Hi. My name is Bill. First I want to welcome you to church.

Second, I want to give you an orientation. It's an orientation not only to our church, but to life as a whole.

It goes like this:

My name is Bill and I don't answer to you.

This is the end of our orientation. Because this is really what I want to preach today. It is one of the great secrets of spiritual maturity. It is one of the great secrets of emotional strength.

I want to teach a biblical truth that has a life-changing conclusion.

The conclusion was stated by the great Apostle, Paul, this way:

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. (1 Corinthians 4:3, cf. Romans 14:4)

So, like I said, this is the conclusion of a well-constructed bit of biblical theology.

And I want to construct that theology together with you.

So please think together with me on this topic:

(pro-pish-ee-AY-shun)

 

My talk today is part five, which is the last part, in our series called Under Construction. We are using a construction project in ancient Israel to illustrate what has to be reconstructed in our lives and our culture today.

Our illustration comes from something built by Moses. God told Moses to build a Tabernacle.

This was a very detailed Tent that became a portable worship center for the Jews. They left Egypt. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Then they moved into to the Promised Land. Wherever they went, the Tabernacle went with them.

The single most important place in the Tabernacle was a tent within a tent. It was called the Holies of Holies, or the Holiest place.

Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. And he could only enter once a year.

Inside the Holy of Holies, the High Priest stood before the single most important artifact in ancient Israel. This was the Ark of the Covenant.

We're going to focus on the Ark of the Covenant for the rest of our time today... Because the incredible meaning for our lives embedded in this ark ripples down the corridors of time and eternity forever.