There are too many believers who are still outside the "Holy of Holies" in worship. True Christian worship involves a genuine encounter with the Lord and a knowledge and sense of His presence. It is a tragedy that many grow up in the church from very young with nothing more than a synthetic god made up of theology and logic, but having no eyes to see, no ears to hear and no heart to love. In coming to God in worship we should put ourselves in His presence with full confidence that He is the one pursuing, not we. He is waiting to manifest Himself to us as soon as the noise and activity of our lives slow enough for Him to make Himself heard and experienced by us. The prophet Isaiah said, "I saw the Lord, high and lifted up . . . " How the church today needs a restoration of the vision of a Most High God!
What do we see illustrated in the Old Testament Tabernacle? We see the inner journey of the soul from the life of sin into the enjoyed presence of God. The returning sinner first enters the outer court where he offers a blood sacrifice on the brazen altar and washes himself in the laver near by. Then he passes through a veil into the holy place where no natural light shows, but the golden candlestick which speaks of Jesus, the Light of the World, throws its soft glow over all. There is also the shewbread to tell of Jesus, the Bread of Life, and the altar of incense illustrating unceasing prayer.
Though the worshipper has enjoyed much at this point, still he has not entered into the presence of God. Another veil separates him from the Holy of Holies where above the mercy seat dwells God Himself in glorious manifestation. While the tabernacle stood, only the high priest could enter there, only once a year. He entered with blood which he offered for his sins and the sins of the people. It was this last veil which was torn when our Lord Jesus Christ gave His last breath on Calvary. The Word of the Lord explains that this rending of the veil opened the way for every worshipper in the world to come, through Jesus, the new and living way, straight into the divine Presence of the Most High God. A simple question. Do you experience encounters with the Most High God and His manifest presence or are you still standing outside the Holy of Holies? mjm
