The purpose of the Tabernacle--to meet God

The purpose of the tabernacle is defined in Exodus 25:8, "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." It was to be a "sanctuary," a "place set apart" for God to dwell among them. For the first time, God was to have a house of worship.

 

The tabernacle had to be a portable structure for Israel had not as yet reached their home in the new land. They were pilgrims in a foreign land. Today, we also have a portable place of worship: "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 Cor. 6:16). Like Israel, we also are not at "home" yet, but are "strangers and pilgrims: in a foreign land (1 Pet. 2:11). May God feel at home in our bodies so that His glory may be seen in us!

"That I may dwell among them." What a purpose for the tabernacle! He did not come down to dwell among them because they were holy, but to make them holy." "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy  seat" (Ex. 25:22). The finale is given in Revelation 21:3, "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."

 

You and I can say today, "The Lord is in His holy temple, (our bodies) let all the world be silent." Now let us worship the dear Lord, in all things, all day, every day as we walk through life. Make sense? Oh, I LOVE YOU, All Because of Calvary, Sumner

THANKS to you who sent friends and families emails to add to our mailing list. I really hope you will too.Hope your name is drawn to get a pack of tracts FREE.

 

Join the 10,000 who get our brief encouraging and teaching Emails MWF. Write me at sumner@sumnerwemp.com. See our web site www.sumnerwemp.com for great motivation, encouragement and much more, then enter our free book drawing. Get our newest tract, "Your Ticket to Heaven" Call 1-877-827-2871 to order them. ABC Sumner

How to get the finances to build the house of God- This is amazing- you will love it

THANKS to one of you who figured, the Gold from the tabernacle would be valued at 80 million dollars today!

This is to good to leave any out.
The plan for getting the materials for the tabernacle is outlined in Exodus 25:1-7. "The Lord spake unto Moses; (v. 1). When God speaks, we had better listen, catching every word, getting all the details.

The people
Moses was instructed, "Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me an offering" (Ex. 25:2). Here is God's plan for God's work: God's people are to bring an offering. Building the house of worship was to be financed by the two million Israelite slaves who had been redeemed from the bondage of Egypt. If we who have been delivered from sin's slavery by God's power are not willing to give to build God's house, who should?

The procedure
Every man was to give "willingly with his heart" (v.
2). God's desire has always been that man's devotion be not forced, but freely given from a willing heart. The response is always based on God' goodness to man. How tragic for the redeemed not to give willingly so that others might hear the Gospel and also come out of bondage!  It has always been true that :every man according as he purpose in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). The motives of the heart, on which God looks, make all the difference in His acceptance of our devotion.

Their offering was to be what they had in hand, from gold to goats' hair (Ex. 25:3-7). What the Israelites had was by God's provision. God "had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians: so that the Egyptians gave them "articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing" Ex. 12:35-36. All that we have today is by the grace of God "for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth" (Deut. 8:18). When the Lord Jesus said, "Without me ye can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5), He included getting our wealth, health, and all that we have. When God's people possess riches, it is because the Lord has need of them. He commands us to be good stewards.

In addition to the more costly gifts brought by the children of Israel were some humble offerings of goats' hair. Even the least prosperous person could have a part in giving.

The Problem
Moses soon faced a unique problem. "The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make (EX. 36:5), "If only we had this same problem in God's work today.  Was such generosity due to fresh memories of the heavy bondage they had been delivered from? Did they give out of the depths of their love and gratitude? God help us not to leave our first love and forget what kind of persons we were before becoming Christ's.

"So the people were restrained from bringing, For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much" (v. 6-7-7). Wouldn't such a restraint make a fine announcement for a Sunday morning church service?  If only those who have been redeemed were good stewards today there would be such abundant giving. We could build churches, schools, and mission projects for those who are crying out in need. Television's prime time could be bought and used to blanket the world with the Gospel.

