The need for revival

Revelation 3:1-2 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God." 

The city church that looked alive, and yet was dead

The history of the city of Sardis provides the background and insight into what had developed in the church at Sardis.  Commentator Steve Gregg notes: The City of Sardis, the old capitol of Lydia, had become famous for its red dye and woolen goods. Twice in its history it had been conquered-by Cyrus, in 549 b.c., and by Antiochus the Great, in 218 b.c - because of failing to keep adequate watch. It may be with allusion to this historical fact that Jesus exhorted the church to be watchful."1  Able commentator Dr. John Walvoord gives the following insight: The spiritual history of the church was to correspond to the political history of the city. Their works are also declared to be not perfect, literally 'not fulfilled', that is, not achieving the full extend of the will of God."2

When you survey the seven letters of Revelation 2-3, you find that two of them received full commendation from Jesus (Smyrna and Philadelphia); three of them receive a mixture of commendation and censure (Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira) and two of them receive only rebuke and no commendation (Sardis, Laodicea). Of the seven, Sardis receives the specific rebuke of being dead and in need of revival.  Thus in today's post, we want to consider the need for revival, and how Jesus wants His church to be a revived church.

What causes Christians and a church to slip into a deadening spiritual slumber?

To begin, John MacArthur gives this insight into the corpse-like state of Sardis: "What are the danger signs that a church is dying? A church is in danger of dying when it is content to rest on its past laurels, when it is more concerned with liturgical forms than spiritual reality, when it focuses on curing social ills rather than changing people's hearts through the preaching of the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ, when it is more concerned with material than spiritual things, when it is more concerned with what men think than with what God said..."  After citing some further striking characteristics, MacArthur concludes with this observation: No matter what its attendance, no matter how impressive its buildings, no matter what its status in the community, such a church, having denied the only source of spiritual life, is dead."3  

Ouch! But true. Whenever you survey the prior churches written to by John in Revelation 2 (with the exception of Smyrna), you could observe them representing the following stages or steps that leads a Christian or church into a state of spiritual slumber:

1. Coldness in love Revelation 2:1-7

Just like the church at Ephesus, a church or a Christian can be practicing the truth, having the form or mold of Christian practice, and yet be devoid of Christ-filled passion. Love for God and other believers is the beach head that protects the Christian faith from the corrosive effects of the sea of the world. (please compare 1 John 2:15-17; 4:18) 

2. Compromise. Revelation 2:12-17

When love has grown cold, apathy fills in its place.  As we witness in the letter to Pergamum, compromise with the world is comprised of three elements: apathy, blindness and carelessness.  The coldness of love and compromising stages can be gradual and almost imperceptible to the individual Christian or non-vigilant church.

3. Conformity Revelation 2:18-29

By beginning with coldness of love, and slipping into the mode of compromise, the third stage that leads to spiritual slumber is that of conformity.  The first two stages are more passive in nature and gradual, whereas this stage seems more willful and swift.  By the time a church or Christian reaches this stage, allowance of error (like at Pergamum) quickly goes to approval (like Thyatira did with "Jezebel")

A church that is nearly dead is in need of revival

Jesus words in Revelation 3:2 gives us the central command to the church at Sardis as well as the call to all churches and Christians of every age: "Wake up". The issue over revival is never about the Lord's desire and ability to grant it as it is our lack of desire for it.  A Christian or a church that prefers to operate in ignorance will be a church that fails to experience the refreshing winds of the Spirit's reviving work.  One can note throughout the long history of the church and revivals the common trends that we noted above as signalling the need for revival: coldness of love, compromise and conformity. 

What is revival?

I fear that our generation of Christian people may not even know what revival is, and thus not see the need for it.  We will continue more tomorrow on this vital subject of revival.  I want to leave the reader with this excellent definition of revival from Elmer Towns: "An evangelical revival is an extraordinary work of God in which Christians repent of their sins as they become intensely aware of His presence in their midst, and they manifest a positive response to God, resulting in both a deepening of their individual and corporate experience with God, and an increased concern to win others to Christ."4   

Endnotes:

1. Steve Gregg. Revelation - Four Views: A Parallel Commentary. Nelson. 1997. Page 73

2. John Walvoord. The Revelation of Jesus Christ - A Commentary. Moody. 1966. Page 81

3. John MacArthur. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary - Revelation 1-11. Moody. 1999. Page 112

4. Elmer Towns & Douglas Porter. The Ten Greatest Revivals Ever - From Pentecost to the Present. Vine Books. 2000. Page 16

How the tabernacle points to the actor of salvation: Jesus Christ

Hebrews 10:1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.

