Hebrews 5:12. We will read from there through Hebrews 6:3.
A couple of months ago, we looked into going from milk to meat, specifically with this elementary teaching we are about to read. Last time, we looked at one set of them: repentance from dead works and faith in God. This time, we will look at the next set of elementary teachings.
I want to read this passage again for the context and the concept of growing from milk to meat—growing from babies into maturity. This is Hebrews 5:12.
For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food.
For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.
But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ, and press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
And this will we do, if God permit.
One more verse I would like to read is Romans 6:5. This chapter begins to talk about baptism, and I just want to bring out a phrase from this picture of baptism.
For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
Some translations say “identified” rather than “united.” If we have become identified with Him in the likeness of His death, so also we shall be in His resurrection.
Lord, we come, just as we were singing, how we love You because You first loved us. We willingly love You, and again and again, even this morning as we broke bread, we discover how lovely Your love is toward us.
Lord, we worship You. We enjoy Your presence, being able to be together, and being able to fellowship with each other. May we look to You as we are in the Word, that You would fellowship with us, meet with us, and speak to us in Your Word. In Jesus’ name, amen.
As I mentioned, we have been looking at going from milk to meat. I know these times are so far apart that even I forget everything I said before. Catherine was laughing at me last night because I was trying to listen to myself. Usually, I would cringe, but I was asking, “What did I say?”
We are looking at going from milk to meat because we want to see how the growth process happens. We want to look at it with this thought in mind: we ought to be teachers. Not teachers as far as a gifting of teaching, and not teachers as far as teaching a teaching, but we ought to be able to help a baby Christian grow, in general.
There may be a baby Christian here, or some baby Christians here. Of course, that is not the wording in Hebrews 5, but there comes a point when we should understand a little bit of the growth process. We should understand something of the difference between milk and meat.
We are now looking at what are called the elementary teachings, or foundational teachings: the beginning of the word of Christ. These teachings are a beginning point from which we grow. Last time, we tried to trace the path from a very beginning place, both in understanding and spiritual experience, into some places in the mature realm of growth.
Last time, when we spoke of repentance from dead works and faith in God, I mentioned a pillar of faith. It is easier to see that pillar because faith in God is explicitly in that set of teachings. This time, we are looking at baptism and the laying on of hands. With this set, there is still a spiritual-life pillar, and we will try to discover it.
The next set, God willing—and if we live to look into it—has to do with resurrection and eternal judgment. The pillar there will be hope. As we grow, there is faith, there is hope, and there is usually also love. Today, we are looking at the pillar of love connected with baptism and the laying on of hands.
These are foundational instructions, but that does not mean they are everything. We want to look at two sides of one thing: our spiritual life has experiences and spiritual growth, and at the same time, the eternal life that we discover and live by is the light of life. That light shines and reveals more of Christ as we go along.
When we say “elementary teachings,” it is more in the realm of light—what the Lord reveals of Himself to us at the beginning. Eventually, the light increases, and we see more and more until there is some great revelation of Christ. Yet, at the beginning of Christian experience, we also have the experience of baptism, or we ought to.
The actual experience of baptism is slightly different from the foundational teaching of baptism and the laying on of hands, but that does not mean you do not get baptized. After we have repented from dead works and had faith in God—when that experience has happened—the next step is to get baptized. We come into the experience of baptism.
If we are going to grow and receive the milk of the foundational teachings, everything is easy at the start. The Lord does not give us things that are too hard for us to choose. Both in spiritual experience and in understanding, it is very simple and easy to receive.
Milk has to do with something that we receive. It is all grace; it is the word of grace. Meat is the things that we do; it is the word of righteousness. If it is what I have in Christ, it is a type of milk—a receiving of His grace. If it is how Christ lives through me, then we are stepping into the realm of meat.
As far as revelation and light, we also use the terms milk and meat this way: some things are easy to understand. “God so loved the world, He gave His only Son for me”—that is easy for me to receive. I simply have to believe in Him. It can become very deep, but it is still simple at the beginning.
