If you would, go ahead and turn
with me to Exodus chapter 30 again tonight. Let's begin reading in verse
17. Exodus 30, verse 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass in his foot,
or the stand, or the pedestal, also of brass, to wash withal. And thou shalt put it between
the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt
put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall
wash their hands and their feet thereat. When they go into the
tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water that
they die not. Or when they come near to the
altar, in other words, come back out of the tabernacle to go to
the altar to burn offering made by fire into the Lord. So they
shall wash their hands and their feet that they die not. and it
shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his
seed throughout their generations." Now, before we dive into the
subject of this labor of brass tonight and see what it pictures
and what it typifies, I will say this, I bet you know right
now who it pictures and typifies. It's everything in the tabernacle
has. But before we discuss that, let's
first remember what God has already done for his priests, meaning
his people who are made priests unto God. First, we know that
the priests were washed all over by another. If you look back
at chapter 29, verse four, you will see that, and Aaron and
his sons thou shalt bring into the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation and shalt wash them with water. Leviticus chapter
eight, verse six says, and Moses brought Aaron and his sons and
washed them with water. Now this pictures our regeneration
by God, the Holy Spirit, which is not by works of righteousness
that we've done. This is something that God alone
does for us, just as Moses did for Aaron and his sons. Secondly,
the holy garments that these priests wore were put on Aaron
and his sons by another. Again, Exodus 29, this time verse
five, speaking to Moses, the Lord said, and thou shall take
the garments and put upon Aaron. And then verse eight tells us
that that the same thing was to be done to Aaron's sons. And
this pictures the spirit of God bringing his elect to faith in
Christ and imputing his perfect righteousness to them. Righteousness
is often referred to in the scriptures as a garment that we put on.
The skins that God clothed Adam and Eve with is a picture of
Christ's righteousness put on the redeemed child of God. God
accomplishes the work of regeneration through the gospel of Christ
crucified, typified on the brazen altar. We looked in detail at
the brazen altar. We saw how the sin offering pictured
Christ bearing the sins of God's people and putting them away
forever. We saw how the burn offering typified Christ's obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross, whereby He made us
accepted by His perfect righteousness alone when He was made to be
sin for. And then we saw the offering
of consecration where the blood and the oil were applied to the
priest and the oil of the Spirit purging our conscience and the
blood of Christ giving us communion and fellowship with God. You
see, it's all about Christ. If any sinner is to have any
relationship whatsoever with God, have any communion and fellowship
with God, it's gonna be through the man, Christ Jesus. We see
that from the very offset of scripture. Then we had the burnt
meat offerings and it showed us that salvation is in Christ
alone as we offer up to God the sweet smelling savor of incense,
which is the sacrifice of praise. And it pictures us giving God
all the glory for our salvation and our praise being accepted
by God. God accepts our praise when we
give Christ all the credit and all the glory. So we already
have a beautiful picture of the believer being born again, being
brought to faith in Christ, being redeemed, justified, and accepted. Accepted by blood, consecrated
by the Spirit, made holy, sanctified priest unto God. So what do we
have here typified in this brass labor? Though the believer is
justified in Christ and can never be more so, you cannot be more
justified if Christ has justified you. Though the child of God
is sanctified, set apart, made holy, they can never be made
more so. Sanctification is not progressive. Sanctification is not something
that we can improve upon. You can't be made more holy than
holy in Christ. You can't be more sanctified.
You can't be more set apart. You're either set apart or you're
not. Then what does the brass labor show and reveal to us?
Well, it's here that we see that every believer has a daily need
to come to Christ, to be continually cleansed of their daily defilement,
acquired from their sin nature while living in this sinful world.
Now, let me try to explain what I mean. If you remember in John
chapter 13, when the Lord washed his disciples' feet, you know,
at first Peter in pride, he said, thou shalt never wash my feet.
And the Lord said, well, if I wash thee not, thou has no part of
me. And then Peter changed his tune
and he said, well, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands
and my head washed me through and through. But do you remember
what the Lord said to him after that? Christ then shows us something
of what this brass laver typified when he said, he that is washed
needeth not save or accept, needeth not accept to wash his feet,
but is clean ever wit, and ye are clean. The Lord Jesus cleansed
every believer completely and perfectly by his blood in the
sight of God before the law. This was done once and for all
by his offering accomplished by the sacrifice of himself.
Now the Holy Spirit of God washed God's elect with Christ's blood
when he justified them so that they're holy in Christ. And as I said, you can't get
more holy than that. And he sanctified them in Christ. And you can't be more sanctified
than you are if you're sanctified in Christ. We can't be more justified.