The Person
It is significant that in Exodus 25:2, God said, "Bring me an offering." We need to be reminded that we give to the Lord, not to the church or denomination, or to pay the preacher. Giving should be an act of worship to God, out of willing hearts,

because we have been redeemed at such a glorious price.   ABC Sumner

Join the 10,000 who get our brief encouraging and teaching Emails MWF. Write me at sumner@sumnerwemp.com. See our web site www.sumnerwemp.com for great motivation, encouragement and much more, then enter our free book drawing. Get our newest tract, "Your Ticket to Heaven" Call 1-877-827-2871 to order them. ABC Sumner

Teaching from the Tabernacle- A new series-great truths

The teaching of the tabernacle. I am going to do a series on the Tabernacle.

Imagine a fifteen-by-forty-five-foot house, constructed of three tons of gold, five tons of silver, four tons of brass, and an assortment of jewels, fine wood and fancy tapestries. This was the tabernacle, the portable house of worship built by a horde of escaped slaves.  In the providence of God, the amazing project was financed by the farewell gifts to the children of Israel by their erstwhile captors, the Egyptians.  Considering labor and the materials prescribed by God Himself, such a building could not be erected for less than $10 million.

The unique structure and value of the tabernacle command our attention.  Never before nor since has there been such a costly prefab structure, the epitome of simplicity to dismantle and to reassemble. According to the design of the Master Efficiency Expert, it could quickly be moved by 8,500 carriers when the cloud of His presence moved forward.

God devotes two chapters of His Word to the creation, but over forty chapters to the tabernacle.  While He does not have to say something more than once for it to be true and important, His extra emphasis on the tabernacle marks it as vital to us.  Hebrews 9:24 says the "holy places" of the tabernacle were figures of "heaven itself."  This being true, the way a person approached the holy place in the tabernacle is the way a man comes to heaven! This is the central theme of this whole series of messages: "How to Get to Heaven."

help-Help-HELP I have lost a number of people  on my mailing list.  If each of you just sent me one friends email to add, I would shout all over the whole world. Please do. THANKS    All because of Calvary Sumner

Join the 10,000 who get our brief encouraging and teaching Emails MWF. Write me at sumner@sumnerwemp.com. See our web site www.sumnerwemp.com for great motivation, encouragement and much more, then enter our free book drawing. Get our newest tract, "Your Ticket to Heaven" Call 1-877-827-2871 to order them. ABC Sumner

All in a day. WOW, read what GOD did in a restaurant.

One day last week, Celeste and I went out to eat. The receptionist was very friendly and I gave her "Your ticket to heaven." She grabbed it and said, "Oh, I need that." I have heard the same statement scores of time. I always reply, "We all do. Just do what it says at the end of the tract from your heart."

 

When the waitress came and took our order, I gave her "Your Ticket to Heaven" tract. You should have seen her face. He eyes fill up and she said, "How did you know I needed that?" I told her, "I know we all need a ticket to heaven and asked her to be sure to read it and do what it says at the end from her heart. The restaurant was filled and they were very busy. She came back to the table and literally was sobbing she was so burdened.

 

A waiter stopped at our table and just said, "Hi". I gave him a Ticket to Heaven tract and he saw it and blurted out, "Can I have another one to give my friend.

 

As we were leaving, the bar tender stepped out just ahead of us and smiled at me. I take such things as an invitation to get the gospel to him. I gave him a "Ticket to Heaven." He said, "Hey, I like that. I will read it".Then I told him, "Just do what it says at the end from your heart."

 

Celeste and I went back there today to eat. Teressa, the waitress, was at the point of tears today. I poured the gospel into her and she either got saved or assurance of her salvation today. The bar tender was "so glad" to see me today and he assured me he was saved but not where he ought to be.

 

People ask me, "how do you stay so fired up?" Simple, just doing what you just read and seeing God work in people's lives. The harvest is plenteous. We Christians just aren't sowing enough seeds.

 

Join the 10,000 who get our brief encouraging and teaching Emails MWF. Write me at sumner@sumnerwemp.com. See our web site http://www.sumnerwemp.com for great motivation, encouragement and much more, then enter our free book drawing. Get our newest tract, "Your Ticket to Heaven" Call 1-877-827-2871 to order them. ABC Sumner

 

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno :

'With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides,

flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from

one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist

attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the

Pledge of Allegiance?'' AMEN AND AMEN.