Good evening. Let's all stand
together and sing hymn number 51. 51. Praise the Savior, ye who know
him, who can tell how much we owe him. Gladly let us render
to him all we are and have. Jesus is the name that charms
us, He for conflict fits and arms us, Nothing moves and nothing
harms us, While we trust in Him. Trust in Him, ye saints, forever,
He is faithful, changing never, Neither force nor guile can sever
Those he loves from thee. Keep us, Lord, O keep us, cleaving
To thyself and still believing till the hour of our receiving
promise joys with thee. Then we shall be where we would
be, then we shall be what we should be, Things that are not,
now nor could be, soon shall be our own. Be seated. We'll sing hymn number
318. 318. I need thee every hour, most
gracious Lord. No tender voice like thine can
peace afford. I need Thee, O I need Thee, every
hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I
come to Thee. I need thee every hour. Stay thou nearby. Temptations lose their power. when Thou art nigh. I need Thee, oh, I need Thee,
every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee. I need thee every hour in joy
or pain. Come quickly and abide, for life
is vain. I need thee, oh, I need thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour. First holy one, open we thine
indeed. Thou blessed Son. I need Thee, O I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I
come to Thee. Good evening, can we turn to
1 Peter chapter 4? 1 Peter chapter 4. For as much
then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves
likewise with the same mind. for he that had suffered in the
flesh had ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the
rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the
will of God. For the time past our life may
suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we
walked in lasciviousness, lust, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings,
and abominable idolatries. wherein they think it strange
that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking
evil of you. Who shall give account to him
that is ready to judge the quick and the dead? For for this cause was the gospel
preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in
the spirit. But the end of all things is
at hand. Be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above
all things, have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity
shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to
another without grudging. As every man hath received the
gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak
as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him
do it as the ability which God giveth. that God in all things
may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and
dominion forever and ever. Amen. Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice inasmuch as you are
partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be
revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit
of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part, he is evil
spoken of, but on your part, he is glorified. But let none
of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer
or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify
God on this behalf. For the time has come that judgment
must begin at the house of God. And if it first begin at us,
what shall the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? And
if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly
and the sinner appear? Wherefore, let them that suffer
according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls
to him in well doing as unto a faithful creator. Our most high God, we thank you,
Lord. We thank you for this day. We thank you for this place that
you've given us to come and worship you, Lord. We thank you for the
truth of your gospel, Lord. We thank you for our pastor,
and we thank you for the people here that come and hear and want
to hear the truth. Lord, help us. Help us not to
ever Go away from it, Lord. We don't.
Such a such a scary thing. Lord, we asked that you'd be
with our our family and our friends that don't know you and don't
need you, Lord. We thank you, Lord, for what
you've done for us. We ask that you'd be pleased
to be with those that are sick and tried. Lord, we ask all these
things in Christ's name. Amen. Hymn number 37. Number 37. Oh, Lord, my God, did I in awesome
wonder The world's thy ends have made. I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder. By power throughout, the universe
displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! and sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Went through the woods and forest
glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees When I look down from lofty mountain
grandeur And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze It sings, my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art Then sings
my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And when I think that God, His
Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross I burdened,
gladly bearing, He pled and died to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! when Christ shall come with shout
of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, by God, how great Thou art Then sings my
soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior
God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Exodus 25, Exodus 25. You know, if we'll just address
God and talk about God the way he addresses himself in his word,
that's enough. That's enough. That's enough. Exodus 25, when we say that we're to look
for Christ in all the scriptures, more than just a cliche or religious
jargon or pious talk, but truly the scriptures testify of him,
they really do. And I'm going to look at the
Ark of the Covenant this evening. And in this Ark of the Covenant,
we can see the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ typified,
pictured here. And look with me then at verse
9. Let me start reading. According to all that I show
thee after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of
all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it. And
they shall make an Ark of Shedomwood, Two cubits and a half shall be
the length thereof, a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and
a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay
it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it. And thou shalt make upon it a
crown of gold round about, and thou shalt cast four rings of
gold for it. and put in them the four corners
thereof, and two rings shall put in one side of it, and two
rings on the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of
sheetum wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put
the staves into the rings by the side of the ark, and the
ark might be borne by them. And the staves shall be in the
rings of the ark, they shall not be taken from it. And thou
shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. And
thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and
