seeking for the help of the Lord. I direct your prayerful attention
to Hebrews and chapter 9. And we'll read from our text,
verses 11 and 12. Verse 11 and 12. 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, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having
obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9 and verses 11 and
12. And we continue this evening
and looking at the types in the Old Testament that show forth
our Lord Jesus Christ and this evening It is the tabernacle
that was raised up in the wilderness in the beginning of the second
year, the children of Israel are sojourned in the wilderness. We have in Port Epistle to the
Hebrews an expounding and opening up of what that tabernacle was,
that it was a type of Christ and Christ being come as a high
priest and by a greater, more perfect tabernacle. that which our Lord said when
he said, destroy this temple and I'll raise it up in three
days and he spake of the temple of his own body. And we have
in the tabernacle some most beautiful illustrations of our Lord Jesus
Christ and I do seek to Have that help this evening to open
this up. It is based upon the directions
given in Exodus and Exodus 26, 27, 28 of the chapters but also
it refers to some in Numbers as well as to when the pattern
of that tabernacle was given by God to Moses in the mount
and it had to be exactly right and in that again it shows that
God had a purpose in these types and to make it anything different
would destroy that type and destroy the message that is being sent
to us of that type. And so I'm want to think of the
tabernacle as it was there in the wilderness. We know that
as the children of Israel started to go into the wilderness, then
the Lord met with them and went before them with the pillar of
fire by night and the cloud by day. And then when the tabernacle
was made, then that fire, that cloud stood above it. But just to give a picture first
of what we are talking about in that tabernacle, we picture
there in the wilderness, in the midst of the tribes of Israel
as they were gathered together, a rectangular area of ground
enclosed by a curtain-like fence. A fence seven and a half foot
tall, posts that were then holding up curtains in between those
posts. The dimensions of it was 150
foot long and 75 foot wide. In the 75 foot width, which faced toward the
east, was a 30 foot opening, a gate, which was into this tented
area. That area was called the court,
the outer court, a fenced court. And we look at it more in detail,
but I want just to get, to start off with just a picture. So then we come inside that rectangle
now, and towards the west end of it, opposite where we came
in at the east, we have a tabernacle, a tent, a covered tent this time,
not open at the top like the outer court was. And this was
45 foot long, and 15 foot wide and completely covered. So no openings, no way for light
to get in, only a veil gate and the entrance to the first section
of it is divided into two sections. So when you go through into this
court area first and then from the court area into the tabernacle
itself, through the first tent, 15 foot wide, extending another
30 foot in, and you find, and we look at them in detail later
on, three pieces of furniture in that first section. And then
we find another division and another veil, and then within
that, another one piece of furniture. these then three stages of going
into the outer court first, which is open to the stars, then into
the tabernacle, into the first tabernacle, and then into the
second, which is called the holiest of all. And so that was what
the tabernacle was, and the tribes were gathered around all around
the outside of that, and though we could describe where each
one was, the important thing is that the tribe of Judah was
the one that was nearest to the entrance to that tabernacle. And of course, our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ, came of the tribe of Judah. Now, I want to picture
as this is setting forth our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
and what he is to the people of God and to a coming sinner,
and take it from one part of the tabernacle to another part
of that tabernacle. So a sinner, one that was aware
of their sin, aware of their distance from God and remember
the reason why the tabernacle was built was so that God would
meet with them. And we have that set forth in
Exodus, that it is the place where God would meet with the
children of Israel. And it is in the Lord Jesus Christ
that God and man are reconciled and meet together. So a person
that was mindful of their sin and who approached then this
court because any of the children of Israel, they didn't have to
be of the tribe of Levi, they didn't have to be of the priesthood,
they could come in to that outer court. But as they came to it,
they would have been faced with the curtain-like fence all the
way around it that was made out of fine twine linen. Now, we are not told exactly
that that linen was white, but when we look into the Hebrew,
it is certainly strongly set before us that it was white. And that was the basis, the underlying
linen for all of the cloth that the court was made and the tabernacle
was made, whatever colour was put on top of it, the underlying
was white. And we have a picture there of
