In recent weeks, we've been looking
in our lesson the study of the Ark of the Covenant and of the
Mercy Seat. In Scripture, there's seven different names given to
the Ark, and I want us to look at each of those seven names
this morning, because each of those seven names gives us a
different picture of the person and the work of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And the first name is the name that's used most often
in Scripture. Forty-one times, the Ark is called the Ark of
the Covenant. Understanding the covenant is
very important. We can't understand how God deals
with men unless we understand God's covenant. When Janet was
teaching her Sunday school class, you all started out, began your
career at Sunday school, three years old in Janet's class. She
wanted the children, in the time that she had them, in those few
years that she would have them, she wanted them to learn four
things. Besides sitting still and being a good listener, those
were the first two things she had to learn. She wanted them
to learn four things. She thought this was important,
that they learn God's holy, that they learn we're all sinners,
all we do is sin. She wanted them to learn about
the mercy seat, the place, not this hunk of gold, but it's Christ,
our mercy seat. She wanted them to learn of the
place where mercy's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And four,
she wants them to learn covenant means promise. Do you all remember
her talking on that? Covenant means promise. It's
important that we learn that because God is covenant God. God deals with men in a covenant. God will either deal with men
in a covenant of the law, which produces death, or God will deal
with men in a covenant of eternal grace in Christ Jesus. Now, while
this ark was in use, God dealt with men in the covenant of the
law. Now, you'll notice I said God
dealt with men in the covenant of the law. No one, no one was
ever saved through the covenant of the law. It wasn't like, well,
when this ark was in use, God saved men through the covenant
of the law. Then the New Testament changed and men were saved in
the covenant of grace. No. Sinners are always saved
under the covenant of grace. But God dealt with, he revealed
himself through the covenant of the law during this time that
this ark was in use. But then Christ came, and this
ark was done away with. Christ is the mediator of a better
covenant, because it's based on better promises. The covenant
of the law had promises. It promised you'll live if you
keep the law perfectly. Well, that's not a very good
promise to you and me, because we're sinners. We can't keep
the law. So that's not a very good promise. But I'll tell you
what a better promise is. the promise of life in Christ.
That's a good promise to sinners like you and me. See, that Christ
came as the mediator of a better covenant based on better promises.
And this covenant of grace, David said, while this ark was in use,
David said God's covenant is ordered in all things and sure.
He wasn't talking about the covenant of the law. He was talking about
God's covenant of grace. And that covenant is sure because
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the promises of God, all
the covenant of God is in Christ, yea and amen. So if you look
at Numbers chapter 10 verse 33, this is where we read about this
name of the ark, the ark of the covenant. And they departed from
the mount of the Lord three days journey, and the ark of the covenant
of the Lord went before them in three days journey to search
out a resting place for them. Now, they followed the Ark of
the Covenant of the Lord, looking for a place of rest where they
could find rest. And that's what believers, we
already have that in our Lord Jesus Christ. We've found the
place of rest. It's in Christ. Christ gives
his people rest from the works of the law. They don't have to
try to keep the law anymore. Christ has kept the law for us.
We rest in him. Christ has given his people rest
from the fear of the law, fear of sin. Now, fear causes a lot
of anxiety. You cannot rest when you're full
of fear. Christ has given his people rest
from that fear. There's nothing to be afraid
of, so we rest from that. We follow the Lord Jesus Christ,
just like the children of Israel followed that ark of the covenant,
looking for a place of rest. Believers follow Christ, and
we have rest in him. He's gone into heaven. He's our
forerunner, gone there to prepare a place of eternal rest for his
people. It says here that they followed
the ark for three days. Now that's significant, that
they followed it for three days. Can you think of something else
that took three days? Our Lord lay in the tomb for
three days. Then he arose again. And because
he arose again, his people have rest. The ground of the hope
of our salvation, the reason that we have hope of salvation,
is Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and he was
raised again the third day for our justification. When he rose
again, the justification of God's people was guaranteed. Now you
remember justification is not just like we don't have any sin. Justification means we don't
have any sin. In Christ, God's people do not
have any sin, so we can rest. And it's because of the covenant
of the Lord that that happened. Now look at verse 34. Now verse
chapter 10. And the cloud of the Lord was
upon them by day when they went out of the camp. And it came
to pass when the ark set forth, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord,
and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee
before thee. And when it rested, he said,
Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel. During the
time the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they stopped
when that cloudy pillar stopped. That cloudy pillar led them.
