Turn with me to Exodus chapter
27. I've entitled this message, In the
Courtyard. In the Courtyard. Let's begin
in verse 9 of Exodus chapter 27. And thou shalt make the court
of the tabernacle. For the south side, southward,
there shall be hangings for the court of fine twine linen, of
an hundred cubits long for one side, and the twenty pillars
thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass. The hooks
of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise
for the north side in length there should be hangings of 100
cubits long and his 20 pillars and their 20 sockets of brass
and the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.
The fillets were the rods that connected the pillars and it's
what the hangings of the white linen hung on for the fence.
And for the breadth of the court on the west side should be hangings
of 50 cubits, their pillars 10 and their sockets 10 and the
breadth of the court on the east side, eastward, should be 50
cubits. The hangings of one side of the
gate shall be fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their
sockets three, and on the other side shall be hangings fifteen
cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three. And
for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits,
of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twine linen, wrought
with needlework, and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets
four, and the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with
silver. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets
of brass. The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and
the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits, seven
and a half feet, of fine twine linen, that's the fence, and
their sockets of brass, all the vessels of the tabernacle, and
all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all
the pins of the court shall be of brass. Now remember who wrote
this. God wrote. And that gives it all the importance
in the world, doesn't it? In the courtyard, now the court
of the tabernacle, this is a reference to the courtyard of the tabernacle.
It was an area approximately 150 by 75 feet enclosed by a
fence made of white linen. The fence was seven and a half
feet high and there were brass pillars set in brass sockets
or plates. which served as the foundation
to hold up the pillars. Grass is an alloy of copper and
tin, and that speaks of the two natures of the Lord Jesus Christ,
his deity and his humanity. There was a rod or fillet made
of silver that connected the pillars. You had these 20 pillars
with this rod going across the top of them, and the white linen
would hang on those fillets, and thus we would have The fence. Now, the only way you can see
what was in the courtyard is if you were in the courtyard.
If you were standing outside of the courtyard, I doubt that
there were any Israelites that were over seven and a half feet
tall. I really doubt it. The only way you could see in
this courtyard is if you were in the courtyard. Now, what is
the significance of this courtyard? In Christ. There's not two more important
words that we'll ever hear. In Christ. That is the significance
of this courtyard. What was in the courtyard? Well,
there was the altar for the sacrifice. I was thinking about that altar.
If you remember a couple of weeks ago, I messed up on one of those
scriptures and I forgot about it, where it was. I wrote it
down wrong. But let me show you the significance
of this altar. Turn to Exodus 29. I got it this time because
it was such a blessing. I wanted everybody to see this. Verse 37, seven days thou shalt
make an atonement for the altar and sanctify it, and it shall
be an altar most holy. Talking about the brazen altar
that the sacrifice was made on. Whatsoever toucheth the altar
shall be holy. You see, you couldn't defile
this sacrifice, this altar. It could only make you holy. There was the brazen laver that
had the water. There was the tabernacle that
inside of it was the golden candlestick, the table of showbread. And the
altar of insight, sense, and in the Holy of Holies, there
was the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the golden pot
of manna, the Ten Commandments, and Aaron's rod that budded,
and the mercy seat with the lid of propitiation. Now, you couldn't
see any of that outside of that courtyard. You had to be in the
courtyard to have some understanding of what was there. Now, all of
this is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of those glorious aspects
of His salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The altar, His
sacrifice that makes me holy and without blame. That labor
with the water that the priest would wash in before he entered
the tabernacle. Christ, my sanctification. Christ
washes me. If you go into that tabernacle,
you would see the Golden candlesticks. Christ, my light. That's who
God is. I see who God is through the
Lord Jesus Christ. All the fullness of the Godhead
in a body dwells in Him. In Christ, I see my intercessor,
the altar of incense, the one who represents me before the
Father. In Christ, I see the table of showbread. I've got
the very presence of God. I've got His presence in the
Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, I see the Ark of the
Covenant. My life before God. Aaron's rod
that buttered his life is my life before God. I see the law,
my righteousness before God. I see the manner, my provision
before God. I see in the mercy seat my propitiation,
my atonement. Oh, all that we have, we have
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here is the point. All that
God is. Now, Think of the vastness of
this statement. All that the living God is and
all that God has for the sinner is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All that God is. And that's the
last subject. All that God is is found in the
Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, in His person, in His
body dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. And all that
God has for the sinner, every blessing that he has is found
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed, said Paul, be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, is it any wonder that Paul
said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him? You know, that's what I want
more than anything else. What do you want more than anything
else? I want to be found in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what I desire. That's
what every believer desires, to simply be found in Him. I don't want to be found standing
in my own righteousness because I don't have any. Not in and
of myself. I want to have the righteousness
which is of God, that which is through the faithfulness of Christ.
