Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I will be in the last chapter of Exodus, Exodus chapter 40. And I'm gonna begin reading in
verse 33 of Exodus chapter 40. And he reared up the court round
about the tabernacle and the altar and set up the hanging
of the court. excuse me, and set up the hanging
of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent
of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter
into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon. and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken
up from over the tabernacle, and the children of Israel went
onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud were not taken
up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was
upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night in the
sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. I looked at a question on Google
yesterday. It wasn't what I was doing, but
sometimes you'll search something and these questions will come
up, semi-related to what you're looking. I was looking for something
by John Bunyan. And there was a question there.
What did John Bunyan believe? So I had to push it. I mean,
I had to. I'm that way. Well, I don't especially know
who answered this question because I didn't go into it because the
answer that I got was bad enough. He said, what did John Bunyan
believe? This guy wrote, he was haunted. by John Calvin's doctrine of
predestination. And that's the word, haunted,
haunted. Well all I have to say about
that is I'm not afraid of no ghosts. And by the way, it's not John
Calvin's doctrine of predestination, it's God's. Ephesians one and
five, having what? Predestinated us. unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good
pleasure of his will. And then in Ephesians 1.11 he
says, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, how? Being predestinated. Being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. In Romans 8.29, for whom he did
foreknow, what? he also did predestinate. To
be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Now John Bunyan actually had
an answer for this himself. This was the quote I was looking
for. John Bunyan wrote this, if my life is fruitless, it doesn't
matter who praises me. Praises me. And if my life is
fruitful, It doesn't matter who criticizes me. And I thought,
that's pretty good. That's pretty good. But here
we're gonna be in Exodus 40, verse 33. And I just want you
to pay attention to that last little sentence there. But it
says, and he reared up the court, round about the tabernacle and
the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished
the work. Now, this is the last verse of
the assembly of the tabernacle. In previous chapters, he told
about how things were being made. Everything was made. There was
curtains, there was what they call sockets, and there was poles,
there was the gate fence. There was a little bit of everything.
Tents, all of it had to be made because none of this existed
before this. But here, And it was commanded
in verses, same chapter, chapter 40, verses two through 15, is
when the Lord commanded him to assemble it. Now that everything
was made, everything was ready, put it together. And he told
him personally on this, on the first day of the first month
shall thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
And then he told him what to do. Then in verses 17 to 33,
and it came to pass in the first month in the second year on the
first day of the month that the tabernacle was reared up. Now, the tabernacle is now assembled
and it's complete by the command of the Lord. The first thing
done in this assembly, just for the thing, was the assembly of
the tabernacle tent. The second thing done was the
testimony, which was the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments
on it were placed in the ark, and according to Hebrews nine
and four, along with Aaron's rod that budded and a golden
pot of manna were put inside the ark. Then, the mercy seat
was put on the ark, and then the staves were put in the ark,
and the ark was put in place where it's supposed to be, inside
the tent, inside the tent. And the third thing they did
was they put the veil that separated the holy from the holiest, from
the place where the priest would go to the place where the ark
sat alone. all year long until the day of
atonement, when the high priest could enter. This was the first
things assembled, the testimonies put in the ark, the unbroken
stones, and after the ark was placed, the veil was set up between
the ark and the rest of the tabernacle. And it says in here, if I can
find it, that this covered the ark, this covered the ark. And the last thing placed was
the court roundabout, the fence all the way around the courtyard,
outside of the tabernacle, and the gate thereof. And then it
says this, so Moses finished the work. The tabernacle is complete,
the tabernacle is assembled, and here it is. What? The greatest picture to date. of the person and work of our
Lord Jesus Christ is complete. The whole tabernacle with that
courtyard all the way around it and that fence. Now, how do
I know that? Well, if you read on, after it
says, so Moses finished the work, it says this. Then a cloud covered
the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle. Filled the tabernacle. and Moses
was not able to enter. That's actually my title. Moses
was not able. Moses was not able. Into the
tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The completed
tabernacle was ready, complete, assembled together, and now the
Israelites found out the plan. that actually God had for this
tabernacle. You understand, I think some things have been told them,
but it's one thing to be told something, it's another thing
to see it, to be shown that by God. A cloud covered the tent
of the congregation. And, I like that, that's not
enough, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. What's that mean? I'm gonna tell
you what that means. Jesus Christ moved in. That's
exactly what that means. Jesus Christ moved in. It's called
the tent of the congregation. And here's the thing, the head
of the congregation just moved in. He came right in. Because you understand, his glory
filled the tabernacle. His presence moved into the tabernacle. What? That's good. You know why? Because it's his
place. It's his place. Oh, I mean, everything,
every facet, every piece of this tabernacle pictured Christ. Every bit of it. And he filled
that tabernacle. And it says he filled it full
of his glory. Now I looked at that word glory.
And you know what that means, that word glory? It means weight. It means heavy. Heavy. Literally, that's what it means.
