#480 Testing Our Foundations and What We Have Built upon Them
In the last study we pointed out why a life’s work can suddenly collapse for no apparent reason. This can cause terrible distress when we don’t understand what God is building for Himself for eternity. If we thought that God would accept any building as long as the people were “saved”, a lot of confusion results if the whole work collapsed when it appeared to be very successful. We are guessing that thousands of “churches” that are just built upon denominational foundations or upon a foundation of an emphasis or upon a person or a unique ministry will either soon collapse or just continue to be irrelevant. Of course we could name quite a few of these groups but from God’s eternal viewpoint they are all irrelevant that are built upon this common sand! Why? Because they are built upon an unstable and unacceptable foundation and not according to the standards established by God. Anything that is NOT built upon the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, that has been given by the Father will be rejected by God.
This sounds so radical and foreboding that it is assumed this cannot be correct. How could God reject any group or person that believes in Jesus as their Savior? The problem can be reconciled if we make a distinction between those who are “saved” and those that He will use in building His Lampstand Church. The difference might be seen between those who are in the preparation stages of the Outer Court and those who are participating in the Lampstand Church in the Holy Place dimension. Since the visible church has assumed and preached that every believer was a part of the real church for so many years, this false concept has become accepted as Bible truth. We have been attempting to make a distinction between the “churches” that men are building in the visible realm and what He is building in the Invisible Realm.
He has determined or predestined that His Church will ONLY be built with Pure Gold (developed and transformed believers) that has been hammered into one piece. He has also determined that believers who are just wood, hay or straw (natural men or men of flesh) will not be accepted into His Church even if they believe in Jesus as their Savior or Lord and even if they speak in tongues. Thank God for the Outer Court or New Earth dimension for those who are saved but let us not confuse them with the Perfected and Overcoming Church which is the New Jerusalem.
Of course if we ignore the pattern that God has given us in the Tabernacle of Moses, which is a copy ( a poor replicate) of the Tabernacle of God, none of this makes any sense. Why? Because we will see no difference between the Outer Court, the Holy Place or the Most Holy Place even though we may know the terms and have seen the graphic. We assume that this is all just “heaven.” The clear understanding of God’s purpose is seen in the graphic, the veils, the funiture and the three different light sources in the three different dimensions of the Tabernacle. These reveal the difference between what He is building and what men are building. What He is building is in the invisible realms of the Sanctuary.
Those who are stuck in the Outer Court dimensions can only see what is built in the visible realms and that is what impresses them. The pastors of these groups ask questions like how many people do you have in your church? How do you conduct the meetings? What are your programs now and how successful are they in winning souls? Do you have any plans for a bigger building? Are you using busses to gather people? How are your youth programs and what music have you permitted them to use? Have you met the standards of 50 % youth and 50 % old believers? Do you know, brother, that the future of your church is with the youth but the finance of your church is with the old believers?
All this is totally irrelevant in the Church He is building! The ONLY valid question for the Outer Court ministries is this; “Are you preparing the believers to take their place in the Holy Place Life and Ministry?” If the answer is ; “I have no idea what that means” then we know these ministers are NOT part of the Lampstand Church He is Building ofrpart or the Priesthood ministry. My question then would be; If you are not part of the Lampstand Church and receiving the revelation of the Seven Spirits of God, how can you possibly know what foundations are acceptable and what will be rejected by God? How can you even assume that you are a part of the ministries that are ONLY appointed by Him who Ascended far above the heavens.
It is obvious that solving this problem in the universal church is far beyond the ability of ANY man. One way to get the attention of these thousands of ministries, whose work is irrelevant, is for Him to just let their life’s work collapse. Of course if He never appointed them He has no obligation to correct them. What He, Himself, is correcting is the Lampstand Churches as we see in Revelation 2 and 3! He has trusted the ministries that He has appointed with the basic preparations in the Outer Court but once the believers have made the transition to the Church He is Building, He will finish the job of their perfection OR if they resist He will vomit them out of His body. If they refuse to come up to the standards set by the Father they will be rejected in that realm. Why? Because all the creation was created for Him and His eternal Purpose. What will He receive for Himself? A Kingdom of Priests and a Government for the World yet to Come! But I thought this creation was ALL for man and his glory! If that is what you see that means you are only seeing from the natural light of the Outer Court.
