The Tabernacle #2: The Holy Place — Stephen Kaung

May we look to the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, how we do praise and thank Thee that Thou has given us Thy only begotten Son. Thou has given us that unspeakable gift, even Thy own Son. Oh, we just worship Thee and we just thank Thee.

We pray that even tonight Thou will reveal Thy Son much more to us, that we may see Him more, that we may worship Him more in Thy precious name. What we will share this time is on this matter of the believer's life and ministry as illustrated in the tabernacle.

The Tabernacle as a Picture of the Believer's Life

I would like to use the tabernacle to illustrate a believer's life and also his ministry. And as we mentioned last night, the tabernacle is divided into three parts. The outer court, the holy place, and the holiest of all.

So far as a believer's experience is concerned, we enter into the outer court first, and then we get into the holy place, and finally we find ourselves in the holiest of all. So this is the approach that we will use for this time.

Of course we know according to the purpose of God, the order is just reversed. It begins with the holiest of all, it comes out to the holy place, and then it reaches the outer court. We feel that these three parts, in a sense, represent the three stages in a believer's life and ministry.

The outer court speaks of purification. The holy place speaks of enlightenment or transformation, and the holiest of all speaks of union. Now in the outer court, you find there are two pieces of furniture.

The Cross as the Way to God

At the very entrance of the outer court, there stands a huge piece of furniture. The brazen altar of burnt offering. We mentioned last night that it speaks of the cross of our Lord Jesus. There is no way to come to the presence of God except through the cross of our Lord Jesus.

The cross is the way to God. And you find it stands right at the entrance. You cannot fail to see it, and you are not able to bypass it. In our approach to God, we have to come to Him by the cross of our Lord Jesus.

It is the most basic and the most comprehensive in the word of God. We find that not only by the cross, the blood of the cross, of our Lord Jesus, our sins are forgiven. But through the death on the cross of our Lord Jesus, we find that our old man was removed.

It is through the cross that the life of God is released, that we may have life, eternal life. And it is because of the cross we become the children of God. And it is the same cross that separates us from the world.

So far as the world is concerned, we are crucified. And so far as we are concerned, the world is crucified. And it is also through the cross that our Lord Jesus has captured the principalities and authorities, and has destroyed all the power of darkness, and delivered us out of the kingdom of darkness, translating us into the kingdom of the Son of God's love.

So you'll find everything is based upon the cross. We find that the cross, the blood, has not only washed our sins away, but God has made us a kingdom. So by the cross we are not only saved, but by the cross we are also saved to serve.

The Brazen Laver and the Priesthood of Believers

The cross stands at the very entrance. Then we find the second piece of furniture in the altar court, the brazen labour. The priests, when they begin to serve in the tabernacle, whether they come to the brazen altar to offer sacrifices, or they enter into the holy place to minister to God, they have to wash their hands and their feet.

We mentioned last night that we who believe in the Lord Jesus, our sins have been washed by the blood. And also we find that we have been washed with water, not in the sense of taking away our sin, but water baptism speaks of a new position.

We are now in a new position. We belong to Christ. Every believer is a priest. When we come to the Lord, we are all living stones, being built up together into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So the universal priesthood of believers is the teaching of the Bible. Today every child of God, whether man or woman, grown up or children, if they believe in the Lord Jesus, everyone, every child of God is at the same time a priest.

And as priests, of course, we know our vocation is to serve God. So we mentioned last night, no matter what your vocation may be, your vocation as a believer, as a priest, is in the service. Let us remember that the God whom we serve is a holy God.

He is a living God, He is a holy God. Therefore we cannot serve Him if our feet are dirty and our hands are unclean. That is the reason why you find the priests have to wash their hands and their feet every time they serve God.

Our feet speak of our walk. As we walk through the world, unconsciously we pick up the dirt of the world. We unconsciously, the spirit of the world seems to dull our spirit, seems to affect our communion with the Lord.

And therefore you find it is of utmost importance, whenever we begin to serve the Lord, we have to have our feet washed, washed by the water, that our spirit will be renewed and our relationship with the Lord is fresh and living, so that our service may be acceptable to God.

And not only that, but our hands. We cannot serve God with the hands of the flesh, because the flesh in the sight of God is defilement. We need to have our hands washed. We cannot serve God in our fleshly energy, with our fleshly cleverness, or even with our natural talents.

