Open your Bibles to John's Gospel,
Chapter 1. And for those of you that don't
know, Pastor Maurice Montgomery, the Lord took him to be with
him, came and got him, took him to himself Wednesday afternoon,
a little after 4 o'clock. And going to have his funeral
in Madisonville this afternoon at 5 o'clock. I believe it's
Harrison's Funeral Home up in Madisonville, and they're going
to have a funeral tomorrow at noon in Lancaster, Kentucky,
where he was born and raised, at noon tomorrow, and Marvin
Starnaker will take care of that. But that's the place he's been
longing to go. He is now what he always wanted
to be. One of these days, that's what
you'll say about me. He is now what he wanted to be. You know, Sue's got to stay behind. Got three kids, Daniel, Linda,
and Gary. All of them grown, got kids of
their own. Gary's a colonel in the Marine Corps. Of course, they'll miss their daddy,
He certainly left a good, good testimony of the grace of God.
Testimony of faithfulness to Christ. Oh, so faithful. Let's read these first 14 verses
together. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth
in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was
a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a
witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might
believe. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. He came unto his own received
him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God to them that
believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor the will
of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And the word
was made flesh, and the and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." Our Father, our Father, You, our great and glorious God, whose heavens is your throne
and the earth is your footstool, that the heaven of heavens can't
contain you. You are God that inhabits eternity,
measures the waters in the hollow of your hand, and all the nations
of the earth are just like a little dust on a balance. And yet, Lord
Jesus, our great God, You set your heart, you set your will,
you set your purpose, you set your affection, you set your
love on us before the world ever began. You caused us to be born of God
and oh, we bless you for it. And our Father, we thank you
for our dear brother and the wonderful testimony he left in
this world. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that even
now He's in Your presence as that thief was. He dwells in
Your holy presence even now. Oh Lord, we have this. I'm so thankful that this ain't
the only world that we'll ever live in. That one day as we behold
Your glory here with these veiled eyes and looking through a glass
darkly, that one of these days we'll see face to face We will
behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ without avail, without
any riddles, without any darkness. Oh, what a blessed, blessed day
that'll be. And Father, we are so grateful,
so blessed to be able to meet with the saints of God, to preach
your gospel, to meet with the people of God. And I ask, blessed
Savior, that you'd be merciful to us, that you'd be gracious
to us, that you'd be kind to us and forgive us of everything
that's unlike you. And our Savior, I ask that you'd
be pleased to cause the gospel to run well here today, that
you'd open hearts and minds and understanding. And we'd especially
ask for mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy, to be shown to those we
love, our children and our grandchildren. Lord, salvations of you, And
we'll stand back and bless you because we know you'll always
do what's right. In our Lord Jesus' name, we praise
you. Amen. I've got another song in
the week. Turn with me back to John's Gospel,
Chapter 1. I had intention to bring something
else, but I will bring it this evening. I want to talk about the Word
and the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word incarnate. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ
was eternal. He is the eternal Son of God. He said, Oh, there never was
a time that He wasn't. What it says in verse 1, In the
beginning was the Word. That's the title of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The name that God gave our Lord
Jesus Christ. The Word was with God. And He
says, This and the Word was God. The Word Himself was God. Living Word. Eternal Word. And
how do we know? Because the same was in the beginning
with God. That Word was in the beginning
with God. And not only was He the Word,
it was with God and was God Himself. Eternal God. As much God as God
the Father. As much God as God the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
Eternal Word. Never was a time he wasn't. He's
as eternal as his father is. Our Lord Jesus Christ is eternal
as his own father. The father didn't one day say,
well, listen, I'm going to have a son. And then all of a sudden
the son appeared by him. As old as God is, that's as old
as his son is. Now that's one of the mysteries
of the Godhead. The father and the son being
exactly equal in every way. Fathers and sons ain't equal
in this world. They're not. A lot of difference
in fathers and sons. And what they attain and what
they don't attain. What they interest in the stature
even. But our Lord Jesus Christ, He's
exactly like His father in every way. And I tell you to show you
that He was the One and by this same Word, everything that was
made was made by Him. By who? By the Word. That Word
that was God. And without Him, without that
Word, was not anything made that was made. And in this Word, this
eternal Word, this Word that was God, was life. Always life in the Son. When
God said, Let there be light, it was the Word that sent the
light. It was the Word. God spoke by His Word. And the
life was the light of men. If you have any light at all,
you get it from the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have any light,
any understanding, any sense at all, God in Christ gave it
to you. So we see that He is eternal.
