Thank you, David. I needed that. Nothing drives away those thoughts of self that so
often consume us like the hope and joy of worshiping and praising
our God. Now listen carefully to these
seven statements. I trust they will be fixed in
your mind as we look at our text in a moment in Leviticus 24.
These seven statements are so very important. I pray that God
the Holy Spirit will inscribe them on your hearts and cause
you to know them. Here's the first. Every sinner who believes on
the Lord Jesus Christ Every sinner who believes on
the Lord Jesus Christ is numbered among God's elect, God's Israel. Our faith in Christ is evidence
of our being chosen of God, redeemed by Christ, and called by his
spirit. Faith does not cause God to choose
us or enable Christ to redeem us, or cause the Holy Spirit
to call us and give us the new birth. But faith is the evidence
of it. Now, believe on the Son of God. Believe on the Son of God, and
you have eternal life. Number two, all who believe Christ
All God's elect, before they believe, when they believe, and
after they believe, all God's elect are in Christ. In Him by election, divine predestination,
in Him according to the purpose of God, in Him as our covenant
head and surety, in Him by blood atonement, and in Him by personal
faith. We're in Him because we want
to be in Him. We're in Him because we believe Him. Number three,
all who are in Christ, all God's elect, every one of them, every
one of them, are accepted in Christ. Always, all the time,
no matter what. Accepted in Christ. accepted
for Christ's sake, accepted with Christ, and accepted as Christ
himself is accepted. If you can get that, you've got
a lot. Number four, all God's elect
are supplied and provided for by Christ according to the riches
of his grace all the time. Number five, all gods elect in
Christ are safe and secure as safe and secure as the very throne
of God. Number six, all God's elect,
all who believe on Christ, all who come to God in the holy place
by faith in Christ, are a part of that royal priesthood described
by the Apostle Peter, who do service before God continually
in the sanctuary. And number seven. All God's elect,
all of them, all of them, all of them, are one in Christ. The Church of God is one kingdom,
one body. We have many members, but we
are one body in the Lord, members of Christ. Now, our text is Leviticus
chapter 24, verses 5 through 9. And I'm certain before I'm done,
you will see the connection with what I just told you. These verses
of scripture contain the instructions that God commanded Moses to give
to Aaron concerning the table of shewbread and the purpose
and service of that table in the tabernacle. Now, you'll remember,
and I've pulled this tabernacle out again that Larry made for
me for my birthday a year or so ago. And after services, I
encourage you to take another look at it. But as you go with. your mind into the outer sanctuary,
the first outer court of the tabernacle, where the ordinary
priest did daily business. There were three pieces of furniture.
As you go behind that veil into the sanctuary, that part before
the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies that was separated
by that thick, thick veil behind which no man could go except
the high priest on the Day of Atonement. But as the priest
would go in every morning into this sanctuary, this holy place,
this outer court of the sanctuary, There'll be three pieces of furniture.