We have to be washed in the water, so that we may serve God with clean hands. And we mentioned also last night, that the water there, that washes, is different from the blood that washes. The blood washes us from our sins, but the water washes us from defilement.

And the water here stands for the life of our Lord Jesus. The life of our Lord Jesus in us is this water, that continues to cleanse us with the word, so that we may be fit to serve God as priests. And furthermore we mentioned that the brazen altar is made of the mirrors of the women, who assembled before the entrance of the tent of meeting.

That is to say, these women, their lives were so devoted to God, that they were willing to give up their mirrors. The mirrors in the old days were made of brass. They were willing to give up their mirrors.

They have no use for these mirrors. They have no use for vanity, because they seek the glory of God. And these mirrors were made into the brazen laver. So whenever a priest approaches the laver, immediately it convicts him.

It judges him. It reveals his dirty feet and unclean hands, so that the water may wash. So that is what we mentioned last night. I cannot repeat the whole thing, but because some of you were not there, so just fill you up a little bit.

Then of course, not only in the outer court you have the life, but you have the ministry. So our ministry in the outer court simply means, the cross that saves us, is the cross that we serve. We preach Jesus Christ and Him.

That is our ministry. This evening we would like to go a step further, into the holy place. Now we know the holy place is the place of the priests. The children of Israel can enter into the outer court, but they are not allowed to enter into the holy place, because the holy place is the place of the priests.

So brothers and sisters, we do thank God, that we are not only made children of God, but we are also being made a kingdom to enter into the holy place. You know the holy place stands between the holiest of all and the outer court.

So in one sense, the holiest of all represents heaven, where God dwells. Because the church, so far as is concerned, is copper in the scripture, speaks of divine righteousness. Because of this, so in the outer court everything is of copper.

It speaks of judgment. Anything that is unrighteous has to be judged. God is holy. Anything that is unclean has to be judged. Thank God he has made provision for us for cleansing. Outer court, it is mainly a matter of purification.

Let's be concerned with this matter of cleansing. How can I be cleansed from my sins? How can I be cleansed from all defilements? Into the holy place you'll find everything is of gold. Brazen, the golden altar of incense is made of acacia wood, but overlaid with gold.

And you'll find the golden table of shul sitting there. No gold in the scripture speaks of the holy place of judgment and purification. Rather, it is on this matter of enlightenment and outer court. Occupied with what holy place, you'll notice that it is covered with layers of gold.

The Light of Life and Walking in Fellowship

In the holy place, it will be utter darkness. In the holy place, you'll find we move around guided by the light of our believers in the way of natural reasoning. We are confronted with a problem. We try to reason it out.

The pros and the cons, the good and the evil. So in the early days of our Christian life, probably we are guided by natural reasoning. But as you grow in the Lord, you will find that a Christian life is no longer guided by natural reasoning.

You'll find he is guided by the light that comes out of the Lord. Jesus said, I'm the light. I'm not walking darkness. And the light upon it, Jesus Christ cleanses us. Before this verse, 1 John 1 .7, you have 1 John 1 .5.

It is said, God is light. And there is no darkness. Sisters, we find that not only God's word is light, but God himself dwells in the light. But in 1 John, you'll find the light there refers to God is light.

So in other words, you'll find if we walk in the light, it means if we walk in the light of life, as God lives in the light. Then we have fellowship with one another. Now brothers and sisters, do you know that the life that we receive at new birth, it is the life of our Lord Jesus.

This life that has been given to us, every child of God has this life in him or in her. And this very life sheds on within. In other words, we are not guided by external light, but we are guided in the service of God by the light.

Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, the eyes are the lamps. If your eye is single, then the whole body is light. But if your eye is double or wicked, then your whole body is darkness. And how dark will be that darkness.

Now what the Lord is referring to is nothing external. It is what is within. So dear brothers and sisters, let us remember that we all have the light of life within us. The life of the Lord Jesus will shed its light upon us from within.

And when it begins to shine from within, then it is our responsibility to walk in the light as God dwells in the light. Now let me use an illustration. God is light and he dwells in the light. And of course, if we use an illustration, may we say he is, his light is perfect.

