lives, which have little to nothing to do with what is important in our own; they're "side issues," and we really don't have the time to become involved in them. And it is no different in the consideration of subjects such as the Sanctuary - is it relevant, or is it a "side issue?" And to such I would say "consider the reasons," and if they are convncing - then your investment in time considering the rest will not be wasted.

And the first answer comes in the form of a question! Why do people consider SCRIPTURES in the first place? Curiosity? Yes! To prove it to be untrue? Yes! And we could list many reasons of that nature, but the most prominent, overriding, reason is because there is recognition of a "Higher Power" we call God. And the overwhelming evidence points to the fact that He is in ultimate control, making us subservient to Him. Therefore it is in our "best interest" to understand His purpose for our lives, and then, more importantly, what is His way of accomplishing that purpose.

And, from my nearly sixty years of experience, I have found no better way to find out what's on God's mind than going to His Word, the Bible! But, when one opens the Bible, they find it divided into two divisions, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. And the tendency is to stick with the New, for Christians today are considered "New Testament Christians." But God has something to say about what should be considered! Its recorded in the New Testament, 2 Timothy 3:16,17; and there He says, "ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine (the principles that He works from), for reproof (to get man's attention when he strays from God's plan), fcr correction (helping man change his direction, and return to God's way), for INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS (instruction in conducting our lives within His plan for us): THAT the man of God may be PERFECT throughly (meaning thoroughly) FURNISHED unto all good works."

So, when God says ALL SCRIPTURE, He is saying, "BOTH TESTAMENTS are of prime importance for you!" Meaning, if I want to know God's Way, I must not limit myself to one half, because it says it was given "that the man of God (the one desiring to know His way for their lives) may be PERFECT!" But one half IS NOT PERFECT - only the WHOLE!

So, does the "Old" Testament have anything to say about both how God plans to make modern people "Perfect," AND the Sanctuary too? Lets go see.

1. Psalms 77:13 says "Thy WAY, O God, is IN the Sanctuary. . ." There is GOD'S WAY and the SANCTUARY. . .

2. Psalms 18:30 Continues by saying; "As: for God HIS WAY IS PERFECT. . ." His WAY -- IN THE SANCTUARY IS PERFECT. . .

3. Psalms 18:32 Quickly tells us; "It is God that girdeth me with strength (same as Paul's "throughly furnished"), AND MAKETH MY WAY PERFECT." There it is; "God's Perfect Way" - "My Way Made Perfect" -and it all is found "In The Sanctuary!"

And we can be assured of this one thing, and that is, God does not have one way that's perfect for Him, and another way for man! Both ways" are found "IN THE SANCTUARY!" A compelling reason for man to enter into a Sanctuary Experience!

Paul tells us, while under inspiration, that the Sanctuary was designed by God to be a "Text Book" for Christians living at the end of time! He says this in 1 Cor. 10:1; "Moreover brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant" (and that's our desire also, concerning God's way for our lives, isn't it?) But now Paul gets very pointed about what we should not be ignorant about, "How that~ all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea" (speaking of the Children of Israel).

Now, look at what he tells us in verse 11, its God's "Way" of keeping men from being ignorant! "Now all these things happened unto them (meaning Ancient Israel, or the Children of Israel): and they are written for OUR admonition, (those of us) upon whom THE ENDS OF THE WORLD ARE COME."

And one does not have to look far into the experience of Israel to find that the Sanctuary was at the heart of it! Why? Well, again, let's let God tell us in His words to Moses, when He gave the purpose of the Sanctuary for them. Then we can follow Paul's counsel and transpose it into our lives!

Exodus 25:l, 8; "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, . . . Let them make me a Sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." And since it's construction was at the command of God, and it's purpose was for God to be present among His people, just exactly what was He going to do there?

Exodus 25:22 God is telling Moses; "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

God was going to come down from Heaven, sit on the Mercy Seat in the Sanctuary, and from there direct the daily lives of the Children of Israel! And Paul says that "happened" and was "written down" for those of us "upon whom the ends of the world are come"! God wants to be involved in OUR daily lives - from His Sanctuary.

But you say "God is not on earth any more, how can He!" And that is true, He is not on earth in the same way He was when Israel was in the desert - but there is something else we must understand about that Sanctuary that will give us understanding into the mystery. The Sanctuary Moses built was designed after a "Pattern" - and the "True Tabernacle (or Sanctuary)" is in Heaven!

Let's listen in as God talks to Moses, giving him instructions for the building of the Sanctuary, and what He says at the end: "And look (Moses, meaning "make sure") that thou make them after their PATTERN, which was shewed thee in the mount" Exodus 25:40. And so, in studying the earthly Sanctuary, God intends for us to learn about what is going on in the Heavenly Sanctuary - for what is going on there has eternal importance for every man, woman, and child.

