Now the tabernacle where in which
the mercy seat and the Ark of the Covenant and the sacrifices
were offered was in the midst of the camp. But this is a tabernacle
which Moses pitched outside the camp, far off from the camp,
and he called it the tabernacle of the congregation. It came
to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle
of the congregation which was outside the camp. And it came
to pass when Moses went out unto the tabernacle that all the people
rose up and stood, every man at his tent door. This is a solemn
time. Moses is going out to the tabernacle
of meeting the congregation. And they stood in the tent door
and they looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle,
watched him as he went out, watched him until he went in the tabernacle.
It came to pass as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy
pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle. And
this is the reason why it was such a solemn time, and why all
the men stood in the door of their tents and watched Moses
as he walked out to this tabernacle, because the Lord talked to Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose
up and worshipped every man in his tent door. And the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. And he turned again unto the
camp that his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man departed
not out of the tabernacle. And Moses said unto the Lord,
now I want you to notice this. Moses is going to make three
requests. He's going to set before the
Lord three requests. Moses said unto the Lord, See,
thou sayest unto me, bring up this people. Thou hast not let
me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know
thee by name. Thou hast said, I know thee by
name. also found grace in my sight." You say, you know men,
and I've found grace in your sight. Now, therefore, I pray
thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, number one, show me
now thy way. Show me thy way, that I may know
thee, that I may find grace in thy sight. David said in the Psalms, God
showed Moses his way. To the children of Israel, he
revealed his acts. But Moses said, I want to know
your way. I want to know your will. I want
to know you. That I may know thee and find
grace in thy sight. And consider that this nation
is thy people. And the Lord said, my presence
shall go with thee. I'll give thee rest." And Moses
said unto him, here's the second request, if thy presence go not
with me, carry us not up hence. Just bar the way, don't let us
go. Stop us right where we are. If
you're not going with us, don't let us go. Shall it be known here that I
and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that
thou goest with us? Isn't that evidence that we've
found grace in your sight that you're with us? So shall we be
separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth. The Lord said to Moses, I'll
do this thing also that thou hast spoken. But thou hast found
grace. You'll know in a few moments
why I'm reading this. If I have found grace in thy
sight, if I have found grace, the Lord said, thou hast found
grace. Thou hast found grace in my sight. I know thee by name. And Moses
said, the third request, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. Show me your way, your will. Go with me, give me your presence,
and show me your glory. Show me your glory. Moses had
seen more than any man had ever seen of the power of God. He saw the plagues of God upon
Egypt. He saw the parting of the Red
Sea. He saw the smitten rock give water. He saw bread fall
from heaven. He saw all of these mighty acts
of God, power of God, majesty of God. And yet, he prays here that God would
show him His glory. He knew that these acts of creation
and judgment and unusual miracles was not the true glory of God,
the greater glory of God. There's a greater glory than
dividing the sea. There's a greater glory than
drowning an army. There's a greater glory than
making a rock bleed water sufficient to satisfy three million people.
There's a greater glory. And the Lord said, I will show
you my glory. I will make my goodness pass
before thee. My goodness, God's goodness is
his glory. Redeeming sinners is the greater
glory of God. I will make all my goodness pass
before you and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you,
and I will be gracious." I will be gracious. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He prayed that awesome high
priestly prayer, He said, Lord, Father, Father, glorify Thy Son
that Thy Son may glorify Thee. And this is how Christ glorified
the Father in making a sufficient effectual offering for his people
and redeeming their souls. And God said to Moses, my glory
is my goodness. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. Noah found grace. You know the
first time the word grace is mentioned in the Bible? The very
first time. And if you've studied the Bible, you'll find the law
of first mention, the law of first mention is very important.
