Beyond The Veil
Scripture: Hebrews 6:17-19; Matthew 27:50-51; 1 Peter 2:9
Introduction
It has been a difficult last few months. Many of us have been faced with so much at one time that we have wondered if it would ever end. For me personally, I have found myself reaching through the veil for Christ and to be in God’s presence. Have you ever faced such difficult circumstances where you found yourself reaching beyond the veil to enter into the presence of God? Let me explain this so that you understand what I am talking about. Several years ago I was having dinner with a close friend who had recently had surgery. While we were all eating, she began to tell us about her surgery and what she had gone through and how God had delivered her. With tears in her eyes she told me that she had to reach beyond the veil. When she told me that, I thought about what she meant - reaching beyond the veil withy hope. This is an image of hope but let me share with you some history about the veil.
God called Solomon to build the first temple where the Ark of the Covenant would be stored. David wanted to build it, but God would not let him because David was a man of war and had shed the blood of men (1 Chronicles 28:3). God therefore called Solomon to build the first temple which became the model for other temples following it. Now the temple that is mentioned in the Gospels is the second temple that was started by Herod in 20 B.C. This is the temple that you will need to understand in order to know what was meant about reaching beyond the veil. This temple contained two courts. The inner court was for the priests and Jews and the outer court was for the Gentiles. The temple had fifteen porches which circled around the two courts. These porches were where a lot religious discussions and debates took place and they were very coveted places within the temple. The Holy Place which held the ten golden candlesticks (symbolic of God) was for the priests only and the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place was off limits except for one day during the year – the Day of Atonement. This was the room that held the Ark of the Covenant and was later viewed as the place where God’s Spirit dwelt. The Holy of Holies could not be entered into except by the High Priest. Every year a High Priest was named and the High Priest for that year would enter into the Holy of Holies once during the appointed time (Day of Atonement) to offer a blood sacrifice and incense on behalf of the people for the forgiveness of sin. So what this meant was that the High Priest could only enter into God’s presence once per year and everyone else could not go into God’s presence at all. Do you understand what this means? Most of the people who lived during this time lived their whole life without ever having been in the presence of God and we have the opportunity to be in His presence anytime we so desire. But let me get back to my point of the veil.
The Holy Place was separated from the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place) by a veil. This veil hung from the ceiling to the floor and symbolically separated man from God. Again, one man, once per year, could go behind the veil into God’s presence. I do not know about you, but right now I could not last a year without being in His presence and this my friends is what my friend was talking about: reaching beyond the veil to enter into God’s presence during the time of need. Our ability to reach beyond the veil into God’s presence is dependant upon the type of Christian we are.
I. What Type Of Christian Are You?
Everyone one of us is different. We look different, we act different, we smell different, we dress different and we live in different places. With all of the differences that make us unique, we share several common bonds. First, we are all human and were created by the same God. Second, for those who accept Christ as their Savior, we become spiritual brothers and sisters. But although we all become Christians, we do not all become the same “type” of Christian or act the same way. So this morning, I want us to consider the type of Christian we are.
For the purpose of this message, I want to give you a visual for your reference. Remember the description of the temple that I gave you? Well I want to use this setting, our Church, as a replica of the temple so that you will be able to understand the difference types of Christians that I want to talk about. So here is how I want you to visualize this:
• Outer Court of the Temple: The parking lot outside will represent the outer court of the temple. This was the place for the “normal, non-priestly” people.
• Temple Porch: The temple had 15 porches and I want you to think of the porch at the front door of this school as one of the porches of the temple.
• Holy Place: Once you leave the porch out front and enter into the school, you enter into the lobby area. The lobby area beyond that door right there is the “Holy Place” as represented by the temple.
• The Veil: These doors will represent the veil that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
• Most Holy Place: This room that we are all sitting in, our sanctuary, is the Most Holy Place where God’s Spirit dwells.
With that visual, let go back to my original question, “what type of Christian are you?”
A. The Parking Lot Christian
The first type of Christian that I want you to visualize is the “Parking lot Christian”, the ones who congregate in the outer courts of the temple. They are Christians who have no deep desire to search out God’s word. They gather in the outer court, in the parking lot, and have lively discussions about everything other than what God is doing in their life. Have you ever noticed how quiet a Church service can be during the actual service and how loud it can be when Church is over and people are mulling around fellowshipping? These Christians love to fellowship with each other but have not reach the level of understanding of true fellowship with God. When they come to Church, they keep an eye on their watch to make sure they are out on time. Because they are “parking lot Christians”, when the storms comes they get soaked because there is no shelter in the parking lot. You can always recognize them because they are so beaten down by life that they always look like they just came in out of a storm. Are you a parking lot Christian?
B. The Porch Christians
Remember what I told you about the fifteen porches in the temple? How they were the gathering places for a lot of Scriptural discussions and debates? Well, guess what, we have some porch Christians in our midst. Porch Christians have one foot in and one foot out. One foot is always close to the parking lot – “just in case”. Although they have a desire to enter into the Holy Place, it is hard for them to give up their old ways. While they are standing on the porch, they look out with envy at the parking lot Christians because they seem to laughing and having a good time. Because these Christians have been on the porch and have listened to or participated in the Biblical discussions and debates, they have an understanding of what God can do, even though their understanding comes from the experiences of others as discussed on the porch. These Christians also rely on what they have been taught, the traditions that they have lived by versus the truth of God’s word. With this, there is something that just keeps them from totally committing and experiencing God for themselves. When the storms of life come, because they are partially covered under the porch, they stay halfway dry. They can weather some storms because they have some understanding of what God can do. Are you a Porch Christian?
