All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 12. Now, over time, I probably will have
eventually read all this chapter, but I will not do so this morning.
But the reason I wanted you to read over this chapter was at
least to familiarize your mind with what is said here. But for this morning, I want
to read just two verses. Deuteronomy chapter 12, verses
13 and 14. Listen to what God said to Israel
through Moses. He said, take heed to thyself
that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that
thou seest. But in the place which the Lord
shall choose, in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt
offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. What we have in Deuteronomy chapter
12 is the law of the central altar. God was telling Israel
that in his time, it wasn't so right then. Right then, God was
meeting with them in the tabernacle as the tabernacle moved all about.
But God said, there will become a time when I will choose a place
and there and there only will you worship me. That's what he
said. And let me just say, that was
never completely fulfilled in history. For if Jesus, Hebrew
says, and it's actually an unfortunate translation, for if Joshua had
given them rest, they would not have afterward, God would not
have afterward spoken of another day. So just remember that. Because
while this had historical reality, and historical meaning. It was
pointing to something, yea, someone far greater than these things
themselves. And let me tell you, listen,
this idea cooked up by some pre-millennialists that somehow since this wasn't
fulfilled to Israel as a people and as a nation, that well then
someday Christ will come again and then we'll restore all of
this for Israel is a lie. Those sacrifices are done. They're done. Those that eat
at that altar, anytime, back then, now, or even in the future,
they have no right to eat at the altar that we eat at. That's
what the book of God says according to the new covenant. As I said,
this is the chapter containing the law of the central altar.
But my title for this morning is the singularity of the central
altar. That's the first thing I want
to try to zero in on. Now I have to, or I want to,
I do feel I have to lay a little bit of ground rule here and some
facts. First of all, this central altar
was not central geographically. You find that if you read verses
20 and 21. God said as you go into the land
and you expand, you begin to conquer this area and you expand,
it will eventually get to the point where some of you are too
far away to get to the central altar. Isn't that what he says?
You've read it. If you've read it, you see that.
The central altar, even here, and even as it was first ordained,
and I don't have it all, all of that, all of the history of
that in itself don't matter. It first was established as shallow.
Then it finally came, and God said, Jerusalem now is where
it will be. But all of that is shadow of something greater.
But it was never central geographically. It is central by theocratic sovereign
choice. That's why it's central. That's
how it's central. It's central because God says,
here's where it's at. This is the center of worship,
there and there only. And we read that in verse four
and five. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. Of the
preceding three verses of instruction, which God willing we'll talk
about later. but unto the place which the Lord your God shall
choose out of all your tribes to put his name there. Even unto
his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt thou come,
and thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices,
and your tithes, and your heave offerings of your hand, and your
vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds,
and of your flocks, And there shall ye eat before the Lord
your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hands
unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath
blessed thee. So it's central, again, remember,
by theocratic sovereign choice. God says, this is what I choose,
this is the way it is, deal with it. Or as Joseph said, or don't. But if you bow not down to God's
theocratic sovereign choice, then you're not bowing down to
God. It is rebellion against God. This is clear from the context
historically and even more so in its true fulfillment. So first of all, it's not central
geographically, it is central by theocratic sovereign choice. And remember what Paul said about
all this. Turn to Hebrews, chapter 10. Remember, I'm laying the groundwork
now so that we properly understand this chapter. When we read this
chapter, think of the historical events as a mind picture. a picture painted for us so that
we might, in our inability to grasp Mason the infinite, God
describes the infinite through finite things. He shadowed him
through finite things so that we might have some ability, Joe,
to grasp a hold of what God's talking about in eternal matters. And this is what Paul, this is
the way the apostle Paul put it in chapter 10, verse one.
For the law having a shadow. Do you see that? Having a shadow. First of all, all of the law
is not a shadow. The law has a shadow, having
a shadow. Some things in the law are shadow.
When God says thou shalt not steal, that's not a shadow for
something else. When God says thou shalt not
commit adultery, that's not a shadow for something else. That law
was given to show us how corrupt we really are. Because when it
says thou shalt not, it didn't say you ought not, it says thou
shalt not. All of them says shalt not, don't
it? or thou shalt, and when you don't, it's sin against God.
