Subject 11 : The Tabernacle
[11-23] The Pillars of the Court of The Tabernacle (Exodus 27:9-19)
(Exodus 27:9-19)
“You
shall also make the court of the tabernacle. For the south side there
shall be hangings for the court made of fine woven linen, one hundred
cubits long for one side. And its twenty pillars and their twenty
sockets shall be bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall
be silver. Likewise along the length of the north side there shall be
hangings one hundred cubits long, with its twenty pillars and their
twenty sockets of bronze, and the hooks of the pillars and their bands
of silver. And along the width of the court on the west side shall be
hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets.
The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. The
hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their
three pillars and their three sockets. And on the other side shall be
hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three
sockets. For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits
long, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen,
made by a weaver. It shall have four pillars and four sockets. All the
pillars around the court shall have bands of silver; their hooks shall
be of silver and their sockets of bronze. The length of the court shall
be one hundred cubits, the width fifty throughout, and the height five
cubits, made of fine woven linen, and its sockets of bronze. All the
utensils of the tabernacle for all its service, all its pegs, and all
the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.”
This
passage explains the pillars, the screen gate, hangings of fine white
linen, bands, hooks, bronze sockets, and bronze pegs of the court of the
Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a place where God dwelt. The size of the
rectangular court measured approximately 45 m (its north and south
sides) by 22.5 m (its east and west sides). The Tabernacle itself was a
small structure with its roof of a fourfold covering. The court of the
Tabernacle in contrast, was broad like a large open courtyard.
The
court’s pillars measured 2.25 m in height, and its perimeter fence was
built by placing a total of 60 wooden pillars and hangings of white
linen on all sides except for the gate. The fence was made of these
wooden pillars, silver capitals that covered there tops, and bronze
sockets. On the silver capitals two hooks of silver were placed, and
long bands of silver were attached to these hooks to support the pillars
to each other. On the ground these silver bands were then attached to
the bronze pegs, thus fixing the pillars securely.
What Spiritual Meanings Are Manifested in the Pillars of the Tabernacle?
What
do the pillars of the court of the Tabernacle tell us? They tell us
clearly how Jesus Christ has saved each and every one of us from the
sins of the world. The wooden pillars of the Tabernacle’s court refer to
you and me—that is, every born-again saint. What then do the bronze
sockets below these wooden pillars of the court tell us? They tell us
that despite the fact we could not avoid but face our condemnation
because of our sins, God has nevertheless saved us from all our sins.
On
the other hand, that the wooden pillars were capped with silver
capitals tells us that God has given us the gift of salvation by saving
all sinners from their sins and trespasses through the gospel of the
blue, purple, and scarlet thread. That silver hooks were placed on these
silver capitals, and that silver bands were attached to these hooks and
the bronze pegs on the ground, also tell us that although we were
facing our unavoidable death because of our sins, our Lord has given us
the gift of the remission of sin through the Truth of the blue, purple,
and scarlet threads and the fine woven linen—that is, through the gospel
of salvation.
In
this way, the pillars of the Tabernacle’s court shows us the truth that
the Lord has saved us from all our sins by coming to this earth, being
baptized by John the Baptist, and bearing all the judgment of sin, and
sacrificing Himself with His precious blood on the Cross. They show us,
in other words, the gift of the remission of sin, that the Lord has
saved us wholly from all our sins and has made us God’s people. These
wooden pillars constituting the fence around the court of the Tabernacle
tells us that our Lord has saved all sinners from the sins of the world
perfectly all at once by the ministry of the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread, that is, by being baptized and shedding His blood on the Cross.
Because this truth is so certain, I cannot help but be thankful for it
and spread it throughout the whole wide world.
The Bronze Sockets below the Pillars
The
sockets of the pillars standing on this fence were made of bronze,
while the capitals on top of the pillars, their hooks, and their bands
were all made of silver.
Mark
7:21-22 say, “Out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” Each and
every one of us was born with all these evil sins in our hearts. This is
why God tells us that we are bound to live the rest of our lives in
these sins until our very own demise, and that we simply cannot help
ourselves but live in this sinful way. And if we admit to this Word just
as it is, then we cannot help but confess that our fundamental nature
is so sinful that we in fact just cannot avoid the judgment for our
sins.
Yet
with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, our Lord has saved such
depraved beings as us from all our sins. Because our Lord took all our
sins away by accepting them onto His body through the baptism that He
received from John the Baptist, He could carry the sins of the world to
the Cross and bear the condemnation for all those sins. This is how
Jesus has saved us from all our sins.
