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Sermon Outline: I Will Meet, Dwell And Live In You (Exodus 36:8-38)

I. I Will Come And Meet You

II. I Will Come And Dwell Amongst You

III. I Will Come And Live In You

Sermon Breakdown: "I Will Meet, Dwell, and Live in You"

Text: Primarily Exodus 36:8-38, with supporting texts from John and the Epistles.

Central Theme: The progression of God's plan to dwell intimately with His people, moving from a physical structure (the Tabernacle) to a person (Jesus Christ) and finally to His people (the Church and individual believers).

1. Introduction: The Fascination with the Tabernacle

• Hook: Draws a parallel between human fascination with grand buildings (palaces, cathedrals) and the ultimate significance of the biblical Tabernacle.
• Significance: Highlights that the Bible dedicates extensive space (almost 50 chapters) to the Tabernacle's details, signaling its supreme importance.
• Initial Purpose: The Tabernacle was God's initiative—a portable dwelling place where His people could meet with Him during the wilderness wanderings. It was a tangible answer to the human longing to encounter God.

2. The Three-Phase Progression of God's Dwelling

The sermon is structured around a three-part outline that shows the evolution of God's dwelling place.

Phase 1: "I Will Come and Meet You" (The Tabernacle)

• Symbolism: The Tabernacle as God's dwelling place on earth.
• Limitations:
• Geographical: It was in one place at one time.
• Access: Limited to priests; only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year.
• Conclusion: It was a temporal and limited solution, but it was the first step in God's plan.

Phase 2: "I Will Come and Dwell Amongst You" (Jesus Christ)

• The Fulfillment: Jesus is presented as the true and final Tabernacle.
• Key Scripture: John 1:1, 14 – "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us."
• The Incarnation: This new "tabernacle" was not made by human hands but was the miraculous incarnation of God in human flesh (fully God and fully man).
• Jesus as the Temple: References John 2:19-21, where Jesus identifies His body as the temple that would be destroyed and raised in three days.
• Application:
• To know God, one must come to Jesus.
• No longer a need to travel to a physical place; salvation and access to God are found through faith in Christ alone (John 3:16).
• The destruction of the Jerusalem temple (AD 70) underscores that Jesus is the only temple we need.

Phase 3: "I Will Come and Live in You" (The Holy Spirit in the Believer and the Church)

• The Indwelling: When a person believes in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live permanently within them (Romans 8:9).
• Implications:
• Comfort: We are never alone and can never lose our salvation.
• Power: The Spirit strengthens us for daily living (Ephesians 3:16-17).
• Responsibility: Our bodies are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This demands holiness and calls us to:
• Personal Purity: To flee from sin that defiles God's temple.
• Biblical Separation: To avoid being "unequally yoked" (2 Corinthians 6:14) in spiritually foundational relationships (e.g., marriage, ministry).

3. Corporate Application: The Church as God's Temple

• The Bigger Picture: God dwells not only in individuals but also corporately in the Church (the body of believers).
• Key Scripture: Ephesians 2:20-22 – Believers are "builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."
• The Church's Role:
• A place for corporate worship, exercising spiritual gifts, and preaching the gospel.
• Illustration: The story of the lost boy emphasizes that the church, working together, is far more effective in reaching the lost than individuals working alone.
• A Call for Patience: Acknowledges the church's imperfection but urges believers to be patient, seeing others as a "work in progress" and loving the church because Christ died for it.

4. Conclusion and Application

• Summary: The message culminates by reinforcing the core truth: "God is dwelling in us."
• Final Challenge: This reality should directly impact our daily lives—our actions, thoughts, and words.
• Call to Action: To live a life worthy of this incredible privilege, manifesting the transformative power of the indwelling Holy Spirit for God's glory, both individually and as a church body.

Key Themes and Emphasis:

• Progressive Revelation: God's plan for intimacy with humanity unfolds from the Old to the New Testament.
• Access to God: The sermon traces the journey from limited access (Tabernacle) to universal access through faith (Christ).
• The Presence of God: The ultimate goal is God's intimate presence with His people.
• Holiness: The privilege of being God's temple carries the responsibility to live a holy life.
• The Importance of the Church: Stresses that the corporate body of Christ is essential to God's plan, not just individual faith.

Context and Hook:

Have you ever stood in awe of a grand cathedral or ancient palace, wondering about the purpose behind its design? This sense of awe is just a shadow of the significance of the biblical Tabernacle, a structure so important that God dedicated nearly 50 chapters of the Bible to its details. But what if this portable tent in the wilderness was only the beginning of a much grander plan?

