Well, it's good to be back. I'm
feeling a lot better. I still have a problem with a
little bit of a cough, so if I call tonight, you'll have to
forgive me. Remember those who requested prayer. Some loss of
life here in some close family remember that family your prayers
also continue remember the others who? Requested prayer seek the
Lord's help remember Brother Wayne it was fading fast Arlene
says remember him and your prayers. I might try to get over see him
this week have word prayer with him and read scriptures and And
he was fascinated this last time, because I didn't, I have a little
Bible that I can't read anymore. The print's too small, my eyes
are too bad. And I found out that the whole
King James Bible, I get on my phone. And I was, I was reading
off my phone, he said, and he was looking at it, I said, yeah,
the Bible's right here on my phone. He was kind of fascinated by
that. So that was, that was nice. Okay. Other than that, I can't
think of anything. So let's begin our worship show
with the hymn number 496, Victory in Jesus. ? I heard an old, old story ? Our Savior came from
glory Now he gave his life on Calvary to save a wretch like
me. I heard about his groaning, of
his precious blood's atoning. Then I repented of my sins and
won the victory. ? Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior
forever ? He sought me and bought me ? With His redeeming blood
? He loved me ere I knew Him ? And all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood. I heard about His healing, of
His cleansing power revealing how He made ? And caused the blind to see ?
? And then I cried, dear Jesus ? ? Come and heal my broken spirit
? ? And somehow Jesus came and brought me the victory ? ? Oh,
victory in Jesus ? and bought me with his redeeming
blood. He loved me ere I knew him and
all my love is due him. He plunged me to victory beneath
the cleansing flood. I heard about a mansion he had
built for me in glory and I heard about the streets of gold beyond
the crystal sea about the angels singing ? Oh, redemption story
? And some sweet day I'll sing up there ? The song of victory
? Oh, victory in Jesus ? My Savior forever ? He sought me and bought
me ? With his redeeming blood ? He loved me ere I knew him
? And all my love is due him ? He plunged me to victory ?
Beneath the cleansing flood Number 62. Crown him with many crowns, the
Lamb of God. ? Hark how the heavenly anthem
drowns all music but its own ? ? Awake my soul and sing of
him who died for thee ? ? And hail him as thy matchless king
through all eternity ? ? Crown Him the Lord of love ?
Behold His hands and side ? Rich wounds yet visible above ? In
beauty glorified ? No angel in the sky ? Can fully bear that
sight I had mysteries so bright. Crown Him Lord of life, who triumphed
o'er the grave, who rose victorious to the strife for those He came
to save. ? Whose glories now we sing ?
Who died and rose on high ? Who died eternal life to bring ?
And lives that death may die ? Crowning the Lord of heaven
? One with the Father known Him from yonder glorious throne. To Thee be endless praise, for
Thou for us hast died. Be Thou, O Lord, true in faith. I forgot to send Julie the title
for a message, so if she's listening, the title is preeminent. And
my text tonight is Exodus 27, verses one through eight. Exodus 27. Thou shalt make an
altar of shittum wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad, and
the altar shall be four square, and the height thereof shall
be three cubits. Thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four
corners thereof. His horns shall be of the same,
and thou shalt overlay it with brass. Thou shalt make his pans
to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and
his flesh hooks, and his firepans, and all the vessels thereof thou
shalt make of brass. Thou shalt make for it great
of net work, of brass, and upon the net thou shalt make four
brazen rings, and the four corners thereof. Thou shalt put it under
the compass of the altar beneath, that the net be even in the midst
of the altar. Now shall make staves for the
altar, staves of shit and wood, and overlay them with brass.
And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall
be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it. Hollow with
boards shall thou make it. As it was showed thee in the
mount, so shall thou make it. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
we bless you and thank you for your great grace for ruined and
wretched sinners who are without hope and without help in this
world. who in and of themselves have nothing to offer thee, have
nothing to recommend themselves to thee. And yet your grace,
your wondrous unmerited favor from all eternity did pick out
who you would save out of a fallen race and take them unto yourself
by the blood of Jesus Christ and make it so that they are
actually accepted in your presence in the beloved. forgiven of their
sins and given all understanding and wisdom that they might acknowledge
you for who you are and what you've done. Father, we pray
tonight for those who are sick and going through trials, those
who've lost loved ones. Father, we remember especially
Brother Wayne as he's suffering. We ask Lord you'd be with him.
