The Gospel is the Good News isthat God both forgives andrestores! Our characters andattitudes are included in thisrestoration, In fact there is nothingthat is not included in thisrestoration, we become a newcreation. It is all connected withthe True Worship of our greatGod.

Did the people have the Gospel inthe days before the Cross? Werethey saved in a different way thanwe are?

The Gospel was given to Adam and Eve; as soonas sin entered this world, they were given thepromise that a Redeemer would come. It was toshow faith in that coming Redeemer they were toldto offer innocent lambs as a sin offering.

This was to impress upon them that sin was adeadly thing that would one day take the life of theHoly Son of God; the Creator Himself, Who hadpledged to be surety for the lost race. To givemankind a second chance; if they would choose torepent and forsake sin and through faith in thecoming Redeemer, live lives of obedience to God,they could be restored to a place in the God'suniversal family.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15

Yes, the Gospel was known in the OldTestament and nowhere do we see itmore clearly outlined than in the servicesand offerings, yes, and even the verydesign itself; of the Ancient HebrewSanctuary. Designed by God to be anobject lesson for people down throughthe ages, to help them better understandthe Great Plan of Redemption, it is full ofdeep meaning for any one who wouldseek to walk the path of Salvation atJesus side.

Come and join me as we go TOWORSHIP OUR CREATOR andREDEEMER in the Ancient Sanctuary!

TIMETALENT

TEMPLE - BODYTREASURE

Salvation is a FREE GIFT; yet to receive itcalls for complete surrender of all we haveand are to our dear Redeemer. This was thelesson taught in the bringing of offerings.

1 Chronicles 16:29 “Give unto the LORD theglory [due] unto his name: bring an offering,and come before him: worship the LORD in thebeauty of holiness.”

Psalm 29:2. "Give unto the LORD the glorydue unto his name; worship the LORD in thebeauty of holiness.” Margin: "Give unto theLORD the honor of His name, in His glorioussanctuary."

The whole plan of Salvation is to befound here in the sanctuary and itsservices: the vindicating of the honorof God’s name from Satan’saccusations, and the transformationof the repenting sinner to the Divinecharacter of unselfish Love (Agape)This is the Gospel; Good News. Ifthere is no transformation, there isno Good News.

“That was the true Light, whichlighteth every man that cometh intothe world." John 1:9. All doctrinesmust fit with the sanctuary or theyare not true doctrines and should berejected. This gives us a usefulguide while evaluating new theorieson the gospel.

The sanctuary was a verybeautiful tent shaped like arectangle. It had two partsinside which were like twosquares. All around this tentwas a courtyard. We aregoing to look at thiscourtyard first.

As the repentant sinner,through the wooing of theHoly Spirit, is led to feel hisneed and to desire toapproach to God, he is invitedto enter by the one doorwayopen to all.

"All that the Father giveth meshall come to me; and himthat cometh to me I will in nowise cast out." John 6:37

The courtyard tells us aboutthings that were going tohappen on earth. It had onlyone entrance on the eastside. This was so the peoplecoming to worship would havetheir back to the rising sunand not think aboutworshipping the sun like thepagans did.

The one entrance meansJesus is the only way for us tobe saved. There are not manydifferent ways as some claim.

The first object to catch the eye uponentering the courtyard of thesanctuary was a pile of ashes. Thesewhere systematically removed fromthe Altar of Burnt Offering and werethe remains of the sin offerings.

The pile was kept in view there untilthe next cleaning of the altarwhereupon the old ashes werecarried out of the camp and the justremoved ashes put in their place.

These ashes showed clearly to thepeople what the final end of sin reallyis; the destiny of the unrepentant.

"For the wages of sin is death; but thegift of God is eternal life through JesusChrist our Lord." Romans 6:23

This represented the work of the Spiritin reproving sin and urging torepentance and righteousness.

We see this in the words of David inPsalms, when he couldn’t understandthe prospering of the wicked until hewent to the sanctuary and then heunderstood.

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God;then understood I their end.” Psalm73:17.

He saw their end in the pile of ashes.

