Exodus 25, the title of the message, the golden candlestick, the golden candlestick. Now we come to this golden candlestick, it's placed in the tabernacle The Lord told Moses exactly where to place this at in the tabernacle opposite to Shewbread. I'll say something about that in a little bit. But it's on the south side of the tabernacle. The Shewbread was on the north side. But the Lord told him where to put it. when he was in the mount, and it evidently says, and look that thou may them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount, in verse 40. Apparently the Lord gave him a vision of every article, how it looked and how it was made when he was in the mount.

And so here we have this candlestick. You know, it has often been said, and rightly so, that the Ark, the Mercy Seat, was the most important piece of furniture in the Tabernacle. However, in truth, I was thinking about this before I wrote it down, in truth, not one piece could be missing. Not one piece could be missing. if the full picture of Christ is to be seen. We can't just have bits and pieces. All of these pieces go together to show us the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they're all very important. Now, I want you to consider this as we go through this.

Without light, everything in the tabernacle would be in absolute darkness there was no windows in the tabernacle everything would be absolute darkness and when you consider the covering of that tabernacle and how thick everything was and how many coverings there were it would be pitch black you probably couldn't see your hand in front of your face inside that tabernacle But the Lord gives this to Moses, this candlestick, and this light, one light, one light, there's not many lights, this one candlestick is all, that's all. And everything depends on this light in that tabernacle as far as seeing it, as far as revelation goes. You know, light sometimes stands for revelation, sometimes it stands for knowledge. Without this light, the priest would not be able to conduct his work in that tabernacle.

I think of all the senses that we have hearing, seeing, smell, taste, all of them. I think for me personally, I think sight would be the worst to lose. To live in total darkness. I mean, there's a lot of things I don't need to hear. But to live in total darkness, I just can't comprehend having to live in total darkness.

It says in Psalm 36 9, for with thee is the fountain of life, in thy light, in thy light shall we see light. In his light we have understanding, in his light we have knowledge. It is in the light of Christ that we know God. We can't know God, we cannot know God apart from Christ who is the light. It is God who commanded the light to shine in our hearts to give us the knowledge of God, of God's glory. So this morning, I pray that the Lord will shine upon us this morning and give us light as I deal with this, this portion of scripture.

Now, as I said, or alluded to anyway, the candlestick was the only light. IT WAS THE ONLY LIGHT IN THE TABERNACLE. THIS POINTS TO CHRIST AS THE ONLY LIGHT. APART FROM JESUS CHRIST, NO ONE, NO ONE CAN KNOW GOD. NO MAN KNOWETH THE FATHER SAVE THE SON, AND HE TO WHOMSOEVER THE SON WILL REVEAL HIM. CHRIST IS THE ONLY LIGHT, HE'S THE TRUE LIGHT, HE'S THE TRUE LIGHT FROM ABOVE. IT WAS THE ONLY SOURCE OF LIGHT IN THAT HOLY PLACE. THERE WAS NO NATURAL LIGHT IN THAT HOLY PLACE.

WE DON'T KNOW GOD, WE DO NOT KNOW GOD BY NATURAL UNDERSTANDING, BY NATURAL LIGHT. WE DO NOT KNOW GOD IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM BY NATURAL LIGHT. We know Him by Christ, the true light. Only this divinely provided light, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, can we know God. And this points to the Lord Jesus Christ who said, I am the light of the world. I'm the light.

The Pharisees thought they had light. They thought they were walking in the light, but they were walking in darkness. Here's what's amazing. Everyone here today, and everyone in this whole community, everyone that's under the sunshine today, they're walking in light, but that's natural light. And that natural light won't save anybody. It's walking in the light of Christ that we are saved. It's walking in His light. John chapter 1 verse 9, CALLS HIM THE TRUE LIGHT! HE'S THE TRUE LIGHT! And just as the priest depended on the candlestick to see, BELIEVERS now, BELIEVERS DEPEND ON CHRIST FOR TRUTH AND DIRECTION AND UNDERSTANDING. Don't we depend on Him for that?

