I always like to bring messages
that will help to prepare the way for our conferences if the
Lord will give me such, and I believe he has. If I can get prepared
what I want to preach Sunday morning and Sunday night, I'll
be preaching to you tonight and again Sunday morning and again
Sunday night from Exodus chapters 33 and 34. Exodus chapter 33. And I want us tonight to go to the
tabernacle. Let's go to the tabernacle. Exodus
chapter 33, verse 1. The Lord said unto Moses, depart
and go up hence. Thou and the people which thou
has brought up out of the land of Egypt unto the land which
I swear unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, unto thy
seed will I give it, and I will send an angel before thee, and
I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite,
and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land
flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up in the midst
of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people, lest I consume thee in
the way. And when the people heard these
evil tidings, they mourned. And no man did put on him his
ornaments, For the Lord had said unto Moses, saying to the children
of Israel, ye are a stiff-necked people. I will come up in the
midst of thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore now put
off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto
thee. And the children of Israel stripped
themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb. And Moses
took the tabernacle. and pitched it without the camp
afar off from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of the congregation.
And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out
unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And
it came to pass when Moses went out unto the tabernacle that
the people rose up and stood every man at his tent's door
and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.
And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle,
the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle.
And the Lord talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose
up and worshiped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake
unto Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the
camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man,
departed not out of the tabernacle. When Moses came down from the
mount, after receiving the law of God, he found the children
of Israel, dancing naked around a golden calf that Aaron had
made. He knew the enormity of their
transgression. Immediately, he destroyed their
idol, their golden calf. He ground it to powder. He scattered
it upon the waters and compelled the children of Israel to drink
the water, that bitter water containing their bitter God that
God despised. And then Moses stood in the gate
of the camp and he said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him
come to me. And before the day was over,
the sons of Levi had killed 3000 idolaters who would not repent. Then Moses made his great intercessory
prayer for the children of Israel, seeking God's forgiveness for
them. The Lord said, Moses, just get
out of my way, I'll kill him, and I'll raise up a great nation
from your seed. Reckon what you'd do if he said
that to you. Well, Lord, have at it. That sounds good to me.
But Moses loved the people of God, and he prayed that God would
spare them. And the Lord was merciful. He
didn't destroy the nation, but he said to Moses, I will not
go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people. Now we'll see later on that Moses
intercedes again. He said, Lord, you said you wouldn't
go, but you promised us that you would. And the Lord then
promises him he'll go. He said, if your presence go
not up with us, carry us not up hence. Don't let us move a
foot without you. So the Lord spoke to Moses like
this. Now the children of Israel heard
this word from Moses and they humbled themselves before God.
They were broken by reason of their guilt, broken by their
transgression, broken before God. Read verses four through
seven again. When the people heard these evil
tidings, they heard the evil word from God. They mourned. And no man did put on his ornaments.
Nobody dressed up like he was going out to party. For the Lord
had said to Moses, saying to the children of Israel, you are
stiff-necked people. I will not, I will come up in
the midst of thee in a moment and consume thee. Therefore now
put off thine ornaments from thee, that I may know what to
do unto thee. And the children of Israel stripped
themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb. They made
themselves naked before the golden calf and showed their shame before
the golden calf to the world. And now in humiliation before
God, they stripped themselves of their ornaments and make themselves
naked before God. That's what the Lord God calls
us to. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. And the
confession of sin, would to God you'd hear this if you hear nothing
else. The confession of sin is not walking forward in a Baptist
church like you were going to a Catholic confessional booth
and identifying one thing after another that you had done or
thought or said, though that certainly may be included. The
confession of sin is doing business with God in your heart. It's not hard for Joe Blakely
to talk to me about the evil he does because I'm just like
him. That's no difficulty. But to talk to God about the
evil you are, that's difficult. I'm talking
about rip open your heart before God. Deliberately stand naked
before him before whom all things are naked. Stand naked before
Him willingly so that you confess to Him all your guilt, all your
depravity, all your corruption, all your transgression, not just
what you do, what you are. God said, I won't go up amongst
the stiff-necked rebel people. And they said, Lord, you're right.
We're stiff-necked rebel people. If I come up amongst you, a stiff-necked
rebel people, I'll consume you in a moment like a snowball in
a blast furnace. And they said, we deserve that.