The next object to meet thegaze is the Brazen Altar ofBurned Offering. On this theinnocent lambs bearing the sinof the repentant sinner wereconsumed. It pointed clearly toJesus, the Lamb slain from thefoundation of the world, whowould take upon His innocentsoul the sins of the world andpay the death penalty. We aregoing to look at this serviceand what it shows us aboutJesus and what He is to us

It was only as the sinner sawby faith that the sacrifice of thelamb pointed to Christ, the sinbearer that this service servedthe purpose God intended.Later the Israelites began toadopt the pagan idea that theburnt offering was a gift fromthem to please or pacify God;as the heathen made offeringsto please their demon-gods.

When Adam first sinned, Godtold him a way to be savedwould be provided and he wasto offer a lamb to show his faithin what the Lamb of God hadpromised to do for him.

The very first man born here, hadhis own ideas about how to worshipGod; and we know what happenedin the story of Cain and Abel.

The ones who followed Cain’s wayshad their own kind of religion. Theirofferings were a gift from them tothe god they worship, but theoffering of a lamb by God’s peoplewas to show the great GIFT Godwas giving to man. It was theopposite.

If we give something to God, we canbe proud of that. But when we knowthe truth, that God has to giveeverything to us, or we will perish,then we can’t be proud any more.God wants us to be humble so Hecan change our wicked hearts andgive us Jesus’ pure heart.

“He is brought as a lamb to theslaughter, and as a sheep beforeher shearers is dumb, so heopeneth not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7

The lamb was slain by the sinnerhimself, to impress that his sinscaused the death of the Son ofGod. Without this unspeakablegift, mankind would perish. Andas the lamb suffered eternalloss, so Christ forever lostcertain abilities of Deity, such asomnipresence, the ability to be inmore than one place at one time.Now, forever bearing humanflesh, He cannot do this. Hisbody will always bear the marksand scars of the crucifixion,while the redeemed will haveperfect bodies. God gave HisSon; He didn’t lend Him.

The Laver:Next on our journeythrough the courtyard,representing Justification,we see the Laver right infront of the sanctuary tentwe see a double dish ofwater called the Laver. It iswhere the priest wouldwash their hands and feetbefore they would go intothe tent. It tells us aboutthe power of Jesus to takesin out of our hearts.

Jesus' power can change us so wedon’t want to sin any more. Jesusgives us His good, kind heart in placeof our selfish one. The Laver also islike baptism. It shows that we havegiven ourselves to Jesus.

This represented Christ’scleansing power in His blood.It shows us that Justification isnot only Pardon andforgiveness for past sins, butcleansing for the sinful heartand a bringing of the selfunder the control of the HoySpirit. David spoke of this:“Hide thy face from my sins,and blot out all mine iniquities.Create in me a clean heart, OGod; and renew a right spiritwithin me. Cast me not awayfrom thy presence; and takenot thy Holy Spirit from me."Psalm 51:9-11

It is clearly shown thatthose who would enter intothe Holy Place, the NewBirth, must not only beforgiven but cleansed andthen the white linen Ephod,pure and clean, must beput on. This represents therighteousness of Christ;Synonymous with HisLove, His obedience to theLaw, His Divine Nature, Hisholiness. This gives usinsight into just what isimparted to us.

All these things takeplace simultaneously atthe NEW BIRTH, Therepentant sinner acceptsthe death of the Savior ashis death and rises aNew Creature to live thelife of Christ, not onlyimputed to him butimparted to him. He isJustified and sanctified,forgiven, cleansed, setfree from sin’s hold onhim and empowered tolive the Christ life byabiding in Christ.

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Notice it doesn’t say will become new but are become new. This is the new creation, not the new evolution.

At this point he stands before God asif he had never sinned, Christ’s lifecovering him and living in him by theHoly Spirit. This is where manymistake, they think the Holy Spirit issomething extra given later, sort of anoption, but notice what it says here:

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in theSpirit, if so be that the Spirit of Goddwell in you. Now if any man havenot the Spirit of Christ, he is none ofhis." Romans 8:9.

No Spirit—no new birth; no new birth—no forgiveness; no forgiveness—no salvation.

"Jesus answered and said unto him,Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Excepta man be born again, he cannot seethe kingdom of God." John 3:3.

