If you would, Donna, hand me
my Bible and bring it up here. I've got everything typed out.
Thank you, dear. Turn, if you would, please, to
Luke chapter 24. Let's start in verse 4. Now upon the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came upon the sepulcher,
bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others
with them. And they found the stone rolled
away from the sepulcher, and they entered in and found not
the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they
were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments. And as they were afraid and bowed
down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, why seek
ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee, saying, the son of man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third
day rise again. And they remembered his words,
and they returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto
the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna,
and Mary the mother of James, and the other women that were
with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their
words seemed to be as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then
arose Peter, and ran into the sepulcher, and stooping down,
he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed departed,
wondering in himself that which was come to pass." Although these
men were followers of Christ and had been with Him throughout
His ministry, there was much confusion and lack of understanding
of this glorious, miraculous resurrection. As you look through
the remainder of Luke 24, we see where the Scriptures plainly
tells us that God opens the eyes of understanding in those who
believe Him. Christ revealed to them, to the
men we call the Emmaus disciples, the things concerning his death
and resurrection. Look down in verse 27. And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures, the
things concerning himself. And in the same chapter, while
in the presence of these men, these two men, others and the
disciples, we see in verse 44, These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the
Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. And he said unto them, Thus it
is written, and thus it behooves Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in his names among all nations beginning
at Jerusalem. This should be, no, this must
be our prayer. Lord, please open our eyes of
understanding each time we read the scriptures or hear a true
gospel message. That must be our prayer. We cannot
have sight, revelation, or understanding on our own merits. He alone must,
like in all things pertaining to salvation, He must do this
for us. So this is our prayer today.
May God be gracious to me and to you as we look for His glorious
person and the Godhood as we read and discern the message
from His Holy Word. Now if you would turn to Exodus
chapter 25. I've got a lot of scriptures
up here, so Ed, we won't turn to all of them, but there's a
lot to be read. In Exodus chapters 25 through
27, we read of the exhaustive detail of the construction of
the tabernacle and all the contents within. Each has a significance
regarding our Lord and Savior. They're all pictures of Christ,
shadows of the Savior. So, just as a list of the things
that were in these chapters, we won't take time to read the
entire chapters, but we have the tabernacle. Christ, glorious within, yet
humble without. That tabernacle, if you were
to see it from the outside, there was nothing special about it.
The man with the contents on the inside is beautiful. You
see Christ as a man, There's nothing special about him. He
was just an average Jew. He was not this effeminate man
you see on the pictures. He was just a normal man. But
oh, was he glorious. The brazen altar, pictures for
us Christ's sufferings and death. The laver, Christ as our fountain,
open for the cleansing. The candlestick, Christ is the
light of the world. The table of the showbread, Christ
is our bread of life. That altar of incense, Christ
intercedes for us with the Father. He's our intercessor. That veil
which separated the sanctuary from the Holy of Holies, Christ
is the door. And the Ark of the Covenant is
Christ our reconciliation. And that's what we're going to
speak on today is Christ is the Ark of the Covenant. How can
God and sinners meet together? If God the Holy Spirit will graciously
teach us the meaning of this ark and its mercy seat, if he
will show us the typical significance of this piece of furniture that
was made to be put in the tabernacle in the Holy of Holies, this centerpiece
of the Old Testament ceremony of worship, we will see clearly
how it is that God and sinners can and do meet together at the
mercy seat. And again, that mercy seat is
Christ. Exodus 25, starting with verse
1. And the Lord spoke unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me
an offering of every man that giveth willingly with his heart,
that he shall take my offering. And this is the offering which
you shall take of them, gold, and silver, and brass, and blue,
and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goat's hairs,
and ram's skin dyed red, and badger skin, and shittum wood,
oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet
incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in
the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary
that I may dwell among them, Can you see Christ here in the
sanctuary? No doubt. It is the picture of
the incarnation of the Son of God, the eternal God condescending
to dwell among men. That's what this tabernacle was.
This is where God was to dwell with men. John writes in the
Revelation, verse 21, starting verse 3, And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people,
and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." And
we can also note that this pictures the precious doctrine of the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 6.16 it says,
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are
the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. Verse 8 again, And let them make
me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them, According to all
that I show thee, after a pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern
of all instruments thereof, even so shall you make it, and they
shall make an ark." Let me stop here for my first point about
the ark is the fact that it's singular. There's only one ark. It is called the Ark of the Covenant
in the wilderness. There was only one ark. which
we shall see is a picture of Christ, and there is only one
Savior. Those who speak of arks, or like
those who speak of archangels, do err, not knowing the Scriptures
or the power of God. Only one Son of God." Three times this audible voice
from heaven came down and says, And there came a voice from heaven
saying, thou art my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. One son, one ark. Let them make me a sanctuary
that I may dwell among them according to all that I show thee after
the pattern of the tabernacle and after the pattern of all
instruments thereof. Even so shall you make it. And
they shall make an ark of shittum wood, two cubits and a half shall
be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof,
and a cubit and a half the height thereof. This is about 52 inches
long, about 31 inches high and 31 inches deep. So as I was sitting
at my desk yesterday, I was thinking it's very close to like a desk
that you would have in an office, about that size is this ark of
the covenant. And ye shall overlay it with
pure gold. Within and without shall you
overlay it. And ye shall make upon it a crown
of gold round about. And ye shall cast four rings
of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof.