So they stripped themselves of their ornaments by the Mount
Oreb. And Moses took the tabernacle
and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, a long
ways off from the camp. Now, this tabernacle that Moses
pitched clearly is not the tabernacle of the wilderness. That was not
completed and finished until we get to chapter 40 when Moses
pitched that tabernacle. The tabernacle of the wilderness
was done and pitched in the midst of the camp of Israel. So the
children of Israel made their camp around the tabernacle. But
this tabernacle is pitched a far off long way outside the camp.
Yet it clearly is set before us as a type in picture of that
tabernacle yet to be completed. That tabernacle that Moses received
the pattern of in the heavens while he was receiving the law.
He pitched the tabernacle far off from the camp and called
it the tabernacle of the congregation, the tabernacle of the assembly,
the tabernacle of the church in the wilderness. And it came
to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle
of the congregation, which was without the camp. Now, like Moses
and the children of Israel, tonight I want us to go to the tabernacle. Let's go to the tabernacle and
seek the Lord, our God, that we may know him and worship him. Now, having said that, I know
that you realize we have no earthly physical tabernacle. This church
building is not a temple. It is not a tabernacle. It's
not even the church. It's just a building where God's
people meet to worship him. We do not worship God with physical
material things. We don't have crosses, we don't
have altars, we don't have all the junk that goes along with
religious tradition that identifies this as some kind of a spiritual
place. There is no such thing as a spiritual place or a spiritual
physical thing. There's no such thing. No such
thing. You know, people somehow, we just got our heads chopped
full of idolatry. We just got them chopped full
of it. This is just a building. We worship God in the Spirit. We worship God in God the Spirit. We worship God by God the Holy
Spirit. And we worship God spiritually. That means there's no such thing
as a holy place, a holy building, a holy ornament, or a holy desk,
or a holy church in a physical sense, none whatever. We worship
God spiritually, worshiping Him in spirit and in truth. And yet,
this tabernacle, this physical building, like the temple that
followed it in the Old Testament, was set up specifically by God
to be a singular place where God would meet with men, where
men would worship God, and all who would worship God would go
to the tabernacle to worship Him. because the tabernacle represented
that which has come to pass today in the gospel, that which is
spiritual. It was the shadow of good things
to come, but just the shadow. The tabernacle in the wilderness
was a tabernacle that was about 75 feet wide, about 150 feet
long. That's a pretty good representation
of it right here. The holy place, that's the section
inside the fence there, that holy place was about 15 by 45. The holy place was the place
where only the priest could go. In the outer quarter of the tabernacle,
there was the brazen altar and there was the brazen laver where
men would come, the common men could come up to the tabernacle
and they could see this laver, or this altar, and behind it
the laver, the altar of sacrifice and the laver of cleansing. But
then inside the holy place, the tabernacle that was within the
fence, that area about 15 by 45, was the table of showbread
and the golden candlestick and the altar of incense. And then
behind the altar of incense Separated by that thick veil was the Holy
of Holies. And in the Holy of Holies, just
one thing, just one thing, the Ark of the Covenant made all
of one piece with the mercy seat covering the broken tables of
the law, Aaron's rod that budded and the golden pot that had manna.
Now all of these things we've seen going through these portions
in the book of Exodus, I want us to look at them together tonight
and see here what these things represent and picture. The tabernacle
was the sanctuary of God's presence. It was the place where God met
with his people. It was the place where God promised
to meet with his people. It was the place, the only place
in all the world where God showed his glory, manifest his presence,
and displayed his grace, only in the tabernacle. You mean,
Brother Don, of all the places in this wide, wide world, the
only place where God showed himself. Now, let's just suppose this
out here is the world, and that's the tabernacle for sure. Let's
just suppose that. You mean that little insignificant
place Looks like just a... It looks like the house a poor
man's got all covered over with wild animal skins. It doesn't
even look pretty. You mean that's the only place?
That's the only place where God revealed himself? Where God showed
his glory? Where God spoke to men? The only
place on earth where a man could hear from God? It's exactly right. Well, what about this great temple
over here? No. Well, what about this huge shrine
over here? No. But this place over here,
oh, how rich, how large. Why, everybody who's anybody,
that's where they go. No. Just there. Just there. Why, that just can't be. Either
it can't be or it dead sure is. What are the two? And it dead
sure is. This is the only place where
you can come to know God. The only place. where God will
meet with you. Now remember, I'm not talking
about this physical building. I'm talking about that place
represented in that tabernacle in the wilderness. The tabernacle
was the place in accordance to God's promise when it was finished,
where a cloud covered the tent, we're told in Exodus chapter
40. It covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of
the Lord filled the As soon as it was put together,
everything finished, right in the middle of the congregation
of Israel, the cloud comes over that tabernacle and God's glory
filled the place. Now, what does all that mean
to us? The tabernacle with its furnishings, the priesthood,
all the tapestry, all the garments of the priesthood, those things
were destroyed a long, long time ago. So why should we have any
interest in it? I suppose of all things in the
scriptures, more has been written, well I ought to take that back,
probably prophecy, more been written to talk about that than,
usually the less that's revealed, the more folks write about it
and talk about it. Prophecy, number one, I reckon. Next to
that, tabernacle. Folks write about it all the
time, they have models of it, all kinds of things about it.
