Acts chapter 7 and our text will
be found in verse 43 and verse 44. Stephen here speaking to these Jews, remember that
he is preaching to them the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is stated
in the Old Testament scriptures. He says, Yea, you took up the
tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God, Rimfan, figures
which you made to worship them And I will carry you away beyond
Babylon. Our fathers had the tabernacle
of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking
unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that
he had seen. The title of the message this
evening is Jesus Christ, the Tabernacle of Witness. The Tabernacle
of Witness. This tabernacle. This tabernacle
here that he says our fathers had the tabernacle of witness. In the Old Testament scriptures,
in Numbers chapter 9 verse 15, it calls this tabernacle the
tabernacle of testimony. In other places it's called the
tabernacle of the congregation. This tabernacle was where God
dwelt. It is where the Shekinah glory
of God descended and dwelt in this thing here called the tabernacle. And this tabernacle was the place
where God spoke to Moses. He spoke in the tabernacle. And this tabernacle traveled
with Israel. It traveled with them all through
the wilderness up until the time that Solomon built the temple. This thing called the tabernacle
dwelt among the children of Israel. And I want us to know this above
all things concerning this tabernacle. Listen to me very carefully.
This was the only place where God met with men. This is the only place where
God met with His children. This tabernacle in the Old Testament
Scriptures is set forth as the center of worship. the center
of worship among the nation of Israel. So Stephen, he points
out this evident truth that their fathers had the tabernacle of
witness. And this tabernacle was given
to the children of Israel by God and was called the tabernacle
of witness. In numbers, it was like I said,
it's called the tabernacle of the testimony. You see, God had
chosen Israel. God had chosen them, delivered
them from the bondage of Egypt. The same God came to them on
Mount Sinai in the wilderness and declared to them His testimony,
His record, His witness, And what did He declare to them?
What was the testimony of God that He declared to the nation
of Israel? It was His holy law. His law. And it was upon the
mount, Mount Sinai, that God descended, not in peace, not
in tranquility, not in quietness, But God descended in fire on
the holy mount, full of holy justice. God descended with clouds,
and the scripture says, with a thick darkness. With thunderings
and lightnings and with the noise of a trumpet. This is how God
first came to the children of Israel in the wilderness. He
came in holy justice. declaring His holiness. And God
told Moses, He said, even before He came down, He told them, He
said, You are My people. You shall be kings and priests
unto Me, if, this was the condition, if you obey My commandments. And you know what the people
of Israel said? They said, what all men by nature
say when they hear that. Well, sure. Okay. I like that. You go back, Moses, and you tell
God that's a sure thing. We'll obey Him as though it was
nothing. They went back in boldness and
self-confidence, really self-righteousness. And they said, you go tell God
we'll do what He says. And so the Lord told the people,
He said, you get ready because I'm coming. You wash yourselves,
and you prepare yourselves, and three days I'll come." And on
the third day, truly, God did descend from heaven on the top
of that mount. He descended as the consuming
fire of holy justice. And the people stood afar off
and said to Moses, Speak thou with us. We can't hear him. Go over there and look at that.
Look at what they said. They, at first, they told Moses,
they said, sure, you go tell God we'll obey his law. And God
said, okay. Well, I'm coming in three days.