Oh, that I may win Christ. Can you say that? Oh, that I
may win Christ and be found in Him when God comes looking for
me. There's only one way I want Him to see me. In, in, in the
Lord Jesus Christ where all he sees is Christ and that's all
I am. Paul said in Colossians chapter
2 verse 3 concerning Christ in whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. Now I want to attempt to speak
upon this infinite subject in Christ. In Christ. Every believer is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm in Him right now. Very much like a baby in its
mother's womb. How dependent, when a baby is
in its mother's womb, how dependent is that baby on its mother? You
know, it's actually more dependent upon its mother when it's in
the womb than when it's outside of the womb, isn't it? In the
womb, there's complete dependence for all things. Where the mother goes, the baby
goes. What the mother eats, the baby
eats. What the mother does, the baby
does, because the baby is in. When the mother walks from this
room to that room, you know who else does? The baby. Because
wherever the mother goes, wherever the mother is, the baby is. You know, baptism actually pictures
this. Water baptism. I love this ordinance
that our Lord Jesus Christ gave us of water baptism. Now what
am I confessing in water baptism? I'm confessing that when Christ
kept the law, I did too, because I was in Him. When He died, I
did too, because I was in Him. Literally? Literally. When He
was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead too, because
I was in Him. When Matt was reading that scripture
in Psalm 89, turn with me over there, this just caught my attention.
Psalm 89. Verse 30, if his children forsake
my law and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions
with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my
loving kindness will I not utterly take from them. I didn't read
that right, did I? My loving kindness I will not
take from him. And here's my security in him. That's why He won't take it away. It's all in Him. In Him as the branches are in
the vine. There's no point of union. There's no point of contact.
There's no place where they're joined together. The branch is
part of the vine. There's not a joint where those
lines, you've got the vines, the fibers going up through the
vine. There's not a joint where it
all of a sudden goes off into the branch. No, it's just part
of the vine. It's part of the vine. I'm one
with the Lord Jesus Christ, united to Him. I believe to me, and
I know you're all aware of this, Hebrews chapter 7, verses 9 and
10, where it says, Levi paid tithes in Abraham. He wasn't
even born, but yet he was in the loins of his father, so that
when Abraham paid the tithes, Levi did too. When Christ obeyed the law, I
did too. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what I'd like to do with
the remainder of our time is to see what the Bible has to
say about in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm just going to read you
a bunch of scriptures. This is one of those, sometimes I fear,
I have In preaching, I might have too much information. You
know, we can only grab hold of one thing. I realize that. So
I'm going to be giving you a lot of Scriptures, but remember, we're
only dealing with one thing. One thing. In the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, two times, God spake from
heaven at the baptism of Christ and upon the Mount of Transfiguration.
And do you remember what He said? This is My beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. And that means if I am in him,
the holy God of glory is well pleased with me. Now, there's a tension here. There's a tension here. You know,
part of being a believer Is being. Disgusted with yourself. Let me show you that in Scripture.
Turn to Ezekiel chapter 36. Ezekiel chapter 36. Verse 25, then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you. Verse 26, a new heart also will
I give you, a new spirit will I put within you. Verse 27, I'll
put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes.
He talks about all the things that he's going to do for them. Now, pick up in verse 31, Then shall you remember Then shall you remember, not
before then, then shall you remember, after I've done all these things
for you, then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings
which were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own
sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. You see,
that's part of the blessings of the covenant of grace. When
I do these things for you, then, and not before then, then you'll
loathe yourself. Do you loathe yourself? You know,
I do. I hate myself. I hate my sin. I hate my tongue. I hate myself. Now, that being said, that's
real. That's real. I experienced that. My sin is
ever before me. I come into His presence crawling
in as a sinner, ashamed of myself. Oh, I'm so sick of it. And it's
equally true that I'm perfect in Christ Jesus, and God is well
pleased with me, and He can't find anything to not be pleased
with me about. And I have that confidence. How
are both of those true? I don't know. It's mysterious,
but it's so. I loathe myself, and yet I'm perfect in Christ
Jesus and have such confidence, and I know I'm holy in Christ
Jesus. And I'm not talking about positionally holy. I am holy.
