Living In God's Presence

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to Hebrews chapter 9. We'll review verses 3 through 5 together as we venture into the Holy of Holies. And I'd like to preach to you today a message entitled "Living in God's Presence." Living in God's Presence is the title from Hebrews 9.3 to 5. And now we'll be going into the Holy of Holies, which is past the Holy Place, past the cord of the Gentiles, and behind the curtain. And I'd like to mention to you by way of introduction that now we are not limited to going to the tabernacle to be in the presence of God, but now we can be in the presence of God. And that is a state for which we can live and be. And so we are truly living in a climax in history. We have not only had God incarnate come, and now normally we have the full Word of God and all of the shadows that we're pointing to these things. We are living in the best point in Christian history that we'll ever be. And so if God tarries for another 100 years, nothing gets better than how it is now in regards to our interaction and dwelling with God. If God tarries for another 1,000 years, 10,000 years, another million years, nothing gets better. It has now accumulated in Christ. And so I'd like to talk to you today about living in God's presence. "Corum dio" is the Latin phrase which many have mentioned over centuries, especially reformers, and that just simply helps us to understand that we should be present in regards to knowing that God is present, our God-consciousness. We should be conscience of God's presence. We should be living underneath His authority in mind and in heart, especially with our lips. And so this is truly what I would hope to be able to project today for you, is living behind the veil. And as we go into the tabernacle and walk through and see all the furnishings that point Jesus in every way, now we go behind this veil, living behind the veil. By way of proposition, I'd say to us that the furnishings in the Holy of Holies provide insight on how to live in the light today, not just visit. So let's read together in Hebrews 9, verses 3 through 5. Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having an altar of incense, and the Ark of the Covenant, covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the Covenant, and above it were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But of these things we cannot speak now in detail. Let's pray together.

Lord, for the audience for which the book, sermon, and letter of Hebrews was intended, they knew in detail of these wonderful furnishings inside the tabernacle. Help us as foreigners, as strangers outside of this biblical culture to understand how all of these things bring us into Your presence. We love You. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

