May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we consider his word. Let us turn to the
book of Exodus chapter 25 and we'll read verse 22. The book
of Exodus chapter 25 and reading verse 22. And there I will meet
with thee and I will commune with thee from 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." Moses is here describing the instructions which God gave him
with regards to the erection of the tabernacle and everything
that was contained in the tabernacle and we should realize that this
was a wonderful and an amazing blessing for Israel because prior
to this they hadn't got the same illustrations and the same picture
that this was to bring before them. We can look back and we
can see today how everything fits in with a great and glorious
plan of salvation. But of course, in those days,
it wasn't like that. And they needed the Spirit of
God to give them faith to look beyond just those mere tokens
to see that there was the glorious picture of the Messiah set forth. Well, what faith they needed.
We, of course, still today need faith to believe the fulfillment
of those things which were evidence then in the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ and all that it meant. Well, what a blessing
it is if we can be thankful to God that we have such an account
because I believe what it does if you like, it gives us a very
clear picture of the work of the Saviour and what it entailed. And without the Old Testament,
without the pictures that we have, we would lack and we wouldn't
really understand much of that which, by God's grace, we do
understand today. So this chapter speaks really
more particularly then about the things in the holy place
and more particularly in the most holy place. And these words that we read
here this morning speak to us particularly about the mercy
seat. And what a great blessing the
mercy seat is. And we read of it really in the
New Testament in slightly different words, and it's referred to there
as the throne of grace. Our favourite is, if we know,
the great blessing of the throne of grace, and to know that the
Lord Jesus does hear and answer our prayers. And so we have this
tremendous statement here, in this verse which says, and there
I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat. To think
that almighty God condescended, deigned to come down into this
small place and to favour the church of God with those that
communion and that blessing with Almighty God. We read these things,
don't we? And we fail often to appreciate
the wonder of them and the greatness of them. Let us never underestimate
the greatness of God, the God who created all things, this
vast universe, which men are proving is far, far larger than
they ever comprehended. this great God, he made all these
things and yet, you see, he condescended to come in to this position and
to meet with his people. And so today, by the grace of
God, we can come to the throne of grace and God comes and meets
with us there. Well, it's a wonderful blessing
if you and I know the privilege and the favour of true prevailing
prayer. That it's not just a mere form
of words, it's not just a mere tradition, it's not a mere reciting
certain phrases, but it's the favour of the blessing of God
between him and our souls. And so here we have this statement
here, I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat. Now, the mercy seat was placed
upon the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant. A very
significant piece of furniture. A very important thing it was. And it was made as we read, of
wood and overlaid with gold. There was a crown round about
it, and the mercy seat was on top, and in this ark was placed
the words that the Lord had written upon those tables of stone, the
Ten Commandments, the holy law of God. And we might think, well,
that's an interesting description of what it was, but what does
it mean? Well, it's important. We do know,
of course, what it means. Well, I believe it means this. The Ark itself represents the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the law, of course, contained
in the Ten Commandments was the holy law, the righteous law,
which was inside. We might think of that as the
law within Christ. The law was holy, it was covered
up, and it was covered over with the mercy seat. And if we think
of that, and just go back a little time to think when Moses came
down from the Mount Sinai, on that occasion when God had written
with his finger on those tables of stone which God had prepared,
and Moses came down from the mountain, what did he observe?
He observed Israel in a terrible scene of idolatry. What were
they doing? Were they keeping God's law the
complete opposite? And the anger of Moses was such
that he threw the tables of stone down upon the rocks and they
broke in pieces. And what did it signify? It signified
the broken law of God. It signifies that all of us have
broken the holy law of God. Israel could not keep it. We
cannot keep it. Ever since the fall of Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden, from that state of purity and holiness
to that state of sinfulness and impurity, So it's continued and
it will right down to the end of time. But what a blessing
it is to realize that there is a way of peace with God. And it's not through anything
that you and I can achieve by our own merits, by our own works.