C. The Lobby Christians
The Holy Place within the temple was for the priests. When Christ died, we all became priests. 1 Peter 2:9 says “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may claim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Jesus Christ has made us priests unto Himself so we have a right to enter into the Holy Place that is reserved for priests. We have a lot of “Holy Place” Christians that for this message we will name “Lobby Christians”. Lobby Christians have dedicated themselves to God and may have been a Christian for a long time. They are seasoned. They have shared their stories out on the porches. They remember when they were once hanging out in the parking lot. Lobby Christians have matured and tend to be very religious. They say the right things and because they have a good understanding of God’s Word, they believe that God can do what His word says. With all of their growth, there is a reason they stay in the lobby. When they come to worship, little things bother them. People are not “Holy” enough. The preacher doesn’t preach right. The choir sings wrong. There is always something “not right” so it is easier just to stay in the lobby. Maybe someone looks at them wrong but for whatever reason, the Lobby Christian feels most at home in the lobby, When storms come up in their life, they handle them pretty well because they are in the lobby and not out in them. However, they go through the storms on the faith of others because they have “head” knowledge but not a heart experience. Are You a Lobby Christian?
D. The Sanctuary Christian
Remember earlier when I told you that the Most Holy Place was the room where God’s Spirit dwelt within the temple? This was the room where the High Priest could only enter once per year. This Sanctuary that we are in right now is that “Most Holy Place” because God’s Spirit dwells here whenever we are here. The Sanctuary Christian has a personal relationship with God. When they pray, they know that God hears them. They do not rely on others to go to God for them – they go directly to Him for themselves because of their relationship. They know and understand the stories of God’s blessings and have experienced them. They have their own testimonies and do not rely on the testimonies of others about God’s goodness. When they are in praise service, sometimes they find themselves with their hands reaching upward. They are reaching up to God because they know when they reach up, He reaches down to them. For those of you who have been around small kids, what do you do when they come to you reaching up for you? You reach down and pick them up. Well imagine God doing the same thing when you are going through a difficult time. When you pick the child up, what do they do? They wrap their arms around you and hold on. The sanctuary Christian knows that when they reach up to God, He reaches back and takes hold of them. In order to get to this point, you must find yourself reaching beyond the veil – beyond the veil that blocks you from leaving the lobby and entering the sanctuary, into the fullness of God’s presence.
Hebrews 6:17-20 says “In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Paul says that God, having given us His word, went a step further to prove to us that His promises to us would be fulfilled. God cannot lie and once He has spoken, it will be fulfilled. He says this is the hope that anchors our soul – the hope of knowing that God will fulfill every thing He has spoken. This hope enters into the veil – it takes us into God’s presence, where Jesus has already entered before us. You see, Jesus opened the door for us to enter into the veil. We must reach beyond the veil. When we’re sick, reach beyond the veil. When we’re suffering, we must reach beyond the veil. When troubles are all around us, we must reach beyond the veil. The woman with the issue of blood, when she had spent all of her money and there was nothing more she could do, she reached beyond the veil and through her reaching, she found Jesus and was healed. When you reach beyond the veil, when you experienced it yourself, and that experience will anchor your soul and keep you steadfast during times of trouble.
II. The Veil Was Torn In Two
Matthew 27:50-51 records the following: “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His Spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.”
When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. God tore the veil, not man. The veil separated man from God and when it was torn, it symbolized that we could now enter into God’s presence at any time, not just once per year and not with the aid of a High Priest. When we could not get to Him, God came to us in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ. While Jesus walked the earth, the veil continued to separate man from God. While Jesus preached, healed the sick and raised the dead, the veil continued to separate man from God. When they arrested and beat Him; when they placed the crown of thorns on His head; when they made Him carry His own cross and then nailed Him to it, the veil continued to separate man from God. But when He cried out to His Father and when He took His last breath, the veil was torn in two from the top to the bottom. Jesus entered into God’s presence first and then made way for us to do the same.
Conclusion
The veil in the temple was there to keep man separated from God until He was ready to be in God’s presence. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest for that year would enter into the Holy of Holies and into God’s presence. Before this happened, that priest had to make sure he was ready, because you could not enter into God’s presence just any old way. If you entered before you were ready (as in being clean and prepared) the Spirit of God would strike you down. The other priests, not knowing if the High Priest was ever really ready, would tie a rope around his waist just in case he was stuck down. This way they could pull him out if necessary. Remember, only the High Priest could enter and only once per year. If they did not tie the rope around his waist and he were struck down, he’d lie there for a full year rotting. This is not the case today.
God has given us full access to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. And although we have this full access, some of us still remain in the parking lot with our relationship with Him. We can see the place where He dwells, but we are not really ready to enter in. Some of us want to remain on the porch – we want some of the benefits of being a Christian but we still like to enjoy our freedom. Some of us are in the foyer; we fill the tug of God on our hearts but we have not found a way to fully release ourselves to Him. Finally there are those of us who have reached beyond the veil to enter into His presence. We talk with God and we listen as He talks back. We have a sense of peace that few understand. We do not need others to tell us how good He is or how to worship Him – we figured that out during our personal time with Him. So this morning, are you in the parking lot, on the porch, in the foyer or in the sanctuary? May God bless and keep you.