When I get to chronology in Genesis, or names and numbers, somebody has to chew a long time—with four stomachs—to gain the Christ-light out of some parts of Scripture. So, we use milk and meat in both ways. Milk is always needed as the receiving of grace, but the Lord brings us into further solid food by first giving us a little extra milk and then bringing us into something to do.
Every single thing that we do with Christ in us is an overflow of us being in Christ. He is always reminding us, “This is what you have in Christ. Now step out and do, because My life is in you also.” He is always bringing us to abide in Him, and then He abides in us and lives through us.
This specific set of teachings is very confused out there. When I say “the laying on of hands,” red flags may go up, curiosity may go up, or other reactions may happen. Part of the confusion comes from Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8. He saw the laying on of hands, saw an experience happen, and said, “I will pay for that kind of power.”
Many Christians have had that kind of feeling: “I wish I could just zap people with the Holy Spirit.” Some of us have tried to zap people, holding our hands out and touching them, and then thinking, “This does not work.” But that is a misunderstanding. Let us try to discover the actual elementary teaching of baptisms and the laying on of hands.
It does say “baptisms.” If you study baptism, you can find at least seven usages of the term. They all show different things about baptism. The baptism we normally think of as Christians is baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus—the baptism Jesus commissioned His disciples to perform.
Jesus said to go, make disciples, and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We call this believer’s baptism. You have believed, repented from dead works, and had faith in God. After that, you get baptized. You are immersed, and in your baptism, you are belonging to Christ.
One use of baptism concerns ceremonial washings—the washings of cups and other things. The root word has to do with immersion and dipping. Even there, you see the picture that you are immersed in something.
When we are immersed in Christ, when we are baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus, however much we understand, we know one thing in the depths of our heart: I belong to Christ. I am one with Christ.
With a brand-new believer, we may explain some things about the deliverance that happens in baptism: they are saved from the world and are no longer under its control. Depending on their circumstance, it may be like the word to the apostle Paul: “Why do you linger? Rise up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away.”
Paul had the picture of leaving behind his whole former life—his life of persecuting Christians. His sins were so big and outward. He needed to become a whole new person and have his sins washed away, even through baptism, although his sins had already been washed away by the blood.
Baptism brought him into the experience of saying, “I am a clean man. I am no longer who I used to be.” Then there is the deeper teaching of Romans 6: our union with Christ, our death with Him, our burial with Him, and our rising with Him. That becomes deeper and deeper.
But when you are a brand-new Christian, the life experience is a response of love. He has loved me, and I give my life to Him. The first step of, “I am going to follow Him. I am consecrated,” is, “Baptize me.”
What is understood in the spirit of man is, “I belong to Him, and He belongs to me.” He belongs to me because I believed in Him and received Him; but He has also received me. When you come out on the other side of the waters, that first baby-stage, milk experience is, “I am with Him. I belong to Him. I am identified with Him.”
You may not use the word “union,” and you may not be able to express it. Yet, in the depths of your heart—the place where you worship the Lord—you have consecrated yourself. The first part of worship is, “I give my life to Him.” Baptism is an expression of worship.
In that communion place of spiritual experience, you know, “I am with Him, and He is with me.” That is how you come through baptism. It is understood spiritually.
Something strange about these elementary teachings is that, even though a translation may say “doctrine,” we often hear that word and think of dead doctrines, a theology book, or something like that. But these teachings are mostly understood spiritually, and the mind eventually catches up.
We work with a new believer on these things, which is why they are elementary teachings. But we are working with someone who already understands, someone who already has an amen deep within. When you tell them what happened in baptism—that they went in with Christ, came out with Christ, and left the old behind—there is already an amen in them.
They know, “Yes, that is what I knew I was doing, but I could not explain it.” You show them Scripture, explain it, and help them. The light clicks; more revelation comes; they see what they have gained in Christ. It is glorious and wonderful.
The milk of the Word is mainly this: You are united with Christ. I am united with Him. I am one with Him. He loved you, you responded back in love, and you are one with Him.