a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the height
thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold. Beaten
works shalt thou make them in two ends of the mercy seat. Make
one cherubim on the one end, and the other cherubim on the
other, even of the mercy shalt thou make the cherubims on two
ends, and the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on
high, covering the mercy seat with their wings. And their faces
shall look one to another toward the mercy seat upon the face
of the cherubim. And thou shalt put the mercy
seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the
testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee,
And I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat between
the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony." You know, God gave Moses the
pattern for everything that's going to be in that tabernacle. But the first thing I believe
they made was the ark. The arc, it was, a cubit is 18
inches. So if you take the 18 inches
and make it 45 inches this way, 35 inches this way, and you know
when they put that gold mercy seat right on top of it, solid
gold, solid gold right on top of it, the same size. Then they
had these two cherubims. They were 45 inches high. They
were beaten gold, and they had wings on them. They touched each
end of that, and they had faces that faced one another. And God
said, that's where I'll meet with you, right there. And then
they had these rings on both sides of it, and they had staves,
so when they picked that mercy suit up and had to move, there's
certain men that carried that thing, and they had to carry
it. Four men would carry it when they moved. But when this Ark
of the Covenant shows us and teaches us some things about
our Lord Jesus Christ, and I love seeing Christ in the Old Testament,
I really do. When God gave Moses the pattern
for the tabernacle, the first vessel God instructed Moses to
make was the Ark, the Ark. And every vessel, every vessel
in that tabernacle got its value from that ark. If there ain't
some place to meet God, if there ain't some place where there's
mercy, if there ain't some place where the law's kept, then that
don't mean anything. So this ark and this mercy seat
is a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know,
the ark was a symbol of God meeting in all his presence. And all
the other vessels in that tabernacle had their value, relative value
from that ark. You know, the tabernacle without
the ark would be like the church without having Christ, without
having Christ, without having mercy, without having God to
meet us, without having Christ to take our place. Oh my, and
what the ark was to Israel, our Lord Jesus Christ is to us. That ark was ever present and
all sufficient for what it was purposed for in that day. Our
Lord Jesus Christ is ever present, all sufficient, our all in all,
And oh, He's a divine reality to us. Christ is a reality to
us. He really is. He's a reality
to us. And this ark was a source of blessing. A source of blessing. And it never failed when it was
approached right, according to God's appointment. And you know,
Christ is the only source of blessing that we have in this
world. And he's the only way we can approach God and approach
him right. And so when we look at this ark,
we see a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. Now, I want you to see the origin
of the ark. Look there in verse 10. And they shall make an ark of
sheet and wood, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof,
a cubit and a height, shall be the height thereof, and a cubit
and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height
thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and thou shalt
make upon it a crown of gold." You know, the origin of this
ark comes from God Himself. God was the one who told them
how to make it. exactly how it was supposed to be made, exactly
the size of it, and everything about it, God was the one who
gave that revelation and gave that pattern. And God is the
only one, the only way that a person can ever know the Lord Jesus
Christ. It has to be by revelation. God
appointed that ark and God appointed Christ. As He made them to understand
what that ark was, He's the only one who can make us understand
who Christ is and reveal Christ to us. And that's the revelation
of Christ. God Himself revealed the plan,
the pattern, the ark to Moses. That's what He said there in
verse 9. According to all that I show thee, After the pattern
of the tabernacle, the pattern of all the instruments, there
was not anything, anything that was made that God didn't say
make it. Everything had to be according
to exactly the way He said. And people don't want to do what
God says. I'll tell you, God was so interested in how He had
things done that you had to have a spoon made exactly the way
God said to make it. You had to have an incense exactly
the way God said to make it. Everything had to be the way
God said to make it. And you know, that tabernacle,
when you think about the tabernacle, it had gold bars. You know, it
was made out of wood and had gold on both sides of them boards. And they sat on silver. And then,
you know, you look inside, it's beautiful, but outside of it,
just nothing but an old badger skin. So it just looked like
an old tent out in the wilderness. And that's the way the Lord Jesus
Christ was. He didn't look like he was anything or anybody, but,
oh, what he was as a man, what he was inside. But, oh, the whole
of the tabernacle, the ark, the furniture, all of it originated
and was revealed by God himself, by God himself. And the whole,
the whole of our salvation in Christ originated with God. It was God in grace who gave
Christ to us. And God, it originated with God
himself. Christ stood as the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. And Hebrews 1 says this,
God, in times past, spake unto the fathers, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and the prophets. He spake unto them by dreams,
by visions, but I'll tell you what, in different ways, but
right now, he said, now he has spoken to us by son. God does
not speak to or speak to anybody through other than through Jesus
Christ. And God said to Moses, you make
it the way I tell you. And I tell you, God, He Himself
originated. Who could have ever dreamed that
God could devise in His wisdom a way to save sinners and choose
all the sinners before they ever existed? And know that He's going
to create a man who's going to fall. He's going to disobey Him,
and everybody in the human race would fall with Him. But God
in His purpose in Christ, He purposed Christ to come into
this world. And He gave Christ a people before
He come into this world. And He had a people chosen before
the foundation of the world. And Christ came into this world
to save those people. And it all started with God. Before this world was ever existed. God said, listen. He said, Moses,
I want this thing to be this way. God said, this is the way
it's going to be. Our salvation started with God. And guess how it's going to end?
