Our personal cross is our best friend for it is slaying our self-will. We cannot be fully reconciled to God while we are retaining our self-will.

The first commandment is to love God with all our heart. This means we are to place every treasure in Heaven. Every relationship, every circumstance, every thing we own or desire must be placed on the altar of God and kept there.

For how long? Sometimes for many years—sometimes for a lifetime.

God gives us enough joy to keep us going, when we look to Him. But reconciling the human being to God is no small undertaking.

Our heart is desperately wicked. Only God can clean it up.

The Lord Jesus passed these three tests with flying colors. Therefore He now has all authority and power in heaven and upon the earth. When we pass each of the three tests we shall share God's bounty with the Lord Jesus, being coheirs with Him.

We have discussed the spiritual fulfillment of the blowing of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. This is where we are now in the Divine plan.

The third great convocation of Israel, the feast of Tabernacles, is ahead of us. However, we cannot enter the fulfillment of Tabernacles, the dwelling of the fullness of God in us, until first we pass through the Day of Atonement. Does this make sense to you? Until a place has been prepared in us, the Father and the Son will not come in the fullness we desire.

Let's say we have been saved, filled with the Spirit, and now are passing through the Day of Atonement. What is the purpose of all this? Where do we go from here?

To find out, we think about another major type found in the Old Testament. This is the journey of Israel from Egypt to Sinai.

Our basic salvation experience is portrayed by the Israelites, who were protected by the Passover blood as they made their exodus from Egypt.

Our Pentecostal experience is portrayed by the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Our law is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that is, the law of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Christian equivalent of Mount Sinai.

Now, if we think about what happened to the Israelites after the giving of the Law of Moses on Mount Sinai we can begin to understand what God is doing with His Church in the present hour.

Two major activities took place after Mount Sinai.

First, the Israelites were organized into an army in preparation for their invasion of Canaan.

Second, the Tabernacle of the Congregation was constructed so there might be a repository for the holy Ark of the Covenant, the golden chest containing the Covenant, the Ten Commandments.

How do the organization into an army and the construction of the Tabernacle of the Congregation apply to us Christians?

To be continued.