Right after this happens—or as it is happening—normally a believer has led you to Christ. You run into the church when you are saved. You do not baptize yourself. When you are baptized, you are with the family of God.
Maybe you have testified of your salvation, and everybody is smiling as though the same thing happened to them. When you get baptized, even though you are soaking wet, people still want to hug you. Everyone is happy, and there is joy in the whole place.
Whether you realize it or not, you have stepped into the body of Christ. As you come out of the waters rejoicing, knowing that you are one with Christ, you look around and see that others are rejoicing. As soon as you come through baptism, you come into the sight of the church. This has to do with the laying on of hands.
Another baptism that the church should know about is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said of the Lord Jesus, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Remember, baptism is immersion. In the baptism with the Holy Spirit, you are immersed in the Holy Spirit.
Technically, it is the Lord Jesus who immerses the church, and what He immerses the church in is the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, after Christ ascended, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church. Individual born-again believers were brought into one immersion.
Think of being immersed in water: if you hold your nose and do not drink it, the water does not go inside your body, but it surrounds you. The Holy Spirit is already inside believers when they believe in Christ. What happened at Pentecost was that the Holy Spirit came around all the believers, making them one group, one body.
That anointing is outward and upon the whole church. The Lord baptized the whole church. This is what we call one baptism. First Corinthians 12 speaks of this one baptism of the church, and Ephesians 4 says, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
The one baptism has to do with baptism with the Holy Spirit, because that is what brought us all to be one church. There are many members and many parts, but one body. We have been immersed in the Holy Spirit, and when we are born again, we are brought into that immersion right away.
The laying on of hands, scripturally speaking, does not happen as often as baptism. When I was newly saved, I read Hebrews 6 and thought, “We have to start doing this.” Someone else got saved, and I wanted to lay hands on them because I thought that was what you should do.
But then I read other experiences and thought, “This does not always look the same.” As I studied the laying on of hands, I noticed that people are always baptized, but they do not always physically have hands laid on them. So we need to understand the meaning of the laying on of hands.
In Leviticus, with the sacrifices, if you brought an animal to die on your behalf as a sin offering, you laid your hand on its head. You were identified with that animal. When it died, it was as though you died for your own sins, but it died instead.
Why would you lay your hands on that poor animal? Because it is dying for you. There is a connection. It means, “I am one with that.”
In the New Testament, laying on of hands happens sometimes with healing. In Acts 28, Paul laid hands on an elderly sick man, and he was healed. But it does not always happen when someone is prayed for to be healed. James 5 speaks of calling the elders and using anointing oil, but does not specifically mention laying on of hands.
Still, it has to do with the meaning of laying on of hands: we are together; we are in this together. In Acts 13, when Saul and Barnabas were set apart for apostolic work, those praying with them laid hands on them.
As those two brothers went out to preach the gospel in other cities, the believers who remained behind were with them. They were identified with them. When Saul and Barnabas went out from Antioch, they were not two individuals going out by themselves; they had the support of the brothers behind them.
What about the laying on of hands connected with immersion in the Holy Spirit? Sometimes the physical action did happen. It did not happen at Pentecost. Thousands were saved, and somehow they worked out baptisms for about three thousand people, but there is no indication that hands were laid on all of them.
At Cornelius’s house, believers came into the experience of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit before they were baptized, and certainly before hands were laid on them. The Ethiopian eunuch was baptized, but Philip disappeared immediately afterward, so there was no time to lay hands on him. If it were a physical rule, the Holy Spirit Himself broke the rule.
But it did happen with the Samaritan believers. The gospel went out from Jerusalem because of persecution, and Philip the evangelist went to Samaria preaching Christ. People were saved, and many were baptized.
Philip was one of the seven, whom we often call deacons. He was a solid brother in the Jerusalem church, knew the ways of the church, knew what to do when people were newly saved, and was gifted as an evangelist. If it were ordinarily required to lay hands on every new believer, he would have known.
But something abnormal happened with the Samaritans. Until then, only Jews had been saved. Samaritans were viewed as something in between Jews and Gentiles, and the Jews despised them. There was potential for the Samaritans to become a separate church because of the carnality and misunderstanding of man.
