CHRIST IN THE TABERNACLE

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

CHRIST IN THE TABERNACLE

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Let’s study the seven pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle and see how they are a prophetic picture of Christ in His person and work.

BRAZEN ALTAR (Exo 27:1-8) - This is where the animals were sacrificed for the sins of the people and the blood would atone for the people. It was made of bronze which always speaks of judgment. Significance in Christ...Jesus took the judgment for our sins on the cross. (2 Cor 5:21) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us…

BRONZE LAVER (Exo 30:17-21) - After the priest would sacrifice they would need to clean up with water before they could enter the Holy Place. Significance in Christ...Jesus washes us when we are born again and regenerated through the new birth. (Tit 3:5) not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,... (See also John 15:3; Eph 5:26)

LAMPSTAND (Exo 25:31-40) - When the priests would enter the Holy Place they would see the golden lampstand off to the left. This would light up the rest of the room for the priest to attend to his duties. Significance in Christ...Jesus gives illumination to mankind so all may see the way of salvation and walk in His light. (John 8:12) … “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (See also Mat 5:14)

TABLE OF SHOWBREAD (Exo 25:23-30) - Every seven days the priests would change out the twelve loaves of bread that represented the twelve tribes of Israel. Significance in Christ...Jesus is the bread of life. And as we take Him in to our lives we will have eternal life and the strength to live for Him on a daily basis. (John 6:35) And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

ALTAR OF INCENSE (Exo 30:1-10) - The priests would offer incense on this altar in the morning and evening so it would burn perpetually before the Lord. Significance in Christ...Jesus acts as an advocate on our behalf to the Father stating that we are redeemed through His blood and fit for a relationship with a holy God. (Heb 7:25) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

ARK OF THE COVENANT (Exo 25:10-22) - In the Holy of holies was the box that held the Ten Commandments. The lid of the ark was called the MERCY SEAT. Once a year the priest would enter the Holy of holies on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16) and apply the blood on the mercy seat to atone for the sins of Israel. Significance in Christ...God’s righteous anger against sin has been satisfied and the sinner who trusts Christ for salvation is now justified before a righteous God. (1 John 4:10)…He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Louie

HAPPY LABOR DAY

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

LABOR DAY

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. Over the years, it has developed from a purely labor union celebration into a general "last fling of summer" festival. School is starting and fall is around the corner. Everyone loves the day off enjoying BBQ, beach, or baseball and in a general sense feels honored for their hard work.

But is your labor feeling more like toil and drudgery? Do you feel more like a slave than a happy worker? Do you work hard and feel no one appreciates what you do? Then take heart because God sees how hard you are working and values your labor of love! Be encouraged through these words of scripture:

• (Heb 6:10) For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love . . .

• (1 Cor 15:58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

How can we find new energies and fresh inspiration for life’s tasks?

• (Psa 127:1) Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it . . .

• (Col 1:29) To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

• (Mat 11:28-30) "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. {29} "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

And remember that the work of salvation is free and you don’t have to work for it!

• (John 19:30) . . . Jesus . . . said, "It is finished!" (The work has been done on the cross)

• (Eph 2:8-9) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, {9} not of works, lest anyone should boast.

So work hard but at the same time rest in the Lord and enjoy the work of your hands!

• (Eccl 2:24) Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

Louie

THE GLORY DAYS

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

THE GLORY DAYS

(Eccl 7:10) Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.

Bruce Springsteen has a song entitled “Glory Days” where he describes bumping into once popular school friends who were longing for the former good old days. These were the light-hearted times when they were in their prime and the world was at their feet. It’s what we call today the “rear-view mirror syndrome” and it’s what Job was struggling with. But is that where we should have our focus? It’s time to put away the yearbook and get out the notebook because God wants to fill our future with good days to come. These are the new GLORY DAYS!

Job was looking back to better days (Job 29:1-6). A wave of sentimentality came over him and he told his friends how great things used to be. He felt close to God. His family had that togetherness. He was respected in the community and people sought out his counsel. He had means and was able to help the less fortunate in their time of need. He had security and the future looked bright and the only direction in his life was forward.