His light is complete. His light is absolute. His light is full. May we say it's a hundred candlelight. That's what God is. But do you know that when you believe in the Lord Jesus, that life has entered into your life.

And that life of Christ in you, because you are newly born, you are a new baby in Christ, so that light in you probably is just one candlelight. The light is new, so the light is, but at least you have one candlelight.

And this one candlelight will shine from within to tell you how you should walk before God. You are no longer given by outside reasonings, what people say, or even what your own reasons say, but you are to be guided in your walk by the light of life shining from within.

And when the light shines, it is your responsibility to walk in the light. And God is in the light. And when you do that, you have fellowship with one another. Now it is true, God's light is a hundred candlelight, and your light is only one candlelight.

Now even there is a great difference of degree, but remember, it is the sameness of kind, because it is the very life of God. Therefore you will find, even though the degrees are different, the kind is the same, therefore there can be fellowship.

And the blood of God's Son, Jesus Christ, cleanses us from all sins. You find that as you obey the one candlelight you have, and God begins to have fellowship with you, He will begin to show you something that needs cleansing.

And the blood of the Lord Jesus is there, available for you, so that you may grow into two candlelights. As you obey and walk in the two candlelights, and God is in the light, you again have fellowship.

And when you have fellowship with God, you find that light begins to shine upon you and show you something more that needs cleansing. And when you obey it, you begin to get three candlelights. And this is the way that we grow in life.

You know, our spiritual growth is not based upon anything external. It is based upon the life within. And the life shines, and continues to shine. And if we obey, then we grow. And our fellowship with God is uninterrupted.

Brothers and sisters, sometimes we ask the question, how can God fellowship with me? God is perfect. I am imperfect. How can He have fellowship with me? Well, if it waits until we get to a hundred candlelight, we have no hope.

But thank God. God, as a grown-up, deals with a child. We are but a baby. But not because we are a baby, there are many things we do not understand. And there are many dirt, and many uncleanness, and many sins that we do not even know about.

They are there, but we are not conscious of it. Now, anything that we are conscious of it, is being enlightened by the light of life. And whenever we are enlightened by the light of life, we need to confess.

And the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sins. But there are many, many defilements, many, many uncleanness in us, yet. But, because we have only one candlelight, and we do not see all these dirt and dust, God still can have fellowship with us.

Thank God for that. But on the contrary, if you have three candlelights, and you only walk in two candlelights, then your fellowship with God will be interrupted. That is the reason why, dear brothers and sisters, you can never judge any brother or any sister.

One has to walk in the light that God has given him. And you have to walk in the light that God has given you. How can you judge your brother and your sister? Sometimes, you may have five candlelights, and he may have only two candlelights, but he is walking with the Lord, with his conscience void or offence, and he has fellowship with God, and sometimes you think, how can he do that?

I can see there are certain things in his life that is not right yet, but God is more generous than you are. This is the way that we grow in the Lord. It is the light, the inner light. If we walk in the light, if we follow the Lord Jesus, He is the light of life, if we follow Him, then we do not walk in darkness.

But we have the light. Well, maybe I can use another way of explaining it. You know, in 1 John 2, verse 27, it is said, we have the anointing within us, or the unction within us. You do not need anybody to teach you.

You have the anointing within you, and what the anointing teaches is true and is not false. Obey the teaching of the anointing, and you abide. Now, this is just another way of putting it. In other words, we know the anointing in us speaks of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the oil, the ointment. And as the Holy Spirit operates, it is like anointing, like something that is anointed upon you. You know, brothers and sisters, when the Holy Spirit works in your life, it is just like an ointment being poured on your wounds.

It is soothing, it is gentle, it is never forcing, overwhelming, but it is gentle, it is persistent, but it is very soothing, and you find the Holy Spirit gently move. It is not to hurt you, but to cure you, but to heal.

Anointing within you. The Holy Spirit is not like an earthquake. No, we are waiting for an earthquake. But God is not there. It is still smoldering our spirit. It is not only the anointing that teaches us in all things, He is also the law of the spirit of life.

He not only teaches, but He gives us the power. Dear brothers and sisters, you find in the holy place, you begin to see that He is leading you day by day. You walk by His light. How blessed! No reason why you should stumble.