We
cannot thank God enough for this! None other than this is salvation
that God has delivered us from all our sins even as we were all bound to
hell, is the most precious, the most blessed, and the most valuable
gift in this entire world. There is nothing else that we can do but to
simply bow our heads to the Lord, believe in this gospel that has saved
us with the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and thank our
Lord for it. Through the materials used for the pillars of the court of
the Tabernacle, God is showing us that our Lord’s salvation is the
perfect truth that does not lack any bit of supplement or complement.
All
the mysteries of the building materials of the Tabernacles are solved
through the implications of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the
fine woven linen. The mystery of salvation is the truth that can never
be solved without the gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and
the fine woven linen. All the implications of the Tabernacle System,
along with the secret of its sacrificial system, are hidden in these
blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen.
Fundamentally,
as a matter of fact, you and I were such beings before God who could
not help but be bound to hell because of our sins. To be frank, we
continue to sin even now, but the Lord has nonetheless given us the
perfect remission of sins with His blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and
by believing in this gift of salvation, we received this remission of
sins. It is because God has saved us perfectly from all our sins and has
made us His children that we could become His heirs who will enjoy
glory and splendor of His Kingdom. Apart from the salvation that God has
given us, there is no other way to become His born-again children. It
is because our Lord has saved us from all our sins that we give our
thanks to Him.
We
were ignorant all the time about who we really are in our basic selves,
measuring only the gravity of our sins according to our own standards.
But it isn’t important whether we have committed some kinds of sins or
not, because we are originally such grave sinners all bound to hell from
our births regardless of our deeds. Yet with the blue, purple, and
scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, our Lord has saved such people
like us from all our sins. Just as the Lord had promised in the Old
Testament, He actually came to us in the New Testament’s time, took all
our sins upon Himself according to this Word of promise, carried these
sins to the Cross, paid the wages of all our sins with His sacrifice by
shedding His blood on the Cross, and has thereby saved us from all our
sins and given us this gift of salvation. This is how you and I have
received the gift of salvation from all our sins by believing in Jesus
Christ.
Why Were the Hangings of White Linen Placed over the Pillar of the Court of the Tabernacle?
A
total of 60 pillars were placed around the court of the Tabernacle, and
they were all covered with the hangings of the fine woven linen. These
hangings tell us that although we were all unclean beings stained with
our sins, and despite the fact that we therefore deserved to be
condemned of our sins and cast into hell, our Lord nevertheless has
cleansed us with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven
linen. In other words, the hangings tell us the truth that Jesus Christ
has washed us from all our sins at all once by being baptized by John
the Baptist.
When
Jesus came to this earth and was baptized by John the Baptist, the
representative of all mankind, the sins of the world were all passed
onto Jesus. Having thus accepted all the sins of the world, Jesus then
was crucified and shed His blood to bear the condemnation of sins, and
He then rose from the dead again. And having risen from the dead, He has
now become our living Savior. This is the gift of salvation that our
Lord has fulfilled through His ministry of the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread and the fine woven linen; and this is the love of our Lord that
has cleansed us from all our sins and made us unblemished and without
any shortcomings to become the people of God. By giving us this gift of
salvation, our Lord has turned those of us who believe in this truth
into God’s very own people.
The
white linen that hung on the pillars of the Tabernacle tells us of the
holiness of God, but it also speaks about our holiness, the holiness of
the true believers. Hence, if we want to become God’s children, we too
must be cleansed from all our sins and become holy by believing in
Jesus’ ministry of the blue, purple and scarlet thread. God tells us,
“You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45), but how
could we ever be holy through our acts? Because we cannot avoid sinning
no matter how hard we try, we can never be holy through our own efforts.
But with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, our Lord has wholly
cleansed even such beings like you and me. This is how you and I have
wholly become God’s very own people. There is no other way but to
believe in the gospel of God’s righteousness and to become holy by being
cleansed from all our sins.
The Bronze Sockets and the Bronze Pegs
The
silver capitals were overlaid on the top of the pillars. And the silver
hooks and the silver bands were also made to connect and to fix the
pillars to each other. Each pillar was fitted into a bronze socket. And a
pair of bronze pegs tied up each pillar of the Tabernacle’s perimeter
fence from the top of it to the ground.