But why is it interesting? What's the purpose of it? Everything
concerning that tabernacle, is spiritually instructive. Now,
I may not have been able to clearly set before you, because I don't
have clear understanding about every detail, but everything
in that tabernacle is clearly instructive of that which is
spiritual. We're told in Ephesians 2 that
the tabernacle was a picture of God's church, and habitation
of God through the Spirit. That's what this is, right here.
And he's not talking about the church universal. He's talking
about local church. He's speaking to the church at
Ephesus. He says, this is what you ought
to be a habitation of God through the spirit. Oh, how blessed we are of God
in this place. That God graciously condescends
to meet with us as we gather in his name and habitation of
God through the spirit without question. The tabernacle represents
the individual believer who is himself a temple of God the Holy
Spirit. And the tabernacle represents
things in heaven. We're told in Hebrews 9 that
it represents things in the heavens, things that haven't yet been
seen, haven't yet been known by us. But first and foremost,
first and foremost, the tabernacle is a beautiful beautiful, instructive
picture of the rich glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and all
the accomplishment of redemption and grace and salvation by Christ
Jesus. All the ordinances of divine
service, all the rites, all the ceremonies of the worldly sanctuary,
the sanctuary itself, the tabernacle, the priesthood, all were pictures
of Christ. You will never understand the
law of God. And you will never understand
the laws of the Old Testament. You'll never understand the laws
of worship in the Old Testament. All the Levitical law, all the
ceremonial law, you'll never understand it. until you understand
that all these laws, all these services, all the sacrifices,
all the rituals of the Old Testament Scriptures spoke of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is no understanding of
the Old Testament without understanding this. It is the revelation of
the glory of God in Christ Jesus the Lord. All right, now let's
look here and see what it represents. I said it all speaks of Christ
outside. Everything is utter simplicity. It's just a tent covered over
with skins. Nothing to appeal to anybody. I'll guarantee you, I'll guarantee
you that if you could look with your eye, Rex, on that physical
tabernacle, it wasn't near as pretty as that model Larry made
for me. I'll guarantee it wasn't anywhere near that pretty. Wasn't
anywhere near that attractive, that appealing. Wasn't anywhere
near that intriguing. It was just all covered over with skins
that had no appeal to a man. But everything inside, everything
inside was made of shidom wood, a non-decaying wood, overlaid
with pure gold. That's a pretty good picture
of Christ. He has no form nor comeliness that when we see Him,
we should desire Him. He is just a man, a man of human
flesh. He came here in human flesh.
The word was made flesh. God's darling son became what
we are, that he might make us what he is. He came to where
we are, that he might take us to where he is, brought us into
union with himself. And he came into union with us
when the word was made flesh. He was a man. In every detail a man, as much
as Bobby Estes is a man. Every detail, except one, he
knew no sin. He did no sin. No guile was found
in his mouth. In every other detail, he's a
man. In every other. And even in that, he was made
to know sin as you could never know it. For when he came to
the end of his days for which you come into this world, The
Son of God was made sin for us. He who knew no sin. And now he
who sits on heaven's throne is Christ our Redeemer, the God-man,
who knows and is touched. Larry Criss, with everything
that can touch you, touches him. Imagine that. If it touches you, it touches
him. How can that be? Well, he's tender
and sympathetic. Well, that's true. He's merciful
and compassionate. That's true. That's true. But
more than that, Merle, you can't be separated from him and he
can't be separated from you. If it touches you, it touches
him. He's touched with the feeling of our infirmities. inside this
tabernacle of flesh. In fact, that's the very word
that John uses when he says the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. The word was made flesh and tabernacled
among us. That's the very word. He tabernacled
here in that flesh. But inside that humanity is pure
divinity. In him is all the fullness of
God in a body. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. So that Jesus Christ, the man,
is Jesus Christ, our God. He is the God-man. He is the man-God. There's none other like him.
