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I want to share with you that which the Lord has so graciously shared with me, and in me.  And it is something that has turned the bible into a brand new book for me; a book of life.  No longer is it a book of knowledge or history; but it has become my very source of life.  If all of us can receive this and walk in it, it is something that will transform our lives, our motives and intents, and our entire walk with the Lord.  But it is something that has to be seen with the “eyes of your understanding” (Ephesians 1:17).  What are the eyes of our understanding?  Our heart. (Isaiah 6:10).

This briefing may come across as very technical.  But we serve a God of technicality for he said unto Moses in Ex. 25:40 that he had better see to it that the tabernacle was built exactly as God had showed him on the mount.  

Your entire spiritual pilgrimage is a journey through the tribe of Judah (the gatekeepers of the gate into the tabernacle.  Three tribes encamped on each side of the tabernacle respectively, and the tribe of Judah encamped in the middle on the east side with Issachar on one side and Zebulun on the other – Numbers 2:3-7), and please remember that our Lord sprang from the tribe of Judah.  A man can’t even make it to the gate without first going through Christ.  And even then when you do walk through the gate you are walking through Christ who said, “I am the door.”

So then you will journey through the Eastern gate (Ex. 27:13-16 & Ez. 10:19, 11:1) of the tabernacle (representative of man – see 2 Cor. 5:1, and 5:4, and Heb. 8:2 which actually reads, “a minister in the sanctuary AND the true tabernacle”) through the outer court which is representative of your flesh, through the inner court which is representative of your soul, and into the Most Holy Place which is representative of your spirit. But I will just want to highlight some things that I think will minister to you deeply and could possibly help you see some things in a clearer way. 

Because the only way that a man’s perspective can change is if his position changes.  Most men can only see lateral or horizontally.  You will remember that John was only able to see (Rev. 1:12) after he first heard (Rev. 1:10).  But even then he was not able to really see the full picture until after his position changed.  He was taken up (Rev. 4:1 says, “Come up here and I will show you things…”).  What really changed for John?  His body was still in a prison cell at the Patmos prison.  His spiritual position changed.  Can you really see this?  How was Paul able to say that he was beholding them?  How was he able to say that he had already been there in spirit and had judged the man who did this thing?  His spiritual position changed. 

And a man’s spiritual position can only be changed (elevated) if his heart has been changed.  And this has to take place before he ever enters the Most Holy Place.  Many are quick to quote Hebrews 4:16 which says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace…”  But you will notice the word “therefore” in that verse.  You can’t have verse 16 brethren without going through and partaking of verse 12 first.  Hebrews is a spiritual map of your spiritual growth from the door of the tabernacle to the ark of the covenant.  And when we can see this truth, we will be able to locate the exact verse in Hebrews that we are living in right now.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen, and which we have touched, concerning the word of Life” (1 John 1:1). I can only pray that the Lord will cause our eyes to be opened that we may not just hear, and that we may not just see, but that we may really touch Him.  I think many hear, and I think fewer see, but I think only a handful have really touched Him.  Because the only way to touch the Word of Life is with your heart.  It’s always been about the heart of man and nothing else.  The ark of the covenant is your heart.  “My son, give me your heart.” Prov. 23:26

Before any house can be built, the ground (the heart of man) first has to be prepared, then a foundation has to be laid, and then the house can be built.  Everything I have said to this point has only been preparing the ground.  Let us now begin to lay a foundation of some truths that may really help you go from here (the door) to there (the ark).  For brethren, where does God dwell?  In the Most Holy Place above the seat of propitiation between the Cherubim.  This is where we want to be brothers and sisters.  We want to be where He is.  But the only way into the King’s chamber is through the servants quarters.  Let our journey begin.

For many people, they will never make it out of the outer court.  They will live out their life in the flesh never having entered into the deeper things of life.  Because the cost is very high brethren.   “No man that builds a tower doesn’t first sit down and consider the cost…”  And the reason why most men will live and die in this place is simply because they love their sin and they love living in it, and they will never seek victory over the flesh.  Because the flesh is who they are.  “These are they which mind the things of the flesh, and their minds are set upon earthly things.” 

As we personally seek the Lord and His word for these truths and many, many more, He will be faithful to teach us if our heart is right and our living holy.  Otherwise we shouldn’t even bother asking Him, for even our prayer will not be heard.  For many have disrespected Him to His face by their living.  And the bible teaches that “foreven your prayer will be counted as an abomination unto Him.”