This
shows us that although we were bound to be condemned and cast into hell
due to our sins, God has nonetheless made us His holy people by giving
us the gift of salvation that has delivered us from all our sins.
Because God has made us His holy people through this grace of salvation,
we cannot help but praise and thank God for His grace. Having believed
in God through this Word of the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread and the fine woven linen, not only do we praise God, but we also
cannot help but spread this Word.
Is
there really any day when we never commit sin? There is none! Even
those of us who believe in the Word of God and have been born again
through His grace also commit sin everyday. If anyone is even slightly
hostile to us or not friendly enough, we lash out and curse this person
in no time. Say if there was someone who suddenly cut in on you while
you were driving peacefully along and almost caused a serious accident,
did you not react angrily at that careless driver? Oh Yes! I might have
cursed that reckless driver loudly with my noisy horn. But is this
really the right thing to do? It is certainly not the right thing to do,
but the problem is that we are such beings who cannot but commit sins
at any moment.
We
are such beings destined to hell because of our infirmities. However,
God has given us “a new and living way which He consecrated for us”
(Hebrews 10:20). This is wholly the gift of God which has been completed
solely by Jesus Christ according to the will of God the Father.
What
gift of salvation has God given to us? He has given us the gift of our
salvation from sins, which was fulfilled through the four threads of the
Tabernacle―the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven
linen. How could we then possibly not praise God? When we have really
received this true salvation, how could true peace not be in our hearts?
Our salvation can never be attained by paying gold or silver, nor is it
like the mist or morning dew that disappears soon after appearing, but
we have been saved eternally and perfectly. God loved sinners so much
that He has given them His grace of salvation as a free gift, and in
this gift He has clothed us believers with His righteousness.
Among
the items of the fence of the Tabernacle’s court, all the sockets and
the pegs that touched the ground were made of bronze. But the capitals
on top of the pillars were made of silver. All these accounts shows us
that despite the fact that we were all fundamentally bound to hell, we
have become God’s children by receiving the gift of salvation given by
our Lord. Each and every one of us has received this gift by believing
in His Word. Given this, how certain is this salvation from our sins
that we received? This is the gift that God has bestowed on us, and it
is our certain salvation and blessing that can never be changed. It is
because we know this that we cannot thank God enough with all our being.
That
you and I have been saved from all our sins is most assuredly God’s
gift. Our salvation is not an imperfect one that simply disappears
whenever our infirmities are revealed. For such depraved sinners like
you and me, our Lord came to this earth and gave us the gift of
salvation with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven
linen. As such, all who believe in this truth are eternally saved from
all their sins. Because our Lord’s salvation of sinners is so perfect,
and because He even took care of all the insufficiencies, weaknesses,
and blemishes of our flesh, He has made us whole so that we would have
nothing to do with sin. Those who know clearly and believe in the blue,
purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen are all saved
perfectly forever.
Given
this, just how precious and valuable is this gift of salvation that God
has given us? I am truly thankful for this gift of salvation, for it
has brought so much rest to our hearts and has comforted and blessed us
so much. Our Lord brings rest to our hearts. This is why He said, “Come
to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”
(Matthew 11:28). I am so grateful to God for giving me this gift of
redemption from all my sins.
I
believe that not only I but all of you also are very precious to God.
God has saved you and me with the gospel of the blue, purple, and
scarlet thread and fine woven linen. God says that He has given this
gift of salvation to all those who believe in this Word, and because I
believe in what He says, I do think and believe that you also are all
very precious to God.
Lately,
as we have been laboring hard for God’s work even beyond our strength,
there have been times when we felt quite exhausted. Therefore, I would
like to comfort and encourage my co-workers through such means of the
flesh as breaking bread together. But I know well that we cannot really
be comforted by the consolation of the flesh. We are instead encouraged
by remembering the gift of our certain salvation that the Lord gave to
us, our true consolation, and its peace unknown to the world. We are
comforted by and satisfied with the spiritual blessings that God has
already given to our hearts. Because we are to receive such great
rewards and blessings in this gift of salvation that God has given us,
our hearts have peace and blessings, the likes of which are unknown in
this world.
God
has given the perfect gift of salvation to each and every one of you,
the greatest gift of all that is unknown in this world. There are some
people who claim to be sinless with only their religious devotions, even
as they do not believe in the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread and the fine woven linen, but their fullness of devotional
feelings will evaporate in no time. The peace that they reach with their
own thoughts disappears like the morning mists whenever they sin even a
little or at the slightest sight of hardship.