We see that He is God and He has got a personality. And then
it says down here in verse 14, and the Word was made flesh and
dwelt among us. The Word, that Word, that eternal
Word, that everlasting Word, that Word that made all things
in this world, that Word that was God came down here and was
made flesh. Dwelt not only made flesh but
left here and stayed with us for a while Now here's incarnation
and we talk about incarnation And everybody there's a lot of
people believe in reincarnation. I No, no, there's incarnation. And our Lord, when He talks about
an incarnation, He talks about somebody coming in a different
way than they ever came before. And our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Word, that eternal Word, that everlasting Word, that Word that
was with God, that Word that was God, was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Now you keep John and look over
in 1 Timothy 3.16. Look in 1 Timothy 3.16. Look what he says here about
this. You're talking about mystery. I've told you all this before.
I was with Scott and Henry one time and a bunch of us were together
and I asked them, I said, if all the mysteries that's in the
Bible, all the mysteries that's in the world, all the things
that we have to deal with, what do you think is the greatest
mystery and the greatest manifestation of the wisdom of God that's ever
was? And both of them immediately says, The Incarnation of Christ,
the Word being made flesh. And that's what the Scripture
said. Look here in 1 Timothy 3.16. And without controversy,
without any argument about it, without any debate about it,
without arguing with a fool about it, without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. Now listen to it. What is this
mystery of godliness? God. was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, proved to be that he was God in the
flesh. Angels looked at him in the flesh. He preached unto the Gentiles
that he was God manifested in the flesh. And this is a mystery
that he was believed on in this world. And when it was all said
and done, he went back up to glory just where he come from
to start with. Oh, mystery of mysteries. The infinite, the infinite eternal
God coming down here and coming as an infant through the womb
of a virgin. The invisible God that dwells
in a light that no man can approach unto came down here and became
visible in His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The God that
no man's ever seen came down here and was seen. He was the
fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him. He was the image of the
invisible God. And if you've ever seen God,
the only place you'll ever see God, God who inhabits eternity,
the only place you'll ever see God, is in the Lord Jesus Christ
manifest in His flesh. Oh, that which beyond the human
mind, that our mind just absolutely cannot grasp the glory of God
and how wondrous and how omnipotent and how great and glorious He
actually is. That which is beyond human reasoning,
human ability to think about, became that which human minds
and human eyes became something that we can see. John said it
this way, that we, the word of life which we have seen with
our eyes, handled with our hands. That's what he said. That's what
he said. He came into the realm of human
life. And here, by God's blessed grace, we're allowed to see through
a veil. Three through a veil. And that's
the only way in the world we can view it. And it became unveiled. And if it would have become unveiled,
it would have blinded us. But we're allowed to view, see
through a veil. And we see through a veil darkly. And that's the only way we can
see. Which if He became unveiled to us, we couldn't stand it. In fact, if Moses came down off
that mountain, and he saw God in a burning bush, saw the Lord
Jesus Christ in a burning bush, and he came off that mountain,
and the glory of God was so in him, the reflection of the glory
of God was so in him, that he had to put a veil on his face.
Because men couldn't even look on the glory of God in another
man who was just a man. Imagine what it would be like
if God took the veil off of our eyes and we could see God the
way He is. He would slay us. But it says here, the Word became
flesh. He became what He was not. He became what He was not. Flesh. and he didn't cease to be what
he always was the word that was God didn't cease to be that but
in this he became a man God and man in one blessed person he
took upon himself human nature he was a real man he was a real
man not a phantom Not a pretend to be. Not someone who called
himself God or looked like God or called himself to be God.
