All right, let's open our Bibles
to Hebrews chapter 9. Here we've been going through
the book of Hebrews, and we've seen over and over again the
theme of the book of Hebrews, that Christ is better. We've
seen how Christ is better than the angels. Christ is better
than Moses. Christ is a better rest than
the Sabbath on Saturday. Christ is a better high priest
than Aaron. Christ is the mediator of a better covenant. Today I
want us to see how Christ is a better tabernacle. I titled
the message a greater and more perfect tabernacle. I took that,
I'm not very original, I took it straight from verse 11 that
says Christ being come and a high priest of good things to come
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. Christ is a greater,
a more perfect tabernacle than the tabernacle of Moses or than
the temple of Solomon. because Christ is better than
any earthly tangible mode of worship. Verse 5 in our text
says, now over at the cherubims of glory overshadowing the mercy
seat of which we cannot now speak particularly. The writer says
he doesn't have time to go back and talk in a lot of detail about
each of these pieces of furniture and all of the things in the
tabernacle because he just doesn't have the time, but we got a little
bit of time to do that this morning. I want us to look at this to
see really just this one point, how Christ is a better tabernacle
because Christ is the fulfillment of all the pictures of the tabernacle. Just like the body of a person
is always better than seeing the shadow of the person because
the body has the substance. The body has life and warmth. The body is the one that you
love. The body casts the shadow. But who do we love? It's the
body. That's Christ is a better tabernacle
because he's the fulfillment of all that. God's son and the
body of his flesh tabernacled among us in a tabernacle or tent
of flesh. And when he did that, the Lord
Jesus didn't just give us a picture of salvation like the tabernacle
of Moses did. He accomplished the salvation
of his people in reality, in his body. Now, at different times
in the past, both in the classes out here and the children's classes
and the Sunday school and Bible school classes, we spent weeks
studying the tabernacle. You can spend weeks just studying
all the details, pictures of Christ in the tabernacle. And
this morning, I will promise you I will work on brevity and
give a very brief overview of the tabernacle. See how Christ
fulfilled all those pictures of the tabernacle. My first point
is this, Christ is better because worshiping him is spiritual. It's not carnal, it's not worldly,
it doesn't have to do with worldly carnal elements, it's spiritual.
Verse 1 of Hebrews 9 says, then verily the first covenant had
also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. That
worldly sanctuary was the tabernacle. And that tabernacle was the absolute
center of Jewish life. As the children of Israel were
going through the wilderness, where every time they stopped
to camp, that tabernacle was located in the center of the
camp. And then each tribe had a spot where they were supposed
to encamp around it. The tabernacle was always in
the center. And all the daily and weekly
and annual activities of the Jews always revolved around what
was going on. the services, the worship in
that tabernacle. Now Moses and other men that
God skilled to do these things made all the elements of the
tabernacle. Moses had it built just exactly
like God instructed him to do. Well, that's a picture of Christ.
Christ is the more perfect, greater tabernacle. He came in a body
not prepared by a man, but prepared for him by the Father. Look across
the page of Hebrews 10 verse 4. where it's not possible that
the blood of goats and of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. Nothing done in or around the tabernacle could ever take
away sins. We needed someone better. So
wherefore, verse five, when he cometh into the world, he say
a sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast
thou prepared me. And it was in that body that
the father prepared for him, that he would offer himself as
a sacrifice for sin and take the sin of his people away. You
see, everything in the tabernacle, it was made with earthly elements,
wasn't it? It was made of gold and silver
and wood and linen and all those things. They were just fleshly,
carnal, worldly elements. Well, the Lord Jesus had a physical
body, didn't he? A body of flesh. But he's spiritual. He is a man, yes. He is truly
man, come to be our representative and our substitute. But he is
spiritual. And everything that he accomplished,
he accomplished in spirit, in spiritual truth. I can show you
that in John chapter 4. Look here in John 4. Our Lord
is talking with the woman at the well. And you know the story, the Lord
revealed to her she'd have five husbands, and the man she was
living with now, she wasn't married to him. And the woman said unto
him, verse 19, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our
fathers worshiped in this mountain. And you say, you Jews say, that
in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. And Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when you
shall neither worship in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem
worship the Father. You worship, you know not what.