But
for those who believe in the Lord-given salvation of the blue, purple,
and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the more hardship they
face, the more brilliantly their peace of mind shines. Though we are
trampled on, injured, and in grief, perfectness and thankfulness flows
out of our minds from the Lord-given gift of salvation in our hearts. We
are the ones who have been wholly saved, who can never return to Egypt,
nor ever face our sins and condemnation again. God has blessed us who
know and believe in this truth of salvation that He has bestowed on us
so that we can always thank Him fully with our faith. This is why we
thank God with our faith.
I
cannot thank God enough, for I could receive from Him, this certain
salvation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and for God has loved
me, blessed me greatly, and made me preach this precious gospel, for I
know I do not deserve them. Even if I were to thank the Lord everyday, I
cannot thank Him enough for making me live only for the gospel. I
cannot help but thank Him forever. When I thank God for the great gift
of salvation that He has given me, and when I try to express my grateful
heart, I realize just how insufficient my vocabulary and expressions
are.
We
are the ones who believe in the salvation that was manifested as the
gospel of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen.
For your sake, Jesus was born into this earth, took all your sins upon
Himself by being baptized by John the Baptist at the age of 30, carried
these sins to the Cross, shed His blood and died on it, rose from the
dead, and is now sitting at the right hand of the throne of God the
Father. This Jesus Christ has given the perfect gift of salvation to
those who received it by faith. Unless we betray this faith, this
salvation that we once received will never ever be nullified. No matter
what shortcomings we may have, and no matter what mistakes we may make,
we have all become His very own people clothed in the perfect gift of
salvation.
The Fine White Linen Hung on the Pillars of the Tabernacle’s Court
Imagine
looking at the hangings of fine white linen for a while. These hangings
of fine white linen were not made of nylon, but they were woven
together with white linen thread. If you put up such hangings of white
linen in a desert situation, they will get soiled in no time. Would God
then have put up these white hangings for no reason, without knowing
that they would become dirty in no time? He told the Israelites to put
up these hangings of white linen to show the gift of salvation that He
has given to us, those who accept this gift through faith. It was to
make us know clearly and mark in our hearts that He has thus saved us
from all our filthy sins wholly and cleanly.
God
made the Israelites put up these hangings of fine white linen. This
implies that we should praise Him forever and thank Him truly by seeing
and believing in His perfect salvation which is revealed in the white
hangings. Through the hangings of this fine white linen, God has thus
given us the gift of salvation wholly. Our salvation that was given by
Him is like this fine white linen.
We
really are filthy and depraved beings who cannot avoid but be bound to
hell because of sin. We have to wash the clothes of our minds several
times in just a day. Yet God has made such hearts of ours completely
white. Our Lord has, in other words, made people like ourselves whole.
God’s power is so great and awesome that He has wholly turned us, who
are disgusting, filthy, and easily soiled, into His sacred people.
Today
you and I who believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit are
the ones who have received this perfect gift of salvation from God. We
are the ones whose sins of the heart have all been washed completely
away, and we have become as white as snow.
Do
you still have sin in your hearts? Of course not! None other than your
own hearts have all become like the white, clean linen that was hung on
the fence of the Tabernacle’s court. You and I have thus become
completely clean. Despite the fact that we had been fundamentally bound
to be condemned because of our sins, we have nevertheless been saved.
This salvation came not from our own goodness or faithfulness, but from
the grace of God that has clothed us in His power, like the bronze pegs
of the Tabernacle’s pillars were attached to their silver capitals by
hooking them together with the bands of silver. Although we were truly
bound to hell and condemnation, by believing that God has clothed us in
His gift of salvation, we have all become His saved people. This is the
truth manifested in the fence of the Tabernacle’s court.
The
60 pillars of the Tabernacle’s court refer to us, the true believers.
Each of these pillars, in other words, refers to each one of us. We were
such beings that could neither become God’s people nor enter into His
House, and yet God gave His gift of salvation to such worthless people
like us. He came to this earth, completed the gift of salvation, gave us
this gift of truth, and as we came to know and believe in this truth,
He has made us His very own people who are saved wholly and will never
be cursed ever again.