And we still don't. We still don't. Look, for the
law having a shadow of good things to come, so the law, in its shadow,
and even in its reality, pointed there's got to be something better,
something different. When it says thou shalt not steal,
that shuts me down. because you steal one time and
you're doomed before God. It doesn't say thou shalt not
steal a whole lot. Thou shalt make restitution when
thine stealeth. Thou shalt not steal. But what
we're reading here is shadow. Why? Because the book of Hebrews
says all of those offerings and sacrifices were figures and shadows. So I know when I read this, that's
what it's talking about. But what's it saying? Look, for
the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very
image of the things, now that's important to remember, can never
with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually,
and where did they have to go to do it? To the central altar.
Which they offered year by year, they can never make the comers
thereunto perfect. And then look at the summary
at verse nine. Then said he, this is speaking
of Christ, lo, I come to do thy will. Joe, you adequately preached
on that. Oh God, he taketh, what's that
say? He taketh away the first. That,
therefore the first has to be taken away. It's gotta be gone.
Why? That he may establish the second. You see it? Now think
about this. Hebrews chapter 10 verse one
shows us this. These things shadow, that is
they cast an outline. You know what a shadow is? The
shadow doesn't give you all the details, it's just an outline.
You know what I'm saying? That's why the word is translated,
it's a decent translation of the word. The things, these things
shadow Christ. They shadow his gospel. They
shadow his people, and they shadow the worship of God in Christ. That's the first thing about
Hebrews 10.1. Here's the second thing. This
shows us this. Do not confound the issue by trying to fit every
word of Deuteronomy 12 as shadow, for the shadow is not the very
image of the things. Do you understand what I'm saying
here? Compare it. Hebrews 1 says Christ is the
very image of the invisible God. The very image. But in the law,
in the shadows, in the figures, in the types, they are not the
very image of the facts. In other words, here's the thing
to do first. Look for the apparent concepts.
of the new covenant as is shadowed in the old covenant. Look for
what's apparent first. Don't read through, if you read
it more and read through Deuteronomy chapter 12 or any of the other
shadows and types and figures and try to make every word fit. You'll just confound yourself.
How does that fit? It probably does, but be careful
because as one fellow said, We don't have to teach how every
board in the Ark defines Christ. But we know that every board
in the Ark defined Christ. But God gives us a picture of
the Ark as a whole. And that's what he's given us
here, a picture of the central altar as a whole. So that's what
I want to point out. Look for the apparent concepts,
truths, or more adequately, truth of the new covenant in the shadow
of the old covenant first. We do not have to define Christ
in, as I said, every single little word. It's not like an epistle
where you need to take every little single word. exactly as
it says, because if you try to do that with types, or more,
the word used in Hebrews 10.1, it's a shadow, you're just getting
the outline, and you're going to confound yourself. I mean, I have read some really
good books by men who talked about shadows and types, and
they can be very good, but they also can get so mundane and boring
because they're trying to make everything fit. The thing about
it is you don't look at the old covenant and then teach the new
covenant in light of the old covenant. You look at the new
covenant and then when you see the types and the shadows, then
you'll see things open up for you. Christ is the central altar. Anybody who thinks anything else,
you're just dead wrong. I mean, don't prejudice your
mind against that. That's just the facts. That's the way it
is. As I said, look for the apparent, the things that just jump right
out of the page at you. Now, someone may say, I read
that and nothing jumped out of the page at me. Well, I hope
that's not the case. But sometimes, I mean, I know
what this was brought to my attention, and no, I didn't come up with
it. This was in here thousands of years. So ain't nobody here
come up with it. But it was brought to my attention
and I read that chapter and all of a sudden something just jumped
right out. Man, man. Because think of this, no one
sees it all all the time. No one does. Even all of those
books, Shadows of Christ, they're not gonna see it all all the
time. And even if someone, Joe, could write a book and show it
all the time, we're not gonna get it all all the time. I've
read this chapter I don't know how many times and it just didn't
jump out like it did this time. You know, that's God's business.