The first thing that would be bound to strike his attention
is that golden altar of incense sitting right at the back against
the veil, the curtain that separated the holy place from the holy
of holies. That veil that separated the
sinners being completely incapable of coming into and finding acceptance
with God. But there he'd see that golden
altar of incense, where the high priest on the Day of Atonement
would take a little incense and go in to the holy place, and
smoke would fill the room. On the left-hand side would be
the golden candlestick, which we looked at in the preceding
verses of this chapter. On the right side is a golden
table of showbread. Sitting on it, there are 12 loaves
of bread. sitting in two rows arranged
by divine order with golden saucers, golden plates, golden bowls,
golden spoons, and on each of the two rows of bread is a little
frankincense. Now, the physical description
of this table of showbread is found in Exodus 37. It was made
of Shittam wood, the same wood with which the Lord made the
Ark of the Covenant, that wood that was found in that part of
the world, probably something like our cedar, perhaps our oak,
maybe, I mean, our locust, perhaps something else. But it was a
wood that didn't have a decaying feature. It didn't rot. It would
last a long, long, long time. It was overlaid with pure gold,
and the table of showbread The Lord commanded that there be
made a crown round about it. This table was just about three
feet long, about a little more than 27 inches wide, about 27
inches tall, and about 18 inches wide. Now, look at the instruction
God gives in our text. Leviticus 24, verse 9. And thou
shalt take fine flour, and bake 12 loaves thereof, Two-tenth
deals, now lest I forget as I move along, that's twice as much as
God gave manna in the wilderness every day for a man. Two-tenth
deals, two omers. Two-tenth deals shall be in one
cake. And thou shalt set them in two
rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. And
thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be
on the bread for a memorial, even offering made by fire unto
the Lord. Every Sabbath he shall set it
in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children
of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron's and his
sons, and they shall eat it in the holy place. For it is most
holy unto him of offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual
statute. Now this golden table of showbread
and the bread on it give us a picture with much spiritual instruction
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ and the bounteous provisions
of his grace for his people. Let's look at the things mentioned
in this text one at a time. First, the table. The golden
table of showbread itself is typical of our great Savior.
It was made of shittum wood. That speaks of our Lord's great
humanity. The Lord Jesus Christ, in order
to redeem and save his people, took on himself our nature. took
into union with himself our nature. He became all that we are, seeing
alone, accepted as a man. He's one of us. He really is. He's as much a man as though
he were not God. I think we often fail to realize
anything of what we ought to concerning our Savior's holy
humanity. In order to redeem and save his
people, that one who would be our mediator and our substitute
must himself be a man. A man must suffer the wrath of
God. A man must be made to be the
object of God's curse. A man must put away sin. But
no mere man could do it. The Lord Jesus Christ is man,
but he is God Almighty. Now, the Shittem wood was particularly
used, the same materials were used in the making of the Ark
of the Covenant, as I mentioned. It was used in these furnishings
because the Shittem wood was a long-lasting wood. You'd die
before it rotted. It just lasted a long, long time. It didn't have any element of
corruption, at least that was observable to men. Sin is that
which corrupts us. Sin corrupted God's creation. Sin corrupts our minds. Sin corrupts our hearts. And
sin corrupts our bodies. It is sin that causes these bodies,
when they're laid in the grave, to rot and return to the dust. But our Lord Jesus Christ had
no sin. You see, our Redeemer must be
a man without sin. He did not have an Adamic fallen
nature. He was born of the Virgin. He
was born in this world without Adam's nature. And he did no
sin. He never committed an act of
transgression. There was no sin in him and no
sin done by him. He knew no sin. But our Lord Jesus was made to
be sin. And when he was made to be sin,
he was buried in the earth. But remember, the Shittim wood
was a wood without decay, without corruption. And because he had
once suffered the wrath of God in his flesh and put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself, it was not possible that any
of the consequences thereafter should fall on him. And so it
is written, thou wilt not suffer thine holy one to seek corruption. And in three days, He who had
put away sin arose from the dead and declares the sin that was
made to be his is gone. This man is God all. God in human flesh. Only God
could satisfy the wrath and justice of God. Only God could bear away
the immense load of human guilt by the sacrifice of himself.
The Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, is God in human flesh who died
in our stead and now there sits yonder in heaven. on the throne
of absolute monarchy, Jesus Christ, our main God. He who holds the reins of the
universe is a man who knows everything men experience on the earth,
and he's touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He rules
the world to save his people from their sins. And this table,
wearing a crown of pure gold, speaks of our Lord's exaltation
and glory as our great king. I have been told since I was
a young man that things like baseboard and crown bolting and
quarter round and that stuff are pretty ways to cover up a
carpenter's mistakes, the reason folks invented them. I don't
know about that. But next time one of you fellas
starts to put up some crown bolting, try to remember this picture
here. The Lord put a crown around this table. a crown not to cover
anything up, but to teach us something. He of whom the table
speaks is the King of Glory. He always has been, He is now,
and He shall forever be. This One who is the God-Man,
our Savior, as the result of His obedience unto death, has
been given dominion over all things to give eternal life to
His people. Now look at the place of this
table. Be sure you don't fail to see the place where the table
of showbread stood. It is sitting in the holy place. It is called the table of showbread,
the bread of presence. It stood in the holy place in
the tabernacle before the presence of the Lord. The bread, as it
were, is set before God himself. Here's bread. Sitting on God's
table. Sitting on God's table. Not as
though God were hungry and needed to be fed. Nothing could be further
than the truth. That's good for Santa Claus and
your idols that you invent. But that's not pictured here.