We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father
seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now you
see what the Lord's teaching this woman? is not a physical
thing. Worship is spiritual. God is
spirit. So the worship of God is a spiritual
thing. And true worship is not worshiping
in the right place. No. Worship of God is worshiping
the right person. Verse 25, the woman saith unto
him, I know that she said, I just, I don't understand everything
you're saying, but I know that the Messiah is coming, which
is called Christ. And when He's come, He'll tell
us all things. And Jesus saith unto her, Oh,
what a, can you, what a moment this is. Woman, I that speak
unto thee, am. He didn't say am he. He said,
I am. I am. Oh, everything changed,
didn't it? She left her water pot and she
ran to the city. What'd she do? Let me tell you
about a man. that I met. Let me tell you about him. It's
no longer about worship in this mountain or worship down here
in Jerusalem. Let me tell you about the man that I met. Worship
is worshiping the right person. Now, when the tabernacle was
standing, that was the only place of worship in the entire world. You think of that. That little
tent was the only place of worship in the entire world. God said
this is the one and only place I will meet with men. The only
place. For the Lord Jesus Christ is
a greater and more perfect tabernacle. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only place of worship. The only place that we can worship
God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you don't have to be in the
right place over there in the Middle East to do it. You worship
Him in spirit wherever you are. He's a greater and more perfect
tabernacle. We can always worship God in
him. Now, if you saw the tabernacle
from the outside, you wouldn't be impressed with it. Not at
all. It wasn't a very tall building. It didn't seem miraculous. It was covered with badger skin,
just ugly old brownish gray badger skin. It didn't look like anything.
It didn't look any better than all of the tents built up around
it. But if you went inside that tabernacle,
then you'd see the glory of it, and you'd see the riches of it.
Now, knowing the way we are, if we went into the tabernacle,
you know what we'd be impressed with? Look at all that gold.
There was a candlestick there made out of 120 pounds of gold. Oh, we'd be impressed, wouldn't
we? Oh, my goodness. But you know the glory of that
tabernacle wasn't the gold. It wasn't the gold-covered walls.
It wasn't the gold-covered The solid gold candlestick wasn't
the table made of incorruptible wood covered with gold. It wasn't
the gold of the altar of incense. The glory of that little tent
was that Almighty God dwelt in it. The Shekinah glory of God
dwelt inside that tabernacle between the wings of the cherubim
over the mercy seat that we just sung about. And the Lord Jesus
Christ is a greater, more perfect tabernacle. He's the perfect
fulfillment of that picture. The Lord Jesus, when he was born,
looked like every other baby born that day. Couldn't tell
the difference. That's why Herod just had every
baby under two years old killed. He didn't know who he was. There's
no way to tell. He looked like just every other two-year-old.
When he grew into a man, he looked like every other man. He wasn't
taller. He wasn't better looking and
matter of fact, it seems like he lived such a hard life. He
just, his visage was even marred even before I ever went to the
cross. He wasn't better looking and standing taller than everybody
else. He didn't have a glow around
his head signifying this is the Messiah. Scripture says he had
no form or comings, but no beauty about when you saw his fleshly
being, there's no beauty about him that we should desire him.
If you're going to see the glory of Christ, you're going to have
to look inside the veil of flesh. You're going to have to see him
not with fleshly eyes, but with the eyes of faith. And, you know,
if you've got eyes of faith, 2000 years after he died, you
see him just as clearly as the Apostle John did. You think of
that. The Apostle John rested his head
on the Savior's chest. You've got eyes of faith, you
see him, you rest in him just as clearly, just as John did. If you've got eyes of faith to
see Christ, you see the Savior every bit as clearly as the Apostle
Peter did. Peter said, we believe and are
sure thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. To who
else? Where else are we to go? You who believe say the same
thing, don't you? You see him just as clearly. as Peter did,
with eyes of faith. He is a greater and more perfect
tabernacle. And the worship of him is spiritual,
not carnal, not fleshly motions. It's spiritual. All right, second,
Christ is a better light. Back in our text in Hebrews 9,
it says, there was a tabernacle made, and that is not speaking
of the whole tabernacle. I was just talking about a tent,
a compartment inside that tabernacle. There were two compartments in
it. There was a tabernacle made. The first we're in was the candlestick.