Every believer is holy before God. That altar made me holy. I touched that altar. I touched
that sacrifice. It's caused me to be holy. This
is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Oh, the pleasure of the Father
toward His Son. You see, it pleased the Father
that in Him should all fullness dwell. Does that please you too? That pleases a believer. If I
tell you all fullness is in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're pleased
with that just the way the Father is pleased. You see, we're pleased
with the same one the Father is pleased with, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Eternal life is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This, then, is the record that
God has given to us, eternal life. And this life is in His
Son, 1 John 5, 11. He that hath the Son What's he
have? Life. He that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. All of God's love is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Now to talk about the love of
God, what a vast and glorious subject. But Paul tells us that
nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. It's not anywhere else. All of
God's love is in Christ. Now, outside of Christ, there's
nothing but the judgment of God. There's nothing but the wrath
of God. There's nothing but the punishment and condemnation of
God within Christ. We have nothing but the love
of God. Romans 8, 39, and then all of
God's promises in him are yea and amen. I love that scripture.
Second Corinthians. Chapter 1, verse 20, all the
promises of God in him are yea. They're positive. They're not
conditional. They're yea and they're amen.
So be it. It's done. All the promises of
God, exceeding great and precious promises of His grace, of His
preserving us, they're all yea and they're all amen. In Christ,
we're made alive. 1 Corinthians 15, 22 says, For
in Adam all die, even so in Christ. shall all be made alive. And I'm made alive in the Lord
Jesus Christ, so much so that He really is my life before God. It seems like the Lord has blessed
me to have a hold of this a whole lot clearer than I ever have
before. My life before God is the life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I am the life. My life before God. This is why
I'm not ashamed of my life. My life before God is the life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's literally my life. I'm
in Him. If I'm in Him, He's my life before
God. What a wonderful place to be
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is in Christ. Everything. I can't take that. Election. election. What would election
be if it was just God arbitrarily, I'm going to save that one, I'm
going to damn that one. I'm going to pick out that one and I'm
just going to send that one to hell. There wouldn't be any joy
in that. There wouldn't be any rest in
that. There wouldn't be any peace in that. Somehow the elect were
chosen in Christ. I don't understand how that is.
There's not a point of time and eternity when all of a sudden
He chose us. We've always been in Christ, but the Scripture
still says, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. And the reason God chose me is
because I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why. He's the
reason behind election. Christ comes before election.
Acceptance is in Christ. You know, everybody wants to
be accepted. None of us like being rejected. You don't like
being rejected by anybody, do you? We all love acceptance.
Well, in Christ, I have acceptance. He hath, Ephesians 1, 6, He hath
made us accepted in the Beloved. I'm accepted right now. I'm received. I'm loved. I'm
embraced. I'm graced in the Lord Jesus
Christ. God accepts me. And you know, that gives me some
comfort. If I think nobody else accepts me, that's okay. If he
accepts me, I'm all right. If nobody else in all the world
does. I know his people do, but you
know, sometimes when you're on that pity boardroom, nobody loves
me. Nobody loves me. Well, he does. Accepted in the Beloved. Redemption and forgiveness are
in Christ, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Those sins I'm talking about,
they've been washed away in the blood of Christ. I have redemption
through His blood, which is the forgiveness of sins. Our inheritance is in Christ. Paul said in Ephesians 1.11,
in whom? We have an inheritance being predestinated. We talked
about that last Sunday night. We have a seed in heaven in Christ.
I want you to look at this one with me, Ephesians chapter 2.
Remember, everything was in that courtyard. And the only way you
could see what was in that courtyard is if you were in the courtyard.
Ephesians chapter 2. Verse 4, But God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace,
ye are saved, and hath raised us up together. In other words,
when Christ was raised, you know who else was? I was. He raised
us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places,
in heaven, in Christ Jesus. Colossians chapter 2 verse 10
says, you are complete, you are complete in Him. That means you don't lack anything.
That means all that God requires you have. That means God can't
be any more pleased with you than He is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Him. Complete in Him. Listen to this. I love this.
Romans chapter 8 verse 1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are where? In Christ Jesus. And why is that? Because according
to 1 John 3, verse 5, in Him is no sin. There's nothing to
condemn me for. That's why I don't fear condemnation. There's nothing to condemn me
for. In Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ,
is no sin. In Him, I have no sin. And with no sin, There's no shame. John said, And now, little children,
abide in him. Do you want to be anywhere else? You know, I think of these. You
know, the Lord said, Abide in me, and I in you. I don't want
to be anywhere else. I want to abide in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, And now, little children, abide in him, that
when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed
before him. And He's coming. And the only
way I'm not going to be ashamed is being in Him. But in Him,
I have nothing to be ashamed of. Now, this is so glorious
because there is so much that I'm ashamed of. I'm ashamed of
myself. Oh, I'm glad you can't see what
goes on in my heart. I'm so thankful. I'd be so ashamed.