This shows that being givenpower to ‘do the law’ is apart of justification, withoutwhich there is nojustification.Anyone who would justreceive forgiveness of sinsbut not cleansing, removal ofsin from the life, surrenderand the new birth, putting onand wearing the robe ofChrist’s righteousness, mustdwell forever in thecourtyard, they canapproach no closer to Godat all.

"For not the hearers of the law arejust before God, but the doers ofthe law shall be justified."Romans 2:13.

Unless a change takes place,they can never see God inpeace. The ‘Courtyard’experience is the best the‘new theology’ has to offerand it is woefully inadequate.The aim of the Sanctuary isto get rid of sin entirely, notjust ‘forensic’ substitution.

Because of what happened in the courtyard we now belongto Jesus. Everything in this Holy Place tells us what Jesushas given us and how He helps us to grow up in Him. Yousee when we first choose to belong all the way to Jesus, weare like a little, newborn baby. Even if we are a grownup; anew Christian is a baby Christian. He needs to be cared forand grow. Jesus takes care of us so we can grow.

Now we are ready to enter inthrough the veil, into the HolyPlace, the Sanctified life.Notice that Sanctified means,sacred, holy, blessed, setapart.

God provides everything, Light,Power, Nourishment, Guidance,Victory, Love but each individualMUST receive and utilize all thisfor his self, no one else can do itfor him.

Now the new-born child ofGod is taken into the HolyPlace, a kind of nursery,where everything needful forhis growth in grace is to befound. It is a quiet, shelteredplace where he comes intocloser personal relationshipwith the Godhead who havepledged themselves torecreate and restore him.Although both justification andsanctification are received atthe new birth and one cannotbe had without the other,living the sanctified life is anongoing process. This is alsowhere co-operation betweenthe sinner and God isemphasized.

"…that he might make thee knowthat man doth not live by bread only,but by every word that proceedethout of the mouth of the LORD dothman live." Deuteronomy 8:3

In the Holy Place we find threearticles of furniture; The Table ofShowbread is for his daily food. Theloaves of the bread of life and thewine represent the Word of God, bodyand blood of his Lord. On this he mustfeed, eating it for himself chewing itand assimilating it into his life. Just asno-one can eat for another, we allmust do it for ourselves, we can sharefood with each other but we must eatit and assimilate it for ourselves.

"But the Comforter, which is the HolyGhost, whom the Father will send inmy name, he shall teach you allthings, and bring all things to yourremembrance, whatsoever I havesaid unto you." John 14:26

The loaves had incense sprinkled onthem to show us that we must alwayspray before reading the Bible forJesus to send the Holy Spirit to helpus understand right. He is our ownspecial teacher and will help everyonewho asks in the name of Jesus. Didyou know that Jesus sends you ateacher to help you understand theBible? Now matter if you are young orold, He will teach you if you ask Him.

The loaves were arranged carefully,showing that our study must besystematic and orderly, approachingthe Word with care and prayer for theHoly Spirit’s teaching. They arealways fresh showing that ourexperience is to be vibrant and living.

The seven Lamps continuallyburning are God’s promise to Hischildren that they need neverwalk in darkness but always theycan have the light of life. Godpledges to give us light alwaysthrough the guidance andteaching of the Holy Spirit."If any man will do his will, heshall know of the doctrine,whether it be of God, or whether Ispeak of myself." John 7:17.

"Then spake Jesus again untothem, saying, I am the light of theworld: he that followeth me shallnot walk in darkness, but shallhave the light of life." John 8:12

The Altar of Incense is ourcommunication station. This is God’spledge to be always available to us;Like the incense kept continuallyburning, the prayers of His childrenascend up before the thronecontinually. Bearing Praise andthanksgiving heavenward from heartsmade joyful through the mercies ofGod and confidently presenting Hispromises fragrant with His love for allneeds. Like a mother always alert tothe cry of her child, so God’s ear isbent low to hear the least plea fromlip or heart directed to Him throughChrist. He hears us & we have whatwe ask.

Thus is described to us whatpure worship is. It requiresparticipation; each must do ithimself. It is not a spectatorsport or an entertainment butrather an intimate giving andreceiving between the personand God. True worship musttake place on God’s terms, notmans.

Justification is like gettingmarried, and the sanctified lifeis staying married. Coming intoChrist and ABIDING.