What
an amazing blessing is this? Like the pillars of the Tabernacle’s
court, by ourselves we cannot stand alone but fall. Yet the reason why
we do not fall after being saved from all our sins is because we the
believers in the perfect blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine
woven line. All of us believe and unite together under His grace. We
must first believe that although we were worthless beings who could not
avoid but be bound to hell, through the Word of the blue, purple, and
scarlet thread and the fine woven linen, the Lord has cleansed us of all
our sins and thereby saved all of us wholly by bearing all our
condemnation of sin personally. And it is by this faith that we can
stand before God anytime, praise Him, serve His works, and always thank
Him for this gift of salvation.
There
are times when we stumble because of the weakness of our flesh. Though
we believe that we have been saved from all our sins and condemnation,
there are times after our salvation when we get exhausted and bored,
wondering why we have to live in such a way. Though we are haunted by
such fleshly thoughts at times, the reason why we do not depart from God
and live out our faith unwaveringly after our salvation is because,
when we look back who we really were, we feel even more thankful for the
gift of salvation and the grace of deliverance that God has given to
us.
That’s
why we can all stand more firmly on our faith. We can stand up again
with faith from all our frustrations thanks to the genuine gospel.
Though we are always full of shortcomings, we can only give thanks to
God for His perfect salvation. We can never be boastful, not even a
little, rather we thank Him for making us His children through this gift
of salvation, standing firm before Him, and faithfully carrying out the
tasks of priests. What makes us steadfast and stand firmly on our faith
is none other than the fact that we have received the great gift of
salvation and grace that God has given us. If we know our fundamental
nature as it is, we cannot but accept the remission of sin that God has
given us through the Word of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and
the fine woven linen, and serve the Lord.
When
we accept this into our hearts by knowing and realizing just how
thankful it is, our faith cannot be shaken any more. It becomes
steadfast. No matter what kind of deceptions people throw at us, no
matter what kind of nonsense they espouse by saying that they are now
perfect because they themselves had died by believing in only the
precious blood of the Cross, our faith cannot be shaken. Although our
basic nature was so evil, but by believing in the certain truth that the
Lord has saved us through the blue, purple and scarlet thread and the
fine woven linen, we can all boldly fight off such lies and stand on our
firm faith.
In
this way, we can fight off these lies, saying, “What? Were we saved
only by the precious blood of the Cross? If we leave out any one of the
elements of salvation accomplished by the blue, purple, and scarlet
thread, there is nothing that we can boast of. What kind of nonsense is
this?”
But
if we depart from the grace of salvation that God has bestowed upon us,
we would not be able to see our own selves as we are, and as a result,
we will become self-confident and boastful, and end up turning evil. It
is by looking at ourselves as we are that we find God’s gift of
salvation at an even greater degree. This is how we came to obey His
recommendation that goes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in
everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
The
reason why we can really stand steadfastly before God is because we
believe that the Lord bore all our curses for us, like each pillar was
supported by the silver bands and tied to the bronze pegs. As such, even
when we stumble, we can find our balance again by the silver band that
holds us steadfast. As each silver band is attached to the hooks and the
pegs hold the pillars steady, because our hearts recognize who we
really are, and because there is the grace of God that has saved us
through the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen,
we do not founder. Because of this, we stand upright, wavering neither
to the right nor to the left.
Because
of the perfect gift of salvation that God gave to us, and because of
the righteousness of God, we will not fall on our face or backwards nor
to our sides, but stand firmly on the bronze sockets. The bronze sockets
imply that we were to be doomed to hell originally. By reminding us
that we are saved from the place of inevitable condemnation, we can
always give our thanks to God, and stand firmly and securely with faith.
The
gospel of the water and the Spirit is the awesome truth of salvation.
It can not be attained from any of the countless theological seminaries
and graduate schools of this world. And because this it is the
foundation and fundamentals of faith; therefore any theology that does
not know and learn the truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and
the fine woven linen is just like a house built on sand that will
ultimately crumble down and flounder. The foundation of your true faith
must be solid like a huge marble base rock.
What Is Theology?
Broadly
speaking, there are two main currents that divide theology: theocentric
theology and anthropocentric theology, either or both of which are
taught at every seminary. Simply put, faith that is strictly based on
the Word is theocentrism, while faith that admits man’s thoughts to the
Word is anthropocentrism. Anthropocentric theologians are not
particularly interested in what the Bible actually says, but their
scholarly positions are strengthened or criticized depending on which
authoritative scholars expound what views and who follows them.
Therefore, anthropocentric theology can never be considered as proper
theology.