Now there was no natural light in the tabernacle. It didn't
have any windows in it. Not one window. Had one door,
but no windows. The only light inside that tabernacle
was this candlestick. It was made out of pure gold. It was solid gold. It pictured
the deity of Christ. The gold pictures his deity.
And this is what that's teaching us. The only light in the tabernacle
came from that candlestick. It teaches us that we cannot
understand God by our natural understanding. We can't be saved
by our natural understanding. Now, we do our best to teach
the scriptures, don't we? I go verse by verse through the
scriptures. I want to teach the scriptures. A man heard me preach one time,
first time he ever heard me preach. And he said, I wouldn't call
you a preacher. I'd call you a teacher. And I said, I like
that, that you're not hurting my feeling one bit. We must be
taught the scriptures. But do you know what? Salvation
is not by education. It's by revelation. That's what
this candlestick is. It's the light to see. See, it
doesn't matter how smart you are in math or the sciences or
in the arts or how well you can memorize facts and figures. Christ
must be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. That's what that
candlestick is a picture of. Well, Christ is a greater, more
perfect tabernacle, a better light. The only way we can see
who God is, is in Christ the light. When we see Christ, now
I see God's holy, God's just, God's merciful, God's gracious.
Now I see, because I see in the light of who Christ is. And the
only way we will ever see ourselves as we are is in the light of
Christ. Until we see Christ, we will
always think, I'm pretty good. I'm pretty good. Because I'm
just trying to look at myself in the mirror in utter darkness
and I can't see myself for what I am. So I always make up myself
in my mind to be better looking than I am. The only way we'll
ever see How sinful and vile we are is in the light of Christ. Isaiah thought he is something
else. So he saw Christ high and lifted up. Then he said, oh,
I'm undone. Daniel seems to be a very humble
man. We don't really read of Daniel
being full of pride, but when he saw the Lord, he said, my
coming is melted before me. The only way I know the sinful,
vile, dead, wretch that I am is to see myself in the light
of who Christ is. The only way I can ever see,
the only way I can ever understand how God saves sinners and still
be God is in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. To see Him
sacrifice as a substitute for me, to satisfy justice for me,
that God might be merciful to me through the sacrifice of Christ.
The only way I'll ever understand that is in the light of Christ. And Christ is such a better light
than that candlestick. That candlestick just gave light
to a little room in that tabernacle. And the priest had to keep filling
it up with oil or it wouldn't produce any light. Christ is
the light of the world. He gives light, the light of
salvation to sinners from all over the world. He's a better
light, isn't he? And thirdly, Christ is a better
table with better bread. The end of verse 2 says, and
the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary,
that was in what they called the holy place. Now, this table
he writes up here was made of incorruptible wood. It's covered
with gold. That shows us the two natures
of Christ in one man. He's both God and man. The gold pictured his deity,
that he's God. And the incorruptible was a picture
of his sinless humanity. And there was that table in the
tabernacle. Now, what does the table teach
us? I was thinking about this yesterday. We observed Thanksgiving
with our family yesterday up in Lexington. And Holly and Janet
and Savannah, everybody was cooking. And then it got to be time. And
Doug said, everybody come eat. And you know what we did? We
gathered around that table. The family came together around
that table and we ate together. We fellowshiped together. We
talked and we laughed and we just stayed sitting around it.
We're done eating. I don't know about everybody else. I've kind
of felt like I don't know if I can get up. I've eaten so much.
I'm going to sit here. But everybody just sat and just
visited, just enjoyed one another's company. That's the table. Christ
is a greater and more perfect tabernacle. Christ is the place
of fellowship. Christ is the place of unity
for God's family. Christ is the place of nourishment
for God's family. We all come together around Christ. He's what draws us together.
He is a better table. He's a better table than the
table of showbread. The table of showbread was just
for the family of the high priest. But every believer gathers around
Christ because he's what we have in common. He's what unites our
hearts together. You go, I get to go places I've
never met people before and you meet God's people and you just
feel such a connection. Well, I went to Mexico the very
first time, never laid eyes on any of these people and couldn't
talk to them. We don't speak the same language, but there
are such unity there. The only explanation for that
is Christ. He's what unites his people.