I ASKED THE LORD WHEN I WAS STUDYING THIS TO GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING. Human logic is not going to understand this. Human logic is going to twist this. Human logic always takes the scriptures and twists them to their own destruction. I always ask the Lord, give me understanding of these scriptures.

Open my understanding, open my mind, Lord, and reveal these things to me. You know, when the Lord reveals something to you, He just shows it to you, doesn't He? When you reveal something, you show it. And that's what I need the Lord to do, just show this to me.

Like He did Moses in the mount. He said there, that you look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount. He revealed it to Moses. He gave Moses a revelation of this pattern. It speaks of Christ, but He saw the pattern and how it was to be made. Now I need Christ to give me understanding of the one the pattern represents.

Let me see YOU. Lord, let me see YOU. That's what I want. And this is what I want for you this morning. I want you and I to see the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. I hope and pray that the Lord will do that because we depend on Him to reveal TRUTH and to give us UNDERSTANDING.

Now this candlestick was made of pure gold. Many of the other things were made of shidom wood covered with gold, but not this light. You see, what scripture says, God is light, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. So when it came to the point of this light, it's pure gold, which represents the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was made of pure gold, no wood involved. Gold speaks of the Lord's deity.

THIS LIGHT IS DIVINE LIGHT IT REPRESENTS CHRIST WHO IS DIVINE LIGHT IT REFLECTS HIS SINLESSNESS THIS GOLD REFLECTS HIS SINLESSNESS HIS INCORRUPTABLE NATURE AND IT WAS MOLDED IT WASN'T MOLDED I MEAN IT WAS NOT MOLDED IT WASN'T POURED IN A MOLD IT WASN'T CAST YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID TO DO TO IT?

He said it's out of beaten work. You take this, and it's a talent, it's a talent of God, and it was to be beaten into this form, into this candlelight, this candlestick, it was to be beaten, it was to be one piece. It was not welded on or put together, it was one solid piece. And they beat it, beat it into shape. Everything on it, all those flowers and those knobs, everything about it was beaten. It was beaten. The language is particular.

It was to be beaten into shape, which points to the sufferings of the Son of God. Jesus Christ did not quit being God when He suffered, when He hung on the cross. That man they are whipping, that one by whose stripes we are healed, is God, the Son of God. That one they nailed to the cross is the Son of God. What does Centurion say? Surely this is the Son of God. This is the Son of God.

So it was to be, this was to be, this light, this candlestick which the light had, the light which lit up the tabernacle, it had to be of pure gold and beaten out of one piece of gold. Had to be. And the value, I looked this up, the value of the gold was It was immense. This candlestick weighed about 50-60 pounds. In today's market, it's worth 2.5 million dollars. That's expensive. That candlestick is worth 2.5 million dollars in today's market.

What's Christ's worth? What's His worth to you? To me? To the Father? It can't be measured. It's priceless. Priceless. And this one piece of gold speaks of Christ's oneness. His oneness. It was made from one single piece of gold, a talent of gold. It was not constructed from separate parts. It was made by one piece of gold.

And this points to the unity of the Lord Jesus Christ and the strength of Christ. You know, when you put things together, there's going to be a weak point somewhere. You've heard the weakest link in the chain? There's no weak link in Christ. No weak link in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I'll tell you something else it does, it reflects the unity of believers that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said over in John 17, I in them, thou in me, and that we may be one. This is our unity in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are actually one with Christ. We are one with Him.

And then there were seven lambs. Seven lambs. What's that number seven represented in the scriptures? who represents perfection, completeness. There were seven lamps. Those candlesticks had seven lamps or seven bulbs on them. In the scriptures, seven means completeness or perfection. And what it's saying here is that Christ's light is perfect, is perfect light, is perfect. His light is perfect. It lacks nothing, lacks nothing.