In
general, people who study theology argue that only their own
theological viewpoints are correct. For instance, even now there are
quite a lot of people who attend the Seventh Day Adventist Church which
places central importance to the Sabbath day only. The Presbyterian
Church, on the other hand, espouses only the “so-called” Five Points of
Calvinism. Arminianism, in another example, argues that although God has
saved us, mankind must also believe in this fact with its will. In some
ways, Arminianism can be considered as a theological standpoint that
approaches and interprets the Bible with human perspectives.
In
contrast, when we look at the Five Points of Calvinism, we can find out
that its faith is somewhat theocentric but too fatalistic. Why? Because
Calvinists espouse their doctrines of predestination and election as
the truth, arguing, “Before you were born, some of you were already been
chosen by God as His people, while others were left out of His
election. There is only God’s sovereign selection.” Such harmful claims
cannot be approved by the Word of God.
So
when we compare these so-called orthodox Christian doctrines to the
Word of God, we can find out that they are actually very different from
the truth. Of course, on some issues, they come close to the truth, but
Christian theologies of most denominations today are far from the
Biblical truths. Of course, there are some parts that coincide with
Biblical truths in their doctrines, but their pivotal teachings are too
erroneous to come close to the Word of God. And this is why we have to
quit learning such erroneous doctrines.
Our Remission of Sin Is Entirely a Gift from God
To those who truly believe in God’s Word, God has granted salvation to them as His gift.
The
fence of the Tabernacle’s court was built with 60 wooden pillars. On
top of these pillars, silver capitals were placed, and on their bottoms
bronze sockets were laid down. Each pillar was affixed with silver bands
to each other and tied to bronze pegs which were driven into the
ground. The wooden pillars were set up at every 5 cubits or 2.25 m
intervals, and on these pillars hangings of fine white linens were
placed.
As
the pillars were tied down firmly by these bronze pegs, and connected
to each other firmly with the silver bands, the hangings of fine white
linen could not be removed from their place. As the hangings of white
linen were placed on these firmly planted wooden pillars, the hangings
remained fixed and immobile as it pulled itself tightly in each
direction.
The
hangings of white linen refer to the holiness and righteousness of God.
In other words, the righteousness of God has made us the people of firm
faith that cannot be shaken ever again, for our faith in His salvation
is fixed by the infallible grace of God. God has given us this perfect
salvation as His gift for us. How thankful we are! This is how you and I
became the saved by faith.
On
the contrary, when I look at today’s Christians around the world, I
find them ridiculous, laughable, and regrettable all at once. I am both
saddened and frustrated by them because I see that they do not even have
the correct knowledge on the most elementary issues of true
Christianity, even as they profess to believe in God and claim to spread
His Word.
Recently,
many have been worrying that most of our high school students have
become rather weak regarding the fundamentals of their studies. In fact,
students who were prone to neglect the fundamentals cannot be expected
to produce their achievements of studies in advance. Therefore, to train
college students in their respective professional studies and prepare
them for the workplace, universities need to make sure that they first
have a sound grasp of the fundamentals of the primary subjects before
they are introduced to the more advanced knowledge. Apparently, these
attempts don’t seem to be successful all the time.
The
reason why I brought up this story is to explain that just as there can
be no advancement in the knowledge of this world without a sound grasp
of its fundamentals, faith in God is also bound to flounder without a
sound foundation. The true faith is the one that believes in the blue,
purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Without this
fundamental faith, everything else means nothing at all. Although people
may rejoice and become quite devoted to God at first, saying that they
have become sinless by believing in Jesus, but when time passes by even a
little, they soon run out of their own righteousness, their joy
evaporates into thin air, they are sapped of all their strength, and
they ultimately end up renouncing their faith in God because of their
sins that still remain intact in their hearts. All this phenomena is
brought about by the lack of fundamental knowledge of the Christian
faith.
Is
there anyone disabled among you? People who have trouble with their
legs have the hardest time when they try to climb up stairs. When they
are struggling to climb up stairs, would it not be a kind and thankful
act if someone helps and assists them? Yet there are some disabled not
all who instead get angry, saying, “Leave me alone. I can do it by
myself.” In general, the disabled have great self-respect and can at
times be quite stubborn. When parts of their bodies are disabled, their
minds can also be disabled. As a result, their hearts can at times be
hardened by their inferiority complexes, sense of defeat, and feelings
of deprivation. This is why some of them have a tendency to not take
others’ kindness as it is, but to distort its original intention.
