Well, good evening, everyone.
If you would open your Bibles with me to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, we'll begin our reading
in verse 17. Honor all men, love the brotherhood,
fear God, honor the king. Servants, be subject to your
masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also
to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a
man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when
you be buffeted for your faults, you should take it patiently?
But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently,
this is acceptable with God. For even here unto where you
called, Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that ye should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.
Who his own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins should live under righteousness, by
whose stripes You were healed. For you were a sheep going astray,
but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. All right, so I'll come lead
us in our singing, if you would. Okay, if you would turn in your
hymnal to song number 129, and we'll sing at the cross. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Was it for crimes
that I have done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity! grace unknown, and love beyond
degree. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy
all the day. Well might the sun in darkness
hide, and shot his glory reason when Christ the mighty maker
died for man the creatures sin At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away,
it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy
all the day. But drops of grief can ne'er
repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away,
tis all that I can do. At the cross, at the cross, where
I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received
my sight, and now I am happy all the day. Okay, if you would
now turn to song number 212, Nothing But the Blood. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes
me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I see, Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes
me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but
the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know Nothing but
the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes
me white as snow. No other fount I know Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. If you would now look with me
at Exodus chapter 26. Exodus the 26th chapter. We'll begin reading in verse
7 and read through verse 14. And thou shalt make curtains
of goat's hair to be a covering upon the tabernacle. Eleven curtains
shalt thou make. The length of one curtain shall
be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits, and
the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure. And thou
shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains
by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront
of the tabernacle. And thou shalt make 50 loops
on the edge of the one curtain that is the outmost in the coupling,
and 50 cubits in the edge of the curtain which coupleth the
second. And thou shalt make 50 taches of brass, and put the
taches into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may
be one. And the remnant that remaineth
of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remaineth,
shall hang over the backside of the tabernacle. and a cubit
on the one side and a cubit on the other side of that which
remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent. It shall
hang over the sides of the tabernacle on this side and on that side
to cover it. And thou shall make a covering
for the tent of ram skin, dyed red and a covering above of badger
skins." We'll end our reading there. Let's bow before our Lord
together. Our Father, how we beg of you
tonight that you would be pleased to grant to us the spirit of
worship. That you would, Father, enable
us to have a true worship service. Here in the middle of the week,
we've gathered together out of the world. And Father, how desperately
we need a word from thee. How desperately we need your
spirit. to come upon us. Father, without
you, we can do nothing. We can't read, we can't sing,
we can't pray, we can't preach, we can't hear. Without thee,
we can do nothing. We're so completely and utterly
helpless and dependent on thee. And Father, as a beggar, we lift
our empty hand up to thee. Pray that you'd be pleased to
fill it with good. that you might be pleased to
bless the message tonight to show forth the glory of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And father, let us see his glory.
Let us see his redemptive glory and let each one leave here tonight,
believing in and finding joy and rest and peace and trusting
Christ our savior. He is worthy. And Father, what
we ask for ourselves, we ask for your people, wherever they're
meeting together tonight. Father, bless your word in a
mighty and powerful way for your namesake, for the glory of the
name of your son. And Father, we're thankful. We
ask you to forgive us for asking so much and not thanking you
more. Father, we thank you for all
the The blessings of this life, how freely you've given them
to us, our homes, our families, our jobs, the country in which
we live. Father, we're so thankful. And
how we especially thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
everything that you require of your people. Father, how we thank
you. We thank you for a place we can
meet together and worship. unity and love and peace with
one accord, with one heart seeking the glory of our Savior. Father,
I thank you. And thank you for each home that's
represented here. Father, I pray that you would
bless the people of this congregation and that you would bless us ongoing,
that you might continue to bless your word as it's preached from
this place. Again, Father, we beg your blessing
that you would bless us tonight with your presence that you'd
enable us to worship you in spirit and in truth. First, in Christ's
name, for his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen. Now, I've titled
the message tonight, The Sin-Bearing Sacrifice. And you recall that
last week we looked at the white linen covering. It was the first
covering, the ceiling of the tabernacle. And we looked at
how this white linen is a picture of the righteousness of Christ.
