Worship behind the Veil!

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”. Hebrews 4:16

Last night, I hardly slept. After listening to a discussion in one of our FM stations regarding praise and worship, I had a quest and thirst to get to know more about praise and worship both in a personal way as well as a worship leader. I started thinking and meditating on what was discussed and personal evaluation on the same. I was in awe of what I realized and I thanked God for everything and went to sleep. It was then that I lost my sleep and I had a desire to dig more about the tabernacle and what was done in each section. Little did I know that I was a trance and God was revealing so much. I had an awesome time to meditate and soak in God’s presence which was so awesome.

                Moses was shown the heavenly pattern for the temple and recreated it as best as humanly possible. By looking at the Tabernacle in the wilderness we can come to a better understanding of the way God intends for us to enter the God’s presence. The first area of the tabernacle was the outer court which contained the altar of sacrifices and the lavar. This is the entrance to the tabernacle. This is where people used to come and offer their sacrifices of atonement and other sacrifices. David says in Psalms 100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” The Israelites would come and offer their sacrifices of praise on the outer court. Here, it characterized more of repentance, praise and worship and celebration. The altar represented the cross. You cannot enter into God’s presence without passing through the cross. At the cross, you leave all your burdens. Our past sins are forgiven and put away (Romans 3:25; 2 Cor. 5:21); our old nature is crucified (Romans 6:6); and we devote ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2). We need to know that when we come into the house of God, we are coming to meet a Holy God and thus we have to be holy as well. It is at the outer court that we are able to deal with all this and cleanse ourselves.

In our modern worship setting, before we offer our sacrifice of praise and worship to God, we need to set apart some time to go before the Lord and cleanse ourselves. Especially the worship leaders and the ministers as well as you personally. You need to familiarize yourself with God’s presence till you know how it feels. Not just to hear people saying how they felt God’s presence and you, you didn’t even recognize. Do not be a stranger in God’s presence. We need to realize that as we lead the people into God’s presence, we can’t take or lead them to a place that you haven’t been or you do not know. Thus we need to go ahead of the people that follow us. We need to come to the altar and deal with all the works of the flesh before advancing into God’s presence. The lavar signifies God’s Word in three aspects a) as mirror (James 1:23-34), b) A judge (John 12:47-48; 1 Cor. 11:31; 1 Peter 1:17), and c) as cleansing water (Ephesians 5:25-27; 1 John 5:6). As Christians, we must cleanse ourselves of worldly contamination by reading and applying the word of God in our day to day life. Jesus said that we can only be cleansed our sins by water and the blood of the lamb. And thus, after offering our sacrifices and cleansing ourselves, we are ready to enter into the Holy place and commune with God.

When you get into the Holy place, this where you commune with God. The presence of God starts to be real. It is unfortunate in our moments with God, we come from the outer court and when we reach the Holy place, we get contented and we leave without advancing into the Holy of holies. It is at the Holy place that God listens to us as we adore him, enthrone him and lift him up on our praises. He comes down to dine with us. It is in the Holy place that frankincense was offered. The incense here signifies our worship to God. Here again the priest would offer the showbread. The bread represents our will. It was ground meaning totally yielded; molded (conformed to God and delight to do His will); baked (tried by fire); then was placed in two rows of six loaves (ordered according to God’s direction – discipline) and covered by frankincense (worship). This sacrifice was offered daily before the Lord. This means that each and every day, we should bring a sacrifice of worship unto God which is not the same as it was yesterday. We should be renewed and refreshed every time we are in God’s presence. We shouldn’t go out the same way as we came in.

It is at the holy place that God deals with our flesh and transforms our lives. Once our will has been transformed into that of God, we are ready and in tune to hear from God. The golden lamp stand in the Holy place represents our intellect. The lamp stand was fashioned from beaten gold. Through the renewing of our minds, by studying the Word of God, we allow the Holy Spirit to fashion our intellect to be pleasing to God (2 Corinthians 10:5; Romans 8:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:8). The illumination of the intellect depends upon the yielding of the will (James 3:13-18). Sometimes we come into God’s presence with our preset minds and we are not ready to change and conform to God’s will. But we need to allow God to work on us and change us into what He wants us to be.

Hebrews 10:19-22 states, “Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the Holy of Holies by the power and virtue in the blood of Jesus, by this fresh and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh, and since we have such a great and wonderful and noble Priest Who rules over the house of God, let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith, having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water.” Through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, we got the liberty to enter in to the Holy of Holies. The curtain that separated the temple got torn into two and thus we got access to the Holy of Holies. Thus, Paul encourages us in Hebrews 4:16 to approach the throne of God with confidence.

The veil in the temple was a constant reminder that sin rendered us unfit for the presence of God. The fact that the sin offering was offered annually and countless other sacrifices repeated daily showed that sin could not truly be atoned for or erased by mere animal sacrifices. Jesus Christ, through His death, has removed the barriers between God and man, and now we may approach Him with confidence and boldness (Hebrews 4:14-16). Only through praise, worship and adoration can we enter in to God’s presence – into the Holy of Holies. This is the place whereby we cease to be ourselves and we are consumed by God’s presence. We no longer speak but we listen to him speak unto us. This is because; the splendor of his presence covers us and most of the time we are in awe. It is unfortunate that many of us never go past the Holy place. We are in so much of a hurry to praise the Lord, and rejoice in his presence, tell him of our need but we have no time to enter the Holy of holies and get to hear him speak to us.

Are you looking for a place to rest? Longing for peace in the midst of a hectic life? You can find both in the same place – the Holy of Holies. This is where we go and God ministers to us. The priest used to go there and whenever he came out, he had a message for the people from God. Today, you and I, we are priests and we have the freedom to enter into the Holy of holies and meet with God in a personal way. You do not have to wait for someone to go there for you. Make it a habbit in your day to day life to enter into God’s presence – the Holy of Holies. Wash yourself with the water of the Word of God. Allow God to examine your will and desire to please Him. Spend time in praise and worship, learning to delight in the Lord. Enter into His presence. Find peace, refreshment, renewal and all that you need from him.

Amen!!