We can't be more sanctified. Both our justification and our
sanctification are finished and accomplished. but Christ must
cleanse us daily from our sins because it's our sin that interrupt
with our communion with God and our ability to approach a holy
God in worship and in prayer. As long as we live in this flesh,
our sin is forever present and the scripture says it so easily
besets us. Again, look at verse 18. Thou
shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to
wash with him. And thou shalt put it between
the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt
put water therein. Now, let me briefly point out
some things about this laver of brass. First, I would have
you to notice where the location of this brass labor was. It was
divinely ordered by God to stand between the brazen altar where
the sacrifice was made and the entrance of the tabernacle. You
first came into the courtyard, there was the brazen altar where
the sacrifice was slain. And then you had this brass labor. Now the brazen altar, as I said,
is where the substitute and the sacrificial animal was slain. And the brazen altar is where
divine justice was appeased. It was the brazen altars where
the blood of the sacrifice was shed for the chosen sinner. And
then the tabernacle, that is where God dwelt with his people. Communion and fellowship with
God was found in the tabernacle, in the holiest of holies. and
it was where intercession was made for the people of God by
the high priest. But this brass laver stood between
the two. You could not go from the brazen
altar where the sacrifice was made and then go into the tabernacle
to have communion with God without first or except you pass by the
way of this brass laver. Now next, I want you to consider
the materials of the labor. It was made of brass and it contained
water. Brass, as we've talked about
in times past, speaks of strength. Brass also speaks of judgment. Both have something to do with
the sinner and their sin. The soul that sins shall surely
be judged because the soul that sins shall surely die. Why? Because God's too holy to clear
the guilty. You know that. How many times
have we discussed that? But I did find this to be very
interesting. Do you know where the brass for
this laver came from? Turn over a few pages to Exodus
chapter 38. Hold your place. chapter 30, but look at Exodus
chapter 38, verse eight. It says, and he made the labor
of brass and the foot of it of brass of the looking glasses
of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. Now, these looking glasses originally
served in this time as mirrors. They were made of solid brass
and they were so finely polished that you could see your reflection
in them. That's what they used in this time, in this day, as
mirrors. And though mirrors were somewhat
a necessity, no doubt that men and women alike had made them
vain objects. were naturally so vain that it's
nearly impossible to pass by a mirror and not look at it.
But God took these instruments of vanity and he refashioned
them into this labor of brass so that those who looked at them
once in vanity, he did so to show them their need of cleansing
as well as the way to be cleansed. And back in our text in chapter
30, verse 20, look at verse 20 with me again. It says, when
they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall
wash with water that they die not. Or when they come near to
the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the
Lord, so they shall wash their hands and their feet that they
die not. And it shall be a statute forever
to them, even to him and his seed throughout their generation.
And it's here that we see the necessity of the brass labor. Now, this is not something that
we can just overlook. You couldn't approach God apart
from this labor of brass, and you still can't. You still can't. You can't bypass it, or God says
you'll die. That's how serious it is. That's
how necessary it is. You know, many today think they
can. They think that salvation is just a one-time experience,
but you can't enter into the holy place and into the holiest
of holies and bypass that brass labor. This labor typifies the
work of the Holy Spirit. You see, our God is holy. You ask King Uzziah about that. King Uzziah attempted to approach
God in a way other than that was commanded by God and God
struck him with leprosy. And later he died from that leprosy. Ask Uzzah. That fella simply
attempted to steady the ark to keep it from falling and God
killed him right on the spot. What a picture that is of God
not needing our assistance in the matter of salvation. Aaron's
two sons, we're told, brought strange fire and God killed them
both. What about Moses? He got angry
and he struck the rock twice with his staff. And God said,
you'll be buried on this mountain and you'll not enter into the
land of promise. You see, Christ is not going
to be smitten but once. God is holy. God is just. God is righteous. You've got
to come before him clean, perfectly clean. Paul said, in our flesh
dwelleth no good thing. Job said, what is man that he
should be clean? Who and what is man which is
born a woman that he should be righteous? Behold, he, God, putteth
no trust in his saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in
his sight. That's how holy God is. How much
more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh water like
iniquity? And friends, as long as we sojourn
in this world and in this flesh, we need daily cleansing. As the priest went about their
daily work, their hands were in constant contact with death. Therefore, their hands were unclean.