And two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings
in the other side of it. And ye shall make staves of shittum
wood, and overlay them with gold. And they shall put the staves
into the rings by the side of the ark. that the ark may be
born with them. The stave shall be in the rings
of the ark. They shall not be taken from
it. There are several pictures of Christ here, starting first
with the type of wood. This chitin wood that we see
is used all the way, excuse me, this wood as well as the covering
of the ark and the mercy seat. Gil noted about this wood that
it is an incorruptible wood, cedar-like, doesn't rot. This denotes the eternality of
Christ as God, and for the Scriptures to be fulfilled as a man, he
was to be crucified. He was the crucified Savior who
had to rise again on that third day. If you would, turn to Acts
25. Keep your place here in Exodus
25. We'll be right back. Acts chapter 2, starting with verse 25. For David speaks concerning Christ,
speaks concerning Him, I foresaw that the Lord always always before
my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall
rest in hope, because you will not leave my soul in hell, neither
will you suffer that holy one to see corruption. You have made
known to me the ways of life. You shall make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore,
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath
to him that the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he, seeing this
before, spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This
Jesus has God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth
this, which you now see and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
you on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God had made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Back to Exodus 25. This overlaying of gold, so you
have the wood that's not going to rot, that's the base. And
then we overlay, not only on the outside, but also on the
inside. This thing is perfectly sealed
with gold. That precious, perfect metal. Did you know gold doesn't tarnish?
It doesn't tarnish. This may denote the glory of
Christ in both His natures, both divine and human. the riches
of his person and office, which are unsearchable and durable,
and his preciousness to them that believe." The Ark was the symbol of God's
holiness, power, and glory. It was to be carried about from
place to place upon the shoulders of the priests by the staves,
fitted into the rings attached to the Ark. Even so, Christ is
carried throughout this world upon the shoulders of chosen
men through the preaching of the gospel. Oh, how sweet it
is to know that Jesus is always with his people wherever and
whenever they go. There's a number of items stored
inside of the ark. This is in Hebrews 9, but we
won't take time to turn. Verses 1 through 5. It gives
us a list that you'll also find here next to this chapter 25,
but I like to hear it out of Hebrews. Then verily the first
covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly
sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first wherein was the candlestick, and the table and the showbread,
which is called the sanctuary. And after the second veil The
tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the
golden censer, the Ark of the Covenant, overlaid round about
with gold, wherein was a golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's
rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. And over it,
the cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot
speak particularly." So now if you go back to Exodus chapter
25, verse 17. And ye shall make a mercy seat
of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be
the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
It perfectly seals this chest, this Ark of the Covenant. And
ye shall make two cherubim of gold of beaten work shall ye
make them in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one
cherubim on one end and the other cherubim on the other end. And
even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubims on the
two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch
forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings.
