WHEN YOUR HEART BECOMES AN ARK OF THE COVENANT

October 1, 2006 pm
Mike Blume

  Scripture Text:

 
Hebrews 1:1-2 KJV  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  (2)  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;


  Message:


The bible speaks of two covenants that were the major ones in earth's entire history.
  • One was with Israel, a natural people of the earth, set apart by God for His will.
  • The second was with the church who is the spiritual Israel, so to speak.

God looks at covenants as a veritable heaven and earth.

Hebrews is primarily written to jews, hence the name HEBREWS, in order to convince them of the superior covenant in the New Testament church, at a time when Hebrew believers were backsliding into Judaism after having been converted.
  • And the reference to "times past" when God spoke at SUNDRY TIMES, is a reference to the Old Testament period.
  • Back then he spoke by prophets, and now He speaks by His SON.

And he speaks of angels and how Jesus is far superior to them, let alone prophets of the Old Testament.
  • While referring to Christ's ascendancy over even the angels, Hebrews quotes OT scripture as follows.

Heb 1:10-12 KJV  And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:  (11)  They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;  (12)  And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

The interesting thing here is that this language in speaking of folding up the heavens and the earth like a garment is later used in Hebrews to describe how God changed covenants.

Heb 8:10-13 KJV  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 neighbour, 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.

(Jer 31:33)

And in the process of describing the demise of the Old Covenant as a robe and clothing that is waxing old, to be folded and put away, we read a prophecy from Jeremiah that God would put his laws into our hearts and minds, and we shall be able to CONTINUE in God's ways as opposed to the Old Covenant when man could simply not CONTINUE in the law of God.

He said the Law had a fault.

Heb 8:6-10 KJV  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.  (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:

If the fault of the old was that the people of God could not CONTINUE in the covenant -- in other words, were unable to keep it and stopped keeping it due to failure -- and God therefore installed a new covenant, then that can only mean the new covenant allows us to somehow be able to continue in God's will.
  • Otherwise, why start a covenant that has the same problem the previous one had, that was the reason for ending the previous one?

God was said to have changed His garments of heaven and earth when He CHANGED COVENANTS.

And the means by which the new covenant is not a failure or faulty, like the old, is because GOD WOULD WRITE HIS LAW INTO OUR HEARTS.
  • Putting this altogether means that writing it in our hearts is giving us the ability to KEEP His law.

If we cannot keep God's ways, then it is because His law is not yet in our hearts.
  • We may believe in the New Covenant, but we are not really experiencing all it has for us to experience when we are still unable to keep His ways as the people of the old covenant were.

2Co 3:1-8 KJV  Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?  (2)  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:  (3)  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.  (4)  And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:  (5)  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;  (6)  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.  (7)  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:  (8)  How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?


In the above, Paul says that we have the WORD engraved into our hearts, much like Hebrews 8 spoke of the New Covenant.
  • And Paul actually repeats the same picture as Heb 8 when he compares new covenant to old covenant.
  • And he specifically referred to tables of stone and fleshly tables of heart.
  • He picked up on Jeremiah's prophecy as did Hebrews 8.

He said the law was a ministry of death and it was the letter that killed.
  • He knew people could not keep law.
  • Or, as Hebrews 8 said it, they could not continue in law.
  • They failed.
  • And the law said that if you fail,. you DIE.
  • But in the new covenant, we do not experience death as the result of having a covenant we cannot keep, but we receive LIFE.
  • That means we can keep it!

Adam and Eve were in the Garden where two trees stood.
  • One was knowledge of good and evil and the other was life.
  • When they ate of the knowledge of good and evil THEY DIED.
  • They had to be removed from the Garden.
  • But had they chosen LIFE, they would never have died.
  • THEY WOULD HAVE CONTINUED in the Garden.

So this principle goes right back to the beginning!

God wanted Adam and Eve to EAT THE FRUIT of life.