There
is actually no need for them to have any inferiority complex of their
disabilities. They may be inconvenienced by them, but having them is
certainly no sin at all. But if they let themselves dwell in all kinds
of distorted thoughts rising out of their disabilities and allow these
bad feelings to develop into countless inferiority complexes, then they
will end up becoming truly disabled even in their hearts. If you are a
disabled person, all that you have to do is just recognize yourself as
you are, seek help when you need help, and stand firm on your own ground
when you can.
Whenever
there is something that I do not know or need some assistance, I ask
others and request for their help. I cannot but ask and seek others’
help because of my lacking. And when someone else who knows about it
explains it and helps me, I then thank this person. Though we may have
shortcomings in our flesh, there is no reason for them to regard us
disabled also in our hearts. Therefore, all that we have to do is to
know our shortcomings, believe in our Lord’s gospel of the water and the
Spirit, that is, the salvation of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread
and the fine woven linen that has made these shortcomings of ours whole
and serve this gospel diligently. And it is within this gospel of our
Lord that we can take pride and give our thanks. Because we have
received the gift of salvation given by God through our faith, all that
we have to do is just thank Him. We can rest, love one another, and
unite together, all in this gift of salvation.
It
is because many of today’s Christians are weak in the fundamentals of
their faith that their faith is wavering in all directions. Our Lord has
saved you and me with His blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine
woven linen. Only by knowing and believing in this alone have we
received the gift of salvation and become whole. We were all bound to
hell in the first place, yet because God has saved us wholly by giving
us the gift of perfect salvation, we have become His perfect children.
Because we have now already received the gift of salvation through our
faith, if we live our lives believing that we are the people of God, and
within the bounds of this faith, we then can live out our faith within
the Lord successfully.
After
I was truly born again, two new changes came into my heart, neither of
which was ever experienced before. Before, my love for others used to be
hypocritical, pretending to love them unconditionally while I actually
hated them in my heart. But now, I came to truly love others with all my
heart. Because God has given us His gift of perfect salvation, and
because this gospel is so precious, all who believe in it appear so
noble and lovely before my eyes. I cannot help but love them, even if I
tried not to.
The
second change is that unlike in the past, I have become sensitive to
others’ feelings. Before, whenever someone did something that I could
not tolerate, regardless of who this person was, I used to be quite
blunt in my rebuke. But now I have came to realize that I need to look
at everyone’s weaknesses, and be more careful in my dealings with them,
shielding them when they need to be shielded and rebuking them when they
need to be rebuked, all appropriately. Those who have weaknesses or
shortcomings can easily be hardened in their hearts also, and so I came
to be more conscious of their weaknesses, as there are times when I need
to help them secretly, and there are also times when I should not help
them even as I know that they need my help desperately. I came to be
conscious of these things because people are such weak beings, but all
the while, I am still very strong and bold in my faith.
There
are times when we should not rebuke others because they are too weak,
but there are also times when we need to rebuke them firmly instead of
just tolerating them. This is why we are more conscious of their needs,
but when looked in faith; our love for them is certain, perfect,
correct, and strong. If we look at our circumstances from a fleshly
perspective, all that we can see is just things to worry about. Because
we are so weak and insufficient in the first place, if we start to worry
about our weak flesh, not a day will go by without worries or concerns.
But when we stand in the perfect faith that God has given to us, all
our worries and concerns disappear, and as Jesus has saved such
insufficient and blemished ones like us with His blue, purple, and
scarlet thread and the fine woven linen and has made us into the vessels
of His good works, this encouragement of faith, more than anything else
should make us strong.
Our
hearts’ encouragement comes from the gift of perfect salvation given by
the Lord into our hearts; all other encouragements that stem from our
fleshly merits are only transient. This does not mean, of course, that
the consolation of the flesh is not substantial even though we need to
console our brothers and sister sometimes even in fleshly terms.
What
is clear, however, is that as we ourselves are weak, Jesus Christ came
to this world and has saved us wholly. The Bible tells us that when
Lazarus died, seeing his sisters, Mary and Martha, and their neighbors
weeping, Jesus also groaned. Jesus, in other words, had compassion on
them because He saw just how wretched it was for people to die because
of their sins. But because our Lord came according to the Father’s will,
He said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and saved
those who were to die because of their sins. He has consoled us both in
spirit and body.