But I don’t believe in the Outer Court or separate places in heaven! I believe that all God’s children are equal and heaven is one place for everybody. I believe that God loves all His children equally and gathers each one to Himself regardless of their growth or development. I believe that ALL God’s children are overcomers simply because they are in Christ! I believe that each one of God’s children is seen by the Father as perfect simply because they are in Christ who is perfect. Well, friend, that is another “ natural light deception” that can only be solved by revelation.
That strange “gospel” reveals the confusion of the visible church that has formulated a message from human concepts and from a few verses that seem like man is the center of the universe and God revolves around man. All this human thinking MUST certainly be dealt with before we can even speak of the next restoration into the invisible realms. The fact that the natural or carnal man cannot see anything in the invisible realms explains the basic problem. Even if the natural man has seven years of training in an advanced seminary, this alone will not equip him to see anything in the invisible realms.
2Cor 4:17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The fact that NO ONE can know the real Christ, the Son of the Living God, except by the revelation of the Father should explain a lot about the strange foundations upon which the visible church builds its congregations. Why should we think that God will accept denominational foundations or any substitute foundation when the Bible clear says that He won’t even consider changing His absolutes to incorporate another group that insists upon their own foundation?
1Cor 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But let each man be careful how he builds upon it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
This scripture certainly does NOT have to be interpreted. There is ONLY one foundation that is acceptable and that is JESUS CHRIST! A popular response to that is; Well, you see that as an absolute but I don’t. Hebrews 6 reveals several other foundations that are acceptable and we focus upon these foundations in addition to believing in Jesus. That ‘logical answer” is EXACTLY why this one unique foundation for the Lampstand Church can ONLY come by revelation from the Father.
The confusion comes when we see the SIX foundations for the Outer Court preparations in Hebrews 6 and think these are the foundations (plural) for the Lampstand Church. It takes very little understanding to comprehend or teach these natural light foundations. These can all be entered into in the visible realms just through obedience to the Word. These foundations are designed to remove something from us or add something to us but AFTER these six foundations become our actual experiences we still must go on to perfection in the Holy Place dimension.
One of the tragic lacks in the ministries and in the congregations is the loss of genuine reality or experiential Truth as personal experience. We can call this “experiential reality.” Since we have placed this Divine encounter at the Second Veil following the Consecration Offering, we need to add that factor to the Consecration Offering that makes this a genuine reality. That factor is the “Inward Cross” that begins its transforming work in the new inner man.
Any “Consecration Event” that ignores the Inward Cross will always experience a limited reality. From the Holy Place viewpoint the Second Veil becomes a solid wall that prevents unreality and fantasy from entering. Why? God will not permit them to go on until the foundations of genuine reality are experientially laid in each life before they can make the transition to the next level of perfection! That means until certain inward issues are set in divine order!
It is my understanding now that the personal cross has been neglected as it applies to the Consecration Offering and that has prevented us from experiencing the “absolute Reality” necessary to penetrate the Second Veil. I have not formerly seen how the six Outer Court experiences of Hebrews 6 must produce the foundations of experientiality reality. Why? Because in the Holy Place dimension the foolishness of the Outer Court inmaturity will not be tolerated. How do we know that? Because we have read Revelation 2 and 3 and recognize that Jesus is treating unresolved issues with great severity. It is very clear that these problems will get us ejected from that dimension unless there is a genuine repentance and a correction in our attitude, obedience and character. In other words the Inward Cross is an integral part of the Lampstand Church and the Priesthood Ministry.
Why is this severity necessary? Because the Holy Place Life and Ministry represents what the Bible means by “FULLNESS.” It speaks to us of “OVERFLOWING LIFE.” The Lampstand Church indicates a “fullness of reality” while The Priesthood Ministry speaks to us of the “Fullness of Life.” Jesus Christ is correcting each of us toward the goal of “The fulness of Him.”
John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.
Eph 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Eph 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Eph 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
Col 1:19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,
Col 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
It should be obvious that it is this “FULLNESS” dimension that we are missing in the visible church. It should also be obvious that we will never discover the “fullness” dimension in the Outer Court preparation stages. That means that until we move into the Lampstand dimension we cannot experience the “fulness.” The Lampstand Church may be the first real manifestation of the “fullness of Christ” that is seen in the Pure Gold Lampstand hammered into one piece.
