God is doing awesome things among us in this season. It was so encouraging to worship and fellowship together. We continue to camp around His Presence as we take a further look at the links between the Old and New Covenant understanding of living in and experiencing the cloud of His Presence.
You can read below to gain a better understanding of the topic, as well as watch the sermon through the link provided at the end.
If we build it, HE will come. We're building a household of faith, that He may come and dwell among us. - John Crumpton
1 Peter 2:3-5 ; 9-10 “now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
He's the attractive One that attracts people to Heaven. Let's present the reality of the goodness of God. - John Crumpton
Isaiah 61:6 “And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.” Exodus 19:4-6 “‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.””
It was always God's intention to have a people unto Himself. - John Crumpton
2 Chronicles 5:13-14 “The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.” Ephesians 2:19-22 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
We are the temple of the Holy Spirit – the portable tabernacle of His presence. This is what we're made for: that we might be His people. - John Crumpton
Peter writes to those who are scattered (much like the wilderness wandering) and draws on the Old Testament understanding that God declared that people of faith would be His people, and that this was spoken when God revealed Himself in the cloud of His Presence - right before giving instructions about the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was meant to be a mobile structure for God-encounters.
Peter links this passage of being God’s royal priesthood to the living stones being built together for the purpose of spiritual worship and encounters.
The link combines both the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. When God showed up in His glory, the cloud of His Presence filled the place of worship.
Paul picks up on this in Ephesians and declares that we, together, are now this spiritual place of encounters with His Presence.
Thoughts to meditate on:
- What is the link between the mobile Tabernacle and us being mobile temples of the Holy Spirit?
- Have you experienced the weighty glory Presence of the Lord?
You can rewatch the sermon below: