Brother Gary Sunday Morning 7/5/15

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 7/5/15

Heb 9:1  Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.

Heb 9:2  For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.

Heb 9:3  And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;

Heb 9:4  Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

Heb 9:5  And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.

We have been preaching upon the Tabernacle.  I am not going to go through all the tabernacle worship this morning.  I enjoy it in my personal devotions.  I am going to cut down on preliminaries and go to the burden of my heart.

The Holiest of Holies, approximately 15 cubits by 15 cubits was in the back of the tabernacle and in there was the golden censor.  Every time that the High priest went into the Holiest of Holies the censor was left there.  It seems there was a new censor every time. 

In the Ark of the Covenant there was the golden pot of manna.  There was Aaron’s rod that budded and there were also the Tables of the Covenant. 

God sent manna from heaven.  Daily God wants us to read the Word of God and receive manna from heaven.  There is a pot of golden manna in the Holiest of Holies waiting for every one of us.

Aaron’s rod that budded:  it was not just a willow picked from somewhere.  He walked with a walking stick like Brother Herb.  We could always hear Brother Herb coming by the thump of the stick. 

Aaron’s rod that budded was an old, dry walking stick. 

There were others of the twelve tribes of Israel that had heads, princes.  Of the eleven other tribes, other than the tribe of Levi, there were those that were unhappy with what was happening and decided that they could hear from God the same as Moses and Aaron and “our opinion is as important.  God speaks to us just as He does to Aaron and Moses, we should be heard just as much.”

There was envy and strife working.  They rose up against Moses and he prayed right in front of the Tabernacle and said, “It is time things changed.”  The earth opened wide and there were those that perished in the gainsaying of Korah. 

God spoke to Moses, Get Aaron’s rod, that dry stick, and write his name on it.  Then get those eleven other princes that think they should be heard and write their name on their walking stick.  Take the rods and put them into the Holiest of Holies.  Leave them there. 

Sometimes dear church there are things that we need to leave in the Holiest of Holies.  There is something about us as human beings that we want the answer before we finish praying.  The answers don’t always come that fast.

God told Moses the next day to go clear into the Holiest of Holies.  Moses was a healthy man and for sure he was a humble man before God.  When he got into the Holiest of Holies he found something beyond his expectation.  Only God in his wisdom and holiness could have designed it to be as it was.

When he reached the Holiest of Holies God witnessed that Arron was the high priest chosen before God by taking that stick that was dry and had pounded the earth many times.  It had budded and blossomed and born fruit.

Moses took all the sticks out.  I don’t know how he did it but He said, “I want to show you Aaron’s stick.  There are buds, blossoms, and almonds on it.”  It was accepted for however long that Aaron was the chosen of God.

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Heb 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

In the New Testament teaching, Jesus Christ is the High Priest over all the souls of the saved.  He is the only one that would have that position even to the lost. 

Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

We have a High Priest that is passed into the heavens.  He is appearing before God for us.  He is ever making intercession for us.

The rod bore buds:  the lesson for the Gospel Day.  In the Holiest of Holies Aaron’s rod budded.  To all that are here and to all that are absent.  This high priest has the very best desires for every soul that will be willing and obedient.  It will be only revealed to us in the Holiest of Holies, in the Holy place, the good things that God has for us.

We are taught clearly in the scriptures how vital it is that we count the cost.  In the Evening Light Song book, there is a song entitled, “Have you counted the cost?” 

May God help us to count the cost, “What will it cost me to enter into the presence of God in tabernacle worship in the Holiest of Holies?  It is only there that we catch a glimpse of the good things that God has in store for us.” 

I have been burdened, I have felt the keenness of the situation of Brother Jim and Sister Sue.  I have been before the throne acknowledging that I have never been where Brother Jim is.  My wife has never been where Sister Sue is. 

I feel the keenness of what it would be like if it were Karen and I and the concern of children and other family members.  I believe I was in the Holy place in the Holiest of Holies praying and seeking God.

I was reading the Preacher and Prayer.  In that book it is recorded of a man that lived from around 1750 to 1830.  He had a marvelous conversion, God used him in a marvelous way.  He loved God and he loved souls.  He never married and lived a very lonely life. 

Some of you understand loneliness.  You widows understand loneliness.  My mother understood loneliness.  Some can identify with the song, “I will never be lonely again.” 

I’ll never forget the disaster that her husband leaving brought to Audrey Roach.  It brought a turn to her as far as seeking after God.  She lived in darkness for a while, then God spoke to her heart and I remember her singing that song, “I’ll never be lonely again.”  She was a new Audrey.

Brother Bill Cornelison, every time I get an opportunity I ask him to sing that song for me.  I’ll never forget my mother becoming a widow.  The loneliness.  My mother had a lot of friends, she was gifted with hospitality, but there was a loneliness because of my dad being taken away by death.

There is a place, there is a place dear young people, dear children, dear young married couples where you can commune with God. 

You will have more than 11 personal advisors.  I am not preaching against financial advisors.  We live in a world that is beyond my mind today as far as the wonder.  There will be a lot of advisors. 

There are a lot of advisors to people who are not married.  Woe be to those that advise to live contrary to what the Word of God teaches. 

My emphasis is to us brothers to be good heads of the house and be in the Holiest of Holies praying, “God may there be a bud, a thought pattern unto my soul, from the High Priest of what God would have for us as a husband and for the family.”

Then for the wives to be in the Holiest of Holies praying, “I want that bud there.” 