They stopped when it stopped. When that cloudy pillar began
to move, they packed up and moved too. When it came time to pack
up and move, Moses made the habit of offering this prayer. And
his prayer was the prayer of the Old Testament saints. Lord,
send the Messiah like you promised, like in your covenant you promised
to send the Messiah. Now we beg of thee, we pray thee
that you send him. We long to see him. Send him
to us according to your promise." That was the prayer of the Old
Testament saints. They offered that prayer for thousands of
years. And one day he came. He appeared because God promised
he would. And he appeared. But you know,
when he appeared, not very many people saw him. A few did. Simeon saw him. He said, let
thy servant depart in peace. for mine eyes have seen thy salvation."
Simeon's sign and Anna's sign, she gave thanks. And Christ appeared
to fulfill the promise of God. He came to defeat every enemy
of his people. Moses says here, make all them
that hate thee flee before thee. Every enemy that God's people
have fled because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is our enemy. Romans 6.14 says, for sin shall
not have dominion over you. It used to, but no more. For
you're not under the law. You're not under that covenant
of law. You're under the covenant of grace. So sin won't have dominion
over you. Sin's fled from before us. The
law's our enemy. The law's against us. Everything
in the law's against us, because we can't keep any of it. The
law's against us. Romans 8.2 says, for the law,
the spirit of life in Christ, have made me free from the law
of sin and death." Those enemies have fled before us because of
Christ. The songwriter said, free from
the law, oh happy condition. Well, why are we free from the
law? Because he said Jesus had bled. He shed his blood and there's
remission. So we're free from the law, satisfied.
Then look at Hebrews chapter 2. We're free from Satan and
from death. These are our enemies. and we're
free from them. The believer is in Christ. Hebrews
2 verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
hath the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them
who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage. A believer has no reason to fear
death. None. Because Christ already
died. It took the power of that death
away. He set us free from every enemy. And the prayer of the
Old Testament saints, like Moses offered, was, Lord, send the
Messiah, like you promised. Send the Savior, like you promised.
The prayer of the New Testament saints is very similar. Even
so, come, Lord Jesus. You're going to send your Son
again and put an end to all this world of sin. Our prayer is,
don't tarry. Lord, come. Lord, come and deliver
us from all this world of sin. And the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is going to come again. We know He is because He promised
He would as part of His covenant, His promise of grace. If the
Son, therefore, shall make you free, you're free indeed. I look at Galatians chapter 5. We're free in Christ. We have
rest in Christ, but there's no rest. There's no liberty if we
don't believe God. Galatians 5 verse 1. Do I have
a volunteer? Galatians 5 verse 1. Okay, Maggie,
read it for us. Very good, thank you. Don't be
entangled again with that yoke of bondage. We can only have
this rest by believing God. If we go back to that law, we're
back under that bondage, under that yoke of bondage, and there's
no rest. Now, I'll show you what happened
to Israel. Look back in Numbers chapter 14. Remember, Israel,
they wouldn't believe Joshua and Caleb. Joshua and Caleb came
back and told them, we spied out the land, we can go take
it, God's given it to us. But the children of Israel wouldn't
believe them. They said, oh, we can't go defeat all those
giants. In Numbers 14, verse 40, And they rose up early in the
morning, and they gathered them up to the top of the mountain,
saying, Lo, we be here, and we'll go up into the place which the
Lord hath promised For we've sinned. They wouldn't believe
God. And God told them, you're not going to go to the land,
you're going to back out in the wilderness. Well, then they said, oh, well,
you know, we'll go, we'll change our mind. We'll go back and do
what God said. In verse 41, Moses said, Wherefore now do you transgress
the commandment of the Lord? But it shall not prosper. What
you're doing shall not prosper, because you didn't believe God.
Go not up, for the Lord is not among you. And ye be not smitten
before your enemies. For the Malachites and the Canaanites
are there before you. And ye shall fall by the sword,
because ye are turned away from the Lord." You wouldn't believe
the Lord, and your enemies are going to destroy you. Therefore, the
Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up unto
the hilltop. Nevertheless, the ark of the
covenant of the Lord and Moses departed not out of the camp.
The ark of the covenant didn't go with them. God didn't go with
them. And the Amalekites came down, the Canaanites which dwelt
in that hill, and smoked them, and disconfessed them. I'll tell
you what that passage of scripture is written to instruct us. Do
not attempt to worship God apart from Christ. God can only be
worshipped in the Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't have the
victory. They didn't believe God, and
the Ark of the Covenant didn't go with them. The presence of
the Lord didn't go with them. They couldn't have the victory.