No one sees it all, all the time. But Hebrews 10 and nine now gives
the proper perspective of approach. He taketh away the first that
he might establish the second. Therefore, look at the second. And then the first will show
some shadow to you. Some figure to you. Don't look
at the old one. Don't look at the first one and
say, now I gotta make the truth of Christ fit into that. No,
sir. Take the New Testament and what it teaches about the personal
work of Jesus Christ. Then you'll see some of the types
and the shadows and the figures boldly stand out in the types
and the figures. And as I said, Let me go back
to Hebrews and let me read that, Hebrews chapter one. And think
about this. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in past unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. Amen. Did you see it? Yeah. Now he's
not saying what the prophets said is of no value. But he's
saying, here's the paramount person, the word of God himself
has come in human flesh and what he said, everything else is taken
in light of what he said. Don't take everything else and
then say, well, I've got to fit what Christ said into that. No,
what he said is. What he taught is, and then go
back and look at the types and the figures and the prophecies.
Then you'll begin to see the proper perspective. So much so
that the writer Paul then says, in what we have as chapter two,
therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things
which we have what? Heard. lest at any time we should let
them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation
which at first began to be spoken by who? You want to get down
to the meat of the thing spoken by the Lord. Because he is the
one who speaks for God in the last day. He is the prophet He
is the priest, and he is the king. And that is, as the prophet,
I'm gonna boil it all down, that means he speaks for God to us. If you ever hear from God, you'll
hear it through Jesus Christ, or you won't hear from God. He's
the prophet, he's the priest, he goes to God for us. And if he doesn't go to God for
you, you'll never get to God. And he is the king. What he says
goes. What he says goes. Prophet, priest,
and king. Look, how shall we escape if
we neglect so great a salvation which at first began to be spoken
by the Lord, listen, and was confirmed unto us by them that
heard him? So if somebody says, well, I'm
just going to listen to Jesus. I ain't listening to anybody else. You're
playing games. You're trying to give yourself
an out. God has ordained the men who speak for him. And they're
speaking what Christ said and not their own opinion. And when
they're speaking what Christ said, you better listen to them. You better listen to them. and was confirmed unto us by
them that heard him, God also bearing them witness. So now
I'll tell you, if I'm up here preaching what these apostles
taught from this book, you better listen to it as the very word
of God himself. You know why? Cause it is. So much so that John in first
John says it's this way. People who don't hear us, they're
not hearing God. If they're of the world, they'll
go listen to the world and what the world teaches. If they're
of God, they'll listen to what God's men preach, because God's
men are preaching God's book. Somebody says you're faulty,
so were the apostles. But if I'm preaching this book,
Joe, there is no fault. There is no fault. Here's what you do. Here's what
you do if you're spiritually noble. You search these things
daily in this book to see if what Joe's saying and what I'm
saying is in the book. And remember, what we have to
say is in light of the new covenant, not the old, because he taketh
away the first that he might establish the second. So in other words, here's the
third thing. We do not define the new covenant by the old covenant.
The old covenant is for shadow only. That's all it ever was.
This wasn't God's attempt to bless Israel, but Israel wouldn't,
and that's how this kind of supposed to be a symbol of how well, but
now he's spiritually doing this for us, but then one day he's
gonna then go back and he'll really do it right for Israel
the second time. That's a pre-millennialist lie. Every person who's ever
been blessed of God has been blessed by Jesus Christ or they're
not blessed at all. That's just the way it is. And
that's the way it always has been. Adam and Eve, who came
and visited them in the garden after they fell? It says the
voice of the Lord. Who's that? That's Jesus Christ. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord and God said, build an ark. Who's that? That's Jesus
Christ. The Israelites drank water from
a rock. Who was that? That was Jesus
Christ. It's always been Christ. And
in the Old Testament, you will find direct prophecies concerning
Jesus Christ, or you will find figures and types and shadows. But remember, Don't ever define
the new covenant by the old covenant. You just look at the old covenant
as shadow. The new covenant is defined by
the doctrine of Christ the mediator. He is the one who in his last
days spoke for God. And he has other men, he's gone
now, he has other men endued with power from the Holy Spirit.
And what does that mean? That don't mean I get up here
and I shout and I, and all that means you speak the truth of
God. It means you preach this book in light of the new covenant
with Jesus Christ as the mediator of the new covenant, and when
you do, you're hearing God speak. That's right. That's how important
this is. Christ says the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. So if I'm
speaking his words, what's that mean being spoken? Spirit and
life. Now here's the thing. If you don't see God's word as
life, then that means you're dead. Because the gospel is life
unto life. It's a saver of life unto life.