It's that which the Lord God gives through the wonderful sin-atoning
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we think of the Ark and we
think of how it was made. It was made of that wood, Chittim
wood, which we understand is probably an acacia, which was
a very enduring wood, one that wasn't affected by decay. And it gives some picture, doesn't
it, the eternity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then to be
overlaid with gold, that pureness. Gold has no impurity once it's
cleansed from any impurity, it remains pure and unaffected. So we have then that which we
see in Christ, the glorious purity and his eternity. And of course
then over to complete that box was the mercy seat and on the
mercy seat and from that same piece of gold was beaten the
cherubim's one each end and that mercy seat enclosed the ark and
there was the law contained within it man could not look upon it
because of the holiness of it because of our sinfulness. But
it is within the great and glorious Saviour himself. And the significance was of course
those cherubims. We come across cherubims in the
Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and the Lord cast
them out of the Garden. And at the entrance there was
put these two cherubims with flaming swords to keep it safe,
so there wouldn't be any entrance from any others. And we see here
then, do we not, these cherubims, they were looking down at the
mercy seat, that mercy seat which covered the holy law of God. They were indeed watching over
it as it were, but then the great blessing was, The Lord himself
came down and we're told, and there, and there will I meet
with thee. And I will commune with thee
from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims, which
are upon the ark of the testimony of all the things which I will
give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. So we
have the glorious picture of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
condescending to come and to meet with his people as he met
with Moses and Aaron all those years ago and now to realize
that he comes and meets with his people. You know the The
mercy seat, which we read off here in the book of the Romans,
it's the same word, but it's described in a different way. And it's described like this
in the third chapter of the Romans, and we read, for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by
his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation. That word is the same word as
in the Old Testament, which is translated mercy seat. So we
can think of this, whom God has set forth to be the mercy seat,
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness the
remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Well, it's good to have an understanding
of that because how necessary it is that there is set forth
faith in his blood. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin. Without the shed blood, there
was no cleansing. And so we see here in this occasion,
this picture we have of the mercy seat. And what happened? Well, you know that later on
we read those clear details and that the high priest had to enter
into the holy place, not without blood. And that blood was sprinkled
upon the mercy seat. What does it indicate? What does
it show to us? It shows that there was no access
unto a holy God, but only through the shed blood. And so it is
today. The only way of access unto the
Father is through the shed blood of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ, His great and glorious sacrifice. The animals had to
be sacrificed. And in that sacrificing, the
blood was taken to indicate death had occurred. And that blood
was sprinkled on the mercy seat. Well, we see, do we not, then,
something in the picture. But again, try and remember that
here was Israel of old, viewing this, pondering what it meant,
wondering what it illustrated. and yet it was in the divine
and glorious purpose of Almighty God to direct the worshipper
to the Messiah. My friends, today, this great
and glorious picture of the crucified Saviour is to direct us to His
great and finished work, that it's only through Him we have
access unto the Father. He is the mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus. Let's not lose sight of that.
The man Christ Jesus. He took on himself our form,
yet without sin. He was spotless. He was pure. He was all glorious. That's who
we, by faith, can come to today. Exactly the same in the Old Testament
dispensation. It was only through living faith
that the worshipper came and saw there was virtue in the shed
blood. It was faith that looked forward
to the great and glorious coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. and
there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee."
How humbling to think today that we have the throne of grace,
and to think these words are so true today. And there will
I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee, from above
the mercy seat as we come to the throne of grace, to think
that God condescends to meet with us. The almighty God, how
foolish we are so often, how reckless we are so often, as
we come to God without due consideration of the greatness of our God,
and the wonder of his mercy and his favour. You know, this word,
this mercy seat, also means conciliation. Yes, propitiation. Conciliation
means that. There is that conciliation between
our souls and God. the holy, righteous God, before
whom we cannot stand. God cannot look upon sin. And
yet, as we approach unto the mercy seat, what is seen? The glorious sacrifice of the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are received not because
of anything we've done, but because of what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done. And that's how the high priest
of old was received. When he came into the most holy
place, not without blood, you know it's significant, isn't
it? The first thing he had to do when he came into that holy
place was to have brought in on a sense of those live burning
coals from the altar and then to place on those that incense
and what a sweet cloud it was that ascended into that holy
place. It wasn't a very large place
and it would have covered really the mercy seat, that cloud of
smoke, so that the holiness of God was not to be seen really
by the high priest. And we cannot, of course, approach
unto the Holy God only through the merits then of the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And there will I meet with thee. Well, I wonder if we realise
the wonderful favour of God condescending to meet. Think of Israel, how
sinful they were, weren't they? Are we any better? God condescended
to meet with him, meet with them. Cannot we bless God for that? Isaiah, he knew something of
the holiness of God, and he tells us of Hezekiah. Hezekiah prayed
unto the Lord, saying, remember, here's Hezekiah, you know, many,
many years ago, praying, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that
dwellest between the cherubims. Thou art the God, even Thou alone,
of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and
hear. Open Thine eyes, O Lord, and
see." What a blessing to have faith like Hezekiah had here. He acknowledged clearly The greatness
of God, O Lord of hosts. Lord of hosts. That's who we
come to. That's who we approach unto. The Lord of hosts. You know,
David, in the Psalms, he speaks of the Lord of hosts. Psalm 46,
he commences with, God is our refuge and strength. Well, here
was a refuge for Hezekiah. And my friends, what a blessing
it is God is a refuge for us and he tells us in the seventh
verse, the Lord of hosts is what? Is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Think of that, the Lord of hosts
is with us. Here was this great and glorious
truth granted to Israel of old. and there will I meet with thee."