They would be defeated. We cannot approach God. We cannot
worship God apart from the covenant of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll tell you another time, Israel
followed the Ark of the Covenant and what it gave him. In Joshua
chapter 3, Israel followed the Ark of the Covenant across the
River Jordan into the Promised Land. At that time of year, Jordan
is flooded, way up out of its bank. The whole plain is flooded.
But Israel crossed on dry ground. They crossed that flooded river
easily, because they followed the Ark of the Covenant, the
priests carrying the Ark, as soon as they put their toe in
that water. The walls stood up in the heat, just like the Red
Sea, and they crossed on dry ground. Now, today, when we talk
about crossing Jordan, we use that as kind of a metaphor of
death. When somebody dies, they cross
Jordan. That's what we refer to as death. Death is not a traumatic experience.
It's easy. All it is, is leaving this life
and going to be with the Lord. And it's easy. Just like Israel
crossed Jordan easily on dry ground. How's that possible? I mean,
death kind of seems like a scary thing. I mean, I look forward
to it. I honestly look forward to it.
But there's a little bit of fear of the unknown in this matter
of the body dying. Well, how can it be easy for
the believer? Because Christ has already died, and all the
believer's doing is following the Lord from this life to the
next, following Him. And that's what they had when
they followed the ark. They followed the ark, they found
rest. They followed the ark, they got
peace in the promised land. And then they followed the ark
of the covenant another time. They came into the promised land,
and they followed the ark of the covenant. walking around
the walls of Jericho. And those walls finally fell
down, and Israel got the victory, because they followed the ark
of the covenant. And that's what a believer has.
We have the victory. Not because we did anything good,
we do all these good religious deeds and all these things. It's
by God's grace and God's power that he's given in the covenant
of grace. Everything a believer ever has, or ever hopes to have,
is because of the covenant of grace. We find rest, we find
peace, and we have the victory over every enemy because of God's
covenant of grace. That's pretty important. That's
probably why the Ark is called the Ark of the Covenant more
than any of the other names, because everything a believer
has comes from the covenant of God's grace. Now second, the
second name is the Ark of the Testimony. You can read that
if you'd like in Exodus 25, verse 22. It's the Ark of the Testimony. Remember what they put inside
the ark? They put the testimony. The testimony was the Ten Commandments.
The law of God was kept inside that ark. And that law was testifying
that Christ is coming to keep that law. That's what that thing
was. It wasn't testifying that you and me should keep the law. That law was testifying Christ
is coming and he's going to keep that law perfectly. Now look
at Psalm 19. Psalm 19, verse 7. Have a volunteer. Okay, Brady,
read verse 7 for us. Good, thank you. Christ is the
testimony of God. He's the testimony of God to
man. Christ is the one who converts
the soul. Christ is the one who makes the simple lies. We're
all simple. We don't know anything about
God. How do we know anything about God? Because Christ testified
to us of the Father. Christ is the testimony of God.
Christ testified of the holiness of God. We know what a holy man
is because Christ lived. We know what holiness is because
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only begotten Son of
God, and yet He was made to be sin for God's elect. The cross,
when we see Christ made sin, that's where we learn the holiness
of God. God spared not His own Son when
He was made to be sin. Even though it was not His own
sin, it was the sin of His elect. That's where we learn about God's
holiness. Christ testified of that. Christ testified of the
love of God. We would have no idea God loved
sinners. if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus
Christ. Herein is love. Not that we loved God, but that
God loved us. Well, how do we know? He sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. Christ testified
of the mercy of God. We never know God's going to
be merciful to sinners until Christ came and was punished
for the sin of His elect. Then we see how God can be merciful
to sinners. because he punished Christ in
our stead. Christ testified of the wisdom of God. The only way
a sinner can ever be saved is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
when we see that, we see God's wisdom. God found a way to be
just and still justify sinners in the sacrifice of his Son.
Christ testified of God's wisdom. Christ testified of God's purpose. is to save a people from their
sin. How do we know that? He sent his son to do it. That's
how we know God's purpose is Christ testifying of his purpose. So that's what the ark is, a
picture of Christ testifying to us of who God is. The third
name is the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. In
Joshua chapter 3, Joshua said the ark is the ark of the Lord,
the Lord of all the earth. Now why is that name important?
Israel, remember, followed the Ark into the Promised Land. And
they're going to possess that Promised Land. They're going
to possess it. There's many mighty enemies there.