In the Holy Place, within the illumination of the Seven Spirits of God, it is clear that it IS the Lampstand Church that HE is building and He, Himself, IS the one, only and unique Foundation for that church. Please, don’t try to make the “Foundation” the base of the Lampstand. Why? Now, in this realm, EVERYTHING must come by revelation and not by carnal assumptions or mechanical evaluations. The Lampstand can never be “figured out” by human understanding or by looking at the facts about the Lampstand.
This is exactly why nearly everything we share from this invisible dimension is misunderstood by somebody. Of course, I also understand very little from that realm and that little bit I think I see has come through insight received over a lot of years. Another problem is that we can see something by revelation and still not understand what we see. Then even if we do understand it we have no words to share it. Why is that possible? Because, in the Holy Place dimension everybody has to get their own revelation from the Seven Spirits of God and the Table of Showbread. These revelations cannot be transferred to the natural light dimension, even though we might try. It is in this dimension then that we begin to experience “fullness.”
Even in the “fulness dimension” thare are two kinds of ministry. One is toward God and the other is toward people. If the ministry originates toward God there will be a ministry of life directed toward the people but if there is no ministry toward God the ministry toward people will be what we normally experience in the visible church.
Eze 44:15 “But the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer Me the fat and the blood,” declares the Lord GOD. 16 “They shall enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My table to minister to Me and keep My charge. 17 “And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and wool shall not be on them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner court and in the house. 18 “Linen turbans shall be on their heads, and linen undergarments shall be on their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything which makes them sweat.
Eze 44:19 “And when they go out into the outer court, into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments that they may not transmit holiness to the people with their garments.
This may seem like a strange application for this scripture but the principle is this; What transpires in the Holy Place STAYS in the Holy Place. The revelations of the Holy Place cannot be transferred to the Outer Court dimension. Why? Because they are not FOR the Outer Court dimension and will only cause confusion there because there is no capacity to understand these mysteries of invisible things. The Holy Place revelations are only FOR the ones who have made the transition to the Illuminations of the Seven Spirits of God and have eaten of the Showbread. However, it is the ministry toward God that provides a ministry of Life toward the people even though revelation cannot be transfered to the Outer Court dimension. The ministry of “Spirit and Life” is supposed to be normal for the Outer Court when this ministry originates in the holy place!
With that little review I will try to focus upon the Foundation for the Church He is building. The problem with graphs and Power Point presentations is that they can only convey a mechanical representation of some truth and not truth itself. Truth, reality and wisdom, is perceived as reality in a totally different way than we expect to receive from the five physical senses. This, by itself, is one reason most eternal things cannot be shared from one person to another. For example; Speaking God’s wisdom in a mystery limits our ministry to a very select few.
1Cor 2:6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
Those who have this deep desire to press on into the invisible realms MUST make the transition themselves and not try to discover these realities from some other person. Why? God has isolated these Truths so they are not available for transfer. Even some of the very shallow things I have discovered from the invisible realm that I have tried to share (and call it ministry) has only caused confusion. Trying to share these things in Pastor’s Conferences still does not work because God has protected these things from casual inquires or casual curiosity. It is amazing that much of the Bible is this same way. It can be read like a Power Point presentation and understood by the five physical senses or God can reveal His Truth that is held under His sovereignty. The keys to these treasure chests of eternal truth are available but they are not issued without cost. These things are ingested from the Showbread in the Holy Place but the KEYS are given at the Consecration Offering when passing through the Veil of Truth / Reality!
Unless you have seriously incorporated the Divine Pattern, shown in the Tabernacle of Moses, into our understanding of God’s Eternal Purpose many of these applications will make no sense to you. For example:
The vertical structure of the sanctuary was wood boards overlaid with Gold. Without the Gold covering the wood boards would be totally unacceptable. Why? They represent human effort, human wisdom, human understanding, human design, human limitation and every human characteristic of the redeemed person. No partially redeemed person is received into the Holy Place or sanctuary realms so we are not referring to those people. In other words after a person is fully redeemed and cut off from the first Adam he must be fully clothed, experientially, with Christ ( that specific Gold garment) before he can be accepted as part of the sanctuary structure of wood boards overlaid with gold.