You stumble in darkness. You have the light, and if you obey the light of life, then you find you grow in the Lord, and you are able to serve God. That is the golden. In the holy place, there is another piece of furniture called the golden table of showbread.

Christ as the Bread of Life

You know, whenever you think of a table, like what we did before, lots of tables here, and you know what it is. A table speaks of fellowship. Let's break bread together. It is fellowship. It is communion.

And then on the table, what you enjoy is whatever is put on the table for you to enjoy. It is your food. So in other words, here you find Christ is not only the light of life, but He is the bread. Our life.

Christ is our life. The one who supports us, sustains us, nourishes us, gives us strength. He is our very life. The showbread in the original, literally it means the bread of the presence. The bread of the presence.

In other words, here you find our Lord Jesus as the showbread on the table, with the frankincense spread on the cakes, and the fragrance ascended up to God, for God to enjoy. Our Lord Jesus is a joy to the Father.

You remember our Lord Jesus when He was on earth? The heavens opened again and again and again, and said, this is my beloved Son in whom is my delight. Our Lord Jesus is a fragrance, is a sweet odor. The bread of the presence.

That is towards God and towards us. You find the showbreads, after they have been exhibited for a week, every Sabbath the priest will change the new showbread, and whatever is taken down from the table becomes the food.

So brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is not only a fragrance to the Father, but He is our food. We are priests. Therefore we are privileged to take Him as our food, as our life. Brothers and sisters, you know, in the beginning of our Christian life, we know that our Lord Jesus is our Savior.

Now thank God for that. He is our Savior. His blood is shed for the remission of our sins. Our sins are forgiven. Thank God for that. But we do not know that He is also our life. Only know Christ as your Savior.

Yes, your sins were forgiven. The past is solved. But how about the present? How are you going to live day by day before God? How are you going to live your Christian life? Many people know the Lord as their Savior, and after they are saved, they feel that now we are saved, we have to live a good life, we have to live a life that will be pleasing to God.

So you are determined, you make resolutions, now I'm going to do the will of God, I'm going to please God, I'm going to live a good Christian life. All right, try. The more you try, the more you get nervous.

That's the reason why there are so many nervous Christians today. Because no one can live a Christian life by himself or herself. The Lord Jesus has not only saved us from our sins, but He has saved us from ourselves.

I often say, when we preach the Gospel to the sinners, we tell the sinner, don't be afraid to die, because Christ has died for you, so you won't die anymore. When a saint dies, it is not death, it is sleep.

But there is a Gospel for believers. You don't need to be afraid to live. You don't need to live. Somebody lives for you. Christ lives for you. So why live? Brothers and sisters, lots of Christians are tired of living.

Are you tired? Some people say, I'm retired, but not tired. Maybe you're tired, but you haven't retired. You're still trying, you're still trying. Why? Because you don't know that Jesus is your life. He is the showbread.

He is the golden table of showbread. He is communicating, giving Himself to you to be your very life. Now, what is life for, if it is not for living? So let Him live. Why do you want to live yourself such a miserable life?

Why not just give up and let Him live? The Apostle Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ, no longer I. Thank God, no longer I. I'm tired of living. It is Christ who lives. See that He is your life. He is your light.

Christ as High Priest and Intercessor

And then, in the holy place, you have the golden altar. Now, the golden altar of incense speaks of Christ as a host. Why? Because the incense speaks of the virtues, the beauty. It is made of fragrant drugs, and it is made into incense.

And the incense is to be burned and ascended to God, to be a sweet smelling to God, to satisfy, to please God's heart. And that is what our Lord Jesus is. He is our high priest. In Hebrews chapter 7, we are told, He is able to save those who come to God through Him, to the uttermost.

We have a high priest who is holy, blameless, separated from sinners, become higher than the heavens, and He is now at the right hand of God His Father, making intercession for us, in order that He may save us to the end.

Dear brothers and sisters, do we know our Lord Jesus as our high priest? You know, the whole book of Hebrews is on this subject, that Christ is our high priest. Why? Because if we do not know Christ as our high priest, we cannot live today.

How can we live today if we do not know Him as our high priest? Our apostle, God sent him to this earth to accomplish a mission, the work of redemption, and it is finished. Therefore you will find he sits at the right hand of God, no more to do.