With God. A man apart from revelation cannot
find out God. People think they can, you know,
said, well, I found the Lord. No, no, you didn't. No, no, he
wasn't lost. Christ wasn't, I found the Lord.
No, you didn't. He wasn't lost. You're the one
that's lost. He got to find you. You can't come to him. He has
to come to you. And that's why he says, search
the scripture. Search them. Go through them. Because they testify of me. And, oh my, you start in Genesis
1-1, and you know you find Christ right in Genesis 1-1. The Scripture
said, In the beginning God said. And John 1-1 says, In the beginning
was the Word. The same was in the beginning
with God. And all things that was made was made by him, and
without him nothing was made that was made. And it says, by
Him, all things were created, and by Him, all things exist,
and all things consist. Oh my, that would be... Christ, everywhere you look,
you can see Him, you can find Him. You can find Him. Oh my. There's where the revelation
started, when God said. And I tell you, I love when God says
it. when God says it. What we say, unless it's according
to the scriptures, it doesn't mean anything. And you look at
Isaiah 53, and look what it says about the whole water revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a root out of dry ground. There's no comeliness that we
should desire, no beauty that we should desire. But yet it
said he was wounded. for our transgressions, bruised
for our iniquities, chastised for our, and he goes on talking
about all that he did for us. What a revelation of Christ.
The first one thing that I say, and I've said it so many times,
if we have a creed in this, in this Lantana Grace Church, it
would be Isaiah 53. That you find my hope, my salvation,
and everything in Isaiah 53. God saw the travail of his soul,
said, I'm satisfied. And beloved, if God's satisfied
with Christ and Christ satisfied, God satisfies our souls the same
way he satisfied himself. And when he satisfies your soul
and takes the blood of Christ and applies it, you never, ever
want anything else applied to your soul. That's sufficient.
You don't never need anything else. Do you? Oh, no. Oh, what a pattern, what
a pattern for us to see how our salvation is in Isaiah 53. Now look at the materials of
the ark. It's the character of Christ. All the blessings has
originated, this is a revelation of Christ, originated with God.
And look what else it says about the materials in 10 and 11. You make it out of sheet of wood.
Make it out of sheet and wood and in verse 11 thou shall overlay
it with pure gold Within and without shalt thou relay it make
it a crown of gold round about it So when they made this ark
45 inches long 28 inches high they They took gold and filled the
inside of it. Filled that inside, all of the
walls and everything. And the other board inside that
thing, they filled it up with gold. And then they got on the
outside and they covered that thing up with gold. And that
whole thing, when you saw it, you didn't see wood, you saw
gold. But there's two things about this ark. Sheetum wood,
and this shows us the care of Christ. Sheetum wood is an incorruptible
wood. It won't rot. It won't rot. It won't rot. You know that the
giant redwoods out in California, those things won't rot, and termites
or nothing can bother those things at all. The only thing that'll
bother them things is a fire, and that's the only thing that'll
bother them, and then they'll grow back over a fire. So this sheet
of wood is an incorruptible wood. And then it was covered over
with pure gold. And this wood is typical of us
Lord's sinless humanity. A picture of our Lord's sinless,
pure humanity. Incorruptible wood. Powerful
wood. And there's our Lord Jesus Christ,
his sinless humanity. That's why, that's why when he
died on the cross, God was punishing him as a man, couldn't punish
him as God. He was punishing him in his humanity.