But the gospel is also a saver of death unto those that are
dead. I don't like what you say. What I say is Jesus Christ. What
I'm trying to preach, who I'm trying to preach is Jesus Christ.
And people can dislike me and my personality, but if they dislike
who I'm preaching, they have the problem. They are refusing
to worship God at the central altar. And he's gone now. God is my
witness. Especially when I first met Earl
Cochran, I didn't like everything in every way that Earl Cochran
did things. I was 22-23 years old. He was retired. He had a lot more wisdom than
I did and I didn't like that. It was hard to deal with. But you know what? He put up
with me. Even asked me to stand behind
this podium. And what? Even more who he was
preaching resonated with my soul to where all of those personal
peccadillos did not matter. They are but specks of dust in
the wind, but for a person whom the personal peccadilloes mattered
or where they don't even want to hear someone preaching the
truth, they got the problem, not the person preaching the
truth. Because we all got our problems and our peccadilloes.
And you just marked that. But I ain't listening to no man.
You'll listen. You'll hear God through one of
his God-ordained means or you don't hear God at all. As I said,
you and I are not Abrams. He didn't come and change our
name. My name's still Walter. Abraham is the father of us all.
We're not the father of anybody. Now think about that for a while.
Why did he use that phrase? Because Abraham had a distinct
place, Joe. So then, so then, with that in
mind, remember, remember this. Don't look at the shadow and
then try to make the New Testament fit into the shadow. It fits.
It fits. But the shadow is not the very
image of the thing. Take the things of the New Covenant,
then go back and read the shadows and types, then things will open
up for you. And you'll see things that'll bless your soul. If you
do it the other way, you'll confound yourself. You'll be fighting
the proverbial losing battle. I know, I've been there. I've
been there. So then what I want to do is
to highlight some of the apparent things. So here's my title again,
The Singularity of the Sinful Altar. What is God saying in
Deuteronomy 12? There's gonna be one place you worship me. And to jump ahead, even in things
of liberty and even in things of providence, if you can't make
it there, there's still some ground rules. and you don't partake
of the blood. Cause the blood's mine, God says. That's right, you don't need,
now you, if you're too far away, you can even eat the meat that
was supposed to be offered to God at the central altar. But
you take the blood, just like you would a heart or a robe up,
and you pour it out upon the earth. You know what, cause the
blood is God's. God didn't, Christ didn't offer
his blood to us. You see, I'm getting ahead of
myself. Christ offered his blood to God. But then the mediator
of the new covenant, the one who took away the first that
he might establish the second, comes along and says, my flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed, and you've got
to drink my blood. Can you imagine? Many of those old Jews knew this
law of the central altar. You don't drink any blood. Christ
comes along, Ellen, and said, now you're gonna drink my blood.
See, he stands because he is the central altar. He is, and
now it's not like the old covenant. They couldn't come. They had
to have a priest come do it for them. We can enter into the very
presence of God, come to the throne of grace. Yes, boldly. The veil was rent, right? So that lets us know the New
Covenant is far superior because the New Covenant's about the
true central altar. He is what it all really pointed
to, what it all really means. So let's get right to it. The
central altar is vital and it's singular. We already read it,
look it. Don't do it in any place other
than the place I choose. Isn't that what he says? Now
let's just sum it all up. Go back and read it again. We'll
read verse 28. Look at what it says. Observe
and hear all these words which I command thee that it may go
well with thee. Wait a minute, not just with
thee, and with thy children after thee. Well, it's all in God's
hands. I'm not gonna criticize anybody
about anything. Then you don't know about the
singularity of the central altar. Jump ahead a moment. What's the
first thing he told them to do when they went into the land?
Read verses one, two, and three. You become iconoclasts. You break
down everybody else's altars and I'm gonna tell you where
to set up mine. And I remember Earl talking about
the one man said, well, you're an iconoclast. You know what
it means? You take what other people believe
and you shove it in the dirt and you grind it to powder and
say it's worthless. No, it's more than that. It's
as it says here, it's an abomination in God's sight. The preaching of the gospel,
the preaching of Jesus Christ is not a live and let live proposition. And let me tell you something,
when it comes to the worship of God, even in things of liberty
and in things of providence, even hindering providence, there's
still ground rule. Jesus Christ is to be honored
no matter what. no matter what. Paul says somebody
takes some meat and they've offered it to an idol. He said you can
eat that meat. It means nothing. But if they tell you this is
offered to an idol and they don't know the truth of it, he said
you abstain from that for their sake. Because Christ is not to
be dishonored no matter what. You see what I'm saying? You
see what Paul's saying? See how, and it's right here. Joe, it's
all right here in this one little chapter. It's amazing. The central
altar is vital because he says, observe and hear all these words
which I command thee that it may go well with thee and with
thy children after thee forever when thou doest that which is
good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God. It's good to
brag on Jesus Christ. We talk about preaching Christ.