This sermon unveils God's breathtaking progression from a dwelling place to a dwelling person, and finally, to a dwelling presence within us. It explores the stunning truth that the God of the universe no longer resides in a building made with hands but has chosen to make His home in the hearts of believers. Discover how this profound reality transforms your identity, your purpose, and your everyday life, offering both unparalleled comfort and an awesome responsibility.

Transcript:

[16:57]

People are often fascinated with the structures of great buildings. When they travel to different countries, they would visit the grand palaces, castles and cathedrals. They would also be interested to read the information provided regarding who designed the structure, when it was built, how long it took to build it, and most importantly, what was the purpose of the building? How much more the Tabernacle in the wilderness, in which the architect or designer was God? It was so significant that the Bible dedicated almost 50 chapters to explain how the Tabernacle was designed, who were involved in building it, what went into it, and what happened inside.

Most certainly, the children of Israel would want to be reminded also of the details about the tabernacle. ‘Read to us from the scrolls of Moses and tell us again about the tabernacle.’ (2 Kings 23:2; Nehemiah 8:1-3, 8) For more than a hundred over years, while the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, and even when they entered into the Promised Land before the Temple was built, the Tabernacle was God's portable dwelling place. So, the people would want to know about it. However, it would always begin with God initiating the building of the Tabernacle. And what was the purpose? That His people might come to meet Him. (Exodus 25:22; Exodus 29:42-43)

It does not mean that God was not omnipresent. We are always in His presence. Even the entire universe cannot contain Him. But God chose and designated a place whereby His people could come and meet with Him. Remember, the people had contributed to the building of the Tabernacle, whether they be gold, silver, bronze, precious stones, wood, skins of animals, oil, garments, and so forth. They gave so cheerfully, sacrificially and willingly that at the end, Moses had to command them to stop giving, ‘Enough. It is more than enough.’ (Exodus 36:5-7)

Now after that, this entire passage in Exodus 36:8-38, as well as the following chapters, were all about the people committing to the work of building the Tabernacle according to God's plan. Beginning with the construction of the curtains which form the walls and ceiling of the Tabernacle. Those curtains were very heavy, and in order to support this massive weight, they needed the framework or structure with all the wooden boards, pillars, crossbars and sockets to stabilize the entire huge tent.

In our previous messages, we had already touched on the significance of the curtains and the structure of the Tabernacle. (in Exodus 26) So today, we will approach this passage in a different way. We want to learn that God's plan for the Tabernacle, which was the place for His people to come and meet Him, did not stop there. But it continued from there even until today. Therefore, I've titled the message as, ‘I Will Meet, Dwell, and Live in You.’

I. I Will Come And Meet You

Firstly, I will come and meet you. The Tabernacle represented God's dwelling place on earth. This extraordinary building was the answer to the deepest longing of the human soul. People have always wanted to know where they could go and meet with the living God. If there is a God, how can I know Him? Where can I meet Him? Is there any way for me to come into His holy presence? During the time of Moses, the answer was to go to the Tabernacle. However, the Tabernacle was only the first part of God's plan. You see, God's sovereign plan was to have an intimate relationship with His people.

Although the Tabernacle was a marvelous structure, it had some physical limitations. It could only stand at one place at one time, which means if the people wanted to meet Him, they had to travel to that place. And not everyone could enter the Tabernacle, only the priests could. And only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and that was limited to once a year. In other words, the Tabernacle was only a temporal place for the people to go and meet with God. Later on, the temple was built.

When the time was right, God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to come into this world and dwell amongst men. That was why in the New Testament, the Gospel of John 1:1 said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And verse 14 said, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt [or tabernacled] among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Wherever Jesus is, God is, in person, for He is the eternal second person of the Triune God. And He willingly manifested His divine presence in the flesh.

II. I Will Come And Dwell Amongst You

If I may put it this way, in the Tabernacle, God said, ‘I will come and meet you.’ In Jesus Christ, God said, ‘I will come and dwell amongst you.’ This was the second phase of God's plan. This new tabernacle was not made of goat's hair and shittim wood. This new tabernacle was made of flesh and blood, planted in the virgin's womb by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit. Theologians call this the incarnation, which means Jesus was one person with two natures: a divine nature and a human nature. By taking on the flesh of humanity, He became both God and man.

No craftsman, however gifted or skillful, could ever attempt to create this new tabernacle. Only God could fashion the body of His Only Begotten Son, bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh, yet He was 100% God. That was the reason why Jesus spoke of His body as the Temple.