Yes, the Lord of hosts, meeting with Israel, above the mercy
seat. And now today, oh, glorious time,
isn't it? That you and I can come to our
God, can approach unto God at the mercy seat, at the throne
of grace. Well, we know, of course, that
in the Hebrews it's given to us so very wonderfully and so
very Clearly, as the Apostle Paul writes, and in the fourth
chapter, towards the end of that chapter, he says, seeing then
that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession, hold
fast the truth of God, For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, that was
in all points tempted like us we are, yet without sin. How comforting it is for us to
know that we have such a God, such a great and glorious high
priest who understands us so very, very well. He knows our
concerns, our desires. He knows the things that are
a problem to us. He knows the sins which possess
us. And to think that this is so
true, that this great and glorious God, he's touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. And the Church of God do have
infirmities. And I'm not talking now about
natural infirmities, they may be. But we have those spiritual
infirmities, which perhaps drag us down. Because we realise we're
not what we should be. We realise there are so many
sins which are crowded upon us. and we have to come in with David
and say, I hate vain thoughts, but our Lord I love, with a feeling
of our infirmities. What wonderful consideration,
the Saviour, He understands our infirmities, but was in all points
tempted like as we are. We fall, we fail. Yet, without
sin, this is our great and glorious Saviour, our great and glorious
High Priest. And therefore, the Apostle says,
let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Isn't that a suitable word? Mercy
seat. To realize that we come to a
holy God, pleading for mercy. We all need mercy, don't we?
We all need continuing mercy, don't we? It's not something
which we can say, well, I've received the mercy, I don't need
it again. Believe the Lord shows us little
of our true condition, not all of it, a little of our true condition
before a holy God, which brings us to that true
position of confession of sin. See this is what this set before
the children of Israel, a place where there was to be confession
of sin. On that great and glorious day
of atonement, when the high priest went into the holy place, not
without blood, did he? He couldn't go without blood.
Indeed, as the apostle tells us later on in this chapter when
he says, but Christ being come a 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 And what it is, is telling us here the Lord has entered
into glory, into that heavenly place, whereas this holy of holies
represented heaven, but it was a poor comparison with regards
to this great and glorious picture that we know we have and is true. And so he goes on to say, for
if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer
sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the purifying of the flesh,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God." Oh, there's a cleansing
power in the blood of the Savior. It was just symbolized by that
blood of those animals shed and sprinkled upon the mercy seat.
But we have the fulfillment of that picture set before us in
the New Testament, that upon which you and I can rejoice. How much more shall the blood
of Christ who, through the Eternal Spirit, offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
Living God." Well, what a privilege, isn't it? If the Spirit of God
moves our hearts that we are found amongst those who truly
desire to serve the Living God. And so, we're then told for this
cause. He is the mediator of the New
Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the First Testament. That means offending, that means
walking contrary to the law of God. And that was the transgressions
that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. Well the picture before us shows
to us the great blessing which is received by all those who
are called out of the darkness of nature into the glorious light
of the everlasting gospel as the apostle A phrase is it, called
by grace. To know the church of God, are
called by God. Unworthy as we are, we receive
his grace, that free unmerited favor. And so we can be thankful
today that for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament,
by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were
under the First Testament, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. You see, if we are indeed amongst
those who are blessed to receive the forgiveness of sins through
the shed blood of the Savior, indeed, as the apostle goes on
to say, without shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness, there's
no remission, Without the shedding of blood of the Saviour, there
would be no hope for you or me. But oh, bless God today for this
great and glorious truth that the Saviour did come. And He
did keep the holy law of God, that which was within the ark.
He kept it rightly and holily, without any fault, without any
failure. And because He kept that law
of God, then you see, He is that one now who is accepted. on our
behalf. And so the Lord Jesus, he died. He died. You know, it's just
worth for a moment just reading these verses in the ninth of
Hebrews, which tells us, for where a testament is, there must
also necessarily be the death of the testator. We understand
that as a will in our day and age. When somebody dies, that
they leave a will. when it's really a testament.
It's an evidence of what they desire to occur when they're
dead. It can't occur before they're
dead, because it might be changed when they're alive. But after
they're dead, it is indeed that testament. For where a testament
is, there must also necessarily be the death of the testator.
