The Veil of the Temple was Rent

I am going to discuss a topic in this post which in my experience, is not talked about very often by Christians. I have not heard a sermon on this in a long time. It is a topic that is very important to every Christian. This topic is the Trinity of God. The Trinity is: God the father; our Lord and Saviour, Jesus our Christ; and the Holy Spirit.

God the Father is who we show our ultimate worship to, and should have a daily prayer life to Him. Jesus is our Lord and Master, and we should daily thank Him and grow in His love and guidance. The Holy Spirit is the one who works in all our lives. In the study of theology, each has its own discipline, Theology Proper is the study of God the Father. Christology is the study of Christ, and Pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit. In my experiences the Holy Spirit is most misunderstood of the Trinity.

How does the Holy Spirit connect with Christians? Unfortunately, I find that most Christians do not understand what our relationship is to the Holy Spirit, or who the Holy Spirit really is. I have also experienced pastors who do not want to talk about the Holy Spirit for whatever reason, and many feel the topic is controversial.

Well, I am going to discuss this subject, because the scriptures I feel from reading them plainly explains the Holy Spirit. I think this topic scares some people, others it makes them feel uncomfortable, if you are not saved, the Holy Spirit should make you feel uncomfortable.

I am going to discuss another controversial subject from my experiences, once saved does the Holy Spirit indwell you forever, and never leave you. Many people believe that once you are saved (Sealed by the Holy Spirit from damnation) the Holy Spirit indwells you and stays there. Again I am not trying to offend anyone by these post, but I am taking the guidance from the scriptures and my forty plus years of experience attending many different churches and seminary, and I do not believe the Bible supports that belief.

However, once you have accepted our Lord and Saviour, Jesus our Christ, as your personal Saviour and believed on Him with all your heart and soul, you are saved from Hell and damnation (Sealed by the Holy Spirit). You will spend eternity with God and our Saviour (John 3:15-18). The Bible does support once saved, always saved.

How many people do we see get saved and live for God for months or even years afterward and then backslide. As long as you are sincere when you get saved, you cannot lose that free gift from our Lord and Saviour. However, the Holy Spirit living inside you is something different.

I had several other topics picked to talk about this week, however, while I was sitting in church this past Sunday, this topic came to me, scripture and all (Yes I was listening to the sermon as well). It wasn’t even on my mind before that. I am taking that as a sign that God wants me to write on this topic for some reason. Hopefully it will be a help to someone.

I am going to start this discussion with Hebrews 9:1-14 “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. 6 Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 11 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

This scripture explains the transition from the Old Testament temple and tabernacle having the Holy place, which the high priest entered once a year to give his sacrifice and which housed the Holy Spirit, to Jesus our Christ paying the ultimate sacrifice for us, and tearing the veil of the Holy place in half.

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament resided in the Ark of the Covenant, and in the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary. Only the high priest could go into this area once a year and if he did not do so in the right heart, he could end up dead.

The Ark of the Covenant could not be touched by human hands, we see this in 2 Samuel 6:6-7, when Uzzah is killed for touching the Ark as it started to fall off the cart. We see in 1 Samuel 6:19 that 50,310 men were killed because they looked into the Ark of the Covenant. We see in 1 Samuel 5, that the Philistines capture the Ark, and take it back to the temple of their god Dagon. The next morning they awake to the statue of Dagon fallen to the ground before the Ark, and the Ark caused the Philistines so much pain and agony they thought the Israelites sent it to them to destroy them.

The Philistines we see in this chapter then send the Ark back to Israel with gifts. It should not be a surprise to anyone that the Ark of the Covenant had power, it contained the Holy Spirit, God with Israel. The Holy place within the Temple in Jerusalem housed the Holy Spirit until Jesus died on the cross.

Our Lord and Saviour paid the final sacrifice by his blood for us, we are no longer separated from the Holy Spirit of God. Our Lord and Saviour rent the veil from the top to the bottom, the Holy Spirit left the temple. “when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the Ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with Him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.” (Matt 27:50-54). Wow, the power of God.

Where did the Holy Spirit go? How do we know the Holy Spirit left? For one thing the veil being torn was mentioned in several verses, the Bible points that out for a reason. Our Lord’s death did not just make a way for our salvation. Our Lord also made a way for us to be very close to God, to be indwelled with the Holy Spirit.