And when God came down, look what he said in Exodus chapter
20. After he had come down, after he had consumed the mount with
fire and justice, look what he said, look what the people then
changed their tune. And they said in verse 19, Let's read verse 18. And all
the people saw the thunderings and lightning and the noise of
the trumpet and the mountain smoking. And when the people
saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said to Moses,
Speak thou with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with
us, lest we die. You see, the people, when God
came down with His testimony, they could not bear it. Man by
nature who hears of God's glorious promises and eternal life and
peace, no doubt, like these people, they think such depraved thoughts
as though they can obey God's law. The depravity of our hearts
and nature is desire for self-righteousness. We hear the promises of God and
we like that. Who doesn't like heaven? Who
doesn't like to hear of peace with God? That sounds pretty
good. Well, God says, if you want to
earn it, you must obey all of my commandments. And like Israel,
man foolishly assumes that he's able. But only when God comes
and manifests His presence In His perfect holiness, when He
reveals the true nature of His holy law, that it's not just
outward. The law is not just actions. The law has to do with the thoughts
and the motives and the intents of the heart. When God reveals
that to a man, he begins to see that the law is not just carnal,
but spiritual. The law of God is no guideline. It's no suggestion. The testimony
of God is that you must be holy as God is holy. This is the testimony
of God. The law of God may be summed
up in two parts. We know, love the Lord your God
with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your
might. And the second, love your neighbor as yourself. If anybody's just a little honest,
they would see that they have not kept these commandments. If you could just for a moment,
if God would open your understanding to see that we have not kept
these commandments. And realize that if we are guilty
in one point, we are guilty of the whole law. The whole law. We have not kept these perfectly
all the days of our life. And we are guilty. We are guilty
of breaking God's holy law. Do you realize that the only
thing we deserve, the only thing that we have earned by our works,
by our obedience, is death, eternal, everlasting damnation? That's what we deserve by nature. Because we all have sinned and
missed the mark of the glory of God. Therefore, if we are
to be accepted of God, consider what God is testifying here.
He says if we are to be accepted of God, we must have a mediator. That's what the people realized
when God descended on that mount. They realized they could not
stand in the presence of God. So what did they do? They sought
a mediator. Moses, you go and you speak to
us what God says. And we can hear you. God says, you must have a mediator. Of which Moses was a type. Consider
this. Moses was a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ who is the only mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus. I remember hearing of a priest
walking through an art gallery and he had been shown this picture
with the scriptural verse underneath that there's only one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And this man was
honest enough to say this. He said, that one verse ruins
all our doctrine. That's true. That one verse ruins
all Catholic doctrine. All of it. Because they have
so many mediators that that scripture doesn't even stick to them. But
I tell you, listen to me, there is only one mediator between
God and men, between your soul and God, and that is the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now the law of the testimony
of God, if any man is to enjoy the presence of God, listen,
he must have a mediator. Look at what Job said. Job chapter
9. Job chapter 9 and verse 29. He
says, I be wicked. Now look at that.
If is in italics there. I be wicked. Is that not, that
may not be grammatically correct, but I'll tell you what, that's
just as honest as you can be. I be wicked. I'm wicked. Why then labor I in vain? What is, what is my works? If
I, I'm wicked and all my works, what are they but vanity? He
said, if I wash myself with snow water and make my hands ever
so clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor
me. Now that is totally contrary to human and this religious age. If I do all the best things I
possibly can do, Job said, God will throw me in the ditch. For he is not a man as I, that
I should answer him. And we should come together in
judgment. Job is saying he's not another man that we can come
and make an agreement together. Isn't that what foolish religion
says? God, if you'll do your part, I'll do my part. We'll
come together and we'll make a covenant together. Job says,
no, God's not a man that I can make a covenant with him. Neither is there any daysman
betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both. You see, Job understood this. There is a need for a mediator. One that is able to lay his hand
on both God and me. Who else could do that but the
God-man Jesus Christ? He alone can lay his hand on
me and God. He's the only one that can stand
in the gap between me and God so that I might be accepted.
This man Moses testified of one to come when he said a prophet
of the Lord shall the Lord your God raise up from among your
brethren like unto me. Him shall you hear. Who is he
talking about? He's talking about Christ. The
daisman, the mediator. This mediator, who is the God-man, who can lay
his hands on me and God at the same time, is none other than
Jesus Christ. See, we have sinned against God,
and we by nature were born sinners, and all we have done from birth
is full of sin. So that Isaiah says that we are
all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. Therefore, there is no hope for
us by obedience to the law. There is no way for us to make
ourselves clean. The law can only do one thing,
my friend. Exactly what God intended on
Mount Sinai is exactly what He intends to do to every one of
His children, is to reveal that by the law shall no flesh be
justified in His sight. This is the purpose of the law,
is to reveal sin. Paul says, for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. The law cannot heal you, the
law cannot redeem you, and there is no way by which the law can
make you acceptable before God. You see, for the law to do that,
the law itself would have to become unjust. You remember in Ruth, Ruth, the daughter-in-law of
Naomi, whose husband and son died in Moab, remember when Boaz
would redeem her. Boaz said, I would go and redeem
you, but I've got to take care of something first. There is
a nearer kinsman to you. And he has to be, has the right
of redemption first. And Boaz went to that kinsman
and he said, look, here's Naomi and here's all of her things.
