I'm reading from the Old Testament
book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 12, if you'd
like to follow along. In Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse
2, the Lord says to his people, to Israel, you shall utterly
destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess
served their gods on the high mountains and high hills under
every green tree. He goes on to tell them to burn
their groves or their little gardens, little holy places,
burn them with fire and hew down or break down their graven images
of their gods and destroy the names. In verse 5 he says, But
unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of
all your tribes to put His name there, even unto His habitation
shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come. End of quote. Now
the Lord tells His people to destroy all the idols and all
of the places of so-called worship of the false gods of that day.
and tells them to come to one place that He prescribed, one
place to worship Him, the place where His name is. He said, come
there. Seek His face there. This is
how you come. Now, the Lord God of heaven is
one true God. He's called the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. And He chose a people. He chose
a people before the world began to be His people. And Israel
of old represents God's chosen people. Now, every single Israelite
was not one of God's people, or saved people. Paul goes on
in Romans 2 to tell us that he is not a Jew which is one outwardly,
but inwardly. But these people of Israel represented
God's chosen people. God did not reveal Himself to
any other nation, only Israel. which is a picture of how God
chose his people, true people, to reveal himself to them. And
he did it then and he does it now. He reveals to his people
himself, the one true God. The Lord Jesus Christ said, this
is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom God has sent. the Son of God, God manifest
in the flesh. So God revealed Himself to His
people then and now. But the world has their gods,
has their imaginary gods, the gods that they have made up and
the way they think God to be. And they worship any way they
feel like, any old way that they can come up with. But God gave
explicit orders to His people then and now. how and where to
worship Him. Nothing was left to a man's opinion
or imagination. Nothing to be added to what he
said nor taken away. In the Old Testament, God prescribed
three things in order to worship Him. There must be a tabernacle
or tent that went with the children of Israel through the wilderness.
Later, the temple was built permanently in Jerusalem. But that was the
place. And then there was a man, a high
priest, not a woman, but a man, and one man would go into the
holy place and offer up one thing to worship God. So there were
three things. There was a tabernacle, a high priest, and a sacrifice.
There's a person, a place, and a thing. That's what God prescribed,
and it's no different today. God is still worshipped the same
way, but not in that earthly tabernacle, and not by a man
named Levi or Aaron, but someone much greater. and not the blood
of bulls and goats and lambs, but the blood of the Son of God. You see, these three things,
the place, the man, the thing, the person, the place, the thing,
all represent the Lord Jesus Christ. These three are one,
as John said. Christ is all. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
God but by Him. No one can know God, no one can
speak to God, no one can approach God except through the Lord Jesus
Christ. The only name given among men,
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
only way to come to God. Alright, God gave this tabernacle
of old. It was a place that the people
would come and witness the blood sacrifice, the burnt offering
being made for remission of sin. This place represents the Lord
Jesus Christ. He tabernacled among us. A body
hast thou prepared me, Scripture says, speaking of Christ. And
in that tabernacle there were three pieces of furniture inside
the court. There was a candlestick for light.
There was a table of showbread for food. And there was an altar
of incense that the incense would ascend unto heaven, a sweet-smelling
saber to God. All three of these things represent
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the light. The candlestick
represents Him. He's the light. He is the bread. He's food. The manna from heaven. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that
incense, His prayers. The effectual fervent prayer
of the righteous Son of God availeth everything. He made a high priestly
prayer in John 17, which the Father heard on behalf of His
people. So these three things represent
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so many other things about
that tabernacle. There was a veil between the
court and the Holy of Holies, and that veil was made of blue,
purple, and scarlet, which all three of these represent the
Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture says the veil was His
very flesh. His very flesh. And that veil
was made of blue, purple, and scarlet, representing the deity
of Christ, blue. the royalty or kingship of Christ,
purple, and scarlet being his redemptive work, the blood that
he shed for the remission of his people's sin. And then on
the inside was that most important thing, the Ark of the Covenant. On the inside of the Holy of
Holies there was a box, a vessel called an Ark, covered with gold,
a picture of Christ. And that ark had a mercy seat
on top of it. And God said, that is where I
will meet. That's where I'll meet with the
high priest who brings in that Holy of Holies, the blood, and
pours that blood on top of that mercy seat covering what was
inside because the people had broken it. What was inside the
Ark III thing? There was Aaron's rod that budded,
that represents the sovereignty of Christ, that He rules, and
the fruit that He bears. There was the pot of manna, that's
Christ's bread. And there was the Word of God,
the testimony of God. All three of these things are
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he came to shed his own precious
blood for the remission of his people's sin. That ark was covered
with blood. That ark represents the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that tabernacle and everything.
