Revival Update

I write today simply asking everyone to pray. Our evangelist, Brother J. O. McLeod, has taken a fall and has broken his arm. It is a nasty break and it will be impossible for him to come preach our revival this coming Sunday. So I ask that you pray for Bro. J. O. McLeod. And pray for our revival. We will have a one day revival this Sunday. I'll be preaching in both services. If you are in the local area, we invite you to come and experience revival with us this Sunday May 3. Hope to see ya there. God bless,

Bro. Royce

One Body

"Hey, brother Royce. Did you get lost in the Tabernacle?" That's probably a question being asked as to where I've been. No, actually we are in a Tabernacle study on Wednesday nights here at Sand Hill, but for those outside of our local area, we are also in a new building transition (moving into new facilities); so, I've needed the much time off from blogging. We'll get back to it soon, but here's a thought for Exodus 26 from Warren Wiersbe:

"Ten curtains, fifty loops, fifty clasps, forty sockets, twenty boards, two veils--yet one sanctuary. 'That it may be one tabernacle', Exodus 26:6; 'that it may be one', Exodus 26:11. Diversity, yes; but unity in diversity."

Paul said, "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ..." 1 Cor.12:12-13.

Have a blessed week and if in the local area, you are invited to our revival beginning this Sunday with Evangelist J. O. McLeod from St. Augustine, FL. (May 3-6).

Sunday: 11:00 am and 6 pm

Mon.-Wed. 7:00 pm each night.

Hope to see ya there!

Tabernacle

Exodus 25. Back on March 16th blog, I gave you an outline for the book of Exodus (see Exodus 1 "Ignorance", Monday March 16, 2009). Today we enter into the third part of that outline, emphasizing the HOUSE OF GOD. This section will detail the construction and instructions for the Tabernacle. Let me give you some interpretive tools to help in your Tabernacle study.

In Exodus 25:3-9 we have the material list and what they will represent consistently throughout the Bible.

1. Metal:

• Gold--typifies deity and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and divine righteousness as seen in the mercy seat, Exodus 25:17.
• Silver--typifies redemption, as seen in the atonement money, Exodus 30:12-16. This is the price of redemption. Thus, it symbolizes the precious blood of Christ.
• Brass--typifies judgment. Used in the brazen altar, which symbolizes Christ's bearing the fires of God's wrath in judgment at Calvary.

2. Colors:

• Blue--the heavenly color. Represents the heavenlies. Typifies Christ as the spiritual One, or the Heavenly Man. He was...Heb.7:26.
• Purple--Typifies Christ as the sovereign One. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Rev.19:16. Purple is known as the royal color.
• Scarlet--is the color of redemption. Why? Because scarlet represents man's sin (Isaiah 1:18). This typifies Christ as the sacrificial One. Scarlet depicts Him as the Suffering Servant.

3. Fabrics:

• Fine Linen speaks of righteousness.
• Goat's Hair speaks of atonement. The scapegoat and goat sacrifice is in mind here.
• Ram's Skin dyed red, speaks of devotedness in the priestly office. These rams' skins symbolize Christ's death as He was obedient unto death...(Phil.2:8), devoted to be a covering for His people.
• Badger's Skin speaks of holiness, repelling every form of evil (see Heb.7:26). This was a tough, durable, weather resistant material that was ideal for tent making, but not attractive to look at. Christ was not attractive on the cross either, "having no form nor comeliness... (Isaiah 53:2).

4. Wood:

• Acacia Wood. This is the only wood used in the Tabernacle. This was a very hard wood that was weather and insect resistant. Sometimes it is translated "incorruptible wood". This speaks of the incorruptibility of the human nature of our Lord Jesus (See Psalm 16:10)

Now that you are equipped with some information, read the rest of this chapter. Notice what the Ark and Mercy Seat is made of. The wood covered in Gold is Christ's incarnation: His deity and humanity. The mercy seat is solid gold because only deity (God) can save. This will aid you in your Tabernacle study. See ya' next week. God bless.

Do You Really Know Him?

In Exodus 24 God calls Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders partly up the mountain; and later will call Moses all the way up to give him the blueprints of the Tabernacle. Pay attention to Exodus 24:9-10. These men saw God. Now we're not told exactly what they saw as far a description of God, but we are given details of what was under His feet. This would be a Theophany, for no man can see God's face and live (Exodus 33:20). But none the less, these men were in the presence of God.