On one occasion, the Jewish leaders challenged Jesus to show some miraculous signs that would prove His divine authority. Maybe you can turn with me to John 2:19-21. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The people thought He was speaking about the physical temple in Jerusalem, so they scoffed at Him. "Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?" If Jesus wanted to, He could have raised this physical temple in three days. But that was beside the point, because verse 21 said, "But he spake of the temple of his body."

Later on, after the resurrection, the disciples remembered what Jesus had talked about destroying the temple and raising it again. And they finally realized that He was talking about His body: His physical body that died on the cross of Calvary, shedding His precious blood to pay the penalty for our sins, was buried, and on the third day, He was raised from the grave in victory. So Jesus was speaking about Himself as the tabernacle who came and dwelt amongst men.

That is where we have the most wonderful verse in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." In other words, if you want to meet God, if you want to know and experience Him, all you need to do is to come to Jesus. He is the true tabernacle. To know Him is to know God, and to come to Him is to come to God. You and I do not need to go to any particular place or some special buildings. All we need to do is to believe in Jesus Christ.

Perhaps that was the reason why God allowed the Temple in Jerusalem to be destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. By that time, Jesus had already finished His suffering and dying for our sins, and He is the only temple we need.

Dear friend, imagine yourself living at the time of Moses, not in the wilderness, but in some parts of the world, and you heard someone telling you about the Tabernacle. You discovered that there was actually a place where you could go and meet with God, where your sins could be forgiven, where you could see the glory of heaven on earth. What would you have done to go and see the tabernacle? What price are you willing to pay to get there? What distance are you willing to travel to get there today? What do we need to do to enter the Tabernacle? Jesus Christ is the true tabernacle, and God is inviting you to come in. Enter in by trusting in Him.

Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross to save you from your sins? Will you receive His eternal gift of salvation by trusting in Jesus' death and resurrection for salvation? Ask Him to be your Saviour and your Lord. He is knocking on the door of your heart, inviting you to come into Him, the true tabernacle.

III. I Will Come And Live In You

The third phase of God's plan is: I will come and live in you. When we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ, something amazing happens. God comes into us. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Triune God, comes in to live in us.

Romans 8:9 said, "Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." So God did not stop with the Tabernacle in the wilderness, or with the Temple in Jerusalem, or even with Jesus Christ who was the true tabernacle. He wanted to have an even closer, intimate relationship with us. And by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, He has made His home in us. Rather than telling us to go somewhere to meet with Him, He has come to be in us, to tabernacle in us.

The Tabernacle in the wilderness was designed by God, but it was built by human hands. However, it was not so with our lives, which were built by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of God's word. The Holy Spirit convicted our hearts that we were sinners and turned us to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Then the Holy Spirit continues to do the work of transforming our lives.

To know that the Holy Spirit dwells and tabernacles in us is a most comforting thought, don't you think? It is something that cannot be undone. Once we are indwelled with the Holy Spirit, we are forever indwelled by Him. We will never lose our salvation. And if God is with us, what can man do to us? What is there for us to fear? The Holy Spirit will empower us as we live our days on this earth.

Ephesians 3:16-17 said that He will "grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love”.

But this indwelling of the Holy Spirit also comes with an awesome responsibility. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 said, "Flee fornication." Why must we flee fornication? Paul said, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

A tabernacle or temple is a place or building set apart for the holy services of God. That was the reason why the children of Israel took extra care whenever they approached the Tabernacle or Temple. By making us His tabernacle, God is saying, ‘I want you to be a holy dwelling place for me.’ So whenever we are tempted to sin, we must remember that we are God's holy temple. If our bodies are his dwelling place, then we should not defile God's holy temple by the things we do, say, or think. We must be very careful.

Just as the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" This biblical principle ought to be applied into our lives, our ministries, our church, our marriages, and to any relationships that require spiritual unity. We cannot be spiritually united with unbelievers, as God has said, ‘I will live in you, and walk in you; and I will be your God, and you will be my people.’ (2 Corinthians 6:16, Leviticus 26:11-12, Ezekiel 37:27)

It does not mean that we cannot do business or work with the unbelievers. We can do that. But as far as spiritual unity is concerned—for example, to start the marriage union or be involved in the gospel work—you and I must not be unequally yoked together with people who do not have the Holy Spirit living in them.

Dear friend, if God lives in us, then we must always consider what kind of lives are we living. What kind of thoughts are we thinking? What kind of words are we speaking? Are we living transformed lives and applying biblical separation?

