Entering the Most Holy Place (4/8/23)

On August 25th of 2022, the Lord spoke to me about the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. He revealed that I had spent much time in the Holy Place, but only visited the Holy of Holies from time to time. He was saying to me that it was time for His people to transition from the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies. 

The Inward Temple

Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within those who are born again. That means the Lord and His Heavenly temple are within. There are levels of intimacy with the Lord that a believer can experience once they are born again. There are also levels of transformation or transfiguration into the image of Christ. Intimacy and transfiguration are linked and they increase as we progress with the Lord on the inward journey.

The journey starts (inwardly speaking) in the outer court of the temple. It progresses to the inner court where the brazen altar is. The brazen altar speaks of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins and the forgiveness and salvation we have through Him. Many Christians stay in this place of being born again but never progress inwardly in the Spirit.

As we journey inwardly in the Spirit we come to the Holy Place. The Holy Place has the Showbread or the Bread of His Presence (the manifest presence of God). Because this is such a beautiful place to go inwardly (in the Spirit), believers sometimes think they have reached the goal or “the end of the road.” This is what I was taught in the Charismatic Movement and believed for some time. I thought that waiting on the Lord in His presence was the highest goal. Much of what I have seen the church focus on is the Holy Place.

“And you shall set the showbread (the bread of the Presence) on the table before Me always. [John 6:58.]” (Exodus 25:30 AMPC)

The Holy Place

Those who learn the lost practice of waiting on God in silent prayer have the opportunity to journey from the Inner Court to the Holy Place. Only the Priests were allowed to enter the Holy Place, and so it is in the Spirit. Those who make their lives about prayer and the Lord’s presence become His priests and gain access to the Holy Place. I was granted access to the Holy Place in 2009 when I set my heart to seek the Lord and wait upon Him in silence until His presence manifested tangibly in me. It took about three weeks of waiting silently before Him with my eyes closed until I began to feel His presence. It was a very “light” presence at first but increased substantially over the years as I continued to wait upon Him. 

I found that it was important to have complete silence without noise or other distractions. Another thing that helped me tremendously was to wait upon the Lord in complete darkness. I found that this helped me to focus. For me, it is more difficult to do in daylight. 

“He made darkness His secret hiding place; as His pavilion (His canopy) round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.” (Psalm 18:11 AMPC)

“When the priests had come out of the Holy Place, the cloud filled the Lord's house, So the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. Then Solomon said, The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.” (1 Kings 8:10-12 AMPC)

I didn’t understand at the time but I was only living in the “Holy Place” in the Spirit, not the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place became my life. I loved being in the presence of the Lord and the intimacy it brought me with the Lord. However I was not being transformed into the image of Christ like I should have been. Transformation was occurring but it was happening much slower than it should have been given the amount of time I was spending with the Lord. 

Suffering 

I had gone as far as I could go in the Holy Place and I knew there was more. Unfortunately the enemy sidetracked me with hurt and offense from the church (which was a result of stepping into the ministry the Lord had called me to and giving His word). I allowed offense because there was still too much of my self-life and too little of Christ’s life manifesting in me and through me. I, like Jonah, found myself running from the presence of the Lord. I did not intentionally run from the Lord but I distanced myself from His church in my heart (and therefore my assignment and ministry from the Lord). I did not want the ministry anymore and withdrew to the wilderness like Elijah (as I was comfortable there alone with the Lord). Since I distanced myself from the body of Christ, I unknowingly distanced myself from Christ the Head that is attached to His body (thus unintentionally drifting from the presence of the Lord).

Because of this the Lord allowed a seven year season of suffering, discipline, and the cross; so that my self-life could be put to death and His life could shine forth from me. During the final three years of that season the Lord removed much of the time I had with Him in the secret place and much of His presence. The Holy Place was taken from me and I was in the spiritual place of “being crucified with Christ.” I felt as if I was in Hell (spiritually speaking). I learned what if felt like to spend three days in the belly of a fish or three days in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40). 

Season of Christ’s Life

As that season faded and the new came, the Lord began to speak to me about transitioning from the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies. The presence of God is maintained in the Holy of Holies and it actually increases. But when you move beyond the veil that separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, you see the Lord inwardly. I am not talking about seeing Him with your physical eyes or having visions. What I mean is, your spirit comes in direct contact with Him. His glory radiates into your spirit as you stay in the Holy of Holies and behold Him. 

“Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (II Corinthians 3:16-18 NKJV)

I needed a seven year season of crushing and breaking under the weight of the cross to remove my veils. My personal veils were keeping me from the Holy of Holies. Every painful thing the Lord allowed was for the purpose of removing the veils that I had up between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. He wasted nothing and used everything to make sure that I would be brought closer to Him. That is the heart of the Father for all of us. He desires that we draw near to Him in the most intimate way possible, and will allow suffering if it will bring us closer to Him. 

There are many different veils that prevent believers from journeying inward and moving from the Holy Place to the Holy of Holies. There are veils of self-life, our own thoughts, offense, disobedience, spiritual hurt, unforgiveness, deception, false doctrine, and numerous others. We need the Holy Spirit to walk us through the process of removing our personal veils. 

The Holy of Holies

Once the veils are removed we can behold the Lord in His glory. Our spiritman beholds the Lord in that spiritual place called “the Holy of Holies” that exists within our hearts. The Kingdom of Heaven is within. We have access to the throne of God within. The Holy Spirit will teach everyone who journeys down this inward path. Just like John learned to be in the Spirit, so can we (Revelation 1:10). 