But then also it was covered in gold. And gold always speaks
of the deity, the Godhead of our Lord Jesus Christ. So he's
100% man, 100% God, and still two distinct natures. Now you
figure that out. I just believe it don't you I
believe he is as much a man as a man could possibly be but he's
a sinless man He hungered he slept He got tired
he laid down He got weary Sit on that well at the woman's that's
got tired sit down after walking eight miles So I tell you, he
got tired. But here's these two distinct
natures. Wood. Wood. Incorruptible wood. Incorruptible humanity. And gold
over that wood. And yet they were still one thing. And under that gold was wood,
and outside that wood was gold. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
Two persons in one man. I can't explain it. I wished I could, I wished I
could, but that's what's called, oh my. Let me tell you something
about the wood too. The wood's grown in the earth,
come up out of the earth, and that represents Christ as our
kinsman. He was a root out of dry ground. How do you get a root out of
a dry ground? Well, he was a root out of dry ground. And all my
house comes this wood, a root out of dry ground. That's Christ
that comes up out of the earth. That wood, that's Christ, our
kinsman, redeemer, has a root out of dry ground. And the gold
represents him as God's blessed son, God's fellow. James read
it tonight. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I
and my Father are one, are one. And so he was God's fellow and
all in the gold. It's the gold of his deity that
gives power, gives preciousness, gives glory, gives beauty to
the wood of his humanity. And I tell you what, when, like
I said this morning, I have, I've seen Christ. I don't care
who saw him in the flesh. I don't care how many men saw
him in the flesh when he was on this earth, but they still,
they still, though they viewed him in his body, they could not
see him as the Christ, the son of God, without him revealing
it to him. And I've seen Christ. I've seen Him in His humanity.
I've seen Him in His Godhead. I've seen Him in His merit. I've
seen Him in His power. I've seen Him in His grace. I've
seen Him in His death. I've seen Christ and I've seen
now, bless His holy name, sitting at the right hand of God with
all power and heaven and earth vested in Him. Oh, don't you,
have you seen Him? If you see Him, you know what
you'll do? You'll fall head over heels in love with Him. And you
can't help yourself. Just try not to if you can. Oh my. So in this wood, you have
the incorruptible humanity alone. And I tell you, that incorruptible
humanity is what represented us in this world. And our Lord
and His humanity and deity met together on that cross, and He
is able to represent man and able to represent God both at
the same time on that cross. He rushed out God, asked for forgiveness, rushed
out to man and said, You got forgiveness. God and man, he
could bring them both together. And that's the only person that
can. God and man, wood and gold. And oh my. Now I want you to
look over with me in chapter 30. Chapter 30. Look down verse 25. You know
the anointing of the ark. Oh my, it's a revelation. Christ's character and distinct
natures, wood and gold, sinless humanity and deity, united in
one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the anointing of the
iron, or picture of a baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look
what it said here in verse 25. And thou shalt make an oil of
holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary,
It shall be a holy anointing oil, and thou shalt anoint the
tabernacle of the congregation therewith and the ark of the
testimony. Oh my, I want you to anoint it. I want you to take that holy
oil made by the apothecary, made by the perfume, and I want you
to pour it on that ark. Pour it on that ark. And what
that holy oil did is set that ark apart for God's appointed
purpose and for his special place and God's purpose in there. God
appointed it himself. And the holy oil that was poured
on that ark represents the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And you know,
our Lord Jesus Christ, I want you to see this in John, look
over with me in John chapter three, John chapter three. Well, first of all, look in John
chapter 1, talking about, you know, the Holy Spirit set apart
the ark for God's appointed purpose and a special place and a special
purpose. And all this speaks of the baptism
of the Holy Spirit, speaks of the Holy Spirit. Look what it
said here in 1 John chapter 1, verse 32. Now this is where we baptize
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said he come baptizing, and
John Barry records saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven
like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but
he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me,
upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending. and remaining
on him the same as he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. Now look
over here in John chapter 3. Look what it says here in verse
34. John 3, 34. For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God. Now listen to this, for God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him. What that means is that
he had the Holy Ghost like nobody else. He was begotten of the
Holy Ghost. And the Father loves the Son,
hath given all things into his hands. So this pictures the baptism
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Ark of the Testimony received
its anointing and was publicly set apart for His holy work. And our Lord Jesus Christ, when
He stood up, when He opened His earthly ministry, stood up in
that synagogue, and you know where He quoted from? Isaiah
65. He said, the Spirit of the Lord,
that's the first thing He said, the Spirit of the Lord hath anointed
me. What did He anoint you to do?