Introduction
When the writer of Hebrews speaks about the law being but a "shadow of good things to come", the question to ask is: "what then is the light casting the shadow?" This brings us to the final post in our series on the tabernacle picturing Jesus Christ our salvation.  We have explored in Hebrews 8-9 how Jesus Christ's act and accomplishment was pictured by the tabernacle.  The writer of Hebrews has went to great lengths to argue and unfold by divine inspiration these tremendous truths.  As we come into Hebrews 10:1-25, we discover that the act and accomplishment of salvation cannot be severed from the Actor.  Just as the tabernacle could not be severed from the One who revealed it to Moses, the cross cannot be severed from the Savior.  In today's post we aim to see how the writer of Hebrews unfolds the Actor of salvation as being pointed to by the tabernacle.

1. The tabernacle pointed to the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:1-10
The sacrifices of bulls and goats pointed the way to the need for one ultimate sacrifice.  Evidently the Son was in eternity and was awaiting the fullness of time wherein He would enter into history to take on human flesh (i.e incarnation).  By being a sharer in full Deity with the Father and Spirit, the Son could truly say He was the source of salvation, since as Jonah 2:9-10 reminds us, salvation is of the Lord.  However in order for salvation to be paid for, the shedding of blood had to occur.  Furthermore, since a man, Adam, had sinned against God, God's Holy character demanded justice to be poured out on man.  A New Adam was needed who was sinless. (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22,45) 

Hence Jesus Christ, being fully Divine, assumed a human nature and became also fully man.  Just as the tabernacle in an illustrative way had the Father dwell among the people He came to redeem in a tabernacle of wood and metal, the Son in a real way came to dwell among men in a tabernacle of human flesh. 

2. The tabernacle points the way to Jesus Christ's humiliation & exaltation. Hebrews 10:11-18
When Jesus the Son incarnated Himself as a man, the humiliation ran from the cradle to the cross.  The ultimate low point of Jesus' mission, crucifixion, also became the beginning of the journey to exaltation following His resurrection from the dead.  The cross proceeded the crown. In His humanity He died for our sins and in His physical resurrection He demonstrated Himself to be God in human flesh.

3. The tabernacle is used to point to Jesus Christ's session in Heaven. Hebrews 10:19-25
Once again the tabernacle fades into the background and the exalted Jesus is in the foreground.  The imagery of the High Priest is used to point us to Jesus Christ, our exalted High Priest who sits in "session" over His church as her King, Prophet and High Priest.  He represents us, just as the lesser priesthood of Aaron did so for Israel in the days of the tabernacle.  The writer of Hebrews makes his point clear and firm: Jesus Christ alone is Superior and second to none in the realm of being the Actor of salvation, the Act of our salvation and the Achiever of our salvation.  

How the tabernacle pictures the accomplishment of salvation

Hebrews 9:11-12 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 

Review
For the past couple of days we have been considering how the tabernacle of the Old Testament pictures for us Jesus Christ our salvation.  Yesterday we considered the first picture of how the tabernacle pictures the act of salvation - the cross.  In today's post we turn our attention to Hebrews 9:12-28 to understand how the writer uses the tabernacle in a more contrasting way to point the reader to all that Jesus accomplished.  The Gospels record the six hours of Jesus crucifixion, however God revealed the Book of Acts and 21 New Testament letters, plus Revelation to unfold all that Jesus accomplished! What Hebrews 9:12-28 will do is give us a summary of the key accomplishments of Jesus Christ at both Calvary and the empty tomb.

What Jesus Christ accomplished - Hebrews 9:12-28
1. Eternal Redemption. 9:12-13
The word "redemption" is an umbrella term that describes the entirety of what Jesus came to accomplish.  It speaks of "purchasing from the slavery of sin".  In contrast to the blood of bulls and goats offered at the tabernacle, which pointed to what would be the ulitmate accomplishment redemptive work, Jesus' Christ Himself accomplished the necessary work.  His blood satisfied the demands of wrath and once and for all paid the price of salvation, sufficient for all and applied to all who believe. (1 Timothy 2:4; 4:10; 1 John 2:2; 2 Peter 3:9-10)

2. Cleansing of the Conscience. Hebrews 9:14-15
The cross not only provided redemption for sinners, but also cleansing of the conscience.  
Certain sacrifices in the Old Testament were designed to be a means of restoring fellowship between the worshipper and God.  However there was one thing they could not do: cleanse the conscience.  