Could it be that LIFE is for the heart but KNOWLEDGE is for the head?
  • We need to get LIFE into our hearts.
  • Not knowledge into our heads.
  • GRACE is something that affects the HEART.
  • Spirituality is a thing of the heart.

1Co 2:4-8 KJV  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:  (5)  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.  (6)  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:  (7)  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:  (8)  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Hidden wisdom is wisdom that cannot be reached by just anybody.
  • Men in fleshly wisdom cannot comprehend this.
  • This is a a SPIRITUAL issue.
  • Not intellectual.
  • It's a different nature of wisdom altogether.

1Co 2:9-10 KJV  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  (10)  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

It has been hidden for ages until Christ.
  • But even since then, natural men cannot receive this wisdom.
  • This wisdom can only be appreciated IN THE HEART.
  • Something spiritual, whereas intellect is a thing of the flesh and carnality.

Eph 3:16-19 KJV  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;  (17)  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  (18)  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  (19)  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

DEEP in 1 Cor 2:10 is the same word as DEPTH in Eph 3:18.

And Paul said in both cases that the HEART and INNER MAN alone can appreciate this truth.

You do not get your HEAD set in assurance, but YOUR HEART grounded and rooted.
  • Because it is associated with LOVE.
  • Only when your HEART is into this with LOVE can you COMPREHEND this sort of wisdom.

Outside of the heart, when men try to deal with this with the intellect, IT IS FOOLISH.

1Co 1:17-26 KJV  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.  (18)  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.  (19)  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.  (20)  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  (21)  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.  (22)  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:  (23)  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;  (24)  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.  (25)  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  (26)  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

Wisdom of God is a HEART ISSUE.
  • When you deal with his truths with your intellect and not your heart, it is foolishness.
  • They reason, "How can you get eternal life from a man who was butchered to death on a cross?"
  • It makes no sense.
  • But when you bring your heart into it, and involve LOVE, the cross makes perfect sense.
  • HE LOVED US SO MUCH!
  • Take LOVE out of the equation, and you get tripped up.
  • It is silly.
  • It's not many wise people that are into this thing, because so many of them simply do not go after things with their hearts, but their heads alone.

If you can LOVE God, and put your HEART into this, everything can begin to work for you.
  • Your success is when you apply your heart to the word of God.
  • Otherwise, you trip up and backslide, and struggle.

The law was on tables of stone.

Exodus 32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

Deuteronomy 10:5 And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Jehovah commanded me.

They were put into the ark of the covenant.

This ark was sprinkled by the blood of the atonement sacrifice once every year at Atonement.
  • Jesus fulfilled atonement, and his blood is also regarded as having to do with SPRINKLING.

Heb 10:22 KJV  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

Your HEART is sprinkled.
  • This is very important and very significant.

This brings a connection to the LAW and the ARK OF THE COVENANT with our HEARTS.
  • Not only is the heart SPRINKLED with blood, but the LAW OF GOD IS PUT INTO OUR HEARTS as it was put into the ark.

Thous shalt not's only relate to the MIND.
  • Your soul and will.
  • But when you are given attitudes instead of commandments, the HEART is involved, and it is not longer THOU SHALT NOT, but BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN'S....

Jesus repeated a lifestyle similar to Moses.

Mat 2:7-16 KJV  Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.  (8)  And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.  (9)  When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.  (10)  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  (11)  And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.  (12)  And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.  (13)  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.  (14)  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:  (15)  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.  (16)  Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

Just as Moses went into Egypt when Pharoah had all the male children murdered upon birth, Jesus went into Egypt when Herod did the same thing.
  • And then Moses was forty years in the wilderness, as Jesus was forty days and nights there.

Mat 4:1-2 KJV  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  (2)  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

In fact, the devil tempted Jesus three times there and Jesus used the same words Moses gave to the Israelites who were in the same wilderness across Jordan where Jesus was.

