THE TRUE TABERNACLE

KINGDOM BUILDERS

PIERCING THE VEIL

The True Tabernacle

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

When we think of a tabernacle or a temple, we see with the natural eye as something or some religious structure that is constructed and exists on the ground. It is made of goat skins or stone, has an outer court with a brazen altar, a laver, and a Holy Place with the shewbread, the candlestick, the golden altar, and finally a place called the holy of holies wherein is the ark of the covenant overlaid with a mercy seat. When we think of the church, we think of a religious building of brick with a spire, big double doors, columns in the front, a vestibule, a sanctuary, stained glass windows, an altar, a pulpit, and a choir loft. One of the most spectacular churches in America is the Crystal Cathedral, and it was the largest glass building in the world, and it has one of the largest musical instruments in the world, the memorial organ. It was of such grand design and built to enshrine God and be a solace to his people. It was completed in 1981, but the ministry went bankrupt in 2010. Now the Catholics have acquired it to carry on their liturgies. It is being remodeled and should be operational by 2016. For sure they think, their plans will lure God to live there. Oh, the schemes of men who think they can build an edifice that is big enough, beautiful enough, grand enough, expensive enough, elaborate enough, and religious looking enough to impress God. The truth be told, there is not a building anywhere in this good earth that impresses God, nothing that holds him in awe, for all are built for the wrong reason, to impress men. Why God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the heavens is his throne, and the earth is his footstool. What then can man build which holds God’s admiration?

Reason with me a moment. If God were hungry, would he ask man for a fatted calf prepared by the best chefs of the land? If God were poor, would he ask the richest man in the world for a loan? If God needed a place of rest, could the greatest architect in the world build him a home to dwell in that was suitable for him? No, a thousand times, NO! NO! NO! We have nothing to give God, nothing we can build God, nothing we can make him take pause. He already has it all and MORE. So what is God moved by? God is moved by the sacrifice of praise from our hearts, by worship from deep within our soul, by a humble and contrite heart, by those who give mercy and have compassion, by those who speak truth and have no guile, by those who do justly and exercise righteous judgment without partiality, and by those who honor him with their life.

If these things be true, what then was the point of all the building even from the beginning of time. God himself approached Moses and told him to build a tabernacle according to the pattern and fashion in heaven. Exodus 25:40, Acts 7:44. It was in the heart of David to build God a house. Interestingly, God told David that he could not build him a house, but that He (God) would build him (David) a house. Nevertheless, God let David build him a tabernacle that he might be worshipped in, and David also built a house of cedar in which to judge his people as king. David’s son, Solomon built the most extravagant Temple with much gold and silver, cedars, and designs with intricate detail. It was truly a marvel to behold for there was none like it in the land. It was the center of worship for all of Israel. Where are all these places today? Is Moses’ Tabernacle still standing? Is the famous ark still present with all its contents? Is David’s tabernacle of worship still with us? Will all the world come into it in Israel one day? Solomon’s Temple no longer exists. Will it be rebuilt as the center of worship in which Jew and Gentile will bring their offerings to a Holy God? Or is there a new temple to be built according to the plan in Ezekiel in these last days? Or is there a new Crystal Cathedral that can surpass the old that God will favor. Again, the answer is NO! NO! NO!

God has a whole new plan. Of all the tabernacles, temples, synagogues, mosques, and churches throughout the world, surely one is the place God would call home. The question is, Who is his favorite people that he would come and break bread with, commune with, fellowship with, and have a personal relationship with? I am his favorite, one says, why we have a church of 20,000 people. I am his favorite another says, we have over 2 billion people on our church roles. I am his favorite another says, we have the most expensive and elaborate building in which to worship God in the entire universe. Again, NO! NO! NO! God is not looking for buildings made with hands. Yes, everyone that has ever been constructed no longer exists though they were made after the heavenly pattern. Their use was for one purpose, to point to that final tabernacle, that final building, that final house, that final city, that final place of worship. It doesn’t look anything like we see with the natural eye. It is nothing compared to the glorious temples and churches of old. Can we dance in this tabernacle? It doesn’t have the glory and the luster and the religious trappings of all others before it. But the Lord says, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. Haggai 2:9.