And their faces shall look one to another toward the mercy seat
shall the faces of the cherubims be. And you shall put the mercy
seat above the ark, upon the ark. And in the ark shall you
put the testimony, that's the law, that I shall give you. And there I will meet with you,
and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from
between the two cherubim, which are upon the ark of the testimony
of all these things, which I will give thee commandment unto the
children of Israel." Again, our question is, how can a holy God
meet unrighteous sinners? How can he be both just and justify
the ungodly. So let's look here at six points
regarding this ark that we've just spoke about, that we've
just read about. If you could go behind the veil
with the high priest on the day of atonement and to the holy
of holies, the first thing that would strike your eye would be
those cherubim we just read about, shadowing the mercy These cherubs
represent God's preachers. Psalms 80 verse 1, it says, O
shepherd of Israel, you that leadest Joseph like a flock,
you that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. In Isaiah
chapter 6, you can turn there if you would. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet,
and with two he did fly. And one cried unto the other
and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole
earth is full of his glory. Is that not what gospel preachers
preach? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. And then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord
of hosts, then flew one of the seraphims upon me, having a live
coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off
the offer, and he laid it upon my mouth, and he said, Lo, this
hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquity is taken away, and thy
sin is purged." When God shows man who he truly is, man truly
sees who he is. and the fact that we need a Savior,
we will cry, holy, holy, holy is the Lord. We know that these
cherubs represent gospel preachers because they are the same creatures
as those living creatures before God's throne, which John saw
again in the Revelation. And he said, and before the throne
there was a sea of glass likened to crystal. And in the midst
of the throne and round about were four beasts full of eyes
before and behind, and the first beast was like a lion, and the
second beast like a calf, and the third had a face like a man,
and the fourth beast was flying like an eagle. And the four beasts
had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes
within, and they rest not day or night, saying, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory
and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before
them that sat on the throne and worship Him that lives forever
and ever, and cast their crowns before them, saying, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou
hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and
were created. Now, according to the Scriptures,
it is not possible for a sinner to find, know, or come to God
apart from the instrumentality of a gospel preacher. We see
this in Romans 10, 14, and it says, How then shall they call
upon Him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him in whom they've not heard? You can't believe
a God that you've never heard of. And if you hear of false
God, you haven't heard anything. And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they've not all obeyed the
gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Remember the Ethiopian eunuch
who had left Jerusalem, was riding in a chariot, and God sent Philip
to meet him, and he said, do you understand this, what you
read? And the eunuch said, how can I, unless some man teach
me? And Philip preached Christ to
that man. And the man says, what hindered
me to be baptized? And Philip baptized him. God's
preachers are not priests. We detest idolatrous priestcraft,
whether it be Roman, Anglican, Mormon, or Baptist. But God's
preachers are his angels, his messengers of mercy and grace
to his people in this world. Again, Isaiah says, how beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of them that bring us good tidings,
that publishes peace, that bring good tidings of men, good tidings
that publishes salvation. that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth. Their eyes are always toward
the mercy seat, toward the Savior. God's pastors all see eye to
eye because they are looking toward the Savior. Their message
is the message of sins forgiven by blood atonement. The glory
of God is revealed by the message that they proclaim. Secondly,
we see God's propitiation. So what is propitiation? Hawker
says it's the plain and evident sense. The plain and evident
sense of propitiation is the reconciliation of persons who
were before at variance or at conflict or at difference with
each other. To propitiate therefore is to restore that enmity and
friendship which had existed before the quarrel and to make friends again. Such is the propitiation accomplished
by Jesus Christ for his people. That one time, our father Adam
walked and talked with God. But with the rebellious damning
act of eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil, we know
at that very instant in time, we became enmity with God. Never
again to be in His holy presence without propitiation being accomplished. Christ is that propitiation. For when sin had made the sinful
breach, Between God and man, Christ stood forth through propitiation
and made peace by the blood of His cross. We can see this pictured
in that mercy seat. If we were like Isaiah and could
see the ark, you see these cherubim down, their eyes and their faces
and their wings direct your attention not to them, but to the mercy
seat. That mercy seat represents Christ's
propitiation. 1 John 4, 9 and 10 says, excuse
me, let me read Exodus 25, 21, 22 first. And you shall put the
mercy seat upon the ark, and in the ark you shall put the
testimony that I shall give you. And there will I meet thee, and
I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat. God will
commune with us 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 you in commandment unto the children
of Israel." Now, 1 John 4, 9 and 10 says, And this was manifested,
the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten
Son into the world, that we might live through Him, here in His
love, not that we love God, but that He loved us. and sent His
Son to be propitiation for our sins. If you would, turn to Romans
chapter 3, verses 24 to 26. Romans chapter 3. Keep you awake and let you turn
a little bit. Verses 24 through 26. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and justifier
of him that believe in Jesus. Remember the publican and the
Pharisee? The Pharisee bragged on all that
he had done and not done. You know, I've given this, I've
done this, I've done that. Standing so everybody could see
him. Making a big show. Look at what I've done. And there
in the corner was this publican. He would not so much lift his
eyes up into heaven, and he said, be merciful to me, a sinner."
And Christ said, one of these men went home as one of my children. Which one was it? Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, Christ entered in once into this
holy place, having attained eternal redemption for us Here in this
mercy seat, here in Christ's blood, is substitution, satisfaction,
and sacrifice. Thirdly, if you could stand in
the holiest of all with Christ, our Aaron, our great high priest,
suddenly we realize that we're standing before the mercy seat,
the symbol of God's presence. without blood upon the mercy
seat, covering the broken tables of the law. There we see the
glory of God in the pardon of sin by the sacrifice of Christ. Leviticus 9, 23 and 24 says,
And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation,
and came out and blessed the people. And the glory of God
appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from
before the Lord, and consumed the altar, the burnt offering,
and the fat, which when all the people saw, they shouted and
fell upon their faces. God sent fire from above and
consumed that sacrifice." Man didn't have any work to it. God
sent that fire. Remember Elijah and the false
prophets of Baal? Elijah stoked that soaked that
sacrifice. Water ran off into the trenches. Prophets of Baal prayed all day
long, falling on their faces, on their knees, cutting themselves.
