especially remember Arlene and
her family and the Cochran family that lost Fred. I seek the Lord's
help for them. It's going to be a hard time
for her. It's the love of her life and he's crazy about her
too. They're two happy people when they're together. We're
thankful that we trust in you, the Lord. Let's begin our worship service
with hymn number 226. There she is. He's the biggest crowd we've
had on Wednesday night in 10 years. Him number 226. I am not skilled to understand
what God has willed, what God hath planned. I only know at
His right hand is one who is my Savior. I take Him at His word indeed. Christ died for sinners, this
I read, for in my Savior that he should leave his
place on high. ? You counted straight so once
did I ? ? Before I knew my Savior. ? ? And oh, that He fulfilled,
may see, ? ? The travail of His soul in me, ? ? And with His
work contented me, ? ? As I with my dear Savior. ? Yeah, living, dying, let me
bring my strength, my solace from this spring, that he who
lives to be my King, once died to be my Savior. Hymn number one, I'll worship
the King. O worship the King, all glorious
above, and gratefully sing. ? His power and his love ? ?
Our shield and defender ? ? The ancient of days ? ? Pavilion
in splendor ? ? And girded with praise ? ? O tell of his might
? ? O sing of his grace ? Whose robe is the light, whose canopy
space, His chariots of random deep thunderclouds form, And
dark is his path on the wings of the storm. thy bountiful care, one tongue
can recite. It breathes in the air, it shines
in the light. It streams from the hills, it
descends to the plain, and sweetly the dew and the rain, frail children
of dust and feeble Do we trust, nor find thee to
fail Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end Our Maker,
Defender, Redeemer Exodus chapter 25. I'm going
to read verses 17 through 22. The title of my message tonight
is Communion. Verse 17, Thou shalt make a mercy
seed of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be
the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
Now shall make two cherubims of gold of beaten work, shalt
thou make them in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one
cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end,
even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubims on the
two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch
forth their wings on the high, covering the mercy seat with
their wings. And their faces shall look one
to another, and toward the mercy seat shall
the four faces of the cherubim be. Thou shalt put the mercy
seat above the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony
that I may give thee. And there I will meet thee, and
I will commune with thee above the mercy seat from between the
two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony. of
all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the
children of Israel." Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we bless
you and thank you for mercy and grace for our time of need. We know your grace is sufficient
and we thank you for that fact. Pray for those who are suffering
and going through trials. Let's remember Arlene and the
family, Fred's family. the loss of Fred. We are all
broken over that. Father thou knowest our hearts.
We ask Lord you'd be with all of us and cause us to find our
peace and comfort in Jesus Christ who died in our room instead.
Finish the work of our salvation and redemption. Fit us for glory. Made us suitable to be the inheritance
of the saints in life. Father, we can never praise you
enough for that, for we know the in and of ourselves. We could
produce nothing and were nothing that could merit any favor from
you. What sweet sound is the sound
of grace to a poor sinner's ears? Father, we pray for those who
are shut in and can't make you, pray for those who are away from
us and can't make you. We ask, Lord, you'd be with them.
Watch over them. Help us, Lord, to remember each
other in prayer. Call each other's name out to
heaven. Help us, Lord, to worship you tonight as we look at your
word as set forth here about the mercy seat. Give us understanding
and appreciation for this Old Testament covenant book that
teaches us so much that is revealed in the New Testament in Jesus
Christ. Help us now to worship you. We pray in Christ's name.
Amen. Now, what I've just read to you,
this passage describes the lid or the covering of the first
piece of furniture mentioned in the tabernacle that was constructed. It is first because it addressed
the most important issue that faces fallen man, and that is,
how can a man be just with God? That issue is not specifically
addressed in the making of the mercy seat, but will be revealed
in the ceremonial aspects of the law that follow for when
the Lord talked about the testimonies and commandments that I will
give you, He's talking about the next seven chapters where
He will give everything that has to do with the ceremonies
involved in worshiping the Lord and being in thanksgiving for
what He's done for them. The Ark of the Covenant and the
Mercy Seat that sits atop it will address the most important
day of the year for the Jews and that was the Day of Atonement
And we know that the mercy seat pictures Christ and various elements
of his work and also his body, the church. It is he who tabernacles
among us, as it says in 1 John, or John chapter one, the word
was made flesh and dwelt or tabernacle among us. We beheld his glory
is only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. Now
the mercy seat was made of one piece of gold. And I was trying
to picture this in my mind and it was kind of hard to do. trying
to picture it in my mind. Its dimensions are given except
for its thickness. Its width and its breadth are
given. The reason being perhaps because the cherubim were not
attached to it. They were formed out of it. So
this must have been a pretty hefty piece of gold when it started
out to flatten it out to a certain width and then have these two
cherubims come out of it. They weren't attached to it.