This bread is set before God himself and stood there before
the Lord continually as the bread fit for God. Bread offered to
God, bread honored by God, and bread accepted by God. It stood
there symbolically as the bread upon which God feeds. Now listen
to this, you can find it in John 6.33. The Lord Jesus says, for
the bread of God, the bread of God is he which cometh down from
heaven and giveth his life for the world. That is to say, The
master is declaring, I, the bread of life, and that which gives
satisfaction and delight to God himself, the bread of God, is
here represented. The Lord Jesus Christ, the bread
of life, for us, yes, but he's the bread of God. The food of
heaven, our all-glorious Christ, his person and his work. is he
upon whom the triune God feasts and is satisfied and is delighted
all the time. Now look at the lows, verses
five and six. Read it again. Thou shalt take
fine flour and bake twelve cakes, twelve loaves thereof. Two teak
deals shall be in one cake, and thou shalt set them in two rows,
six on a row, upon the pure table of gold. Twelve loaves of bread
were to be set upon this golden table in the holy place. Twelve. Twelve. Hmm. Reckon what that signifies. Twelve
is the number of God's Israel. Throughout the scripture, it
is the number of God's elect. Read in Revelation of the 144,000
who shall be saved. That's not a real number. That's
not a literal number. It is a representative number,
12 times 12. It's 144,000, speaking of all
the multitudes of God's elect, a specific number given for a
general. But without question, this is
set forth through the scriptures in other places. You remember
that the names inscribed upon Aaron's breastplate were 12,
the 12 tribes of Israel. The foundations of the New Jerusalem
are the 12 tribes of Israel. The gates of the city are the
12 apostles. The 12 apostles of our Lord representing
all of his people. The 24 elders before the throne,
12 times 2, representing God's people. When Joshua crossed over
Jordan, He took out 12 stones out of that river of woe and
set them up as a memorial altar to the Lord. When Elijah was
on the Mount Carmel before the prophets of Baal, as he mocked
their gods and declared God alone to be God in Israel and said,
Lord, show yourself now that you're God. He set up 12 stones
representing God's people. And this is how God shows himself
to be God. He saves his people. He saves
his people. These 12 loaves then, in the
holy place upon the table before God, tell us symbolically that
the high priest of God has an abundant supply for all those
whose names are inscribed on his breastplate. None of them
shall ever perish. Let me see if I can get a little
milk out of that. Listen to what our Savior says
in his parable in Luke 15. in our father's house is bread enough and to spare. Bread enough and to spare. Now
notice, as I pointed out earlier, these loaves, each of them had
two-tenth deals of fine flour, two omers. That's double any
man's daily provision of manna in the wilderness. In other words,
the Lord God Almighty in Christ provides us with a supply of
abundant, super abundant bread for our souls. And each loaf
of bread sitting on that table was symbolically twice as much
bread as might be needed in any circumstance for every person
in the nation of Israel. Twice as much bread as might
be needed in any circumstance for everyone. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Christ is bread with infinite
abundance and fullness. Infinite. Untold multitudes have
been feeding on this bread for all the time of the world. And yet the bread is just as
full as if no one had ever tasted it at all. There is an infinite
fullness in Christ, an abundant supply of grace, of glory, indeed
of all things in Him. And this bread is specifically
for sinners. Our Lord cried on the great day
of the feast, if any man thirst, is there anyone here hungry for
bread in your soul? What kind of language is that? Is anybody here who has in your
soul a craving that nothing can satisfy but Christ? Sometimes I will Before I go
to bed, I want something to eat. Last night was one of those cases.