"And this is the confidence that wehave in him, that, if we ask any thingaccording to his will, he heareth us:And if we know that he hear us,whatsoever we ask, we know that wehave the petitions that we desired ofhim." 1 John 5:14, 15.

Next is the Most Holy Place,representing the final sealing andglorification; man fully restored to thevery presence of his God. Able to seeHis face and live.

Behind a most beautiful red, blue andpurple curtain, all full of goldenpictures of angels, was the Most HolyPlace. This place represented God’sthrone room in heaven.

The Most Holy Place

Inside was an ark,which is a Bible wordthat means a box. It wasa beautiful golden box.Inside were threethings; the stones withthe 10 Commandmentson them, Aaron’s rodthat budded, and a potof Manna.

Ark of the Covenant

Over top of this box was a puregold lid called the Mercy Seat.It represented the very throneof God and two angels made ofgold stood on each end justlike the angels that are nearGod’s throne in heaven. Theirheads were bowed reverentlyand they looked towards God’sLaw in the ark. In the sanctuaryon earth there was a bright,beautiful light called theShekinah Glory that was thereabove the Mercy Seat. Do youknow what that light reallywas? It is such a wonderfulthing! It was the very presenceof Jesus!

When Christ died, the inner veil was rent in twain from top to bottom; this showed that the way to the Most Holy Place was now open. No human priesthood is now needed, as Christ, our mediator and High Priest, stands interceding for us, pleading the merits of His blood before His Father. We are to enter by faith, trusting only in that merit."Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession….Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14, 16.

The Ark of the Covenant, like theTable of Showbread and the altarof incense was wood, covered bygold which represents the union ofhumanity with Divinity in Christ. Itis covered by a solid gold mercyseat where the glory of God is tobe seen brooding over His Law ofLove, the foundation of universalgovernment.It contains the Tables of the Law,the Pot of Manna, and Aaron’s rodwhich budded.

Many spiritual lessons are seenhere; the Manna shows God’swillingness and ability to provideall our needs.

Aaron’s rod, a dead walking stick,which came to life and in one nightleafed, budded and brought forthalmonds, shows us God’swillingness and ability to take thesinner, dead in trespasses andsins and restore him to life,recreate him and make himfruitful.

In the earthly service only once a yearthe High Priest would enter here on theDay of Atonement, the Most Holy Day ofJudgment.

Now in this great antitypical day ofAtonement, we are called to be a part ofthe vindication of God’s character beforethe universe. Satan has accused God ofhaving a law which man cannot obey,which would show Him to be a crueltyrant. It is our privilege to allow God towork His complete restoration in us,restoring man to holiness andhappiness. The end result of therestoration process is for man to berestored to the very presence of the HolyGod; to see Him in the beauty ofholiness, and live!

When we are fully surrendered andabiding in Him, we will naturally bringforth fruit unto holiness, the Power allcoming from Him. Then comes thepruning, He takes off from us whateverHe sees we don’t need or that interfereswith our spiritual development. The trueChristian walk is a long trail of droppedhabits, indulgences and worldlyentanglements. The life is simplified, theaffections channeled. It is only this waythat we bear more fruit.

Sometimes the pruning knife is mostunpleasant to us and if we decided topull out of the vine and stop abiding, wecan always do so. But if we do, we beginto wither and die, first spiritually andeventually physically.

The Sanctified life is a movement;a walk with God; not a social clubor a place to sit and beentertained. Jesus said "FollowMe"; this movement ends onlywhen we leave this earth.

By the way, If someone accusesyou of Legalism, all you have tosay is "I do what I do out of Lovefor my Redeemer who gave Hislife for me, this is Love, notLegalism. True Love OBEYS!

Our Redemption has beenpurchased at a great price to God!It is our transformation that He isworking for. A religion of externalsis of no value to Him. OnlyCharacter matters.

True worship must be in Spirit and Truth, itmust be compatible with God, we can’tbring in our carnal packages and then callthat Worship. What happened when tworebellious priests decided to 'do their ownthing' in the sanctuary and brought in'strange fire'?? They PERISHED before theLord! The principles of God's truth must beapplied to the heart or our worship is invain.

We must always keep in mind the GreatControversy in which we are all involved,the whole thing about the seal and themark is about worship; Who and How youwill worship: Will it be God and His Law, orself and man’s laws?