And who was thus the man who was deluded in his mind. He was
a God and he came down here and became a real man. Flesh and
blood like us. Sin accepted. And it tells us
this. Now I'm telling you something. There's been only one man on
this earth that's sinless. Only one man and that was this
man right here. This word that became flesh.
The only sinless being that's ever been in this universe other
than God himself was God's blessed son. When he came into this world,
he lived 33 and a half years and he was without sin. We can't grasp someone being
without sin. We can't grasp the people that's
gone on before us being there in the presence of Christ. We
just have to believe it by faith. He was holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, higher than the heavens. And the Word, and look up there
in the beginning of the Word, see how they're all capitalized?
And down here in verse 14, capitalized. That's His divine title. The
Word, God said, this is my Word. This is the title of Christ. And that Word, that divine title
became flesh in His holy humanity, God and man. And His deity, this
is what, this is the thing that God, here's the thing that God
uses to cause men to stumble in this world. To stumble in
this world. His deity, His being God was
veiled in flesh and men stumble over
it. But though it was veiled, it
was never laid aside. And His humanity, though sinless,
was real humanity. And that's why when He was God,
they would look at Him and all they would see was a man. They
couldn't get beyond Him just being a man like them. Look over here. Look in Luke
2. This is an amazing thing to me, Luke 2, 52. I don't know how to explain this.
I really don't, just other than just saying it. When He became,
that Word that became flesh, it was veiled in His flesh. And when people would look at
Him, they would see They wouldn't see Abraham's son. They wouldn't
see the king who was made after the seed of
David. They didn't see an eternal word. They didn't see a sinless
man unless he made himself to know him. You know what they
saw? They saw a carpenter. They saw Joseph's son and Mary's
son. They noticed brothers and they
didn't see. how that this Eternal God, Eternal
God, and I didn't see it either until He made me see it. The
Eternal God, the One who inhabits eternity, upholds this world
by the word of His power, came down here and became a man. And if He set in our services
today, you'd just look at that, He went in the synagogues, There's
Jesus in Nazareth. There's his mother sitting over
there. They didn't see it. But all listen to what it said
here. This is in Luke 2.52. And Jesus increased in wisdom. Now how in the world can he who
is the wisdom of God increase in wisdom? How can He who is the wisdom
of God increase in wisdom? And how can He who is in stature,
who is God manifest in the flesh, who is the eternal God, how could
He increase in wisdom and stature? And He who gives us grace, how
could He have grace with God and man? No wonder he said great is the
mystery of godliness. And as the word, he's the son
of God. As flesh, he's the son of man.
Now let me tell you something here, if I can take a few minutes
to deal with this. This union, this union of two
natures in Christ was absolutely necessary to our salvation. absolutely
necessary. This is the only way that God
could possibly come and deal with the human race and deal
with sinners like ourself was for our Lord Jesus Christ to
have two natures, to be both God and to be both man. And the Godhead was never laid
aside and His humanity was something He never had before. And I'm
going to tell you how it's necessary for us, for him to be our mediator. We got to have a mediator, someone
to go between us and God. Everybody knows the Catholics
know that, and they go to a priest, they go to the Pope, and they
go to saints. People know that here. They get
them statues, and get them crosses, and get them idols, and get them
temples, and get them Bibles, and get them pictures of Jesus,
and get all kinds of things to make them think they can approach
God. But God says that I cannot be
approached without somebody between me and you. Well, our Lord Jesus
Christ came here and as God, He could reach right up into
the heavens itself and lay hold on God and His holiness and His
righteousness. And as man, He could come down
here and be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
be touched with our uncleanness, be touched with our sin. And
I'll tell you what, He spent that great gulf between God and
man when He became God and man. Now I got a way to go into the
presence of God. How? By the God-man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. I tell you another thing, but
the greatest necessity of Him becoming flesh and being yet
God, but the greatest necessity was as a man, He could die. As a man, he could die. As a
man, he could be God's lamb. As a man, he could be a sacrifice. As a man, he had blood to shed. As a man, sinless man, perfect
man, he could offer himself as a sacrifice
for those who were sinful. And I tell you what, let me say
this, and I've said this so many times, man cannot possibly satisfy
God. Nothing he could do, nothing
he could think, no act he could ever perform could ever satisfy
God. But man can die. And only God, only God can satisfy
God. Only God can be satisfying self. And so what he did, He sent His
Son and His Son came in human flesh as a man. And as God, He could satisfy
God in His sinless humanity. In His perfection, He could satisfy
God. And as man, He could die and
put away our sins at the same time. Huh? And the God-man, did both, he
satisfied God and he died. Let me tell you something, I
read through John Gill's Body of Divinity, two of them, there's
two of them things, volume one, volume two, probably seven, eight
hundred pages in each one of them, maybe a thousand pages,
I read through both of them. Me and old Scott Richardson talking
one time. I said, Scott, I seen something
today reading John Gill. I said, of all, and I read, I
read, read, read, and boy, I tell you what, it was a labor. It
was hard work. And I said, I seen this. I said, Our Lord Jesus Christ
offered his divinity upon the altar of his humanity And in
doing that, he honored God and saved sinners at the same time.