Weight. Heavy weight. But here, figuratively,
it means glorious splendor. Oh, I like that. The glorious,
weighty presence of the Lord Jesus Christ filled that tabernacle. Filled it. He moved right in. He took up residence. Well, it
says he abode there. The cloud abode there. Took up
residence. And what's the first thing we're
told after the glory of the Lord filled this tabernacle? that
was built to God's specifications, to God's design, and put together
by God's plan, Moses was not able to enter the tent of the
congregation. Isn't that a strange statement?
Moses had been given the instructions to begin with and collected all
the stuff that had to be collected as a freewill offering from the
people gold, silver, brass, fine linen. What? Ram skin dyed red
and badger skin over the whole thing. Oh, I like that. He was
there getting all that stuff, then had it put together. The
craftsman had to build the Ark of the Covenant. It was made
of shittum wood. It was overlaid with gold. and the mercy seat on top was
made of gold and it had two cherubim spreading their wings over it.
I've seen pictures in the readers of the Lost Ark, you know. I
don't know if that's a good representation or not. It doesn't matter. Because I don't need to know
what it looked like, I need to know who it pictured. And it
was the mercy seat. It was between us and God. And that's what I needed right
then and there. And this is the thing, Moses
is the one that got that stuff together. Moses is the one, and
it says, you can read it. Now, it reads, if you look at
it, from verses 17 to 23, well in verse 18, excuse me, and Moses
reared up the tabernacle and fastened his sockets. and set
up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared
up his pillars, and he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle,
and put the covering of the tent above upon it, as the Lord commanded
Moses. And he took and put the testimony
into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy
seat, and above. No one else is mentioned here
except Moses. Now, it would not surprise me
if Moses did not need a little help putting that tent over the
top of that building. But it's not written here. And
it's not written here for a purpose. Because he put this on Moses. He said, you do this. And Moses
did it. and he brought the ark and he
set the bread in order, put the table in there without the veil,
outside of the veil. He put the candlestick and the
oil and he lighted the lamps as commanded and he put the golden
altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil and he put sweet
incense on there and burned it. Everything was set exactly where
it's supposed to be. And they said Moses did it all.
But then the glory comes down and Moses was not able to enter
that tent of congregation. That's strange to me. There's gotta be a purpose for
this, Mac. There's gotta be a purpose for this. Oh, I like that. Matter of fact, Moses took Aaron
and his sons and they all went and washed in the laver before
he put that final piece, the gate around the big court. When
he put that gate around that court after they had been washed,
That's when the glory came down. That's when the cloud came down.
And the glory of the God filled the temple, filled the tabernacle,
the tent of the congregation. And here it says, very plainly,
Moses was not able to enter that tent. Was not able to enter. I don't know if he tried or not.
I've heard stories, you know, preachers go a little hogwild
sometimes, you know, where Moses could peek his head in, he'd
say, gold glory, you know, and all, no. He was not able to enter. I don't think he was able to
stick his head in. That's just somebody taking what they call
poetic license. Well, we've got the scripture.
Moses was not able to enter the tent of the congregation, and
Moses did not enter the tent of the congregation. Why? Because
he wasn't able. He wasn't able, oh no, he wasn't. And here it is, he tells us why. Because the cloud abode thereon. The cloud that covered the tent
of the congregation abode thereon. Lived there, dwelled there, abode
there, resided there. Oh wow, you know what that means?
You look that word up, it means he took up permanent residence. You understand this wasn't a
summer home, this wasn't a vacation home. No, he took up permanent
residence. The cloud came down thereupon
and the inside that tent was filled with his glory. Oh, I
like that, I do. The tabernacle assembled, guided,
instructed by the Lord through Moses. Here's the point. This
tabernacle was not for Moses. This tabernacle was not for Moses. Why? Because it says this, and
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Oh, I like that. Because the tabernacle of the
congregation the tent of the congregation. Here it is. It
belonged to, was the residence of the Lord. And I'll tell you
this, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Because
this tabernacle belonged to the Lord. I said it just a minute ago. Every
piece that made up that tabernacle was a picture of Christ. All
of it points to Christ. Every material making it up points
to the Messiah, to the anointed one. The gold, the silver, the
brass, the oil, the bread, the incense, fine linen, and the
threads through the fine linen and that big, thick veil that
separated the holiest from the holy of holies. Oh, every bit
of that points to Jesus Christ. The ramskin dyed red, And yet
above that, on the very top of the tabernacle, was badger skin. Just plain old badger skin. You
know, on the outside and from a distance, it just looked like
a big tent. But no, that had nothing to do
with it. Our Lord Jesus Christ came, manifested
himself in the flesh. He came in the form of a servant. And this tent from the outside,
Looked like just a badger skin tent. But on the inside it was
plumb full of the glory of God. I'm telling you, he is. He is. This tabernacle belonged to the
Lord. Every sacrifice that was to be
offered there pointed to what? The shed blood of Jesus Christ.