If it is his time, we know that he will be here until it is time.
We pray you'll give him peace We know you've caused him to
look to Christ for so long. And in these days, Father, remember
him and draw him close to you. Pray for the others who've lost
loved ones, the families who've lost loved ones this week. Ask
Lord you'd be help to them. Help us tonight to worship you
in spirit and in truth. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Excuse me. Now the piece of furniture that's
addressed in this passage of scripture is the largest of the
pieces of furniture in the tabernacle. And it's the first thing encountered
in the structure of the tabernacle when you walk in at the east
gate. It is described before the final
object that inhabits the holy place. In the holy place we looked
at the table of showbread, we looked at the lamb stand, there's
another thing there called the altar of incense or the golden
altar, but this is mentioned Before that altar is mentioned,
that altar is referred to in chapter 30. that we'll look at
in days to come, and it is vitally connected to this great altar
at the entrance of the outer court. Now, this altar was the
first thing seen when one entered the court, and it was no small
thing. This portion of the court, called
the open court, was unlike the holy and most holy place. It
was not enclosed. It didn't have a roof. It didn't
have sides. It was out in the open. Though surrounded by the
curtains of the tabernacle, It enclosed the entire structure.
It sat without a roof. It sat in the open air, this
altar did. This was only reasonable as the
smoke of the sacrifice is offered. there rose to the heavens as
a sweet-smelling savor unto God. This altar was the savor that
arose thereof, and the savor that arose thereof is ever attributed
to the effectual death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which throughout
Scripture is called a sweet-smelling savor unto God. We know that
the fat was burnt on the altar last, the fat belonged to the
Lord, and that rose the smell of fat burning, which is always
the best part of the meat burning. but it set forth the savor of
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now compared to the other
pieces of furniture in the tabernacle, this piece was impressive in
size. It was approximately seven feet square and three feet high. It was hollow in the center and
that open space was covered with a grate or a net as it's called
here that was attached to four rings with chains so that it
might be lifted out and up with their sacrifice and that that
which was beneath it, the ashes and so forth, might be cleaned
out. That's what the shovels and basins and firepans and flesh
hooks were for. And they were all made of brass.
This was not a golden altar as the one that sat in front of
the curtain, in front of the Holy of Holies. This was a brass
altar. It was brazen, called a brazen
altar. It was made of shiddum wood. We know that that pictures
the durability and longevity and intertality of Christ in
his human nature. the boards were overlaid not
with gold or silver. They were overlaid with brass.
This is important. Gold and silver are pure metals.
They are pure metals. Brass is a composite. It's made
of two-thirds copper and one-third zinc. Some say that this actual
metal was bronze, which also was a composite metal made of
copper and tin. But brass, being a composite
mixture, is therefore Impure it's not a pure thing. It's an
impure and impure things are what in scripture They are subject
to the wrath of God. Oh Look over at Leviticus chapter
26 just for a moment How the Lord addresses brass In Leviticus 26 and verse 19
it says and I will break the pride of your power and and I
will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass." It
comes under the judgment of God. We know in the scriptures it
speaks of the heavens being as brass to those who would call
upon God and who don't know Him. The make of it has to do with
God's judgment. It's brass and it has to do with
judgment. It has to do with judgment. It
has to do with sin. Judgment against sin the impudence
of the sinners is compared to brass in the scriptures over
in Isaiah chapter 48 Isaiah chapter 48 in verse 4 It says this because I knew that
thou art obstinate Thy neck is an iron sinew and thy brow brass
Now, brass, he's talking about the obstinacy and the impudence
of the sinner. But this brass thing is important. It's also, since it is a composite,
it is able to withstand great heat. Unlike gold or silver,
which can be smelted, brass can't be smelted. It can stand great
heat. It is able to withstand great
great fire. Now how is God described in Scripture? One of the descriptions of God
is He is a consuming fire and we know that many times in Scripture
the sacrifices of the Lord are recognized as satisfactory to
Him as He sent fire down from heaven to completely consume
the sacrifice. He is a consuming fire and His
wrath is often depicted as fire from heaven. Now the altar has
was to have rings and staves to transport it, and on the four
corners were horns of brass facing outward." Horns in scripture
represents power and authority. Christ is called the horn of
salvation. He is the power of God unto salvation. We know that from scripture.