And then we had the almond blossoms on this candlestick, beaten into this candlestick, chiseled away, and then they come up with these blossoms, these almond blossoms, that's important, these almond blossoms. The candlestick was adorned with these almond blossoms. Almond trees were the first to bloom in the springtime in that part of the world. It was the first thing to bloom. First thing.

Symbolizing Christ as the firstfruits from the dead. He is the firstfruits from the dead. And this points to Christ as the source of light and resurrection. He is our life, and one day we're gonna die. And He's gonna raise us from the grave. We are already risen in Him. We're already risen in Christ.

And then this light was to be continual, not let it go out. Like the bread on the table, there was always to be bread on the table. and these lamps were to burn continually. Look over in chapter 27. In verse 20, And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil, olive, beaten, for the light to cause the lamp to burn always. It was not to go out. to burn always. The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal light. He is the eternal light.

And you know what? When we go to heaven, when we all enter into glory, we are not going to have this sun. S-U-N. There's not going to be a sun. There's going to be a moon. There's not going to be that. Because Christ, it says, is the light of the city he's delight of it he's delight of it won't it be something to see that here soon you know it's just not it's just not that far off for anybody who believe who believe the gospel it's not that far off no matter how young the believer is it's not that far off life is very short this life is very very short BUT OUR LORD IS THE ETERNAL LIGHT.

And then there is Olive Oil. Now it's not mentioned in this particular verses that I read to you, but I read it to you over in chapter 27 verse 20. This Olive Oil speaks of Christ's suffering. It was to be BEATEN, it's called BEATEN Olive Oil. BEATEN OLIVE OIL. PURE, PURE BEATEN OLIVE OIL is what it was to be. And here's how they got this olive oil. I think I mentioned this to you earlier once, but this is interesting.

They would take a big stone and roll it over the olives. They'd get them off the tree, roll them over the olives. and crush them. Then they'd take and put them in a basket, a little flat basket. Then they'd put a stack of them underneath the olive press, which would be a long beam, and they could cinch it down with ropes and just squeeze that olive.

And the first pressing of the olives, it came out dark red. That's the way it came out. And that's what was used, it was the purest. The first pressing was the purest. And that was the oil that was taken and used to put into the lamps. That pure, beaten, pressed olive oil is what was used. And here's what makes it interesting.

Before our Lord went to the cross, He went to Gethsemane. He went to Gethsemane. You know what Gethsemane means in Hebrew? In Hebrew it means Olive Press. It means Olive Press. And when he went into that garden, what did happen to him? He sweat great drops of blood under so much pressure. He was under so much pressure that he sweat great drops of blood in that olive press. They had an olive press in that garden.

Nothing is just happening through the scriptures. Nothing is just happening at any time. But this is symbolic. Our Lord, right here, they have to use this pure olive oil beaten. And that's what they take and they put in the lamp and then light it. And here's the reason why. It had the least amount of impurities in it. And when it burned, there was no smoke. It didn't smoke up the place. Christ is pure light. He's pure light.

Now, we see, and you see this back over in Exodus 27, 20, and 21, the responsibility of the priest. And as I read to you there in 27, the priest was to make sure the light was burning continually. It had to burn continually. It couldn't go out. And so the priest would go and he would go in there morning and evening at the same time the sacrifices were being offered. He's in there trimming the lamps. He was to do that twice a day, trim the lamps. That's what he would do. He had to tend to the lamps continually. They trimmed the wicks and they would refill the oil to keep them burning.

Well, this points to our Lord. our great high priest who continually cares and trims his church. Listen to Revelation chapter 2 verse 1. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. This is his priestly work. He's continually trimming the lamps because this lamp is a type of Christ. It's a type of Christ, but it's also a type of the church. It points to the church because as he is, so are we in the world.

They are in Revelation there, the churches are called the candlesticks. He calls the churches the candlesticks. because they also give light in this world did not the Lord say you are the light of the world you're the light of the world you see the candlesticks and this is interesting I've got so much going on from where I read all did so much reading I'm I've got like this like 15 things want to come out all at once but let me show you how this relates to believers The candlestick had one center shaft.