The shed blood of Jesus Christ. This tabernacle was a place of
substitution and sacrifice. and offering, and oblation, and
it was also a place of peace, a peace. Oh, I like that. And a place of prayer. Thereby being a place of mercy
and grace. A place of forgiveness and peace. Oh, I like that, we're a place
where a sinner could go to offer a substitute for himself. For himself. Ah. And the priest
would slay it. And the priest would capture
that blood and that offering would be offered on the altar
or wherever it was supposed to be, whatever kind of offering
it was, that offering was unto God. Oh. And we are told without shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sins. But you know what that
means? With shedding of blood, there
is remission of sins. Now this blood back here in this
Old Testament, this is what they had to do. This is the way they
had to do it. It was looking forward to Christ's coming. But
right now, we know his blood has been shed, has been offered
to the father, and has been accepted by the father, because the father
rose him from the dead. And he ascended into heaven,
and he is seated right now at the right hand of the majesty
on high, and he ever lives, what? To make intercession for us. for his congregation, his congregation,
his people. This is a place of mercy and
grace. And the glory of the Lord is
seen only in his son, Jesus Christ. Because it's his love, his mercy,
and his grace are his work. And his salvation is his work,
is his work. What am I saying? Moses had no
place in the tabernacle. Now, why would I say something
like that? Well, Moses was not able to enter the tent of the
congregation. Now, I know Moses in Egypt was
a type of Christ as deliverer of the people of Israel. God
used him to bring them out. But you understand, when you
come here, he's already been up at Mount Sinai and got those
tables of stone. Here, Moses is a representative
of the law, and the tempt of the congregation is a picture,
a type, a foreshadowing of the mercy and grace in Jesus Christ,
and a picture of Jesus Christ. But here, he's a representative
of the law. John 1 and verse 17 says this,
for the law was given by Moses, but, oh, that was one of those
great words, Ah, what? Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Ah, you understand? The law is
holy and the commandment holy, just, and good, right? But the
law is not grace and not truth. I mean, well, it's true, but
it's not the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. Ah, I like this. You understand
what I'm saying here is the law is not in the tent of the congregation. It's not a part of it. He gathered the materials, he
put it together, and there it was. The law might lead you to
grace. Because when God shows you what
the law really is, you're gonna start looking for grace and mercy.
Oh, you understand, we've not received again the spirit of
bondage unto fear, but Paul did right, we didn't receive it again.
He's not saying you never have received it, because if you haven't
received it, you don't know anything about the spirit of adoption.
Oh, but the law's not part of the tent of the congregation.
The law's not part of the sacrifices and the offerings. The law's
not part of forgiveness of sin. I don't know if that's radical
or not, but it's so. The law is not in the tent of
the congregation. The law does not belong in the
tent of the congregation. That's the place of Christ. That's
the place of Christ. The law does not abide, reside,
or dwell in that tent. the glory of the Lord does. I
like that. Sacrifices and offerings are
in that tent of the congregation, in the tabernacle itself. Substitution
and forgiveness are in that tent. Blessings and peace are in that
tent. The law has no place in forgiveness,
but grace and truth are in the tent of the congregation. That's
where the mercy seat is. That's where once a year that
high priest would come in and not without blood, not without
a sacrifice for himself to start with, but not without blood. He'd bring
it in, back in however he got in under that veil with the pomegranates
and the bells on the bottom of his garment. And he would go
in and he'd sprinkle that blood on that mercy seat. Sprinkle
that blood on that mercy seat. And if they could hear him still
moving, them bells still ringing, they knew God didn't strike him
dead. Oh my. Listen. The high priest is Christ. The mercy seat is Christ. And
the blood sprinkled was God's own blood. The blood of Jesus
Christ. shed for ourselves. Moses was
not able to enter that tent, not that tent, no. Because here's
the thing, Jesus Christ did not need any help from the law. He
kept the law, he fulfilled the law, he always did the law, he
loved the Lord his God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength
all the time, and he loved his neighbor as himself. And we can't
get past the first one to get near the second. But he did,
he did, he kept the law. But forgiveness is not in the
law, it's in Christ. Oh, I like that. Jesus Christ
did not need any help from the law for his work of his salvation. Because he is sufficient. That's a good word, he's sufficient. You know what it means if you're
sufficient? You don't need anybody else. Well, he's the only one
who ever was sufficient, who ever will be sufficient, and
who still is sufficient. We are not. And that's putting it mildly.
He is sufficient because here's the thing. Jesus Christ is able
to enter that tent of congregation. Moses wasn't able, but Jesus
Christ is. His glory filling that tabernacle,
his glory filling that tent, shows his sufficiency. And the law is outside. Sorry,
the law didn't go nowhere. It's still outside. But there's
one more thing I wanna point out here. I'm not gonna keep
you too much longer. It talks about when the cloud was taken
up over the tabernacle, the children of Israel moved. When the cloud
didn't go up, they stayed. You understand? You're not going
anywhere without that cloud. That cloud's going before you.