You will notice that as soon as you walk into the tabernacle there is the brazen altar of sacrifice directly in front of you.  There are no shortcuts in this place, and there is no way around this altar.  Before you will ever be allowed to proceed deeper into the tabernacle to arrive at the washing laver you will have to deal with this altar.  This altar deals with the members of your body.  Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech (I’m begging) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

And you will remember the only type of sacrifices that were considered “holy and acceptable” unto God during the service of the tabernacle.  Also remember that blood had to be applied to the four horns of the altar.  Are you applying the blood before you even begin to offer the members of your body?  Remember also that certain of the innards had to be burned upon the altar.  And one of those innards was the kidneys.  Guess what the Hebrew word for kidneys is? Heart.  And what do the kidneys do?  They cleanse the waste from our blood; and scripture tells us that the life is in the blood…so then it is separating the filth from the life and allowing the life to remain.  This is what the spiritual heart of man does.   Remember brethren that “For not that which is spiritual is first, but that which is natural, and then the spiritual follows after.”

So then after our service at the altar has been carefully carried out with much fear and reverence and we have really smelled the smell of death to our members and have seen it as consumed upon the altar, let us never turn around and look at it.  For Hebrews 11:15 says, “And truly, if they had been mindful of that country (Egypt – a type and shadow of the flesh) from whence they came out of, they might have had an opportunity to have returned.”  “For no man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

So for the man who is faithful, he will now go on to the washing laver.  Does anyone remember what the washing laver was made from?  Only one verse tells us and it can be found in Ex. 38:8.  The washing laver was made out of the women’s looking glasses…their mirrors.  Interesting, isn’t it?  Now why would God command Moses to make the washing laver out of mirrors?  What did the priest see when he came to this laver made of mirrors to wash?  Just try and imagine it: the water is perfectly still and the priest (you are called a priest in 1 Peter 2:5, 2:9, Rev. 1:6, 5:10, 20:6) comes up to it to wash.  And he leans over to wash and what does he see?  You are correct if you guessed that he beheld himself.

And this then leads us automatically to James 1:23-25, “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; for he beholds himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what manner of man he was.  But whosoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, (now stop and think about this phrase for just a moment.  So then what was the priest looking into, allegorically speaking?  He was looking into the word!!) and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the WORK, (notice it doesn’t say “word”) this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

Brethren,  what does water do?  It washes.  Washes what?  First the flesh, and then the mind.  Remember Titus 3:5 and Ephesians 5:26.  And if Aaron and his sons did not wash the proper way before they entered the second tabernacle to minister to the Lord…they would die.  Therefore we can conclude from this that it was a very serious matter in the Lord’s eyes for them to wash a certain way and to wash certain members of their bodies.  So then, it greatly behooves us to come to the word of God that we may be cleansed of our filthiness and impurities.  And when we do come, we had better come a certain way (an exact way) to wash.  For the “Fear of Isaac” is holy and He will not let any dirt (un-holiness or filthiness) to be in His presence.  Do not tempt the Lord thy God with any sins of presumptuousness.  Remember Nadab and Abihu.

If would encourage you to really spend some time and meditate upon the washing laver, for I feel that the Holy Spirit will show us much more, but He will only show it to those students who are serious about learning and wanting to go into the inner court.  If a man goes to college and in his second year he signs up for calculus  but he hasn’t ever taken college algebra, he will probably be laughed out of the class.  Spiritual things are the same way.  Paul (the Holy Spirit actually) said in Hebrews 6:1-3, “Therefore leaving the elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection…and this we will do if God permits.”  I find it very interesting that the Holy Spirit calls the seven doctrines of repentance, dead works, faith towards God, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement elementary principles that we need to get past so that we can go on into perfection.  Because “strong meat only belongs to those of full age who by reason of use have exercised their senses to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14).  The problem is that most want to continue drinking milk.  But David said, “My soul is that of a weaned child.”  In other words, his soul was weaned from the milk and he was partaking of the meat.

And as long as a man (or woman) desires to always be being bottle-fed by someone else, they will never grow.  In my mind this is one of the grossest errors in the body today.  People want someone else to feed them.  This should only be for the young ones in the Lord, and not for those who have been walking with the Lord for more than two years.  This is a sad state of affairs indeed and should not once be named among us.  But the reality is is that this is indeed the case and therefore based upon Galations 4:1-2, these ones will have to always “be under governors” (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, and Shepherd-teachers) and “schoolmasters” (the letter of the law – for you will remember that Paul said “the law was my schoolmaster, bringing me to Christ”).  And many people will have to have their hands held and always be under the governors until “the time appointed by the Father (v.2b).”