What does this tabernacle show us about our Savior, the God-man?
Well, as you come to the tabernacle, the very first thing you see
is a sacrificing priest. Turn to Hebrews chapter 5 for
just a moment. You come to the gate of the tabernacle, you approach
the brazen altar, and standing by that altar is a sacrificing
priest, and that priest is our Lord Jesus. Hebrews chapter 5. Every high
priest taken from among men, our Lord Jesus is that one of
whom the psalmist speaks. Thou hast laid help upon one
that is mighty. Thou hast exalted one chosen
out of the people. He too is a priest taken from
among men, is ordained for men. The priest existed for the benefit
of the men they represented in things pertaining to God. The
priest are men taken from among men. chosen and ordained of God
for the benefit of men, to deal with those men and with God in
things pertaining to God, that they may offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins. They are men who can have compassion on two kinds of people. I can't think of any two people
who need compassion like these two do. The ignorant. Folks who are groping about in
darkness and can't find their way back to God because they're
lost and ignorant. And them that are out of the
way. For that he himself also is compassed
with infirmity. The priest is a man just like
you. And by reason hereof he ought as for the people so also
for himself to offer for sins. These earthly priests were just
sinners like us. The Lord Jesus certainly never was that, but
he was made sin for us. Read on. And no man taketh this. What
a word. This honor. This honor. What honor to be always dealing
with blood. What honor to be Constantly representing
ignorant, sinful men and women before God. This honor? Oh, yes. Our Savior considers
it His greatest honor to be our Savior. The glory of God, Alan
Kibbe, is revealed nowhere except in the face of Him who redeemed
you. In the face of Jesus Christ.
You got that? No man taketh this honor unto
himself, but he that is called of God,
even as was Aaron. The Lord God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit looked upon Christ Jesus, our blessed covenant surety,
the God man, the first Adam, That one who was actually made
in the garden to be the first Adam. He was made after this
man who comes later as the last Adam. But he looked on him and
he chose him as our surety. He says, behold, my delight in
whom my soul delighteth. Isaiah 42. He's called of God,
as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified, not
himself to be made in high priest. But he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And the Lord God raised
up his son from the dead and set him at his own right hand.
He said, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. All
the garments of the priest speak of our Savior. His miter with
his golden plate holiness to the Lord speaks of our Savior's
holiness and perfection. His girdle speaks of him in his
strength. Christ is our strength. His breastplate,
wearing the names of the children of Israel, speaks of him representing
God's elect and also having in his breastplate the Urim and
the Thummim, the lights and perfections only found in Christ. The effort,
that is, the apron to which the breastplate was fastened, speaks
of our Lord Jesus Christ as well. On that effort, he had 12 stones.
representing all 12 tribes of the nation of Israel, showing
us that Christ bears God's elect continually upon his broad shoulders
and upon his heart in all his functions. But the priest had
to have a sacrifice. A priest with no sacrifice is
more useless than a bucket without a bottom. Every priest ordained
of God is a sacrificing priest. have in the religious world these
days, priests who have no sacrifice. The Roman church has been full
of them for years. Priests without a sacrifice. The Mormon church
is full of them. Priests without a sacrifice.
The Anglican church is full of them. Priests without a sacrifice.
I would rather have buckets without bottoms. I can do something with
that. At least I can beat off an enemy with the bucket. Priests
without a sacrifice are useless. Without blood, sacrifices The
priest could do nothing. And without the shedding of blood,
no man can come to God. All the sacrifices offered by
those priests, not only was the priest himself typical of Christ,
the sacrifices were. Some of them were strong, strong
beast, oxen and rams. And they had to be males of the
first year. That's our Redeemer. Some were
tamed. As insignificant as turtle doves. Tame. Insignificant. You can buy them two for a penny.
Insignificant. Tame turtle doves. Like a lamb. Tame. Calm. Led. Not forced, but led to the slaughter. All of them had to be beast without
blemish. Perfect. That's our Redeemer
as well. The next thing you see is the
brazen altar. That brazen altar where the sacrifices
were made speaks of our blessed Redeemer. Hebrews chapter 13,
verse 10. We have an altar whereof they
have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. Dying on the cross in our stead,
Jesus Christ, the God-man, became our offering, our burnt offering
to God. The fire that fell on him was
the fire of God's wrath. You remember on this brazen altar,
all the inward parts, all the excrements had to be sacrificed
with the animal. Why on earth would He do that?