The power of God that was in the Ark, was in the Holy place, the power can now be inside you and me. In Eph. 3:1-5 “For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”

What Paul is talking about is that before they were filled with the Holy Spirit, men had never experienced this before. We see in the scriptures that the apostles and Paul were the first men documented in the Bible to be filled with the Holy Ghost at a certain point in their life. Before this point of time, there had been men in the Old Testament and in the New Testament that had been filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, like John the Baptist. But we do not see the Holy Spirit coming to indwell someone until after Jesus had died on the cross and the veil was torn.

Then we see the apostles together and they are filled with the Holy Ghost, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4).

I have to place a caveat here, speaking in tongues here talks about knowing different languages as we see in the verses that follow this passage. We see here, the apostles, the chosen who walked and talked with Jesus daily, they were closer to God than any other person on this earth had been, but they were not filled with the Holy Spirit until after Jesus had died on the cross. While our Lord and Saviour was on the earth with the apostles, they had God with them. Once our Lord died on the cross, and he ascended into heaven, how could the apostles have the close relationship to God.

The Holy Spirit, it came to them and indwelt them and gave them the power of God, to speak other languages and heal people from illness and disease. The power that was in the Ark, in the Holy place in the temple, now can be inside you as a follower of our Lord and Saviour.

In Acts 9, we see where Saul is saved on the road to Damascus and is then told by our Lord to go to Ananias and is baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Saul then renamed Paul, was chosen by God to be an example to the New Testament church. The fact he was saved and believed on the Lord, on the road, but then was filled with the Holy Spirit later is an example that the Holy Spirit dwelling in you is separate from salvation.

In Acts 19:6 we see Paul then guiding others to be indwelt by the Holy Ghost. We see throughout the book of Acts where the Holy Ghost (Spirit) is leading Paul and the apostles and followers of our Lord. The Holy Spirit is all powerful as He is God, as Jesus our Lord is also God (Trinity). It is amazing to think that kind of power can fill you and give you wisdom and guidance in life.

We see this in I Cor. 3:16-17: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

Just as the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy place in the temple were sacred and to be held holy, so are you as a Christian to treat your body this way if you are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I have met Christians who stay in great physical shape and eat right, and the motivation and reason they give is because their bodies are the temple are God. I have heard many sermons when I was young against smoking and drinking alcohol, stating this passage as the reason, based on our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit.

I stated in the beginning that I believe the Holy Spirit living inside you as a Christian is something that can be lost, unlike salvation which is forever. If you are a Christian and you are doing some sin God hates, I do not believe the Holy Spirit will stay within you. The same as if the priest would have brought something sinful into the Holy place in the temple, he would not come out alive. As this verse shows us, to have the Holy Spirit in you is a serious condition, and not to be taken lightly, death and destruction is the consequence.

I do believe as we have seen in scripture the Holy Spirit can move in and out of people and places. I believe if the Holy Spirit leaves someone, He can come back to indwell you again, once your soul and spirit are in the right place with God. The Holy Spirit is the part of the Trinity which directly connects with us by guiding us in the Word and our lives.

The Holy Spirit helps us stay on track in serving God and being in the right mind and spirit always with him. As long as we are living righteous and following the Word, we will have the Holy Spirit guiding us, as he guided the early New Testament church.

I feel in today’s society we let so many other things distract us from God and his Word, that the Holy Spirit is not able to work through us. I find it amazing when I see these documentaries about finding the lost Ark of the Covenant, so they can have the power that was in it. When that power resides in every Christian who truly believes and is in the right Spirit with God.

I have witnessed the Holy Spirit working in me at different points in my life, and witnesses his power at numerous times in life. One that I will not forget, was one year at a church camp I attended. I had attended this same camp a couple years before this one. That one was bad from the start. What I mean is the campers. We were all horrible the entire week and constantly got in trouble. After a couple days I though the pastors and counselors would send us home.

Then the night before the last actual day of camp, we attended our nightly chapel service. I don’t remember the sermon, but what happened after was amazing. The Holy Spirit came upon every person at that camp. There was not a dry eye in the camp and everyone was apologizing and asking forgiveness for the antics of the week, including pastors and counselors.

Many got saved and rededicated their lives to God. It was something truly amazing. For years after that night at camp, they would talk about that night and call it the flood, because of the tears that were shed and the entire camp getting right with God.

The Veil of the Temple was rent from top to bottom, the Holy Spirit can now reside in you, thanks to our Lord and Saviour’s sacrifice. This is such an amazing thing, I hope this post opens your eyes to the Holy Spirit and helps your heart and spirit to come into sync with God’s will, and you will feel the power of having the Holy Spirit guiding your life for our Lords service. In Christ.