First of all, preach the gospel. Open the eyes of the blind. Cause the lame to walk. Set the prisoners free. But the
first thing He said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. And that's
what happens, beloved. Our Lord received His set-apart
into His public ministry by the baptism of the Holy Ghost upon
Him. God come down on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I tell you, the Ark did for
Israel what Christ does for us. He was set apart. And you know,
here's another thing about Christ's baptism for us. It said, he told
John, he said, it suffers us to fulfill all righteousness
for you to baptize me. Suffer me to be baptized for
it fulfills all righteousness. And so when he said it fulfills
all righteousness, what that means is that everything Christ
did on this earth, we did in Him. He did it when our Lord was baptized. And he said, it fulfills all
righteousness. It suffers us to suffer me to
do that. If it feels then, you know, he fulfilled everything
that the law required. And when he was baptized, we
were baptized with him. When he was risen, we was risen
with him. When he went up to glory and
sat down, we sat down with him. We're so united to him. And all
let me let me you here in verse 16 of Exodus 25, and I want to
show you something, then we'll go to Exodus 40. But let me show
you something over here in Exodus 25, in verse 16. Now, look at the contents of
the ark. You know, it was anointed with oil, set apart for a purpose. Christ was set apart in baptism
to enter His ministry, fulfill righteousness for us. But look
what God said here in Exodus 25, 16. And thou shalt put into the ark
the testimony which I shall give thee. Now, what's the testimony
that God gave them? The Ten Commandments. The Ten
Commandments. That's what He did. Look over
in Exodus chapter 40. Look in Exodus 40, verse 20. You know, when they put that,
he said, I want you to put it. In Exodus 40, 20, look what it
said. And he took and put the testimony
into the ark, set the staves on the ark and put the mercy
seat above the ark. And you know what that, when
they, Before they set that mercy seat on there, he said, I tell
you what you do, you put my testimony in there. What was God's testimony?
The Ten Commandments, thou shalt have no God before me. And he
went down, he put them there. And this tells us about the obedience
of our Lord Jesus Christ. That broken law, that law that
condemns everybody and reveals them to be sinners and condemns
to death and can only ruin a man, God said, put them inside that
ark. Put them in that place where
they'll be kept. And where's the law of God kept
at right now? Christ is the only one who kept
it. Christ the Lord kept it. And all law can do is make a
man know his sin. And I tell you, here it was,
this law, this Ten Commandments was in that ark, covered by the
mercy seat. I don't know why anybody would
want the law. I just don't. But here he take,
take them law. Take that law. It's just like
them Ten Commandments. Open that lid and stick that
in there. Won't have to look at it no more. It's hid inside
an ark. It's hid inside Christ, fulfilled
in Christ. And it's underneath a mercy seat.
And that can't come back out of there and condemn you anymore.
It ain't going to come and demand anything from you anymore. Oh,
my. Man couldn't keep the law. Man
could never keep the law, never tried to keep the law. I remember
one time, there's two people been in here, and three people
over the years. I asked one night in the service,
I said, anybody here ever kept the law? Woman raised her hand. about an awful situation. You
know, and I'm preaching that you can't keep it, but I did.
I have. I have. But oh my, man could
not keep the law. You and I have broke it. God
only knows how many countless times. You know, when Moses come
down off the mountain with the first tables of stone, You know
what was going on down at the bottom of that mountain when
he come down off there? He thought that everybody was
rejoicing and shouting. He said, you get down off this
mountain. And when he got down there, they took all the gold
and made a golden calf, and they was dancing around that golden
calf, and some of them was even naked. And the first thing Moses
did, he throwed that law down and busted it and broke it. And that's exactly the way it's
been ever since for anybody trying to keep it. It's been broke.