Well, what is preaching Christ? It's bragging about him. It's
talking about who he is and what he's done, and that is a sweet
savor to God, whether it's to death or to life. That honors God, no matter whether
you're preaching to someone who's elect or reprobate. That's a
sweet savor to God. Do you see it? That's what the
book teaches. That's what Paul went on to say.
To some, we're a saver of life and to life. And to others, we're
a saver of death and to death. But it's always the proclamation,
the bragging about Jesus Christ is always a sweet saver to God. And go ahead and tear down their
altars. It's not just all right. It's
the way it's supposed to be. And we'll look at that. You remember
And people said, but Walter needs to be a little kinder. I can't
be no kinder than what I am right now. Because I tell you, when
you preach the truth of Christ, it ain't about kindness. It's
about the truth of God. You remember Christ came along
and said, you've heard them say, and he just had mentioned the
Pharisees. You've heard them say, and he says what they said.
Took it, took their little idols, Joe, and ground it into powder. You've heard them say, but I
say unto you. That's how important this thing
is. The central altar is vital. Who it is, the teaching that
surrounds it, how you conduct yourself concerning it, even
if you're providentially hindered or if it's things of liberty.
You could take that, you said, thou shalt cure that is too far
away from you, you can kill the herd of that flock and you can
eat the parts of it that was supposed to have been given to
God, just like you would a hardware robot. Remember what he says? But still yet, here's this one
singular rule. You pour the blood out. No matter
what, because that's God's. Life's in the blood and life
is God's. All life, physical life, animal life, spiritual
life, whatever it is, it's God's. God gives it, God takes it away.
It's his. It's his. Spiritual life, he
gives it. And Joe, thank God he never takes it away. never
takes it away. So then the central altar is
vital. In other words, the central altar is vital because God's
ordained the worship of himself in this way. God said, the place
that I choose and the way that I choose, because you see the
way in some of the rest of the book there, when you brought
these offerings, you didn't just do it the way you wanted to.
There were certain pieces of choice meat that went to God.
Yes, sir. Right? Yes, sir. Now, other parts
could be eaten by the priest. Other parts could be eaten by
the actual people themselves, the offerer. And they brought
it to the priest. The priest, but there were certain
parts, Joe, it went to God. And the fat, it's God's. It's
God's. It's all right, folks, listen,
God likes fat. Now, you can take that far as you want to take
it. God likes fat. I'm being silly. But don't feel
so bad about yourself. The fat was God's, Joe. The feast
is called the feast of what? Fat things. And Christ is fatness
before God. Now think about this. So God
has ordained the worship of himself and his way is vital. You remember
what that woman at the well said to Christ first? I perceive you're
a prophet. And then she wanted to engage God Almighty. She didn't
know it, but she wanted to engage God Almighty in a religious argument.
You Jews say you ought to worship God in Jerusalem. That's what
they're talking about. The central altar. We say worship up in this
mountain. Jesus said to her, woman, you
worship you know not what. Do you see him obeying verses
one, two, and three? Taking her place of worship and
grinding it into powder. It ain't no good. Because those
that worship God must worship God in spirit and in truth. Must! Not, it's the best, no. Observe and hear all these words
which I command that it may go well with thee. You reject the
central altar, you're perished. Because the central altar is
Christ. the central altar of Christ. That's what she even
came to realize. When it finally dawned on her by the grace of
God, she ran back down to her folks, well, one of her many
husbands, well, it wasn't her husband, was it? She's shacking
up with this one. And she runs back to town, what'd she say?