So, on purpose, God held back the outward immersion upon those Samaritan believers. Philip recognized that something was wrong and sent for help. Peter and John came from Jerusalem, representing the church, and laid hands on the believers. Then the immersion experience came.
The meaning was, “We are part of the church in Jerusalem, and you are one with us. You are in the one church.” This is the one baptism. The Samaritan believers were not merely Samaritan Christians; they were Christians, and the Jewish believers were Christians. They were all one in Christ.
That is the meaning of the laying on of hands. It is identification in the one body of Christ.
It happened another time with some confused disciples in Acts 19. They were disciples of John. Paul asked whether they had received the Holy Spirit and discovered that they had not even heard clearly about the gospel.
Paul baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus. Their hearts were ready; they had received John’s baptism, which had prepared them. They may have blended in with Christians wherever they went, saying, “I am a disciple too,” without fully knowing what that meant.
This is sometimes similar to people who grow up in a church environment. They are around Christians, their hearts are ready, and they may be like disciples of John by accident. They believe, but somebody needs to ask, “Are you actually saved?”
A lot of the people I help come to Christ are so ready, but nobody has actually asked them. That is what happened to me. I was ready. I had repented of my ways and wanted to follow the Lord. I just needed somebody to say, “Believe on Jesus.”
Paul laid hands on those disciples because they had so identified themselves as John’s disciples. He was helping them see, “You are part of the church.” Their case was special, but it reveals the same truth: we are one together; we are part of the body of Christ.
A brand-new believer does not need a detailed study of the laying on of hands. Hopefully, they do not have the kind of background many of us have, with confusion and wrong teachings. In the elementary teachings, whether or not we use these words, we show them that they are identified with the whole church.
We show them that they are part of the body of Christ. This is union and communion. We are united together, immersed together, part of one body, and we fellowship because we share the same life.
At the start with a brand-new Christian, we help them see right away that they are part of the body of Christ. We spend time with them and bring them into gatherings with believers.
As they begin to grow, the Lord has built spiritual growth in such a way as to wean us into eating meat. He gradually brings us into Christ living through us by constantly giving us the realization that we are in Christ. He gives us grace, and then He gives us a little call to righteousness—the word of righteousness.
The baptism response itself is a little bit of righteousness, a little bit of meat. A brand-new Christian receives Christ and His love, but immediately there is a reaction within: “Wait, I love Him back. I want to take my step and say, ‘I belong to the Lord, and I love the Lord. Baptize me.’”
When we bring a new believer into a church gathering, they come and break bread. Typically, unless there is some strange environment, they have something to say. In a prayer meeting, they have something to pray. It may be off topic, but there is a response happening.
At a Bible fellowship, when Christ is being shared, they have something to share. At the breaking of bread, they have some response of, “Thank You, Lord.” Sometimes the best responses at the breaking of bread are from brand-new believers, because that response is going on.
This is still the milk realm, perhaps with just a little rice added to the milk. It is a little bit of growth, because the exercise of the life of Christ is going through them. We are all excited to hear and see it.
Our reaction is more grace—grace upon grace. Not only is there grace within them, but we are gracious toward them as they make mistakes. We are filled with joy that something is going on. We do not put a lot upon them.
For a while, whatever experience they are going through—“I just saw this in Scripture, and I have to share this”—it is great. It is milk realm. It is joy, responsive love, and the building up of the whole body of Christ.
As they go on, they run into their sins. By God’s grace, we help them see, “You are forgiven in Christ. Just confess that sin and come back into Christ.” They come back into Christ, and because He loved them and they receive that love, they love Him back even more.
When you are forgiven of your sins, it is the way into the presence of the Lord. Hebrews 10 speaks of entering into the holy place by the blood, our hearts having been sprinkled from an evil conscience. We enter through the new and living way, through the body of Jesus.
Their conscience is cleansed, but the next thing they experience is coming through that doorway into worship and fellowship. We all know this experience. We come by the blood and are in fellowship with Him, and there is joy in that fellowship.