But it's also a picture of the holiness and righteousness of
God's people that Christ has given them. He is our holiness.
He is our righteousness. And then on top of that covering
was the goat hair covering. And each of the three coverings
that we're going to look at tonight, when you put those together,
It shows us how Christ made his people holy. The first covering
is a picture of Christ's holiness. The next three shows us how he
made his people holy. What is it that he had to do
to take a sinful people and to make them holy, blameless in
the sight of God? If we find that out, we'll find
out the gospel, won't we? Now the covering, the first covering
that went on top of that white linen is the goat hair covering.
Now goats in scripture are pictures of sin. They're representative
of sin or they always allude to us of sin. Unbelievers in
scripture are called what? Goats. Not sheep, but goats. They're still in their sin and
their rebellion. And goats were also used as the
sin offerings. You remember on the day of atonement,
they took two goats. One goat was sacrificed as a
sin offering for the people. It's associated with sin. The
second goat was used as a scapegoat. Remember how the high priest
would lay his hands on the head of that scapegoat and confess
the sins of the people, symbolically transferring the sins of the
people to that scapegoat. And then a fit man would take
that scapegoat out in the wilderness. He'd go so far out they couldn't
see him anymore, and he'd leave the goat in the wilderness and
he'd come back. A picture of Christ taking the sin of his
people away to where they can't be found ever again. That's what
those goats were used for. Well, Christ died as a picture
of both of those goats. He died, first of all, as the
sin offering for his people. Now, God the Father chose to
save a sinful people. That's all they are, is sin.
Now, how are they going to be made holy? Well, somebody's got
to take their sin away from them. He's got to take that sin And
he's got to replace it with his holiness. And then he's got to
put that sin away by the sacrifice of himself. That's what the Lord
Jesus Christ came to do. That's how he made his people
holy. He took the sin of his people
away from them into his own body upon the tree. He made that sin
his. The father punished him in justice
because the father made him guilty of that sin. And by his blood,
he put that sin away. He's the sin offering for his
people. And that was a horrible, horrible death. I mean, I've
really been trying to think about that this week. The horror that
the Holy Son of God would be made sin and how he would suffer
and how he would suffer at the hands of men. He suffered more. They tortured him more than anybody
else they ever crucified. His visage was marred more than
anybody else. And as we've heard so many times,
his physical sufferings are just the tip of the iceberg. How he
made his soul an offering for sin. His father, he daily the
delight of his father from before creation. The father who he'd
only ever had a loving union with. Now, we say turned his
back on him and he did forsake him. But the father didn't just
leave him alone. The father was there pouring
out his hatred of sin upon his son. And the suffering of his
soul is just beyond imagination. What a horrible death that he
suffered. The father treated his son as
sin itself. You know, we say, we don't say
this, you know people that say, oh, God loves the sinner and
hates the sin. No, sir. He sees him as one. And when he saw his son made
sin, he poured out his wrath upon him. That's the only thing
that just God could do. You know, you and I see sin as
a weakness, as a mistake, as something that can be corrected.
God sees sin as treason. It's treason to his holiness,
treason to his character, treason to his rule. And he demands death
for sin. So when Christ was made the sin
bearer of his people, he was put to death by the Father as
a sin offering for his people. And I wanna tell you, that offering
was successful. Look back over at Hebrews chapter
nine. The gospel that we preach would
be such Drudgery would be such such a hard thing to preach and
a hard thing to listen to if we didn't have this joyous Declaration
that the sacrifice of Christ was successful saved all of his
people from their sin Hebrews 9 verse 28 So Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many and unto them to look for him
So he appeared the second time without sin unto salvation Christ
bore the sins of many. He bore the sins of all of the
people that the Father gave him to save, and he put it away. That's why he's gonna appear
the second time without sin, because his sacrifice has already
put it away. He's the successful sacrifice. But then Christ also died as
that scapegoat. You remember the fit man would
take that scapegoat out into the wilderness and leave it there,
never to be seen again. The high priest would symbolically
transfer the sin of the people onto the head of that scapegoat.