We can all look back to happy times in our lives. If you really think about it you can select certain periods in your memory where you felt joyful and content. You were in your prime and things were just fine. But I believe that even in a world of strife and woe, God gives us happy times in life. (Psa 128:2) When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. (Gen 30:13; Deu 33:29; Psa 127:5; Psa 144:15; Acts 26:2)

In chapter 30 Job goes on to compare his present circumstances with his former glory days and he laments. He said even his servant’s children mock him and his plight. People abhor him and even spit on him. He intimated that his best days were over and he had been placed on the shelf as an item no longer useful. All he felt was his present pain. He cries out to God but receives no answer. He felt this was all unfair after he had done so much good in life. He ended by saying basically that his musical instrument was now accustomed to playing sad songs. (Judg 6:12-13; Ezra 3:10-12)

Did Job ever get his glory days back? The answer is “no” and “yes.” He couldn’t relive his old glory days but neither was he supposed to. God had new glory days ahead for Job. (Job 42:10) And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. We too are not to go back and try to relive the former glory days. We can’t go back, we can only go forward. And because of God’s grace in our lives we can overcome our current struggles and enter our new glory days that will make our former glory days pale in comparison! (2 Sam 7:19; 2 Cor 3:7-11; 1 Cor 2:9) Because of Jesus…these are the good ole days…THE GLORY DAYS!!

Louie

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THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

(Gal 5:22-23) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

There’s nothing like fresh fruit. There’s something attractive about the look, smell, and taste of fruit. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives we will bear fruit for our Lord that builds up believers and attracts sinners to Christ. Pray over each one and you will be fruitful for our Lord!

- LOVE (agape) is listed first because it is the foundation of the other graces (1 Cor 13:4-8a). (John 15:13) Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

- JOY (chara) is a deep and abiding inner rejoicing which was promised to those who abide in Christ. Different from happiness which is based on happy circumstances. (John 15:11) "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

- PEACE (eirene) is an inner repose and quietness, even in the face of adverse circumstances. (John 14:27) "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
- LONGSUFFERING (makrothumia) is patient forbearance towards others and slowness in avenging wrongs. (Eph 4:2) with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.

- KINDNESS (chrestotes) is benevolence (love) in action. (1 John 3:18) My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

- GOODNESS (agathosune) is uprightness of soul and an action reaching out to others to do good even when it is not deserved. (1 Sam 24:17) Then he (Saul) said to David: "You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil.

- FAITHFULNESS (pistis) is the quality which renders a person trustworthy or reliable. (1 Cor 4:2) Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.

- GENTLENESS (praotes) is meekness; the right use of power and authority (power under control). (Phil 4:5) Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

- SELF-CONTROL (egkrateia) denotes self-mastery and relates to curbing the fleshly impulses just described in Galatians 5:19-21. (1 Cor 9:27) But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Louie

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JEHOVAH WITNESSES

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

JEHOVAH WITNESSES

The Jehovah's Witnesses was begun by Charles Taze Russell in 1872. He had difficulty in accepting the doctrine of eternal damnation and so came to deny this teaching of the Bible. He also came to reject the Trinity, the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit. When he was 18 Russell organized a Bible class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1879 it was his desire to popularize his ideas. He co-published The Herald of the Morning magazine with its founder, N. H. Barbour. By 1884 Russell controlled the publication and renamed it The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom. He also founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society (now known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society - WTBTS). The first edition of The Watchtower magazine was only 6,000 copies each month. Today the Witnesses' publishing complex in Brooklyn, New York, pump out 100,000 books and 800,000 copies of its two magazines--daily!

After the death of Russell on Oct. 31, 1916, a Missouri lawyer named Joseph Franklin Rutherford took over the presidency of the Watch Tower Society which was known then as the International Bible Students Association. In 1931 he changed the name of the organization to "The Jehovah's Witnesses." Succeeding leaders have been Nathan Knorr, Frederick Franz, Milton Henschel, and Don A. Adams. Today the religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism!

Jehovah's Witnesses are best known for their door-to-door preaching, distribution of literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and for their refusal of military service, saluting the flag, and blood transfusions. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays, or other holidays and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity.

The Jehovah’s Witness religion has made a number of predictions about the end of the world. The first was 1914 – they based their prediction on prophecies from the Book of Daniel. After the end did not come, they changed the meaning of the prediction and stated that it was the date that Jesus would begin to rule invisibly. Some other years that the group have predicted the end of the world to come are: 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975, etc. (see Deut 18:20-22)

Here are some of the major aberrant teachings of the Jehovah Witnesses (JWs):

- TRINITY: JWs find it difficult to worship “a three-headed God.” They call Jesus a “mighty god,” but not the Almighty God— Jehovah. (See Gen 1:26; Mat 28:19; 2 Cor 13:14)

- DEITY OF CHRIST: JWs teach Jesus was created by God and that He had been the archangel Michael in heaven before He came to Earth. Their translation of John 1:1 from their New World Translation says the Word (Jesus) was “a” god. (See Mat 1:23; John 8:58; John 20:28; Phil 2:6; Col 2:9; Titus 2:13; Rev 1:8)

- BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS: As for Jesus’ resurrection, the JWs insist that Christ did not rise bodily from the dead, but only as a spirit who looked as if He were a body. (See John 20; Rom 1:3-4; 1 Cor 15)

- CHRIST’S FULL ATONEMENT: Man is saved through works and perfect obedience to Jehovah—by being and doing exactly what the WTBTS teaches. (See Eph 1:7; Eph 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)

The next time you hear a knock on the door don’t feel intimidated. Remember Jesus died for the JWs too!

