Walking On Holy Ground

Walking on Holy Ground

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I would like to invite you to walk with me on holy ground. That Holy Ground is the verses in which we find our Lord Jesus Christ in all His glory. Our goal is to have a strategic grasp of the Bible. That strategic grasp comes as we find that ALL THE Scriptures speak of Him. In John 5:39 that is exactly what Jesus said, and that is what we aim to see.

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. The Tabernacle portrays a seven-step plan of salvation:

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.
The next step after salvation is the regular cleansing at the Brazen Laver.
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.
Then guided by the light of the Golden Lamp stand we are able to walk confidently as I John 1:7 says.
Then and only then can we understand the power of prayer as portrayed by the Golden Altar of incense.
Through prayer we enter the Holy of Holies of God’s very presence.
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.

A 450-foot long fence made of white linen surrounded the Tabernacle. This wall that was higher than anyone could see over had a strong message “stay out”. The posts that held the fence were set in solid brass post holders called sockets. The brass always speaks of judgment. This pure white fence set in sockets of brass says be perfect or God will judge you, and spoke of our inability to qualify on our own to come to God, and represented the law which says:

Romans 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

The Gate into the Tabernacle was very wide, 30 feet to be exact speaking of God’s Grace and loudly saying “come in”.

Exodus 38:18 The screen for the gate of the court was woven of blue(Eagle/Son of God/ John), purple (Lion/King of Jews/Matthew), and scarlet (Ox/Servant of the Lord/Mark) thread, and of fine woven white linen (Man/Son of Man/Luke). The length was twenty cubits, and the height along its width was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court.
Through Isaiah He made the appeals “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth” (45:22) and “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” (55:6). Through Ezekiel He warned, “Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!” (Ezek. 33:11). During His earthly ministry, Jesus said to the sinful multitudes, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28) and, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). From heaven, through the apostle John, Jesus said, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost” (Rev. 22:17).

So there was not only one way into the Tabernacle, but also one attitude. The only way a sinner might enter was with a sacrificial substitute to die in that sinners place. Hebrews 9:22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. By coming to that gate a sinner admitted his sinfulness, and accepted the only hope, a substitute to die in his place. There was no other way in. All else inside that tent was based on that contrite admission.

God’s Word[1] says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, and upon this Brazen Altar, back in the Old Testament days sacrifices were consumed by fire. This teaches us that sin is punishable by death. The soul that sinneth shall surely die. It also teaches us that an innocent substitute must die in the sinner’s place. The slain lamb, the goat, the bullock were Israel’s substitutes that shed their blood typical of Christ’s atoning death on the Cross. So in the New Testament we find these words, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” Jesus Christ, God’s sacrificial lamb, died for your sins, for mine died in your place, in my place. If you would go home to be with the Lord, you must needs go by the way of the Cross. Yes, if you come by faith, God will accept you. He will cast your sins behind His back, never to remember them against you, forever. Take God at His word. That sin question must be settled, either the sinner must die for his sin or an innocent substitute die in his place. Jesus came and died for you, He gave His life a ransom for you (John 1:12). Wherever you are, and look up into the Father’s face and say, “Oh God save me, I believe.” God will hear you.

The Brazen Laver is the next once we get inside the fence, and finish at the Brazen Altar or in the picture of the Tabernacle are saved. As we are confronted by the next piece of furniture called the Brazen Laver we are reminded of one of the most striking things about the Tabernacle was that it had no floor. The priests walked every day of their ministry on the dirt of the earth. Becoming a priest or getting saved for that matter, doesn’t immediately isolate us from the dirt of the world. There was no raised floor to keep them up and off the dirt, rather they were to be ever washing their hands and their feet. No baths were necessary because they didn’t dive into the dirt only worked around it. What a picture for us as believers to ponder.

Living on the earth they often had to go to the laver and be cleansed again and again. That is why the laver had no measurements, it was as big as needed to cleanse away all the defilements that ever would come. What a picture of Christ’s love, cleansing and forgiveness.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
2 Corinthians 12:20-21 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, back bitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; 21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
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?
Hebrews 10:22 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.
1 John 1:7-9 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.

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Walking On Holy Ground