This is still not the perfection of the Lampstand which was Pure Gold and NO wood but nevertheless, the boards are essential for the sanctuary. Fallen humanity and humanity in the process of full redemption, is one thing but redeemed humanity is another. However, we must not mistaken the Gold Boards with the Pure Gold of the New Inner Man which IS CHRIST in you OR until Christ is formed in you! The Gold Covered Boards are still the redeemed outer man which we may have overlooked with all the recent emphasis upon the New Inner Man. God is NOT ignoring the Redeemed outer man but wants to include him in the sanctuary. However, as structure and not so much in function within the Priesthood ministry. The outer man must “stand” though all the trials and testings that are revealed in the life of Paul, our prototype Apostle in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and chapter 11. If the outer man collapses during the hard times what will become of the New Inner man? No, the Redeemed outer man is necessary but he must be clothed with Christ and assume his position as structure but not as master or originator or minister. The redeemed man still must have his human energy and ideas contained within the Gold overlay or it will surely burst forth in the Holy Place. This is what we learn from the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who were consecrated priests but tried to function in that dimension in the flesh!
Silver Sockets
How do we know the Gold Boards represent the Redeemed Outer Man? Because each board was set in silver sockets in heavy blocks of silver that separated the boards from the earth. In order to put this all in perspective within the Tabernacle of Moses I will include these scriptures concerning the boards.
Exo 36:20 Then he made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. 21 Ten cubits was the length of each board, and one and a half cubits the width of each board. 22 There were two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus he did for all the boards of the tabernacle. 23 And he made the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side; 24 and he made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. 25 Then for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards, 26 and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board. 27 And for the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, he made six boards. 28 And he made two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. 29 And they were double beneath, and together they were complete to its top to the first ring; thus he did with both of them for the two corners. 30 And there were eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two under every board.
Exo 36:31 Then he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, 32 and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west. 33 And he made the middle bar to pass through in the center of the boards from end to end. 34 And he overlaid the boards with gold and made their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
Exo 36:36 And he made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them.
These four Pillars held the Third Veil that was between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place and was Wood overlaid with Gold. It’s hooks were also of Gold but its four sockets were made of silver showing a continuous redemption in each dimension.
Exo 36:38 and he made its five pillars with their hooks, and he overlaid their tops and their bands with gold; but their five sockets were of bronze.
The Bronze Sockets reveal another transformation phase between the Outer Court and the Holy Place but there is still the element of judgement (bronze) { This represents correction, understanding, adjustment of vision that we see in Isaiah 6} at the Second Veil even though the tops were overlaid with Gold and bands were of Gold. To me this is like a picture story unfolding in word form. But let us return to the Outer Court dimension BEFORE this transition to the Holy Place is required.
The Outer Court was surrounded with a linen curtain that encircled the entire Outer Court. The Outer Court was for the transformation of the spiritually circumcised man who has begun the process of salvation. This portion of the process is completed in the Outer Court dimension in seven essential experiences that were progressive. We are comparing the Linen Curtains around the Outer Court in the natural light realm with the Gold Covered Boards in the Holy Place in the greater light and greater demands of the Seven Spirits of God. While the linen curtains certainly speak of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the true believers being “in Christ” they do not speak of the highest experience of righteousness that is indicated by the Gold covered boards in the Holy Place and Most Holy Place. Nevertheless, even the Brass Altar was called most holy because it was the consecrated place of sacrifice.
Exodus 29:37 “For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
Exo 38:9 Then he made the court: for the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits; 10 their twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets, made of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.
Exo 38:20 And all the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around were of bronze.
This mixture of mostly bronze but with a small amount of silver reveals that in the presence of judgement there is still salvation or redemption. However, this outward judgement ends at the second Veil but redemption (silver) is a progressive process that runs through both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place dimension.
The point I am making is this; While we are examining the only acceptable foundation for the Church He is Building can ONLY be Christ, the Son of the Living God, making a single application is not so easy because there is no part of the Tabernacle that does NOT include Christ. However, remember that all the sockets of the Sanctuary are of Silver or is likened to our redemption and separation from the dirt/earth dimension.
Num 18:15 “Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours; nevertheless the first-born of man you shall surely redeem, and the first-born of unclean animals you shall redeem. 16 “And as to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.
Silver speaks of the redemption price.
While there is a holy and most holy dimension in each of the three realms of the Tabernacle they do not have reference to the same degree of Holiness nor the same experience of Holiness. Therefore, the linen degree of righteousness and holiness in the Outer Court does not speak of the same degree of righteousness and holiness as the gold covered boards. In the Linen curtains man is not included in the linen but in the Gold covered boards the wood represents redeemed humanity so man is included by some level of experience. Also, each of the Priests who functioned in the Holy Place had to have on linen garments suggesting being clothed with Chirst in that dimension of function. But what does all that have to do with the foundation of the Lampstand Church which is exclusively CHRIST, the Son of the Living God?