There's giants. There's all these enemies. Walls,
strong cities, places with large armies. How's Israel going to
possess that land? Well, it's not because they've
got a greater army than anybody else. It's because the Lord's
going to give it to them, just like He promised Abraham that
He would. God's going to give it to them. He's the Lord of
all the earth. It's all His to give, isn't it?
It's all His to give. It belongs to the Lord, and you
and me live on it by God's permission. It's His to give. And sinners
are saved the exact same way. It's all Christ's. He bought
it all. It's His to give. And God has
promised His elect to have salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
sinner If it comes to Christ for salvation, it's going to
receive it, because it's God's to give. God promised he'd give
it, and he's going to give it to them. You cannot lose your
salvation if the Lord of all the earth gave it to you. It
can't be done, because it's His to give. Fourth, the Ark is called,
in 1 Samuel 3, 3, it's called the Ark of God. And this is interesting. The Ark of God. God never attached
His name to any other piece of furniture in the tabernacle. He didn't call it the altar of
God or the brazen labor of God or the lame stand of God. Only
the ark did God attach his name to it. It's the ark of God. And
he did that because this ark is a picture of Christ. God closely
identified himself with this ark because God identified himself
with his son. God is so closely identified
with Christ because Christ is God. He is God manifest in human
flesh. And the Ark was called the Ark
of God in the place where Samuel was called by God. As Samuel,
scripture says, didn't know the Lord yet, neither was the word
of the Lord revealed to him. Well, how's Samuel going to know
God? When God calls him. And after God called Samuel,
God knew, or Samuel knew God and followed him the rest of
his days because God called him. And the ark of God, this is where
God met men. He said, here's where I'll meet
with you, above the mercy seat. Well, today, God doesn't speak
audibly from heaven and call us like he called Samuel. How's
God going to call us? How can we know God? How's he
going to call us? His word, through the preaching of the gospel. If you hear a man call you, It
won't make any difference. But our prayer, Wayne Pratt and
his prayer, when we opened our class this morning, if God calls
you, you'll hear him. It won't be an audible voice,
but you know how you know that you've heard the voice of God?
You understand what his word is saying. You understand. That's
when God called Samuel, Samuel understood. If God calls you
and me, we'll know it's God calling us, not the creature, not your
mom and dad, because we understand. That is so obvious, and you don't
want anything else. That's when God calls you. This
is the ark of God. We'll know God when God calls
us. Then fifth, in 2 Kings chapter
2, Solomon called the ark, the ark of the Lord God. And the
name that Solomon used means strong, the ark of the Lord God. This is the ark of God who's
got the power to make his covenant sure. David says it's order and
all things are sure. Well, how do you know it's going
to be sure? Because God's got all power to make sure that it
happens. And this name that Solomon used
is the name of God. And he's so obviously God. Scripture never offers proof
of his existence. Never. You read this Bible, you
never find a proof of God's existence. Scripture just says God is. You
don't have to prove it. He just is. It's obvious. Now,
if you want to talk about evolution, what do people call evolution?
The theory of evolution. And they, I mean, they write
big, thick books with all these different ways they're trying
to prove to people their theory. If you've got to offer that many
proofs that something's so, it's not so. Scripture never offers
proof. God is. He just is. And you know
the only reason that we don't know God is? But not because
he didn't give us enough proof. The reason we don't know God
is, is because we're dead. That's the only reason. No matter
what you do, you can't convince a dead man of sunshine. He can't
see it. He can't feel it. He's dead.
I don't care how many proofs you're offering. He can't see
it. But if a person's alive, you don't have to offer them
any proof of sunshine. They know it. The sun is its
own evidence. And when Solomon used this name,
it was a very important time in Israel's history. The Lord
who's got power. He's got the power to accomplish
his purpose. Right before Solomon used this
name for the Ark, the Ark of the Lord God, he had just been
made king. And when David died, Solomon's
brother Adonijah got together with Joab the general and Abiathar
the priest. And they got together and created
this conspiracy that they're going to make Adonijah king.