How something's mentioned first in the Scriptures is its general
meaning all the way through. And the first word, first time
the word grace is used in the Bible is in Genesis, where it
is declared that Noah, among all the people on this earth,
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God was gracious
to Noah. Not because he was different,
because God made him different. Not because he was righteous,
but God made him righteous by his grace. Noah found grace. And the Lord said, I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy, and I will show mercy
on whom I'll show mercy. Now turn to Ephesians 4. Ephesians
4, where we left off this morning at verse 7. Ephesians 4, verse
7. Paul writing to those chosen
of God, redeemed by Christ, quickened and called by the Spirit, Gentiles,
people of Ephesus, unto every one of us is given grace. To every one of us. Think about
that now. The goodness of God, the grace
of God is given to us. And this grace is the gift of
God. It's given. It's given. We're justified freely by His
grace. Our Lord in that same prayer
in John 17 said, Father, you have given me authority over
all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given me. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Christ our Lord. Unto
every one of us is this grace given. God gave it. We do not
deserve it. Grace is God giving us what we
don't deserve. It's unmerited, freely given. It's the gift of God. And listen,
it's given to every one of us. Oldest and the youngest. The
least and the greatest. Free grace. Abundant grace, effectual
grace, saving grace, keeping grace, unto us is this grace
given. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. Now keep Ephesians full, but
turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. Unto every one of us, Paul writing
to the church at Ephesus, elect, chosen, redeemed, called, His
children, His people, believers. The Bible is written to believers.
And unto every one of us, every believer, is this grace, free
grace given, mercy is given, grace is given in Christ to us. It's given. Now look at 2 Peter
3. Let's read verse 8. Beloved, beloved, that's Peter
addressing the church, the general epistle of Peter to the church.
Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with
the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.
And the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count
slackness, but is longsuffering to usward. To whom? To usward. Unto us, every one of us, every
one of us is this grace given. Every one given to Christ, every
one in the covenant of mercy, every one of us. God is patient
and long-suffering to us. He's not willing that any should
perish, any whom, any of us. But that should all come to repentance,
and they will. But unto every one of us, every
one of us, is this grace given. Now there are different measures
of grace. Look at the next line. Unto every one of us is given
free grace, effectual grace, God's grace, forgiveness, mercy,
life, justification, according to the measure of the gift of
Christ. This grace is given by measure. Our Lord Jesus Christ had the
Spirit without measure, the grace of God without measure, the power
of God without measure. You and I have the grace of God
and the mercy of God and the power of God and the Spirit of
God by measure. According to the measure of the
gift of Christ, according as He's pleased to give us. Providential,
you read that Scripture. Bob, Romans 12. Turn back there
and listen. Did you notice while he was reading
it? It probably slipped by you, but it didn't slip by me because
this is what I'm preaching on tonight. And I noticed the moment
he read it. Paul said in Romans 12, verse
3, For I say through the grace given to me. I don't have anything
to say except through the grace given to me. I don't know anything
to say except through the grace given to me. I say this through the grace
given to me. Now look down at verse 6. Having
then gifts, it talks about the gift of preaching, ministering,
teaching, exhorting, giving, ruling, showing diligence. Having
then gifts, differing, Everybody's not the same. Everybody's loved
the same, redeemed the same, going to be glorified the same.
But on this earth, we have then gifts differing according to
the grace that's given to us. According to the grace that's
given to us. 1 Corinthians 12, look over,
listen to this, 1 Corinthians 12. This is the chapter that talks
about spiritual gifts a little more fully than most places.
But I'm looking at verse 8. Verse 6 says, now there are diversities
of operation. Go and look at verse 4. There
are diversities of gift, but the same Spirit. There are differences
of administration, but the same Lord. There are diversities of
operation, but it's the same God working all in all. But the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man. There's grace
given to every one of us. The Spirit of God dwells in every
one of us. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of you. But the manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man to profit with all. For, listen,
to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. To another,
the word of knowledge by the same Spirit. To another, faith
by the same Spirit. To another, the gifts of healing
by the same Spirit. To another, the working of miracles.
To another, prophecy. To another, discerning of spirits.