I'd like to establish up front that point number one is that anyone can worship God. Sometimes we get stuck into our four no more, and we lose sight of the fact that we are able to live in the light of Christ so that we can not only glorify God, but we can be a light to others. And so as we really truly focus on a high Christology here at Beulah Baptist Church, I would say this by way of encouragement, do not shrink back into a holy huddle and make sure that you are learning what you're learning for the purposes of reaching the lost because Jesus said in Luke 19.10 that He came to seek and to save the lost. And so the reason why we have a high Christology, the reason why we learn of Christ, the reason why we dwell with Him is so that the lost would be saved, so that you can worship God, so that you can shine. And so I want to prove again as we have already in the sermon's past that anyone can come and worship God, especially when it comes to how the new covenant has been extended to not just Jews but also Gentiles. Last week we discussed the title of coming and communing with Christ, and we also discussed that Isaiah and Jeremiah invited both Jews and Gentiles to come. This general call in Isaiah 55.1 to come, it's an evangelistic offer. And then as well within this you have Israel but also sojourners who were invited to come as well. In Leviticus 17.8, turn there if you would, I want to show you in Leviticus 17.8 how sojourners and strangers and sinners were invited to come and to worship God. And this is important for us to be ones who are given to constantly inviting the lost to come to Christ. This evangelistic offer sometimes gets a little bit skewed in our diving into the scriptures and in our soteriology, but we need to make sure that we are given to being a means by which Jesus Christ can reach and save the lost. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10.17 says. And so we must be evangelistic with our light, not keep it to ourselves. In Leviticus 17.8 it says, "Then you shall say to them, any man from the house of Israel or from the aliens or who sojourn among them who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man also shall be cut off from his people." And so I guess you could summarize it like this, "Come or get cut off." That's pretty much the way it is. Come to Jesus or get cut off. It's demonstrated here in the Old Testament days as well. So come. In Numbers chapter 15 and verses 16, 14, 15, and 16, you have the same idea and how it explains if a sojourner offers an offering as a soothing aroma to Yahweh, "Just as you do so shall he do." This is important. Numbers 15, 14 through 16, this is an important concept for us as well. We do not bend or flex to the ways of the world and the world does not dictate how we worship. And in fact, if someone who is sojourning or visiting or comes into Bula Baptist Church, they will worship according to how the Bible says to worship and that is prescribed even in the Old Testament. Let me read in Numbers chapter 15 verses 14 and following to you. "If an alien sojourns or a stranger sojourns with you or one who may be among you throughout your generations and he wishes to make an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do so shall he do." We need to regulate what happens in God's house and it has been regulated even in the Old Testament. In verse 15 it says, "As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the aliens who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations as you are so shall the alien be for the Lord. There is to be one law and one ordinance for you for the alien who sojourns with you." I can't tell you how many times and I know that you've heard it as well. Well, this is the way that I worship. This is the way that I approach God. Hey, I'm just telling you, God is God. He sets the rules, he sets the laws and we approach him humbly and reverently and do it his way. And as you come into, if you want to envision drawing closer to Christ with confidence, you will enter into the tabernacle trepidatiously. You'll enter into his courts with not only praise but reverence. And as you come in, all of these things are clear. And so the sojourner who may be, according to Old Testament culture, an Amalekite living Mount Sinai's area, according to Numbers 33, they would have to come the way God is prescribed to come. Or perhaps there's a Midianite who comes by and Moses found within the Midianites a wife, Zipporah, and she would have to worship as well accordingly. Or perhaps the descendants of Esau, the Edomites who lived in the desert mountains in Numbers chapter 20, if they found their way over close to the tabernacle and were sojourning or visiting or God around them, they would have to worship like Israel is worshipping there at the tabernacle how God is prescribed. Or what about the Moabites from Lot, a descendant of Lot who lived out east of the Dead Sea in Numbers 22? They too, if they were sojourning or visiting or traveling and they ended up within Israel, they would have to worship and approach God the same way. If the strangers and sinners can't come to God, then who can come to God? And so we need to have this conviction within us is that we need to invite people to come and worship God. Anyone can worship God, even in the Old Testament times you see this. And so now as a newcomer approaches the tabernacle of God, I give you just a few pointers up front. Approach God with reverence because he's powerful. Approach God obediently because he rules. Approach God through Christ. It's by Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Approach God confessionally. He is holy. We need to be a people of repentance who regularly repent, confessing our sins. We need to approach God worshipfully as well because he is to be praised. We need to approach God gratefully. He's invited you to come to him. Be grateful. We need to approach God prayerfully. He wants us to talk to him. And we should approach God in a state of awe because he gave his son to be united with you. How amazing is this? At the same time, we think anyone can come, but they can't come any old way. We have to approach God the way that he has prescribed. In John chapter four, verse 24, it says that God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in truth and in spirit. And so this context in John chapter four in regards to a Samaritan woman, a Samaritan and outsider, a woman to be brought in to the in, you say, club or in Christ Jesus, a respected rabbi, a prophet talking to a woman. It's just touche, a respected rabbi to include the half-breed Samaritans. It's just touche. But in, I'm telling you, anyone can come and worship Christ. And so Jesus explains to the outcasted Samaritan woman that was guilty of all kinds of different sins, that God is omnipresent and he can be worshiped anywhere by anyone. But here's the qualification according to John chapter four, verse 24, your inner spirit, your being must be engaged with the one true God in the right way. And so we worship God in truth and in spirit. And you perhaps have come from maybe an attractional church that has changed worship. And I would ask them these questions. Do we have to invite the Holy Spirit to come? Or is he already here? Is he already among us? Well, no, we believe in the fact that he has already been around. He's omnipresent. And so Matthew 11 chapter 28, Jesus said, "Come." We don't invite him. We, Jesus said, "Come." So we come. We don't ask him to come. It's like if he was to say, "No, you come." And then Jesus said, "No, no, you come." "No, you come." Back and forth.