Would you redeem her? And he said, well, yeah, but
if you have to redeem her, you also have to take Ruth, the Moabitess. And he said, oh, no, I can't
do that, lest I ruin my own inheritance. He is a picture of the law. The
law cannot redeem you unless itself becomes defiled. Therefore, behold, that Jesus
Christ is to his church, listen to me, what Moses was to Israel,
what Boaz was to Ruth, and what the tabernacle is to worship,
even so is Jesus Christ to his people. He is our mediator. He is our husband. And he is
the center of all worship and peace with God. Jesus Christ
has been sent by God to be the mediator, redeemer of his people. He is sent so that God may tabernacle
among us. By the law, God could not tabernacle
among us. Only by Jesus Christ. But this
tabernacle, now behold what God does. In light of Israel's failure
to keep the law, even in light of their inability, God still
puts forth this to Moses. He said, now Moses went up to
the mountain to receive the law of God, but God gave him something
else besides the law. He gave him blueprints. He gave him blueprints in this
law, and these blueprints were for the tabernacle. And as I've
studied this, this is immense. The amount of detail that God
puts into this tabernacle. You think of all of the things,
when we read like, you know, It is finished. That's just a
few words, isn't it? But there's a whole lot of meaning
behind that, what Christ said. But I tell you, there's a whole
lot of meaning in this blueprint that God gives Moses concerning
this tabernacle. And I tell you from the start,
It's all about Jesus Christ. Every part of this tabernacle
points us only to Him. Only to Him. Now, as Moses received
these blueprints, his very detailed plan of a building, a place where
God would come to dwell with His people. Look at this in Exodus
chapter 25. In Exodus chapter 25, And verse 8, He said, Let them make Me a sanctuary,
a dwelling, that I may dwell among them. According to all
that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern
of all the instruments or furniture thereof, even so shall you make
it. Now this building, this tabernacle,
was later the temple, but before that, it was nothing but a tent. It was not very attractive. God begins to give Moses this
pattern of how to build this tabernacle. And listen to me,
the lot on which this tabernacle sat was no bigger than this lot
we have here in our church building. It was about 75 feet by 150,
way less than this building. That was the lot, the whole lot
of it, the yard and everything, the court, the outer court. But the inside of this building,
listen to me, was 675 square feet. Now most one-bedroom apartments
are no bigger than that. 675 square feet was the total
of this tabernacle on the inside. This building was no large imposing
structure and from the outside it was covered with badger skins.
It was dull. It was not colorful on the outside. It was unattractive and quite
ordinary in appearance. Listen to me. That's exactly
how the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in this world. Very ordinary. very unattractive
to this world. In Isaiah chapter 53, it said,
He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, as a root at
a dry ground. He shall have no form or cuddliness,
and when we shall see Him, there shall be no beauty that we should
desire Him. Is that not how the Lord Jesus
Christ came into this world in human flesh? He came dull. It was not overwhelming beauty
in the Lord Jesus' outward appearance. He was born of poor parents in
a manger. His followers were poor. And
the people said of him, Is this not the carpenter's son? There
was no beauty in him. Is that not pictured in the outward
appearance of the temple? Yes. Yes. Truly, the natural
man sees no beauty in Christ to desire him. The natural man
receiveth not the things of God, for they are foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them, because he is spiritually judged. But I tell you to us who are
born again of the Spirit of God, we can see what others cannot. Isn't that so? Isn't this miraculous
that you see any beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ at all? It
is a miracle of grace. If you adore Him, if you love
Him, it is not because of outward things. It's not because of your
physical sight. You love Him because the Lord
has opened you to see what's on the inside. We see Him who
was made a little lower than the angels. We see Jesus who
was born a man, a very man, but not only that, we've received
the revelation that He is also God, a very God. On the outside of the tabernacle
it looked ordinary, but I tell you on the inside it was extraordinary. Extraordinary. This covering,
consider this little tent that we could fit inside of this building.