Now we come to the curtain that separates the outer court (the flesh) from the inner court (the soul).  And inside this inner court we have three pieces of furniture: the candlesticks on your left, the altar of incense in front of you, and the table of showbread on your right.  These represent the mind, will, and emotions.  And unless the candles are lit, you cannot see the rest of the inner court.  For it takes light to see.  Everything else is meaningless unless the candlesticks are lit.  And you will remember that Moses was commanded to make sure the candles never went out and that they were to be trimmed and filled with pure olive oil twice a day.  And you will remember from an earlier teaching of mine that the correct translation of Proverbs 20:27 is “The soul of man is the candle of Jehovah.”  A man’s soul is the lampstand and in particular his mind.  Because there was no light in the Most Holy Place.  And the Lord said in Luke 11:34 that the light of the body is the eye.  And this word “eye” in the Strong’s is #3788 and it means the mind’s eye.  I encourage you to look it up in a Greek lexicon.  And the Lord went on to say in verse 36 that “if the whole body be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light.” No part dark.  Let me ask you a question here, if you extinguish one of the seven flames of the candles, has it just gotten a little bit darker in the inner court?  Sure it has. 

The mind is the doorway to the spirit.  And if you want to commit “sins of the mind” (Eph.2) then you will reap the harvest of it in your spirit, and if you want to commit “sins of the flesh” (also Eph. 2) then you will reap the rewards of that in your physical body.  For brethren, there is only one way that the flesh and the spirit could become filthy in 2 Cor. 7:1, and that is that whatever is in the soul will go to the spirit and to the flesh.  And please remember what 3 John v.2 says, “Brethren, I pray above all things (this coming from a man who really knew the Lord and wrote 5 books of the New Testament, and he is saying here that he prays above ALL things that he has said or wrote) that you might prosper (spiritually) and be in health (physically) EVEN AS your soul prospers.”

Brothers and sisters, we need to have our minds cleansed of all the filth of the world and our many sins committed against the Lord.  Jesus said to wash the inside of the cup and the outside would automatically be clean.  And I’ll remind you that in 2 Timothy we are referred to as cups.  Hmmmmm….interesting, isn’t it?  Wash the inside of the cup (your mind) and the rest of you will be clean.  You see brethren, the mark of the beast (666) has nothing to do with the future as much as it has to do with us right now.  Because you will remember that Adonikam (which means antichrist) in Ezra 2:13 had how many sons?  666 sons!!!  The children of the antichrist are already here and are already being sealed with his mark in their foreheads (minds).  John plainly bears this out in First John 2:18.

And this is why God told Moses to take a piece of gold and beat it down flat and inscribe on it the words Holiness Unto the Lord.  And that Aaron was to wear it upon his forehead (mind) continually before the Lord.  Now notice the very next verse while keeping in mind that Moses just constructed a 57 million dollar tabernacle in the wilderness and had every single other thing done pertaining to the constructing of it.  And after they sewed the golden plate on Aaron’s miter (his hat/turban) the very next verse says, “And all the work was complete.” 

When you have Holiness unto the Lord written across your forehead, then all the work is complete because now the full shining light of the seven candles can light up the whole body.  Because in Ezekiel and Revelation it says that God told the angels to not touch or harm those who had His seal upon their foreheads.   Brethren, this is a spiritual seal and a spiritual name.  For the beast in Revelation had the abominations written where?  Across her forehead. 

Right now, today, as you’re reading this…the mark of the beast is being written upon you or the seal of God’s name is being written upon your forehead.  The choice is yours.  Make no mistake about it; there is no neutral ground here.  It’s black or it’s white.  What is on your forehead right now?  You know, and the Lord knows, and soon the entire population of every human being that ever lived upon the earth will know.  For it cannot be hidden.  Because “some men’s sins go before them unto judgment, and some men’s sins follow after“.  This is a matter of life and death; physically and spiritually.  Brethren, repent of your uncleanness and forsake all sin and sinning and run to the Lord so that you may be cleansed and accepted.  Because “without” serious, solemn, and sober “holiness, no man shall see the Lord.”

Very quickly now for:  The altar of incense represents your will because Exodus, Hebrews, and Revelation brings out a deep truth about this piece of furniture.  And that is that it deals with the prayers of the saints.  And Jesus prayed “not My will, but Yours be done.” For those of you reading today that have come to this altar to have your will (self-life) dealt with, you know exactly what I’m talking about; and for the rest who are reading who have not experienced this…you will if you continue to be faithful.  This altar is the place of great breaking.  Your thigh will be touched (the largest and strongest muscle in your body) and you will walk away with a limp and it will really hurt, but it will sure be worth it.  Many men are not willing to come this way, because they in their own conscience have counted the cost of building a tower and have come to the conclusion that it is just not worth it. 