So what does this temple look like? It’s the foolishness of God that confounds the wise; It’s the base things that God exalts; and it is the simple things of sincerity and truth that God honors. Of all his creation and all of the things that God could build a house for himself, guess what he is using? These bones, this flesh, this blood, this body, this mind, this soul, and this heart. 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. And where shall God dwell? 2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. Of all things in which God could dwell in this last day, this glorious kingdom, his heavenly home, he chose to live in us. Our God is an awesome God! Can you not now see his magnificent wisdom? Of all the things that man has done, the money he has spent, the religious rituals he has contrived, none of them please God. We are his new creation, we are his tabernacle, we are his temple, we are his house in which he has chosen to live. Like Moses’ tabernacle, now we have been made after the pattern in heaven which is the prototype of all God’s creation, the son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He is making us into his image, he is patterning us after himself, he is making us into sons of God, and he is making us a praise unto him in the earth. What was the price of this building? Why only about 5 ½ quarts of blood. WHAT, you say? You can’t build anything with so little, for a pint of blood would only pay you $50. Why that is only $550 for all the blood in one person. You can’t build a decent altar with that. Don’t you know that this is not just any blood. 1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. You see, you can’t put a price on God’s holy blood. It is without measure. For this reason, this tabernacle of flesh in which we dwell is the most elaborate, the most expensive, the most architecturally sound, and the absolutely best vessel of worship in all of God’s intricate creations from before time.

Amos 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen , and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. 13 Behold, the days come , saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper , and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt . 14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. 15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God. This tabernacle, this temple is Naos in the Greek and it is a metaphor meaning the spiritual temple consisting of the saints of all ages joined together by and in Christ. We are the mystical temple. People see us alright, but they don’t see the wonder of God in us as they see the huge churches. I had a wonderful bible study in my home and in my office that I did for years outside of the confines of existing church structure. Multitudes got ministered to, lives were changed, many found their ministry calling, marriages were restored, healings and signs and wonders were virtually viral. One day, one of the ladies that attended these meetings wanted to inform me that she would not be coming back for she had found a real church to go to. It was a $50 million building with 4,000 people. She now could belong to a religious institution where God dwelt. But, alas, God did not live there. All the miracles in her life ceased. She could not see except with her natural eyes. She like multitudes of others settle for rituals, traditions, elaborate music renditions, vain religion, watered down sermons, and the look of spirituality without the power. How far we have fallen. Even James said perfect religion is this, to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction. Of all the services held throughout the world, do you ever see this taking place? We have settled for a form of God and not the presence of God. The tabernacle by definition is a tent or skins made after the pattern in heaven. It is not some building on the ground. No! It is God’s holy temple which you are. The Holy One of God has come to live in our hearts, not in some building. Hebrews 8: 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, he saith , Behold , the days come , saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not , saith the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my LAWS INTO THEIR MIND, and WRITE THEM IN THEIR HEARTS: and I WILL BE TO THEM A GOD, and THEY SHALL BE TO ME A PEOPLE: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying , Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest . 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith , A new covenant, he hath made the first old . Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

Away with the old He says. In with the new. The old had fault. The old could not make one perfect; the old could not make on holy; the old could not keep the promises because of sinful flesh; the old was founded on the blood of bulls and goats which was only temporal. Now we have a new tabernacle, one that makes us after the measure of the Son of God into perfection. This covenant of this temple will not fail, for it is built on better promises. Abraham looked for a city long years ago whose builder and maker is God. Now in this day, in this age, that building has become apparent that has been hidden from the eons. It has now been revealed by His Holy Apostles and Prophets, the mystery that has been withholden from the ages, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. You are his tabernacle; you are his temple; you are his new hope; and you are his place of worship. We are now seated in heavenly places in our hearts with him. The spirit has come to change our minds and sanctify our soul just as he has given us his Holy Spirit. Even the wicked one that has desperately tried to get us to follow after vain religion has been destroyed. He has opened his mouth to blaspheme our God and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. Revelation 13:6. God is raising up the tabernacle of David that has fallen down. The tabernacle of David that has fallen down is particularly a metaphor meaning to fall under judgment, , to descend from an erect to a prostrate position , or come under the attack of an evil spirit or of falling dead suddenly, the dismemberment of a corpse by decay, fall into ruin as of buildings and walls, to be cast down from a state of prosperity, to fall from a state of uprightness, to perish, come to an end. The old order has come to an end. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. We are the ones who will come into his presence with singing and praise. We are the Sons of God who is manifest to the world that we are his redeemed; we are his righteous ones; we are his church; we are the heavenly Jerusalem. We are not made with sticks and stones, and skins of goats. But we are fashioned after his glorious spirit, and made a praise and a wonder to the world. WE ARE THE TRUE TABERNACLE OF GOD. Aren’t you glad?

Kingdom Builders is dedicated to ministering the Word of God freely to anyone upon request.  It is my desire to build up the body of Christ to become powerful, functional, mature Sons of God to make a difference in the World and the affairs of men.  I trust God to put it upon the hearts of those who are ministered to here by this word to help support the publishing, postage and mailing of these wonderful revelations of our King and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am not in the marketing business nor do I have anything to sell.  Should you or your friends desire to receive these articles, please write to the address noted, and they will be freely sent to you.  All donations are gratefully appreciated.  If for any reason, you no longer want to receive these mailouts, either call me at 318-614-2804 or email me at pssmithiii@comcast.net. 

Rev. Phillip S. Smith III

1705 Arkansas Road

West Monroe, LA 71291

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