Just will get out. You go, God, go to dancing. If
you're going to try to be saved by the law and all my, but I,
Lord Jesus Christ, he said, I come to do the high wheel. Oh God,
I will. I delight to do in Lord Jesus
Christ is our arc. The broken law of God is covered
in mercy, mercy, mercy. And I tell you, we are just,
let me tell you something here. We are justified by the faith
of Christ. Our faith don't justify, Christ,
we are justified by His faith. Everything we do has to be perfect
in order to be accepted. That's what the law demands,
perfection. Perpetual perfection. Well, our
Lord Jesus Christ, bless His name, He perpetually Kept that
law, fulfilled that law. And now God in sovereign mercy,
He cannot look on us without looking at that mercy seat. And now, I tell you what, He
fulfilled it for me. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. To who? Him that does or Him
that believes? I'm glad he says that I'm glad
you know when we you ever been to a place that says there's
no outlet You know you pull down the road said there ain't no
outlet here. So you got you get the end of it You got to turn
around come back. Well Christ is the end of it and there ain't
no way turn around get back Who would want to turn around and
come back? Oh my he's the end of it. He's the end of it and
he could look his holy father in the face and said father I
I've glorified you on the earth, and I finished the work that
you gave me to do. Finished it. Finished. Oh, my. The righteous demands of God
are fully met in our Lord Jesus Christ and his obedience. And here God rests in Christ. And God rests in Christ and all
that he has in Christ, he put it in Christ, and God finds him
to be all things, and he rests in the finished work of his blessed
Son, and who it was that finished that work. And now, beloved,
the only place we can rest is the same place that God appointed
for us. And I tell you what, he rests
in that mercy seat between the cherubims. God said His throne
is between that mercy seat, on that mercy seat between the cherubims. Oh boy, I tell you what. Let me show you something else
over here in Exodus 25. You know, so that was the obedience.
The contents of the ark was the law. Now look over here back
in 25 with me. Chapter 25, verse 22. The purpose of the ark, the atonement
of Christ, the atonement of Christ and what it accomplished. Look
what God said here. He said, you know, he said, thou
shalt put the mercy seat, verse 21, upon the ark, and in the
ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there,
listen to this, there I will meet with thee and I will commune
with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim.
This is the only place that you and God meet with God. In that mercy seat, God said,
you come in here and this is the place I'll meet you. This
is the place I'll commune with you. I'll visit you and you can
talk with me. The ark was a place of meeting. The ark was a place of communion
from above the mercy seat. And you know when it talks about
Christ being our perpetuation, that word perpetuation, it means
mercy seat. That's what it means. And because
of Christ, our mercy seat is atoning death. God meets with
us and communes with us. In him, we meet God. And in his
mercy seat, we meet God. We meet Christ in his mercy seat. And oh, bless his name. You know,
He is that mercy seat between a broken law and a holy God.
Oh, I tell you. Every attribute of God, you can
put holy before every attribute of God. Holiness is His beginning,
that's His nature. He's a holy love, holy wrath.
Everything's holy. But our Lord Jesus Christ is
that propitiation, that mercy seat. You know, the mercy seat
is Let's say this is a mercy seat, and we had that gold on
top of it. And all this was gold right up
the top of here. And the Lord Jesus Christ was that mercy seat. And when we come to him, God
said, I'll meet you there. I'll commune with you there.
God was in Christ. God was in Christ. What did he
do in Christ? He reconciled us unto himself. Reconciled us. You know, we were
the enemies. We wronged him. But instead of
him coming, he come and made, he reconciled us to himself.
Made us come even friendly with himself. And oh my, I got to
hurry. Preached too long this morning.
And look over here in Exodus 24, in verse 26 and verse 34. Look at the position of the ark.
This talks about the intercession of our Lord. Look in verse 34,
Exodus 26-34, and thou shalt put and thou shalt put the mercy
seat upon the ark of the testimony in the most holy place." That's
the position, in the most holy place. Not the holy place, but
the holiest, most holy place, the holiest of holies. And that's
where the position of the ark was. There's where intercession
was made for us. The ark stood continually, continually
in the immediate presence of God Almighty. That mercy seat
was continually making intercession for Israel. And there was a veil
that they had to go behind to where that mercy seat was. Well,
I'll tell you what, Christ opened that veil, Christ our ark. You know where he sits at now?