You see what I'm saying? It's almost ridiculous on how so many attractional services are trying to coax the Holy Spirit into coming. Do you not believe in the permanent and dwelling of the Holy Spirit? In John chapter 14 and verse 16, it says, "The Helper is with you forever." Do you not believe that you are a temple of God? First Corinthians 19 says so. And do you not believe that Christians cannot escape the presence of the Holy Spirit? Psalm 139.7 says, "Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" Well, the answer is God is already omnipresent. And we don't have to coax him. We don't have to invite him. We need to come to him. And we need to repent of our sin and truly approach him in humility and allow people to see that anyone can come to Christ. You must come to Jesus. And the way that you do this is to repent of your sin and to start drawing closer to him.

In life, we want to, if you want to go back to Hebrews with me, I want to be very careful to make sure that we are ones who are entertaining strangers, as the Bible tells us to do this, in Hebrews 13.2. It carries over this idea of the importance of hospitality. And this was a litmus test in the Old Testament. If you were a person of God, then you were one who truly was given to hospitality, to a sojourner or a visitor. Their well-being was in your hands. And based upon how well you took care of a sojourner or a visitor or an outcast or a person who was in your home was to the extent that you were a person of God. In Hebrews 13.2, it says, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers." And so if we then walk past outsiders, walk past people, and we forget why in the world we're still here, then you're neglecting this very command. And so strangers are important, and lost people are very important. Your neighbors are so important. Not only are we to love God, but we are to love our neighbors. Love God and love our neighbors is how Jesus summarized the entire Old Testament law. And so as we are really living and dwelling and going through this book called Hebrews, this high Christological book, a lot of theology, we need to remember why we're doing what we're doing and not lose sight of being the way, the truth, and the life in other people's hearts and minds. We need to show and to point them to Jesus. Anyone can worship, but point number two is Christians enter the most holy place. Anyone can come and worship, make an offering. Anyone can come. But it's only Christians who are able to come into the most holy place that are actually in Christ. And so in Hebrews chapter 9 verses 3, 4, and 5, there is a whole list of items in the Holy of Holies. You have the altar of incense, the Ark of the Covenant, the golden jar with manna, the rod of Aaron, the tablets of the Covenant. And in all of these, there's much information to be able to glean on how to dwell with Jesus, how to walk with God. And so dwelling in the Holy of Holies with Christ our Lord is most certainly for New Covenant believers, true believers who have separated themselves from the world and are living holy lives in the presence of God. This is beyond the holy place. This is beyond the core of the Gentiles. There is a separation between everything else in this most holy place. Hold your place and turn to Exodus chapter 40.

And verse 21, and see how the veil has separated the Holy of Holies from the holy place.

In Exodus 40 verse 21, he brought the Ark into the tabernacle and set up a veil. And what was this veil for? Well according to Exodus 40 verse 21, this veil was a screen and it screened off the Ark of the testimony just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so this is a separate place for those who truly can approach God in a way that they won't die, which would be to be covered in the blood of Jesus, to be saved, gloriously saved. No one can enter into the presence of a holy God and make it have not been covered or protected or being in Christ. And so how do Christians enter? Will they enter by holiness? They enter the inner chamber of the Lord Jesus Christ or the tabernacle, so to speak, Jesus being the true tabernacle through repentance and prayer. And Jesus helps us to see this not only by these furnishings that we've already walked past, but also a New Testament concept in 1 John 1.9 that says that if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you. This brazen laver, this wash bowl that's in the holy place is for the priest to wash before and after they make sacrifices or they worship. And this is a regular part of our life to be washing, to be being clean before Christ. And this is truly how you get in behind the curtain and dwell with Christ. 1 John 1.5 says that God is holy, all right? And then there's no darkness in Him at all. And if we are truly to walk into His presence, the first thing that's going to happen is that we will be very aware of our shortcomings and our sin and be willing to fall in our face and ask Him for forgiveness and to be cleansed by His work. It's a wonderful thing to approach Him in this way. And this is an amazing thing to know that we can dwell with God. I would say to those who brag about having, you know, some large fee with a country club or whatnot, and they talk about golf, they talk about wine, they talk about hot tubs, they talk about the pools, that's just mere cheap plastic toddler toys in comparison to the richness in Christ and dwelling with Him. There's no golf game that compares to Christ. There's no bottle of wine that compares to Christ. There's no landscape that is amazing around the pool overlooking any view that is comparison to dwelling with Jesus Christ. And so as we walk into this inner place, the Holy of Holies, it is truly the climactic way for Christians to live, to walk with Jesus.

