Would you turn to Exodus Chapter
25? While you're turning there, this Sunday
evening, we're going to observe the Lord's Table together, and
I've asked Brian DeFore and Andy Davis to speak. And Brian's nervous,
I'm sure, but he spoke before. This is Andy's first time, so
I want you to remember him. Remember him, I'm sure he's stressed
out about this, but I trust the Lord will bless him in this.
Exodus chapter 25, I want to read verses 23 through 30. We're
going to consider the golden table and the showbread, and
I want to remind you that every. Piece of furniture, every aspect
of this tabernacle is given as a portrait of the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. If you want to know what Christ
looks like, we see him so clearly in this tabernacle. Now let's
read verse 23. Thou shalt also make a table
of chitim wood. Two cubits shall be the length
thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half
the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with
pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. And thou
shalt make unto it a border of an handbreadth round about, and
thou shalt make a golden crown to be the border round about
it. And thou shalt make forth four rings of gold, and put the
rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
Over against the border shall the rings be set for places of
the staves to bear the table. And thou shalt make the staves
of shiddom wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table
may be borne with them. And thou shalt make the dishes
thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls
thereof, to cover with all of pure gold shalt thou make them.
And thou shalt set upon them, or upon the table, showbread
before me always. And the third piece of furniture
that God gave instructions concerning was the golden table. The dimensions
were a little bit smaller than the Ark of the Covenant. It was
a table made of chitum wood overlaid with pure gold, had four legs,
a crown of gold over the edge of the table. And as you go on
reading other instructions regarding this table, it had a blue tablecloth
over it to let us know it was heavenly. And on the table were
12 loaves of showbread. Now the word showbread means
literally the bread of faces. Or the bread of presence. And the priests were to replace
it every seven days and eat the bread that was replaced. The
bread of presence. The bread of faces. The Lord Jesus Christ, in His
person, is the divine presence. Now, presence is where something's
at, isn't it? The presence is where it's at.
Well, where's God at? Where the Scripture says that
in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. That's where God's at. That's
where His special presence is in the Lord Jesus Christ, in
His face. I love that verse of Scripture
in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, where Paul said, But God, who
commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God. Do you remember the rest of the
verse? In the face. In the face of Jesus Christ,
David said, Lord, lift it up the light of thy countenance,
thy face, thy presence upon us. Now, the twelve loaves represent
all of God's people in the presence of God. You know, right now I'm
in the presence of God and I'm talking about in a special way.
I'm not just talking about I realize he's everywhere. He's on the
present. I mean, you can't go anywhere where he's not. When
Maurice Montgomery was going off into the service, he was
very nervous. And he said, his father said
to him, son, you can't go anywhere where God is not. That's a comforting
thought, isn't it? God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. But oh, his presence. I know he's omnipresent, but
that doesn't mean I have his presence. I want to have His presence.
You see, His presence is His favor. It's His face shining
upon me. Like David said, Lord, lift thou
up the light of thy countenance upon us. I know what David meant
when he said, Cast me not away from thy presence, O Lord, and
take not thy Holy Spirit from me. I must have His presence.
You see, His presence is our necessary food. What is this
worship service, what we're doing right now? What is this without
His presence? It's a complete and royal waste
of time. We'd be better off watching TV.
I mean, something beyond better than this if we don't have His
presence. But, oh, if we have the presence of God in this place,
if we have the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, truly
His presence is salvation. Now, God is on the present. You
know, I love the way He said to David, Will you build me a
house? Will you build me a house? You
see, the heavens cannot contain Him. He holds the universe in
the palm of His hand. The Scripture says He holds the
winds in His fist. Turn to Psalm 139 for just a
moment. David says, beginning in verse
7, Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee
from thy presence? How can I get out of your presence?