the holiness and purity of God and especially of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But for a coming sinner, to be
presented with this idea, here I am, black and sinful, but as
I approach to God, all I see is white and holiness and purity. How can I approach, how can I
gain entrance anywhere near where God is into even the very first
entrance into this area? But then we have this 30-foot
opening, a wide opening, and it's not white. This is woven
also with the fine twine linen, but it is woven with blue and
with purple and with scarlet. And it must have so stood out
from all the rest of that corps. such vivid colours that would
then attract the person to that place. They wouldn't have to
have any doubt as to where the opening was because it was so
different. And in these colours, and it
is the colours of each of the separating veils, this was termed
a gate, the others are termed veils, but each of them had these
colours Blue. Now blue in scripture sets forth
grace. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The second was purple, which
is kingship. The Lord Jesus Christ, that which
was written over him on the cross, that this is Jesus, the King
of the Jews. My kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom of God cometh not
by observation, it is within you. The petition of the dying
thief, Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And the question of Pilate, aren't
thou a king then? Yes. Set forth through the tight
ear. And then the scarlet. The Redeemer,
without the shedding of blood, we've read it in this passage,
there is no remission. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the Redeemer, the one that should shed his own precious blood on
Calvary. And so at the very start, as
looking at this gate, we see these colours When we look at
the Lord Jesus Christ and we view him and even his adversaries,
when they came to him and they said, never man spake like this
man, they wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his
lips. The Lord Jesus Christ's grace
is poured into thy lips. There is only one entrance into
this court and then from the court to the tabernacle and there
is only one door, there is only one entrance, there is only one
way and that is the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He says
in John 10, I am the way, I am the door, by me if any man enter
in, then he shall find pasture, he shall go in and out. It is
through that way that you and I, that any poor sinner, if we
are approached unto God, it must be through Christ. In any other
part of the entrance into that which sets forth the presence
of God is met with whiteness, holiness, a way that we cannot
approach, we cannot go through, and there's no opening in that,
at all. But there is an opening, and
it's got these beautiful colours on it. And may we see in this,
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Those that felt their sin, those
that felt their distance, those that wanted to be brought nigh,
So they came then into that court and into the entrance of it and
when they came inside they would have seen two things in that
outer court and then behind that the tabernacle itself. And the very first thing that
they would have seen was the altar, an altar that was some
seven-and-a-half feet square, four-and-a-half foot high, a
large altar for sacrifice. It's made out of wood. In the
corners of it, there was horns, and overlaid over it all was
brass. And upon that altar, there was
a permanent fire burning, and mourning and evening the priests
would offer a lamb as a sacrifice, as a whole burnt sacrifice mourning
and evening. Everything in that outer court
was brass, no gold there, but brass alone. And we have set
forth then the judgment of God, God's hatred of sin, God's requiring
that there to be a sacrifice that there be a blood sacrifice
as Abel's was, that there be the fire and the wrath of God
to consume that sacrifice. We think of another type using
brass in the wilderness when the children of Israel had sinned
and the Lord sent fiery serpents among them and Moses was commanded
to raise up the brazen serpent. And those that looked, they lived,
to gain brass, a type of sin. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must Christ be lifted up, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but should have eternal life. And that altar, it set forth
hope. We think of the time when Adonijah
usurped the kingdom and he fled to that altar to hold on the
horns of it. And in that way he was given
a reprieve for a while for his life. It offered hope of some
staying of the judgement of God. But it is vital that the very
first thing that is presented to a sinner is the sacrifice
that was, it sets forth Christ's sacrifice at Calvary. You know, we may look at the
law, we may see what we deserve in that way, but to know really
what sin is and what an evil thing it is, it is when we view
Calvary, when we view what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered in
our place. And those entering that court
would immediately see the death of a lamb, they'd immediately
see the fire, they'd see God's hatred to sin, they'd see the
sacrifice. No wonder when the Apostle Paul,
he goes preaching, he preaches to the Corinthians, I determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In one sense, he's the first