No Christian can enter and dwell with the Holy God without being one who is given to confession. Unconfessed sin grieves the Lord in Ephesians 4.30 it says, not to grieve the Holy Spirit. I'd ask you this, why would you enter into this? Well, it is a trepidatious thing to approach a Holy God in a lot of different ways, but God wants you to worship Him. God has invited you to come behind the veil. Turn to Ephesians, or I'm sorry, Hebrews 6 and verse 19.

There's a reason why we go behind the veil, and there's a reason why we confidently do this. In Hebrews 6 and verse 19, there's an amazing amount of hope and security when you are in Christ or close to Christ. And so in Hebrews 6 and verse 19, we see we've been invited to come in behind the veil. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil. Enter within the veil. We are now to enter within the veil. The veil's been torn from top to bottom. It was a huge veil. It was probably four to six inches thick. It was beautiful. No man could have torn that with his own hands, but it was torn from top to bottom. It was too high to reach. Christ did it. And now that that has been torn, we enter within the veil. Scripture instructs us to do this. And so Christ inaugurated a covenant by his blood with us so that we could clearly come and draw near with sincere hearts behind the veil. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19, we get the same idea pressed forward. In Hebrews 10, 19, and following, "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil," that is his flesh, "and since we have a great priest over the house of God," verse 22, "let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience in our bodies washed with pure water." This is important to realize that you need not to hide from God when you are perhaps feeling embarrassed because of your sin. Simply confess your sin and draw near to him. He is faithful and just, not only to forgive your sin, but to cleanse you of your sin. And as a child of God, sometimes we have the wrong kind of fear of our Father, but the fear is that to have reverence and honor and glory for God, the wrong kind of fear is to run from God when you need him the most. And so you've been invited to come into his presence. Come.

Come and be inspired. Come be forgiven. Come be overwhelmed. Come be strengthened. Christians are the ones who enter behind the veil. And now let's see just a little synopsis of the pieces here in Hebrews chapter 9, the furnishings, the pieces that are in Hebrews chapter 9 verses 3 to 4 in this Holy of Holies place. The first we could take a look at is the tablets. And these are the Ten Commandments, these stone pieces that had God's finger and scribe his law upon them. In Exodus chapter 31 verse 18 it says, "Upon Mount Sinai God gave Moses the two tablets written by the finger of God." And so these are there behind the veil. Not only do we have the tablets, but we also have Aaron's rod. This is fascinating. Aaron's rod actually sprouted.