To another, different kinds of languages. To another, interpretation
of languages. But all these, listen, worketh
that one and self-same Holy Spirit of God, dividing to every man
severally as he will. as he will. So verse 7, that's to every one
of us, is given this grace of God. Moses standing there in
that tabernacle with that pillar of the cloud hovering over the
tabernacle. And every man in the camp standing
in his tent door and kneeling, awestruck by this Revelation
of God speaking to this man as a man speaks to his friend. And
God said to him, Moses, you found grace in my sight. Well, let
me tell you something. The least believer here has that
same grace, that same spirit, that same presence, that same
mercy, because God gives it to every one of us in Christ, every
believer. His grace. Oh, magnificent. His grace. But it's according
to the measure of the gift of Christ. Look at verse 8 now. Wherefore He said, when He ascended
up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.
This is taken from Psalm 68. Let's turn over there and read
it. Psalm 68. Our champion, the Lord Jesus
Christ, has ascended, has ascended up on high. Our Lord Jesus Christ
has ascended to God's right hand. Sit thou on my right hand, the
Father said, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord,
David said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. He left His
throne and came to this earth to do battle with our enemies.
He defeated our enemies using their weapons. Sin. Satan uses sin against us. Christ
was made sin for us and put it away. Satan uses death. Death. Our Lord Jesus Christ
put away death by dying. Fear the grave. all their lifetime,
subject to fear of the grave. Our Lord took away the fear of
the grave when He went there Himself. He lay there for three
days and came out. He took the very weapons of our
enemy and destroyed them with those very weapons. And He ascended
on high, it says in Psalm 68, verses 18 and 19. This is way back in the Old Testament,
David writing. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou
hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts in the
man for men, from men. Yea, for the rebellious also. For those who were once rebellious,
you give them gifts, the gift of grace, the gift of mercy. that the Lord might dwell among
them." This is Christ. How beautiful the Old Testament
pictures our Lord. I couldn't preach the Old Testament
without the New. And really, I couldn't preach
the New Testament without the Old. I had to have it. And here
is saying the same thing that Paul comes here to the church
at Ephesus and said, wherefore he saith, when he ascended up
on high. He led captivity captive. What
is this captivity? Well, a lot of people say that
it's like the old Roman general used to go out and fight battles.
They'd take their chariots and army and men and go out and conquer
a nation, and they'd come back on a given day. They'd come back
with a big parade right down the main straight of Rome. And here's the general led by
his officers, and then behind them would be the enemy, conquered,
stripped, chained to these old war wagons. And all the people
cheering while the general rode powerfully on his horse, followed
by the enemies that he had defeated. and conquered, and stripped them,
and taken the spalls, and humbled them, and drug them along behind
him as the people cried. And our Lord conquered Satan,
and sin, and hell, and death, and the grave. But I don't think
that's what this is saying here. They said, open the gates. Open wide the doors, the King
of glory shall come in. Who's this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He's the King of glory. The Lord
of hosts, the Lord of many. The Lord of many. Our Lord came
down here to this earth to call out a people for his name, to
redeem a people, to redeem the captives. The captives as us, we were captives
of the law. He obeyed it. We're the captives
of the justice of God. He honored it. We were captives
of Satan. Let me show you that. Turn to
2 Timothy. Listen to this. 2 Timothy chapter
2. See if this doesn't help you
with that. It did me. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 25. In meekness. Verse 24 says, The servant of
the Lord must not strive, Don't argue and bow-beat people. Be
gentle unto all men. Be apt to teach. Teach them. Be patient. In meekness, instructing
those who oppose themselves. They're not opposing me. They're
not opposing the preacher. They're opposing themselves.
When a man won't receive the gift of life, he's hurting himself.
He's not hurting the man trying to give it to him. See what I'm
saying? They're not hurting you. You
witness to your friends, lost friends, they're not saved, don't
know God. They say, you're fighting me.
No, they're not. They're fighting themselves.
They're hurting themselves. They're committing soul suicide
themselves. So they're opposing themselves.
And instruct them. If God, for adventure, will give
them repentance, it's a gift of God. Give them grace. Give them mercy. Give them understanding
to the acknowledging of the truth. God will have to open their ears.
