Video Transcript: Entering God's Presence - Presenting the Living Sacrifice

Welcome back to PeaceSmart Relationships. This session is the final session of that section of the course, that we call the two fires of conflict.

We started this, these lectures by talking about the two fires, the Wildfire and the Peacefire and the choice we have in every conflict, which fire is going to ignite our response to what's happening in the conflict; the Wildfire or what’s happening with the Peacefire.

We talked about the Peacefire triangle.  And we started talking about the first section of the triangle, which is how understanding God's purpose can change our priorities and responding to conflict.

We talked about ways to stay focused on the Peacefire in the midst of a Wildfire; the three things that every conflict firefighter must know that the Lord is always at work, that the path of correction is the path of life, and that giving thanks in the midst of all circumstances pleases God and keeps us focused on him.

We talked about the dynamics of the battle of between the kingdoms, and the dynamics of taking offense and the firetrap of offense and the enemy's goals at the firetrap, the goals of hindering your relationship with Jesus Christ.

We talked about how God's purpose is manifested the trap of offense, that He desires to deliver His people from the trap of offense, that He rescues lost sheep.  And His desires to transform His people in the midst of conflict, to transform them into the image of Jesus Christ.

We talked about His goal of reconciling relationships, first and foremost, His relationship with the lost sheep.  And then the relationship between the lost sheep and those who are involved in the conflict.

And we talked about His goal of destroying the works of the devil, setting captives free.

Then we talked about the second leg of the Peacefire triangle and how God's power changes your possibilities when responding to conflict.  We didn't talk about using God's power to obtain our desired outcome; we talked about using God's power to accomplish God's purposes, God's way.

And we talked about some ways that we are tempted to use another type of power, strange fire, which is trying to accomplish God's will our own way instead of His way.

We talked about Wildfire accelerants in those responses to conflict that come from our flesh, that may bring temporary relief to the intensity of the Wildfire, but can never extinguish the Wildfire.

And then we talked about the power that the Lord has given us through His Holy Spirit, to extinguish the Wildfire. The power of humbly confronting in love those who have wronged us; the power of confessing humbly in love our sin to others, and to the Lord, and to those who have been affected by our sin; and the power of forgiving those who sinned against us, as we have been forgiven.

We talked about the Lord's power being a reflection of our relationship with Jesus Christ, we're simply treating others the way He has treated us.  He exposed our sin when we were his enemy. And all He asks is that we turn, confess our sins, and He freely forgives us our sins, establishes His righteousness in us and reconciles our relationship to him, and sends us back to the Wildfire reconcile relationships with others.

Then we talked about entering God's presence, and how entering His presence changes our perspective on conflict.  

And we've most recently talked about four attributes of a man or woman of God who He can use in the midst of conflict, a man or woman of God who is humble, who desires to please him, someone who walks by faith and not by sight.  And someone who walks in love, the love that they've received from the Father.

Well, in this final section, we want to talk about entering God's presence and what that looks like.  Why do we do it?  And what can we expect when we enter God's presence? 

We enter God's presence in the midst of a conflict Wildfire not to receive or ask for or petition the Lord for our desired outcome. The purpose for entering God's presence is to present our body to Him as a living sacrifice.

In Romans chapter 12:1 we read, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your true and proper worship.”  

Isn't it fantastic that we can enter God's throne room anytime.  He puts no limitation. And He puts no expectation on how often we go there.  But in the midst of a conflict, Wildfire, we can go anytime into the throne, present our bodies to the Lord and worship Him seek him and find him. Our access to the throne room is guaranteed through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and all that He has purchased for us in making us His own.  And all of that is by grace. What Jesus Christ has done for us is powerful.

In Hebrews 10:19-22, “Therefore brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” 

Have you ever thought about the reference in those verses to the veil, and how Jesus provides access through the veil?  He’s making reference to the temple.  And whether you use the Old Testament model at the tabernacle or the later Solomon's temple, the temple and tabernacle provide us with a great image and a great opportunity to understand what it means to come into the Lord's presence in all that Jesus Christ has powerfully done for us.

When you entered the courtyard or the temple or the tabernacle, the first thing you saw was an altar; the altar where there's animal sacrifices were made.  And the altar for us is a reminder and a reference to the cross where Jesus offered His body, laid down His life as a sacrifice for us. 

You know that the sacrifices in the Old Testament had to be pure, spotless, without blemish. And there was one offering, it was called the whole burnt offering, and that offering they took the whole animal and put it on the altar and sacrificed it.  The whole burnt offering had to be without blemish.  

If you or I were to present ourselves as a whole burnt offering to the Father, we would not be acceptable.  Too many blemishes, not just physical ones. Too many heart blemishes. Too much sin. Too much self-interest. 

But Jesus Christ was a different kind of man. He was without blemish.  And His sacrifice was an acceptable, sweet smelling sacrifice to the Father.  He laid down His life.  And as we come in to the altar, and we reminded of that we just thanks.  Father, thank You for sending Jesus Christ to redeem me, to pay the price for me.  He's the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He's atoned for our sins. He shed His blood that we might have life.