In heaven, "we have a great high Priest, that is passed INTO the heavens Jesus the Son of God..." Hebrews 4:14. Then in chapter 8:1,2 Paul tells us, "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set oh the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven; A minister of the Sanctuary, and of The TRUE TABERNACLE, WHICH THE LORD PITCHED, AND NOT MAN."

Then, to add weight to that statement, Paul adds this: "For Christ IS NOT entered into holy places made with hands (earthly), WHICH ARE THE FIGURES OF THE TRUE; but INTO HEAVEN ITSELF, now to appear in the presence of God for us" Hebrews 9:24.

And that brings us to the most important reason why "Modern Day Christians" should consider the subject of the Sanctuary; BECAUSE JESUS NOW STANDS IN IT IN THEIR BEHALF ("for us" Paul said)! And what He is doing there, in our behalf, ought to arrest the attention of every single person on planet earth - because, whether they know it or not, ALL ARE BEING WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES OF THE SANCTUARY - just like King Beishazzar, back in the time of Daniel. Daniel 5:1-4 shows the King having a drunken party with his friends. During that party he commands that the vessels his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple (Sanctuary) in Jerusalem, be brought to him. When they were presented to the King, the whole party drank wine from them, desicrating their symbols. But then something happens, verses 5 and 12 tell us! A bloodless finger wrote some words on the wall, which read, "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN". And Daniel, by God's power, and under His direction, interprets the writing. And when he got to the word "Tekel", this is what he told the King; "Thou art weighed in the balances. and found wanting."

Did you notice the plurality of the word - "balances?" What did Daniel mean by using the plural? He was telling the King, for God, that he was being weighed in the "Balances of the Sanctuary!"

And that is exactly where each person on planet Earth stands today - being weighed in the Balances of the Sanctuary in Heaven! How?

Each article is symbolic -- it represents some aspect of God's way to save man, and it cost something to provide that symbol. That's one side of the scale; the other side is our appropriation of the meaning of that symbol in our own life.

For instance; the Table of Shewbread is one of the scales. It represents the word of God. In John 6:51 Jesus says; "I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven. . . ." But, back in John 1:14, John said that "the WORD became flesh, and dwelt among us." So, the Bread on the Table of Shewbread represents the Word of God! Now, what did it cost God to give His Word to us? John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON...", MEANING, HE GAVE HIS ALL! And that's what we are being weighed against, the cost of the symbol (which is both a blessing, and God's revealed way for man). What we do with God's Word, both in the Person of His Son, as well as His written Word - will tilt the balance in our favor, or, like King Belshazzar, we will be "FOUND WANTING!"

When John the Baptist looked up, while baptizing in the River Jordon, and "seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Why do you think he used that choice of words? Because by doing so he not only pointed folks to their Saviour, but he also reminded them of the "Cost involved in Jesus coming to BE their Saviour! He was "The Lamb Slain From The Foundation Of The World" Revelation 13:8 says. And yet this Lamb Slain, is innocent Himself, of any wrong doing, but had your sins, and mine laid upon Him by His Father (Isaiah 53:6)!

And so it is today! Until we realize how much sin cost Jesus, and how much our salvation costs Heaven, we will never stop sinning, and we will never really desire to leave Earth! And just as Ancient Israel ended up "sinning and sacrificing, sinning and sacrificing," so we will also Paul says in Hebrews 6:6!

So What's In The Sanctuary Study For You? HELP FOR THE PRESENT -- to walk in "His Way" - and HOPE FOR THE FUTURE - to continue your walk in "His Way" - until it leads you right into the "Promised Land" -Heaven itself (which the Children of Israel could not enter "because of unbelief" Exodus 15:17; Hebrews 3:19)!

Hebrews says "Come boldly unto the throne of grace (which is the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place), that ye (YOU) may obtain (receive) mercy (at the Mercy Seat over the Ark of the Covenant), and find grace (meaning power) to help in time of need." THAT'S HELP FOR THE PRESENT!

Hebrews 7:25 says "...He (Christ, our great high Priest, who ministers today in Heaven) is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God (IN THE SANCTUARY) by Him (because He already said, 'no man cometh unto the Father but by Him" John 14:6), SEEING he ever liveth to make intercession for (YOU AND ME)." THAT'S HOPE FOR THE FUTURE!

That's why God told Hosea (4:6) "MY PEOPLE (back then, and today) are destroyed for a lack of knowledge..." And it's why Paul says, "I WOULD NOT THAT (YOU) SHOULD BE IGNORANT" 1 Cor.1O:l.

So, "WHATS IN IT FOR ME?" HELP! HOPE! AND A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF BOTH GOD PLAN, AND HIS WAY!

And when you make this study your own - you will not only declare that "Thy way, 0 God, is in the Sanctuary", but you will go on to declare, as did the Psalmist, when he discovered this beautiful truth, "WHO IS SO GREAT A GOD AS OUR GOD!" Make an appointment today, and every day, to meet God in the Sanctuarv! You will never feel your time is wasted!