They didn't wear shoes, so their feet also became dirty with the
sand and also with blood. Oh, I'm telling you, when they
sacrificed that bullet for a burnt offering, those lambs or goats
for a sin offering, man, it was a bloody mess. There was blood
everywhere. And God only accepts that which
is clean and perfect. So they had to wash before approaching
the tabernacle door. They had to wash before they
went into the holy place to offer thanksgiving and to offer worship
at the golden altar of incense. And in our everyday lives, we
constantly come into contact with death. It's found in our
sinful flesh. It's found in this sinful world,
everywhere we look, it's dead. Living in this sinful world,
it's so easy to get our hands and our feet dirty. It's so easy
for us to get sidetracked from the communion that we have with
God because of sin, because our sin so easily besets us. We still
live in this body of flesh, it's called the body of death. We
still battle and we still struggle with that old man within. Paul
said, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, that is
in this heart of mine, dwells no good thing. Yes, we've been
justified and we've been sanctified by God. And in the eyes of God,
we're perfect, holy, and just. But until we lay down these corruptible
bodies of flesh and death, we're gonna have a struggle within
us. You know something about that? You struggle every day
with this thing called sin. That old man raises its head
and my, it's a battle. Paul says there's a war going
on in our flesh. He said, I find then a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. Does that happen
to you? For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, but I see another law in my members. Do
you see that other law in your members? It wars against the
law of my mind and it brings me into captivity to the law
of sin, which is in my members. Do you ever experience that?
Why, every day, don't you? Many times a day. He said, oh,
wretched man that I am. Now, Paul was redeemed of the
Lord. He had been justified by the
blood of Christ. He'd been sanctified by the Spirit,
but living in this flesh, he considered himself a wretched
man. And he asked that question, who
shall deliver me from the body of this dead? And I love the
answer Paul gave. It's the only correct answer
there is. He says, I thank God. And this
is how I can be delivered. It's through Jesus Christ, our
Lord. So we're again, shut up to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this will be the battle within
us until we lay these corruptible bodies down in death and put
on incorruptible ones. Until sin is gone, this will
be a struggle for us all our days. This will be the mortal
struggle we'll continue to have until we put on immortality.
So we have to be washed daily by coming to Christ, who is the
brass labor. I have to trust Christ today,
and so do you. I have to trust Christ tomorrow,
and so will you. And I have to trust Him the day
after that. I've got to be cleansed today by coming to Christ and
be washed by His word, the word of His gospel. That's why we're
here tonight, to hear more about Christ, to be washed. That's
what we're doing here. and we have to be cleansed again
tomorrow and the next day the same way. How is that accomplished? Well, it's in and by and through
Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. The scripture
says in Ephesians chapter five, that he might cleanse us being
his bride. This is speaking of his bride,
Ephesians five, you know the text. It said that he might cleanse
his bride, that he might cleanse her with the washing of water
by the word and present unto himself a glorious church, not
having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, that she should be
holy and without blemish. And that's what this brass labor
pictures and typifies. It typifies the Holy Spirit who
does this cleansing work. The Holy Spirit abides in the
child of God, and by doing so, the believer grows in the grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we grow
in the grace and knowledge of Him. The Holy Spirit teaches
us the things of Christ, shows us the things of Christ, brings
the things of Christ to our remembrance. It cleanses us from our daily
sins. The Holy Spirit teaches us. And
until we leave this body of flesh, we'll get our hands and our feet
dirty. I can assure you that. But Christ
is the word that washes us. Christ is the brass labor by
which we are daily cleansed. When we come in and when we go
out, we must be washed by the Holy Spirit. And when our Lord
spoke to that Samaritan woman, you remember that? The woman
at the well, he said, if thou knewest the gift of God and who
it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou would have
asked of him and he would have given thee living water. is the
water of regeneration by Christ's blood that he's speaking of there.
Christ is the water of life. That's God's spirit washing us
in the blood of the lamb and giving us eternal life. But this
cleansing water typified here by the brass labor is none other
than the gospel of Christ. It's the water that cleanses
us, but it's a water in a brazen vessel. It's not a vessel that's
hot from the coals of the fire that consumed the sacrifice.