God will have to open their eyes. God will have to give them repentance
and faith. And that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him
at his will. Captives. When our Lord ascended
on high, He took captivity captive. We're now His captives. We were captives of sin and Satan
and the judgment. And now He freed us. But He freed
us to serve Him. And His yoke is easy. And His
burden is light. And His commandments are not
grievous. And we're bond slaves. We're willing, loving servants
held captive by love. We're captives of Satan by law,
judgment, justice, sin, his evil. But Christ led captivity captive. Don't you think that's it, Cecil?
He took us with him, the Lord of hosts. How many? As the stars
of the sky, as the sands of the sea show. I'm glad to be captive
of love, aren't you? His banner of love is over us. Who are we talking about, verse
9 in parenthesis? Verse 9 and 10 in parenthesis,
because we're talking about Him who ascended on high, and there's
only one. Now that He ascended, what is
it that He also descended? Turn to John 3. Let's get some
help on that. John 3. Our Lord talking to Nicodemus
in John 3, 13. Listen to it. John 3, 13. No
man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven. Even the Son of Man which is
in heaven. And the only way you and I will
ever ascend to heaven is in Him. He brings us to God. He brings
us to God. The Lord of hosts will bring
us to God. And no man's ever descended except
the one who ascended. And no man's ever ascended except
the one who descended. That's Christ Jesus. All right,
look back at it. Verse 9, Ephesians 4. Now He,
that He ascended on high. Where's that? That's the highest
point. That's the throne of God. That's high as you can go. He
ascended. What is it but that He also descended
first into the lower parts of the earth? Don't try to make
that hell. Make that His mother's womb.
All right? Can you handle that, preacher?
Yes, sir. I can do something with that. Psalm 139. 139. And
you talk about condescension. Condescension. The Lord of glory came down and was made flesh in a woman's
womb, the lowest part of the earth. Listen to this, right
here. The lowest part. Psalm 139, verse 13. Thou hast possessed my reins,
thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Think of it. God was made
flesh. A body hast thou prepared me.
Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance. He was conceived of the Holy
Spirit. He was conceived in a womb. God
was made flesh and dwelt among us. In the fullness of time,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. My substance was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. Verse 16, Thine eyes did see
my substance, yet being unperfect. And in thy book all my members
were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there
was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts
unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!"
That's true of you and me. That's true of you and me. How
long has God loved us? He's always loved us. How long
we've been His children? We've always been His children.
When we were conceived of our parents, our father in our mother's
womb, our substance being yet, members being yet impractical,
yet He knew us. How can I prove that? He said,
Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew you." Right, Joe? Before you came out
of your mother's womb, I sanctified you. I set you apart from the
rest. I made a difference. That's right. Verse 10, He that descended is
the same also that ascended up far above all heavens. far above
all heavens, far above the sky, the second heaven, into the third
heaven, unto the throne, sit thou at my right hand." That's
our mediator. That's our advocate. If any man
is seen, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, who ascended on high, that He
might what? That He might fulfill all things. He fulfilled all things. All
that was written of Him in the Old Testament. All that was required
of us by the law of God, justice of God, holiness of God. All
that was needful for our salvation. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of God. And we are complete in Him. He
fulfilled all things. Now, let me give you this, verse
11. And he gave some apostles, and
some prophets, and some evangelists, traveling missionaries, and some
pastors and teachers. As my father sent me, he said
to his apostles, so send I you. You go into all the world and
preach the gospel, the gospel. Preach the gospel, preach the
word unto every creature. Go and make disciples, baptize
them, teach them. Make disciples, preach the Word,
baptize them, and teach them. Teach them to observe all things
that I have commanded you, and I send you forth. And He anointed
and called and set forth these men, apostles, prophets, missionaries,
pastors, And these pastors are teachers. That's the same office,
pastor and teacher. Not pastors and teachers, they're
pastor-teachers. Why? Well, look at these few
words here. Number one, for the maturity
of the saints. For the perfecting. When you
see the word perfect in reference to us, it can't mean that we're
going to reach any stage of perfection spiritually on this earth. You
know that can't be. We're perfect in Christ. We're
righteous in Christ, holy in Christ, accepted in Christ, seated
in Christ. Perfect. Legally. Before God. But we're not perfect in this
flesh. Paul said that in Philippians. He said, I haven't apprehended,
I haven't laid hold upon that for which I've been laid hold
of by Christ. I'm not perfect, he said. But
this word perfect is maturity. The reason the pastor, teacher,
prophet, apostles, and missionaries teach God's people is that they
might grow to maturity. And my friends, this maturity
is not in doctrine only. We need to understand that. This
is an emotional maturity, a spiritual maturity, wisdom. develop graces. The grace of
love grows, and faith, and patience, and meekness. That's growing
to maturity. It's not just, well, I'll just
learn a lot of doctrine, buy me a lot of books, and put them
on the shelf. That's not necessarily maturity. Maturity is not how much doctrine
I know, but how much of Christ I know. Growing grace in the
knowledge of Christ. And I wish I could shout that
to all the pastors everywhere. Let's teach the word so that
people will grow not only in doctrine, but in grace and faith
and love and godliness for the maturity. This is what they're
for, for the maturity of the saints, for the work of the ministry.