He sits at the right hand of God. That's where he sits now,
sits in the presence of God. He stood in the ark, continued
in the presence of God, and now he stands in the presence of
God. I want you, you know, look in Hebrews chapter 9. Look in Hebrews chapter 9. You know, he by himself purged
our sins. Christ entered into the holiest
of holies. And he ever lives now to make
intercession for us. Look what it said here, Hebrews
9, 23. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of the things in heaven, in the heavens, should
be purified with these, blood is what he's talking about, but
with the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than those
under the law. Now listen to this, for Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, like
that tabernacle, like the temple, which are just types or figures
of the true tabernacle. Now listen to this, but into
heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Where's he at? At and for God
for us. Oh, my. My, my. And that blood
there speaks better things. And out of the oil speaks such
better things. And then I think, I think this
is my last point. I hope it is anyway. I believe
it is. Look over in Leviticus 16. Leviticus
16. Leviticus, right after Exodus
look in Leviticus 16 Verse 14 and Here we have the
sprinkling of the ark Sprinkle of the blood or the blood of
Christ applied the blood of Christ complied Look what he said here
in verse 14 And he shall take the blood of the bullock and
Sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward And before
the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger
seven times. And then shall he kill the goat
of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring his blood
within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the
blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before
the mercy seat. Now here's what, that's the blood
of Christ applied. That mercy seat was there. And
they took blood for the people. He took blood, dipped it in blood,
and he's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven times
he sprinkled blood on that goat. On that mercy sheep. Then he
stepped back and he sprinkled seven times right in front of
it. Right on the ground. Right on the ground. And you
know, It says in 1 Peter 1, 2, it says,
We have come unto the obedience of the sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ. You know what the Holy Spirit
does for us? Just like the blood of Christ was applied to that
mercy seat and that blood of those goats and bullocks was,
Christ, the Holy Spirit takes the blood of Christ and He sprinkled
our conscience. And you know why? That's why
you don't feel guilt anymore. Have you, how long's it been
since you felt any guilt? Think about it. Where that blood's
been applied, there ain't no sin. That blood's been sprinkled
on you. It purges your conscience. Oh my. And I tell you what, it's
put on the connecting the mercy seat with the sacrifice for sin. Christ as our sacrifice for sin. And oh my, and the virtue of
that ark within the veil can only be received as virtue by
the blood, by the blood. And I'll tell you what, when
that blood was applied, let me tell you something. Without the
shedding of blood, there's no coming. And to come before God
without blood of the appointing was death. The blood upon the
mercy seat secures our acceptance with God Almighty. The blood
before the mercy seat gives us a perfect standing in the sight
of God. Sin's gone, and we've got a perfect standing. And it'll
never change. It'll never change. Did y'all
see Christ in any of that? I certainly hope you did. I told Shirley on the way over
here, I said, I hope I've got the right message tonight. I
said, I was second guessing myself. But I'm grateful that the Lord
gave it to me. I'd love to see Christ in the Old Testament.
I do. And everything about that tabernacle,
that mercy seat especially, that mercy seat, that ark. Oh, my. Our Father, in the blessed, blessed
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your great, great
mercy. We're with you. Loved us. even
when we were dead in trespasses and sins. Thank you for saving
us by grace. Thank you for, Lord, not requiring
us to do any works. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you
did it all, all to you we owe. And Lord, we thank you for that
mercy seat, for the blood on that mercy seat. For our Lord's
humanity, sinless humanity, and for our Lord's Godhead, His deity,
being God, manifest in the flesh. Lord, we bless you and praise
you for what you've taught us about Christ, for the revelations
you've given us. We thank you for it. Bless these
dear saints as they go their way. They have to go to work. They have to go out in the world.
They have to labor for their bread. And so, Lord, bless them. meet the needs of every one of
them. And Lord, please, please touch the bodies that are frail
and are sick and forgive us of everything that's unlike you
for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. What's that? How does Jesus paint it all? How does
that start? I hear the Savior say, thy strength
indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and
pray. Find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
he washed it white as snow. See you Wednesday, God willing.