You
and I also have these two sides of the spirit and the flesh. So when we
are going through a tough time in the flesh, we need to be comforted in
the flesh, also spiritually, and we also need to have this faith of the
blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine woven linen. Like this,
by knowing to rejoice in faith for the gift of salvation which God has
given to us, keeping this gift of salvation, and reminding ourselves
once again that we are the ones who have received this gift, our hearts
can indeed rejoice in Christ. This is how we come to give glory to God.
God
has firmly planted each of us in faith, like the pillars of the
Tabernacle, and has also asked us to live by faith. So even as the
shortcomings of our flesh abound everyday, we can feel deep in our
hearts just how precious God’s salvation is, realizing that we had
deserved to be condemned. You too can now come to understand this truth
of salvation manifested in the fence of the court of the Tabernacle.
Now
you can also open and enter into the gate of the court of the
Tabernacle located at the eastern side. When you open and enter into
this gate of the Tabernacle’s court, there is something that you will
come across first. What will this be? It is none other than the altar of
burnt offering.
When
you pass by the altar of burnt offering by faith, there will be the
bronze laver, and when you pass by this laver, you will then finally
enter into the House of God, the Tabernacle itself. When looking at this
by faith, all these things are easily accomplished. Though the Word of
the Tabernacle may look very abstruse at first, it is actually very easy
for you and I to understand because we, whose foundation of faith is
strong, look at it within the correct principle of faith that we already
possess. Because God’s salvation is so valuable, He made it easy for
anyone to understand it through the Tabernacle system. But to prevent
just anyone to interpret this Word of the Tabernacle mistakenly on his
own thoughts, God has made it unseen to the eyes of those who are not
born again yet. Therefore, even for theologians, if they do not have the
correct fundamental faith, none of them can ever speak of the exact
spiritual meaning of why the gate of the court of the Tabernacle was
woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread and fine woven linen, because
God has hidden this truth from such liars.
The
blue thread refers to the baptism that Jesus received from John the
Baptist. Through His baptism that was received in a form of the laying
on of hands, He took all our sins upon Himself. The scarlet thread
refers to His sacrifice of death that Jesus Christ bled to death on the
Cross for all our sins. The purple thread manifests that Jesus is God
Himself. The fine woven linen is the Word of salvation through which He,
God Himself, promised to us the entire mankind. Those who have not been
born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
cannot speak of the truth that God revealed in the gate of the
Tabernacle exactly like this.
God
promised from the beginning of mankind, that is, from Adam and Eve and
to all His servants, “To save you, I will come to you through the water,
the blood, and the Spirit, and I will indeed save you.” According to
this Word, Jesus Christ came to this earth, was baptized, shed His blood
and died, rose from the dead, and has thereby saved us. The fine woven
linen is the promise of God’s Word, and it is also the fulfillment of
the Word. The blue, purple, and scarlet threads tells us of the baptism
of Jesus Christ, that He is our God, and that He bore all our
condemnation of sin by carrying the sins of the world and shedding His
blood on the Cross. And they tell us that Jesus Christ has saved us by
rising from the dead again. This truth of the blue, purple, and scarlet
threads is the eternal truth of salvation that no dissenting opinion can
ever be allowed.
To
you and me, God has given us this gift of salvation. The tops of the
pillars have been overlaid with silver capitals. We must always remember
that we are the ones who have received the gift of salvation from God.
Because it is by receiving this gift that we have become righteous,
sinless, and the people of God, we have absolutely nothing that we can
ever boast about apart from this gift of God. If there is one thing that
we may boast of, it is only that we have become the children of God who
have this faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread and the fine
woven linen. This is possible only because Jesus Christ has saved us
from all our sins through the only good and precious gospel of the water
and the Spirit. Therefore, we must live by this faith, believing that
we have become whole only because God has given us the gift of salvation
and that it is through this gift that we have become God’s very own
people. Today and tomorrow, we must always live by this faith.
I
believe that now is the most appropriate time to spread this Word about
the Tabernacle. There were times before when many people were confused
by the theory of pre-tribulation rapture that made no sense at all, but
God made us appropriately for these times, preach the Word of the Book
of Revelation and thereby enabled many to cast out their wrong faith and
to possess the true faith. Likewise, in today’s era, it is very fitting
that we should preach the faith of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread
and the fine woven linen.
Because
we have received the gift of salvation from God, I believe that
spreading this certain gift of salvation is the happiest thing to do.
I give all my thanks to God.
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