thing that is presented to a sinner, a convinced sinner. Ye have taken
and by wicked hands crucified and slain him that was delivered
by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of God. And so
the altar was there as the very first thing. Sin is put away
by Christ. sacrifice of himself, his sin
atoning blood. And that is the way to God, Christ,
and then through his sacrifice for sin. But then we have a second
thing in that court before we come to the tabernacle. And that
is a round washing basin, a bronze lava, brass lava. And it was made out of the looking
glasses of the women. They didn't have mirrors like
we have today. They had polished brass and they
used that to look in as we would do. And this lava was made out
of that. And the priests, they washed
in that so that they would be clean before then they proceeded
into the tabernacle itself. All of those for whom Christ
died, for whom he puts away their blood, their sins by his precious
blood, he sanctifies, he washes, he cleanses. There is a change
that is wrought by God by that sinner. They are sanctified and
made meat for the Master's use. Paul beautifully sets it forth
in Ephesians 5 where he pictures the Bride of Christ, the Church,
and it is being washed and cleansed and sanctified and made ready
for the bride and he says in chapter 5 that husbands love your wives
even as Christ also loved the church gave himself for it that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. And this was what they were then
faced with again. And you know, as we have in our
bathrooms, we might have a sink and over the sink there is a
mirror. And the idea is that we come and we see we have need
of washing We have the water and we have that which shows
us ourselves. And they're the same as that
was made with the mirrors of the women. And the Word of God
is that which shows us our sinnership. And the Lord shows us that. We look into, as James says,
look into the perfect law of liberty. We continue in it. We don't forget what we have
seen there. It's shown what we are. It's
shown what the Lord is. It's shown our need of washing
and cleansing. But one of our hymns says most
beautifully, Christ has holiness enough to sanctify us all. And that sanctifying is not ourselves. It is God's work. It is Christ's
work to cleanse, to wash, Through the Word, through the teaching,
through the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me, for I make and lowly in heart, you
shall find rest unto your souls. Those two things are so vital. We might say three things. Are
there those that would attempt to come into a close fellowship
with God, might even profess that they are, and yet they haven't
come in at the door, they climbed over the seven and a half foot
fence, they bypassed the altar, they bypassed the lava, and they
want to have fellowship with God. Bunyan portrays those solemn
characters that climbed over the wall, that didn't come in
the wicket gate. But the picture we have in the
tabernacle is that there is a progression. There is a way you couldn't,
if you came through the main entrance into that court, you
would have to do an obstacle course. You would have to go
around those other things, the altar and the lava, to get to
the tabernacle itself. You couldn't escape them. You
couldn't escape seeing the Lord. The Lord says, And I, if I be
lifted up above the earth, will draw all men unto me. A sinner coming to that picture,
would fulfil this word, they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced and they shall mourn for me and be in bitterness for
me. And so, this is what is in this
out-a-call, this is what is necessary before proceeding to the next. This is what Christ has done. at Calvary, and this is what,
then the benefits and the blessings are imparted to a sinner. We've sung, let the water and
the blood from thy riven side which flowed, be of sin thee
double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and its power. and it is to have our sins put
away at Calvary and our lives changed, sanctified. The Lord
said to those Jews that believed on him, if ye continue in my
word, ye shall know the truth, the truth shall make you free,
ye shall be my disciples indeed. how vital the washing of water
by the word. Moses had to be so careful to
make all things according to the pattern and if we are seeking
for our eternal peace and blessing in our soul how careful we need
to be that the way that we approach and the way that we go is according
to that pattern. And again, this is why we sung
in our first hymn, Jesus is the way to God. And in the Tabernacle
it so clearly sets that forth. So what is then in the Tabernacle
itself having gone through the court, having come then to the
covered part that is called the inner court. What is that like? What does it set forth? Again there is the veil. The
only way of entrance into that part of the tabernacle is through
that outer veil. The same colours again. grace and the kingship and the
precious blood of Christ coming that way. And as we enter in
to that inner court, we find there is no brass there at all. All that is to view is gold. Yes, there are some of the articles
in it that are made of wood, but they're all overlaid with
gold, and all you see is the gold. This area, this sets forth
