SundaySermon - Prince

Entering the Sanctuary

The encounter with God is a moving experience. There are several people who have had the experience
  • Isaiah saw the Lord and he felt the weight of  sin. This encounter was the anointing of the prophet 
  • Peter with his 3 year encounter with Jesus got up on the day of pentecost and boldly spoke to the pilgrims in Jerusalem 
  • Gideon with the encounter with God transformed him into a mighty warrior.
  • Saul was transformed when the Spirit of God changed him and he became the first King of Israel.
So let us enter the Sanctuary to have this encounter with God. Here are some steps.
  1. Repentance
  2. Dying
  3. Beholding

1) Repentance

This is really a change in your thinking. This change is where you think the Kingdom thought. 

Verse: Exodus 3:3‭-‬5 ESV

3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 
5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

For Moses to have this encounter, he had to turn aside and this is when God took notice of him. Let us also consider other cases of repentance

Saul's Repentance

Verse: 1 Samuel 15:19‭-‬20,24 ESV

19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 
20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.

When Saul confessed his sin, he blamed his situation/other people. His is trying to put up a defense

David's Repentance

Verse: 2 Samuel 12:13 ESV

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

David confessed and took all the blame.
Are we merely performing an act of repentance to re-gain our social standing?

Verse: Jeremiah 3:10 ESV

Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.”

The Lord is asking if all our repentance is a pretense

2) Dying

Verse: Galatians 5:24 ESV

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Dying to the flesh and sin. And the sacrifices in the old testament requires the actual burning of flesh. 

Verse: Leviticus 1:9 ESV

9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

It is important to be wilful in our thoughts. We put to death any thought that is of the flesh.

3) Beholding

Verse: 2 Corinthians 3:15‭-‬18 ESV

15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 
16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

We need to turn to God and seek Him. Today we spend so much time looking at ourselves.... We are concerned with what people are thinking of us. But it important to turn from self thought and move to looking to God.

Conclusion

Let us enter his sanctuary and encounter the presense of the Lord so that the change will happen in our lives

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