Why? Why all the filth? All the stuff
you'd really rather somebody clean it out before you ever
saw the animal. All the excrement burnt with the sacrifice. Because when God poured out His
wrath on His Son, all our sins was consumed with
that sacrifice that consumed the fire of God's wrath. Consumed. The other sacrifices
were consumed by the fire that continually burned at the altar.
This sacrifice, Christ the Lord consumed the fire as it was consumed
by the fire. And all our sins burned with
it. And then third, there's this
labor of brass. The labor of brass is that place where the
priest, before they could go into the holy of holies, or before
they could go into the holy place, excuse me, the priest had to
wash their hands and wash their feet. They had to Every time
they started to go inside the holy place, had to wash their
hands and wash their feet. They couldn't go in where the
altar of incense was, where the candlestick was, where the table
of showbread was, until they washed their hands and washed
their feet. Because you can't do business
with God in the holy place until you are clean personally. Personally. through the washing
of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. That labor
of brass represents the work of the spirit, putting us in
Christ and Christ in us so that now we have that holiness without
which no man shall see the Lord, that holiness. Which gives us the eyes of faith,
which is the only eyes that can see the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. That holiness which gives us
fitness at last to stand before God, stand before Him forever,
and made heirs, made meek to be heirs of the inheritance of
the saints in light. We are redeemed by the blood
of our Savior at the altar. And we are redeemed by the power
of our Savior at the laver when he comes in and makes that which
was unclean clean by putting in us that which is clean, made
partakers of the divine nature in the new birth. But this is
something that the priest Each one had to do for himself. Larry
Brad, if you were one of God's priests, matter of fact, you
are part of that holy priesthood. What do you do? You got to wash
your hands, got to wash your feet. There is no entering into
the holy place, no entering into life everlasting in the experience
of grace, except you personally. by faith in Jesus Christ, plunge
into the fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And there the sinner, the sinner
plunged beneath the flood loses all his guilty stains, loses
them consciously. Oh, they'll put away at Calvary,
yes. But the believer, as soon as he believes, stands before
God with his conscience purged from guilt. And now, now I can
walk in where God is. Now, now I can walk with God
and God walk with me. You notice that we read this
11th verse of our text. I just, I puzzled with this all
day long today. Puzzled with it a good bit yesterday. And the day before, what does
this mean? The Lord spoke with Moses face
to face in the tabernacle. And Moses came out to give the
good news to the children of Israel. But Joshua, his servant,
stayed right there in the tabernacle. How come? Because Moses is the
law. And the law that went in with
God's curse. goes into the place of sacrifice
and does business with God. And now the Lord comes out with
God's blessing because Joshua, the Savior, is seated on the
throne of God in the holy place. And he comes out to bless his
own. Oh, now we come to this laver and next to the laver is
the holy place. We go in there and there are
three things. You pull that outer curtain back
and you Step in there, and on the south side, that'll be on
your left as you walk in, is the candlestick. The golden candlestick. Christ, the light of the world. Now, now everything's beginning
to make sense. Now, in the light of Jesus Christ
crucified, seated on God's throne, given power over all flesh to
give eternal life to as many as the Father's given him, now,
Now I can see, yeah, yeah, this world making sense now. This
book's making sense now. He's the light of the world.
The golden candlestick, we're told in Revelation chapters 1,
2, and 3, speaks of Christ's church, local churches, which
are lights. The golden candlestick had seven
lamps in it. Seven churches representing God's
churches throughout the gospel age and these carried the light
of the gospel into the world and so it is our responsibility
to carry the gospel and our privilege to carry it through all the ends
of the earth and the Lord Jesus Walks in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks all the time always present with his own On
the right side is the table of showbread with its stacks of
bread. Bread representing manna for
all the children of Israel. Christ, the bread of life, here
represented in these 12 loaves of bread for the 12 tribes of
the children of Israel. Bread always on the table. Always there. Bread sufficient
for you for every need. Come boldly now to the throne
of grace and take mercy. Find grace to help in time of
need. And then sitting in the back against the veil is the
altar of incense. Incense. Haven't smelled it in a long,
long time. When I was in college, I think some of the boys who
were in Bible college with me might have been smoking pot.
I don't know for sure, but I've always suspicion they were right
across the dormitory from me because they always burned incense.