They weren't made separately and attached to it. They were
part of the Mercy Seat, they were not made separately. The
word Mercy Seat comes from the root word in the Old Testament,
and the root word is Atonement. Now this is the meaning it carries
throughout the Bible through the Old Testament and the New,
but there is a distinction made for the Mercy Seat in the New
Testament which we will look at in a little bit. it was the
lid or covering of the ark, and that's the word atonement means
covering, so it was the lid or the covering of the ark wherein
would reside the tables of the law, the golden pot of manna,
and Aaron's rod that budded. Now on two ends of the lid were
things called cherubim. Now I don't know if you're familiar
with this, when Ezekiel, when he talked about the beast with
four faces, which pictured the four elements of Christ's person,
And what he did, one of the elements was a cherub. A cherub. Nobody
really knows what a cherub is. There's no... definition. It's just called a weaned creature
in scripture or in the definitions of it. But these were sculpted
weaned creatures and though they faced each other their eyes were
fixed in a posture downward looking ever on the mercy seat. So I
can't know whether you can imagine it in your mind. If you saw the
writers of the Lost Ark you probably got some idea. I think they kind
of copied the idea but didn't do it very well. But their outstretched
wings covered the ark. of the covenant and covered the
mercy seat. Now between the cherubim dwelt the presence of God, one
day a year. He wasn't there all the time
because except for the Day of Atonement, that thing was covered
up. When they traveled, it was wrapped in four different types
of materials, we'll see later on. And that one day a year,
the glory of God shone between the wings of those cherubim,
just above the mercy seat, and it was called His Shekinah glory.
Shekinah comes from the Hebrew word Shekan, which means shaken. It means to dwell, to dwell or
to tabernacle. So the tabernacle of God was
between these cherubim above this mercy seat. There is where
he tabernacled with his people. He met with his people and dwelt
among them. The same types of creatures were present on the
altar in the east of Eden, if you remember that. In our study
of Genesis, in Genesis 3.24, it talked about an altar to the
east of Eden to keep the way of the Tree of Life, and we know
the way of the Tree of Life is Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
And that's where the first recorded sacrifice was made in Scripture. Genesis 3.24 speaks of keeping
the way of the Tree of Life. Chapter 4 and verse 1, the next
verse, speaks of Cain and Abel bringing their offerings to God.
Now, the word shaken in that sense is interpreted as a flaming
sword. Now, we know a flaming sword
was a picture of how the Lord consumed sacrifice. You remember
when Elijah offered up the sacrifice over against the four hundred
prophets of Baal. He poured water around the altar
and poured water on the sacrifice, Then God set fire from heaven
and consumed the sacrifice. That was the picture there. So
that flaming sword, or licking flame is actually called, showed
that Abel's sacrifice was accepted and so was Abel. Actually that's
the way it said, he accepted Abel. and his sacrifice, for
he offered a blood offering unto God. Now, we know that from the
epistle of the Hebrews that these things were typical. These things
were typical, and they pictured what already existed in Heaven.
Christ went into the holy place, not made with hands, to offer
His blood upon the altar on that great day of atonement, if you
will, in Heaven there. So these things existed in Heaven.
They were symbolic of one thing. They were symbolic of the effectual
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ where He entered into the Holy
Place and it says He obtained, He got, eternal redemption for
His people, for us. Now looking at the finished Ark
and the Mercy Seat, the Gospel is clearly set forth in plain
terms. Imagine this, here's the Ark of the Covenant, which is
the box. Then you have the Mercy Seat on top of it with the cherubim
facing forward. Then you have God above the Mercy
Seat. So you have a picture of humanity
being lost at the bottom. where therefore the elements
used are shit, wood, and gold. You have the law that condemns
humanity in there and there is above that the eyes of God the
Shekinah glory of God. Now there's no way these two
can get together. If you have the law broken down
here and God here we've got troubles. So what do we have in between
the two? We have the mercy seat. We have the mercy seat where
the shed blood of the sacrifice was offered unto God. That's
the beauty of this thing. That mercy seat is the Lord Jesus
Christ, the mediator between men and God, and is the basis
for the mediatorial function that was atonement in the old
days. Now, before the high priest ever
existed, he's yet to come in Leviticus, he's set forth in
his garments and everything else, also in this book here. his garments
or in these next six chapters he will be used or set forth.