He said, if that's all you got out of it, that's worth it all.
And that's true, ain't it? If that's all I got, I'll read
John Gill, that he offered his divinity, his deity, upon the
altar of his humanity. And as God, he satisfied God. And as man, he put away our sins. No wonder he said great is the
mystery of godliness. And this dual nature, this nature
of our Lord Jesus Christ as both God and man was prophesied and
pictured all the way through the Old Testament. Sometimes
he is represented as a man, sometimes he is represented as eternal,
as God gonna come. In Genesis 3.15 he was identified
as a man. When God cursed Satan, he said,
I'll put enmity between the seed of the woman and thy seed. Talking
about our Lord's humanity right there. And he says, you're going
to, he's going to crush your head. You'll bruise his heel,
but he's going to crush your head. Now he's talking about
being a man right there. And then he talked about, he'd
be a prophet like Moses. So if he's going to be a prophet,
he's got to be a man. And he's gonna be, he told David,
he said, David, I'll raise up a king to sit on your throne
forever and ever. So he's got to be a king, he's
got to be a man. And then he's called Jehovah's
servant. Behold my servant, mine elect. And he's also called a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief, wasn't he? And then, but he is
also called, showing that God was gonna come. He's called God. He's called the branch of the
Lord. He's called Jehovah's Akinu, the Lord our righteousness. Isaiah
said it like this, that he's the wonderful, the counselor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.
So he's identified as God. Malachi says that the angel of
the covenant shall come to his temple suddenly. And Micah said this, he says,
O thou Bethlehem, one among the thousands in Judah, out of thee,
out of thee shall come the ruler of Israel, and he shall be from
everlasting to everlasting. How do these prophecies harmonize
God and man? Now listen to me now. It doesn't
mean that God just come down here and decide I'm going to
find me a man and live in a man. I'm going to find me a man and
a good man and a fine man and an upright man and I'm going
to come down here and I'm going to live inside that person for
a while. That's not what it talked about.
But I tell you what, do you know what it means? It means that
God became a man. Look in Isaiah 14. 714, excuse
me, Isaiah 714. This is the long and short of
it right here. Oh, what glory, what glory we
see in our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, do you understand, do you
understand? Well, do you see by faith, do
you see the necessity of Him becoming man? Look what it said
in Isaiah 7.14. Therefore the Lord Himself is
going to give you a sign. What kind of sign are you going
to give us, Lord? Behold, a virgin shall conceive. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son made of a woman. A virgin shall
conceive. And that virgin's gonna bear
a son. Well, what are you gonna call him? What's he gonna be
like? You're gonna call him Emmanuel.
What does Emmanuel mean? God with us. God with us. Oh my. And the word, it says here in
our text, the word was made flesh. And you go through John's gospel
and he brings this out so clearly and so plainly of how thy Lord
Jesus Christ just used his word, the word as it became what it
was. You remember in John 2 when our Lord Jesus Christ just told
him fill up six water pots? Never said it or just said fill
up six water pots with water. That's all he told him. He said
he never lifted his hand doing anything. He says, now, take
some out and go take it over to the governor. He went over
there and there's the best wine he'd ever drank. He'd never done
anything. Just told him to put some water
in some pots. And that water became wine. And that nobleman's son, our
Lord John chapter 4, he came and says, my son lies sick. You know what our Lord Jesus
Christ said? Go on home, said your son will be alright. Never
went to his house, never laid hands on him. He said just go
on home, he'll be alright. Just with his word. The impotent man at the Bull
of Bethesda laying there, been laying there for 38 years like
this. And our Lord Jesus Christ said rise up, take your bed and
go on to the house. Didn't lay his hands on him.