This indicated that Aaron and the Levites were chosen to be of the priesthood. In Numbers chapter 17 it tells of how the rod budded after they ascribed twelve rods to each twelve tribes and God then caused Aaron's rod to bud, which indicated that Aaron and the Levites would be the priesthood. And this is incredible because it indicates as well that God chooses what he wants to choose and it's because of his prerogative of what he chooses. And so in Numbers chapter 17 in verses 5 it says, "The rod of the man whom I chose will sprout." And then in verse 8 it says that it sprouted buds and blossoms and almonds. And so from a dead stick, a cut off branch, you have buds and blossoms, you have fruit and flowers from a dead branch. There's an incredible amount of significance here. It's kind of hard to do this. Perhaps a Bible study atmosphere would be a whole lot better to dive into these word studies and such. But what this is kind of significant for is to foreshadow the coming of a resurrected Savior and from this type of rod or branch we see in Isaiah 11 verse 1 that this is foretelling of Christ. He would be a branch, a rod of Jesse. And then in Matthew chapter 1 verse 6 you have the genealogy of Jesus and Jesse is in there. And so now as God's magnificent plan continues to unfold through the centuries, I say again to you that we are living in the brightest era of Christendom and it won't get any brighter than this. And so we have the full illumination of Scripture and the incarnation of Christ. We have all of the glory that we're going to get until He comes again. And so we're truly, truly living at a fantastic and amazing time in church history. Aaron's rod is very significant in that he chose, God chose Aaron and the Levites for the priesthood. Interestingly, the rod was to be kept as a sign against grumbling and rebelling. And why God did the whole thing with the rod is because the twelve tribes were arguing and fussing and grumbling about who would be the priesthood and God just settled it by saying, "Okay, pick out a stick or a rod, a branch and write the names of your tribes on these."

with the name of the tribe that I want to be the priest, blossom." And God did that. He chose them. And God is still in the choosing business, in the foreordaining business.

It's also a warning, the fact that this was kept as a sign

according to Numbers chapter 17. It's also a sign, a warning that we need not to be grumblers. Because ultimately if you grumble about anything, you're grumbling about the providence of God and what He has done. Is He sovereign or not? And if He is, in control. If God is God, the very godness of God means to be in control. And if you complain, which Philippians 2.14

is a...

in reference to how Israel complained and grumbled, therefore to do all things without murmuring and complaining, Philippians 2.14 is a reference to this particular section.

God chooses and He does what He wants to do. So we need not to be covetousness or covetous. We don't need to lust after what other people have. We need to be content with what we have. We need to walk with the Lord and be content and happy. This is a reminder of how we dwell with God. Aaron's rod is not only indicative for the fact that God chose Aaron in the Levites, but also that we should be content. And so this is a reminder against rebellion. And also you have the manna behind the veil. The manna that fed Israel for 40 years

was something that was in reference here to the manna in Deuteronomy 8, verse 3. So manna for 40 years was a lesson, but also it was a luxury. And this is to be...

to make Israel understand.

And you say, "Well, what was the manna to make them understand?" The manna was to make them understand that Israel is not to live by their own laws and their own word. They're to live by the very word of God. And so the manna is significant because it is pointing to the fact that man shall not live by bread alone, but by the very word of God, Matthew 4, verse 4. And so as a reminder that we need to live by God's ways, God's words, not our own ways, not our own words. So our opinions don't matter. It's what God says. How many times have you heard someone say, "Well, I know what the Bible says, but I'm going to do this." It never ends up good, does it?

And by the way, I think that this is a good knock on the veggie-free or happy cow diet, the keto and reverse type thing. So nevertheless, it's just an interesting thought. You have this as something that the Bible says, it's the bread of angels. And so this manna, this word of God, is also indicative for Jesus being the word in the beginning, you know, John 1.1. All of this significance is meaningful. But let's keep moving forward because I want to try and get to the point to where we can be helped in how we walk with the Lord. The Ark of the Covenant as well is behind the Holy of Holies. And it's a reminder that God made a covenant with Israel and He promised His blessing. And He also promised to be their God. You see, this is right where God meets man. He says, "I will meet with you there," Exodus 25, 22. And so God gave sinners the law and then He covered it in His mercy so we can enjoy His glory. That's where you see when you go to the Ark of the Covenant, the law is inside, then it's covered with the lid as the mercy seat, and then the cherubim are on top that is emblematic for His glory.