A new believer is learning how to come into fellowship—how to get into the realm of His love, how to love Him back, and how to get right with the Lord. This is a beginning stage of learning how to worship the Lord.
They may not understand it at first, but we want to help them understand so that it becomes quicker and quicker for them to come and worship the Lord. This is where the meaning of laying on of hands helps.
You come in to break bread. This is true with sick Christians and new Christians. If you are hurt or beaten up from the day, you come in, and because you are part of the body of Christ and identified with everyone else, the whole church helps bring you into the presence of the Lord.
You may not have dealt with your sins yet, but another person who has dealt with theirs prays with a tear in their eye. Just as you catch a yawn from someone, you catch a tear from someone. You catch it in your spirit. Suddenly, you give up your sins, realize the cleansing of the blood, and are brought back into worship.
This is the way we help new believers constantly. This is why they must not forsake gathering together. Bring them to the Bible study, even if they are filled with their sins and have gone back to some terrible place. Bring them in and give grace and mercy.
They are swept up because of the oneness of the body of Christ. In the body of Christ, we are right with the Lord. It is almost as though everyone is pulling them spiritually. As they hear the fellowship, even if they feel they are in the outer court, they begin to see the inner realm.
When they see the fellowship, they become willing to drop those sins, receive forgiveness, and enter fellowship. This is a great need.
It can kill a new believer if we throw too much meat at them. It can hurt a wounded believer if we will not give them the bottle and instead exhort them too much when it is not the right time.
As we grow, it is true that we come and bring Christ to the Lord’s table. We do not come with nothing to offer; we come with a portion to offer. We come to fellowship with fellowship to bring. We come to prayer gatherings having prayed through the week, with burdens to pray and readiness to join in.
This is normal as we go on; this is where we are going. But at the beginning stage, we want to allow believers simply to come in. It is almost not the laying on of hands but the hugging of hands—bringing them in to be right with the Lord.
They cannot see the love of God because all they see are their sins. But they can see you and me. They can see the love of that arm and the love of those hands that identify with them and bring them in. The love of God through us touches them and brings them back to the love of God.
They experience the love of the brethren and the love of God bringing them in. More and more, they are exercised in learning how to worship. Even if they fail, they learn to confess their sins and come into His presence.
They begin to keep a short account. They learn how to break bread, how to prepare for breaking bread, how to sit quietly before the Lord, and how to remember that every time they enter the holy of holies, it is by the precious blood.
Then the Lord brings in a little more. There is a growth spurt that brings believers into the realm of being young men in the faith. First John 2 describes some things about them.
Along the way, brothers and sisters have shown them how lovely the Word of God is. They receive revelation, read the Word, grow in it, and the Word of God begins to abide in them. They learn that this helps them abide in the Lord.
As they grow from milk to meat, they begin to receive some meat experience. First John says that young men have overcome the evil one. Basically, they have learned that Christ lives in them.
They have learned the response of coming into the presence of the Lord and worshiping Him regularly. They have learned not merely to be forgiven of sins or to avoid Satan’s condemnation, but to overcome sins and to be right with the Lord more normally and regularly.
Then they encounter another problem: the temptation of the world. The temptation of the world is really to have another god besides God. It is to have another love besides loving the Lord. It does not have to be an obvious sin; it only needs to take away your love from the Lord.
At this point, the Lord brings another matter to their attention. In the baby stage, everything has been about them. Babies are selfish. It has been, “Can I worship Him? Can I get right with Him? Do I love Him? Am I hiding from the body of Christ?”
But now they look around and see brothers and sisters. They see the church that has helped them so much. There is a struggle between the temptation of the world and the love of the Father for His children.
They begin to see that they are members of the body of Christ. They have the Holy Spirit within them. They cannot simply live however they want, because the Holy Spirit lives within them.
What brings them through is receiving the love of the Lord and loving the brethren with it. If you love the brethren, you have no time for the world. The place in your heart that is tempted by the world has no room for the world when brothers and sisters are on your heart.