Here's what I don't want you to miss. These men included Nadab and Abihu who are in the inner circle with Moses and seem to have a privileged position. I think they are there for our learning. Later in Leviticus 10:1-2, you'll discover that they get destroyed by fire for offering strange fire before the Lord. Now the lesson we draw from these two men is this: Office and position are no guarantee of salvation. One of the most horrifying passages in all of Scriptures is where men will say, "but Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name? And then Jesus will declare to them 'I never knew you; depart from Me...'" Matt.7:22-23. How awful and devastating that will be, for someone to have been in church all their life, even holding key positions in the church, but have no relationship with Jesus Christ. Make sure today that you truly know Him. Make sure today that you have genuinely been born again. Don't stand on the brink of eternity and gamble with your soul. Receive Christ as Savior today!

Christophany

In Exodus 23 I want us to pay attention to vss.20-23. Here God promises that the children of Israel would be guided and kept in their way through the wilderness to the land of promise. Who is this Angel that will be guiding them? It can be none other than the pre-incarnate Christ. This is what theologians refer to as a Christophany. A Christophany is very similar to a Theophany which is a physical, audible, and/or visible manifestation of God. In short, it is a visible appearance of God in bodily form in the O.T. times. A good example of this would be in Gen.18.

A Christophany is just such an appearance of Jesus before His incarnation. In Christophanies He is often called "the Angel of the LORD" i.e., "Angel of Yahweh". Another good example of a Christophany is Joshua 5 where Joshua met the "Commander of the LORD's army", and there Joshua worshiped Him. (note: men don't worship angels.) And here, in Exodus 23:21 the children of Israel are commanded to obey His voice and not to provoke Him, or He would not pardon their transgressions...(Exodus 23:21). Angels don't pardon people. Only Christ can pardon. So again, this lets us know that this is a Christophany.

What's the lesson in all of this? The key to victory for the Israelites in the upcoming takeover of the Promised Land would not be Israel's skill but the presence of this Angel, who, again, is the pre-incarnate Christ. And that's the lesson for us. The key to victory over the evil one in his territory, this world, is the presence and power of Jesus Christ in our lives!

God First

Exodus 22 involves property laws and moral principles. These laws covered theft, dishonesty, and careless destruction of property. In some cases the penalty was restitution amounting to double the loss. The remaining laws of this chapter deal with moral principles and thus offers protection for vulnerable people such as virgins, widows and orphans. But the one mandate that stands out is found in Exodus 22:31 "And you shall be holy men to Me...." We are to respect God and put Him first in everything. Jesus summarized this in Matt.6:33. If we truly love God with all our hearts, we will have no desire to hurt others. But if God is not first, we will start exploiting people to get what we want. We are supposed to worship God, deny self, love others, and use things. Unfortunately, today we have turned this upside down. Today, people worship self, ignore God, love things and use people. And if God is not first in your life, you will migrate toward this flawed model. Let's be sure to put God first in our lives each and every day.

God's Pro-Life Law

Exodus 21. Today we return to our chapter by chapter devotionals and chapter 21 contains laws concerning violence. Pay close attention to Exodus 21:22-25. This should answer all the pro-life/ pro-choice arguments. Under God's Law, if two men were fighting and in the process one of the men injured a pregnant women (who possibly was trying to break up the fight), and that woman lost her baby; then the man was guilty of murder and would be sentenced with the death penalty "life for life". This is the first recorded case of a penalty for the murder of the unborn. This tells me that for God, life begins at conception. It's not a fetus; It's a baby! It is life! And we must fight for the unborn who cannot defend themselves.

Now I realize there may be some reading this who have made some bad choices in life and abortion was one of them. You may be thinking that God will never forgive me of this horrible act. But I will remind you that the only sin unforgivable is the sin of blasphemy (Matt.12:31-32) When you genuinely repent of this horrible choice, God can and will forgive you. But on the other hand, we need to shout it from the roof tops to our younger generation that abortion is WRONG! That abortion is SIN because it is murder. I know the pro-choice folks don't like what I'm saying, but this is God's Word. And God's Word is final.

