Read more in this series: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12
As temples of the Holy Spirit, we exist to glorify God while we welcome people into His presence. Every choice in our lives should conform to this purpose.
In this series we are exploring what it means to be temples of the Holy Spirit. We’re looking at the nine types of people who visit temples so that we can understand their motivation. If we understand what drives them, we will better understand how to help them on their journey towards the Lord.
The Sixth Visitor - The Saint
Romans 8:16 ESV - The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…
You are a priest in the temple of the Holy Spirit. You met a man, a Seeker, who wanted to experience God’s presence. He was frustrated because he could not get around the altar fire.
You helped him understand that the way past the fire was not around, but through; only by giving our all to the Lord can we grow closer to Him.
You began leading the Seeker through the fire of surrender, but after a few steps, Jesus took over and sent you on ahead. Now you stand waiting just beyond the altar fire for the Seeker to emerge.
After a while, the Seeker steps out of the flame. He looks very different. His skin is radiant, alive with the light of the Holy Spirit. His face has changed. Where once was fear and anxiousness, there now rests a countenance of peace. His eyes are alight with wonder. There is a confidence to his posture that wasn’t there before.
You greet him. “Hello! It’s good to see you again!”
His eyes are open wide. “I made it,” he says.
“You made it,” you reply.
He looks down at you and smiles. “I made it through the altar fire!”
You smile back. “Yes, you did! You made it. You made it through!”
“Jesus helped me,” he says. “He was with me. He led me through the fire to this place.”
He looks around for a moment, then asks, “Where are we? I’ve never been to this part of the temple before.”
“We’re near the entrance of the Holy Place,” you answer. “You are very close to Him now.”
“It’s beautiful,” he says.
The two of you simply stand there for a moment, enjoying the calm and the beauty of your surroundings. There are fewer people here. The air is quiet, but not still. Joyful music seems to ring out gently from the very stones of the temple, a song both new and familiar.
After a moment, he looks over at you. “What do I do now?” he asks quietly, hesitant to break the silence.
“What did Jesus tell you?” you ask. “Who did He say would guide you?”
“The Holy Spirit,” he replies. “The Helper.”
“Ah,” you say. “Well then, why don’t you ask Him?”
“Ask the Holy Spirit?” he asks.
“Yes,” you reply. “He will lead you into all truth. You could ask Him where to go from here.”
“How do I do that?”
“Close your eyes,” you say. “Good. Now ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember the word of God. Ask Him to reveal to you where He is. Then listen, and be ready to act on the Scripture He brings to mind.”
The Seeker begins to pray quietly. Then he opens his eyes and walks forward. You watch as he takes a few steps and stops in front of a large, polished basin, filled to the brim with pure water.
He has stopped before the Laver. He is staring down at his reflection, eyes wet with tears. You walk over to where he stands and wait for him to speak. For a time there is only quiet sobbing, until finally a reverent stillness settles over him. He takes a deep breath.
“I thought there would be nothing left of me,” he says.
You stretch out your hand and rest it on his arm to encourage him. Tears roll down his cheeks and drop into the water, creating small ripples on the surface.
“I thought when I stepped into that fire, I would become nothing,” he says. “I was so scared. I didn’t think I would make it. I didn’t think there was any part of me left that was still good. I thought I would burn up.”
“And in a way,” he says, “I did. The old me burned. The part of me I thought was real—it was all so fake. I knew it wouldn’t survive the fire.”
He smiles thankfully as he looks down at his shining image reflected in the water.
“I never expected this.”
You remember looking into the Laver for the first time. You remember the impact of seeing your reflection; not a reflection of who you thought you were, but the reflection of who you were created to be. You remember the peace and the joy of that moment as if it were happening all over again.
“This is the real you,” you say. “This is who God created you to be.”
A burst of joyful laughter escapes him as he wipes his tears.
“What was the verse the Holy Spirit spoke to your heart that lead you here?” you ask.
He looks up at you. “Blessed are the pure in heart,” he begins, then looks back down. “For they shall see God.”
You nod, listening.
“But I am not God,” he says.
“No,” you say. “No, you are not God. But you are not who you were, either. Let me show you something.”
You motion for him to wash his hands. As he does, his shining skin shines brighter.
“Good. Now splash some on your feet.”
He cups his hands and splashes water on his feet. His skin shines even brighter. The Laver remains full to the brim.
“This is the water of the word of God,” you say. “This water purifies us and renews us. It also reveals the truth.”
“What truth?” he asks.
“The truth of who Jesus is,” you answer, “and the truth of who you are. When you surrendered everything to Him, you transformed. You became a Saint. The fallen nature—the old you—has burned away. He remade you and adopted you into His family.”
“You are His child,” you continue. “You bear His image. Especially now that you’ve been purified by the flame. What you are seeing in the water is not just your reflection, but a reflection of His Spirit shining within you.”
You study His face for a moment, then smile. “You look like Him,” you say. “You have His eyes.”
He looks down at His reflection again. “I look like Him…” he says.
Then he smiles and lifts his arms to heaven. He begins to sing a song of praise, a beautiful melody that harmonizes with the music all around.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!
— Psalm 145:10 ESV
When the song is finished, he smiles at you. “Thank you,” he says. “Thank you for helping me get this far.”
“You are welcome,” you reply. “Every time you pass by here, stop to wash in the water of the word. It’s good to be reminded of the truth often.”
He nods his head in agreement.
“What does the Spirit tell you now?” you ask. “Are you ready to go into the Holy Place?”
“Yes,” he says, “I’m excited!”
With that the two of you walk forward side by side, through the grand entrance of the Holy Place, into the heart of the temple.
The Laver
Exodus 30:17-21 NKJV - Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them—to him and his descendants throughout their generations.”
The most obvious purpose of the Laver was cleansing. The priests were commanded to wash when they handled an offering and before they entered the presence of the Lord. If they didn’t, they would die.
This cleansing was not a baptism. It was a washing of water in preparation of service. It wasn’t a one-time thing; it was a continual refreshing that happened multiple times throughout the day.
Hebrews 10 describes the law as a shadow and a copy of the true spiritual realities of God’s kingdom. Heaven’s Laver is different from the physical copy here on earth.
Jesus washes us with the water of the word (Ephesians 5:25-27). His word purifies us and works with the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth (James 1:21, James 4:8, John 17:17).
What truth could be so profound that we are commanded to remind ourselves of it multiple times a day? What truth do we need so badly that if we go without it we will die?
The truth of who God is.
God is love.
John 3:16 ESV - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 4:7-12 ESV - Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
John 15:12-13 ESV - This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
When we abide in the word of the Lord, we abide in love. We remember how much we are loved, and we are strengthened to love others, even at great cost to ourselves.
We are given wisdom and discernment in love. We are filled with the joy of selfless love. Our love becomes more true as His word purifies us.
We go to the Holy Place in love. We go to the Altar in love. We go to the courts, to the gates, and even out into the wilderness in love, to share the love of Jesus with those who are lost. And as we do, we begin to recognize what it means to be His children.
The cleansing of Heaven’s Laver is the cleansing of our souls. It’s the washing of our hearts as the word of God pours out, not just to us, but through us, bringing life and love to the world around us.
Abide in His word, abide in His love, and realize your true nature as His child.
1 John 3:1-3 ESV - See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are… Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.