the fellowship and communion with the Lord. We have in the
first epistle, General of John, chapter 1, And verse 3, that
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also
may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And note that the ground
of that fellowship is that we've come through Christ shed blood
and through sanctification of the spirit and brought then into
fellowship with the Lord. In one sense it's the church
here below. It's our lot that is here below. And in that tent, that covered tent, that
area, there was no outward light at all. But one of the three
things that was in that part of the tabernacle was a candlestick,
a golden candlestick with seven branches on it. In the Revelation and Chapter
1, We have again a view of such a candlestick and an interpretation
of what it is. We read that John turned to see
the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw seven
golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man clothed with the garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. In the end of the passage there,
we are told that he had in his right hand seven stars, and out
of his mouth went a shark-to-edge sword. But the interpretation
of it is given in the last verse. The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou
sawest are the seven churches. Our Lord was very clear when
he said of his people that ye are as a light that cannot be
hid, a candle that should be not put under a bushel, but set
upon a hill. And he says of himself, I am
the light of the world. He that cometh unto me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Those that are of the wicked
one, they come not to the light, lest their deeds should be made
manifest. But those that desire that communion
with God, that have gone through and passed the sacrifice and
the cleansing, they are then brought into the light, into
Christ's light, to see in His light, to walk in his light,
and the only light in that area was from that candlestick, and
is a beautiful type of that light that comes from Christ, that
shines into the Church of God. And we have other pictures of
that as well, where the olive trees are feeding that light,
and there is an exhausted store of oil for it. And that is, in
the Lord Jesus Christ, the provision of the Church of God. And that
which keeps her alive and keeps her shining in this poor, dark
world is the light of the Lord. But in this illustration, in
this tabernacle, that light is for the people of God. It's what
the world does not know. All of those that Only entered
into that place, they saw it. But all of those in the outer
court, they didn't see it. And those that entered into that
first, in the type, in the children of Israel, was the priest only,
into that area. But the type is, the Lord has
made his people kings and priests unto God. And they are brought
into fellowship with him. and they were brought to see
in his light. And anyone in that fellowship,
anyone in that part of the tabernacle was seeing in his light. The other thing which was on
the right side of that inner court was the showbread. a table and it had on it 12 loaves
which were representing the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. And we have on there the Lord
Jesus Christ as the bread of life. Except ye eat the flesh
and drink the blood of the Son of Man, ye have no life in you. Man shall not live by bread only. but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God. Jeremiah says, thy words were
found and I delete them. They were to the joy and rejoicing
of my soul. My sheep, says our Lord, they
hear my voice and they follow me. And here in that inner court,
there is a sitting at his feet, hearing his word, feeding upon
him by precious faith, a provision, a provision for those that are
washed in the blood of the Lamb and sanctified. What blessed
fare, what blessed provision that there is there for them. Then we have immediately in front,
and in front before the next veil is an altar, a small altar,
an altar of incense, this made out of wood but covered all over
with gold. The psalmist, he says, let my
prayer be set forth before thee as incense. And we have that
which comes from the people of God, the prayers that are sprinkled
with the precious blood of Christ, received as a sweet incense and
sweet savour before God. That incense, there is one composition
of it, not to be used in any other circumstance, in any other
place whatsoever. It was just for that. It is that
which is acceptable unto God which is coming through the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is the name, the hymn writer
says, the father loves to hear his children plead. All such
pleading he approves and blesses them indeed. Now Lord says, if
ye ask anything in my name, I will do it. And that savour of that
incense, would have gone through the holiest of holies and through
that inner court. We have, you might say, a difference
between Exodus and here in this ninth chapter. The Apostle Paul
puts this altar of incense actually in the holiest of all. And yet
it is set forth in the inner court but not the holiest of
all in Exodus. but the sweet savour of it, that
would have permeated and gone through as to both sides of it. And of course the Apostle is
writing here, in a time when our Lord has ascended up into