Let us pray for the unborn of this nation and this world. Let us fight for their protection. Let us only vote for candidates that are pro-life. I don't care what a candidate promises. If his value system is wrong, every other decision he makes in office is tainted with the blood of the unborn. And too, let us pray for those women who have made this horrible decision and now are suffering from incredible guilt of that decision. May they find the open arms of Jesus and His forgiveness today. God bless, Bro. Royce

No Blog Today

Everyone looking for Exodus 21--I'm working on some other things this week. We'll resume blogging in Exodus next week. See you then. God bless.

Royce

Ten Commandments

Exodus 20. To fully understand the Ten Commandments, you really need to be familiar with the book of Romans, particularly the first eight chapters. It's there that Paul makes his case that we're all sinners and in need of God's righteousness. Also, it would be good to read and study Matthew 5, 6, 7--The Sermon on the Mount--because if you think the Ten Commandments are tough, wait until the Lord explains them to you. Any conception you might have had about them will be blown away when you realize what Jesus is saying to you.

You need to recognize that one of the purposes of the Law is to show us God's righteousness. If it were possible for you and I to keep these laws, then Jesus died in vain. Does that mean we shouldn't try to keep them? No. We should obey all the commandments, but understand they are an expression of love, not legalism. And it's here that we are seeing God's righteousness in order to understand the price He had to pay for us to be deemed righteous--for us to be in His presence. This basis will help you understand why it took the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to make this possible.

Now for a summary of the Law, Jesus gave us one. "...Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself....on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Matt.22:37-40.

He Is Risen!

It doesn't take one long to realize how the resurrection of Christ radically changed the disciples. Peter's fear was changed into courage and James' doubt into faith. It was the resurrection which changed Saul the Pharisee into Paul the Apostle and turned his persecuting into preaching. It was the resurrection which changed the Sabbath into Sunday and the Jewish remnant into the Christian Church. All of this transformation because of one of my favorite passages: Luke 24:5-6 "...why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!" Oh how that changed everything. And oh how it has changed me. But unfortunately, there are many people who still seek for Him among the dead. Dead religion will not save you. Jesus is not there. He is alive! The leaders of all other religions are still in the grave. Jesus is not. He is at the right hand of the Father seated in Heaven (Eph.1:20). He is the One in Whom I have placed my trust--Jesus the One and only One who has conquered death. As John Stott said, "It is fitting that a supernatural person should enter and leave the earth in a supernatural way. This is in fact what the New Testament teaches and the Church believes. His birth was natural, but His conception was supernatural. His death was natural, but His resurrection was supernatural." [Stott, "Basic Christianity", p.45]God has provided a way to Himself (John 14:6). Have you gone that way? Have you placed your faith in the One and only Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God? Then, why not? He is offering you the free gift of salvation. Why not receive Him today? You'll be eternally glad you did.Hallelujah what a Savior!

See ya Sunday on Resurrection morn,Bro. Royce

Purpose in Calling

Exodus 19. The Israelites reached the base of Mount Sinai two months to the day after leaving Egypt. But note what verse four says. Where did God take them? To Mount Sinai? To the wilderness? Exodus 19:4 tells us that God didn't take them somewhere but to Someone-Himself! God calls us unto Himself! We see the same thing in Samuel's life (1 Sam.2:35). God's original call on Samuel's life was "for Myself". God's original call was not to a place, a position, or an assignment, but unto Himself. If you neglect developing your personal relationship with God, you have tainted the essence of why He called you.

Again we see an example with the disciples. When Jesus called His disciples, Mark says that "He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach..." (Mark 3:14). Spending time with Jesus precedes ministry. You forfeit your right to minister if you haven't spent time with God. Jesus wants us to spend time with Him developing an intimate relationship, before we run off to do ministry. Again, God calls us to Someone before He sends us somewhere. And that Someone is Himself. As Henry Blackaby says, "God does not make us successful, prosperous, or influential to satisfy our worldly ambitions. He frees us for one purpose, so we can know Him! His work in our lives is a means to that end!" After Adam sinned, God called Adam's name out loud: "Adam, Adam, where are you?" God was wanting to spend that intimate time with Adam as they had done before. God is calling out your name today. 'Royce where are You? I wanted to meet with you this morning, but where were you?' Now you fill in the blanks: '____________ where are you? _________ where were you? I wanted to spend some quality time with you through my open Word. But you were not there.'