He put his hands on the head of that goat and he confessed
the sins of the people and it was symbolically transferring
the sin of the people onto that scapegoat. At Calvary, nothing
symbolic happened. Christ was made sin. Now what a thing that I say what
a thing to think about. The human mind can't comprehend
this, that the Holy Son of God was made sin. Now, he wasn't
made a sinner. He didn't sin in thought, word,
or deed ever. John Gill says he was made something
worse than a sinner. He was made sin. He was made
sin itself. In Psalm 40, verse 12, The Savior
says, mine iniquities. He didn't say the iniquities
of my people have taken hold on me. He said, mine iniquities
have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able to look up. The
Savior suffered everything that sin is with the exception of
the commission of it. He felt the guilt of it. That's
why he could not look up. He was ashamed. He felt the guilt
and the shame of it. He felt the embarrassment of
sin And he suffered the penalty for it. He suffered and died
for it. And when Christ died, he died
fulfilling the picture of the scapegoat. Except he did what
the scapegoat never really did. When Christ died, he took the
sins of his people away so that they don't exist anymore. So
that the father said, their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Even God can't remember something
that doesn't exist. Christ is that scapegoat, took
away the sin of his people so it doesn't exist. Look over at
Numbers chapter 23. Numbers 23 verse 21. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob, Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord, his God,
is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God, who
sees everything as it really is, hath not beheld iniquity
in Jacob, neither seen perverseness in Israel, because Christ died
as a scapegoat, who took the sin of his people away so that
it does not exist. Now, every believer already hates
our sins. hate your sin, be ashamed of
your sin, do everything that you can possibly do to not sin
again, but we're gonna fail. And when we do, take comfort
in this, that Christ has taken that sin away. I see it, I feel
it, but the Father doesn't, because Christ died as a scapegoat to
take the sin of his people away where it'll never be seen again.
That's what those goat hair curtains are a picture of, telling us
what this one who's coming, what is it he's going to do? And these
curtains were joined together with brass clips. And we're gonna
see brass all throughout the tabernacle too. Brass is known
for its strength. It stands up to fire. Christ
became our sin offering. He burned under the fiery wrath
of his father, but he was not destroyed. He's the only sacrifice
that ever consumed the fire. The fire went out and the sacrifice
was still there. That's the strength of our savior. He suffered, he died, but he
wasn't destroyed. He rose again and he lives. And you know what he's doing
right now? He's living to ensure that the salvation he purchased
is applied to his people. That's what he's doing. But here's
something else about this goat hair. I think you'll get a blessing
from it. Some of the writers that I read
said this goat's hair was cashmere. They got it from the underbelly
of the goat. It wasn't just hair that they
got anywhere. It was just the underbelly. It's
very soft, like our cashmere today. Something very soft and
very comfortable. Now that seems like an odd thing
to say, speaking of comfort and softness and how you like to
wrap yourself up in this. When the death of Christ was
such a horrible, horrible suffering and sacrifice, it's so horrible.
And it was, I mean, we just can't overstate how horrible his suffering
was. But isn't that suffering? The
suffering of Christ, our sin offering, our scapegoat. Isn't
that the most comforting news you've ever heard? I mean, it's
just like you can wrap yourself up in a cashmere sweater and
just, oh, just, you know, so comfortable. The believer can
just wrap himself in the righteousness of Christ. It's a perfect fit
and it's comfortable. Oh, it's so comfortable and soft.
You can wrap yourself in the forgiveness of your sin in the
blood of Christ. Now, I know it was horrible what
it took Him to shed that blood, to pay for our sins, but isn't
it a comforting thing to wrap yourself in the forgiveness of
sin in the blood of Christ? If Christ the Son shed His blood
for your sin, the Father will forgive it. He must, because
of whose blood it is, because it's such perfect, pure blood.
And you can just wrap yourself in that. I could go on and on
and on, but I'll sum it up by saying it this way. Just wrap
yourself in Christ. Not just all the things about
him, but wrap yourself in him. Immerse yourself in him. This
is one of the most comforting thoughts that I can think of.