Perhaps there is another new believer you know, and you are helping them. At this stage, although you are not fully mature, the love of the Father for His children is developing within you. You are able to help a brand-new believer, at least a little.
You have learned how to come and worship the Lord. You have learned how to love Him back. You have learned that you are identified with Christ and that He is identified with you.
Romans 6 is helping someone with a problem concerning sin and a wrong mindset. They are saying, “Should I go on sinning so that grace may abound?” The answer is, “Do you not know what happened at baptism?”
At baptism, you died to sin as Christ died to sin. You were buried with Christ, and you rose as He rose from the dead. You rise into newness of life. Believers help us discover more and more of this reality of union with Christ and the oneness of the body of Christ.
We may not see the full height of it or understand how it all works, but we know that the Lord cares for the church and cares for the body of Christ. If we are going to help brothers and sisters grow at this point, we want to encourage them to bring a supply to the gatherings and care for one another.
Not earlier, but at this point—when someone has learned a little about overcoming sins and has begun to be in the Word—we encourage them to bring something, to bring a portion. This benefits the whole church, and it is also the way they grow.
Unfortunately, many Christians stop right here. It begins to get more difficult because we are now able to handle the word of righteousness: “Come and bring something.”
Why can you handle it? Because you know how to drink milk. If someone says, “Bring something of Christ to the Bible fellowship,” you cannot muster it up in yourself. You go to the Lord and say, “Lord, show me something of Yourself in Your Word.” You go to the Word and receive from the Lord.
You have been learning how to receive milk and enjoy it. Now you are willing to pay the price to spend time. You are willing to love the Lord’s people rather than love the world.
We all have time for our measure, for our portion—not beyond it, and not according to what others say we should do. Whatever the Lord is bringing you into, He makes room for it. But some days, you may only have time to gain Christ for the brothers and sisters, and no time to waste on the internet.
Some days there is no extra time to waste. Other days you may have leisure and still come in with something. But we need to watch for whether something takes away from our love for the Lord or our love for the brethren.
When something begins to take away our love, it is time to stop and back off. That is when we know it is becoming worldly. We have to live in the world, but something is worldly when it begins to suck away our love and become like an idol.
As we begin to love the brethren, the Lord gives us thresholds that bring us into more maturity. One concerns spiritual-life experience, and the other concerns spiritual light and revelation. This is all within the pillar of love.
Christ is the foundational rock, the capstone, the roof—everything is Christ. But as we grow, we see faith, hope, and love as pillars in our lives. Love is the pillar that remains for eternity. Faith will cease when He is present in sight, and hope will cease when what we hope for appears. But love is forever.
As you serve among God’s people and come into the Lord’s presence more and more, He calls you into abiding. In books about stages of spiritual life, one threshold is called life within the veil.
It means that you are living in the presence of the Lord as your home in a regular way. The irregular moments of your day are the moments without the Lord.
At the beginning of your Christian walk, occasional moments in the presence of the Lord are amazing and life-changing. Sometimes you may go a whole week until you show up with the church and they help bring you back. You have moments of being within the veil.
It can feel like the Old Testament tabernacle: the outer court, the holy place, the holy of holies, and the veil. This is not the reality, but it can feel this way at the beginning. You feel as though the door is shut, but occasionally you peek through by the blood, and it is amazing.
More and more, we realize that in our time the veil has been torn. Hebrews 10 says that the veil is the body of Jesus. When Jesus’ body was broken on the cross and He died, as Matthew 27 records, the physical veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.
The physical veil was a shadow of something real. When the spiritual reality was torn, the shadow was torn as well. The real holy of holies has a torn veil—the body of Jesus—and we are able to enter in.
At this stage of growth, the Lord shows us, “Why do I need to leave this place? Why not stay?” You become faster at confessing your sins. As soon as you mess up, you confess, are cleansed, and come back into His presence.
You hate the feeling of being outside of the home with Christ—outside of His presence. You have enjoyed His presence and experienced forgiveness so many times that you know how to come in.
When you make a mistake, act carnally, or speak a harsh word, you say, “No, this is not where I live.” You confess and come right back in. You do not go all the way out into the outer court. You quickly take your step back in.