The work of redemption is completed, you cannot add anything to it. But at the same time you will find our Lord Jesus does not sit in heaven and nodding his head and have a nap. He is very busy in heaven.

As the high priest you will find he stands in the midst of the seven golden lambs then. As the apostle he sits, it is finished. As the high priest he stands, because he is still serving. He is there ministering unto his own church.

He loves his church, he is sanctifying the church by the washing of the water with the Word in order to present the church to himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any of such sort holy and without blemish.

He is interceding for us. And brothers and sisters, the best way to explain it is, while he is interceding before the Father, the Holy Spirit is working. And this is the high priesthood of our Lord Jesus.

We need to know him as our high priest. Without his intercession I cannot live. And brothers and sisters, you find that in the holy place you begin to realize that Christ is your life, he is your light and he is your high priest.

In other words, everything that you need to live a Christian life has been provided in the holy place. Now we return to the believer's ministry in the holy place. Because the holy place is the place where the priest really minister.

The Church as the Golden Lampstand

The priest will enter into the holy place to trim the lamb, to dress it. And he will use a golden snuffer. Because, you know, in the old days it's not like the electric lamp that we have today. It is a vessel, you know, you put oil in it and put a wick in it, and when the wick draws the oil and you light the wick, then the light begins to shine.

But after it has been burning for a while, you'll find the oil, the level of the oil will go down. And the wick being used becomes charred at the point, you know. And when that happens, you'll find that the light begins to be dimmed.

So every morning, every evening, twice a day, the priest will dress the lamb from evening to morning and morning to evening. The reason is to keep the light burning day and night. Everything in the holy place speaks of the church.

Itself speaks of the church. The golden lamb's dance speaks of the church. How do we know? Because in Revelation chapter one, you remember that John in the Isle of Patmos, he saw a vision. And the vision he saw was one like the Son of Man standing in the midst of seven golden lamb's dance.

And the lamb's dance are explained to the Apostle John. The lamb's dance are the churches. So we know a lamb's dance represents a church. In other words, on the earth, you have the church in Ephesus. But before God, there is a golden lamb's dance that represents the church in Ephesus.

Now, what is the church? The church is a lamb's dance. Now, what is a lamb's dance? A lamb's dance is an instrument or a vessel for the light, to uplift the light so that the light may shine over the whole house.

A lamb's dance is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. So the church is not an end in itself. The testimony of Jesus may shine forth, and people may see and hear Christ. That is what the church is.

Brothers and sisters, when God's people come together, anyone that enters into the midst of God's people, immediately he is convicted by the Spirit of God, and he will bow down and say, God is in your midst.

That is what the church is. The church never draws attention to itself. It points people to Christ. It is a means to an end. It is to uplift Christ. That is the only reason for the assistance of a church.

If the light is gone, then that lamb's dance is to be removed. In other words, in God's eyes, it is no use anymore. It may continue on earth, but before God it is gone. The testimony is gone. So that is what the church is, a golden lamb's dance.

Dear brothers and sisters, you find it is very strange in a sense. You know, what is the church? We say a church is composed of believers. I think we know better. The church is not a building on one corner of the city square.

And oftentimes you have the city square, three corners, you have three different churches building, and one corner is a court. Now that is not what the church is. The church is not made of bricks or stone or mud or wood or whatever it is.

I think we know better. What is the church? The church is made up of God's people. God has called out of every nation, every tribe, every people, every tongue, and gathered these people together unto himself.

And that is the church. Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, the Lord said, there am I in the midst of them. That is what the church really is. Now if that is the case, there is something wrong here.

Why? Because if that is the case, the lampstand should be made of wood and overlaid with gold. Would that be more right? We are wood, right? Wood represents human nature. And we are humans, and we are the people made of the church.

So it should be made of wood, but then God overlaid with gold. Now that is what the lampstand should be. But strangely you find in God's revelation this is not the case. You find in God's revelation the lampstand has no wood in it.

It's all gold. It's all gold. Why? Because the church is not made up of you or me, and me. Well, if the church is made up of you and me, woo to the church, you will find even two people are so different and we will fight.

The church will be divided. No two flesh can dwell together. In God it is not you and me. It is the Christ in you and the Christ in me. That is why it is gold. It is all gold. There is no good there. In other words, everything that is you or me has to be crossed out.

