Hebrews 3:6
The House of God
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Hebrews 3:6)
And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. (Genesis 28:17)
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1)
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (2 Corinthians 5:2)
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. (2 Corinthians 5:3)
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. (2 Corinthians 5:4)
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 5:5)
To think that anyone could describe and explain the mystery of the house of God ( I speak of the spiritual house, whose builder and maker is God), would be an impossible undertaking; however, I will attempt to explain what I feel in my own heart by the Spirit of God. I know without a shadow of doubt that there is a mystery of God within my being; therefore, by His Spirit, I will meditate on the house of God within me. Can we explain all the glories of heaven, or the mysteries of the one and true God of heaven who sits upon the throne of all creation; or can we search the unseen worlds with the eyes of our flesh, or hear all the voices of the angels in harmony glorifying the Almighty God? As the children of God we follow after divine revelation in the Word of God. We also are guided by the Holy Spirit of God, and all that He reveals to us in our heart and soul. What we see and feel with our spiritual eyes and what we understand with our spiritual beings contributes to the understanding and worship of God by the inward man.
The house of God within must function by divine authority. The sovereignty and the will of God must have preeminence over the inward house of God, whose builder and maker is God the Son. He is over His own house, whose house are we. The Spirit of God moves over the face of the deep. It is the Spirit of God who looks into the heart of man. He changes the heart from dark to light. It is the Spirit of God who opens the heart to the love of Jesus Christ; therefore now, let us look into the tabernacle of God within us.
Is there a blueprint for this house? Are there rooms and articles within the heart of every Christian? There is an exact blueprint, and for each and every Christian it has been fashioned by God’s dear Son, Jesus Christ. We cannot see the spiritual chambers or rooms within the heart of man just as we cannot see eternity or define it in all its glory, we must rely on God the Holy Spirit and God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to build His house within us. For they who worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
The Tabernacle – Seen and Unseen – Within the New Creation of Man
Let’s view the tabernacle as the inner heart of man. The rooms, the articles, the courtyard all prepared and given by God. The Tabernacle in the wilderness was seen from a distance by the world. There were curtains and posts all around the holy things of God. The world could not come within, or see the glories of God, only those within the Tabernacle knew His glory and His presence. The curtains and posts around the Tabernacle protected the holy things of God. There was a gate of the Tabernacle where the sacrifice was brought and slain at the entrance. This is the gateway of faith as we cross over from death to life as a new believer with tears and remorse, and with repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the sacrifice of God presented to the heart and soul by God the Holy Spirit. We see within the courtyard the brazen altar, the largest article within the courtyard or Tabernacle. This is the greatness of our need as children of Adam. The fires of judgment must be appeased by the blood of the Lamb. The blood must be applied to the four (4) brazen horns, they were anointed with the blood to the east, to west, to the south, and to the north. The sin of the whole world, all my sin must be vanquished in the blood of the Lamb. God must see me clean, white as snow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18) And although I am guilty, God through His divine Being takes all my guilt to the cross of Christ, and there all His righteous claims against me are satisfied. Not only does God see me white as snow, but with all my being, I see myself guiltless before God.
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (Colossians 1:21)
In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:22)
The fires upon the brazen altar consumed the sacrifice in judgment. The holy sacrifice, Christ has given of Himself, He has seen the travail of His soul and He is satisfied. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)
The Laver
O, my soul, we stand before a holy and righteous God as a new creature. The Holy Spirit of God takes me by the hand of my new being and leads me to the laver. My only authority to be there is the blood of Christ; here is the place of washing, and cleansing.
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)
We must cleanse the heart and the soul daily with the water of the Word of God, our present laver. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:26) Have you ever noticed the wonderful working of the Word of God by the Holy Spirit? You come with burdens, and when you leave the holy Word of God you go away refreshed, and every burden of sin is gone. You are clean in the presence of God your heavenly Father, and the laver or the Word of God now leads you to the mind of Christ
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:. (Philippians 2:5)
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. (Philippians 2:6)
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:7)
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8)
The Spirit of God directs the child of God to look in the mirror on the base of the laver. And looking within the mirror of the Word of God, the heart sees the child of God clean and without spot because of the immeasurable value of the blood of Christ, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Beyond the Curtain – The Holy Place
The Spirit of God now draws the curtain aside and shows you the first room in your heart and soul. It is a place of meeting, there is bread for fellowship (the table of shewbread) this is to sustain the heart and soul. Next, we see the candlestick, the illuminary, the enlightening power of the Spirit of God energized by the oil of gladness. (Hebrews 1:9) This oil is from the Son of God, the light shines bright and encompasses our being; it illuminates the golden altar, a place of sweet incense ascending up to God which are the prayers of the saints.
