2nd Sunday of Lent

Finding Refuge in the Light of God’s Promise

Luke 13:31–35 ESV

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33 Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” This is the Gospel of Our Lord! Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!

Finding Refuge in the Light of God’s Promise

Have you ever played hide and seek as a child and found a great hiding spot? You know the one! I remember as a kid, a bunch of us from our neighborhood would play hide and seek. We would look for the smallest place we could fit into and not get stuck and hope that whoever was “it” wouldn’t stumble onto where we were hiding. Frankly, I’m not sure how 911 wasn’t called sometimes with the places we were hiding in.

Last week, we talked about PS. 91 Where David said, PS. 91:1

Psalm 91:1 ESV

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

What a great promise! Abiding in His shadow! Today, we’re going to take that to a little more of an intimate place with God. Today, we’re not talking about a secret hole where only you and God know where you are, we’re talking about God’s house!

My desire for my home has always been that of a place of peace and comfort. Frankly, there have been varying degrees of those qualities over time, but I always want my kids to know that they have a place to call home even if life’s storm rages. I love my kids, I would do anything ~ well, almost anything for them.

When life’s storms rage all around us, God wants us to know that we have that refuge where the storms simply cannot reach.

No wonder David was so passionate about God’s house!

It’s way better than that “perfect hiding place!”

I long for God’s presence. We speak of it here often. It is why I feel so strongly about Communion every week. The question arose this week, so I feel in this context, we should talk about it. ~ Why Communion every week? Let’s look at some Scriptural context so we may benefit from it.

The Tabernacle in the Wilderness

In the wilderness, God commanded the people to build the Tabernacle in the wilderness. Maybe, it would be beneficial to see how our weekly worship services are modeled after the Tabernacle.

You will notice that the whole of the nation of Israel camped around the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was central to their very lives. They were to understand that only by God’s Presence ~ IN THE VERY MIDST OF THEM ~ CENTRAL TO THEIR LIVES, that they recieved His Direction, Protection, Guidance etc… Every time they deviated from that central idea, they found themselves in trouble. I believe that the Church ~ this Church included helps keep us centered, focused on God allowing us to enjoy His Direction, Protection, Guidance etc… and when we are not allowing ourselves to be centered in the Church, the representation of God’s House, we find ourselves facing difficulties that God does not wish we would have to endure, but because we have failed to follow His direction, here we are…

So to circumvent judgement and wrath, and more importantly, draw near to His Holy Presence, we enter in…

The Outer Court

The Brazen Alter

First as we enter, we are confronted with a large alter of sacrifice. Here are sins are atoned for. This is akin to our Salvation experience, there must be sacrifice for the atonement of sin. We come to Church every week, hopefully with repentant hearts so that we may be able to draw nearer to His Presence. It starts with repentance…

Understand, this was as far as the Israelites in general were really allowed to go. I don’t know about you, but I want far more than my ‘sins forgiven.’ They brought their sacrifices and to a large degree, left the rest to the priests.

To many ‘Christians’ and far too many churches have stayed right here… They have heard and recieved John 3:16

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

That seems to be enough for them. Come to Jesus, everything is alright! Here’s your ticket to heaven, go and sin no more…

That, my friends is very superficial. I want more.

We have, by God’s edict become Kings and Priests…

Prophetically … Isaiah 61:6

Isaiah 61:6 ESV

6 but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast.

Exodus 19:6 ESV

6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

By New Covenant fulfillment:

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Revelation 1:6 ESV

6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

So, let’s go further…

From the Brazen Alter, we come to the Bronze Laver.

The Bronze Laver

For us to really go into the Holy Place, we must be more than just forgiven, we must be clean. Yes, through the Shed Blood of Jesus we are forgiven, but we must allow God to continually cleanse us and make us Holy. This is “taking up our Cross and following Him.” Many churches teach this as “Sanctification.” Being made Holy. I believe far to many people never come to the Brazen Alter. I also believe that far too many people stay there and never venture to allowing God to Cleanse them and make them Holy. They will tell you, “I’m saved!” but a quick look at their lives, you don’t see much different than those who never came in at all. We NEED our sinful nature washed off of us. This is a radical commitment to being Disciples of Jesus Christ.

So far we have really only dealt with our sinful nature. We need to come into the Holy Place of God.