Had one center shaft. If you've ever seen a picture of it, you know, I got one that was animated on YouTube and looked at it. But it has one center shaft. With three branches coming out each side, there's three branches coming out each side, which makes seven bowls. You have seven bowls, but there's three branches on each side.

You know, our Lord said this, I said, He said this, I'm the vine, you are the branches. I was telling you that last week. He also said this in Hebrews 2.11, He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one. It's a picture of Him, but it's also a picture of the church in Christ. In Christ.

He said in Matthew 5.14, You are the light of the world. And as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we shine forth as His lights in this world. In Revelations, I just read you a little bit of it. The churches are pictured as seven golden candlesticks.

Have Christ is always walking among his people his churches Christ remains the center of his He remains the center of the church He's the center piece of that candlestick. He's the center And like the branches he said I'm the vine you're the branches like the branches like those arms coming out of that candlestick And everything, though, centers on the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's something interesting I was reading.

When a priest came in to trim the lamps, you know, he'd have to take a snuff dish, put one out, clean the wick off, put a new wick in and replace the oil and light it. He could light it from the other ones sitting beside of it. But that middle one, it was only lit from the fire off the altar. It was only lit from the fire from the altar. The others could be lit from one another. And that one in the middle, it was only lit from fire from the altar.

But our Lord is always the center of His church. And this candlestick, It was on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table of showbread. The priest did not put it wherever he wanted to put it. He didn't move it around. It just stayed in that one place.

It's on the south side of that Table of showbread so that the priest could see to eat the showbread. It's in his light that we see light. It's in his light that we feed on him. It is in his light when he reveals to us the gospel, when he reveals himself to us, he enables us to feed on him. Just as that light shed light over on that table. That priest wouldn't know, he couldn't see that. Without Christ, we can't see the gospel. We can't understand any of this. It would be total confusion, is what it would be.

But now in closing, the golden candlestick is more than furniture. As I said in a later message, when the Babylonians came in, they just saw expensive furniture. That's what they saw, expensive furniture. But that's not what we see, is it? We see Christ in these things. We see Christ, who is the light of life. We see Him.

I was thinking of this, you know, that golden candlestick, it gave off light, but it would not be real bright light, it's candles. And I was thinking about that, and I was thinking, it's not gonna give off real bright light, it's only a type. Christ is the light, He's the glory, These are just shadows and pictures. That's all they are. You don't get a lot of light from a candle.

You sure get a lot of light from the sun. You get a lot of light from the sun. And that's where we get our light, our understanding, from the Son of God, who is the light. So it's more than furniture, it's a visual prophecy that God gave For me and you.

He gave it to them at that time, but many of them didn't see that. You know, only the priests, only the priests that went into the tabernacle, into the holy place, they're the only ones that saw it. There's over two million Israelites out there, camped around there, they never see it because they never went into it. They never went into it.

But you and I have been made kings and priests of God, and we are allowed into the Holy of Holies. We are allowed into the holy place. We are allowed to see these things. They didn't see it, they were on the outside. They were on the outside of the fence. But the priests saw it, and God has made us priests in Christ. In Christ. And we see, don't we? We see. We get to see these things. We get to see these things.

This shows that God provided light in darkness. And here's something else that's just interesting. This candlestick represents Christ, the light, the true light. It represents Him. Now think of the vastness of this earth and all the people that's on this earth.

And only in that tabernacle was the light. Only in the tabernacle. Only in Christ is the light. We've got a lot of religion going on nowadays. We've got a lot of darkness going on nowadays. Only in Jesus Christ is there light. This teaches us that all spiritual illumination comes from Christ and Christ alone, from Him only. And even now, even now, His light shines. His light shines. Christ is that light. And His people are light.

You know, you who believe, and the church is the only light in this world. As far as God, as far as knowing God, as far as hearing the truth, hearing the truth, you're the only light. The Lord doesn't operate apart from His people. He does not operate apart from the church. You are the light of the world. You're the light of the world. All right. Christ, our light, our candlestick.