I found out we ought to go to Jerusalem and worship. Is that
what she said? Well, she had just been confronted
by the mediator of the new covenant, and she said, I have found him. the one that the prophet spoke
of. And she became a true worshiper,
Joe, of Jesus Christ and of God. Because let me tell you, Christ
is the place where God chose to put his name. Christ is the
habitation of God. We have witnesses who testified
to this. What did Christ himself say? You don't honor the son,
You don't honor the Father. John chapter five verses 22 and
23. You dishonor the Son, what do you do? You dishonor the Father. You will worship God in Christ
or you don't worship God at all. That's just the way it is. What
did Paul say? In first Corinthians three and 11, other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid. What is that foundation? Well, we believe election. Make
sure you know about election. No, he says, other than Jesus
Christ. That's where it's at. And if you believe him, then
all that other stuff will start falling in line, Joel. Because
why? Because he said that's true.
And if I believe him, then I'm gonna believe what he says. And
if I say I believe in him, but I don't believe everything he
said, you don't get it. You just don't get it. You think
you do. You think you're honoring God,
but no, you're going to honor the son. Yes, sir. If you're
going to honor the father, he's the central altar. Paul said,
so the other foundation could no man lay than that, which is
laid and then take heed how you feel. Cause everything we do
as believers is built on that foundation. Some of our works
will suck. They'll burn. They'll burn up.
Mason, they're wood, hay, and stubble. But some of them are
gold, silver, and precious stones. Because thank God, he works in
us both the will and the due of his good pleasure. When we
truly brag on Christ in truth, God rejoices in it. God is pleased with it. Neil,
when those people in figure four, when they brought those sacrifices
to that central altar, God was pleased. God was worshiped. He
was worshiped in doing that, why? Because they were obeying
what God said. And he said, you do it there
and no place else. Now if you went anywhere else, it was an
abomination to God. No matter how close you was in
everything else that you did. Because it's a central, God says,
there's where I'm gonna put my name, there's my habitation,
there's where you worship me. Nowhere else. We have the very
testimony of God the Father through Paul. He said, Christ is the
head of the church. And in all things, he has the,
what? Pre-eminence. Paul said, you
know, all my former life, and even what I'm doing now, I forget
those things that are behind. And I press toward the mark of
the prize of the high calling of God in Christ. And what is
it? To be found in him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is through
the faith of Jesus Christ. That's what Paul said in Colossians. He said that in all things Christ
might have the preeminence, why? For it pleased the Father. That
in him should all fullness dwell. There's our central altar. Jesus
Christ. What about Moses? Jesus said
these words about what Moses wrote. Even Moses, we're reading
Moses, Deuteronomy 12. He said if you believe Moses,
you'd believe me. Because Moses wrote of me. And
in Deuteronomy 12, Moses was writing of Christ. That's what
he was doing. That's what he was doing. And
the Apostle John, it's so central, or so singular, so vital is this
central altar that the Apostle John in 2 John verses 9, 10,
11 says, a man comes to you and he doesn't bring you the doctrine
of Christ. you don't even bid him a good day. You don't let
him in your house. Is that what John said or not?
That's what he said, doesn't he? Because you don't abide in
the doctrine of Christ, you transgress. Isn't that what he says? It's not about getting along.
Now, no, we can't go out and physically tear down everybody
else's stuff, Joe. But we're to do it by bragging
on Jesus Christ and telling the truth about their lives. And
if somebody doesn't like that, When I stand here in this place,
or in God's providence, if someone asks me a question and I give
them a straightforward answer, if they're offended by that and
want to hurt me or harm me, that's in God's hands. So be it. Oh, God help us not to back off
because of it. Right? I mean, I can see John
the Baptist. Who warned you to flee from the
wrath to come, you bunch of snakes? Boy, John was just so kind wasn't
he? And y'all think that I'm mean?