Before he is ever set forth and his function on the Day of Atonement
that is instituted in Leviticus 23, the Atonement is clearly
declared because of the meaning of mercy seat. So God talks about
the Atonement before the Day of Atonement, before there was
ever a high priest to wear those garments that we will look at
in the future, and crawl into that Holy of Holies and offer
blood on. Here's the mercy seat. What's this about? Atonement.
Atonement means covering. In verse 22 the Lord sets an
immutable standard. In verse 22 He says, I will meet
with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy
seat, from between the two cherubs which are upon the ark of the
testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment
unto the children of Israel." Above the mercy seat, I will
meet with thee, and I will commune with thee. Now that's set forth
in time, we know. And perhaps since these things
were constructed from patterns, this principle may indeed be
an eternal principle declared in this typology. Now the standard
established here is where God would commune with his people.
Where will God meet with his people? He said, I will commune
with thee above the mercy seat. That's where I will commune with
thee. Now right now, at this time, the only one God is speaking
to is Moses. Moses. Who is Moses? Moses is
the Savior of the people. That's how he's referred to.
He's the Deliverer of the people, and he is called in the Hebrew,
the Mediator of the Old Covenant. Moses is called the Mediator
of the Old Covenant. And that is who God communes
with now. All of this points to Christ. He is the Savior. He is the Mediator of the New
Covenant and the One Mediator between man and God. Now, the
concept of the Atonement in the Old Testament means to cover. To cover as the Mercy Seat covered
the Ark. As for Atonement for sin, it
was accomplished, as I said, on the Day of Atonement by the
blood of a sacrifice. Now on that day the sins of the
people were COVERED. That's important to understand.
That's the Atonement. They were COVERED. The first
such covering was in the Garden of Eden, wasn't it? When the
Lord slew beasts to cover His fallen couple. Same word. Atonement. Atonement. Later the same word
is translated with the word PITCH. pitch, and that s the COVERING
of Noah s Ark within and without. It was covered with pitch, same
word. Atonement. It s a COVERING, that s what
it s for. Throughout the Old Testament it means COVERING and
nothing else, and the COVERING was TEMPORARY, because this is
a TEMPORAL COVERING. This is the old COVERING which
Christ put aside when He came into this world. The covering
was temporary, and in the ceremony, we know that's true because the
Day of Atonement was repeated annually. Why was it repeated
annually? It was repeated annually because
the comers were never made perfect, it says in Hebrews chapter 10. So it had to be repeated. With
this Atonement, Day of Atonement, not only was it a reminder that
God was going to cover their sins for years, it was a reminder
that their sins were not put away. because this would have
to be repeated again. It was temporary. Under the concept
of the Atonement, sin remained being only covered or hidden
for a period of time, and that was one year. Now, that Atonement
was not being eternally effectual yet, and is said to be a shadow
of good things to come, but not the very things. It pictured
somewhat what was coming, but it didn't really picture it fully.
because the Atonement is totally different in the New Testament.
In fact, it is only used once in the New Testament, the word
ATONE. So Atonement is only once. The word ATONE is not in the
New Testament. The word COVER is in there, same word. cover, but it's a different word
actually, it means to hide. But the word atonement is only
in Romans 5.11, and in that verse the word is actually everywhere
else translated in Scripture as reconciliation. rather than
atonement. So the word atonement itself,
this idea of covering your sin or covering sin is not in the
New Testament. When we get to the New Testament,
the word mercy seat is translated differently. In the Old Testament,
mercy seat is atonement. covering, but it is translated
differently in the New Testament. In the New Testament the word
MERCYSEED is translated, let?s look, Hebrews chapter 9 and verse
5, I will give you two examples here. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse
5, here are these elements of the old covenant being discussed
by the writer of Hebrews. and he says over the cherubim
in verse five, over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy
seat. That word is not atonement. Not
atonement. Of which we cannot speak now
particularly. The mercy seat, what's the word here? The word
here is propitiation. Completely different word. The
Old Testament was a covering. They were hid for a year. But
then they were had to be atoned for again every year same time
each year they were atoned for but they weren't put away that's
what the Hebrew book is about all those Old Testament sacrifices
never satisfied God for with burnt offering and offering for
sin thou wast not pleased another word for propitiation now keeping
that in mind let's look back at Romans chapter 3 Romans chapter 3 verse twenty-five says, For whom
God set forth to be a propitiation, exact same word as the word mercy
seed in Hebrew. God set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. Now you will note, and I think this is important to
note, that it says, For whom God set forth the words to be,
are in italics and what that means when you see that in the
New Testament in the King James Version or the Old Testament
also when you see that it means the translators added these words
to supposedly help with the context, to help to understand the context.
