Thank you for sharing. It’s God who answers and hears all of our prayers. So we’re so thankful that we have a Father who hears all of His children.
Please turn with me to 1 Peter 2:4.
“As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:4-12).
Let’s pray.
Father, we’re gathered in your house, a house of prayer. We’re children of God wanting to hear from you. So Holy Spirit, we ask you to come and to fill this place, to anoint my speech. We pray, Lord, as we’re gathered in Your name, Lord Jesus, when two or three are gathered, we’re confident that you’re in our midst. So we pray that you would speak in a way that we can all understand. Give us wisdom and revelation and understanding through your Word by your Spirit. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Last week we talked about our move to Culver City, which is quite recent, and leading up to our move, I was asking the Lord, can you help us? Can you help me? We need to know why we’re going to Culver City because I looked all over Torrance. It’s all closed doors, 0 for 100, and then the one door that opened in Culver City led us here. And so I was asking, Lord, along the lines of what are we doing in Culver City? Why are we here? And God was just silent when I was asking those types of prayer requests for many weeks and actually months.
And then I started asking a different question. Before asking what should we do as a church, I started asking the Lord, what is a church? And then He started giving answers, and last week we said we are the church. The church is not where you go. A church is not programs and you receiving, getting what you think you need out of a Sunday service. We are the church, and so we are the living, breathing, living stones. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are the spiritual house of God. And so this is happening all throughout the week.
And then we gather on a Sunday, we are to spur one another to love and to good deeds and you cannot do that unless you are the church Monday through Saturday, wherever you are (Hebrews 10:24-25).
And so today, I just want to go into that a little bit more specifically. We are a spiritual house of worship. And the main point for today is life is, in fact, worship, and worship is communion. And communion is with the Father through Jesus the Son by the Holy Spirit. Life is worship, worship is communion, and communion is with the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit.
And in Exodus 30:7, it says, “Aaron shall burn on it [and this is the altar of incense in the holy places as part of the sanctuary]. It says in verse seven, ‘Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations'” (Exodus 30:7-8).
And then it says in Psalm 141:2, “Let my prayers be set before you as incense” (Psalm 141:2). And it says in Revelation 5:8, “Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8).
So when I say life is worship, I’m talking specifically about prayer. We live to pray, we live to commune, and communion is with the Father through the Son by the Spirit. This is a diagram that I’ve been kind of drawing in my head, trying to figure out what is the church, and I will clean it up for you someday, and I will give a Figma drawing for those who are in tech. I’m gonna give you a Figma drawing of what we are doing as New Covenant believers.
Like when we read about the Old Testament, about the tent of meeting, Moses met in this makeshift tent, and he met with the Lord there, and then God gave him instructions, you need to build something a little more formal, which is called the tabernacle. And then, four hundred plus years later, was the temple that Solomon built, and then all of that was a pointer to Jesus Christ, who is the temple, and now we worship, we commune with the Father through Jesus.
And I just want to track, bear with me, the little elements of this diagram. It’ll make more sense when you have a diagram in front of you, but there is the sanctuary and then within the sanctuary a tabernacle. And then the tribes of Israel would encamp around this sanctuary.
And you enter through the east, and then as soon as you enter this sanctuary, you see a courtyard. And I think a lot of believers, we just stay in the courtyard. Like we just go to church, and so we are just a churchgoer, a sanctuary goer if you want to say it that way, and we just interact with, well, in my church, I got to go to it, it has to have a good kids program. And I go because I like the Sunday school, or I have a heart for the poor, and so I want to serve the soup kitchen.
And so we have a picture, and we tend to, I think, a lot of Christians, they misunderstand because they’ve been given this American church model, which does not align with Scripture at all.
Like when you see the Old Testament tabernacle, there’s no kids program. There’s no soup kitchen. It is just you enter from the eastern side, the first thing you see is an altar. And this is where you offer burnt offerings, and so for the New Covenant believer, the first thing we do when we meet Jesus is we surrender our lives. That’s what this altar represents, it’s an act of surrender.
You go past this, going from right to left, you entered from the east, now you’re going west, from right to left, after you surrender your life to Jesus, the first thing you encounter is a labor. This is where you wash yourselves, and this is a symbol of baptism, and this is so critical. Like Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and so you cannot enter into this spiritual life without Jesus. He is the door for the sheep, and so you enter through Jesus.
The first thing you do when you meet Jesus, you surrender your life. This is the altar where animals were sacrificed, and then from there, you move past the altar of the sacrifice, and you cleanse yourself through this basin of water called a laver. This is a picture of baptism, and if you remember, what does a baptism symbolize? It symbolizes you dying to yourself, you’re dead to who you were before.
