Happy Resurrection weekend  everyone!

This is the weekend whereby we remember and appreciate the wonderful, beautiful, amazing, sacrificial, undying, unwavering, pure, and unselfish love of our Lord, King, and personal Saviour Jesus Christ!

Brethren we will not understand the extent of how privileged we are to be able to FREELY WORSHIP God at no cost! Because JESUS PAID IT ALL. We really will not understand until we first read the Old Testament. We cannot even begin to fathom the greatness of His mercy until we read the Old Testament.

But before we go deeper into today’s message I want to highlight some things that are both very much similar in the days of old as they are in the times in which we are living in now and that is; stubbornness, disobedience, stiff necked, unsatisfied, ungratefulness, unrepentant and just pure evil. Surprisingly(we are still the same people), we are sinners, we are unworthy, we do not even deserve to step into His presence, but what’s different is that we have been SAVED by GRACE. You see God is Holy, He is Pure and  in the days of old there was just no way that you could enter into His presence anyhow, just no way. No, it just did not happen like that. First of all the only one that was worthy enough to even fellowship with The Lord was Moses.

“So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.” Exodus 33:11

Now this scripture mentions three valuable things when it comes to worship it mentions a leader, a servant, and a house of worship. Moses being the leader, Joshua being the servant, the young man willing to serve in the house of The Lord, humbling himself. Its not like anything we have today whereby young men and women want to chase after leadership before they have even served first. No honey it simply does not work like that the bible commands and teaches servitude before leadership. Even Moses served in the wilderness for many years before he became a leader, God humbled that man from where He was in Egypt. Let’s not even forget Jesus Christ Himself who did not come to be served but to give Himself as a ransom, a living sacrifice to serve the whole of mankind(Matthew 20:28), and this is the Son of God that we are talking about here which brings me on to even ask the question who are you? Man of God woman of God who are you?

Leadership must be driven by values, not public opinion.

Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked His followers, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”Matthew 16:13

They said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.” Matthew 16:14

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15

Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew:16:16

Always ask yourself that question know who Jesus Christ is first, that’s when you yourself will know who you are in Jesus Christ, and that’s when others will catch the revelation of who you are in Jesus Christ, you will not even have to say it, and they may even wonder but they will not be able to question your identity in Jesus Christ because the proof is in you first knowing who you are in Jesus Christ.

Now going back to Exodus 33:11 it mentions tabernacle the original place or house of worship and before this altars were being raised to worship God.  This tabernacle was called the tabernacle of meeting and was carefully designed and built by gifted artisans such as Bezalel, his assistant Oholiab, and their many apprentices who were filled with the wisdom, creative skills, talents, and gifts from God, they were divinely led by God’s instruction and they feared God so much so that they followed all that He had said which brought forth great results.  As you go out pray that you are filled with Spirit of God to do all things in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. According to the perfect will of God. To be filled with the Spirit of God is to be filled with the Spirit of excellence. Amen

“And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,” Exodus 31:3

“to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze,” Exodus 31:4

“in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.” Exodus 31:5

““And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you:” Exodus 31:6

So the tabernacle of meeting was built from chapter 25 and completed in chapter 40. It’s in chapter 40 that the glory of The Lord consumed the tabernacle because of the faithfulness of the people. If you read the chapters nearing the end of Exodus you will notice that the congregation of people are united, working together in one accord to build their place of worship, and they also brought many offerings whatever they had they gave, they gave according to their best with a willing heart, and they obeyed God. It’s no wonder why the tabernacle was consumed with the glory of The Lord.

“Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34

“And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:35

“Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys.” Exodus 40:36 

“But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up.” Exodus 40:37 

“For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.” Exodus 40:38

There are many things we can learn from this as the modern day church  that if we are yearning so much for His glory then we ought to be united, we ought to be willing to give in order to build the kingdom of God. Before the tabernacle of meeting Moses would intimately fellowship with God face to face, and no one else was as close to God as Moses was in fact they would have to go through Moses first. Notice a prophetic pattern here?(No one can go to the Father except he first goes through His Son Jesus Christ John 14:6).

The great thing about this tabernacle was that it was a way for God to reside or dwell amongst His people. The tabernacle of meeting prophetically symbolised the coming of Jesus as the open door of our salvation, and here is why:

The ark of the Testimony

In Exodus 25:16 and 21 we have the ark of the testimony, and the lord instructs that the mercy seat shall be placed on top of the ark. God has given His Son Jesus a living testimony, and because of His Son we are privileged to have the mercy of God. Jesus is constantly interceding on our behalves, he has made atonement for our sins. Without the mercy of God we are pretty much as good as dead.