Think of that. We could fit that inside of this
building. On the outside, there were four layers of this covering,
the roof that went over this tabernacle, four layers of it.
The first layer was fine linen. It was embroidered work, purple
and scarlet. It was very beautiful on the
inside. If you could see the inside of
this tabernacle with the glowing lamps of the candlestick, it
would shine in its brightness. It would twinkle. It was so immaculately
beautiful on the inside. It was valuable. And even so
it is with the Son of God. Is He not most beautiful and
valuable to you? The second layer of that covering,
it was goat skin. What does that remind you of?
Isn't that to remind us of the scapegoat? The scapegoat on which
the sins were confessed and were taken away? That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. The next layer was dyed red ram
skin. The first thing that comes to
my mind, obviously, is the ram caught in the thicket with Abraham. He was sacrificed in the place
of Isaac. Is that not what Christ was to
us? Was He not sacrificed in our stead, died in our place,
and on the outside, again, was badger skin? What does that remind
us of? Well, we know this. It reminds
us of the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now God never revealed himself
to anyone outside of this tabernacle. Consider this, that this meager
building was the only place where God met with man. He told Israel,
He said, when you build the tabernacle, there will I meet with you. You know that God never revealed
Himself to another nation other than Israel? Can you imagine
that? That's what God says. It was
only to Israel that God manifest His presence. To the other nation,
He manifests judgment. And this is where people, they
get all upset about this. They say, what do you mean He
only revealed Himself to Israel? Well, that's the only place the
tabernacle was, and that's the only place God met with people,
met with sinners. I hear men say that about God's
election. They say it's not fair, that
God's unjust, and men mock the election of God in Jesus Christ. They declare God's unrighteous
to love one and hate another. But I tell you, if God had not
purposed to dwell among us, if God had not set forth His tabernacle,
And I tell you, there would be no salvation if God had not chosen
a people. There would be no hope for man.
May God reveal this type of Jesus Christ and how He purposed to
set up this tabernacle even before the sin of Israel. Consider that. God knew Israel was going to
sin with that golden calf. And yet God, even before they
sinned, set up this tabernacle, gave Moses all of the designs
for it. Isn't this so with us? Hasn't
the Lord purposed our salvation even before we sinned? Even before
the foundation of the world, God purposed to save us. Now then, behold, this tabernacle. Let's view it for just a moment.
Consider that small lot was surrounded by a gate. Not a gate of wood,
but a gate of linen. Fine linen, clean and white. It surrounded that tabernacle
on the outside. It was a gate that surrounded
that whole lot. What is this picture to us but
our separation from God? That God is holy. And no man
could come unto God except he be holy. Remember, this reminds
us of God's separation, how he cast Adam out of the Garden of
Eden. But behold, on the east side
of this gate, there was a door, an opening of beautiful linen. It was a door by which people
could enter in to this tabernacle, into this place of worship. And
this door faced the east, the rising sun, of which Malachi
says that Jesus Christ is the son of righteousness, rising
with healing in his wings. I will ask you, do you desire
to dwell with God and commune with Him? I tell you then there's
only one door into the worship of God. There's only one way
in. It is Jesus Christ. He is the door. You see, He by His own merit
obtained eternal righteousness, everlasting righteousness for all who come to God by Him. But all who come in another way
are nothing but thieves and robbers, for there is neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none other name given among
men whereby we must be saved. Friends, as there was only one
way into this court to worship God, there is only one way into
the presence of God, Jesus Christ. And as you look at that tabernacle,
I've told you of the four layers of that tabernacle. But inside
this badger-skin tent, We have two small rooms, one called the
Holy Place, the room that has the larger, the different pieces
of furniture, the candlestick, the altar of incense, and the
table of showbread. And then there, between the next
room, there's a thick veil. in which God placed the most
important piece of the tabernacle, which is the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant. Do you not see? I didn't have
time to show you this, but the beginning of this blueprint,
God doesn't begin with the outside and works in. Actually, He begins
with the Ark of the Covenant. He begins with that piece of
furniture and works His way out. You see then that all the worship
of God rests in the person of Jesus Christ, who is pictured
by that Ark. And that Ark of the Covenant
was made of incorruptible wood and overlaid with gold. Again,
the person of Christ is mentioned. This is His humanity and His
deity. And inside of this ark, this
box, was the law, the manna, and the Aaron's rod that budded. And on top of that was the mercy
seat which was made of pure gold. Beaten out were the cherubs with
their wings stretched forward and their heads facing each other.