And the horns were probably used for fastening the sacrifice to
the altar. It says that in Psalm 118.27 that the sacrifice is
attached to the horns of the altar. So when they did a sacrifice,
they would flay it and open it up with four legs spread in four
ways, and they would tie the four legs down to hold the sacrifice
in place as it was fired up. Now everything about this brazen
altar is about the Lord Jesus Christ. It was made of two metals,
made of two metals, which pictured the dual character of the Lord
Jesus Christ as God manifest in the flesh, the mystery of
godliness. As the brass pictured sin, it typifies Christ being
made sin for His elect by imputation. As the brass was able to withstand
great heat, it pictured Christ withstanding God's wrath and
vengeance against sin, which He did in those three hours on
the cross of darkness when God poured out His sin. As it says
in Psalms, He bore His arm and Christ said, I'm consumed with
the blow of Thy hand. As the brass was able to stand
great heat, it pictured Christ withstanding God's wrath and
God's judgment against sin when he was made to be sin for his
people by amputation. And the altar itself being the
place of sacrifice, it pictures the cross of Jesus Christ. The
cross of Christ was the last altar. I know churches say they
have church altars and people say, I can make an altar out
of a stump, you know, and sounds very religious and real cute,
but the last altar, was the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
there's where the perfect sacrifice was offered unto God, and it
was the only effectual altar anywhere in Scripture, this brazen
altar. was used. Sacrifices were made upon it,
and the blood taken off of this ultimate sacrifice was taken
off of the Day of Atonement and taken under that curtain to the
Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the mercy seat. But that only
forestalled God's wrath for a year. It only made the people realize
that there was at that time, under that economy, under that
covenant, no remedy for sin whatsoever. The blood of bulls and goats
can never take away sin. And that was a reminder that,
and it says that in Hebrews chapter 10, he said in those offerings
every year was a remembrance of sin. Because had it been a
perfect offering, then those would not have been repeated.
Not necessarily repeated, but these were repeated every year.
But the only effectual altar was that lonely wooden tower
outside Jerusalem on a hill called Golgotha, the place of the scum. Their sins were taken care of,
if you will, sins were annihilated, their sins were put away. The
issue of sin, the sin of God's people was forever settled, forever
settled on the cross of Calvary. That's what this brazen altar
pictures because here's where the burnt offering, here's where
the sin offering, here's where the peace offerings were offered
unto God. This was the altar right here.
It was the first thing you saw when you went into the tabernacle.
Thus we have the placement of the altar, this brazen altar. At the other end of the tabernacle,
all the way at the other end of the tabernacle was the Holy
of Holies. There's only one piece of furniture in there. the Ark
of the Covenant, covered by the Mercy Seat. Before it, the two
cherubim were facing each other, and between those cherubim dwelt
the Shekinah Glory of God. That's at the far end, all the
way to the other end. Then if you step outside that,
right outside the curtain, you have the Altar of Incense. The
Altar of Incense, also called the Golden Altar, the Golden
Altar, stood right before that curtain, right in the middle.
The table of show red was on the right, The lap stand was
on the left, the altar of incense was right in the middle. But
behind that we know was the mercy seat. So whatever was there,
that was the end of the tabernacle. The Ark of the Covenant and the
mercy seat, that was the end of it. So that was the purpose
of it. Whatever happened prior to that was for that purpose. And we know the purpose of that
was the glory of God. The glory of God must be attributed
to God. God must be glorified in all
things. How is God fully glorified? He's fully glorified in the salvation
of His elect by the blood sacrifice and substitutionary work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's how God is fully glorified.