And I knew exactly what I wanted. I knew exactly what I wanted.
I wanted some peanut butter somehow on crackers, banana, or bread.
I wanted some peanut butter and a little milk. And Shelby, watching
out for my health, suggested that I have a salad. And I said,
no, I'll go to bed without it. She suggested that I have a bowl
of raisin bran. I said, no, I don't want raisin
bran. She suggested to even have a little piece of cake. I said,
I want peanut butter and milk, because nothing else would take
the place of peanut butter and milk. Anything else, if I went
to bed, I'd still be hungry for peanut butter and milk. You got
that? No matter how full I was, there
came a time in my soul when I was busting at the waist with everything. But there was a craving that
nothing could satisfy until God Almighty calls me to eat the
bread of life. And I've never been hungry again. Never had any other hunger for
anything else. This bread is for sinners. There
is such an infinite sufficiency and abundance of life in Christ,
of mercy, of grace, of love in Christ, that there's plenty of
bread still in Him for your soul. So I bid you come and eat. Come,
let's reason together, the Lord says. Let me reason with you.
I said, but pastor, I don't know whether my name's written on
the priest's breastplate or not. I don't know whether my name's
written in the book of life or not. That's good reasoning. I understand that. But you know,
you should know, because the book says so. It universally
testifies there's bread enough and to spare in the Father's
house in Christ Jesus. And if you care to, you can come
eat. If you care to, you can come
eat. If you're hungry, come and eat.
And if you eat this bread, you'll discover that this table was
spread specifically for you. Come and dine, the master calleth. Come and dine. Now, you might
think, well, but pastor, we read this text. And it says plainly
that no one was allowed to touch that bread except the priest.
It does say that. It does say that. Isn't it amazing
how fiendishly clever the serpent of hell is that he will cause
folks who normally would overlook things and pass by things to
seize on every excuse in the world for not believing God? Give you every reason in the
world, oh, that's not for you, that's for the priest. That's
not for you, that's for the elect. That's not for you, that's for
folks who are predestined for you. You're not them. You're
not them. Well, I'll grant. Nobody but the priest could eat
this bread. But the fact that the bread is
in the hands of a priest, managed by a priest, in the holy place
ought to tell you that it's there for sinners. And if you eat this
bread, if you eat Christ Jesus the Lord, if you take in His
righteousness and take in His blood atonement, take in Him,
eat the bread, then it's declared plainly that you are numbered
among those who are made of God to be priests unto God in Jesus
Christ. The priest bread demonstrates
that God provides for his servants. Those who preach the gospel are
to live by the gospel. That's the analogy Paul draws
from this. That which is here represented to us is the salvation
of God's elect, as we'll see in a moment. By the will of God,
that was our Savior's bread. But still, the bread's for us.
It speaks of Christ who is our bread. Our text declares plainly
that if I come to Christ, the bread of life, and eat him, I
am and must be one of those made to be in him a chosen generation
and a royal priesthood, else I couldn't be in this holy place
eating this bread. Preacher, you mean here I am
hungry, starving, for that which will satisfy my conscience and
my soul. Starving for pardon and forgiveness. Starving for righteousness and
life. Starving for acceptance with
God. You mean, if I eat this bread,
I'm one of God's? You heard me well. I'm glad you
heard me well. That's exactly right. We say
the proof's in the pudding. In this case, the proof is in
the bread. Eat the bread and you have life
everlasting. Let's see if I can make good
on that. John chapter 6, verse 54. The Lord Jesus is speaking. He
has declared himself to be the bread of God which came down
from heaven. He says in verse 54, who so? Isn't that a good
word? Who so? Anybody hear about that name?