Will you go there now? I trust you will, God bless.

Wisdom of Others

Exodus 18. The third dire situation we see Israel in, and particularly Moses, is that of the overwhelming demands of ministry. Here, God sends Moses' father-in-law with some good advice. Also, you need to make note that Jethro is not of the congregation of Israel. Will God speak through someone not of the congregation of the church? Absolutely.

1. The Welcome of Moses: Exodus 18:1-12

Pay close attention to Exodus 18:8. God's deliverance should be our chief topic in conversation.

2. The Wisdom of Jethro: Exodus 18:13-27

In relying on God, we often rely on the wisdom God has given others, even if they are not a Christian. For example, if I had cancer I would want the best cancer doctor around. If I had heart trouble, I would want the best heart doctor I could find. Some Christians piously say, "Well I want a Christian doctor." But I say give me the doctor that's an expert in his field, and I'm smart enough to know that God is sovereign and has given that doctor his abilities whether he's a Christian or not. Now if he is a Christian, then that's a plus. If not, then God has the opportunity to work miracles before his eyes, because being an expert in his field, that doctor will know his own human limitations. And when God heals, he'll know it. Then, as a patient, you have the opportunity to testify for God and His healing hand. But the bottom line here is, listen to the wisdom of others, even if they're not apart of the church.

Now go back and read Exodus 18:8-12. Sounds like old Jethro got saved and became a Yahweh worshiper that day.

Defeat and Victory

Exodus 17. As the children of Israel moved toward Sinai, they were still being led by the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. But the Lord was still directing Israel into difficult and dire situations in order to prove His power and build their faith. Life's journey involves much more than just reaching a destination. If we aren't growing in faith and growing in knowledge of God, then we're wasting our opportunities. Salvation is not just about getting to heaven. It's more than that. It's about sanctification; it's about getting heaven into us. It's about trials and tribulations. It's about tests. And here Israel is tested again in the first dire situation of this chapter.

1. An Old Test Repeated: Exodus 17:1-7

Israel had a long way to go before they would qualifiy as a godly nation. So far, every new trial they experienced only brought out the worst in them. Once they arrived at Rephidim, they again found themselves without water. They had failed the test before. How would they do this time? God had provided for them last time. Would they trust Him this time? No. They failed again. Why? Because their hearts were still in Egypt. They're still worldly. They hadn't made a clean break from Egypt/ the world. Christians that keep failing these kinds of tests haven't made a clean break from the world. They doubt God. But there must be a break from the world. That's what these tests do....teach us to depend totally upon God.

2. Conflict With Amalek: the Flesh: Exodus 17:8-16

In this second dire situation, we see Israel having to rely upon God in this conflict. Amalekites are descendants of Esau (Gen.36:12, 16), and thus they are a picture of the flesh. Do realize that when you got saved, you entered into spiritual warfare. The flesh does not fight with those that it rules. Israel did not have to fight in Egypt. But now liberated from Egypt they have to fight. Once delivered from the bondage of sin, one must fight the good fight. One must put on the whole armor of God (Eph.6:10-20). How do we win in this war? By prayer and by the Word of God. That battle was won up on the hill, by prayer. And it says that Joshua defeated them by the edge of the sword (Exodus 17:13). The sword is one of the Holy Spirit's idioms for the Word of God (Heb.4:12). Victory is by prayer and by the Word of God. Those are two things we need to walk in every day, which basically is the definition of someone walking in the Holy Spirit. If you're walking in the Spirit, that means you are walking in prayer and the Word of God. Do this daily. It's the only way to have victory!

Daily Bread

Exodus 16. Again we find the Israelites complaining, but this time it's over something to eat. In Exodus 15:24 it was "What shall we drink?" Now, in chapter 16, it's "what shall we eat?" I think Jesus said something about "take no thought saying, "What shall we eat? Or, what shall we drink?..." (Matt.6:31-34). Jesus told us to not worry. Even as this country sinks deeper and deeper into recession and possibly a depression, I think God is teaching us this very lesson: RELY ON GOD FOR OUR DAILY NEEDS. He taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread..." Matt.6:11.