All His attributes are glorified. His love, His mercy, His grace,
His wrath, His vengeance, His holiness, they're all taken care
of there on the cross of Calvary. That's where the glory is. So
on that mercy seat, above that mercy seat, dwells your kind
of glory. That's where it all headed. Everything's headed. Outside, as I said, was the golden
altar, which pictured Christ's intercession for us. And we realize
that if you want to talk about Christ's in any concept, you
can talk about him in intercession. He came to earth to intercede
on behalf. He interceded for people as he
was here. He interceded for his people
before God as a substitution of sacrifice. And he rose and
resurrected to intercede for his people even today. He is
ever living to intercede for his people. It always pictures
the intercessions and prayers of our Savior. Who did our Savior
pray for? He did not pray for the world,
He said He didn't. In John 17, in that great High
Priestly Prayer, which is actually the Lord's Prayer, the other
one is the Disciples Prayer, but in the Lord's Prayer in John
17, He said who He prayed for. He
said in verse 9 of John 17, I prayed for them, that is His disciples,
His elect. I pray not for the world. Now
if he loved the world, like men say he loved the world, wouldn't
he pray for it? You'd think he would. Because whoever he loves,
he intercedes for. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all
are mine are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine are mine,
and I am glorified in them. I pray not for the world. So
that center Centered altar, that golden altar, stood right at
the center, outside that curtain, and the other side was the Holy
of Holies. And it represented Christ's work, Christ's intercessory
work on Calvary's tree. Then there was the lampstand
on the left side. In that picture, we saw the preaching
of the gospel, always glorifying Christ, because all the lamps
were set to make the shine, to shine on the center post, which
God called hymn. He also calls this altar hymn.
Have you noticed that? his shovels, his bowls, his basin,
his boards, his rings, also, because that picture is the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's a table on the other side, the table
of showbread. It was pierced bread, seasoned with bitter frankincense,
which was the food of the priest. And we know the priesthood is
the church. And there is this brazen altar in the outer court,
or rather in the outer court there's this thing called the
brazen laver. And it's filled with water for
the priests to cleanse themselves for the work they do in the holy
place, picturing the washing of water by the word. And I'm
sure in this basin, because sacrifices were offered daily, there was
a mixture of water and blood. And we know when Christ died,
and he was pierced in his side, it came forth blood and water.
So that's also a picture of this cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ as we walk in the light, as he is in the light, the blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all transgression. But the first
thing you encounter, so you have the Holy of Holies, Ark of the
Covenant, the Golden Altar, the Lampstand, Table of Showbread,
the Brazen Laver, The first thing you see when you walk in there
is the absolutely necessary thing for all that other stuff to happen. For all the other stuff that's
represented there, this has to happen first. This altar, what
takes place on this altar, where the burnt offering and the sin
offering and the peace offering were sacrificed. All these offerings
had to do with the work of Christ. The burnt offering represented
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The sin offering
represented the child of God confessing that his sins were
transferred to the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace offering was
the offering which said, peace has been made by the blood of
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. These three offerings were absolutely
important. Everything in between this and the glory of God there
at the other end of the tabernacle over the mercy seat rests entirely
upon what takes place on this altar. This has to happen first. This is the first and primary
thing. Here, with fire from heaven ignited, the sacrifice was consumed
and sin and justice was pictured as satisfied, a done deal. Nothing happened in the salvation
of God's people until God is first propitiated or satisfied
for their sins. That has to happen first before
He can be glorified in the salvation of people. he must be satisfied
in his justice and his law. Can't happen otherwise. So what's
the first thing we see? Oh, we rejoice at the end of
this thing is the glory of God on that mercy seat. How does
his glory show up? Blood from this altar. Blood
from this altar, that's where it's all happened. This happened
effectually on the cross of Calvary. When the shout of the king was
heard in the camp, It was finished was his cry. It is finished was
his cry as he entered in the holy place, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building. He entered in once with his own
blood and obtained eternal redemption for us, it says in Hebrews chapter
9. This altar, this great big piece of furniture, is the first
thing seen, preeminent in its placement, preeminent in its
placement. that's the word that's applied
to the Lord Jesus Christ in Colossians chapter one when he talks about the glory
of Jesus Christ and who he is beginning in verse fourteen in
whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness
of sins who is the image of the invisible God the firstborn of
every creature for by him were all things created that are in
heaven or in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created
by him and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. He is the head of the body, the
church, who is the beginning and the firstborn of the dead,
and in all things he might have the preeminence." There's that
brazen altar, that brazen altar. For it pleased the Father, satisfied
and propitiated the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things to himself,
by him I say whether they be things in heaven or earth or
things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable. and unreprovable in His sight. Why do we preach Christ and Him
crucified? Because He's the preeminent one. Why do we see this altar as we
first go into the tabernacle? Because it's the preeminent piece
of furniture. Everything relies upon this great sacrifice, God
being satisfied in all the work of Christ as we go through there
to the Holy of Holies and find God glorified in the salvation
of his people. Father bless us to understand
and pray in Christ's name. Amen. All right.