Louie

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CCNORCO BEACH BASH/BAPTISM

CCNORCO BEACH BASH is Saturday, August 27 (NOT AUGUST 20...that was a bulletin typo), 5pm at Huntington State Beach. Come for a fun time of eating and fellowship around the fire pit. Enter at Brookhurst Ave. and Coast Highway and look for the CCNorco signs. Parking is 15.00 so think about carpooling to share the expense. Why not come early and enjoy the surf and sun if you so choose. Bring your own food/beverage,recreation equipment, blanket and jacket and we'll praise 'till sunset! There will also be an opportunity to be baptized in the ocean. (Psalm 93:4) The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.

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BIBLE FUN FACTS FOR KIDS (of all ages!)

SHEPHERD TO SHEEP

BIBLE FUN FACTS FOR KIDS (of all ages!)

Kids getting bored this summer? Nothing to do in the car? Then have fun exploring these fun Bible facts!

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT FACTS: The Bible is a collection of 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over 1,500 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents; Did you know the Bible contains 773,693 words and 3,566,480 letters and 31,102 verses. Reading them all aloud would take a person approximately 70 hours!; The Old Testament has 39 books, while the New Testament has 27 books, bringing the total to 66; The Apostle Paul wrote 13 books (almost half) of the New Testament; The Bible contains 1,189 chapters; You can read through the Bible in one year if you read approximately 3 chapters a day; The first three words in the Bible are 'in the beginning'; The first five books of the Bible, referred to as the Pentateuch, were written by Moses; The last word in the Bible is 'Amen'; The most popular verse in the Bible is John 3:16; The most comforting chapter in the Bible is Psalms 23; The central theme of the Bible is redemption through Christ.

LONGEST AND THE SHORTEST: The shortest book in the Bible is 1 John 3 with one chapter, 13 verses; The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11: 35, 'Jesus wept'; The longest book in the Bible is Psalms; The longest verse is Esther 8:9 containing 90 words; The longest word in the Bible is a name, Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:1).

STRONGEST, WISEST, OLDEST, TALLEST: The strongest and wisest men in the Bible are Samson and Solomon; The tallest and biggest villain in the Bible is Goliath whose height was over 9 ½ feet; The greatest warrior in the Bible is Gideon, who defeated 135,000 Midianites along with 300 men and 300 trumpets under God's power; The oldest individual in the Bible was Methuselah (Genesis 5:27), who died at the age of 969!; Giant who had the first king size bed was king Og of Bashan (Deut 3:11).

DID YOU KNOW: Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 118 is the central chapter of the Bible and Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet, except 'J'; The word 'God' appears 3,841 times in the Bible; The two books, 'Songs of Solomon' and 'Esther' have no mention of God in them; The word "Christian" only appears three times in the Bible; A sheep is the most frequently mentioned animal in the Bible; The only domesticated animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat!; Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer are the three angels mentioned by name in the Bible.

OTHER FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE: The Bible is the most shoplifted book in the world; About 50 bibles are sold every minute; Enoch and Elijah were two men in the bible who never died!; A raven was the first animal to emerge from the ark; There are 49 different foods mentioned in the Bible; Almonds and pistachios are the only nuts mentioned in the Bible; The word "grandmother" appears in the Bible only once (2 Tim 1:5 KJV); Seven suicides are recorded in the Bible.

UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE: Man who used a stone for a pillow (Gen 28:11); Man who had a conversation with a donkey (Numbers 22:28-30); Sun and moon stood still for a whole day (Josh 10:12-14); A woman killed a man by driving a nail through his head (Judges 4:17-21); Men lapped water like dogs (Judges 7:4-7); Man who had twelve fingers and twelve toes (2 Sam 21:20-21); Man who outran a chariot (1 Kings 18:41-46); An axe head that floated in the river (2 Kings 6:1-6); Woman who boiled and ate her son (2 Kings 6:26-31); Woman whose body was eaten by dogs (2 Kings 9:30-37); The sun travelled backwards (Isa 38:1-8); Man who walked naked for three years (Isa 20:2-4); Man ate locusts for food (Mat 3:4). Believe it or not!!

Louie