So far spring has come every year.  Jesus is the High Priest.  As a pastor whenever I am asked for counsel, I give the best that I can, I seek God, and I weigh from God.  When I fail in counsel, I go back and say, “I think we should reconsider this.”

He is the only High Priest.  I am not a high priest and shall never be one.  All the men and women that arise and say, “I am this or that or something else.”  I want to tell you, there is only one High Priest.  That fruit that He wants to bring forth in your life is a result of divine intervention in the life.

He takes a life that was a dead stick, a life that the world would say “They are destined to be destroyed.”  That would be true except in the Holiest of Holies Aaron’s rod budded. 

Isn’t it wonderful when you feel as Brother Jim has been so well teaching?  That you are clay in the Potter’s hands.  I want to know more about the potter and the wheel.  The hands.

This is not just for the young and the aspiring.  In America, often times people are looked upon as, “They are too old to be of any use.”  That is from the other eleven. 

Jesus, the High Priest, has wonderful thoughts toward every soul.  There is a cost involved.  What are you willing to pay to walk with the Lord?  It has always been that the enemy plays up the thought, “It costs so much to be a Christian.”

I stand firm on this conviction.  The costs to not be a Christian, to not be saved, the risk… occasionally I drive through the alley to pick up my wife from getting coffee, I wish I had a picture of the gentleman sitting on a window well and I think, “There would I be if it were not for God.” 

He shows that the wages of sin were hard.  He could even be younger than me, he shows the marks of sin, of broken vows and disappointments.  He had lots of opportunity.  I know God spoke to him like He spoke to me.

May God inspire you that the buds of the desires of the great High Priest Jesus Christ for your life.  The rod blossomed.  God has a way of instilling into our soul a desire for God.  A desire to be molded.  A desire to be changed. 

Whether we want to face it head on or not.  We might as well face the reality that there will be eleven others that will not have our best interest at heart.  This one is the great High Priest that has already passed into heaven and is making intercession. 

As I left Prayer meeting Wednesday night I felt the burden for a little child in extreme spiritual battle.  The one thing that I can do is to pray.  There is a place where God meets with souls and causes not only the bud but also the blossom to come.  It is there that you intercede.

I heard a minister say recently:  shame on preachers that don’t pray.  I am not talking about that moment of performance behind the pulpit or at a wedding or a funeral.  You and I have an opportunity to go into the Holiest of Holies.  There things begin to develop that will change our lives and will change the lives of others. 

I don’t know what you are praying for.  You are probably praying to take two steps forward.  When God works with you to deal with a soul, you might say, “I don’t think they would be interested…”  You just killed the bud.  We are not handing out the watch tower.  We are not promoting ourselves.  We are not inviting people to an organization created by any man.

Deep within the heart of every soul is a longing.  So often our burden is aborted by others.  Sometimes it is by ourselves, “What if I said something and they didn’t like us anymore.”  It doesn’t matter who it is.  If you have friends like that, you need to change friends.  If you are being bought, “I can’t talk to them, they help support us,” you can go to hell that way.

The effects of the Holy place in bearing fruit:  He that goes forth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing.  He that goes forth goes forth from where?  From the Holiest of Holies.  Bearing precious seed. 

1 Corinthians 13 teaches us that love never fails.  Love never fails. 

Shall doubtless come again and that with rejoicing.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, I am not talking about wishy washy love or free love.  I am talking about the love of God.  Everyone needs to seek God for the Love of God.  The fruit will come from Aaron’s rod that budded, blossomed, and brought forth fruit.  From Jesus Christ.

The fruit of the Spirit is joy, some requested prayer for themselves on being Martha’s, being overcome by worries.  I am not knocking you because if you came to look at my garden you will see that I have lots of work.  That may not get done, but one thing that must get done, I must have not only the blossom but the fruit of joy.  I must have the joy of the Lord.

There are eleven princes that if you listen to you will be a goner.  They have exactly what they want to tell you about what you ought to be doing, where you ought to be, and make you feel like it is God’s will.  Don’t believe it.

There is joy in the service of the master.  The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy.

The fruit off the spirit is peace.  I think of stepping into the Holiest of Holies, of Christ in heaven making intercession for me that I will abound in peace, not letting the troubling thoughts and conditions take my peace.  Peace when I think of my sister in law dying, my neighbor dying. 

The fruit of the spirit is goodness, faith.  I like the thought of the bud of faith, faith blossoming, and the fruits of faith. 

We would not have enough time tonight if everyone would testify about what God has done for us.  Remember when you were so sick?  Remember the abscess on Kayla’s head?  Remember how God helped you when it seemed how all hell was turned lose on your job? 

With God you don’t need to be afraid of anyone.  After faith, the bud of faith, faith… you wonder “Am I going to be able to make it?”  May God give you the bud, the blossom, and the fruit of faith.  You can make it. 

You get burdened for someone that is giving you a hard time?  Get into the Holiest and look at Aaron’s rod.  Let faith begin to bud, to blossom, and to bear fruit.

I want to let meekness bud, blossom, and bear fruit.  There are deeper depths.  I want to be humble.

How is our temperance?  Do you know how to say no, to say yes?  To say, “God has to be first in my life.”  Do you know how to say, “I’m going to set this week aside for God?”  Don’t even make a statement except you say, “The Lord will.” 

I don’t know what you would gain by working, but you will not be able to gain enough to make up for what you lose by not having God first.