Allow me to end by saying this. God is living in us both individually and corporately as believers. If I have the Holy Spirit indwelling in me, and you have the Holy Spirit indwelling in you; if I am manifesting the power of the Holy Spirit in my life, and you are manifesting the power of the Holy Spirit in your life; and when we all come together as a church, what an amazing experience that will be. What a powerful testimony of the presence of God.

As Ephesians 2:20-22 said, as believers, we are "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets," referring to the Word of God, "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

So where is God's dwelling place today? In our individual lives, and to a greater extent, in the church. We are the tabernacle of God. When we talk about the church, we are not talking about some sort of building. The church is the people of God. It is a living tabernacle, not made of wood and bricks, but precious lives transformed by God's grace and filled with his Spirit.

Some people only think of their personal relationships with God and that the church is not important. But the truth is that God not only wants us to be His dwelling place individually, but corporately as well. The church is the place where all the individual believers will come together and worship Him and exercise their spiritual gifts for his glory. It is the place where the gospel is preached for the saving of lost souls. Individually, you and I ought to share the gospel. But when we share the gospel corporately, that power is intensified.

Once there was a little boy who went missing. The entire village desperately went in search of him. The weather was extremely cold. The grass was tall, and they went their own separate ways in search of him. After many hours of searching, they still could not locate the little boy. Finally, someone said, ‘Why not the entire village come together, and let us hold our hands and comb through the tall grass, so we can cover every corner of the entire field?’ They did. And they found the little boy, but sadly, he had died. All the villagers cried out and said, ‘If only we had come together earlier and combed through the entire field, he would have been saved.’

In a similar fashion, this world is filled with dying, lost souls. If only the believers would come together as a church and comb through this sin-filled world in search of lost souls, many more would be saved by the grace of God.

Dear friend, some people would always complain about the church. It is true that the local church is not perfect. It is made up of individuals who are believers and unbelievers. Though the believers are indwelled with the Holy Spirit, they do not always manifest the wonder-working of the Spirit. Sometimes they are faithful, and other times they are unfaithful. But despite the weakness of the church, God has ordained the church to be the place for his glory to be manifested. The church is a place where the glory of God is to be displayed.

Very seldom people will complain about themselves whenever they do something wrong. They will say, ‘Well, I'm not perfect.’ That is true of ourselves as well as the brethren in the church. As long as we are alive, we are still a work in progress, because the work of transforming our lives will go on and on and on until we die or when Jesus comes in the rapture. So we must have more patience with one another.

God is still working in the believer's lives. When we look at other brothers and sisters in Christ, rather than only seeing their faults, we see the work of the Holy Spirit, however slow it may be. And he is building us together into a beautiful home for the glory of God. As an individual, as a church, God says to us, ‘I have come to be in you.’

I pray that as this message comes to an end, let this thought sink into our hearts: God is dwelling in us. The Spirit of God is in us. So we must live the kind of life that God would desire us to live, to his glory. Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, we give Thee thanks for reminding us once again, even as we are studying the book of Exodus. We have come to the building of the Tabernacle. And as we consider the Tabernacle, how Thou hast said to Thy people, ‘I will come and meet with you.’ (Exodus 25:22, 29:43, 30:6,36)

Then as we fast forward to our Lord Jesus Christ, Thou hast said that Thy Only Begotten Son, (John 1:18) the second person of the Triune God, Jesus, has come and He dwelt amongst men. (John 1:14) He is the true tabernacle. To know Him is to know Thee. To come to Him is to come to Thee. (John 14:6)

And we who have believed in Thee, the Holy Spirit has come into us to live in us. (Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19) What a profound thought. It is both comforting, as well as it comes with an awesome responsibility. If the Spirit of God dwells in us, then what kind of lives are we living? What kinds of thoughts are we thinking? What kind of words are we speaking? Are we living transformed lives? Are we applying biblical separation and principles into our lives? These are things that we ought to ask ourselves.

God is living in us both individually and corporately. So as a church, when we come together, what an amazing experience that will be. What a powerful testimony of Thy presence in our lives. May each and every one of us be mindful of this teaching, that we put into rightful application; that instead of complaining, murmuring, we must have more patience with one another. Because as long as we are alive, we are still a work in progress, because the work of transforming our lives will go on and on and on until we die. And that is true of ourselves as well as the brethren in the church.

Remind us always, because as humans we always forget. May we love the church, because Christ died for the church. It is a living tabernacle, not made with wood and bricks, but precious lives transformed by Thy grace and filled with Thy Spirit. May Bethel BP church be this living tabernacle, to shine forth the glorious light that is in Thee. We give Thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.