When the Father looks at me, He doesn't see me. He doesn't
even see me and Christ. All He sees is His Son. And that's
why I'm accepted. Oh, that gives me such comfort
that nothing about me, nothing about my name, nothing about
my deeds has anything to do with my acceptance with God. It's
all in Christ. And I just want to wrap myself
up in Him and just enjoy that, oh, just enjoy it. I have a son
and I don't know, this kid, I mean, he likes the fine things of life
and if it's just not one of the fine things, I mean, he'll just
go without, you know. And Janet got him a cashmere
sweater one year for Christmas. And you ought to see that. I
mean, he just, this thing is so soft and so comfortable. He
just, he can't wait till it's winter time and wear this sweater
because it's so comfortable. That's how excited the believer
can be to wrap ourselves in Christ. What a, what a blessing that
that, and that's coming. That's what this tabernacle is.
He's coming. to give that to his people, a comfortable wrap
that will always be everything that they need. Now the next
covering was the ram's skin dyed red. You already know what that's
a picture of. That ram's skin dyed red is a
picture of the blood of Christ. Now remember these coverings
that go on top of the white linen, they're telling us how Christ
is gonna make his people holy. First by bearing their sin as
the scapegoat, as the goat for the sin offering. And then by
shedding his blood. That's what this red represents,
by shedding his blood to put away the sin of his people. But
he's shedding his blood to put away the sin of a specific people. It's no accident that the Lord
told them to use ram's skin dyed red. Because rams in scriptures,
generally speaking, are pictures of substitution. You know the
story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham and Isaac, they've walked
for three days. They've left the servants down
there at the base of the mountain. They're walking up the mountain
together. And Isaac asked his father, Father, I see the wood. I see the fire. But where's the
lamb? Where's the lamb for the burnt
offering? And you know the story. Abraham told Isaac, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for the sacrifice. And they went
to the top of that mountain and Isaac, he's a young man. Abraham's
an old man. Abraham's not going to overpower
that young man. They must have sat down and had
a conversation about this thing. And Isaac, just like the son
of God, agreed. This is what God told you to
do. I'll agree, I'll lay down on that altar willingly. You
tie me to it, you slit my throat, you quarter my body and you burn
it with fire. Isaac was willing to do that
because Abraham told him that's what God said. And right as Abraham
was getting lifted that knife ready to slay his son, God called
to him and stopped him. And Abraham turned and what did
he see behind him? Lo and behold, a ram caught in
the thicket by its horns. And Abraham took that ram and
offered it up in the stead of, as a substitute for his son. And I have no question that when
the Lord told those Pharisees that Abraham saw my day and was
glad, that's the day he was talking about. Oh, how glad Abraham was. He didn't have to kill that boy.
Now, Abraham believed God was gonna raise him from the dead.
He still believed God was gonna keep his promise to send the
Messiah through that son But boy, he was glad he didn't have
to go through that process of slaughtering his son. Isaac was
happy, but you know what they were most happy about? Is that
ram was being offered as a substitute for Isaac. Their eyes must have
flown open and Abraham told his son, son, I see. This is how
God's going to save his people from me. This is crisis coming. And years later, that's what
this ramskin, dyed red, is telling us. There's someone coming to
be the substitute for his people. He'll take their sin and by his
blood, he'll put that sin away. Now a substitute, a substitute
has to take the place of someone else. Debbie mentioned earlier
before the service, we were talking, she said, you used to like to
play basketball. I used to love to play basketball, but now I
wasn't very good. And the most that I would ever
do would be a substitute. I was the guy on the bench, you
know, would come in, be a substitute for a minute until the guy got
a drink of water, I'm going back out. But a substitute takes the
place of someone else. But now Christ didn't just trade
places with his people temporarily. Christ traded places with his
people so that he became what his people are. And he bore their
punishment. It's what brother Scott Richardson
used to call absolute substitution. Christ completely and utterly
took the place of his people and was made what they are so
that they could be made what he is. Righteous and holy, a
substitute. You know, look at first John
chapter four. One of the words, that best proves that Almighty
God truly loves his sinful people is this word, substitute. Substitute. 1 John 4, verse eight. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because the God sent his only begotten
son into the world. that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us. And the proof that he loved his
people, he sent his son to be the propitiation for their sins.