We unite around him. And on top of that table was
the showbread. It was unleavened bread. And
every Sabbath day, the high priest and his family would eat that
bread. And then they'd put out new loaves that they made. Well,
that's a picture of Christ. But Christ is a whole lot better
of bread than that unleavened bread that was on the showbread.
Christ is the bread of life. life. Those priests ate that
showbread, didn't they? And their families. Every one
of them died. But nobody who ever eats Christ
will die. Let me show you that John chapter
6. John chapter 6. Verse 48. I am that bread of life. Your
fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and they're dead.
And whatever applies to the manna would also apply to the showbread,
wouldn't it? They ate that and they're dead.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may
eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. For the bread that I will give
him is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this
man give us his flesh to eat? And Jesus saith unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life. And I'll raise
him up at the last day, for my flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed. Now, what does the Savior mean
there when he says about eating his flesh and drinking his blood? What is it to eat flesh, to eat
the flesh of Christ and to drink his blood? Well, it's not to
be a cannibal. It's not to eat his fleshly body. It means to believe on Christ. Look back at verse 47, John 6.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. That eating is believing on Christ. Whoever believes on Him has eternal
life. And this eating Christ also means
to believe Him and to have unity with Him. Look over at verse
56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. See, that's union. As a
living Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so he that
eateth me, even he shall live by me. See, to believe Christ
is to have unity with Christ. That's what we're talking about
in our lesson this morning. See, we have unity with whatever we
eat. Whatever we eat, it goes into
our body, our body breaks it down, and that eventually becomes
our body. It becomes the cells, the flesh,
the bones, the blood of our bodies. We have union with what we eat.
Well, to eat Christ is to believe him and to have unity with him
so that we're one with him. To be one with Christ is to have
eternal life. We can never die if we're one
with Christ because he'll never die. See, Christ is the better
bread. He gives life and he's better
bread in this way too. Only the priest could eat that
showbread. It was only for the priest. Christ
is a better bread. He is a bread for every believer. Every believer has the right
to come and eat of Christ. Only the priest could eat that
showbread, but in Christ, every believer is a priest. In Christ,
every believer is made a king and a priest unto God. That's
your right to come believe. That's your right to come take
part of Christ. And Christ is enough. I've got that in my notes. Christ
is enough for every believer. Christ is all. Christ is all. He is all for spiritual Israel. If you've got Christ, you've
got enough, because you've got everything. There were 12 loaves
of showbread, just like there were 12 tribes of Israel. That
wasn't an accident. That's a picture of Christ who's
the better bread. Christ is enough for every believer,
for everyone who's hungry. Now the candlestick and the table
of showbread were in that first tabernacle, that first sanctuary
called the Holy Place. And the writer doesn't mention
it exactly, but also in there was the altar of incense. And
the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies were divided by a veil
that went across there. And that veil is another very
detailed picture of Christ, of which now we cannot speak particularly.
We'll run out of time. I'm sure all those lessons are
on Sermon Audit if you want to go back and listen to them. But
behind the veil was the Holy of Holies. And in that Holy of
Holies was the crown jewel of the tabernacle. In that Holy
of Holies was the glory of the tabernacle. Verse 3, back in
our text, Hebrews 9, And after the second veil, the tabernacle,
the tent, the compartment, which is called the holiest of all,
the holy of holies, which had the golden censer and the Ark
of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was
the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded,
and the tables of the covenant. Now the Ark of the Covenant,
this is the crown jewel of the tabernacle. Because, not because
it was necessarily worth more money because of the gold and
everything, It was the crown jewel of the tabernacle because
that the mercy seat that sits on top of the Ark of the Covenant
is the throne in Israel. It's where the Shekinah glory
of God dwelt between those wings of the cherubim above the mercy
seat. This is where the glory of God is seen. And that Ark
was made just like the tables made of incorruptible wood covered
with gold, showing us the two natures of Christ, his sinless
humanity, That's why the wood would never rot. It was a picture
of Christ's body, which would never decay. There's no sin in
it. And the gold, his deity, the God man. And inside that
ark, there were three things. Picture three things the father
trusted to Christ. Shows us pictures of Christ.