It couldn't come into place until there was the death. for a testament
is a force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength
at all while a testator liveth whereupon neither the first testament
was dedicated without blood we read off here you see the mercy
seed sprinkled with blood for when Moses had spoken every precept
to all the people according to the law he took the blood of
calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled
both a book and all the people saying this is the blood of the
testament which God hath enjoined unto you the church of God enjoined
unto us safety under the blood as there was of Israel of old
when they came out of Egypt only safety under the blood same today
moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the
vessels of the ministry And almost all things are by the law purged
with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. Well,
my friends, may we know something in our own souls of the blessing
of that blood being shed for us. And then you see to know
that we meet with our God, and there will I meet with thee,
and will commune with thee from above the mercy seat. It's a
great blessing if you and I know something of the blessing of
communion with God in our prayers. There can be no access to a holy
God only through the merits of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
only at the mercy seat. And so we have this great statement,
the Lord will meet with thee, I will meet with thee. It's a
wonderful evidence, it's the most positive evidence that we
are born again in the Spirit of God if we are blessed with
the true evidence of pervading prayer as we come to God. When we know that we have the
evidence that we are as it were with God. There is an access
through that new and living way whereby we as undone sinners
can approach unto the majesty on high. Does it not give us great reason
to praise God, to thank Him for that unspeakable
gift? Oh, what a gift. What a gift
it was that Lord Jesus Christ gave His life so that you and
I might receive life. Well, we can thank God this morning,
can we not? If we know something of the entering
in to the holy place through merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. And may such an experience be
very humbling and yet very God-glorifying. As we receive the evidence, the
Lord hears and answers prayer, because here is the promise,
and there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee
from above the mercy seat. The picture we have here is very
glorious. My friends, the truth is far more glorious as we view
it in the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And how valuable indeed
that blood was. There was no way of coming here
without shed blood. My friends, there's no way of
coming to our Saviour without His shed blood. To know that
He has died, He's given his life so that we might receive that
gift of eternal life. Well, the children of Israel, the people
of God had to travel on many years, hundreds of years, looking forward to the fulfillment
of the prophecy, fulfillment of that which is illustrated
here in this book of Exodus. But today, can we look back with
true joy and thankfulness in our heart that we have such a
Saviour, such a blessed Redeemer, such a kind and gracious God,
such a condescending Lord, who is so gracious, and that our
prayers are taken, often we may feel Our prayers to be disjointed. But thankfully the Lord looks
at our heart. The Lord knows all about us.
He knew all about David, didn't he? And he knew what was necessary
to convict him and to turn his heart to the Lord in true confession. a great blessing to come to the
mercy seat, to the throne of grace with true confession. So that we pour out our heart
before our God and we acknowledge that he is just and holy and
we are so far from that situation and we cannot claim to be any
better and we're thankful then to be able to Seat for these
blessings that David did when he came and he said have mercy
upon me. Oh God remember the mercy seat
Have mercy upon me. Oh God. That's he was coming
to that's what you and I need to come to Oh God according to
my loving kindness the loving kindness of the Savior the loving
kindness of the Father the loving kindness of the Holy Spirit and
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Wash me throughly from my iniquities
and cleanse me from my sin. Well, what a desire. My friends, we all need to have
that desire, don't we? When the Lord convinces us of
our sin before our holy God, it brings us to that position.
and we realise how needful it is to come to our Saviour. And as David says, Behold, our
desire is truth in the inward parts. It's not just a mock humility,
it's to desire honesty and truth before God as we come confessing
our sins from our heart and not just murmuring mere words, but
coming like this and praying The Lord will come, and then
he says, make me to hear joy and gladness. And the bones which
thou hast broken may rejoice. Yes, the Lord does. Bring us
back with broken bones. But oh, may we hear joy and gladness.
And so he comes and says, create in me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Well, may that be our
prayer, that the Lord will indeed cast us not away as we deserve
to be, don't we? We can't claim that we are so
good we won't be cast away. We're dependent upon his mercy,
on his grace, on his favour. Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the
joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit. Well, we are, by the grace of
God, upheld. What a blessing it is. And so
here we have these words before us this morning. May we ponder
them and realize the greatness of them, and to know something
of the fulfillment of them in our own souls, so that our hearts
may go forth in praise and adoration to our Savior for that which
he has done in taking our sins and having them all washed away
in his most precious blood and there will I meet with thee and
I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat from between
the two Jerobims which are upon the ark of the testimony of all
things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children
of Israel. Amen.