Our application suggests that CHRIST, the Son of the Living God must be the experiential foundation in each of us { the sum of all the Gold} for us to find our place in the Living Sanctuary of God. The Gold Covered Boards in my application has reference to redeemed humanity and NOT just general humanity in the process of full redemption in the Outer Court, linen curtain, dimension.
In other words, in the Holy Place realm, the redemption process in the Outer Court dimension has been completed and the transition to the next, ascending dimension has taken place. The redeemed humanity has been encapsulated experientially in Christ, who is the Living and Abiding Word of God. Those who were born again by the Sperma of God in the Outer Court dimension have now put on Christ, experientially, as a garment. This is the process that began at baptism in water but has now become experiential and operational in the Gold covered boards.
Gal 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Our application is this; In the Holy Place dimension those who have put on Christ as we would a garment have put on the Gold covering and are personally represented by the wood boards. This also compares to the redeemed humanity seen in the wood of the table that held the Showbread that was overlaid with Gold. This is also the same application seen in the wood in the Altar of Incense that was overlaid with Gold. We will wait to make an application to the wood in the Ark of the Covenant because that is another, different and ascending dimension. However, in the present light, all the wood in the Holy Place has a common application to redeemed humanity in various stages of development and function.
For this reason we should not be deceived into claiming the base of the Pure Gold Lampstand to be the Foundation Stone upon which the real church is built. Why? Because the foundation upon which the church is built is sitting at the right hand of God and is our functioning High Priest and King and has become the Head of a body of Priests, after the Order of Melchizedek, who are manifested sons. The Bible say that His Personal foundation is in His Holy Mountain.
Psa 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains. 2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the other dwelling places of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God.
Even though all this may seem confused to many, the point I am making is that this One acceptable Foundation cannot be fully understood by merely touching our natural mind with facts and information and trying to comprehend this by Outer Court provision. Why? Because in this ascending realm we must move into the dimension where we see and understand that God created everything for Himself and man is part of that creation. The transition is from man center to a true God Center! This is essential. Why? If this is not experiential in the Consecration Offering we will try to function in the Holy Place but only from man’s old natural viewpoint rather than from the illumination by the Seven Spirits of God! This is NOT permitted! In the Gold and gold covered furniture in the Holy Place we see that everything connected to the natural man has been eliminated. Even the redeemed person is encapsulated within the gold overlay.
The Consecration Offering confirms that Man is NOT his own but has been brought into the purpose of God with a price. Not by the temporal value of carnal things like silver and Gold but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Until redeemed humanity fully realizes that everything is designed to meet God’s eternal need and not designed for man’s blessing, the Lampstand will still remain a mystery.
“THE FOUNDATION” is a very important subject in the New Testament and laying a foundation but not being able to build is given as a warning. This signals a failure but in many places laying a foundation (even if it is wrong) is seen as success.
Luke 14:28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.
Paul said that he laid the foundation which is Jesus Christ but another man was building upon it. The problem was that the building material that was used to build upon this proper foundation must be approved (silver, gold, precious stone) or the whole structure will be rejected.
It is not only rejected but it is rejected violently by fire!
This is our concern as we travel from place to place and country to country. Even if a proper foundation is laid, it seems that no one is concerned about building anything eternal upon it. “He has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish is what we see every where we go! “This man began to build and was not able to finish” is what it is normal to observe and it does not matter with which group. Of course we see many assemblies where NO foundation has even been started. The goal of most groups is increasing in numbers by “winning souls!” If the “new souls” are just assembled but not built this can hardly be called successful in the eternal viewpoint.
Since this is certainly a concern among at least a few ministers now, we should try to learn why this lack of concern for “Building and Growing in Stature” is so common.
What I have observed over the last 41 years is that the “ministers” have never been “built” themselves and, therefore, have no concern about building something eternal. That means built into a structure that will meet God’s need for eternity. “God’s need” means a mature government for the world yet to come.
Exo 25:8 “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9 “According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.
But what has this to do with the Gold covered Boards? The whole Tabernacle of Moses was just flat earth and a place of sacrifice, washing and the anointing UNTIL the Sanctuary is built. The Sanctuary was raised up into a new elevation from the flat earth limitation. God’s specific dwelling place is in the SANCTUARY!