And what is left is Christ. And it is the Christ in you and me that are built up together into that golden lampstand. You know, I love one illustration. You know, when God's people come together to break the bread, you see on the table a loaf of bread.

That is Christ. The world, the word became flesh, incarnated. God took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh. And in this body he lived 33 years, absolutely, perfectly for God. And on the cross that body is broken.

So when we come to remember the Lord before we break the bread, that loaf represents Christ, his own person. But when we break the bread, you take a piece, I take a piece, everyone take a piece. There is no more bread.

But when God looks down, he sees that bread, still complete. And that bread is the Christ. That is, in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, we are told that the body is one as many members, though the members are many, yet one body, so also is the Christ.

In other words, you'll find Christ is in us. And he is represented corporately by... So the lamb stand represents the church. And the church means that you and I, it is true, it is Christ in you, and Christ in me, and Christ in every one of us, but remember it is Christ, not Christ and you.

See, the trouble with Christianity today is, when we bring Christ in, we bring ourselves in too. And we find that it is a greater measure of ourselves, and a very small measure of Christ. And that is the reason why we have all these confusions, all these problems.

How we need the cross to work in our lives, so that it will be Christ and Christ. There's much we can say, but I cannot go into more details. We have to hurry on. In other words, you'll find we are the lamb stand.

Our purpose of being together is only one, to contain Christ and to uplift Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. But then you'll find we are not only the lamb stand, we are the priest. In other words, you'll find the priest is to dress the lamb.

So it is our responsibility as priests, that the light is burning. And this is a 24-hour service. In other words, it is the responsibility of every brother, every sister in the church, that the oil is being supplied.

You remember in Zechariah's vision, in chapter 4 of Zechariah, he saw a golden lamb stand, and on the two sides of the golden lamb stand, two olive trees. And these two olive trees continually pouring gold into the bowl.

And then you'll find the gold, as it is burned, turned into oil for the light. Now these two trees, olive trees, represent sons of oil. In other words, they are filled with the Holy Spirit. And because they are filled with the Holy Spirit, they are able to supply the oil to the lamb, that the light may shine.

So brothers and sisters, remember, to be filled with the Holy Spirit is just not for your personal enjoyment, or for your personal pride. Not so. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to supply the oil to the lamb.

How we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit? It is to be filled with the Spirit. Because as you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the church will not be lacking in oil, and the light will be burning.

And then, on the other hand, you'll find the wick. We have to trim it. You know, sometimes you'll find the wick and the oil are separated. Therefore no oil. Or sometimes you'll find the top of the wick is burned.

Therefore the oil cannot get through. You need to use the golden snuffer, so that oil can be drawn into it. Now brothers and sisters, it simply means this. We all also like the wick. You know, it is the oil that gives light.

The wick does not give light. If you burn a wick, it's gone, consumed in a few seconds. But it is the oil. So that's what we are. We are the wick. You know, we cannot supply the light, but we draw the Holy Spirit come through us.

So that the power of the Holy Spirit. In the power of the Holy Spirit, the testimony of Jesus is maintained. We cannot maintain the testimony of Jesus. It is the power of the Holy Spirit. Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.

But we have a responsibility. To see that the wick is clean. That the oil can get through. That's the reason why the Bible says, do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Do not quench the Holy Spirit. Resist not the Holy Spirit.

Obey the Holy Spirit. You know, if we cooperate, then you'll find the Holy Spirit can get through us. And that is how the light is shining. And this is our responsibility. Brothers and sisters, every one of us is responsible to see whether I am filled with the Holy Spirit.

By being filled with the Holy Spirit, to put it in another way of expression, and that is what the original means. It means to be ruled. Your life is under the rule. The government of the Holy Spirit.

And when you are under the government of the Holy Spirit, you are filled with the Holy Spirit. And the oil will get through. So here you'll find the church is a lampstand. We are the priest. Ministry.

The Church as Fellowship Around Christ

Now you find not only the lampstand, so far as our ministry is concerned, there is the golden table of showbread. You know, the showbread not only represents Christ as the bread of life, it also represents the church.

Why? Because you'll find there are twelve cakes. Not just one, there are twelve. Represents the twelve tribes of Israel. And it is put in two rows. Now, two in the scripture speaks of witness. If you have two or three witnessing that everything is settled.