Sep 18
Toward the Sanctuary and the Second Dark Night
Weakness From Decay
As you progress the next three hundred or so feet toward the two covered rooms, which are truly Rooms of Mystery, you can’t help but think a couple of very mind grabbing thoughts. First, we notice that we feel so much lighter than we did when we came in. The weight of the thick decay of sin is a burden we were not designed to carry. Decay, unlike muscle, will not lift a thing. Because of this, as sin causes us to decay we become weaker. What we used to lift or overcome easily, now seems quite heavy. Eventually, we atrophy so much from the decay of sin we cannot respond to even the strongest stimulus of God without it hurting to move.
Why So Far?
Second, we wonder why it is such a distance to those rooms? The answer is this - time is a healer. You see forgiveness is instant. The moment we deeply ask for forgiveness – we receive it. But, healing is different – it takes time. You might ask, “What do I need healing from?” Basically, you need healed from that which was decaying you and everything in your life that was not birthed by God. The word used for “saved” is “sozo,” which means healed from the decay of the tyrant. Jesus said of the 10 lepers that He healed, “their faith saved [sozo] them.” When you are saved, you are sozo.
Remember how you first entered the Tabernacle? Fire is an amazing destroyer of infection, the primary cause of decay. Water is a wonderful remover of that which is decayed. Decay can be killed by fire, but until it is washed off, it still stains our clothing.
Walking the distance toward the tent gives you time to reflect on the decay that no longer exists and to notice the brilliant whiteness of the robe you now wear. Some might say it is as “white as snow” and it is. Even now you are not sure whether the weight is lessened or simply that you are getting stronger from the lack of decay.
The Need for Obedience
This distance also gives you time to prepare. It took obedience to lay your life on that Brazen Altar and to wash in the Laver. It will take more than obedience to traverse the Rooms of Mystery, and yet obedience will be required more than ever. You see, in the Rooms of Mystery, no one can see you but God. No one knows whether you followed protocol, or stopped at each piece of furniture. No one knows if you applied the elements of the furniture to your life, or humbled yourself under His hand. Your friends can be fooled, and no one knows or will ever know … except God.
This is why obedience is better than sacrifice. Soon you will find that obedience launches you toward True, Pure, Deep, Spirituality. Sacrifice is found at the entrance to the Tabernacle, but obedience is required to enter the Sanctuary.
The outer court is not part of the Sanctuary. It was uncovered and called the Court of the Congregation or the Court of Meeting. The Sanctuary was covered and to be “revered” and kept Holy.
The Outer Court is all about cleansing you from the Lust of the Flesh and all that has controlled your flesh from the outside – so that it is no longer the compulsion to act that it once was. This cleansing encompasses everything from addictions to people.
As you make your way through the two rooms of the Sanctuary that are ahead, you will also learn how to conquer the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life. Those are much harder and God privately deals with you about them – that is why those rooms are covered – not for God’s sake but for yours.
Blessings,
John Paul
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To obey is better than sacrifice is absolute truth. I can testify that the best times in my life were when I listened to the still small voice for small things. The small things add up, and the more we hear them, the more we hear for larger areas.
I used to think I was going crazy when I heard things like ‘grab your umbrella’ then i would see a totally unexpected downpour would happen that day when I arrived at my destination. The little things of obedience, I feel are Gods little joys, for us to seek out when we are in those places of mystery….
I read in an article today about the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life, that these concepts are reminiscent of Christ’s statement that “foxes have holes, birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of man has no place to
lay his head” — a call to radical dependence on God, not getting entangled with the things that the rest of the world is so focussed on.
A tall order indeed, and one I have been struggling with for quite some time now. It is easy to give financially and help the poor when you live in relatively comfortable circumstances. The challenge is whether we would be as committed to Christ’s legacy and as “generous” and detached from the things of this world, if we did not have the financial, material and emotional security we have in our lives. Would we be able to rely solely on God for our contentment?
I personally have a long, long way to go yet but with God’s grace I will continue to strive and persevere to get there.