If I send up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in
hell, Behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say,
surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light
round about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and
the light are both alike to thee. There was a time, and I know
I'm speaking as a man right now, there's no other way I know how
to speak, but there was a time, although it wasn't time then,
it was eternity, but there was a time when there was nothing
but God. That's all there was, God. There was no created universe,
there were no angels, there were no stars, there were no sun,
there were no men. All there was, was God. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And then he created the
heavens and earth. And he placed man in the garden. And when Adam fell and became
dead in trespasses and sins and rebelled against God, he no longer
desired to be in the presence of God. Now there was a time
when he relished being in God's presence. Oh, he enjoyed it.
It was his meat and his drink. But when he fell and became dead
in sin, you see, he became evil. He became a sinful human being. And wherever there's sin, his
sin wants to get out of the presence of God. As a matter of fact,
what did he do? Turn back to Genesis chapter
3. Hold your finger there and turn to Genesis chapter 3. Verse
7. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons, and they heard the voice
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the voice of God who walked.
They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
Now, at that time, God did not cease to be omnipresent. He was
there in the trees of the garden. He knew exactly where they were. But they lost his presence. He didn't cease to be omnipresent,
but they lost His presence. They lost His favor, His gracious
presence. They lost their relish for His
presence. They no longer desired to be
in His presence. They wanted away. Wherever God
was, they didn't want to be. And that's what they did. They
went and hid from His presence. What did Cain do? The Scripture
says he went out from the presence of the Lord. and went east of
Eden into the land of Nod, and that word Nod means the land
of exile. He went out from the presence
of the Lord. Now, when God saves a man or
woman, they are restored back into His presence, back into
His favor. with the light of His countenance
shining on them. And to the believer, God's presence,
the presence of Christ is absolutely necessary. It's my food. It's
my drink. It's my life. I cannot bear the
thought of not having His presence. You know, hell, hell is separation
from His presence. That's the best definition of
hell there is. It's separation from the presence
of God. You know, actually an unbeliever,
if you brought him into heaven, he'd be miserable there. He doesn't
want to be in the presence of God. He'd want out. He'd rather
be in hell. He doesn't want to be in the
presence of God. But a believer must have the presence of the
Lord God. I know what David meant when
he said, Cast me not away, from thy presence, O Lord. I must have your presence." He
said, how long will you hide your face from me, O Lord? Forever? Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us. You know, what we fear and what
we dread more than anything else is being left to ourselves. The worst thing that could happen
to me or you is for God to just withdraw His presence and leave
you alone. That's what I can't bear the
thought of. You know, people talk about free will. The absolute worst thing that
could happen to me is for the Lord to leave me to my own free
will. Lord, grant me Your presence. Don't leave me alone. Don't withdraw
Yourself from me. Cause me to have Thy Now, the only place I don't want
to face, and there's a place I don't want to face. David said,
hide thy face from my sins. I don't want my sins to be in
his presence. Now, his presence, the table
of showbread, the bread of his presence. And if I'm in the Lord
Jesus Christ, I'm in the very presence of God right now. And
I have his favor. I have the light of his countenance
shining upon me. He's looking at me and smiling. That's an amazing thing to think
about, isn't it? The Lord looking at you and smiling, being in
his presence. Turn with me to Exodus 33. Now this is after the incident
with the golden calf. How quickly they departed from
the Lord. And this is God speaking to Moses after this in Exodus
chapter 33. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Depart, and go up hence thou and the people which thou hast
brought up out of the land of Egypt. Notice he says to Moses,
you brought them up. Under the language 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, and
the Hivite, and the Jebusite. I'm going to make sure you get
all that accomplished unto a land flowing with milk and honey,
for I will not go up in the midst of thee. Now, I'm going to let
you into the land like I said I would. I'm not going to break
my promise, but I'm not going with you. 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 put on his
garments. He said, I'm not going to be
with you. You're going to have the blessing. You're going to have the temporal
blessing. But I'm not going to be with you. What if, what if
God said you get everything in this world but me? Would you want it? Look in verse, stay there in
chapter 33, verse 11. This is Moses praying. 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. And Moses said unto the Lord,
Thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and thou hast not
let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said,
I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.