Didn't reach down and try to help him get up. Didn't say,
pull yourself up by your bootstraps. I'm going to give you this chance
to get up and walk for Jesus now. I'm going to give you this
chance to save yourself by your great power, your great will,
and your great abilities. But he lay there impotent for
38 years. And our Lord just looked at him
and said, rise up, take your bed, go home. Never lay there. And Lazarus, all he said was, Lazarus, that's
all he said, called his name Lazarus, come forth. Three words. And you know what happened? Lazarus,
he that was dead, came forth. Now that shows us that the word
That man that was the Word, that was flesh, just speaks words
and things happen. Just speaks words and things
happen. Has He ever spit a word to your heart? And you know,
in fact, that's what the scripture says, the hour is coming and
now is when the dead, that's me and you, shall hear the voice
of the Son of God. And they that hear, what happens
to them? They're just like Lazarus, they live. Oh, listen, ain't that something?
Oh, the life, the living word became flesh. Now, let's look
at this dwelt among us. Let's look at this dwelt among
us for a minute. Our Lord's earthly journey. It says here in the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Dwelt among us. You know what that dwelt among
us, that word dwelt among us, that means tabernacle. That means
he tabernacled among us. And what he's saying is that
our Lord Jesus Christ tabernacled, pitched his tent on earth for
33 years. And that's what this body's called,
a tent, an earthly tabernacle, a tent that's temporary. And this, when he says he dwelt
among us, tabernacled among us, this is a reverence to the tabernacle
in the wilderness. that tabernacle that was in the
wilderness that God gave Moses the pattern to and he built it
just like God told him to build it. And this is the reference
to a tabernacle in the wilderness. Christ our Lord is the fulfillment
of it. And that tabernacle was the type
of our Lord Jesus Christ in every way. Let me tell you, let me
give you just a few things in the way it was. Now you know
the tabernacle in the wilderness. We've dealt with it before, but
the tabernacle was a temporary appointment. It was a tent. That's what it was. It was a
tent. It was a temporary place of worship. And this tabernacle
was a tent out there in the wilderness made of badger skins and boards. And it was a temporary place
of worship And they could move that about during their earthly
journey through the wilderness. They could take that tent up
and move it and set it back down. And that's the way our Lord Jesus
Christ was. He moved about everywhere all
the time moving about as the tabernacle of God. Tabernacle
among who? Us! And our Lord's stay was brief.
He didn't abide in one place constantly on the move about
His Father's business. And I'll tell you something else
about this tabernacle. It was only for use in the wilderness. You don't need it when you get
to the promised land. You don't need it when you get
into Canaan. It was only for use in the wilderness. And did
our Lord Jesus Christ not come into this wilderness? Oh, what a wilderness He came
into. The wilderness of flesh. To deal
with it, the wilderness of sin went out into the wilderness
to find lost sheep. And I tell you, this tabernacle
was God's provision from Egypt to the promised land. And it's
only, we only need Him here. I mean, we'll need Him, we'll
worship Him throughout eternity, but we certainly need Him here
in this land of wilderness, this wilderness that we're in. And
you think about the tabernacle. Outwardly, it was unattractive
in appearance. And when they saw that, if you
looked at it, it was made out of badger skin on the outside,
sewn together, badger skin. And they had boards set up. They
had boards set up 45 foot long, 15 foot across. in the back, and they had them
set across the front, and they had an opening here in the front,
and then you went in there, and there was a big veil in a 15
by 15 area. This is the holy place, that's
the holiest of holies behind that veil, where the mercy seat
was. But when people saw that, when
they looked at it, foreigners would look at it, and people
would look at it, all they'd see was a tent with some boards
set up with some badger skins stretched over it. And they had
their great big temples. And they had their idols. And
they had great big places to worship. And they set up all
their idols and big temples. And they say, you mean to tell
me that that's the place where God is going to meet with men
in that little old miserable looking tent thing? That that's
where God dwells? And that's what they said about