heaven and in his position in heaven in the holiest of all,
Christ the mediator, a voice that speaks for us in heaven's
high court for good and in one sense we could take the both
ways that it's set before us and you get a poor sinner pleading
Christ on earth and we get the virtue of Christ's position in
heaven as our great high priest and intercessor speaking for
us in heaven's high court for good. But it is a blessed thing
to realise that for a blood-bought sinner, that he is brought into
fellowship with God, he has for his mate the flesh and blood
of Christ, he has sweet fellowship with others of the people of
God, he has sweet fellowship in prayer with God, he enters
into heaven by prayer, And here in that place, all these goals
and what set forth judgment and sin and the outer court is not
there. You've no doubt heard of what
it is to be an inner court worshipper. And that is what it is. That's
what it's referring to in the tabernacle in that inner court. And so they, every morning and
evening, as well as offering the sacrifices in that outer
court, the priests were offering incense on that altar. And as oft as that blood sacrifice
was, so there was that sweet incense that was filling, filling
the tabernacle May we truly desire to be an inner court worshipper. But then we have another veil,
a veil that then separated to that 15 foot square, holiest
of all. And that veil was different in
that there was with that interwoven the cherubims, And within that
veil we have the Ark of the Covenant, a box some four foot long and
two foot wide, two foot high. And as in all of the furniture,
it had loops in the sides to be able to put in staves to carry
it on the shoulders of the Levites. It was made of wood but overlaid
with gold within and without. On the top there was a lid and
that lid was termed as the Mercy Seat. And on that Mercy Seat,
on each end of it, was cherubims, creatures that were facing towards
each other. And their wings were bent over
that Mercy Seat as if shadowing it. Wherever you see cherubims,
as if they are the guardians. Remember when Adam sinned that
he was thrust out of the garden and cherubims with flaming swords
they kept the way to the tree of life. Well, here's the way
back, as it were. And it is to enter again into
the holiest of all. But there are the cherubims as
if they are guarding this holiest of all and guarding this thrown
this mercy seat, and God has said that he will meet with us
from over that mercy seat. With that ark, it's ark of the
covenant, beautifully sets forth our Lord Jesus Christ. In that
ark, there was three things. The first thing was the unbroken
tables of the law. Remember that Moses broke the
first tables when he saw the golden calf and he saw their
sin, but God wrote them again and they were put inside the
ark. Our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
the law and made it honourable. It is not us, not our fulfilling
of it, we have broken it, but the Lord Jesus Christ have fulfilled
it. and that is, in the Ark, a beautiful
time of the law fulfilled in Christ. The second thing in it
was Aaron's rod that budded. When there were those that rose
up and questioned Aaron's priesthood and who was appointed to that
office, then it was tested. They all had to have their rods
and put up before the Lord And the rod that budded, that was
to be God's way of showing who was to be the priest and on what
line it was to go. And Aaron's rod, it not only
budded, but it blossomed and it brought forth almonds. It
showed most clearly that there was the priesthood. And we have
it in the type of our Lord Jesus Christ He is our great High Priest. There is the priesthood on the
Lord Jesus Christ alone. And so that was in the Ark. The other thing that was put
in the Ark was the pot of manna, a reminder of the children of
Israel of what they had eaten during their sojourn in the wilderness,
laid up before the Lord. the long discourse of our Lord
in Hebrews, in John 6, where he speaks of the manna and the
Father giving you the true manna from heaven, which we're not
left in any doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ is that manna, is
that bread from heaven. And so we have a beautiful time
of our Lord. All the gold, the beauty, the
loveliness of Christ and the mercy seat, mercy through blood
I make my plea, God be merciful to me. And that is then within
the veil. Now we have in the chapter where
our text is here, where we are told why that veil was there. Into this second veil, into this
holiest of all, It wasn't like the priests in verse 6 there,
that they always went into that first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God, but into the second, when the high priest
alone, once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself
and for the errors of the people, the Holy Ghost is signifying
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest. It wasn't clear. while the first
tabernacle was yet standing. And we're told there, which was
a figure for the time then present, that in our text we have but
Christ being come and high priest of good things to come. We read
when our Lord laid down his life at Calvary, the veil of the temple
was rent entwined from the top to the bottom. The way into the
holiest of all is now made known. Our Lord is the first fruits,