Like Randy knew me BS days, Before I was Sanctified. I am still being sanctified, but he remembers when I was just born again, and I was immature, and I was acting foolishly, he knows me. But don’t listen too carefully to all the stories, he probably is exaggerating.
So the first thing we did when I was a college student, sophomore in college, I got baptized. This was my public declaration to the world as a 19-year-old, the old Ray is dead. Was I 19? Yeah, I was 19 years old, the old Ray has died. This death was symbolized by me going under the water, that’s my old life. I come out, I’m raised in the newness of life, and so I’m a new creature, a new creation as I came out of the water.
Jesus is the way, He’s the way into the sanctuary, into the tabernacle. Our first act of obedience as a newborn, born from above, new believer is we declare to the world through a baptism service, it’s before God, it’s before many witnesses, and you are declaring that I am now new.
Jesus says He is the truth. We need to understand this first act of obedience and what it symbolizes because if you get the truth wrong, then you’re enslaved, and you will stay in the courtyard, you will stay a churchgoer, you might be very busy and active on Sunday, but you will not understand communion, you will not grow in your faith really because you’re on the outskirts, you haven’t even entered into the holy place, into the Holy of Holies.
And the truth is, we are beloved children of God. That is who we are in Christ. There are many churches that preach it in this way, and maybe if I explain it, it will resonate, that we are such sinners, we’re so wicked. You don’t know how much Jesus suffered because you’re such a worm, and that’s how your identity is described, and you feel like some days, maybe when you had a good week, you feel like I’m okay this Sunday, but if you had a lousy week, you come to church a little sheepishly, a little guilty, feeling condemned, and then you’re worried someone’s going to yell at you because you’re late for church, and you’re going to get reprimanded because you did something wrong at the service.
And so that kind of sin consciousness will keep you in the courtyard. It will keep you from fully understanding your identity. We have to actually get rid of sin consciousness. We have to become God conscious, which is what God gifts new believers with at baptism. God gives you a good conscience, sprinkled by the blood of Jesus. Now we have morality, yes, but we can pull it together with the other side, which is spirituality, or God consciousness.
And so our identity shifts. We’re not sinners, we’re not worms, we’re beloved children of God. Amen? That truth is so fundamental that if you don’t know this, you will not be free, but if you understand this truth, you will be free because the truth sets you free. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We understand our identity as children of God. We’re not worms, barely tolerated by an angry Heavenly Father.
We may project certain images of God, like if you had a certain father, you had a certain pastor in your past, and they’re so moody, and they’re kind of angry, and you’re always nervouse they’re going to scold you at the slightest mistake. And then we think our Heavenly Father is like that, our identity gets ingrained in our psyche that we are so unworthy. I’m not a child.
It’s like when the prodigal son is returning home. Remember when he came to his senses, and he’s struggling with his identity as he’s returning home. He’s thinking, oh, my father’s not going to be pleased, but at least I can get some food, at least I can be treated like a servant. That’s how he thinks about his identity. But how does the father treat him when he sees him? He runs to him. He embraces him as the lost son who is now found. He throws a party. That is our Heavenly Father.
That is our identity as beloved children of God. And if you do not know this truth, you’re stuck in the courtyard. So I’m sorry if you’ve been at a church that taught this. I know what this teaching sounds like. It blocks access to the things of God. Like you’re born again, but you’re still an infant 20 years later because you don’t understand communion because you don’t even know if you should be there. Like, are you worthy to be there? Is God going to slap me around today? You don’t know how He’s going to act towards you. So the truth has to set us free.
Jesus is the way and the truth. The truth is being dead to self. This is how we begin our Christian life. And so if you are self-centered in your approach to the Christian life, again, you’re going to be stuck in the courtyard. If you think, I need to get what I want out of life. People need to treat me well. People need to say sorry when they wrong me. People need to think I’m great and praise me. And I’m going to be rich, and I’m going to have a house overlooking the ocean. And God is going to bless me because I go to church. If that’s your view, then you’re stuck in the courtyard.
Because when you died to the self, you’re also admitting, this is not my home. I’m a sojourner, I’m an exile. This is all fundamental truth that we experience, or we’re supposed to experience at baptism. And churches are supposed to teach you, this is your identity. You’re a new creature. You’re a beloved child of God. Now live for Jesus. Don’t live for yourself. Don’t just ask God for handouts and for blessings and for answers to prayer.