Preaching the gospel, conducting worship services, overseeing
the church, encouraging believers. helping other pastors and ministers
and missionaries for the edifying of the body of Christ, comforting,
encouraging, confirming believers, building up the sheep on their
most holy faith, speaking a word in season. And it's never finished. That work's
never finished as long as we're walking on this earth. One day,
David said, I'll be satisfied. I'll be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness." Until then, we keep preaching, and teaching,
and studying, and searching, and seeking, and crying to God,
more grace, more grace, more faith, more love, till we all
come, verse 13, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God unto a mature man. unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ our Lord. Verse 14, that we be henceforth
no more children. I tell you, when we first come
to Christ, we're children, we're babies. Babes in understanding
need to be fed with milk, then with meat. Babes in strength,
we have to be watched over, protected, and pacified. We're babes in
fruit, we have the bud, but not the full flower. That's right. We're babes in
knowledge, and babes are in danger. Look to the rest of this sentence.
that we be henceforth no more children tossed to and fro and
carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of
men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive."
Children are apt to be led astray by someone talking. That's when you tell your children,
don't talk to strangers. Don't listen to strangers. Don't
do this. And in the family of God, in the body of Christ, their
children, their babes, little children. I write to you, little
children, John said. Babes in understanding need to
be fed. Babes in strength need to be
protected, watched over, pacified. Babes in fruit having the bud
but not the flower. Be careful. Don't let the bud
be destroyed. Babes in knowledge. in danger
of false teaching, in danger of being led astray. But verse 15, speak the truth
and do it in love. Speak the truth and do it in
love. Speak the truth in love. That
we may grow up into Christ in all things, in all things, all
things. He's the head. even Christ. Now listen, from whom the whole
body, that's the church, it's from Christ. From whom? See that, from whom the whole
body? It's from Him. The body, the
church, its existence, its life, its nourishment, its righteousness,
its preservation, its fruitfulness, its glory is from Christ. And
that body is joined together Every member fitly joined together
on purpose, fitting his purpose and his will. It's a temple of
living stones, a beautiful temple, a city of God, joined together,
fitly joined together, joined to one another, each in his own
place, each in his own place of service and usefulness, and
compacted. What is that? eternally, permanently joined
together by that which every joint supply according to the
effectual working in the measure of every part making increase
of the body and edifying itself in love. Two things Paul refers
to here. Increase. See that making increase
of the body. What's that? Is that growth in
numbers? I don't believe that Paul or
anybody else was overwhelmed with numbers. I believe this
increase here is talking about that growing in grace. That we
may grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Desire the
sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. The body
might be increased in wisdom and knowledge and grace. and
edifying itself in love, established in love. Read one verse over
in 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter 5 verse 10 and 11. But the God of all grace, all
grace is from him. fountain of grace, who have called
us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you've suffered
a while, make you perfect, mature, establish you, establish you
on the rock, anchored, strengthen In faith, confidence, and assurance,
settle you. Settle down. Peace, settle you. To Him be the glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.