Who so? Who so? Well, Daddy, that might
include you. Who so? Who so? That might include David Peterson. Who so? Who so eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood? Look at this. Hath. Hath. Doesn't say in the world if you
eat and drink, you will have. It says eat it, drink it, you
got it. He hath eternal life. And I will
raise him up at the last day, for my flesh is meat, food indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me. This is the bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. But he that eateth this bread
shall live forever. Come, my soul, and eat. The bread is twice as much as
anybody can eat. There's an abundance there. The
bread is set on a table of pure gold. And it's got four corners
pointing to sinners everywhere. He's sitting on a table that
is clearly crowned with pure gold. It's the king's table.
And here, poor, lame, crippled Mephibosheth, with his mangled
feet, can sit with his feet under the king's table and eat and
eat and eat forever as one of the king's sons. And then we're
told the bread was to be set in two rows on the table. I tried to sit back last night,
earlier this morning, picture this. Here's the priest. One
man standing in here before this table, 12 loaves, sitting two
rows, frankincense on them, golden spoons, golden bowls, golden
plates. Never idle. His hand's always busy. Bountifully,
bountifully, bountifully, our great high priest is never idle
in heaven, but his hand's busy providing bread for our souls.
Every kind of bread you need. Grace. You need grace. Come eat the bread. Do you need
consolation? Come eat the bread. Do you need
peace? Come eat the bread. All bread
is in Christ Jesus the Lord. Implying He is constantly engaged
in the tender care of His people. Now notice again in verse 8.
Watch this. The bread was to be taken from
the children of Israel. Because the Lord God would have
all his people know that it was for them. And so the Lord Jesus
Christ is he who is taken from among men. God says, I have laid
help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. Look in Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews
chapter 5. This is what I was trying to
show you in the beginning. Hebrews 5. Every high priest taken from
among men is ordained, look at this, for men. The Lord Jesus
Christ, Bobby Estes, is a priest taken from among men, ordained
for men, for men, for men, in things pertaining to God, that
he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Now watch this. who
can have compassion on the ignorant, on them that are out of the way,
for that he himself also is compassed about with infirmity. Now that's speaking of an earthly
priest. But our Lord Jesus, God's great
high priest, was taken from among men. ordained for men. Taking care of business with
regard to holy things for men. And he is a man. A man who has compassion on the
ignorant. Those that are out of the way.
Because he knows what it is to be out of the way. And compassed
about with infirmity, so much so that he cries, I thirst. And at last, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Now back in our text, Leviticus
24, 7. Each row of bread had some frankincense on
it. And we're told specifically that
this frankincense was for a memorial of the burnt offerings to the
Lord. The bread was to be eaten, but
the frankincense was to be burned. Frankincense speaks of acceptance. It speaks of our acceptance with
God by Christ. It speaks of God's acceptance
of our worship, our praise, our sacrifices. the acceptance of
our very prayers. All God's spiritual Israel, represented
in these 12 loaves, are accepted before God all the time. And everything we endeavor to
do for Him, everything we endeavor to do
for Him, our paltry gifts Our feeble sacrifices and services. Our attempts to walk in His steps. Oh, what a mess we make of it. What a mess. But He accepts it. Washed in the blood of His Son.
and robed in his perfect righteousness as being perfect gifts, perfect
praise, perfect sacrifice, perfect obedience, perfect devotion. He accepts it as perfect, as
perfect. This is what our Lord told Cornelius.