So, God promised to meet the needs of this griping bunch, but He would test their faith. He was going to test them in two ways: First, 1) By charging them to gather bread every day for that particular day. They were to gather only a day's supply; no more; no less. And secondly 2) By commanding that they gather twice as much on the sixth day for their rest on the seventh. Then God would prove Himself (Exodus 16:6-7). In this journey called life we live on the promises of God. We depend upon Him daily to supply our every need. Each day becomes a test. Each day we learn to pray "give us THIS DAY our daily bread..." Have you prayed today for today's needs? Do so now and trust God with the results.

Tests

Exodus 15. Some of the greatest disappointments follow the greatest victories. And at the end of chapter 15 we see such a case. Verse 23 says that "they came to Marah..." (Exodus 15:23). Let me ask you, who led them there? Did they stumble in there by accident? Were they lost? Or, did God bring them there? Why did God bring them there? Verse 25 gives the reason: it was there that God tested them (Exodus 15:25). God was testing His people, not because He didn't know what was in their hearts, but because they didn't know what was in their own hearts. People often say, "Well I know my own heart." But they forget that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer.17:9). The children of Israel had just witnessed the miraculous hand of God, and you would think [they even thought] they would be faithful followers of God. But God brings them to a point of no water to test them to see what was in their hearts.

That is why God tests us--to enable us to see what's in our hearts. The Lord tests us to bring out the best in us. The devil tempts us to bring out the worse in us. The Lord tests us to encourage spiritual growth. The devil test us to encourage spiritual immaturity. The attitude we take towards our difficult and disappointing situations determines which direction we go in life. In other words attitude determines altitude. If we trust God and obey His word, we'll pass the test and grow. But if we doubt God, disobey Him and complain, we'll fail the test and remain immature (James 1:12-18).

Visual Salvation

Exodus 14. Two key verses, in this dramatic chapter, capture our attention: Exodus 14:13, 30. Jonah learned from the fish's belly what the Israelites learned from the shores of the Red Sea: "Salvation is of the LORD" (Jonah 2:9). If it's not all of the Lord, it's not salvation at all. For we are saved by His grace through faith, and there's nothing we can "do" to accomplish our salvation (Eph.2:8-9). Salvation is not '"do" something'; it's already done! We are to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Our part is simply to fear not and believe.

That brings me to a question: can one see salvation? I'm reminded of Peter and John standing before the Sanhedrin. They saw the boldness of Peter and John (Acts 4:13). Can you see salvation? You will see the miraculous results. You will see the miraculous change in one's life. And if you can't, then one has to question whether salvation occurred in the first place. Do others see Jesus in you?

Our Youth

Exodus 13. In giving Moses the reminders of details concerning the festival and firstborn, I want you to pay attention to Exodus 13:8. We are to share our testimony and especially with the next generation. And our testimony should be personal: "this is...what the LORD did for me..." Salvation is personal if it is real. Salvation is personal if it is genuine. I often ask people, 'to you, who is Jesus?' I get back many answers: "He is the Son of God, crucified, buried, rose again on the third day..." "He is the Savior of the world" etc. All of these answers are theologcially correct. But my question is TO YOU who is Jesus? The correct answer is HE'S MY SAVIOUR! It must be personal or else no salvation has taken place.

And we must pass our faith on to our children because unbelief is always one generation away. John Maxwell said, "One generation cannot do without the other...The older generation is our link with the past; the younger generation is our link with the future, and we need both!" Winston Churchill once said, "If we draw up conflict between the present and the past, we lose the future." In other words, if there is a constant negative attitude toward our youth and younger generation, we lose the future. Scores of churches have unconsciously (and sometimes knowly) run all the younger folks off with the attitude: 'we're going to do things around here the way we did it 50 years ago'. Well, you'll have no church in the next 50 years because you run the future church off. The younger generation is our link with the future and if we draw up conflict between the generations, we lose the future. Our task is simply tell them what God has done for us. Then let them work out their own salvation (Phil.2:12) in the context of their own generation. Today, take the time to pray for our youth and youth pastors around the globe. And pray for your children and grandchildren. Then take those opportunities to share with them what God has done for you. God bless.