the first begotten from the dead. He has ascended up into heaven,
and that way is now consecrated for us, an entrance into heaven. And we may, we do not need an
earthly priest. We do not need to have someone
else appear. We may come directly unto God. we may approach in that same
way, through the outer court, into the inner court, and then
into the holiest of all, into heaven itself, not through intercession
of saints or anyone at all, but come boldly unto the throne of
grace, come unto the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a beautiful type
of our Lord. But thinking of how it was in
their day, the Israelites never ever got to see that ark. They knew it was there, they
were told it was there, they were told the pattern of it,
but they never saw it. Only one time they would have
seen it and to know that it was there, and that would be when
the tabernacle was taken down for them to remove from one place
to another place. Because when it was taken down,
the Kohathites, the tribe of Levi, were given the task of
carrying and dismantling the tabernacle and preparing it to
be carried to its other place and the Levites to carry the
Ark. And they had to take that veil
and they laid the veil over the ark so that then the ark was
not seen when it was carried at all. But if we had in front
of this pulpit a curtain, just a straight curtain, you would
not see the shape of the microphone, the pulpit, the Bible on it at
all. But if we were to take that curtain
and lay it over the pulpit and drape it over the microphone
and over the Bible, you would see the shape of the microphone,
you'd see the shape of the Bible in the pulpit, and you'd know
it was there because now you could see the shape of it. And
that's what the children of Israel would see. In some picture books
you get the picture of this golden ark being carried on the shoulders
of the Levites, that would never have been the case. It would
have always been covered, and it was covered by that veil of
the three colours, and then it was covered with badger skins,
and no doubt there's very much a practical application of that,
though going through the desert. When it was erected, it was nice
and safe and kept within the tabernacle, But to go through
the desert they needed to preserve the veil and preserve the ark
from the dust and everything of the desert. So you've got
the covering in that way and then over top of that they put
a covering of blue. So what would have been seen
was not the badger skins but would have been seen the blue.
We said at the beginning that the blue in the veil sets forth
grace, and that even the adversaries of our Lord, they could not deny
the grace that was poured into his lips. And so when our Lord
was on earth, the grace was immediately seeable, that it was known by
all that saw him. But then what stumbled so many,
if you were to peel back the blue covering, you'd see the
badger skins. You'd see Christ's humanity.
You'd hear them saying, but this is Jesus, the son of Joseph,
the carpenter's son. They're offended at him. They're
offended at his manhood. They couldn't see the Godhead.
But if you took those badger skins and you pulled back the
cover, then you'd see the gold. Those times when the Lord was
in the ship, And there he was asleep, there's the manhood of
Christ. But then there rose the wind
on the lake, they awake him, saying, Master, we perish. He
rose, rebuked the winds and the waves, there was a great calm.
The hymn writer says, the God shines gracious through the man. And there were those that were
able to see, see past that root out of a dry ground, no form
nor comeliness that we should desire him, and see the gold
and see the preciousness of Christ and the ark and its carrying
that sets forth that. And a blessed thing if we're
able to look and see Christ in all his preciousness, God and
man in one, God and sinners reconciled in Christ Jesus. The tabernacle
was so central with the children of Israel, the presence of the
Lord always upon it, and our Lord Jesus Christ so beautifully
sets forth for just what a sinner needs, The way to God, Jesus
is, we sung it in our first hymn, Jesus is the way to God. The way into the holiest of all,
the way into heaven itself. Remember what the Lord prayed
in John 17, Father I will that they whom thou hast given me,
be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. And it is into heaven itself
that he has gone, into that holiest of all. If we have known the
fellowship and communion with the Lord here below, we shall
know what it is to enter into the holiest of all through that
rent veil. If we have been brought into
fellowship, it will be through entering through Christ, through
his sin-atoning sacrifice, being called and sanctified and separated
unto him. May the Lord bless the setting
forth of this beautiful time, and we see in Christ such a beauty
and attractiveness and be so emboldened as sinners to approach
unto him, not being put off, as it were, by the holiness and
purity, but heading for the door, heading for that grace of the
Lord, our King, our Saviour, our Redeemer, and entering through
him by precious faith. 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,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption. for us a finished work. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.