Now therefore I pray thee, if I found grace in thy sight, show
me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I might find grace
in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people. And
he said, God said, My presence shall go with thee. And I will give thee rest. And
he said unto him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not
up in. Don't even want to go if you
don't go with me. Don't even want to be there. Oh, how I need thy
presence. You see, his presence is the
difference. Go on reading, verse 16. For wherein shall it be known
that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not
in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I do this thing also that
thou spokest, for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know
thee by name. Now, let me say some things about
His presence. Psalm 1611 says, In thy presence, is fullness of joy. And there's a good reason to
want to be in His presence, isn't there? In His presence is fullness of
joy. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1. Verse 26. Paul says, For you see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. How many
famous people are here tonight? I don't see any. All just a bunch
of average Joes. That's OK, isn't it? That's OK. I like being that way. Let's
go on reading. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things
which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are
not, to bring to naught, to bring to nothing the things that are,
why? That no flesh should glory in
His presence. Now, I know this. In His presence
is fullness of joy, and in His presence ain't nobody gonna glory.
There's not anybody that's gonna stand in pride before Him. Oh,
the presence of God. I tell you one thing the presence
of God does, it puts you in the dirt. It humbles you into the
dust. You find out where you belong
in His presence. His presence is the one thing
we seek. David said in Psalm 27, when
the Lord said, Seek ye my face. Seek ye my presence. And that's
what we seek, isn't it? When the Lord said, Seek ye my
face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, O Lord, will I seek. And this is what I'm seeking. I'm seeking His presence. I'm
seeking His face. I want to know Him. I want to know Him. I want
to be found in Him. I want to have His presence.
I want to have His favor. I want to have the light that
is countless on me. I'm not after riches. I'm not after this world.
I'm not after a happier life. I'm really not. I mean, I'm all
for being happy. Don't get me wrong, but that's
just inconsequential. I want to have His presence.
If I have His presence, everything's OK. Everything's wonderful. And if I don't have His presence,
nothing's right. You know, when this is all wound
up, We're seeking His face. When this is all wound up, every
believer will be presented faultless before His presence with exceeding joy. Now, how can all of that be?
Well, we've already read Psalm 42, 5. Why art thou cast down? Oh my soul. Now your soul gets
cast down, but mine sure does. Why are you cast down, oh my
soul? Hope thou in God. Why art thou disquieted within
me? Oh, there's nothing worse than
being disquieted. You're just on edge. Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise Him for the health of His countenance. I shall yet
thank Him for His presence. His presence is salvation. Now the 12 loaves of showbread
on the table represent every believer having His presence
united with the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the presence of God. All of God dwells in him. Now, who knows what all that
means? I sure don't know what it means. It's awesome, though,
isn't it? It's glorious. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
very presence of God. And if I'm in Christ, I'm before
his face right now. I'm in the very presence of God. I'm in the Holy of Holies, in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's consider how his presence
is salvation. the table of showbread that brings
me into the very presence of God. Now His presence of salvation,
first of all, in eternity past. There was a time, I've already
said this, there was a time when there was no creation. All there
was was God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
And God the Father took another look at His only begotten and
well-beloved Son. And he said, I'm going to have
a bunch more exactly like him. That was his purpose. Not a lot
like him, but exactly conformed to his image. Exactly like him. That's what predestination is
all about. He's predestinated the people to be perfectly conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he chose a vast number
out of Adam's race. He knew they would fall. It was
part of his plan. It was part of his purpose. And
he gave these people to Christ. It's called election. He said,
they'll rebel against me and fall dead in trespasses and sins,
but I'm giving them to you to be their surety. I'm placing
the complete, listen to me, the complete responsibility of their
salvation in your hands. And Christ said, I'll do it.
And at that time, everything God required of me, he looked
to my surety for. Oh, truly, his presence is salvation
in the covenant. Now, you think of how much his
presence is salvation in the covenant. In 2 Samuel 23, 5,
David said, David, these were his dying words. Now, David's
getting ready to die, and he knows it. What's going to be
running through his mind? What would you be thinking about
if you knew you were going to die tonight? What would be on your mind if
you knew when the clock struck midnight you were going to die
and stand before God? These were David's dying words
and they mean something. Now there's a lot of things he
could have been thinking about as he knew he was dying. He could
have been, I know what I probably would have been thinking about
if I was David. I'd be thinking about, man I committed cold-blooded
murder. I committed adultery. I numbered
the children of Israel and caused 70,000 people to lose their lives.
