Before the altar part 12

Let's take the holiness of the inside of the cup that Jesus talks about one step further. If this is true, if being holyis much more than going and being associated with a church, then how do I get to the point that I can truly bring my gifts to the altar and be in the act of acceptable worship to Him? How do I become God's priest? I've been promised the spirit of Salvation once I obediently come to Him in baptism and realize that my life is dross without Him in it. Is that all that is neccessary to become His priest? Isn't there something else I need to do, some test to perform, something I can check off and say I graduated to bigger and better things now and can be called holy? No. What is so wonderful about God is that He determines who His priests are, who is holy in His sight. And it is at that point we obey God. Fully. When we said we believe everything although we may not think everything will come to pass but because it is God we believe what He says. One way or another we believe what He says will come to pass. And a reader of Scripture can see this when reading the life of Jesus. While going to all the Jewish festivals, He nevertheless never hesitated to point out that He was the way, the truth, and the light, or that He was resurrection, or that He was the bread of life. And His message was, "Come with me, this is the easy part." If anything once I am His I am a royal citizen because He is King. Once I have made my decision to follow Jesus to God then I am His princess, I am His priest. I am His. That makes me and others who follow Him special in God's eyes and yet all equal. While my talents are not equal to others, He treats me the same as He would the most gifted preacher in the universe. I have a place in His family, in His church, and am an important structure in the spiritual building. I am important in bolstering His kingdom and He has told me that my capacity for love can be as meaningful to someone in need as the most stirring liturgy or most impressing sermon by the most famous preacher. And regardless of whether I have 10 talents or 2 talents, I and others will be on the mountain worshipping Him together when we are His. (Isa 56:7)

Before the Altar part 12

What a sacred place His place of worship is, from the very beginning of time! How sanctified those who were called to be His priests. (1 Chronicles 23:32) How specific the design of His building and the ceremony within it (Leviticus 14:13) is only indicative of how much He desires my obedience and our obedience to His word. When God says He wants the building made of cedar and olive tree and inlaid in gold and when He says He wants the lamb for the sacrifice slaughtered in a particular way and the blood applied to His altar in a particular way, they were to do it, or like Eli's sons were going to go up in smoke. (I Samuel 2:12ff) Truly that is the way He expects me to treat His worship, to do what He wants me to do. If I, if as His people we who worship Him, do as He says and follow His commands, He counts us as His. (2 Chronicles 35:5; Ezra 9:8) We will be like those numbered specially as His priests, of the house of Levi (2 Chronicles 29:5; 2 Chronicles 30:7; Leviticus 6:16; Leviticus 10:17) God's place is a holy place and when I and my brethren are in it we are to act as His and be holy for He is holy. (Psalms 44:4; Psalms 68:17) and God's place will never die, because He has chosen not just to build it physically in the church, but in each and everyone that believes in Him and calls Him Father. This is even true during the physical destruction of the earthly places of worshipping God or the physical destruction of my body by those who would take the right to worship God away from me. The altar, the church is more than a physical spot. (Matthew 24:15) That's why it was so important for the people to build such a temple, to go to such lengths as in Ezekiel 41:4 and Ezekiel 42:13, i.e. the specifications of the tabernacle, the doors to such, the floors where it was held, the house itself. The whole concept of the altar and church involve an attitude found in Isaiah 57:15, where there is an attitude of humility and contriteness, of having a heart to follow the One who rides with the twenty thousand angels in chariots as spoken of in Psalm 68:17. It involves so much more than setting apart a portionof the land to increase the size of the church. That is outside stuff. Jesus had plenty to say about a cup that was only clean from the outside and not the inside as well. (Matthew 23:25)