The first was the golden pot that had manna. And you know
the story of the manna. God miraculously fed Israel in
the wilderness with this manna that would appear on the ground
every day. And God had Moses gather some
of it together and put that in the ark. It was to remind the
people how God fed Israel. It was to show them how Christ
is the better bread. He's better than the manna, just
like he's better than the show bread. He's better than the manna
because your fathers didn't eat manna in the wilderness and they're
dead. But Christ is the bread of life. To believe him is to
have eternal life. And the manna that's in the ark
teaches us, now this is spiritual. This is not a fleshly thing.
This is not a carnal thing it's teaching us. It's teaching us
something spiritual. It's teaching us that all spiritual
life is in Christ. It's found in Him. And if you
would have it, go to Him. It's all in Him. Christ is the
one that gives life and He's the one that sustains the life
of His people by feeding upon Him. But the second thing in
this Mark was Aaron's rod that budded. Now you remember when
Israel came out of Egypt into the wilderness and God appointed
Aaron to be the high priest. But just several of the other
men, Korah led a rebellion against them and several of the other
men, they still felt like, you know, we could be God's high
priest too. Nothing special about Aaron.
Why can't I be the high priest? And God told them, all right,
here's what we'll do. You men think you can be the high priest.
One from every tribe, you lay your rods, your walking sticks. You lay them out before the tabernacle
overnight. And one of those rods overnight
is going to bud. It's going to produce life. And
whoever owns the rod that buds, that's God's high priest. Shown
by this miraculous thing, a walking stick budding. Those walking
sticks have been cut off from a tree for a long time. They've
been using them to walk a long time. There's no life in them.
But God made Aaron's rod to bud overnight. And it didn't just
produce a few little sprigs and a couple of green leaves. It
produced fruit. Almonds, full, ready-to-eat almonds
grew from this rod overnight so that everybody knew Aaron
is God's high priest. Now all that story teaches us
something greater than Aaron, greater than Aaron's rod. It
teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ is God's high priest.
Aaron is just a picture of him, but Christ is the better high
priest. If we would worship God, we've
got to come to God in Christ. God can only be worshiped in
Christ, just like Israel could only worship through what the
priest was doing for them. We can only worship God in Christ. The only way we can worship God
is through the sacrifice of Christ, that Christ, our great high priest,
offered to God. And this teaches us that life
is in Christ, our great high priest. That's the only place
life is found. All the other rods are dead.
Everybody else pretending to be God's high priest is dead.
Life's in Christ. Now, if you would have life,
go to Him, because He's our only hope of life. See, you and I
are just like Aaron's walking stick. We're dead and we've been
dead a long time. We've been dead for 6,000 years. After 6,000 years, we haven't
produced life. I bet you we don't produce any
in the future either. We're dead. We've been cut off a long time.
And the only way we can have life, the only way we can bear
the fruit of the Spirit is by being joined to Christ. Because
life is in Him. Just like the branches can only
produce fruit if they're joined to the vine, you and I can only
have life and bear the fruit of the Spirit if we're joined
to Christ. Life's in Him. Now if you would
have it, go to Him. And then third, the third thing
in that ark was the tables of the covenant. And those were
the Ten Commandments written on the two tables of stone. Now
you know the story, I'm sure, of the Ten Commandments. God
wrote those with His finger two different times. First time,
He told Moses, you bring these tables of stone and you come
up to the mountain. And God with His finger wrote
the law on those tables of stone. Moses was up there with God,
I mean, and he came down from the mountain.
I mean, you think, you just think. I sometimes, I come out of my
study and Janet said, how'd it go today? And I said, oh, so
good. It was so good, just, oh, I just feel so good. The Lord
just taught me something. I just see Christ in the scriptures.