You know, David was a bloody man. David was a sinful man,
just like you and I are. And he could have been thinking
of all that. But he didn't. There's some other things he
could have thought about. David was the man after God's own heart. You know, that's not said of
anybody else. the man after God's own heart, the sweet psalmist
of Israel, the man whom God used to write the Psalms. Christ is
called the Son of David. David was somebody by the grace
of God. David was a very special man.
And here he lays dying. Could he have been thinking of
all the things that God did with him and used him? He didn't even
mention it. Here's what he says. And this
is how much his presence is salvation. He said, although my house be
not so with God, And it wasn't, it was a mess.
And I believe that means more than just his kids and family
members. I think he's talking about it
in and of himself. Although this has. Be not so with God, yet
have he made with me an everlasting covenant. And Christ stood as
the surety of that covenant. And it's ordered in all things
and it's sure, it's sure. And it's sure because Christ
is the surety of it. That's why it's sure. You know,
if Jesus Christ died for me and paid for my sins, my salvation,
sure, it's already done. It's ordered in all things and
it's sure. And David went on to say, this is all my salvation
and all my desire, though he makes it not to grow. Surely
his presence in the covenant is salvation. And this all happened
before creation. And then he created the heavens
and the earth, and Adam fell. What kept God from destroying
Adam? You think about how wicked what
he did was. I mean, God gives him everything he could want.
He just puts one tree in the garden and says, go and eat of
that tree. You can have any other tree you want. Of course, Adam
has to have that. He rebels against God. What kept God from wiping him
out at that time? The presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his presence is salvation in the fullness of time. He became
flesh as the representative man, he kept God's holy law perfectly
in his flesh. He never sinned. I love the way
you were singing about that man. Never. He never sinned. What
a wonderful life it is to think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't
that amazing to think of a man never sinning? I love thinking
about that. His presence. That's my righteousness
before God. His presence is salvation. His
presence in the flesh. What did Simeon say? Simeon picks
up that little baby, only eight days old, and he says, Lord,
now let us thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. His presence is salvation. Salvation
is in His person. Simeon was ready to die. He saw
His salvation. At the end of approximately 33
years here on earth, keeping God's law, he was nailed to a
cross. Why? Why? There's only one reason
for sin. Never forget that. There's only
one reason for death. Only one. What's that reason?
Sin. The sins of his people became
his. He was guilty on the cross. All of God's wrath came down
upon him. Truly, his presence on the cross
He is salvation. That's my salvation, what He
did for me. Three days later, after dying on the cross, I love
to think about Him being in that dark tomb and all of a sudden
opening His eyes. That stone is rolled away. He
walks out of that tomb. Now, He went in there with something,
didn't He? He went in there with my sin. He walks out without
my sin. He's alive. He's life. I shouldn't
say He's alive. You know, that's almost blasphemous
to say He's alive. He's life. He's life. And His presence is salvation. He ascends back to the Father
as the great intercessor and great high priest of His people.
Surely, His presence before the Father is salvation. And while he's up there, there's
a lot of stuff going on right now, isn't there? It's called
providence. Providence. Everything that happens
is his providence. I think it's almost amusing when
something good happens, we say, boy, that was really providential.
And you know, when something bad happens, that's providential
too. Everything is God's providence. The hairs of your head are numbered. Scripture says, He upholds all
things by the word of His power, and by Him all things consist. His presence in providence is
salvation. Now, in time, by His Spirit,
He crossed our path. Aren't you thankful the Lord
crossed your path? He didn't have to. He could have left you
to yourself. But, oh, in His mercy, He crossed your path. He gave
you life. You wouldn't have had life if
He didn't give it to you. You were there dead and sinned. You didn't
care a flip about God. You were happy with things the
way they were. You know, people talk about people who are hungering
and thirsting after God. No, they're not. They're happy
with things the way they are. But He gave you life. And all
of a sudden, you did begin to hunger and thirst after God.
