Calvary Temple

In the book of Exodus 33 God told Moses to set up a tent of meeting outside the camp of the Children of Israel for them to meet together. All the people watched as Moses entered the tent, where the visible cloud of God was present over the entrance.

Moses' protégé and successor, Joshua, also went to the tent of meeting with Moses, but verse 11 tells us that when Moses returned to the camp, Joshua stayed in the tent of meeting and wouldn’t leave. Later on, when God’s plan for Joshua was made clear, those extended times in the tent of meeting is what had prepared Joshua for the task God set before him.

I want to cultivate a habit of staying in the tent of meeting with God, even when others have left.

A great book for married couples to read is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It helps us to understand what our spouse needs from us in order for them to feel loved. For some, it’s to receive small gifts and remembrances. For others, it’s acts of service that make them feel loved.

God has put his love language in each of our hearts. With it, the Bible says we are sealed to him until the day of our redemption. We can always know that He loves us, by his Word, his abiding presence and his promises which are everlasting.

Although we don’t have a lot of insight from scripture about the relationship between Father God and Jesus the Son, before Jesus left his Father’s presence in heaven and came to earth as our Savior. 

But we do know that their exclusive relationship was based on love and trust.  Everything Jesus said, did and taught was from the perspective of the Father, and everything Jesus had, including those souls who would believe in Him, were given Him by the Father.  

Jesus teaches us in the Matthew 6 model of prayer to pray to OUR Father, Who Is in Heaven.  I’m so thankful that I have been given the identity of sonship and therefore, I can call him Father by virtue of believing in the Son.  Hebrews 11:6 teaches us that those who come to the Father must believe that He is, and is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

In Matthew 16 Jesus told Peter and Andrew, to follow Him and they left their fishing nets full of fish and immediately followed after Jesus in his earthly ministry.  Jesus told the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, to sell his possessions, give to the poor and then come follow Him, but he was too attached to his money and couldn’t part with it.

Have you considered where you are on the path to following Jesus?  Are you willing to forsake all and renounce all lesser loyalties to follow Him?  It’s what is required of true followers.

Psalm 42 describes the Psalmist’s strong thirst for the Lord. He had once known the safe place and refreshment from being in the presence of God, but now because his enemies were pursuing him and he couldn’t feel God and that caused him to question, where was his God?

In Psalm 73, David saw the prosperity of the unrighteous, and he asked the same question…where was God? But, he found the answer when he went into the sanctuary of the Lord! And once again, in Psalm 77, He found that precious refreshing in the sanctuary of God.

Whether our thirst comes from being pursued by ‘enemies,’ or from being separated from God by our own feelings, or seeing the prosperity of the wicked, we will find Him when we come into his sanctuary.

Sometimes, learning new things can be really confusing, especially when the beloved, familiar old ways are so different. That’s how the Jews felt about the New Covenant, Jesus Christ. And the Gentiles weren’t much better! Instead of turning away from their worship of idols, they tried to worship the messengers of the New Covenant.

The Gospel of the New Covenant is not hard. Disciple James put it in easy to understand terms. Stay away from idols and all things related to them. Stay away from blood, and things which have been strangled; remain sexually pure and BELIEVE the message and you will do well. The same goes for us. Believe, stay away from sinful things and we will do well.

See "The Biblical Covenants of God" referenced in this sermon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvvey71pfy0

In Genesis 48, the Holy Spirit directed Joseph to take his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim with him to visit their grandfather, Jacob, one last time before his death. Although tradition would dictate that Manasseh, the elder son, would receive the blessing of Jacob and the greater portion of the inheritance, God had a different plan.

Thank God, that we too, as believers in Christ, though we were also undeserving of the blessing of sonship and the inheritance of eternal life, God also had a better plan for us, see Hebrews 11:40. He adopted us into his family and gave us the blessing and birthright in Christ Jesus that we didn’t deserve!

Sometimes, promises fulfilled are a long time coming! This was true for Sarah and Abraham. Even though God had promised Abraham that his seed would number as the stars in the sky and the sands of the seashore, Sarah was 99 years old when she finally conceived their only son, Isaac.

The same was true for Isaac's wife, Rebekah. Though Isaac loved Rebekah from the moment he saw her, and though she had received an incredible prophetic word that she would be the mother of thousands of millions, the fact is that she remained barren for their first 20 years of marriage.

Maybe you’ve been in a long waiting pattern to see God's promises fulfilled, too. But, just like Sarah and Rebekah, you can also trust that God’s word is always faithful.

In II Corinthians 2, the Apostle Paul is discussing the necessity of forgiveness of a brother in Christ who had fallen into sin, so that the man can be restored back to fellowship with the church and thereby, not lose hope of eternal life with Christ and the saints.

But, then Paul also points out that the body of Christ must be held to the responsibility of forgiving and restoring the man. So, forgiveness works both ways; to the benefit of the one being forgiven so they won't become despondent and lose hope,

and to the ones doing the forgiving, in being obedient to Christ. And, if we succeed, Verse 14 tells us that our lives will be a Christ-like fragrance both to God and to those who are being forgiven.

It's time for the church to do a smell-check.

In Numbers 11:10-17 Moses tells God that the job of caring for all those people was just too big for one man and that he needed help, and God agreed! So, God anointed 70 men with a measure of the same spirit of God which Moses had, to enable them to prophecy and take care of the people’s spiritual needs. This eased the burden for Moses, whom God called a friend, and allowed him to be the one with whom God would meet face-to-face.

When Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit in the book of John, the Bible says that His baptism was “without measure.” And, praise God for his many blessings to us, because in Galations 3:14 we read that we have received the same blessing as Abraham was given, which is also immeasurable. Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit, with rivers of living water pouring forth from our spirits, an unlimited measure for us!