And so that’s why we’re trying to shift our service. When we used to come forward and say God answered this prayer. God did this for me. Which is fine. But I like for us to just come forward and just praise God for who He is. Even if He didn’t do anything for you that week. Just He is good. He’s worthy to be praised. Like shouldn’t we say I read this verse. I believe it. I want to proclaim it. That’s what I want to do. I want to spur one another. My fellow brothers and sisters. I want to spur them to love and to good deeds.
The other identity which we may not talk about much is we are beloved children of God. We’re dead to self. We’re no longer living for the self. We are sojourners. I want to talk mainly about priests. Because if you don’t understand your priestly duty. Then communion will just go over your head. In some parts of the Christian church there’s a high view of clergy. Of pastors. Of priests. It’s like a sharp line of professionals and then peons. People who are below them. Second tier. In the church of God. You see that in some denominations. I think they miss the fact that all believers are called to be priests.
I forgot to ask in the beginning. Maybe you can answer this by yourself. In your head. If I were to ask you, where do you minister. And you want to answer I minister blank. I just want to give you a moment. How would you answer that? I minister blank. Where do you minister? I minister. And then your answer. I believe all Christians we need to have the same answer fundamentally. I minister as a priest of God. Before the Lord. I minister before the Lord. I don’t do ministry at church. That’s taking the American church model and stuffing it into the Old Testament sanctuary. And it’s not there. So let’s not think of ministry as something I do at church. No we minister before the Lord. As a priest.
Hebrews 10:19-25 says, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil that is His flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:19-25).
So just going through the diagram from west. From east to west. From right to left. The altar of the burnt offerings. The laver which symbolizes your baptism. Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Now we’re getting to Jesus is life itself as you enter into the holy places. Which was divided into two subsections. And this really is the tabernacle. The courtyard – that’s where the laver was. That’s where you were baptized outside in the courtyard. You surrendered your life outside in the courtyard. But once you understand the essence of the Christian life. We enter through Jesus into the holy places.
The tabernacle. In the first section, there is the holy place. This is where you have a table of showbread. You have the altar of incense. Remember I said, what is incense? It’s the prayer of the saints. Then you have the menorah, the seven stemmed lamp stand with oil. Then the veil. On the other side of the veil, was the Ark of the Covenant, mercy seat, cherubs with wings that touched. Inside the Ark was a golden pot of hidden manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets that God wrote.
Jesus is our high priest. So He offered His own life. This is His own unique journey, as the one who bore the cross for the sins of this world. He surrendered His life to the will of the Father. He died on the cross. In the sense, He was baptized. He died. He came out in the newness of life. Resurrected. But in that act itself, what He did was He tore the veil.
So now it’s not a holy place veil and the most holiest place (holiest of all, or holy of holies). Now there is one place where we fellowship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Because the veil has been torn. All of the people that are in the church, they are torn. All of the Christian life is in the tabernacle. It’s communion. It’s prayer.
If I said, our worship service should be, if you sleep eight hours a day, how many hours left? That is 16 hours a day. What if I said our worship service to the Lord is 16 hours a day, Monday through Sunday? That is worship. This here on Sunday is just the culmination as we gather to spur one another to love and to good deeds. But worship is every waking moment, 16 hours. Whether you’re working, whether you’re unemployed, whether you’re raising kids at home, 16 hours is worship. We’re communing with the Father.
He is there, above the mercy seat. Jesus is represented with the table of showbread because there’s 12 loaves on this table, which symbolize the 12 tribes of Israel. It was manna from heaven that God supplied for His people. But Jesus in the New Testament says, I am the bread from heaven (John 6:35).
Jesus is there. He is also represented in the menorah. You have the six stems that come from the sides of this lamp stand. Six is the number of man. Man without Jesus is nothing, is actually hopeless, is actually lost. You need the center of the lamp stand, which is Jesus. We’re connected as branches connect to a vine. 7 lights in all. We’re connected to Jesus.
Jesus is the light of the world. He also says, let your light shine (Matthew 5:16). We too are the light of the world. It’s filled with oil, and oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Seven, perfection. This is the Holy Spirit. Jesus, shining as the light of the world. We too, shining with the help of the Holy Spirit. So Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The veil torn. Now the whole of the Christian life is every waking moment you’re in worship.
I think about John 4. The Samaritan woman. I’ll close with John 4 because there’s some things I think I have to spend a little more time explaining at a later time. John 4 is about a Samaritan woman. A Samaritan woman was lost, even while believing in God. She is a worshiper of sorts. But if I were to locate her in this Old Testament sanctuary, she’s stuck on the outside, outside of the tabernacle. She’s stuck in the courtyard. And Jesus meets her. Jesus is very deliberate. He went to meet her by the well. She went there at a time when not many people were going. At the heat of the day. And Jesus made sure He was there when this woman went for some water.