Nothing happened. God showed them Thy mercy, and
the fire fell from heaven. Psalms 85, 9 through 11. Surely
His salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell
in our land. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Truth shall spring up out of
the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven."
Where did this take place? It is only at the cross and the
successful death of our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, can mercy
say, let that sinner live. And truth reply, live, for his
debt is paid. His debt's now paid and there's
no sin in him. God not only meets us upon the
mercy seat, in Christ, God abides with us. No matter where you
are, if you're in Christ, the name of that place is Jehovah
Shammah. The Lord is there. Your life
is hitting Christ with God. Isaiah chapter 43, But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
and you art mine. When you pass us through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When you walk us through the
fire, You shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am thy Lord, for I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Saba for thee. Since you was precious in my
sight, you have been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west." Now we see God's purpose
in this ark. Let's do by faith what no mortal
man could ever do, and let's lift up that mercy seat and see
what's inside. Remember now, we're talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ. So what do we see inside? First
we see the two tables of the law which we have broken, the
Ten Commandments. The broken law, our sins, is
under the mercy seat, under the blood. The broken law under the
blood represents Christ's purpose. The law was written upon tables
of stone, representing both the hardness of our hearts and the
inflexibility of God's law. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. The law represents our curse
and condemnation by reason of sin. The law was always kept
in the ark under the mercy seat, representing the perfect redemption
by Christ. Turn, if you would, to Romans
8.28. starting with verse 28. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called, who are, excuse me, to them are thee called
according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, Them also he called, and whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we say to these things
then, if God be forced, who can be against us? Note here that
the perfect law of God cries to condemn us when we break it. But that same law of God Being
perfectly satisfied by Christ's blood, Christ is strongly for
our salvation as the grace of God. In Christ, we are free from
the law. Fifthly, we want to see God's
power here in the ark. There's Aaron's rod that budded.
This rod represents God's power. Aaron's rod that is budded is
the gospel of Christ, the man whom God has chosen. In Numbers
17.10 it says, And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod
again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the
rebels, and ye shall quite take away their remembrance from me,
that they die not. Christ was our rock, and he was
smitten by Moses' rod, the law, but the water of life flows out
the sinners by Aaron's rod, the gospel. The gospel of Christ
is the power of God before which Dagon, that false god, must fall. And that is before all false
gods. Romans 1, 16 and 17 says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. And finally here on
number six, we see God's provision. There's one more thing inside
of that ark, and that was that golden pot of manna. Exodus 16, 33 and 34, it says,
and Moses said unto Aaron, take a pot and put an omer full of
manna therein, and lay it before the Lord to be kept for your
generations. And the Lord commanded Moses,
so Aaron laid it upon before the testimony to be kept." So
this golden pot, I looked up what an omer was, I'd never seen
that, and the best I could find out it's about 3.6 liters. So
all of you Americans who haven't converted to liters yet, I looked
at a gallon of milk And it's just under a gallon. A gallon
is like 3.8 liters. So that's the size of this pot.
And in it we had the manna. And we've seen numerous times
how this manna is a beautiful picture of Christ. It was a strange, mysterious
bread. Manna itself means, what is it? It fell every day except Sundays,
Sabbaths. every day in the wilderness to
feed these Israelites. In John 6, Christ, God in human
flesh, made of a woman, how mysterious, how miraculous, how marvelous. He calls himself the true bread
of heaven. Christ is that manna. All God's
provisions for sinners are in Christ. His name is Jehovah Jireh,
which means the Lord will provide Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenly places in Christ. These are both provisions
of grace, provisions of providence, and provisions of eternity. Time will not permit me this
morning to read Hebrews 9 and 10, but I highly encourage you
to go there and see how much greater Christ is than the tabernacle
law and everything. We won't have time to read it.
My time is about gone. So as we look to the law, the
tabernacle, the Holy of Holies, the Ark of the Covenant, the
priest, the offerings, the sacrifices, we see that they never just satisfied
the justice of God. There was no salvation for sinners,
but this man, the God-man, He came into the sinful world, of
which we are so fond of, and completely fulfilled every aspect
of the law, and shed His blood for a chosen people, a chosen
seed. His spotless blood, which poured
from that cursed tree onto the mercy seat of God, was the acceptable
sacrifice. And how do we know? Go back to
the tomb. He's not there. He lives, and
at this very moment, He's at the right hand of God, making
intercession for His people. Amen.