And so in this we see that God gave sinners the law, then He covered us in His mercy so we can enjoy His glory. But then you also have the altar of incense. It's mentioned in Hebrews 9 here that's behind the veil. And the altar of incense is indicative for prayer and worship. In Psalm 141.2 it says this, in Psalm 141.2, "May my prayer be set before you like incense." And so as you envision your prayers like a sweet-smelling aroma to the Lord,

be worshipful in your prayers and be truly engaged wholeheartedly in your prayers. Most prayers and attractional services attempt to coax the Holy Spirit to come, and it's just the exact opposite of how we worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. And so this altar of incense is something that Aaron would have had to have gone to every single day to burn incense and to worship the Lord daily in Exodus 30, verses 7 through 9. It's interesting that Aaron would have had to have gone to this altar of incense every day, but yet we all know from Exodus that the altar here is actually in the Holy of Holies. And so how can that happen when the priest could only go into the Holy of Holies one time a year? But Aaron had to maintain it every single day. Well, again, the Hebrew author here is not concerned about the details. And so what seems to be happening here is that the author of Hebrews here would have been focused on the tabernacle details, then he would have said it differently, which goes on to say he cannot do and speak to the details now. But he would have mentioned that this altar was in the holy place. Exodus 30, verse 6 says this, "You are to place the altar in front of the veil." And so that would have been clearly an indication that it would be in the Holy of Holies. Now, nevertheless, the technical location of this particular furnishing is not the issue at hand. It's not what the theological concept is being driven home. According to scholar Thomas Shriner, professor of theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he states on page 260 in his commentary that the incense altar is associated with God's presence. Okay? And so that's the concept behind the preacher of Hebrews, in my opinion as well. I agree with Thomas Shriner. He says this is associated with the presence. And so even though this altar was before the veil, he's associating the activity of prayer and worship as being behind the veil. And that as we are truly praying and worshiping God, we're behind the veil. We're dwelling with God. We're walking with the Lord. We're enjoying His presence. And so, therefore, logically the author is associating the altar with the Holy of Holies. And so truly prayer is presence, to be in the presence of God. They go hand in hand. And so Psalm 141.2 I say again, "May my prayer be set before you like incense." Now, as we start to wrap up, I would ask you a few questions here. According to Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 19, it says that you should choose whom you will serve. Deuteronomy 30.19 is encouraging us to choose God, to choose His covenant, to choose His ways, and not choose the ways of the world. And just by just a quick synopsis, some other things may come up to you and your mind. But what came up to me in my mind is just a couple of those who have not chosen Christ. And it's unfortunate to see Rick Harrison of the popular show, The Pawn Stars, and how they have profited three million dollars per episode and made hundreds of millions of dollars from their merchandise and books and real estate and tourism and store sales. I kind of wonder, are any of them in Christ? Or have they been truly given to cash? You know, you go to the pawn shop to get cash and get the almighty dollar. I kind of wonder as well, the popular show for the Alaskan Bush people that aired for 14 years, if any of that wolf pack-like family are in Christ, because of the 60 million dollars that was netted from that show, all I see is that it has ruined their family. None of them are walking with Jesus. There's so much backbiting. There's suicide. There's overdoses. There's burglaries. There's divorce. There's oppression. You name it. All of that type of stuff is happening. And so I would say to us today, is it right for us to pursue the almighty dollar at the expense of pursuing Christ and making disciples? Absolutely not. Money's not evil. The root of evil could be that, the pursuit of that. You can't serve both God and man, God says. And so we know that from Matthew 6, verse 24, that we need to really truly focus on investing ourselves in pursuing Christ with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's not the millions that we need. It's the communion with Christ. It's not the gold that we need. It's God that we need. It's not the popularity that we need. It's Christianity. It's not living for the world. It's living for the word. It's not coveting, lusting, sinning. It's tabernacling, contently with Christ. And so I would say to you by way of conclusion, one take-home truth for you today is that choose Christ first and remain in Him. Choose Christ first each day and remain in Him. It's a slow fade when we kind of start to drift away from Christ. And if you set your gaze upon the things of the world and make money and or things of this world and I don't remember, Jesus cared nothing for big beautiful buildings. Herod did though, evil King Herod. His disciples had to give up everything and follow Jesus and truly invest themselves into making disciples. And so making money is not evil, but making money an idol is evil. We need to be pursuing Christ not cash, making disciples not the almighty and as you walk with Jesus and tabernacle with Him, here's what all of these furnishings kind of help to do when it comes to your life and pursuing Christ. When you're behind the curtain, so to speak, then you are in God's special intense presence that can be explained in these scriptural ways. In chapter 6 in verse 19 you have unshakable hope in Hebrews. If you're close to Christ, then you have a hope that is unshakable like an anchor that is unmovable. And that is a very special and wonderful thing to be walking with Christ in such a way that your hope is unshakable. Your heart is truly stable, close to Christ. It could be explained this way as well, being behind the veil, dwelling with Jesus as you go. And by the way, let me make just a little bit of a caveat here. You have one David who wrote the majority of the Psalms who was a warrior and who also mastered this idea of dwelling with God and walking with the Lord. And so don't think that just because you're busy that you can't dwell with Christ in and through every single day. Or don't think because you've got a hard job and a lot of hard and difficult things to do. In fact, you should dwell with Christ all the more intentionally. And so as well you can explain this living in God's presence, this this quorum diem, which obviously it's not going to be exhaustive, but seeking Christ first and staying in Him, not only will it cause you to have an unshakable hope, which is not contingent upon your family members being alive and it's not contingent upon your investments being high. It's not contingent upon even having a home. Nothing shakes you when you are right there with the Lord. He'll see you through. This is a special and intense presence of God. And then as well your prayers, according to Hebrews 9.4 are like incense that are pleasing to the Lord.