Then after the temptations, Jesus leads multitudes to a mountain, as Moses led Israel to SINAI.

Mat 4:25 KJV  And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Mat 5:1-3 KJV  And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:  (2)  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,  (3)  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Instead of 10 THOU SHALT NOT's, Jesus gives 9 BLESSED ARE THE's.

Big difference.

THOU SHALT NOT applies to the MIND and WILL, but BLESSED ARE THE simply describes a state in which the people are.
  • Your HEART determines who you ARE.
  • So in order for Christ to speak about people's conditions and being blessed if they ARE these certain ways, He is actually dealing with men's HEARTS.
  • What he is saying is that you are not to apply the commandments to your minds in order to succeed with God, as Law said, because Jeremiah quoted God saying people could not continue in such a thing.
  • So instead, God puts his laws into YOUR HEARTS.
  • And when he does that, HE CHANGES THE WAY YOU ARE.
  • So to contrast that with law, Jesus gives 9 BLESSED ARE THE's instead of 10 THOU SHALT NOT's.

Just as the pattern of his birth and escape to Egpyt and the days in the wilderness, followed by the giving on a mountain of some messages is compared wit Jesus and Moses, but Revelation shows a pattern as well.
  • It focuses upon the MOUNTAIN dealing of COVENANTS.

Rev 4:2 KJV  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

Rev 5:1 KJV  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

Exodus 32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

Deuteronomy 10:5 And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Jehovah commanded me.

The tables were locked up in the ark.
  • John sees heaven opened, indicating there is no veil.
  • And instead of seeing the high priest enter where no one can go, with lambs blood for atonement, he sees Jesus enter where no one can go as both the high priest AND THE LAMB as well in Himself with his own blood.

He had just been slain because that is when the high priest took the blood of the sacrifice into the most holy place.
  • He takes his own blood in.

And he takes the sealed book from the one on the throne.
  • Now, the throne corresponds to the ark of the covenant in the most holy place where no body else could go.
  • Just as the TABLES were put into the ark, that had a mercyseat corresponding to Christ's throne, we see the one on the throne holding the sealed book.

SEALED means HIDDEN.
  • HIDDEN WISDOM!
  • What did Paul say about this hidden wisdom?
  • It cannot be revealed to the intellect but TO THE HEART AND SPIRIT.

Nobody could continue in this thing due to man being carnal.

This is why Paul described a struggle with people who try to keep law, and shows how they could not continue in it as Jeremiah foretold.

Rom 7:11-15 KJV  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.  (12)  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.  (13)  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.  (14)  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.  (15)  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

If we could get your HEARTS into this thing, and have a NEW COVENANT deal with us in that regard, then we would be spiritual and not carnal.
  • And WE COULD CONTINUE IN THE WILL OF GOD.

Rev 5:9 KJV  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Rev 10:1-2 KJV  And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:  (2)  And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

Rev 10:8-10 KJV  And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.  (9)  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.  (10)  And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

IT GETS INTO JOHN.
  • Not into his head this time, BUT INTO HIS HEART!

Eph 3:16-19 KJV  That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;  (17)  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,  (18)  May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;  (19)  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

You can know the DEEP things if you get grounded in LOVE with God by getting your HEART into this thing instead of just your head.
  • And then you can comprehend it.

1Co 2:14 KJV  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

These things only get understood WHEN YOUR HEART is involved.

And like the ark YOUR HEART IS NOW SPRINKLED WITH BLOOD.

Psa 119:11 KJV  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

It was hidden wisdom since it was locked away from man in God's throne in the ark under the mercyseat.
  • And it is still hidden today.
  • Hidden from the wise of the world, and the natural minded man.
  • It is hidden in the heart of very true believer!

Where did God's Spirit dwell in times of old?

Exo 25:22 KJV  And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

You heart is supposed to be a CHEST, a CONTAINER or ARK of the covenant.
  • That means the WORD IS HIDDEN IN YOUR HEART!