Challenging post! Thank you John Paul.
http://www.ransom33.wordpress.com
Hi there,
Ransom33 it’s been my observation that the poorer one is the more they give!
I rarely have seen the rich give with the same heart I see the poor give even if it’s not even in the double digits.
I can remember a story I once heard. An experience a Bible College instructor of mine once had while visiting Macau City the year before I went there.
There was this one time this group of kids of the Bible College I had attended a few years back. They were in Macau City. That group was there the year before my group went. And this story was given as a lesson to our team because we really didn’t understand poverty the way some other countries do.
This family offered the Bible College students food as is their custom. Food is always offered for hospitality. And so the Bible College students eat to their hearts content. They grabbed as much food as they possibly could fit on their plates. They didn’t even notice that the family stood back and waited for the students to grab their fill.
When everything was done and the students were full. The group of students began to walk away from the remains. And the Instructor of mine at this Bible College witnessed this family eat from the scrappes that remained.
Unknown to the Bible College students. This family offered them their dinner.
How many of us in the comfort of living in the Western world would give somebody living on the street our dinner?
Lest we forget that Jesus said, the least that you do to the least of these you do to me.
Although it is easier to give financially, the sad reality is when most people do have it in them to give they choose not to. They have to get the new Hummer that runs on Corn fuel which increases the price of grain which in turns increases the cost of living because food becomes more expensive.
My goodness, perhaps I opened a can of worms here.
And Will… When I went to the bank not too long ago I went to pay a bill and take out money for a counselling session I’d have later on in the day.
I heard the Lord speak to me to draw out more money then what I actually needed. I managed to somehow tell myself that I didn’t logically need to take out more money then what I need.
A few hours later I receive a phone call from the Fraud Division of the bank that I deal with. The had placed a freeze on my account because there had been questionable activity in my account.
It turned out that somebody had coppied my debit card and found my PIN number, then deposited a fraudulent check into my account and then attempted to withdraw that amount unsuccessfuly. They then went to Money Mart and tried to take out a loan under my name unsuccessfuly. Then returned to an ATM and withdrew as much money as they possibly could from my account.
Here’s a little lesson… had I actually taken out a little more money then what I needed when I sensed the Lord telling me that. I wouldn’t have ended up going hungry and unable to access my bank account. Hmmm….
Doesn’t it come down to believing what God tells us in His word? Colossians 2:9-11 says: ” 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;”
Is it too simplistic to believe that if what He says is true (and of course it is) then all I have to do is acknowledge that my flesh, with all its lusts, deceit, lies, etc., has been removed? It has been nailed to His cross. Now, through obedience and the renewal of my mind, I must become a slave to righteousness (Rom 6:18) - I must consider myself dead to sin. And that involves a daily dying to self - not allowing “sin to reign in my mortal body so that I obey its lusts.”
God has given us everything we need to accomplish this. It really is good news!!
Dear John Paul,
I am very thankful God is dealing with me on the cleansing of the flesh.He has done it through dreams.What is different about the dreams and at church it is like the pastor can be general which is good but not deep enough.But God can through the dreams at night take you to pinpoint area and I learn you can not ” watch the past “.Look to Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.
Hey folks,
I found this music video on You Tube by Kevin Prosch, it really captures the heart of how we as believer’s should seek the Lord as we enter into the various rooms. We need to be quick to leave this world’s system behind and take hold of the hand of the Lord as He leads us deeper into His heart to understand the mysteries that await us!
Blessings To You
Always!
Shirley C.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTBeW3VU_U4
John Paul, I just have a quick question regarding the poorest of the poor in the world, namely children and orphans of third world in countries such as Haiti and Sub-saharan Africa, where all they can believe God for are cookies made out of dirt. Does this teaching of the dark night apply to them and are they in that place of awareness of how to progress to that place in the heart of God or simply put does God just accept them and love them as they are? I think He does. What do you think? Just curious because I just read in the scripture the other day that the Lord hears the cry of the poor and He is much closer to them than those who have much in material resources. Just some good ole’ fashion curiousity. I would like to know what American Christians think regarding this. I think I may know but would appreciate some feedback either from you or someone on this blog. I think that some of the furniture in the inner sanctuary may just be in serving our brothers and sister’s that are in need especially in the poorest of the poor countries as this aids in the sanctifying process. hummmmmmm, just putting this out there for what its worth, it seems that much of what I have been saying is falling on some deaf ears here in internet land. BFN. I gotto to go to where its real.