He sent his son to be the covering, the propitiation for their sins,
that he would take their place and shed his blood to put their
sin away once and for all, bearing everything that they deserved.
Now, I would say most people that know anything about the
Bible would have some understanding that Christ died as a substitute.
I bet you find people in false religion that wouldn't argue
with that one bit, that Christ died as a substitute for people.
But now let me ask you this, a substitute for who? Is it a
substitute for every son of Adam, but some of them could still
perish anyway? A substitute for who? Well, I know who Christ
is a substitute for because scripture tells us. 1 Peter 3 verse 18
says this, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust. That's who Christ is a substitute
for, unjust people. If you can find somebody that
knows they're unjust, that's who Christ died for. Galatians
1 verse 14 says, he gave himself for our sins. He gave himself
as a substitute for people who have sins. That's a sinner. Christ died for sinners. And
if you can find somebody that knows they're a sinner, Christ
died for them. Romans 4 verse 25 says, who is
delivered for our offenses. Christ died for offenders. People
who not only have offended God by breaking his law, but have
offended God's holy character by who and what they are. by
the filthiness and perversity of their nature, they have offended
God. They're offenders. Now, if you
find somebody that knows they're an offender, Christ died for
them. That's who Christ died for. Romans
8 verse 32 says, the father spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us all. Now, who is that us? Because
who's the us and the are? Pretty important. He delivered
him up for us all. He was delivered for our offenses.
He gave himself for our sins. Who is the our? Who is the us
that he's talking about there? It's all that the Father gave
him in divine election. It's all of us. It's all of us
who've been given light, precious faith. It's all of us who trust
Christ, who love Christ. It's all of us for whom Christ
died. That's the us. It's not every
son of Adam. It's God's elect. Christ became
a substitute for them and suffered everything they deserved so that
justice is satisfied for them. Now think about what I'm saying. I'm talking about the king. You
know, a ram is the head of a flock of sheep. When Jan and I were
out west last year, I wanted to see A big horn ram. More than I wanted to see anything.
I never did see one. I saw signs saying you gotta
watch out for him. Never did see one. But I wanted
to see one so bad. I mean, they're majestic. They're
just, wow. I'm so impressed with them. Well,
that's Christ. He's the head of the church.
He's the king. He's the one that the whole church
gets their life from him. The whole church is completely
dependent on him. He's the king. And he lowered
himself so far, he became a substitute for his people. Suffered what
they deserved so that they could live. What a savior. What a redeemer. If that doesn't make you want
to bow down and worship him, I'm fearful. I'm fearful. And you know, while our Savior
was at Calvary, as He was hanging upon that tree, for those hours,
most people, all they could see was the ram's skin dyed red.
They could just see His visage marred more than any other. They
could see His bloody agony. They could see Nobody can survive
this. He's got to die. I mean, nobody
can survive this. What about his kingdom now? What
about all these promises he made now? What about all his eternal
kingdom now? All they could see was the bloody
sacrifice. But there's so much more going
on there. That bloody sacrifice was satisfying
his father's justice. That bloody sacrifice was making
his people holy because they would be washed in that blood
that he shed and be washed white as snow. You'll notice there's
no measurements given for the ramskin. There's measurements
given for everything else, very exact. The ramskins just said,
get a bunch of ramskin, dime red, put them over the tabernacle. There's no measurements. You know, it's impossible. to
measure the value of the blood of Christ. His blood is so precious. This is the blood of one man,
the blood of one sacrifice. His blood is so precious. It
paid the sin debt in full for a number no man can number. Washed
all of those people white as snow. Cleansed them from their
sin so that they can never be sullied with sin. ever again. His blood is so precious. All
the animal sacrifices that will be offered here on the brazen
altar and offered in this this tabernacle, all those animal
sacrifices offered over and over and over and over and over again.
All they show is these sacrifices aren't getting the job done.