Because sometimes in the Greek and the Hebrew language you have
very stunted ways of saying things that you don't have a great explanation. But the words to be are in italics. I don't believe they help. Because
these words to be could discuss the intent of their propitiation. This is what it was INTENDED
to do, but that s not how it s worded in the original. It
says, Whom God set forth a propitiation. Not a thing that talks about
intention, it talks about something DONE, a propitiation. Now, the word propitiation means
to satisfy or to appease or to please. When our Lord said, this
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, he was talking
about my son satisfies me, my son appeases me, and he's talking
about the sacrifice that he made. So in this New Testament we have
this word propitiation in 1 John 2. It says He is not only propitiation
for our sins but for the WHOLE WORLD, and John there is speaking
of both Jew and Gentiles. And then in chapter 4 verse 10
of 1 John it says, Herein is love, not that we love God, but
that He loved us and sent His Son, the propitiation for our
sins. So this is the word used four
times for the same word as the word mercy. So here's the difference.
In the Old Testament you had a covering, but God was not pleased,
God was not satisfied. Had He been satisfied, had the
comers thereunto been made perfect, then He would have not offered
any more for sin. But he repeated it year after
year. Why? Because he was not satisfied.
This was picturing what was to come, the good things to come
that was down the road. Propitiation means satisfaction
or appeasement and refers to God being satisfied or appeased
for the sins of His people. Different from covering. What
I have and what you and I have is not a covering. What you and
I have is a propitiation. And that propitiation comes from
another word, meaning expiation, which means to put away. To put
away. How is God satisfied? God is
satisfied with a perfect sacrifice for sin. That's the only way
He's satisfied. He's satisfied if His law and
justice, which demands eternal death for sin, is satisfied. and that's where the word mercy
seat and propitiation is in the New Testament. This appeasement
is in reference to the fulfillment and satisfaction of God's holy
law and justice which is absolutely has no grace in it and no mercy.
Only law and justice and must be satisfied perfectly. This
was accomplished by the perfect and perfecting death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. For it says in Hebrews chapter
nine which I just quoted a few moments ago, but we'll read it
anyway. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 11 and 12, But Christ, here's
the difference between HIS offering and the offering of the Old Testament,
But Christ, being come and high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, NOT MADE WITH HANDS,
that is to say, not of THIS building, speaking of the Temple, and it
says, NEITHER BY THE BLOOD OF GOATS AND CATS, BUT BY HIS OWN
BLOOD HE ENTERED IN ONCE INTO THE HOLY PLACE, HAVING OBTAINED
ETERNAL REDEMPTION. How did he do that? He propitiated
God. He propitiated God. He satisfied
God's justice. And the proof of the propitiation
is that God says He will remember their sins, the sins of His people
no more, and there never needs to be another sacrifice offered
to Him. That's what He says in Hebrews
chapter 10, verses 12 through 18. But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right
hand of God, having finished the work, and henceforth expecting,
or waiting, until his enemies be made his footstool. For by
one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,
whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after he
said before, in Jeremiah chapter 31, this is the covenant that
I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will
put my laws in their hearts and in their minds, and I will write
them, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more. Now he did that in promise. back
in Jeremiah 31 when he talked about this new covenant, this
other covenant. He says, Now wherever remission
of these is, where these sins are put away, where God has propitiated,
there is no more offering for sin. The mercy seat, being propitiation
in the New Testament, establishes precisely where God will commune
with His people. He said, I will commune with
thee above the mercy seat. He will commune with His people
only where he is satisfied for their sins. God will not speak
to, nor will he be spoken to, except through a mediator, and
that's the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the mercy saint, our high
priest, the sacrifice, and in him alone there is communion
with God, and that's how this was said next in Hebrews chapter
10, and verse 19 says, having therefore, brethren, boldness,
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Why? Because
He has finished the work. He has perfected us. He has entered
into the holy place, so we have boldness. We are not high priests,
but we are priests. But in Him we can actually enter
into the very presence of God where God's Shekinah glory is
because the blood has satisfied His law by a new and living way. which he hath consecrated for
us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. The word was
made flesh and tabernacle among us. And having a high priest
over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an
evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. This
is how we commune with God. where our sins are gone, and
where God is satisfied. This is the mercy seat. And he
said, And therefore I will meet with thee, and I will commune
with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two Jerobims,
whereupon the ark of the testimony. Father, bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen. Once again, a reminder,
no service Sunday or next Wednesday.