This was the throne of God on earth. This is where God dwelt,
on the mercy seat. Do you not see then that all
of God's presence, all of God's Salvation is resting on Jesus
Christ, who is both the ark and the mercy seat. But listen to me, only one person
was allowed into this room, the high priest. If you were part
of that worship, dispensation of worship, you were not allowed
to enter there. Somebody had to enter there for
you. It was the high priest. And he could not enter but without
blood. And it was here in the tabernacle
that the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled for the atonement
of the people. The nation of Israel could see
the offering. They could hear the confession
of sins on the scapegoat. They could watch the goat be
carried away But I tell you, they could not see the blood
being sprinkled. Oh, sinner, you can see the record of God's
men. You can hear the witnesses of
Jesus Christ's life and righteousness. You can hear of how he died for
our sins. You can hear their words. They saw his crucifixion. They heard his prayers. And they
recorded them for us. But I tell you one thing you
and I did not see and they did not fully see. Not with their physical eyes.
Jesus Christ entered into the holy place not made with hands. He entered into the presence
of God and I tell you there was a transaction. There was something
there that took place only between the high priest and God. Only
between Jesus Christ and the Father on the cross. Our sins
were imputed to Him. They were charged to Him. And
He suffered for them. He died for them. His blood was
shed. And when He died, He took His
blood and ushered into the presence of God with His own blood. Something
we could not see. Now how do you know that His blood
atoned for your sins. How do you know? The same way
they knew that the atonement was effectual for them. The priest
came out. The priest came out and he said,
it's done. The atonement is done. And they
cheered. They were rejoicing. And I tell
you, our high priest has went in with his own blood, Jesus
Christ, and he has come out of the grave to testify that God
has accepted the atonement. God has accepted it. It's done. Our high priest has come out. Jesus Christ has redeemed us
and reconciled us unto God and proved it by coming out of the
dead and now he is seated on the throne of glory. Our high
priest is seated on the throne of glory and you are welcome. You're accepted. We are accepted of God. Oh sinner, behold now the way
into the presence of God is open. Didn't God rent the veil? Isn't
the veil that separated us, that kept us out from the Most Holy,
is that not rent from top to bottom? What is that testifying
to us? It testifies that God did it.
It's rent from the top to the bottom. Not from the bottom up. We didn't rent the veil. God
rent the veil. Therefore, you have access by
this grace wherein you stand. You have access to the throne
of God's grace. This tabernacle witness is a
picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. That was a shadow. That tent
was just a shadow. But now we have the full light
of it. We understand its meaning. O sinner, come now by faith into
the presence of God. How? By faith in Jesus Christ
alone. He is the tabernacle of witness. Only by Him are we able to approach
and to meet with God. There is no other place to commune
with God but the tabernacle, Jesus Christ. And I like this
in Revelation. It says in the end, Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men. Do you not realize now that you
are the tabernacle of God? For God himself by the Holy Spirit
dwells in you. All because of Jesus Christ. May God ever give us eyes to
see. and to realize that this whole
book is about Him. This world spins because of Him. Because He would save you. Because
He would love you. Should we not then give Him the
worship and praise that is due His name? We should. And I tell you, we will. We will. His people do. His people love
Him, and they desire to see Him everywhere they can in the Word
of God. I pray that God would bless this
to your hearts. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed in prayer.