And I know you feel the same way. But in Christ, I truly,
literally, actually have nothing to be ashamed of because I have
no sin. Nearer, so near to God, nearer I cannot be. For in the
person of His dear Son, I am as near to God as He. Dearer,
so dear to God, dearer I cannot be. In the person of His dear
Son, I am as dear to God as He. Wonder how much we believe that. I just quoted it. It's hard to
get hold of, isn't it? But it's so. So now, according to Ephesians
3, 12, in whom? Listen to this. In whom? We have
boldness and access with confidence. by the faith of Him. You know,
I have boldness. And this is, I'm not just talking
about myself, I'm talking about every child of God. In the Lord
Jesus Christ, we have boldness, confidence, freedom of access
to come into the very presence of God and know I'm embraced,
know I'm accepted, know I'm loved, know I'm always welcome. He never
gets tired of me. In Him we have boldness and access
with confidence by the faith of Him. You see, we have this
boldness and access with confidence because according to 1 Corinthians
1, verse 2, we are sanctified. We are sanctified. We are holy in Christ Jesus. Now the only thing that messes
up our confidence is sin. You know how it is when you sin
and you feel like you can't even come into God's presence? You
feel like you'd be thrust away, and it's the sin that causes
the lack of confidence, but in Christ Jesus, I have no sin. I am holy in Christ Jesus. You see, of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. So now, in Christ Jesus, you
that were sometimes afar off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 13.
Now would you turn with me to John chapter 16. Verse 29. His disciples said unto him,
Lo, thou speakest thou plainly and speakest no proverb. I think
it's one of the more interesting things are the disciples ever
say to the Lord. You know, now you're speaking
plainly. We always spoke plainly. They just didn't understand.
But there giving him their affirmation and approval. We like the way
you're talking now. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things,
and needest not that any man should ask thee? By this we believe
that thou camest forth from God. They're feeling good, weren't
they? Jesus answered them. Do you now believe? You're talking
big. Behold, the hour cometh, yea,
is now come, that you in all your big talk right now shall
be scattered every man to his own and you'll leave me alone. And yet I'm not alone because
the Father is with me. Now these things have I spoken
unto you that in me you might have peace. Now in the world You're going
to have nothing but trial and tribulation. You're going to
get beat back and forth. But be of good cheer. I have
overcome the world. In Me, you have peace. And oh, what peace is in Him!
You see, we rejoice in Christ Jesus. In Philippians 3 verse
1, He said, Finally, my brethren, rejoice! in the Lord. Do you rejoice in the Lord? You
know, being in the Lord makes me happy. It makes me happy. Philippians chapter 3, 3, he
said rejoice in the Lord and he uses a different word. That
means glory in the Lord. Have confidence in the Lord.
Rest in the Lord. Our confidence and our joy is
in the Lord. He said rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice. You know, it's in Christ that
we bear fruit. I'm interested in bearing fruit,
aren't you? I want to bear fruit to the glory of God. I want to
bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Well, listen to this scripture.
Abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
except it abide in the vine. No more can you except you abide
in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me you
can do nothing. And being in him, we know that
our labor is not vain in the Lord. That's what Paul tells
us in 1 Corinthians 15, 58. And I love this scripture from
2 Corinthians 2, 14. But thanks be unto God, who always, always causeth us to triumph
in Christ. You know, you never lose. You're
always victorious in Christ Jesus. Even when you feel like you've
lost all the Lord's blessing you in it. You always triumph
in Christ Jesus. Always. Does always mean always? Sure does. Jude says we are preserved. Preserved. In Christ Jesus. I will persevere and the reason
I'll persevere is because I'm preserved. I'm in the Lord Jesus
Christ and just as sure as he is preserved I am preserved. Now this courtyard we also read
had a gate and that gate was very wide. It was 45 feet wide
and did you notice the gate was made of the blue heavenly purple,
royalty, scarlet, blood, white linen, the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the gate into the courtyard, that's Christ.
The gate into Christ is Christ. You say, how can I get into Christ?
Christ. That's how I get into Christ. Well, how do I get into Him?
Of Him, are you in Christ Jesus? God put you there. How can I
know if He put me there? Do you believe the gospel? then you
have entered by the gate. The way into Christ is Christ.
Now, I repeat, is it any wonder that Paul said, oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in Him? When He shall come with trumpet
sound Oh, may I then in him be found, Dressed in his righteousness
alone, Faultless to stand before God's holy throne, On Christ
the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. In Christ, what a precious, precious
place to be. May God cause all of us to be
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.