The life of Christ is infused into our beings once we reach the “Holy of Holies” in the Spirit. His nature, character, will, purpose, and fruit are all deposited in our spirits. We are transformed into His image when we behold Him in the Holy of Holies. We can feel his manifest presence in the Holy Place, but transfiguration does not occur. Only when the separating veil is removed so that we can see the Lord as He is, does transfiguration take place. Silent waiting prayer in the Holy of Holies is the key to manifesting the life and nature of Christ. The Lord also uses suffering or the cross-life to accomplish this same transformation into His very image. Silence and suffering work ‘hand and hand’ to transform us. 

I have only begun my journey into the Holy of Holies. As I wait silently in the Presence of the Lord I can feel a transitioning take place from the Holy Place. I silently ask the Holy Spirit to bring me into the Holy of Holies. The intensity of the Lord’s presence will increase (sometimes in different ways). There have been times where the fire is so intense that I will yell aloud. Oftentimes I am not able to abide in the Holy of Holies very long. But I am assured by the Spirit that this will change as I continue and acclimate to the higher level of the Lord’s fiery glory. 

It’s as we abide in the Lord that we partake of His life and nature. His life then flows through us and we produce the fruit of His Spirit:

“Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.” (John 15:4 AMPC)

Abiding and Overcoming

The overcoming life of Christ flows into us from the Most Holy Place when we abide in Christ. His life possesses us so that we can live a victorious life. Christ comes forth through us as we access the Holy of Holies in the Spirit and we live by His life. He overcomes sin, the world, the Devil, and our self-life through us. Christ triumphs over offense, spiritual hurt, discouragement, disappointment, etc. He makes us overcomers. Attacks of the enemy that used to trip us up or hinder us, no longer have any power to do so.

Just because a believer can prophesy, heal the sick, or cast out demons does not mean they are overcoming. In fact, history has shown us that men and women can do great exploits for God and still fall into sin and be overcome by Satan, the world, or their own self-life. However, when the life of Christ has empowered a believer, the deepest tragedy can occur in their life without destroying them. The believer who is living by Christ’s life will overcome all life-altering or life-changing situations because Christ in them crushes and breaks the situation. The strength of Christ in the person is stronger than any potential disaster or difficulty this world or Satan can throw at the person. The strength of Christ can empower believers to overcome the darkest and most evil times in human history. Christ the overcomer lives in those who come to know Him inwardly and abide in Him.

A Revealing of Christ

Revelation comes when we sit in the Most Holy Place with Christ. Beholding Christ inwardly releases an “inward knowing” of Christ that we cannot receive otherwise. The Godhead is a Spirit and He must be known in the Spirit. There are different levels that we can know the Lord. The deepest level or the greatest revealing of the Godhead is the inward knowing that occurs from being before Him in silence and beholding Him.

As we go inward (within our spirit where He dwells), the gate to the Holy Place opens. His presence fills our being. As we sit in stillness and darkness, we drift further and further into Him and pass beyond the veil into the Holy of Holies. His light and glory shines directly into our spirits and we are changed. Our spirits see Him as He is and we come to know Him more fully. We don’t do anything or engage in activities. We simply ‘be’ with Him and remain before Him. This is the fellowship that He desires.

Revelation Brings Manifestation

By understanding that the veil has been removed between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, we have access. That veil was Jesus’ flesh that was torn for us. Access to the very throne of God was one of the greatest things that Jesus did on the cross. Healing is good and we obviously need salvation, but to be granted access to come before the Lord is beyond comprehension. 

“Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh,” (Hebrews 10:19-20 AMPC)

Jesus, as a man, went through the separating veil for us as a forerunner and example. His disciples are to follow Him through the veil and move into the Holy of Holies:

“[Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it–a hope] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil, [Lev. 16:2.] Where Jesus has entered in for us [in advance], a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek. [Ps. 110:4.]” (Hebrews 6:19-20 AMPC)

The Royal Priesthood

It is the Lord’s eternal will that we become the Royal Priesthood. This is something that we must become in order to have access to the Most Holy Place (inwardly speaking). Outward Charismatic Movements have focused on external gifts, anointings, prophecy, signs and wonders, and outward cultural transformation. Those who become the Royal Priesthood learn how to journey within their own heart to the Most Holy Place where God dwells on His throne. They learn because they have a heart for God’s will and purpose and therefore receive grace from the Holy Spirit to seek God internally. 

The Royal Priesthood understands that the Lord and His Kingdom are inward, and they make it their priority to obey Jesus and “seek first His Kingdom.” The Royal Priesthood are those who have set themselves apart from worldliness so that they can minister to the Lord. Believers who are friends with the world are enemies of God (James 4:4). Only the pure in heart will be granted access to come in close proximity to the throne of God and see Him (Matthew 5:8). The Royal Priesthood worships the Lord in Spirit and truth. They long for the presence of the Lord and to journey with Him inwardly in the Spirit. 

The Assignment 

The reason I am writing this article is because the Lord has commanded me several times to help bring His people before His throne. Whenever we discuss spiritual things like this, natural words fall far short. My trust is that the Holy Spirit will shine His revelatory light upon my weak words and bring many into this spiritual inward journey. Wait on the Lord in silence until the Holy Spirit guides you before the throne of God inwardly. There is nothing greater than to be before the Lord and behold His glory. Your spirit beholds the glory of the great King inwardly (even if you don’t actually see or hear anything). You will come to know the Lord simply by being with Him. You will become friends and come to know His ways more fully. He is waiting for you. He desires you to come before His throne. 

I understand that some do not have a lot of time to spend with the Lord in this way right now. Many have full time jobs and have responsibilities with their families when they are at home. I don’t want there to be condemnation on anyone. The Lord is simply making some aware of His will and desire. As you set your heart to making the inward journey to the Holy of Holies, the Lord will provide the time to wait upon Him. He understands that some have obligations of family and work right now. The Lord is putting this desire in the hearts of some and will make a way for you to enter in to this spiritual reality in the future. 

Peace and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

-Ty Unruh (2023)