As we passed the altar, we would come to the bronze laver; the bronze laver is where the priests would wash after offering the sacrifices in preparation to go to their other duties at the tabernacle.  And the bronze laver reminds us of the washing of the water of the word; it reminds us of the washing of the water of regeneration; that we've been raised from death to life; that we've been given new life and that we've been born again and we're clean.

The water also reminds us of that living water, those rivers of living water that the Lord promises to those who know Him. Jesus said, living water shall flow from our innermost being. 

After we turn from the laver and we look to the temple proper, there were two pillars, Jachin and Boaz were the names of those two pillars, meaning, He establishes strength.  The Jesus Christ is the strength of our life. And He establishes His strength in us as we grow in him. And as we mature in him, that we don't rely on our own strength, but the Lord establishes the strength that we need to accomplish His purpose and His good pleasure.  That we're not limited by our human limitations and abilities.  No matter how great or how small they might be. 

And then we come to the door of the temple, and Jesus Christ, said I am the door.  No one enters but by me.  And we're also reminded that He knocks on the door of the church.  

In Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I'll come in.  And He wants to abide in you. He wants to abides in me.  

He offers us that privilege to abide in the vine, because apart from Him, we can do nothing -  John 15:5.  And as we enter the temple, we see the menorah, the candlestick, that gave lamps, that gave light to the temple.  And it reminds us that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.  He's the light of our lives.  He says that now that He is departed, that we are the light of the world as His ambassadors, as His representatives, as His people, because He lives in us, that we are the light of the world.

And then we would turn to see the table of show bread, where the priests would lay out loaves of bread, twelve loaves, reminding us that Jesus Christ is the bread of life.  And He is our daily bread. That without him, we can do nothing.  It's not just our daily bread in terms of provisions for the things we need in this life, but He's our daily bread spiritually.  We need Him daily.  And He desires to fill us daily, and provide for His daily and that we come to Him on a daily basis, to receive from His hand, what we need for that day, to accomplish His purpose, His good pleasure.

Then we come to the altar of incense, where the priests would burn incense, and the aroma would fill the temple.  And we're reminded of the scripture that tells us that Jesus Christ is the aroma of life to some, and the aroma of death to others.  And to those of us who know him, He is the aroma of life.  

And just as that aroma filled the temple, that aroma fills our temples, our bodies. And we give off the aroma, or the presence of Jesus Christ in our life when we love others, when we stand in the midst of conflict, and act differently than others.  When we're not pursuing our self-interest, but we're pursuing the Lord's interest.  When we make ourselves available for Him to use; we're interceding for others the same way that Jesus Christ intercedes for us. 

And that veil, as we just read in Hebrews 10, represents His body that was pierced and broken for us, provides access to the most holy place, the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant resides.  And there's a place there in front of the ark, a place we refer to as God's footstool, the mercy seat is His throne, and His footstool in front of the Mercy Seat.

In the book of Isaiah 60 says, “I'll make the place of my feet beautiful, glorious, and we are His footstool as we humble ourselves before Him and seek His presence; we make place in our heart for God's feet that He might make it a beautiful place.  And that's what He said we're doing in your life, through every conflict you encounter, turning you into something glorious.

Not glorious for yourself, but glorious for Jesus Christ.  But your life in the midst of conflict will reflect His image that He can use you in every conflict you encounter. 

The Mercy Seat covered the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat reminds us of the verses that tell us that God's mercy is new every morning.  Every morning, God's mercy is available to us.  So don't give up.  

When you enter conflicts, and you recognize that you pursued your self-interest, or you treated others in some way other than motivated by the love of God, the Lord's teaching you something.  The Lord’s transforming you, and H's giving you opportunity to learn, to confess, to repent, and to let Him change you.  Inside the ark at one time was a jar of the manna that fell from heaven.

There was Aaron's rod that budded, and there were the Tablets of the Ten Commandments. Three things that remind us that Jesus Christ, that He fulfilled the law, that He brings dead things to life and that He is the bread that came down from heaven. 

Seeking God's presence, and just being reminded of who Jesus Christ is to us, what he's done for us, and what He wants to do in us, motivates us to become available to Him in the midst of conflict and to be useful to him. 

Thus far in the PeaceSmart Relationships course, we've talked about primarily our relationship with Jesus Christ, and how it impacts our response to conflict.  

In the coming sessions, we're going to talk about the application of that relationship to specific types of conflict.  We're going to talk in the next few sessions about marriage conflict.  And how do the two fires of conflict and our relationship with Jesus Christ impact a marriage conflicts?

How does this relationship impact parenting conflict?  And then we're going to talk about how these how these relationships impact organizational conflict, ministry conflict, team conflicts, business conflicts.

And we're going to finish this course by talking about how do the two fires of conflict relate to evangelism?  And what does PeaceSmart evangelism look like? 

I look forward to sharing these future sessions with you. God bless you. We'll see you next time.