It's just wonderful. I just, oh, it's wonderful. Moses
was with God face to face. Wow. He came down from the mountain,
just on this, what a high, and found the children of Israel
dancing around an idol that they made naked. Worshipping that
idol, they made them, They took all their gold and earrings and
they melted it together and made him a calf and said, this is
your God that brought you up out of Egypt. Worshipping an
idol. And Moses was so angry, he threw those tables of stone
down and shattered them to pieces. Oh, he was so angry. Well, a little while later, God
called Moses back up the mountain. He said, bring two more tables
of stone. And he wrote the law with his finger on those tables
of stone again. But he told Moses, Moses, don't
you keep those table stones in your hand. You take them straight
down the mountain and you put them in the ark. They're not
safe in your hand, Moses. They're not safe in the hand
of any of the children of Israel. Moses, you put them in the ark.
That way they'll be kept safe. They won't be broken again. Christ is a greater and more
perfect tabernacle. See, this is given to teach us
something spiritual. It's how Christ kept the law
for his people. It's kept safe in him. And not
just the Ten Commandments, but the whole law of God. Christ
kept it all in thought and word and deed. He obeyed it perfectly.
And he didn't obey it just like hating to have to obey it. We
were coming home last night and I just hated to obey the speed
limit. But I kept it pretty close because I didn't want to get
a ticket, you know. But I hated to obey it. Christ loved the
law and he loved obeying it. And he kept it perfectly for
his people. He kept it safe in him. He didn't
leave it. If he put it in our hands, we're
going to break it. But he kept it in him. And that obedience
is the obedience of his people. God gave it to him. He made them
the righteousness of God in Christ because they're in him. When
he obeyed the law, they obeyed it. Christ made them righteous. He kept the law safe for his
people. And then Verse 5 says, and over
at the cherubims of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat, on top of that
ark was the mercy seat. And it was a lid that covered
the mercy seat exactly. And the mercy seat was made of
pure gold. It wasn't wood covered with gold,
it was made of pure gold. And it was beaten into shape
with those cherubims facing each other, their wings out over top
of it, beaten into shape. They didn't melt it and pour
it in to the right shape. They beat it into shape. And
that gives us a picture of the pure deity of Christ. And he was beaten with the hammer
of God's justice for the sin of his people. And just like
that mercy seat was a perfect fit over the ark. It wasn't too
short. It wasn't too long. It didn't, you know, sit, it
was an angle or something. It's a perfect fit. Christ is the exact fit for everything
a sinner needs. I want you to think in your mind
what it is you need. Spiritually, what is it that
you need? Christ is it. He's the perfect fit for everything
you need. He's the perfect fit to fulfill
God's covenant of grace and save His people. from their sin. And
he made it sure. It's an exact fit. Christ did
not die to make salvation possible for anybody that might decide
to accept him. Go back to that stick. We're dead. We can't decide
to accept him. Christ didn't die to make salvation
possible. Christ died to save God's elect,
to save those people from their sin. That's what the mercy seat
shows us. On that day of atonement, the
high priest came in with the blood of the sacrifice. He came
into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the sacrifice, and
he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat. The blood on the
mercy seat is the perfect fit for Israel. It's all that's required
to save them from their sins. See, Christ died not to make
salvation possible, not to get you to do something. He died
to satisfy God. The blood was not offered before
the people. Look, people, here's this blood.
Don't you think it's great? Now, won't you decide to come
to Jesus? But not what the high priest did with that blood, did
he? He took that blood and carefully, reverently went into the Holy
of Holies and offered that blood before the Lord. The blood was
offered before the Lord. The blood was what must be shed
to satisfy God. And it did. It did. The blood
of Christ is far greater. See the Hebrew word for mercy
seat is the Greek word propitiation. The word mean mercy seat or propitiation. It means to appease. It means
to make satisfaction. Look back at Hebrews chapter
two. Verse 17. Wherefore, in all things
it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of his people. And that
word reconciliation is to make propitiation, to appease, to
make satisfaction with God for the sins of the people. Now look
at Romans chapter three, this propitiation. Propitiation is
not a high minded, highbrow doctrinal thought. Propitiation is in a
person. And really, it's better to say
not just in a person, but that propitiation is a person. Romans 3 verse 24. Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus,
whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. See, propitiation
is a person. God set him forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance
of God. See, God is reconciled. He's
satisfied in the sacrifice of Christ. And it's that sacrifice
of Christ that enables God, first of all, to do something for himself.