For many men, this only has to take a few years.  For Jacob, it took over 35 years. For Moses, it took 40 years.  For Paul, it took only 14 years.  For myself, it took exactly 24 years almost to the day for my will in the Garden of Gethsemane (Greek: Oil press) before the altar of incense to have myself pressed out of me and to have Christ pressed into me, and God is still “pressing” because there is still so much self left.  You will remember that Moses said in Deut. 1:2 that it was only an 11 days journey from Egypt (flesh) to Canaan (Spirit), but they stretched this out for 40 years due to their hard-heartedness, and stiff necks.  They always resisted the Holy Spirit as many are doing right now today.  And I’m afraid that many will not enter into His rest because of unbelief. 

The table of show-bread (Hebrew: the bread of His face/the bread of His presence) deals with the emotions.  12 loaves of bread and 12 major emotions: anger, joy, surprise, fear, love, hate, sadness, curiosity, sympathy, empathy, sorrow, and elation.  And it is a very emotional experience to commune with Christ and eat of Him at this table “in the wilderness.” For the outer court can be likened unto Egypt which corresponds with the flesh, the inner court can be likened unto the wilderness which corresponds with the soul, and the Most Holy Place can be likened unto the good land Canaan and which corresponds to the spirit.  So yes, Jesus can prepare a table in the wilderness (Psalm 78:19).  And when you really dine with Him, it will be a very emotional experience. And if it’s not, it is only because one or more of the candlesticks has gone dark.

But inside the Holy of Holies there was just one thing: the ark of the covenant, and His ark is your heart. In Leviticus 16:14 Aaron was commanded to sprinkle blood upon the mercy-seat seven times; and Paul said in Hebrews 10:22, “having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.”  Just think about what was inside the ark: the golden pot of manna, the 2 tablets of the law written upon stone, and Aaron’s rod that budded.  The manna is Christ in you and in your heart.  You will remember in John 6 that He said that He was the manna that came down from heaven.  Therefore Christ is dwelling in your hearts through faith and by faith.  The law was also inside the ark and you will remember that Jeremiah 31:33 said that God would write His laws in your inward parts and upon your heart, and Paul strengthened this truth in Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16 says, “I will put My laws into their hearts.”  And lastly there was Aaron’s rod that budded and bore leaves, and blossomed flowers and bore almonds.  A dead branch (“Ye are the branches”) bore leaves.  Leaves only make something look good.  This is the beginning of life that will come to full maturity.  God is looking for more than leaves though, He is looking for fruit.  He cursed the fig-tree (and James 3 calls you a fig-tree) for not bearing fruit when He came looking for it.  Aaron’s rod grew flowers.  What do flowers do?  They put off a fragrance.  And Paul said that we too are “putting off a fragrance of life unto life.”  Do you smell good to God and to others or do you reek of sin and disobedience.  Friend, sin not only stains your soul and soils your robe of righteousness (for the robe of righteousness clothes the soul), but it also wounds your spirit (“a wounded spirit, who can bear”) and a wounded, filthy spirit soils the garment of salvation.  You’ll remember that you’re actually wearing two sets of clothing (Isaiah 61:10): a garment of salvation (this one is given to you) and a robe of righteousness (this one is put on by you and maintained by you).  You will also remember Psalm 45:13-14 which shows that the queen had on a garment but then another one was placed over that one. The garment of salvation clothes the human spirit and the robe of righteousness clothes the soul.  Please remember that the Lord Himself told us that we have two sets of garments on.  

But Aaron’s rod also bore almonds.  It bore fruit unto God.  And this shows increase that can be enjoyed by God and shared with others.  For how can any man give to another man that which he does not have?  Scripture plainly brings out that “the husbandman must first be partaker of the fruit.”

I will never forget the day, or where I was at when God spoke to me and said, “Your heart is My ark.”  I wept for 2 hours straight as He shared many things with me concerning this very issue I have shared with you today.  So, for he who has ears to hear, hear this: “Behold, I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according to his work.  And blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Rev. 22:12 & 16:15

 

“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22:11

 

Let my prayers & worship

be smoke upon Your seat

peer deeply through the darkness

and come down now to meet

 

You’ve hidden Yourself

for thousands of years

You’ve broken my “self”

through thousands of tears

 

Oh the depths of your mysteries

of the ark…what’s inside

the deep spirit of man

and the right to abide

 

The stones of the law

and the manna for me

the branch is for Him

and the almonds for Thee