3. Adoption. Hebrews 9:16-20
Once a sinner has believed on Jesus and repented of their sins, they are adopted as a son or daughter of God. (Romans 8:16) The wonder of adoption is that the Father treats the child of God in the same manner as the Son, meaning that Jesus in His humanity becomes our elder brother, and we his co-heirs, seated in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 2:5-8)

4. Forgiveness. Hebrews 9:21-22
Truly the child of God is adopted by faith into the family of God.  The relationship between God and the believer is fully functioning.  Legally the saint of God is declared righteous because of the credited righteousness of Jesus Christ.  This one time, declared judicial act is called justification.  Like a white linen robe of the priests who served in the tabernacle, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is placed like a robe over us to cover us before a Holy righteous God so that upon the reception of it by saving faith, the Father declares us righteous or "justified".  

5. Representation. Hebrews 9:23-26
Yet another accomplishment of Jesus Christ is that of representation.  Following His resurrection from the dead and ascension into Heaven, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God.  Much like the priests in the Old Testament, Jesus represents us.  However unlike those priests, who died and had to be replaced, Jesus functions as our Heavenly Melchizedek, forever representing us. (Hebrews 7:24-25)

6. Preservation of salvation. Hebrews 9:27-28
The one final accomplishment mentioned in this glorious chapter is that of the preservation of salvation.  The promise of scripture is that all true believers will endure to the end.  Jesus will never leave nor forsake. (Hebrews 13:5)  Furthermore Romans 5:9 tells us that the child of God is justified by His blood and saved from the wrath of God that will be revealed at His appearing.  The tabernacle points beyond itself to the only One who could guarantee such a list of accomplishments - Jesus Christ.  

How the tabernacle pictures Jesus' act of salvation

Hebrews 9:1  "Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary."  

Hebrews 9:11 "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation"

Yesterday we considered in general how the Old Testament Tabernacle, the first worship center of ancient Israel, points the way to understanding Jesus the actor, as well as act and accomplishment of salvation.  In today's post we will consider the first way in which the tabernacle of Moses' day pictures Jesus Christ our salvation: namely His activity in providing our redemption.  

The furnishings and general layout of the tabernacle gives us a remarkable prediction of Jesus' act of salvation. 
As you turn to Hebrews 9:1-11, you discover the writer listing out the floor plan and nearly every element associated with Israel's first place of worship - the tabernacle.  To remind the reader, the word "tabernacle" comes from a word which means "meeting place".  For the sake of today's post, we will also refer to some passages in Exodus that list the remaining details of the tabernacle's layout not mentioned in Hebrews.  I promise you that by the end this post, you will see how the tabernacle pictures the act of salvation to be performed by Jesus.

I will first give you a picture of the general layout of the tabernacle that we see from the combined passages of Exodus 27:9-19 and Hebrews 9:1-10, followed by a brief description of what the Bible teaches about that layout:


The tabernacle as a whole is divided into three general areas, consisting of seven main furnishings used by the priesthood.  

1. The Courtyard: the place of sacrifice and consecration
Exodus 27:9-19 mentions the first area -the courtyard, as being 75 feet wide and 150 feet long. The courtyard had one East entryway, wherein was brought the sacrifices to the priests.  After they sacrificed on behalf of the worshipper on the first furnishing - the bronze altar, the priests would proceed to the washing of their hands and feet at the second furnishing - the bronze laver.  

2. The holy place: the place of ministry
The second main area, located in the Western end of the courtyard, was what was called the "outer tabernacle" or tabernacle proper and is mentioned in Hebrews 9:2,6,8-9. The "outer tabernacle" contained two rooms: the "holy place" and the "most holy place".  The "holy place" is included in this second main area of the writer of Hebrew's description of the tabernacle.  It was in that "holy place" where the priests performed their daily ministries and included the furnishings of the golden lampstand, the table of bread and the golden altar of incense.  In order to access this first room of the outer tabernacle, you had to enter into through a veil.  

3. The Holy of Holies - the place of worship
The third area of the Tabernacle, which is located in the just mentioned "outer tabernacle" structure, is what the Bible calls "the holy of holies" (Hebrews 9:3) To access this inner room of the tabernacle proper, a second veil was set up directly behind the altar of incense in the holy place.  Only the High Priest of Israel entered that most sacred spot, once a year, to minister before the two last remaining furnishings which functioned together: the Ark of the Covenant and its lid, called "the mercy seat." 