He had to satisfy himself. And then he can do something
for me. Then he can justify his people. Verse 26, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just in the
justifier of him, which believe it in Jesus. See, Christ is a
far greater mercy seat in it because his sacrifice made reconciliation
with God for the sins of the people. And God said about that
mercy seat, this is the only place that God will meet with
me above the mercy seat and he only meet with them at the mercy
seat being sprinkled with blood. It's got to be through the sacrifice
of Christ. Well, Christ is a greater and
more perfect tabernacle. He fulfilled perfectly this picture
of the mercy seat, because the only place that sinners can meet
with God in peace and acceptance is in Christ. It's got to be
in Christ. We've got to come to God in Christ.
It's the only way we can be accepted. See, this ark was made and God
gave specific instruction. Don't you touch it. Don't you
lay your hand to it. Even when they moved from place
to place, the priest did not put their hands on that ark.
That ark had rings going through each side of it. And they had
these golden staves, rods, and they put them through the those
rings, and they carried it on their shoulders. They didn't
touch that ark. God said, and this wasn't a secret, God told
them, if you touch that ark, I'm going to kill you. Well,
years later, you know what happened. The Philistines came and they
stole the ark. They defeated Israel in a battle. They stole
the ark, took it home with them, put it in front of their idol,
Dagon. Dagon kept falling over and breaking, you know, around
this. They finally had to give it back. They said, get this out of here,
you know. And David, oh, he was so happy. He said, let's go get
the ark, boys. And he didn't send priests down
there with those rods to get it, did he? He said, let's get
us a good mule and make a brand new cart that's never carried
anything before, because we're going to show such honor to the
Ark. We're going to make it. This Ark, it can't be used to
take somebody's groceries home. This is an Ark that never carried
anything. We're showing honor to the Ark. They went and got
that Ark and put it on the cart. And here goes that oxen pulling
that cart home. And that oxen stumbled. And old Uzzah, he saw
that ark. He didn't want the ark of God
to fall on the ground. He just reached up his hand. Wouldn't
it be a shame if that ark fell and broke? He reached up and
touched that ark and God killed him. Now that's not just a story. This is teaching us something
spiritual. You and I cannot come to God
without a mediator between us and God. See that? We've got
to come to God in Christ. or else we'll die. But if we
come in Christ, we'll be accepted. Be accepted. See, and here's
where that golden censer comes in, and the altar of incense
come in. The writer here mentions the
golden censer. On the Day of Atonement, the
high priest would take that golden censer, and he'd take coals from
off the altar of incense. The altar of incense sat right
beside the veil, going into the Holy of Holies. He'd take the
coals off that, put it in the censer, and he'd put incense
on top of those coals and he'd go into the Holy of Holies. And
the incense would create a sweet smoke that would just fill the
room, fill the Holy of Holies. And that smoke, scripture tells
us, is an intercession. The intercession of Christ is
a picture of the intercession of Christ. That smoke kept the
high priest from dying. But the intercession of Christ,
now Christ is a greater, a more perfect tabernacle. The intercession
of Christ is a whole lot better than that smoke, isn't it? The
intercession of Christ satisfies God. God always gives Him what
He asked for. And the intercession of Christ
is always tied to the sacrifice of Christ. You never see the
intercession of Christ separated from His sacrifice. The coals
are on that altar of incense. You know where they got them
from? They took them from the brazen altar out in the courtyard.
The brazen altar is where they offered the sacrifices, the bloody,
awful sacrifices for sin. And they took the coals from
off that altar and put them on the altar of incense. The sacrifice,
the blood sacrifice is tied to that altar of incense. It's tied
to the sacrifice or to the intercession of Christ is always tied to his
sacrifice. His intercession is always tied
to the sacrifice. And Christ always gets what he
asked for from his father. Because His intercession is based
upon His sacrifice that pleased His Father. And when Christ pleads
for His sacrifice, you know what He's asking for? He's asking
for what He already purchased with His blood. Well, of course
the Father's going to give it to Him. See, Christ is better. He is the fulfillment of all
this, the perfect fulfillment. Aaron just offered intercession
for one little small nation, Israel. But Christ offers intercession
for all of His people. It's always accepted. All right,
here's the fourth thing. Christ is better because he ministers
in heaven, not in a picture on earth, but in heaven itself.