The Holy Place

The Holy Place is where we really start to find God’s Holy Presence. Let’s go inside!

In here, we find three elements of our worship. The Golden lampstand, The table of Shewbread and the alter of incense. All three point to parts of our worship. Let’s look:

The Alter of Incense

The Alter of Incense represents our Worship of God. We have several elements that are a “sweet fragrance” to God.

We worship with singing

We worship with giving

We worship in prayer

All of these are ‘gifts’ or ‘fragrances’ unto God

The Table of Shewbread

We find also the Table of Shewbread. This table is often not really understood.

This is also referred to as “the table of presence” Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life.” This table was there to remind us of our need to be in God’s presence.

It was the command that on the Sabbath, that the priests were to make  twelve loaves, or cakes, of unleavened bread. These cakes were placed on the table hot each Sabbath day, arranged in two rows, or piles, six in a row, with pure frankincense on each row.

During the entire week the bread lay on the table. By some translators it is called “the bread of the presence.” At the end of the week it was removed and eaten by the priests.

To receive our sustenance from God, we NEED to be present in His Presence. HIs provision was promised and found here. Here, is the Biblical precedent for coming to Church weekly!

The Golden Lamp stand

The last element in here, is the Golden Lamp stand.

Psalm 119:105 ESV

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Simply, we read the Word, we hear the Word, we live the Word of God. We need the Word of God to be part of our lives through the written, spoken, heard, and obeyed. Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Without the light of God’s Word, we are traveling in darkness.

Many churches come together on a weekly basis, they sing, read Scripture, pray, give some announcements, take up and offering and go about their business. What they have missed is coming into the very Holy Presence of God and met with Him face to face. Maybe they are scared of it, maybe they just don’t understand it. But this is where David was talking of in Psalm 27.

Psalm 27:4 ESV

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

The Holy of Holies

The Holy place was separated from the Holy of Holies by The Veil.

Remember, in the Old Testament, with the Old Covenant, only the High Priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies. ~ and that only once a year.

Let’s also remember that they tied a rope around the High Priest’s ankle so if he died while in the Holy Presence of God, they could get him out!

The Ark of the Covenant

Inside the Holy of Holies, rest the Ark of the Covenant. This is where the presence of God resided. The High Priest would perform his ministry to God here on behalf of the people of God.

When Christ died on the Cross, the Veil in the Temple was torn in two giving all Divine access into His Holy Presence.

Jesus on the night He was betrayed, He broke bread and poured the wine. He was inviting His Disciples and all “who were afar off…” to have access to His presence.

This meal is often referred to as “the Covenant meal.” He was demonstrating, an invitation into the Holiest Place of all, God’s presence “as often as you do this…”

This table represents the Ark of the Covenant in our worship. ~ God’s Holy Presence.

Let’s be honest. Over the last couple of months, even years together, we have experience right here in our church times where the music was off key ~ maybe last week… maybe the songs we sang didn’t “speak” to us. Maybe the Scripture readings weren’t right on the video, or maybe someone read the wrong words, or we couldn’t hear them… I don’t know, maybe we just “tuned them out…”

Honestly, not every time I’ve preached, I connected with everyone. Heck, maybe, nothing I said resonated even one little bit with you. OK…But…

I’ve been to churches all over the country. Some big. Some little. Some I really enjoyed. Some I didn’t like at all. One thing could always, ALWAYS be said, IF they celebrated Communion, ~ even if they didn’t do it like “I would do it… “ I always had the opportunity to come face to face with the Living God, and hear Him tell me, “this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” I was in His Presence. At His Table. Eating with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

But this table isn’t just a “fulfilment of the Old Covenant in the New…” it is a “bridge” a “foreshadowing” of what is to come!

“Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your rest!”

One day, hopefully soon, we will as David pleaded for, “Dwell in the House of the Lord forever!”

So until I am able to look Almighty God in the eye, see Him face to face, I have this table. It is an anchor in the winds and waves of life. I am able to come to, as David said in Psalm 23, a table set for me in the presence of mine enemies

AND… Dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

Let’s not be guilty of…

Luke 13:35 ESV

35 Behold, your house is forsaken…

Rather, let us be found here….

Luke 13:35 ESV

…Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Let us boldly come to the Table of the Lord.