He gave you faith to behold the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave you
repentance. He gave you love to Christ. Truly,
His presence is your salvation. The reason you have all those
things is because of His presence. It's His continual presence before
the Father that preserves us. His presence is salvation. And
I'll tell you what, when I sin, when don't I, But
when I sin, it's presence. It's presence before the Father
as my advocate, as my high priest. When you sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. At sin, you commit a sin and
you feel so guilty. You feel so ashamed. And you
almost feel like You almost feel like you can't even come into
his presence right now. Do you know even when you feel
that way, you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ,
the righteous. His presence is salvation. How we need his presence in worship. What's reading the Bible without
his presence? It's a boring book. That's what it is without his
presence. You can read all about the tabernacle. What is that
if you don't have the presence of Christ? What is a worship
service? What is a preaching service without
his presence? What is prayer without his presence? What is our doctrine without
his presence, without his person? It becomes cold and lifeless. Truly, his presence is salvation. What would life be Your life
right now, what would it be without His presence? You know, I love John Newton's
hymn, How tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus no longer
I see. I don't feel His presence when
I don't see that. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness to me. The midsummer
sun shines but dim. The fields thrive in vain to
look gay, but when I am happy in him, December's as pleasant
as May. His name yields the richest perfume,
and sweeter than music, his voice. His presence disperses my gloom
and makes all within me rejoice. I would, were he always thus
nigh, have nothing to wish or to fear. No mortal as happy as
I, my summers would last all the year, content, content with
beholding his face. My all to his pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. When blessed with the sense of
His love, a palace, a toy would appear, and prisons would palaces
prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. His presence is salvation. I tell you what, I can only speak
by experience in this sense, but when the Lord God puts you
through a trial, And a trial's a difficult thing. If it's not
difficult, if you don't flunk, it's not a trial. Isn't that
so? Well, I got through that one
well, then it wasn't a trial then. You flunk when you go through
a trial. That's what you find out about
yourself. You find out you're a flunky. You find out you're no good.
Now, but if something's painful, something's difficult, if you
have His presence, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Now, you know,
the only times I remember the last time I was getting ready
to have that esophagus cut out, you know, I mean, I was layered.
The Lord gave me such peace and joy that I haven't had it as
much since then. I mean, I needed it then. I obviously, I needed
it. I was laying there on the table. I was singing praise to
the Lord. I was just so happy. And it was
real. Wish I felt that way all the
time. I mean, that's what I needed at that time. That's what I needed
is presence is salvation. trials or joy with His presence. You think about His presence
in death when you come to die. When you come to die, oh, if
you have His presence, it's easy, isn't it? It really is with His
presence. I'll tell you when I'm going
to learn how His presence is salvation on Judgment Day. I'm
just talking right now. I'm just talking. I think I believe
what I'm saying, but I know when I really believe it. When my
name is called. And I won't even be able to speak.
And he'll say present and accounted for. And I'll understand at that
time so clearly that his presence is salvation. His presence in
glory. I love what David said. As for
me. I will behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I wake
in thy likeness." Now, united to Him, I'm in the very presence
of God right now, whether I feel it or not. It's wonderful to
feel His presence, isn't it? But I love this Scripture. It
has so many It's it's got so many sides to it. It's so powerful.
First John, chapter four, verse 17 says, as he is. As he is,
so are we in this world right now, and I got a question for
you. Is he in the presence of God? So am I. Just as much as he is,
he's in the presence of God. Me too. United to him. I'm right
there. You know, several times this
showbred is called the continual showbred. The continual showbred. Oh, the continual showbred of
His presence. And one of these days, He'll
come back in power and great glory, like a thief in the night,
like lightning in the midnight sky. And then we will see clearly,
not by faith, like now, but by sight. that his presence is salvation. Table of shoulder, that's a wonderful
table, isn't it? Let's pray together.