They have a conversation. They’re talking about water. They’re both thirsty. Jesus asks for a drink. She is just a church goer. She’s just going through the motions. It happens to us, too. You attend church and nothing that resonates with you. Your heart is not moved. It’s kind of boring. But you’re being dragged along by somebody. Maybe you’re a kid. Your parents dragged you to church. And that’s kind of the state in which Jesus meets this woman. She is just an outer courtyard church goer. And she’s engaging Jesus at a physical level of thirst.
It goes a little deeper than that. Jesus asks to bring her husband. And so that’s an odd thing that Jesus blurted out. You know we are a body with a soul and a spirit. And so Jesus starts with maybe a question that just is a surface level physical question. But then He gets a little deeper. He asks a question that deals with your soul which is your mind, your will and your emotions.
Jesus is pointing out that you’re on your sixth guy. You went through five marriages. Just think of the narrative. The mindset, the emotional state of this church goer who is just going through the motions. Just think of how numb she is about life. How disappointed she is. Because she put her hope in the first guy. It wasn’t there. OK, the second guy’s got to be different. It wasn’t there. And then five guys later. The sixth guy she doesn’t even want to go through the trouble of a ceremony. Just think of the emotional state.
And many believers, we are like that. We’re like we go through the motions. We have all of these emotions. These wrong choices. A certain perspective of life. And it’s just wrong because the truth hasn’t set that person free yet. And they have not moved into the holy places. Which you’re supposed to move from east to west into the holy places.
The holy places was a place where only priests would go. And the most holiest place was somewhere only the high priest would go once a year.
But what Jesus did was He tore the veil. He says I am the high priest. And all of you children are now priests as well. You have direct access. Meaning heaven is open. That’s what the author of Hebrews is saying. The things that are in the Old Testament were a type, a picture of heaven. And now heaven is open. So boldly approach the throne as a priest. As a child of God. And now you minister before the Lord.
And what do we minister? As it says in Hebrews 13, we offer Him it says in verse 14, “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:14-15).
So now that Jesus is our final high priest. The door of heaven is open. The children of God now we also are called priests. We are a royal priesthood. And now we minister not at church. We minister in worship before the Lord. Is this starting to make sense?
And what are we ministering before the Lord? We minister a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. And that’s regardless of your circumstances. Like God doesn’t owe us anything. Like if you understand the truth will set you free. That God doesn’t owe me anything. That He saved me. He sent His Son for me. I have eternity secure. He doesn’t owe me anything. And so I’m not going to, my identity is not going to be shaken. My emotions are not going to rule me. I’m not going to be up and down based on circumstances. It’s not like that. I’ve died to that way of thinking. I am now a new creature.
I can’t have a bad day anymore if I understand the truth that sets me free. And now I am offering thanksgiving and praise regardless in spite of what I see. In spite of even no answered prayers. What if He didn’t answer another prayer for the rest of your life? Are you going to grumble? Are we going to be upset at the Lord? Are we going to doubt Him when we go through a trial? Or should we as a priest of God offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to His name for who He is?
And this Samaritan woman as I wrap up. They’re talking about water. And then husbands. And He’s going from the body, the soul, and now He’s going for her spirit. At the end when He talks about worship. And when we ask people, oh where do you go to church? It’s almost very similar to what I see in John 4. Like the Samaritans say, I worship on Mount Gerizim. The Jews, you worship in a different mountain in Jerusalem. And we think we’re right, you’re wrong. We’re worshiping in the right place. You’re worshiping in the wrong place. That’s how we think. My church is here. Your church is bad. We think this way. Like where do you go for worship?
Jesus says no, no, no, no, no. The Father doesn’t look at that. The Father’s looking for something else entirely different. He’s looking for someone who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. And finally, this Samaritan woman is being truthful. She’s realizing, yes, I’ve lived this lie. I’m coming to my senses. It’s like the prodigal son coming to his senses. You see it happening in this story. She’s coming to her senses, this numbness of life, this mess that she was in while being an external courtyard worshiper. She’s starting to be awakened in her spirit. So the conversation is taking her from the body to soul, the spirit.
And now by the end when Jesus says, I who speak to you am He, I am the Messiah you’ve been waiting for. That’s the moment the spirit in her came alive. She became a true worshiper. She entered into the holy places. And soon when Jesus resurrects, now there’s no veil. You enter into the holiest place. No more human high priest necessary. Jesus is once for all High Priest. Now we enter. We are priests of God. And so whether the church fails to recognize you as such, tell yourself, I am a priest. My duty is to worship in spirit and truth. I need to be truthful. I need to worship.