The table for the Showbread 

In Exodus 25:30 it says ‘and you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always’. Guys! This is God talking about His Son Jesus! The Bread of Life! Let’s not also forget about the last supper Jesus symbolically offering Himself to His disciples as the bread of life symbolically breaking and sharing bread with them, which also ties in with what we take as believers to be the Holy Communion, we still eat of the body of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Showbread and if you read further into the Old Testament you will find king David and a priest talks about this same Showbread, and David eats of it. I just love how the bible is so prophetic and it’s from the old that we see the new, even right up until the last days.

The Gold Lampstand

And this is where we teleport into the book of Revelation! Literally, we have the lampstand described in Exodus 25:31 and in verse 37 it states that the seven lamps shall be made to give light. In Revelation Jesus upholds these lamps, and gives the revelation of the meaning of the seven lamp stands in Revelation 1.

“The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20 

I mean need I say more? Jesus is the giver of Light, He is the Light of this world and I mean isn’t it just amazing how the seven lampstands described waaaaaaay back in Exodus is revealed in Revelation?! My oh my what a mighty God we serve! The beginning most certainly reveals that end. No wonder it says that the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed and the New Testament is in the Old concealed. The Lord protects His own. It is wise to protect your destiny with silence.

We also have particular colours chosen for the intricate woven designs such as scarlet and purple. Scarlet representing the Blood of Jesus Christ and purple the royalty of our Lord and King Jesus Christ. The sprinkling of the Blood is mentioned many times. The Blood is portrayed of great significance in the book of Exodus even from Genesis we see the sacrificing of animals of importance as a way of thanking God, and in Exodus it is for the cleansing and the forgiveness of sin. We thank God for giving us His Son who bore the weight of Calvary’s sin and shame in order to share His Blood for all to set us free from death. There is most certainly wonder working power in the precious Blood of The Lamb! In Exodus Chapter 27 we see a very important offering the burnt offering as believers we ought to be filled with the raw fire of God as that evidences His power, see Acts 2.

The Bronze Laver

In chapter 30 it talks about the importance of water and cleansing, that the priests must be cleansed whenever they go into the tabernacle to minister, and who were these priests? Aaron and his sons. Now let me just go back to the design of the tabernacle. The tabernacle had a holy place but within that place was the most holy place referred to as the holy of holies which is also referred to as the inner sanctuary. The Holy of holies was concealed with a veil(thank God that Jesus tore the veil and made a way when He said IT IS FINISHED!) which was only accessible to the high priest, but the high priest was sanctified, purified, consecrated, cleansed before he could enter this place else he would face death. Therefore the use of the bronze laver was very important. When I think of the tabernacle of meeting I think about order, fear and reverence of the presence of God it’s sad that in the body of Christ today that is not very apparent. May God help and forgive us in Jesus Name. Let us not take His grace for granted. Although He is a God of judgement He is still also a God of judgement and He will judge all sin, whether you are a man of God or a woman of God we all have fallen short of His glory. Do you know that Aaron had sons who were also priests but they violated the tabernacle of meeting and their punishment was death. Brethren it is indeed that deep. Check Leviticus 10. Also take a look at Acts 5 and you will understand that the judgement of God is very much valid in the modern day church. Another thing that the bronze laver symbolises is baptism. As children of God we are to be baptised in water and in fire. Holiness and Purity go hand in hand together.

“John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Luke 3:16

“There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” I Peter 3:21 

The Holy Anointing Oil

Again in Exodus chapter 30 we see that the Lord spoke to Moses about the making of the anointing oil. The anointing oil and the incenses reminds me off three things things the birth of Jesus Christ, Mary’s alabaster box, and the burial of Jesus Christ. The fragrances mentioned in Exodus 30 coincides with what the three wise men brought as gifts for the birth of Jesus Christ, not all but most of them are the same. Mary Magdalene for obvious reasons and here is the scripture:‬

Pure and Holy. Tried and True.

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.” 2 Corinthians 5:1

Lord keep my body strong

So that I will do no wrong

Give me grace

Just to run this Christian race

To a building not made by hand.💝🙏

Let us strive to walk in holiness, righteousness, and purity for we are set apart. Remember Jesus is the only way to the Father, therefore repent and live in the abundance of His love.

When Jesus tore the veil He made a way for ALL that are willing to freely worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. There was no more separation, no coverings, NO RELIGION just a wonderful open door of new life, hope, light, and a limitless relationship with God. Jesus is Alive and because He is alive I am constantly being reminded that life on earth may be short but what a pure joy it is to know that life through Jesus Christ is eternal.

Also remember that God forgives ALL sins it’s just up to us to repent, and it is never too late to repent.

Happy Resurrection Sunday and God bless you.💝🙏