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (Revelation 8:3)
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. (Revelation 8:4)
This is the first room that God builds in our heart. He reveals the glory of the Son of God. We see Him as the Bread of Life, and the Light of the world, and the sweet incense of God ascending up to His Father as a sweet sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (Ephesians 5:2) As the light flickers we see the glimmer of the light reflected from the gold of the candlestick, and from the golden altar, and from the golden table of shewbread; all displaying His righteousness to our soul. He has built this room in our heart and soul that we might muse on His greatness, His glory, and His majesty. In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (Ephesians 2:21) In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22) He allows us to pour holy oil into the lamp stand as our heart become more illuminated by His love. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18)
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, (Ephesians 1:19)
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:20)
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: (Ephesians 1:21)
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:22)
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:23)
There is no sound in this room except the bells on the hem of the garment. And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, round about between the pomegranates; (Exodus 39:25) A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about the hem of the robe to minister in; as the LORD commanded Moses. (Exodus 39:26) We hear the music of heaven calling His name and reassuring our place before Him. We approach the candlestick, and we pour in the oil of gladness; the flame brightens for a moment, and then stabilizes to a glow of heaven. The entire room is full of His light, and we want to stay in that divine light. The incense from the golden altar fills the room of our heart and soul with a sweet ascending odor as we contemplate our faith and eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. He has filled the heart and soul with His divine light, and we smell the beauty of holiness in Him. The alabaster box has been broken on the cross, and now we smell the sweet savor of the Son of God ascending up to heaven. The Spirit of God moves us and places us before the veil.
Beyond the Veil – The Holy of Holies
There is one more room in the heart and soul, but it is beyond the veil. The veil is full of color: blue, and purple, and scarlet with the cherubim of glory woven into the fabric, but before we enter into this Holy of Holies, we must remove our shoes for it is truly Holy ground. Upon the veil: there is the blue of heaven, and the purple or garnet of the Son of God in His Priesthood and Royal Majesty as King of kings, and Lord of lords; and the scarlet of His sacrifice, all woven together in the sight of His holy angels. Do you not hear, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’ with a heart and soul full of Christ. As we enter in beyond the veil we see all the wonder of His Person.
This is a sacred room, the most sacred of all, seven times the heart and soul leaps as we contemplate His glory as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Then deep down in this room of my heart and soul, He bids me to take another look. Now He reveals to me Himself as the Lamb of God for me and for only me. At this moment my heart is flooded with the love of God, and I bow in worship for worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)
The Room of Glory and Mercy
I have transcended the natural world and now through the Spirit of God I am in the center of this glorious room in my heart and soul. It is full and overflowing with praise and worship, then once again, He reveals Himself to my heart and soul. He takes me by the hand and leads me to the Ark of the Covenant, and in His light, I see the cherubim of glory looking down from heaven onto the Mercy-Seat of gold. I look in His light, as the light reflects the blood, the holy blood of the Son of God. My heart is both smitten and full of His glory and joy. I look, and the reflection of the light upon the Mercy-Seat shows forth the blood, and behind the Mercy-Seat I see the light reflecting a shadow of a cross. All I see is by divine light, and I say deep down in my heart and soul, ‘Truly, this is the house of God that He has made through the blood of His cross.’ And I stand in the light of His presence.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:18)
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (Ephesians 2:19)
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (Ephesians 2:20)
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (Ephesians 2:21)
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
What we are, as the children of God, inwardly will manifest itself outwardly. If our heart is full of worship the temple of our heart will be full of praise for God; therefore, collectively we will worship the true God of heaven and earth. In this temple, of our body, Christ must have the preeminence; when worship comes from the inner room (the holy of holies) then the heart and soul will be tender and loving, and forgiving, and merciful as a reflection of the love of God. We, as ambassadors of Christ, can say to the world, ‘Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ?’ (John 4:29) From this inner chamber of the heart and soul comes the sweetness of Christ. He gives vision to the eyes of our heart and soul through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (1 Corinthians 3:17)
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:16)
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (2 Corinthians 6:17)
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:18)
The Spirit of God works within us, He also works around us, and through us in the saving of precious souls. The Holy Spirit leads us and keeps us in the harmony of the holy of holies in our heart and soul. This is the Sovereignty of the Holy Ghost working out the will of God for His children. The Holy Ghost is co-equal with the Father and the Son. He is here to perfect us into the image of Christ, and to build in us the residence of the holy of holies, a place of habitation of the Almighty God. Amen.
. . . . . . this is none other but the house of God
© Copyright 2016, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)