We need one to come who will put away our sins. And once Christ
was offered for sin, there's no more sacrifices made for sin
again, because his blood put away the sin of his people. And
that red badger skin tells us he's coming. This is the one
coming. This is what he's going to do.
He's going to be the substitute for his people. Then the last
covering is the badger skin. so that when it was all put together,
all you could see was the badger skin. You couldn't see any of
the other coverings. You couldn't see the gold and
the beauty and glory of everything in there. All you could see is
this rough badger skin. We had a rough cloth that they
found that is brown. What I read is badger skin or
like a bluish gray, but they're very strong. They're rough. stand
up to the elements, the heat and the rain and all the things,
the storms that they must have had there in the desert. And
it's just very ordinary looking. I mean, almost ugly, really.
And if somebody saw this tabernacle covered with the badger skin,
it wouldn't have piqued their interest. There's just, you know,
it doesn't look like anything special. There's nothing on the
outside looking at that badger skin that makes you want to look
on the inside and find out what's in there. It's just very ordinary
looking. And just like the ram skin, dyed
red, there are no measurements given for this, this badger skin. We don't even know what shape
it was. I mean, it could have been circular. It could have
been rectangular. It could have been, you know, irregular. We
have no idea what it looked like. But that's a picture of Christ
our Savior. Isaiah said he had no form nor comeliness. And when
we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. That's
what this badger skin is a picture of. It's the flesh of Christ,
him in the flesh. And if you were looking from
a distance, a mountain or whatever, if you could see the whole camp
of Israel, and you saw the tabernacle, It looked just like everybody
else's tent, probably except for the white linen fence around
it. It looked the same as everybody's tent on the outside. It was made
out of badger skin because it would stand up to the elements.
The same thing is true of our Lord Jesus. When people looked
at him, all they saw was a man that looked like every other
man. He didn't have a glow over his head or a halo over his head
that told people that, oh, this is the Savior. He looked just
like any other ordinary man. Matter of fact, I'll tell you
what he looked like. He looked like a homeless man. Because
he was. He said the foxes have their
dens, the birds have their nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have
a place to lay his head. He was just a very ordinary looking
man. He made himself of no reputation. Here's a man who was born in
a manger, whose first baby cradle was a horse trough or cattle
trough. He worked as a carpenter. Even
other men looked down on him. I mean, that's how lowly that
Christ came. Other men looked down upon him. All of his glory was hidden by
that flesh. He looked just like every other
man. That's what made the Pharisees
so mad. When he told them, I am, now we're gonna take up stones
to stone you. And they said, what are you stoning
me for? What are you putting me to death
for? I've only ever done good. Oh, we're not gonna stone you
for all the good deeds that you've done, but you've made yourself
to be God. They couldn't see he was God because it's covered. He's covered by that badger skin.
He's covered it in flesh. But don't ever think that glory
wasn't there. That glory was always there. And when he took
the disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration, he peeled back
that badger skin for a minute, didn't he? And John said, it
was so bright we couldn't look at it. It was bright, more white
than any fuller could make anything white. It's his glory that was
hidden under the flesh. And the only way you could see
him, who he really is, is with eyes of faith. For a while, for
a while, all people could see of the Lord Jesus was the badger
skin, was the flesh. He looked just like a mere man.
He looked like such a common, ordinary man as he sat there
eating with publicans and sinners. He looked like a common, ordinary
man as he sat and taught the people that would gather around
him. He looked like a common, ordinary man as he sat on the
well one day there in Samaria. He looked like a common ordinary
man who was thirsty, who asked a sinful woman to give him a
drink. He was in the ship and that ship was being tossed like
a cork. The disciples thought, surely
that ship is gonna be sunk. And the Lord looked like an ordinary
man laying over there in the bottom of that ship asleep because
he was so dog tired. He looked like an ordinary man.
That's all they could see for a while. He looked like a defeated
man. He looked like a rejected man.