Shirley c.
Thank you so much for holding our hands and walking us through this journey Prophetically Mr. John Paul!! I’m so glad to knwo I am not the only one experiencing all this and whoa you are so on point about everything
Your spiritual insight and interpretation is such an awesome blessing to God’s people and I thank you for being so selfless in sharing your wisdom and knowledge with us!! I constantly check in to see when you are going to post another entry and each one is more awesome and Holy Spirit inspired than the last!! GOD BLESS YOU PROPHET!!!! KEEP IT COMING!!!!!
Arianna,
I just wanted to say that I absolutely LOVE 21!
The comedy shows that highlighted the black community has always been my favorite shows and I’m a white girl. Actually, I’m part Aboriginal and so I’m not 100% but white enough.
I loved the work that I saw. Keep up your work because I really believe your gifted in what you’re doing there.
Dear John Paul,
These last posts have so much detail and are rich. They are really challenging and do require “a no-nonsense frame of mind.” Please pray for us, that we will obey our Lord during these transitions. Knowledge of His will can come but the obedience is so much more difficult (and we haven’t even talked about submission yet, oh boy!). We need you God and your grace!
more Lord keep it real Father real love real power real Holy Spirit Shalom Jump Jesus understands my pain he took it all take it all again Father fill me with your love so i can give it all away
I think I’m finally getting it/learning… anybody out there?
Hey, Brandon I enjoyed reading your comments on previous posts.
Lyle
Glad you did Lyle and I pray you are doing well along with the rest of the ones on this blog. God bless you all along with JP for this information.
Mmmmm…I’m glad God put a tabernacle in the wilderness…
Lovely…
Thanks again John Paul, you are wonderful…
God Bless!
Yes, Jesus is Beautiful…!
Awesome God!
Blessings…
Dark nights have wonderful day breaks but some are few and far between. This are some verses I have been dealing with for a while now.
1 Cr 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Cr 2:10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
So what things does He have for them that love him. How many dark nights lay ahead before we find our true purpose in life and what we long for and the things he has prepared for us.
The Lord gave me a vision, a very intense vision ( I dont have my notebook with me so I dont have the date ) I was doing an exercise of prayer and writing; the Lord woke me and showed me one night. Anyway, during the prayer/writing/meditation He was randomly showing me flashes of my family, emotions started to arise and then the Holy Spirit swelled up with in me I began to feel weak and overcome with laughter and joy I continued in the writing/prayer exercise and then. Bamm my whole life flashed before me up untill my death, I was in a desert looking area and people (everyday people) were beating me to near death I laid on the ground balled up and then carried away to be crucified. Afterwards I couldnt walk, I felt sick and my room that I was in looked alive. I knew what it ment but deeper that just the concept, I felt it, I cant explain, then the lord said “you are my son”, “now the training begins.” for the few days following that I couldnt focus I knew the all mighty power of god was in me, but I mean like really knew. While in Church the following sunday a fear came over me that many of these people were like the people that killed me, killed Jesus and if I would tell them this they would in fact kill me right there in the parking lot. On the ride home what he showed me was too hard to handle I literally felt the universe in me, again I cant explain. I began to panic riding uncomfortably in the backseat with my step-mom and dad in the front. I asked the Lord to leave me alone I cant handle it right now, get out. I then noticed some random oldies song on the radio singing “just get our of my head”. That was alot of revalation for a kid If I had to guess I know it was a lot for Yeshua.
go kyle go the Father is with youfor youand will never leave you or forsake you receive His love now fire now joy now be filled Shalom