John 15 says that if we keep His commandments, we abide in Him. At the young-man stage, especially, you begin to keep His commandments. He has given you the meat, the word of righteousness, the word of doing.
He can call you to do because you know who you are in Christ. Because of His grace in you, He says, “Do this.” As you keep His commandments, you abide in Him. The response of obeying the Lord is the refreshing presence of the Lord.
But if you are right with Him by the blood and are unwilling to obey Him, you find yourself outside of that veil, outside of that curtain. You cannot really say, “Jesus is my Lord,” if you will not obey Him.
When you realize this, repent of sins of omission and repent of your unwillingness to obey Him, you are brought right back into abiding in Him. This is a threshold experience.
All along our spiritual growth, the Lord has been bringing us into His presence. In the outer court there was the sacrifice for sins. As new Christians, we confess our sins, and when we do, we actually jump into the holy of holies because the veil is torn.
Even a brand-new Christian jumps into worship right away. We experience the cleansing of the laver, the washing of the water of the Word, and the cleansing from the dirt of the world. By fellowship or by the Word, we are cleansed and realize, “I am in the holy of holies right now.”
The Lord’s desire has always been to bring us into union and communion with Him, into the room of love, the room of His presence, the home where we belong.
The holy place can picture what is happening in the church. There is the table of bread. At the breaking of bread, through the experience of the church, you are brought from seeing the unleavened bread and partaking of it into the holy of holies.
The brethren bring you in with them. As you break bread, you remember Christ and find yourself before the Lord, before the ark and the mercy seat. You realize, “He is glorious, and I am already here.”
There is also the testimony of the lampstand, with its shining light. As you gather with the church and fellowship back and forth, Christ is testified. Even an unbeliever may say, “Surely God is among you.” It is a lampstand experience.
When two or three gather together in His name, He is in their midst. The veil has been torn. The holy of holies takes over the holy place, and you realize His presence is here. You are near Him and united with Him.
The same is true in prayer. One person has a burden and prays; you sense the same thing and begin to pray; another prays. You realize that over this whole gathered group, united in one baptism, the Head of the church is among us.
Suddenly, you know, “I am no longer distant from Him. I am in the holy of holies. I am in the presence of the Lord.” These gatherings help bring us through into His presence.
But what I am speaking about now is actually being in the room, in the presence of the Lord, with no need to leave. Through constant spiritual exercise, you learn to discern whether you are in His presence.
When you mess up, become distracted, or something else happens, it takes less and less time for you to realize, “I need to get back in.” Your moments away from the Lord become fewer and fewer. This is life within the veil.
The things you handle and the actions you do are changed. At the beginning, we may see the curtain as a block, though it is not true. We see how great Jesus is, how perfect He is, how heavenly He is, and how imperfect and earthly we are.
But we see that He died on the cross for us. He tore the veil, and now we can enter into the holy of holies.
At this stage, it is no longer merely the approach; it is the sitting. We have been seated with Christ in the heavenlies. We have come to the mercy seat so many times, received mercy and grace, and now everything looks different.
Not that we are God, but the Lord has brought us up to sit with Him in the heavenlies and to look from a different perspective. From the presence of the Lord, we look out toward the church, toward the holy place, and see His testimony, His bread, and the prayers of the saints.
We come from the holy of holies and gather with the saints. There is an overflow when someone is living within the veil. The young man works to gather something to bring to church gatherings, and this is a needed exercise. But eventually, the Lord brings him through a threshold into a more normal experience.
The normal thing he brings is the presence of Christ. The main thing we need in church gatherings is the presence of the Lord. You may have nothing except a prayer, but if that prayer comes from someone who is in the holy of holies, everyone is helped. It is a beautiful thing.
The Lord shows you that you are not by yourself. You are not merely you and Christ. Suddenly, you see so many brothers and sisters—indeed, all of them—seated with you in Christ.
In time and experience, not everyone who comes to a church meeting is enjoying the experience of the holy of holies. But as you rest there, you see that Christ has put everybody with Him and seated everybody with Him. You see who they are in Christ.