It's that cool and refreshing water that came from Christ the
rock. So the brass laver typifies Christ,
who's the fountain of life. Yes, Christ justified our sin
and sanctified us before the law by his blood shed on that
brazen altar. That's definitely what that picture
is. But he continues to purify us from our uncleanness by the
washing of the water of the gospel that he gives us freely. Now,
I can't be more saved than what I am in Christ. When Christ called
me by his grace and gave me faith to believe, perfect in the eyes
of God. I can't be more sanctified, as
I said earlier, more set apart. I can't be more holy than I am
through Christ's blood. But by the Holy Spirit, in, by,
and through Christ and His finished work of redemption flows this
water of life by the Holy Spirit. And it's the preaching of the
gospel, what the world calls foolishness, that is the means
that God uses that saves those who believe. Do you know where
the water in that brass laver came from? After all, they were
in a desert. It came from the same place that
the water they drank came from. It came from that rock, that
rock, that smitten rock. And that rock was Christ. It's the justifying blood of
Christ that washes God's elect whiter than snow one time in
regeneration. But the spirit continually renews,
continually washes, continually purges our conscience, enabling
us, as I said, to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ through the hearing of the gospel. That's
what Paul said. He said, faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. Now listen to me on this. You
and I must wash that we die not. We can't be saved by works of
righteousness that we've done, but it's according to His mercy
that God saved us. How did He do so? Well, first
it was by the washing of regeneration. It was by the sacrificing and
substituting himself in our place. It was by Christ providing himself
a lamb for burnt offering and by Christ providing himself as
the lamb for burnt offering. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. There is no forgiveness. You
have to first come to that brazen altar and offer that precious
lamb slain before the foundation of the world. You have to offer
that perfect lamb without spot and without blemish because that's
all God will accept. God won't accept anything less
than perfect. It must be perfect to be accepted. And then before you can ever
come into the presence of God, you must be washed daily as you
walk in this body of flesh. We've got to come to Christ and
be washed by God, the Holy Spirit, who cleanses us from all unrighteousness,
the scripture says. Thank God that the Lord Jesus
will be merciful to all our unrighteousness and our sin and our iniquities
will He remember no more. Dear sinner, come to Christ,
who is the brass laborer, and wash your hands and wash your
feet. That's why we meet together.
That's why we come to hear the gospel. Because as long as we
live in this flesh, if we do that, if we come to Christ and
wash, we can come boldly into the throne of grace to find mercy
and to find help in time of need. No other way. Christ said, come
all you that labor in a heavy laden. And that means over your
sin. And he said, I'll give you rest.
He said, take my yoke upon you and learn of me. That's what
we're doing. We're learning of Christ. We're
seeing Christ in the Old Testament scriptures. He said, learn of
me for I'm meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest
unto your soul. That's why we're here. We're
looking for rest. We're looking for that peace
and assurance that only we can find in God's Son. He said, my
yoke is easy and my burden is light. You know why his yoke
is easy and his burden is light? Because he's done everything
for those who put their trust in him. There's nothing for us
to do, but believe. And even that God gives us as
a free gift. Christ is that brazen altar which
He offers Himself to God in the chosen sinner's place. Christ
is that perfect sacrifice that was sacrificed upon that brazen
altar. It's in Him that we are accepted. He is the beloved in whom God's
elect are accepted. Christ is that brass laver, and
it's the water of His Spirit by whom we're made and kept perfectly
clean. Christ is the tabernacle in whom
we dwell in peace with God. Christ is the table of showbread
and he's the bread of life who is our life and our sustenance. Christ is that golden candlestick
that shines in our hearts and reveals God to us. Christ is
that altar of incense who is a sweet savor of life unto life. And he's our sweet smelling incense
unto God. And when God smells that sweet
smelling savor, he accepts it. Christ is that Ark of the Covenant
that was made of acacia wood and gold, revealing himself both
as God and as man, perfect in both natures. Perfect man, perfect
God. Christ is the ark and that ark
contained the broken tablets of the 10 commandments. Christ
is the fulfillment of the broken law. It's all about Him. Christ is the ark and the ark
contained that jar of heavenly manna. Christ is our daily strength. Christ is our daily delight.
Christ is our eternal salvation. Christ is the ark and the ark
contained Aaron's rod that budded. You see Christ, the life that
budded in you and I, the dead branch that we are. He's that
vine in whom the branches find love. And it's through the power
of His resurrection that we have life to be made priest unto God. Christ is that mercy seat. He's
that lid of reconciliation. He is our atonement. That's what the word mercy seat
means. It's where God accepts His perfect
sacrifice. It's in Christ. Jesus Christ
is the believers, everything. Paul said he's made into us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption. If we have Christ,
we have all that we need and we have all that God requires.
And beloved, what makes us even more wonderful is to those who
put their trust in him. This salvation in him is a free
gift, free to you. "'Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, "'and he that hath no money.'" That's
me, I don't have anything that God would accept. I have nothing
to offer God but his son. "'He that hath no money, come
ye buy and eat. "'Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money "'and without price.'" It doesn't cost me anything,
but it cost him, his son. It cost God, his son. Wherefore,
do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor
for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Christ says, incline your ear
and come unto me, here in your soul shall live. Have you heard
the word of the Lord? He said, if you have, I'll make
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David. May God in and by and through
the free mercy and grace of God enable you and I to trust and
rely upon Christ alone for all our salvation. May God make Christ
all our desire. No salvation apart from him,
absolutely none.