Now I know that I have said things in the past that have not been pleasing. My first attitude to my wife or to my kids, even to myself, self-talk, I'm like, "Well, that was dumb."

But when you are truly, truly walking with the Lord and interacting with Him well and biblically and scripturally, you'd know when your prayers are scriptural and you are truly pleasing to the Lord.

It's almost like changing gears in a car. And this walk with Christ truly intensifies. And dwelling with Him as you go through the day has an immense sense.

It can be described in not only having an unshakable hope, but also your prayers are unending, so to speak, or deeper or better or broader or more wonderful. And then as well, they can be described by the furnishings that are behind the veil as what the Ark of the Covenant would indicate a deep love. Remember, the Covenant is a promise, a marital relationship, this deep love. It reminds us that God gave His Son to be sacrificed, to be cut so that He could make a covenant with us.

How much more wonderful does it get when it comes to how much God has sacrificed this deep and wonderful love? To be living in the presence of God, to have a consciousness of God's presence only to have an unshakable hope and pleasing prayers, to be experiencing a deep love of God. But it's also to be worshiping, which also the incense indicates, to have heart-moving worship. There's some worship that you watch and it's not engaging. There's some worship that maybe you are just learning. And then there's some worship that seems to be an overflow of the heart, that it really, really starts being overwhelming and so enjoyable that it's hard to put it even into words. So heart-moving worship. And then as well, the manna would indicate the fullness of your soul, Christ running over this fullness. And then as well, there is an extreme humility that comes in the midst of being close with Christ. In Hebrews chapter 9 verse 4, he's talking about Aaron's rod, the staff that he selected, the fact that God has selected you now. Aaron might have been selected to be the priest and the Levites might have been the priesthood, but now we are the priesthood of believers. You've been selected and chosen. How much more humbling is that? And so when you walk into the presence of God and you envision Aaron's rod that has butted and it's got flowers and it's got almonds on it from a dead branch, you have been made alive. Just like that dead branch has blossomed and been given life, God breathed life into you. And so as we go through life and we have these pictures to remind us of who we are and who we aren't, it is so humbling to be able to see that I was dead in my trespasses and sins, but God made me alive according to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1. We've been made alive and this is a wonderful walk with Christ when we are conscious, intentionally dwelling and thinking upon the things of God and not just going through our days aimlessly.