I say y'all, some people have actually said that. Walter needs
to be more kind. You know why? Because he's got some hatred
for God's truth deep down in there that hadn't been dealt
with yet. That's what it's all about. Now you want to criticize
me because you see me out here somewhere and I got angry at
somebody? You're right. But when we're preaching Christ,
Joe, when we're witnessing to the person and the work of Jesus
Christ, let the chips fall where they may. That's just the way
it is. There's a lot of things about
me that I wish were better, but they're just not. And I've personally,
Mason, I've been this way even preaching the gospel for about
33 years now. I don't see that's gonna change
a whole lot. I'm not gonna get up here and tell everybody that
comes in here, I just love you. Well, I may not even like you,
let alone tell you I'm going to love you. There are people
out here who think you're supposed to like people before you even
know them. How can you do that? Well, the law says love your
neighbor as yourself. That's right. And you know what? I don't
love myself. The old covenant taught me to love myself and
to love my neighbor like I love myself because the old covenant
is built upon righteousness before God. the New Covenant comes along
and makes you cry out, oh, wretched man that I am. The New Covenant,
even for people that were way back before the New Covenant,
was actually established by the mediator of the New Covenant,
and one of them said, I've seen you, I've heard of you by the
hearing of my ears, but now might I see thee? Wherefore? Boy, I
just love myself. Wherefore, I hate myself, I repent
in dust and ashes. Do you see the difference between
the old covenant and the new covenant? The old covenant is
but a shadow. At best. And it's shadows, it's
just shadows. It's just figures. It's just
types. And when God says love your neighbor
as yourself, you can't. Because we don't even love ourselves
for the right reasons. Do we? What we love is more of
our lust and our passions and our depravities. That's what
we really love. And that ain't the kind of love
God's talking about there. You see what I'm saying? Aren't
you glad He taketh away the first that He may establish the second?
Aren't you glad that the person and work of Christ is much clearer
than even all these old pipes and shadows? You see what I'm
saying? The New Testament just lays it
right out who he was and what he did. Doesn't it? It lays it
right. It's not in code. You don't have to have Da Vinci
to help you out with it. What you have to have is the
power of the Spirit of God Almighty. God has to breathe life into
you, spiritual life in you. And when he does, the new covenant
will start to open up to you. If it doesn't, and if you don't
begin then eating his flesh and drinking his blood, then you've
got no life in you. Those people who are alive, they
see that, and they say, that's food indeed, and that's drink
indeed. So there's our witnesses. So
think about it, go back sometime, read it, read it again. Chapter
12, verses five, six, and seven, read it again. And think of it
this way. God chose Christ as the place. God put his name there
in Christ. Christ is God's habitation. He's it first. His habitation,
that's where God is. Remember God said, I'll dwell
between the cherubims. Mason, the Shekinah glory of
God wasn't a type. That was the very presence of
the invisible God sitting right there between those two cherubims,
right on top of that mercy seat, that lid on that box. That's
what's called the Shekinah glory. It was the very glory of God. You remember Ezekiel seeing it?
And it was, what he could see was marvelous, wasn't it? What
he could see was marvelous. But he couldn't see the real
essence. All of it was still, Mason, given in these earthly
finite things manifested, wasn't it? Christ is God's habitation. That's where God is. You miss
Christ, you've missed God. That's what I'm trying to say.
God is found and approached only in Christ. He says that's where
you come. That's where you come only. You
go there. You eat there, you eat there only. That's what you
do, that's where it's at, in Christ. Only in Christ do we
find what pleases God, the things of worship. The things of worship,
right, all of your heave offerings, your free will offerings, the
things of your, your tithes, your sacrifices, your burn off,
all of it. That kind of sums it all up,
Joe. It's gonna be done in that one place, and that's it. In
Christ and upon Christ only do we feast and rejoice. Go back
and read those verses again. Paul says we don't have any confidence
in the flesh. And where do we rejoice? One
place only, in Christ Jesus. Isn't that what he says? Isn't
that what the New Covenant teaches? We rejoice in Christ. And this
gets the unregenerate more than anything that all we do is constantly
try to talk about Christ. Ellen, even when we're talking
about something else, it always eventually reverts right back
to somehow the personal work of Christ. You talk like there's
nothing else to talk about other than Christ. There's not. If
you're talking about marriage between a man and a woman, the
best way to see how that is, look at the personal work of
Jesus Christ. That's what it says. That's where it's at, right? If you want to see, Joe, how
to live your everyday life, look at the personal work of Jesus
Christ. That's the only thing that'll truly encourage you to
do so. It's the only thing. There's the only place that we
feast and rejoice. There in Christ is God's blessings. Thus we see this. It's singular
to God. It's also singular for man. In
other words, there are no exceptions here. There are things of providence
and things of liberty, but there's still no exceptions. The central
altar is always still honored. as the central altar. Read that
chapter, you see? It's always honored as the central
altar. You never have the right to say,
but I'm just tired of making that trip. I ain't talking about
coming here. But it would include coming here
if you really love Christ. And if it's too far away, you
know what you still think about? I wish I could be there. I wish I could be there. See,
it's singular to God and it's singular for man. All blessing
and all who are blessed are blessed there and there only. Now, we'll read this in closing.