Instead of Solomon. Adonijah's got the army. He's
got the priest. How on earth is Solomon going
to overcome all that and become king? It was David's purpose
for him to be king. But how can he be king? The only
person he's got on his side is his mother. Adonijah's got the
army. He's got the priest. Because of the Lord God. Guess
who sat on the throne? Solomon did. Even though it looked
like he was alone, he wasn't alone. This was God's purpose. The Lord God. And Solomon sat
on the throne. And when he came to the throne,
first thing he did, he put Joab and he put Adonijah, his brother,
to death. They were put to death. But a
Bitharth priest, Solomon spared his life. Could have killed him,
but he didn't. And you know why he didn't? He
told him, I could put you to death, but you bore the ark of
God before my father David, so I won't put you to death. Life
and Christ, life and the ark are closely related. He had life
because he bore that ark. Now he wasn't a priest anymore,
but his life was spared because of the ark. Our life will be
spared if we're in Christ. We are in Christ. No matter all
the things that we've done, our life will be spared because Christ,
through the power of His blood, put all that sin away. His covenant
is ordered in all things and it's sure because it's the covenant
of the Lord God. He's got the power to accomplish
His purpose. Sixth, in 2 Chronicles 35.3,
the ark is called the Holy Ark. Now, this is very important.
At this time, In Israel's history, the ark wasn't kept in the temple
anymore. They made an idol out of it.
They kept it as just like this religious relic and idol. They
kept it with all the other idols that they brought into idolatry,
all these little statues and things. The ark was just the
same as all those idols to them. And a man named Josiah became
king. And Josiah was determined to
restore the worship of the Lord in Israel. Now, how is he going
to do that? First thing people must know
before they'll ever worship God is this. God's holy. He called
this the holy ark. Israel will never worship God
until they learn this first. God's holy. If God's not holy,
we'll never worship before him. Ever. But if God's holy, we'll
worship. And that's why he called this
the holy ark. People had to understand God's holy. they can begin the
true worship of God. And if I understand God's holy,
this is what I understand. I'm in God's hands, and he'll
do with me as he pleases. And whatever he does, it will
be holy. Nobody can say a thing against
it. Nobody can, because whatever God does is holy. If God damns
me, sends me to hell, it'll be holy. It'll be exactly what my
sins deserve. But if God saves me, it'll still
be holy. He won't ignore my sin. It'll
still be holy because he'll punish Christ for my sins in my stead
and give me the righteousness of Christ that he'll save me
in holiness. His holiness will demand it.
And until we understand that, we'll never worship God. Until
we understand that we're in his hands to do with as he pleases,
will never worship him. Then last, in Psalm 132, verse
8, David called the ark, the ark of thy strength. Now in our
day, you see these paintings and pictures of this hippie looking
guy, Jesus, right? That's what they call him. He
looks weak. He looks effeminate and just,
ugh. Nobody's going to worship that
guy. That guy, the way they depict him, can't save anybody. He can't do anything unless you
let him. He's weak. He's powerless. I'm not going
to worship that. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
not that depiction. The Lord Jesus Christ is no feeble
beggar. He's not feeble, and he's not
begging you and me to do anything. He's got all power. And Christ
uses his might to save His people from their sin, to protect us
from ourselves, to protect us from our enemies, to preserve
us until the time that He brings us home to be with Him. In Isaiah
chapter 9 verse 6, one of the names that Isaiah gives the coming
Messiah is the mighty God. He's got the might, He's got
the power to save His people, and He's going to do according
to His will. He's not begging us. He's going
to do according to His will. Now look at Psalm 89. This will
be our last scripture. Psalm 89. The verse here talks about the mightiness
of Christ our Savior. Psalm 89, verse 19. Say, I volunteer. Verse 19. Okay,
read verse 19 for us. Good, thank you. I have laid
hell on one that's mighty. I grace the burden of our sin,
that God would help us and save us from our sin. I grace that
burden. Well, it's greater than we can imagine. He's going to
lay that on the shoulders of just one? Well, he better be
mighty. He is. Scripture says he's got
the government of the world on his shoulder. Not shoulders. Just one is all it takes. That's
how mighty he is. I've laid help on one that's
mighty. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the power and wisdom of God. It's the power of Christ
that tears down the strongholds of sin and unbelief. I try my
best to make it simple, to make it where everybody can understand
it, but I'm powerless. It's the power of Christ that
tears down those strongholds. It's the power of Christ that's
the power of the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 1.18, we read
this, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness. Some believers think that's foolishness. But that's what you're saying.
It's the power of God. And Brother Henry told us so
many times, that word is dunamis. It's the same word that we use
to get our word dynamite. It's the power. Christ is the
power of God. And He tears down the stronghold
of sin. He's got the power to put sin
away. He tears down the stronghold of unbelief. Unbelief will vanish
away if we ever see the Lord Jesus Christ in His power.