And so not only do we have unshakable hope and pleasing prayers and a deep love and heart-moving worship and fullness of soul have an extreme humility about us. And then as well there is an exhilarating insight. When you look at the tablets, when you look at God's law, it is exhilarating to see how holy he is. The law explains a perfectness, a perfect God who is, we could never live up to that. It's the reason why Jesus did it for us. And so it is exhilarating to take a look at the tablets, at the Ten Commandments and see the insight that we gain from knowing God and undertaking even the pleasure of getting to know Him through Bible study. So the law describes His absolute holiness and to know God is most exhilarating in Bible study. I say it like this, there's nothing better than Bible study. Reading God's Word is great, but studying the Bible deeply, there's nothing better than Bible study. In it, as all of these things kind of converge, you'll be overwhelmed by a weighty glory. In chapter 9 and verse 5, behind the veil and the holy of holies, you have cherubim that are indicative of God's glory. And when all of these concepts overwhelm you, there is nothing that you can do except bask in His glory and just simply try to survive the moment. When the special presence of God is upon you, you know it. The prophets knew it when the hand of God was upon them. The prophets knew exactly when the Spirit of God was upon them. And it was a special and wonderful time with the Lord that is indescribable in the book of Revelation. John knew when the Spirit of God was upon him.

And the last thing I leave for you when it comes to this special presence is that there is a clear understanding of having complete forgiveness.

And if that doesn't put you on your face, weeping, nothing will to understand that God has paid for every single one of your dirty rotten sins and taken it upon His clean self. Complete forgiveness, Hebrews 9 and 5, the mercy seat is where God imparts mercy instead of justice. Oh, we deserve His justice, but He gives us mercy. He gives us His presence instead of His punishment. Go home with that and just dwell in the fact that God gives you Himself, His presence, instead of punishment for which we deserve. We experience this cleansing power, this complete expungement. We're fully exonerated. He's fully accepted us. How many of you have suffered and don't raise your hand? I mean, we would all raise our hands to answer this question. How many of you have suffered in your heart from being rejected? Rejection is just awful. It's like soul rot.

But from whom it matters the most you have been accepted. And this is to be dwelt upon, to be embraced. Despite us, He blesses us. And so now this intense presence is something that God has torn the veil, invited you to come in to be able to walk with Him daily. Haven't we taken this granted? This special and wonderful and intense walk with Christ has been made available so easy for us in our day. How many Bibles do we have to where we can open up and be in God's presence and start learning about His Word? How many times have we been told where the priesthood of the believers? How many times have you been told you could pray without ceasing any time you want? How many times you could get invited to come and worship? How many times have you been told you can worship? How many of us have podcasts in our ears about preaching? How many of us listen to worship? How many of us go through each day? It's just become normative of life to where we know that we can walk with Jesus. And how have we truly overlooked this because it has been made so common? This is not common. This is special. The special intense presence of Christ is exhilarating to the mind, overwhelming to the heart, life changing. And when all of these types of things converge upon your life, just like Moses' face, shown and the people saw it, so will you. And the Bible says let your light shine before men that they might see your good deeds and glorify God. So it's our duty. It's our obligation. It's our privilege to be able to enter into His courts with praise and praise Him throughout the day no matter what's going on and to be a light for the lost. Let's pray together. Lord, we love you and we thank you for making it possible for us to come behind the veil and live within your presence. I pray, dear Jesus, that you would help us to have no part of us that is separate from you that would keep us from walking with you and coming into your presence. I pray, dear Jesus, that you would help us not to take verses lightly like Matthew 6 33. It says to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I pray that we would be very intentional about seeking you first. We don't need to check emails or check the weather see if somebody's text us or we need nothing but you, God. And I pray, dear Jesus, that you would give us conviction to seek you, Jesus Christ, first and they can remain in you and to walk with you throughout the days. What a picture you've given us here with the tabernacle to be able to display all of these wonders. We do love you. It's in Jesus' name that we pray.