You remember that old fellow who had been proselyte among
the Jews? That Gentile, that he worshiped
God. He hadn't yet heard the message
of redemption and grace accomplished by Christ at Calvary. But the
Lord told Peter, or told Cornelius, said, your prayers and your alms
have ascended up as a memorial to God. Comes right from his
word. Frankincense. Comes right from
it. This man. walking in the light
that God had given him, worshipping God in the best way he knew how,
believing the prophets, believing the scriptures, this man worshipped
God. And he said, you go down there
to a place called Joppa, and you send some servants down and
fetch a fellow, and he'll explain all this to you. And Peter came
and found out he was one of God's elect too. Ye also, as lively
stones, are built together a spiritual house and holy priesthood to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. Now look at verse 8. The Lord
required that Aaron set fresh bread on the golden table every
Sabbath day. There is more here than this
that I can deal with now. But this is distinctly a word
of instruction to God's servants. The bread was to be prepared
before these priests came to the temple. But it was to be
fresh when they came to the temple. And it was to be set by these
priests on the table of showbread every Saturday morning. Gospel
preachers You must come to the house of God with fresh bread, freshly prepared, feeding God's
children not with stale things, but with fresh bread. And yet
the bread must always be the same. I dare not come here and
bring any other food than Jesus Christ and Him crucified for
your souls. This is not a matter of choice
on my part. I'm determined to know nothing
else among you. But it's a matter of absolute responsibility. As
I speak to you in God's stead, as I come to feed your souls
with knowledge and understanding, I dare not Attempt to display
eloquence and oratorical abilities, great learning, vain philosophy. If I had those abilities, I dare
not display them. I dare not come here with theological
speculation. I've been studying this, let
me show you what I think. I dare not. I leave my studies
back down in the study. I dare not. I dare not come here
with just denominational dogma to get you to be better Baptist.
I dare not come here with religious history to get you to act like
other folks in the past and live with dead men's lives and dead
men's brains. I dare not, dare not come here
with religious ceremony, setting up something in the stead of
faith and life in Christ Jesus as a refuge for your souls. I
dare not bring here history and moralisms and civic duties. To
do so is to make a breach of this perpetual statute God commanded
to Aaron. The only bread to be consumed
in God's house is the best bread, the bread of life. I know that this is out of step
with the times. I'm fully aware of that. I know
that the church, I'm using that term just about
as broad as it can be used, the church of this day, the religious brothels of this
day attract men and appeal to men.
gather men around them, engage men in religious activity by
every means under the shining sun except the spreading of this
bread on the table of God's grace. And God is blasphemed by the
effort. And the souls of men are damned
by the religion. Only bread in God's house is
Christ the Lord. And then notice that this bread
was brought out on the Sabbath day. We see a little now. But in the dawning of that great
eternal Sabbath, when Christ comes again, and our souls rest
forever. the bread of life will shine
forth gloriously in the tabernacle of God. Before the candlesticks,
before the golden altar, Christ will be seen in all his fullness
and will feast forever on him. Now one last thing. The two rows of bread and six
loaves to a row, sitting on that one golden table, suggest the
blessed fellowship, unity, and oneness of God's church in Christ.
You see, God's Israel in this gospel age is one tribe, not
12. Turn over 1 Corinthians 10. 1
Corinthians 10. Look at verse 16. You remember back in Colossians
when we read it in chapter 3 earlier? Paul spoke continually, he used
these words over and over again, one another. Align not one to
another, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, in all
wisdom teaching and admonishing one another. That's the way believers
are to live, not to ourselves. but as men and women intimately
connected with one another. Look in Colossians 1 Corinthians
10 verse 16. The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion, the fellowship of the blood of
Christ? The bread which we break, is
it not the communion, the fellowship of the body of Christ? For we
being many are one bread, one loaf, and one body. For we are all partakers of that
one bread, the Lord Jesus Christ. God's people are one before Him. They always have been, always
will be. If you want to look back over
in 2 Chronicles 13, after the ten rebel tribes had broken off
from Israel, it didn't change anything in the house of God.
There were still twelve loaves sitting on the table. Because
God's people are always one before him. And being one before him,
not one member of Christ's church and body shall perish. The purpose
of God stands forever. And God's people shall live by
him. And one of these days, we will
enjoy this blessed unity of perfection in Christ. May God give us grace
to enjoy it now.