Your eyes begin to change, and your fatherly heart for brothers and sisters becomes purer and purer. Just as you approached God by the blood and through the new and living way, you begin to see brothers and sisters through the blood and through the broken body of Jesus.
You no longer know anyone according to the flesh. You know them according to Christ. You no longer see them far off in the outer court; you see them in the holy of holies in Christ.
It is true that you may have to help someone who is at a distance. But you reach out from the holy of holies and say, “No, no, no. Remember, your seat, your spot, is right here. Come on.”
You bring them from the outer court to the holy place and all the way into the holy of holies—by the blood, by the new and living way of Christ. Even if they are unwilling to let go of other things, you show them Christ: “Do you remember the person Christ? Come through this new and living way.”
As you bring Christ to them, they are able to come in, let go of other things, and enter the joy of the Lord with you. This is a new and joyful experience of union and communion.
This threshold is not the height. The height goes on for eternity. I cannot explain it; I do not know it. I do not even know if there is an explaining of it.
Sit for ten minutes in the presence of the Lord, completely right with Him. Do not talk, think about other things, or even try to pray for anyone. Simply behold the Lord.
As you know that you are one with Him, that He is in you, that He loves you, and that you love Him back, you may sense that something has changed. Perhaps you have discovered more of Him, but you cannot explain it.
There are unsearchable riches of Christ for us to discover. There is the breadth, depth, height, and length of His love, which will expand and expand for eternity. This is ours to discover as we grow more and more.
As you see all the brothers and sisters seated in Christ, the revelation the Lord gives is that Christ and the church are one. You see the glorious church.
Because we no longer know one another according to the flesh, we can fellowship in the best way. We can love brothers and sisters by seeing them as they are in Christ. Then we can truly help them, encourage them, and bring grace to them.
The revelation of the glorious church is life-changing. The Lord gives it to keep us steady. He shows us His eternal purpose, what He is doing in the end. He shows us the New Jerusalem.
Everyone who appears there has no sin, no death, no carnality, no spot, and no wrinkle. They are glorious. They are all in the holy of holies, because the New Jerusalem is all the holy of holies.
There is no veil and no wall separating God from man. We are all in the house together. The holy-of-holies room has become very large: the whole city of all the brothers and sisters.
The Lord gives light and revelation and says, “My church is glorious. Do not see the church as the earth is pulling her down. See the church as she is being pulled into the heavenlies. See the church in Christ, and do not see one another in the flesh.”
I bring these things up not merely to give a panoramic view. The ideal is this: Can we help one another grow? Can we give milk as well as meat? Can we be compassionate with each other and understand where people are?
Not that all of us can perfectly discern where different people are. But we can know the path of growth. We can know how the Lord is merciful all along the way: He loves us, we love Him back; He loves us, and we love Him back.
Can we do the same thing with one another? Actually, it is our only way to grow ourselves.
We ought to be teachers, but I would rather say, “Praise the Lord, we can help each other. Praise the Lord, we are in this together.”
All of us have been baptized. All of us are united with Christ and are being identified with Christ. We can look out and see every one of us identified with Christ. Praise the Lord, we are all immersed in the church.
We have all had hands laid on us in the sense that we are all in this together. This is for all of us. He loves us, is washing us clean, and has called all of us into this glorious calling of Christ in the church for eternity.
Lord, we want to worship You. We thank You for this calling to worship You, commune with You, and love You back. Lord, we thank You for loving us so much.
We thank You for calling us to grow. Sometimes this growth seems so difficult and hard, and it seems as though we want to stop and go into something else. But when we see You in the holy of holies, when we remember what it is like to be in Your presence, everything changes.
When we remember how much You love us, and how You bring brothers and sisters to lay hold of us and pull us along—how You have put the love of Christ in the hearts of the saints—we say, “Where else can we go?”
We have come to follow You, Lord. We want to enter into the holy of holies, and we want to stay there. Lord, thank You for making a home for us and bringing us into this home. In Jesus’ name, amen.