And marijuana stinks. It just stinks when you burn
it. Their room always smelled good and they didn't bathe that
often. I'm just always suspicion. They smoked pot. Might be wrong,
but I've just been suspicious. Oh, but the incense covers up
the stink. Christ is our intercessor. And he doesn't cover up the stink. He takes it away. He makes us
sweet smelling incense before our God by which we are accepted
of God. And then right behind that altar
of incense is the veil. that heavy, heavy, heavy, thick
veil. That veil, we're told in Hebrews
chapter 10, is the humanity of our Redeemer. That veil was the
only way of access to God. You couldn't get into the Holy
of Holies without going through that veil. You couldn't get there. And you couldn't go there. It
was shut off to you. Nobody except the high priest
could go into that veil. And he, just once a year on the
Day of Atonement, with the blood of the sacrifice, the Paschal
Lamb that God had ordained, he could go in one time, once a
year, with that blood, only with that blood. He could go in behind
the veil, but as soon as he came back out, Shut off again. And with that blood, every year
he was saying to the children of Israel, remember, God said
there is a way. Remember, Jehovah found a ransom
and there is a way. There is a way, but there's just
one way for man to get to God. And that way is Jesus Christ,
the Lord. But before you can get to God,
The veil's got to be torn down. The God-man has got to die. And Jesus Christ, when he cried,
it is finished. By the merit of his blood, opened
the door of access for sinners to God, and gave sinners free
access to God, to come boldly, boldly, with confidence to the
throne of grace. To come, as Paul puts it in Hebrews
10, 22, I believe it is. He says, Rex, come with full
assurance. With full assurance. The full assurance of faith.
The full assurance of faith. And you can't do that. You can't
do that. Let me ask you, do you reckon there was ever a day when
Aaron went in before God in behind the veil? Do you reckon there
was ever a day of atonement when he went in there carrying that
blood that had been caught in that basin, that little bit of
hyssop? Do you reckon he ever went in there sweating beads?
Do you reckon he ever went in there Oh, I don't know whether
God's going to accept me or not. I may not come out of here today,
so brethren, pray that the Lord will give me acceptance. Not
on your life. How come? He had God's word for
it. God said, bring the blood and
I'll meet you on the mercy seat between the cherubim. And when
you get done here, you step out Put back on your gorgeous garments.
Oh, put on those rich, beautiful priestly garments and lift up
your hands and pronounce God's blessing on God's people because
of blood accepted. Oh, the Lord bless thee and keep
thee. The Lord make his face to shine
upon thee, give thee peace. Full assurance of faith. How
can you do that? Well, inside that tabernacle, inside that
holy of holies, on the other side of the altar of incense,
on the other side of that burnt, of that red veil, there's just
one piece of furniture, the Ark of the Covenant. In it is Christ,
the power of God, Aaron's rod that budded. In it is Christ,
the end of the law, the broken tables of the law, rewritten
and repaired by God himself. There they are, whole. Moses
had smashed them to pieces. God wrote them again, said, take
this down and put it in the tabernacle. And in it is manna, the bread
of life for your soul. Who's it for? It's for the children
of Israel, for whom Aaron comes once a year and brings blood. But on top of that arc is a mercy
seat with the cherubs of God facing one another, covering
the law, covering the rod, covering the manna, mercy seat. And God
said, that's where you sprinkle the blood. That's where I'll
meet you. That's where I'll meet you. You
know what that mercy seat is? You know what the word is in
the New Testament? It's propitiatory. Christ is the what for our sins? Propitiation. That's it. Christ
is the mercy seat for our sins. He's the propitiation for our
sins. He's the propitiatory sacrifice.
He's the sacrifice. by which God's wrath is appeased
and taken away. Our daughter never would take
a pacifier when she was a small baby. Shelby tried her best to
get Faith to take a pacifier. She wouldn't take it. When she
got to be just a little older, I don't know, somewhere 10, 12
months older, she kind of acted like she wanted one. She couldn't
get one then. But folks, these days, sometimes I see little
boys look like they're ready to go into third or fourth grade
sucking on pacifiers. I think, mama, get it. But you
know what the pacifier's for? The pacifier is to stop the kid
from pitching a fit. Stick it in the mouth. And it
comes from this very word. Comes from this very word. God Almighty, is furious with
men until Christ comes, the sacrifice for sin. And now he is the propitiation
for our sins. The publican prayed like this,
God, be merciful. God, be propitious to me, the
sinner. Be propitious to me, the sinner. And now, since Christ has come
and propitiated God's wrath, God says to Jacob, fury is not in me. And that's the message of the
tabernacle. Fury is gone from God for every sinner who believes
the Son of God. Amen.