Your heart condition matters to the Lord. That’s what matters above anything else. It matters to Him. If you go through the motions and you’re very diligent, you’re very faithful, but your heart, your spirit inside of you is not in communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then He’s not happy with all your activities. What matters is the heart, the spirit. He’s looking for that kind of a worshiper.
And by the end, they were talking about water. And Jesus says, if you drink the water I give you, it will well up from within you. It will be like a fountain. You’ll be so quenched. You’ll be so satisfied. You won’t have to look for boyfriend number seven. I’m it. Your life is set. And so you can still ask for things in life, but if your life doesn’t pan out, are you going to grumble? Are you going to be offended because you’re trying to build your city here? Or are you a sojourner? You cannot be offended. You can easily forgive because you’re not the kind of person that says this is my kingdom. I have to make it here. People have to recognize me, treat me well here. It’s all about now. I have to make something of my life.
If you understand the truth of who you are and the truth that sets us free, you’re not going to be that kind of a person. You can actually bless your enemies. People mistreat you, persecute you, and nothing hits you. You never get offended because it doesn’t matter how they treat me. Like they’re lost. Let me pray for that person. Let me bless that person. Isn’t that God’s heart for that lost person. He wants us to help or pray for them rather than getting upset? Like demanding justice. No, mercy, triumphs over justice. This is the kind of heart that God wants for His believers.
And now as new covenant believers after Pentecost, the water starts out as a fountain that was welling up. The Samaritan woman was satisfied. But we see very quickly in this Samaritan woman’s story, she is testifying to an entire village, and the village hears her testimony, and they’re starting to be awakened spiritually. And then they go and they meet Jesus for themselves, hear for themselves, and then an entire town is saved. This is a foreshadowing of what we can expect as a believer.
First, you are entering into the holy place, the holiest of holies. You’re in communion 16 hours every waking hour of the day in worship. The Father’s looking for that. You don’t have to go to church to worship. You’re worshiping all throughout the week. And then from welling up from within, now the Spirit is poured out even more. It fills you even more.
It says in John 7:37, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. For he who believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living waters” (John 7:37). Not a fountain that quenches you. It becomes a river that flows out. If you are a true worshiper, you can see it. Other people can see it. Other people can hear it. If you’re not a true worshiper, other people also can see it, and they also can hear it. It comes out in the speech. It comes out in the attitude. It comes out in your light shining or not shining.
It comes out in having good works or not having good works. It comes out in you being a loving person or a vengeful person, forgiving person or unforgiving. It comes out. I pray that all of us will learn communion. Life is worship. Worship is communion. The Father is looking for such people. 16 hours a day, every day, every waking minute. Our Father is looking for that kind of a worshiper.
Okay, let’s pray.
Father, we so identify with this Samaritan woman’s story. She didn’t know her identity. She was lost and yet religious. She was stuck in the outer courtyard. Maybe she even went through a public baptism of sorts, but she didn’t understand that she needed to go further. And then one day she met Jesus. It all clicked in a moment. She understood who she was. She was a beloved child of God. She wasn’t condemned for her waywardness. She wasn’t made to feel like a worm, guilty and condemned. She was accepted. And that truth set her free.
She moved from there in a spiritual sense to communion with God her Father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit. We thank you, Jesus. You did this whole thing for us not to open up an earthly tabernacle and a holy place for us in an earthly tabernacle. But you did this to open up heaven for us. And now we can boldly approach the throne of grace anytime, anywhere. We have direct access to the Father. We don’t have to go through any person. We have one mediator, Jesus Christ. We thank you for what you did.
We pray that you would help us to have a paradigm shift. Worshiping you in our workplace as we work. We’re worshiping you as we drive. We’re worshiping you as we have dinner meals at home. We’re worshiping you in our entertainment, in our vacations. We’re in constant fellowship with you and enjoying you. Lord, isn’t that the kind of worshiper that you’ve been looking for? Not people who go to this or that mountain.
Thank you, Lord, for giving us clear understanding from this Old Testament tabernacle and the New Covenant which Jesus ushered in. Thank you, Lord. We thank you for your body that was broken. It was your own body that allowed this veil to be torn. And now we have direct access to you, Heavenly Father, in heaven. Thank you, Lord, for your blood that was shed. We pray that you would minister to us as we examine our hearts in preparation for partaking in the Lord’s Supper. In Jesus’ name, Amen.