I mean, he had a pretty big following, and he preached the gospel to
them, and they all said, well, this is a hard saying. Who can
hear it? And just a few left, and he asked them, are you going
to go away, too? I'm not stopping you. Are you
going to go away, too? And they didn't then. They didn't write
then, but wait until that mob came to take him, and they all
deserted him, didn't they? Where's your following now? Where's
all these people that love you now? Where are the people shouting
Hosanna and throwing palm leaves on the ground and throwing their
clothing on the ground for you now? You're a man who's been
rejected. You're a man who's hated. You've
been beaten and tortured and condemned to death. But this
is the God of the universe. This is the God of the universe.
Isaiah said His name is the Eternal Father. This is the God, the
creator, the life giver, the savior, but you can see none
of that glory. You couldn't see any of his glory
as a man establishing a perfect righteousness by his obedience
to all, unless you had eyes to see him. You couldn't see the
glory of him offering himself as a sacrifice for the sin of
his people, unless the spirit gave you eyes of faith to see
him. Just like inside this tabernacle,
The only way that you could see the glory of what's inside this,
this badger skin, these other coverings, were covering the
Shekinah glory of God, dwelling in the Holy of Holies. I mean,
the golden table and the candlestick and that golden altar of incense,
I mean, works of art. I mean, something else. How valuable
would they be, this gold? But that's nothing compared to
what's in the Holy of Holies, the Shekinah glory of God dwelling
above that mercy seat. And you couldn't see it unless
you were in it, unless you were inside the tabernacle. And the
only people who see the glory of Christ are those people who
God has put in Christ. He's picked them up from where
they were, from where they were born, from the pit in which they
were born, and he lifted them up and he set them in Christ.
He set them in Christ. Those are the people that see
the glory of Christ past everything else that the fleshly eyes just
don't see. Now, do you see that glory? Do
you see that glory of Christ and His redemptive work? This
is what the tabernacles tell us. This one who's coming has
such glory because He's going to redeem His people from their
sin. Do you see that glory? You all come here every week, every Sunday, every
Wednesday, as I'm driving here on a on a Wednesday night. I know who's going to be here.
I know where you're going to sit. I know what creatures they
have. But I know. I know. And I'm thankful. I'm thankful
that you're that faithful. But have you ever asked yourself
why? Why are you so faithful? You come out here on a Wednesday
night in the middle of a rainstorm, think if you do that, God will
increase your bank account. Or God will bless you with health?
Or God will give you this? Or God will give you that? Or
won't make you suffer this? Or do you come because you want
just one more glimpse of his glory? Just one more glimpse
of his glory. If that's what you want, blessed
are your eyes, for they see. They see. I thank God for it. I thank God that Moses had a
tabernacle that said he's coming. And I'm happier to be able to
say, he's come. This is what he's accomplished.
And you hang on to your seats. You wait till he comes again.
Oh, the glory that we're going to see when he comes again. I
just can't wait. All right. I hope that'll be
a blessing to you. Let's bow together. Our father,
I thank you for this time that you've given us together to open
your word and to read it and to study it And Father, I pray
that we would not go home tonight unaffected, but that you would
apply your word to our hearts, that we would be able to look
past the fleshly and see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, Father, there is no greater blessing that we could ask. There's
no greater need that we have that you would reveal your son
to us and in us. And Father, I ask that you would
be pleased to to show such depths of mercy, such riches of grace
that you would reveal your son to and in us gathered here together
tonight for the glory of your son. Surely he'd get all the
glory and all the praise for such a marvelous, wonderful salvation. Father, bless us, I pray. It's
in Christ's name, for his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen. All right, Sean. Okay, if you would, turn in your
hymnal to song number 204, and stand as we sing, Turn Your Eyes
Upon Jesus. 204. Oh soul, are you wearied and troubled? No light in the darkness you
see. There's life for a look at the
Savior, and life more abundant and free. Open your eyes upon Jesus, look
full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow
strangely dim. in the light of His glory and
grace. Through death into life everlasting,
He passed and we follow Him there. Over us in no more hath dominion,
For more than conquerors we are. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look
full in his wonderful face. and the things of earth will
grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. His word shall not fail you,
He promised, Believe Him and all will be well. Then go to a world that is dying. His perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. and the things of earth will
grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.