Verse seven, and there shall ye eat before the Lord your God.
You see it? There, there only. Shall you
eat before the Lord your God? If you're outside, you can't
make it, you're not eating before the Lord there, you're just eating
that, you're eating that calf or that lamb just like you'd
eat a heart or a roebuck. You see? It has no special significance
other than this, you take its blood and you pour it on the
earth. You see that? Go back and read that again.
There shall you eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice
in all that you put your hand unto." What? There! Now, outside
of there, ain't nothing else to rejoice in, is there? But
whatever you're doing, and it's there, if it's about the personal
work of Jesus Christ, it's a good thing. It's a good thing. We don't have to brag about it.
Brag about him. That's the good thing. You don't
brag about bragging about him. You just brag about him. Now,
I'm sure we do sometimes brag about bragging about him, but
that ain't where it's at, Mason. It's just bragging about him. Ye and your households. There are no exceptions. Well,
but I just don't want to be hard on this person. No, that's truly
being unkind, when you compromise the truth of Jesus Christ, just
cause you don't wanna hurt some feelings. You're playing games
with men and women's souls. Lay it out, this is the way it
is, and you don't wanna be around me because of it? Fine, I'm going
to Jerusalem. I'm going to Jerusalem. You want
to stay, that's fine. I can't make it to Jerusalem,
but I'll still honor Jerusalem where that altar's at. Now I'm
speaking of Christ now. You see what I'm saying? Speaking
of Christ now. That's where it's at. All blessing and all who are
blessed are blessed there. Verse, what is it? 18 and 19.
But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place
which the Lord thy God shall choose. You, your son, your daughter,
your manservant, your maidservant, and the Levites. Everybody. Yes, sir. No exceptions. That's
right. Right? Everybody, take, verse
not, take heed to thyself that thou forgetest not the Levite
as long as thou livest upon the earth. Even the Levite. Especially
the Levite. What's he saying? Just this,
there's a lot more there than what I'm giving you. I know,
but here's the, no exceptions. That's the main point. If you
miss that point, it don't matter if you can make it all fit. You
see what I'm saying? He said there are no exceptions.
Well, God maybe got a couple secret folk out there. No, it
don't work that way. God don't do any of his work
and it stay in the corner. He might start in the corner,
Mason, with nobody else around, but then God's gonna show it
forth to the world. And the world will despise it right now. But
one day in the end, they'll recognize, oh, these are trophies of God's
grace through Jesus Christ. And they'll be made to bow down
and confess that. Look at one more here. Again, verse 28, I
read it. Observe and hear all these words
which I command thee that it may go well with thee and with
your children. Oh, God help us. You know that? God help us. Because how often
we have fallen short of that. You see, if there's any fault,
the fault lays at our gate, not God's. Let's remember that. And you know what? I cannot change
the past, Joe. And I cannot control the future
or even the present. But oh, God control me. Oh, God
control me. Don't pray for God to help you
have self-control. It won't work. Self-control don't even work
when you get old. You gotta wear diapers. No, take
that one for as far as it goes. Oh God, control me. And you know what? God, forgive
me. Never forget that one, because
that one's always going to be necessary. Oh God, forgive me. Because why? It's there. It's
at that central altar that we worship God. And even if we can't
be right there with it, we're still to honor it, Joe. And even
in things of liberty, we're still to honor that central altar.
Right? Now, let me just give you, God
willing, here's the title for next week. For this week, Paul,
it's the Singularity of the Central Altar. Now I'm going to get mean. Next week, we're gonna look at
the central altar dictates attacking abomination. The central altar
dictates attacking abomination. That's the way he actually starts
out. Chapter 12, look at verses one, two, and three. It dictates
it. Attack the abominations. And
I've gotta stop there. I'm gonna be preaching that.
Father, teach us these things. Oh, God, forgive us of our sins.
our utter failures and our wrong choices. But God, lead, guide,
and direct us by Your sovereign power and Your sovereign mercy
and compassion. And we thank You in Christ's
name, Amen.