Many scholars for years have noted how the layout of the seven furnishings correspond to a remarkable shape.  I'm sure as a child you played "connect the dots".  If you drew a line beginning with the ark of the covenant and its lid, the mercy seat, the altar of incense, the bronze laver and the bronze altar of sacrifice; and then drew a second line between the golden lampstand and the table of bread, here is what you would end up with:

God all along had the cross in mind! The precious act of redemption was not the shadowy activity of sacrificing bulls and goats, but rather the reality to which they pointed - Calvary's cross.  As we close, the writer of Hebrews draws this connection between the tabernacle and the act of salvation in Hebrews 9:11 "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation". 

More tomorrow....

How the tabernacle pictures Jesus Christ our salvation

Hebrews 8:1-2 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 aminister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

Introduction: Quick purpose of the Book of Hebrews

When you read through the book of Hebrews, the whole point is to show how Jesus Christ is "great than" or "better than" or "superior" to any other would-be person or plan of salvation.  In fact in nearly fifteen instances do we find Jesus Christ being shown superior to the angels, Moses, Abraham and Joshua, as well as the Jewish temple and sacrificial system.  Why the comparisons? Because the readers of the Book of Hebrews had been converted to Christ out of Jewish background.  An aggressive group of people promoting a form of salvation by works through adherence to the old Jewish system were pressuring these new Christians turn their back on Jesus.  You pick up the sense from reading the Book of Hebrews the similar problem Paul had to deal with in the Book of Galatians concerning the Judiaizers, who claimed that salvation came through Christ plus circumcision.  

Despite such pressures, the inspired text of Hebrews urges these new Christians to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of their faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2) By using the tool of comparison, the writer of the Book of Hebrews shows that the Old Testament Judaism was never designed to provide salvation, but rather communicate the promise of salvation which was none other than the Person of Jesus Christ.    

How the tabernacle pictures Jesus, salvation's great act, accomplishment and actor. 
The Book of Hebrews can be divided into three main sections: Hebrews 1-7; 8-12 and a final set of instructions in chapter 13.  For our interests in today's post, we want to consider particularly Hebrews 8,9 & 10 for the sake of considering how God uses the Old Testament tabernacle system as a comparative picture of salvation's great act, accomplishment and actor - Jesus Christ.  To have a map by which to navigate our way through this study of Hebrews 8,9,10, we will first of all briefly look at the tabernacle itself to understand why the writer of Hebrews would employ it as a comparison to Jesus Christ.  Then we will offer a brief outline of Hebrews 8-10 to zero-in on this fruitful and enriching section of God's word. 

Defining the tabernacle and how it can points us to the Person and work of Jesus Christ
Exodus 25:8-9 has God giving Moses these instructions - "Exodus 25:8-9 8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the  tabernacle and the pattern of all its  furnishings, just so you shall make it."   (Also compare Ex 29:44-46 & 40:36-38)  God wanted to have a place whereby He could dwell with His people, as depicted in the following figure:


  God the Father saved His people out of the world of sin in Egypt through the splitting of the Red Sea. (Exodus 1-18) He then revealed Himself to them on top of Mount Sinai through the Law to show them that they could not save themselves and that only by grace alone though faith in His promises made to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob could save them. (Exodus 19-20) To reinforce the grace alone, faith alone message of salvation, God revealed the tabernacle in Exodus 25-40.  God did not want to be apart from His people on top of a mountain, but desired deeply to in the midst of His people in a mobile worship center. The word "tabernacle" comes from a Latin term tabernaculuum meaning "meeting place", which explains the purpose of this worship center in the lives of ancient Israel.   

We can note the following characteristics of this tabernacle:

1. It’s materials were designed  to reveal certain characteristics  of the Lord to His people (Exodus 25:8-9)

2. It reminded the people that the Lord was the one who rescued them from their

 enslavement in Egypt (Exodus 29:44-46)

3. It’s ministry reminds the people of their need for representation before a Holy God (Exodus 29:44)

4. It’s mobility indicated that God was their King who both led the people (Exodus 40:36-38)

Just as the Person of the Father chose to tabernacle Himself with His people in a mobile tent, God the Son chose to tabernacle Himself in a tent of flesh.  John 1:14 states - "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt (quite literally "tabernacled") among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Hebrews 8-10 uses the tabernacle to picture Jesus Christ our salvation
When you turn to Hebrews 8-10, Hebrews 8 functions to summarize the previous seven chapters of Hebrews and to introduce the next section of Hebrews 8-10.  We can discern the following outline of how the writer uses the tabernacle to picture Jesus Christ our salvation:

1. How the tabernacle pictures Jesus' act of salvation. Hebrews 9:1-11

2. How the tabernacle pictures Jesus' accomplishment of salvation. Hebrews 9:11-28

3. How the tabernacle pictures Jesus, the actor of salvation. Hebrews 10:1-25

More tomorrow....