Yes, all of Scripture was written to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. All Old Testament Scripture.
So he's the person. He's the great high priest. The
one man. The one mediator. A particular
man chosen by God. To come into a particular place,
the Holy of Holies, a tabernacle, to offer a particular thing,
blood, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission
of sin. Jesus Christ is all of these things. The whole book
of Hebrews sums up all that I'm saying. So He's that person,
He's that place, and He's that thing. Here in Deuteronomy 12,
though, he says there's a place the Lord has chosen out of all
your tribes to put His name there. That's where you seek. That's
where you'll come. Christ is that place. And yet
His church, His church is His body on earth. Christ is the
head. He's seated in heaven. His church
is on the earth, His body. And they're one. The head and
the body are vitally joined. God says in Scriptures that His
people are the temple of God. The church is not a building. The church is not the Savior. Christ is the Savior. Nevertheless,
the church is where God dwells, in His people's heart, in His
people's presence. That's where Christ is, He said. Where two or three are gathered
in My name, Christ said, there am I in the midst of them. And
the church is God's dwelling place, God's house, not a building,
mind you. I have long since ceased to call
buildings the church. Buildings are not the church.
They are the church house, that is, if the true church meets
there. But the church, not a building, but is God's kingdom, God's house,
God's dwelling place, God's people, Christ's body. How do you know
the true church? There are many that call themselves
churches. How do you know the true church?
Well, here in Deuteronomy 12, verse 5, and in 19 other places
in Deuteronomy, it says the place God has chosen to put His name
there. You've often seen the statement,
worship God in the church of your choice. Have you ever seen
that? Worship God in the church of your choice. People, you need
to worship God in the church of His choice. Well, there's
one church, one true church, and it's God's church. And unless
the Lord build that house, they labor in vain that build it.
All of these buildings that go up everywhere and call themselves
churches are not the church. But God does have a true church. How do you know it? Well, here
he said his name is there. His name. Now, God, His name
is not just a title and is not who God is, is not just in name
only, but His name describes who He is and what He does. Many
call Him Lord, but don't really believe that He is the absolute
sovereign ruler of all. In fact, they say, make Him Lord.
Well, if He's Lord, you don't make Him Lord. Psalm 2, the Lord
says of the Lord Jesus Christ that He said, I have made Him
King. I have made Him Lord. God made
Jesus Christ Lord. He is Lord over all. He is absolute
ruler, sovereign over all things. His name is in His church. His name, His glory, His honor,
His person, He's God. Not trying to be God. He's not
God if you must let Him be God. He is God, reigning, ruling over
all things, over all principalities and power. He is the Lord God. He is the sovereign ruler and
creator and controller of all things, not in name only, but
in actuality. His name is the Lord Jesus, Savior. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sin. His name is Jesus because He
saved His people. He didn't try to save. He didn't
make a down payment for sin. He saved His people. So His name,
wherever His name is, that's who He is and what He did. Christ,
the Messiah, the only mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, the only one, the only intercessor. That's where
His name is. And wherever God is, wherever
Christ is, wherever the gospel is truly preached, the people
of God will They will fear the Lord. They will reverence the
Lord. They will preach Christ and do
nothing else. In the Old Testament, they did
three things. They read the Word, they preached
the Word, and they sang hymns and they would pray. The same
in the New Testament. You go in a New Testament church,
you would find prayer. Preaching the Word and singing
of hymns. And that's the way it's to be
done today. Nothing more, nothing less. That's where God is found.
That's the true church. That's where Christ is. Do you
belong to a true church? Find you a place where these
three things are going on and you'll find the truth there in
God's presence. Until next Sunday. Amen.