Verse six. Now, when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God. But in the second went the high
priest alone once every year, not without blood, which offered
for himself and for the heirs of the people. The Holy Ghost
is signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet
made manifest, whilst the first tabernacle was yet standing,
which was a figure for the time then present. That's all it was,
was a figure, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that
could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining
to the conscience. Their conscience wasn't clear
because sin was still there. Sin wasn't being put away. See,
this stood only in meats and drinks and diverse washings.
and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation.
But Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Now Aaron
went into just a little room and he sprinkled animal blood
on earthly elements. which were nothing but pictures.
But Christ is a greater and more perfect tabernacle. He went with
His blood into heaven itself before the Father. Aaron offered
a sacrifice which wouldn't have to be offered again for another
year, but another year it had to be offered because those sacrifices
didn't put sin away. The blood of an animal can never
pay for the sin of a man. Christ came and offered one sacrifice and it never had
to be offered again because by that sacrifice he obtained, he
purchased eternal redemption for his people. So this is the
point. This is the point that I want
to make. The tabernacle with all of its pictures of Christ
was not the way to God. All these earthly elements were
not the way to God. Christ is. He always was. And those pictures of the tabernacle
and the temple were just in place until the time of Reformation.
And that's not when Martin Luther went and nailed a letter to the
wall or the door of the church. The word Reformation means restoration. It means the time when everything
is made straight. All those pictures and types
were done away with in Christ. They weren't needed anymore when
the reality came. See, they were just pictures.
Christ is the high priest of good things to come. What good
things? The forgiveness of sins, righteousness,
eternal life, peace with God. None of those things could ever
have been had in the tabernacle. They're only in Christ. I know
I've preached too long, but hang on with me. Let me make a conclusion
that will bring this right to where we live. We don't have
a tabernacle. We don't have animal sacrifices.
We don't have an altar anymore, do we? No. But we do still worship
God in the flesh. We worship God with earthly elements
and some pictures and types. Types and pictures aren't completely
dead. And we worship very imperfectly. That will last until the time
of Reformation. That's going to last until everything
is restored when Christ comes again. Then we're going to worship,
not in the flesh, but perfectly, in spirit forever, in perfect
flesh. And we still use pictures. You
know, I love the Old Testament pictures, and we still use pictures
and types today. We spent a whole lesson on this
this morning, on believers' baptism. That's a picture in it. It's
a confession of how we're saved through the death, the burial,
and the resurrection of Christ. It's a confession of union with
Christ that I did what He did because I was in Him. And I'm thrilled when someone
comes and asks me to baptize them. I want to confess the Savior.
I'm thrilled. It's a special time of worship. I want to tell you, that's not
going to last forever. As special as we think that is,
that's not going to last forever. Baptism is not salvation. Christ
is salvation. This is going to last. Baptism,
the picture of baptism is going to last until Christ returns.
The time of reformation when He returns and makes everything
straight. And then we'll be perfectly united
with Him forever. And we still use the picture
of the Lord's table to remember Christ, don't we? always special
every time we observe the Lord's table. It's just such a, you
can't help but remember him. And when we observe the Lord's
table and we're only going to use the unleavened bread, which
is a picture of Christ's sinless body broken for us. And we're
only going to use the wine to represent his sinless blood until
the time of reformation when Christ returns and makes everything
straight, restores everything. And then we'll be forever. with Christ, the lamb as it had
been slain, worshiping him forever. And we're not going to leave,
need the Lord's table to remember him because we'll be worshiping
him face to face. See, salvation is not in those
things. Don't ever think salvation is
in these things. Salvation is Christ. Now run to him. Go to him. Look to he is the greater and
more perfect tabernacle. If you would be accepted of God,
go to him. because it's all in him. All right, let's bow in
prayer. Our Father, we thank you for this time you've given
us of worship. And Father, I pray you'd bless
your word to the hearts of your people, cause it to take root
in our hearts, that we might believe and trust and rest in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we ask this great blessing
of your mercy and your grace for the glory of Christ our Savior.