Christ. God dwells in that man? God dwells in that flesh? He's dark headed, got dark eyes,
probably weighs 130 pounds. Walking around here and working
miracles and doing all kinds of things. No, listen, you know
what the thing they crucified him for? He blasphemeth, a man
making himself to be God. And oh, listen, that's what people
say. They got their great, great big tabernacles and got their
great big altars and got their God's head up here yawning about. And then you tell them about,
there's this man. Sinless man. And he came into
this world and he was God Almighty. God himself. God who inhabits eternity. God
who dwells between the cherubims. God who's thrice holy. God who
cannot be approached came down here. That man, you mean that
man there? That man there's on his knees
praying. That man there, That soul is
so sorrowful. That man there that stood and
wept over Jerusalem. You mean tell me that man right
there is God? Yes. And I'm going to worship
Him as God. And I'm going to bow to Him as
my Lord, my King, my Savior, my all and in all. To the world, he don't look like
much, but to me, he looks like everything. Don't he, Joe? To
me, he looks like everything. He don't look much to the world,
but to me, he's all I want and all I need. Oh, listen. Oh, that's why it says there's
no beauty about him that we should desire. No former comeliness
about him. But let me tell you something,
that tabernacle was where God's dwelling place was. Right in
the middle of Israel. That tabernacle was set right
in the middle of Israel. Right in the middle of the camp.
And God dwelt between the cherubims on that mercy seat. In the Holy
of Holies. And God is in Christ. The glory
of God is seen in our Lord Jesus Christ, the mercy seat. That's
why it says, we beheld his glory. When he was on the Mount of Transfiguration
and John and James and Peter was there and they saw him transform
right before their eyes. First thing, he said, let's build
a tabernacle here. The tabernacle's already here
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
tell you something else about this tabernacle. I tell you what,
where he dwelt among us. Tabernacle among us. It was a
place where God met with men. It was the tent of meeting. If
you were going to go to God, you had to come up there to the
tabernacle. And bring, and the priest would
go in for you and offer sacrifice. That's the only place you could
come. This is where God met with men in this Ten of Meeting. That's
what it's called, Ten of Meeting. And He alone spans that great
gulf between God and man. You come to Him, you come to
God when you come to Him. And that tabernacle was right
in the center of Israel's camp, right in the middle of it. The
Levites camped around it because they took care of it. All the
tribes, some was up here, some was over here, some was over
here, some was over here. And every once in a while, they'd
take that tent down and they'd go to move it. But when they
set it back up, it's right in the middle of the camp. And ain't
that the way our Lord Jesus Christ is for us? Our Lord is in the
midst of His people. He's the sinner in whom we all
gather around to worship. He's in the camp. He's among His people. Tell you
something else about this tabernacle. The law was preserved in this
tabernacle. Behind that veil, where that
mercy seat was, there was an ark under that mercy seat. The
ark was there and God had a gold plate put on top of it. Gold
lid on top of it. And two cherubim sitting over
here, wing to wing, looking at it. And the first tablets were
broken. When Moses came down off the
mountain and they were worshiping that golden calf and dancing
naked, Moses throwed them down and broke them. They were broken. God made another set. And he
says, now you take them and you lay them tablets of stone inside
that ark. And then you put that mercy seat
on top of it, that gold mercy seat, you put that and the cherubims
on top of it. And now, because of that mercy
seat, because of that blood, Because of that veil that's been
opened up, the law was kept in that ark and our Lord Jesus Christ
inside that tabernacle. Look in Isaiah 40, I mean, excuse
me, Psalm 40. This is the way to say it. Psalm
40, this is the way to say it. I'll let our Lord say what he
said about it. That law was put in that ark
with the holy of us holies and it was preserved. And look what
our Lord Jesus Christ did in the days of His flesh. Verse 6, Sacrifice and offering
thou didst not desire. Mine ears have ye opened, ye
have pierced my ears, and I have obeyed ye. Burnt offering and
sin offering is thou not required? Then said I. Then said I. Who's I? Same one
that told Moses. Who am I going to say sent me?