The flat earth is sufficient for the seven Outer Court preparations but that is NOT sufficient for the manifested Presence of God that indwells the Sanctuary. The complete sanctuary structure includes the Gold boards of redeemed humanity. God separates the Gold covered boards from the earth limitation by raising them into the silver sockets. The Redeemed Humanity is separated from earth by God’s solid redemption.
For example; the boards laying down horizontally corrupts the whole picture of raising up a structure for the habitation of God. Even though the heavy silver sockets are all laid out in precise order and this foundation is fully prepared, until the gold covered boards are raised up into an inhabitable structure nothing much eternal has been accomplished. We may admire the Gold covered boards but never raise up a structure in which the Lord can dwell and manifest Himself in the cloud that descends into the Most Holy Place.
With this beginning there is very little limitation to the New Covenant applications that can be made. For example; The Lampstand is clearly seen inside the Sanctuary along with the Table of Showbread and the Altar of Incense and the Veils. If we can identify the Sanctuary we can discover the Lampstand and the other furniture. It is the New Inner man that becomes the dwelling place of God. We become the Sanctuary / Temple of the Holy Spirit, primarily.
John 14:17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.
But if we love Him and keep His commandments the Father will love us and then God will come to Indwell us.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.
This event signals the Cloud descending into the Sanctuary of the Tabernacle Of Moses.
That includes the Father of all mercies and the two Cheribum that are one piece with the mercy seat and the Ark of the Covenant. However, we cannot focus upon the Most Holy place at this time!
The point I am making is this; Even though the proper foundation is really laid, we may spend a lifetime trying to function without a corporate structure in which we can experience the fulness of Him who fills all in all. The Lampstand and all the furniture MUST remain covered and inactive UNTIL the Sanctuary is erected. This could be the delay in the restoration since even the Lampstand cannot be revealed until the sanctuary is built and the coverings are installed over the Sanctuary. There was NO public appearance of the lampstand or any of the furniture. Everything was covered with various coverings when they were moving. Even the Levites were not permitted to see these articles and the Priests had to cover them before the Levites could carry them. It was only the High Priest and His sons who were permitted to see the articles of worship from the Sanctuary.
Hopefully this will help us to see the reason we presently experience such a lack of corporate fellowship in the Holy Place dimension. The Outer Court understanding is the limitation of our fellowship at the present time. Why? Finding a corporate group of standing redeemed boards covered by Gold and functioning as a Sanctuary, enclosed, is very difficult to find. Therefore, we can only guess at what the actual function of these articles of worship would mean in a corporate priesthood setting.
What we have noticed is that the Outer Court assemblies are not concerned about anything beyond what they are currently experiencing. Why is that? Because there is no ligitimate five-fold ministry that has made the transition to the Holy Place Life and Ministry and, therefore, they have NOT yet seen, experientially, (by revelation) the reason the entire assemblies MUST go on and make the transition to this invisible dimension. Even if they have understood that part, they still have no understanding HOW to take the assemblies on at least as far as the Consecration Offering. If they haven’t yet perceived the Lampstand Church they will think He is building His Church in the Outer Court with these carnal, casual and half saved assemblies. The current, self appointed, five-fold ministries are still focused upon the visible realm of natural light and speaking about and promoting more earthly stuff.
Therefore, checking our actual foundation and analyzing what we have solidly built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, by revelation, is a current necisity. Why? Because God will accept no other foundation OR any building material that is not Silver, Gold or Precious Stone. Trusting other people with this responsibility is VERY foolish because there are so few that are even concerned about building any thing except more numbers in the assembly. Because of the casual way “ministry” is conducted, it is essential that each person take a personal responsibility for his own building and maturity. This is so pitiful that the “ministries” are so selfish and self-centered, so ego centric that they are so busy exaulting themselves that the real ministry is neglected. Why is that so normal? Because the ministry is so busy running a religious business that they have no time to stand before Him, Minister to Him and burn Incense. Therefore, they have NO REVELATION from the Father and no actual concern about laying the only acceptable foundation that will meet God’s real need for eternity. Few are even concerned what God purposed FOR HIMSELF in the creation. Rather, most are just concerned with what they can receive and how they can get more and enlarge their ministries. All this is labeled as “serving God.” The real question is this; What Does God Call It?