I am that I am. Then said I, lo, I come. In the
volume of the book, what book? In the volume of the book, it
is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O God. Yea, thy law is in my heart. That's where it's kept. That's
where it's fulfilled. And listen to this. And then
you know why He come preach to us? I preach righteousness in
the great congregation. Whose righteousness did He preach?
His. And I have not refrained my lips. Oh Lord, thou knowest. Oh, listen. That's what our Lord said about
the law. And let me tell you something else about this tabernacle
that dwelt among us. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. It was the place, the tabernacle
in the wilderness is the place where sacrifice was made. Now
there was a brazen altar. When you came into the tabernacle,
the first thing there was, was a great big laver, a big bowl,
brass bowl. And when the priest came in there,
the first thing they done is they washed their hands, they
washed their feet. And before they could even post the brazen
altar. And they had a brazen altar. And on this brazen altar
there was a horn over here and a horn over there. And a brazen
altar and there was an ash pit underneath it. And it had to
be made out of brass because fire was going to be burned on
it all the time. Sacrifice was going to be offered on it. And
I tell you what, they would lay that sacrifice on that brazen
altar in that outer court. And they would shed His blood
and put the blood before that altar. Because even the priest
couldn't approach that altar without blood. And then atonement
was made for sin. And the fire would consume that
sacrifice. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ,
He was that brazen altar. He Himself was that brazen altar
on which the fire fell. And He was the sacrifice on that
brazen altar. And instead of the fire consuming
the sacrifice, this blessed sacrifice consumed all the wrath of fire
of God. So it will never fall on us.
And He was able to bear all our sins in His own body, that brazen
altar, in His own body on that tree. Ain't that something? That
makes you just about want to holler, don't it? Let me tell you something else
now. At Tabernacle was the place where
the priestly family was fed. You see, they got to eat some
of those sacrifices that was brought in there. They partook
of the food that came out of it. The whole priestly, Levites were,
and listen, The Scriptures calls us priests, holy priests made
unto God. Let me tell you something. You
know where our food's at? It's in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the bread of life and the water of life. And we eat this
tabernacle. Our Lord say, except you eat
my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life. Well, I tell
you what, I've ate flesh and drank blood today. Ain't you? From this tabernacle, the one
who dwelt among us. And the tabernacle, last of all,
the tabernacle was the place of worship. You know, there's
where they come and they worship there. And they would hear the
voice of God and they'd see the cloud of God come down. And the
scripture says they would bow their heads, they'd bow themselves
to the ground. And they called it, they'd come
in there and say, and they heard and they worshiped. You know
how they worshiped there because that's where the voice of the
Lord was. That's where God spake by the sacrifices, by the priest,
by the tabernacle, by the blood. That's where He spoke. That's where the priest ministered
at in the tabernacle. And it's by Him that we offer
the sacrifices of our praise and spiritual sacrifices unto
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you what, it says,
ìAnd the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, tabernacled
among us.î And I say this, beloved, and look what it says, ìAnd we
beheld His glory.î I beheld His glory today. I saw a little of
His glory. I saw some of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. I saw some of His glory. Some of His glory as the Word.
Some of His glory as man. His glory as the tabernacle. His glory as our sacrifice, as
our God and our Savior. As our great and glorious mediator. I saw some of His glory. We beheld
His glory. Oh my! God help us to always
talk about Him and His glory, not ourselves. Amen. Our Father, the blessed, blessed
name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, blessed be
Your name. Lord, we do worship You. We honor
You. You're the center. You're our
life. You're our hope. You're our peace. You're our righteousness. You're
our joy. You're everything to us. And Lord, bless us your holy
name for tabernacle among us this morning, coming among us. Thank you for your word. God
bless it to the heart, bless it to the mind. Lord, may people
hear something besides the voice of a man today. May people, the
saints here and the people here hear something besides just the
voice of a preacher. I pray they heard the voice,
the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.