Remember those who requested
prayer. Remember Loretta, she goes Friday to check on this
latest episode she's having with her breast cancer. So remember
her in your prayers. Remember Sylvester also with
her. Fred looks like he's going to,
the only thing left for them to do for him because he's having
such a a hard reaction to the chemotherapy is to go with a
bone marrow transplant. So that's going to take place
in Atlanta, I think. So then we'll probably know more
about that. Sharon's got the COVID. And so
remember her prayers too. She's got five days of isolation
and then five days of wearing a mask. Which, what I've heard,
doesn't help at all. So remember these folks in your
prayers. Wayne's doing pretty good. I went up to see him, what
was it, Tuesday? One day this week I went to see
him again. No, it went Saturday, didn't
it? Saturday. And he likes Frosties,
so I was gonna get him a Frostie, you know, and went up to the
Wendy's and all they had was pumpkin spice Frosties. And I
went, I didn't get him one of those, and I asked him, I said,
would you like to have a pumpkin spice frosting? He said, no.
I don't want none of that. But he's doing well also. And
if y'all get a chance to go up to Solid Care, he's in 104, and
he'd probably be sleeping, but just shake his leg and wake him
up and talk to him a little bit. He'd be good to see him. Him number
205, once for all. 205. ? Free from the law, oh happy condition
? Jesus hath bled and there is remission ? Cursed by the law
and bruised by the fall ? Christ hath redeemed us once for all Once for all, O sinner, receive
it. Once for all, O brother, believe
it. Cling to the cross, the burden
will fall. ? Now are we free, there's no condemnation
? Jesus provides a perfect salvation ? Come unto me, oh, hear His
sweet call ? Come and He saves us once again ? Of sinner receive it ? Once for
all, oh brother, believe it ? Lead to the cross, the burden will
fall ? Christ hath redeemed us once for all ? Children of God,
oh glorious calling His grace will keep us from falling, passing
from death to life at His call. Blessed salvation once for all. ? Once for all, oh sinner, receive
it ? Once for all, oh brother, believe it ? Cling to the cross,
the burden will fall ? Christ hath redeemed us once for all. Hymn number 514, we're marching
to Zion. Come we that love the Lord, and
let our joys be known. Join in a song with sweet accord. Join in a song with sweet accord. And thus surround the throne. ? We're marching to Zion ? Beautiful,
beautiful Zion ? We're marching upward to Zion ? The beautiful
city of God ? Let those refuse to sing ? Who never knew our
God ? But children of the heaven ? May speak their joys abroad ?
May speak their joys abroad ? We're marching to Zion ? Beautiful,
beautiful Zion ? We're marching upward to Zion ? The beautiful
city of God The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the hemp-leaf hills Before we reach the hemp-leaf
hills Oh, walk the golden streets Oh, walk the golden streets We're
marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. ? Then let our songs abound and
every tear be dry ? We're marching through Emmanuel's ground ? We're
marching through Emmanuel's ground ? To Pharaoh's world's old hide We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. If you have your Bibles turn
with me please to Exodus the twenty-fifth chapter. I'm going
to read verses ten through sixteen. Exodus twenty-five, ten, and
they shall make an ark of Shittim wood. Two cubits and a half shall
be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth, and a
cubit and a half the height thereof. Now shall I overlay it with pure
gold, within and without, shall thou overlay it, and shall make
upon it a crown of gold round about. Now shall I cast four
rings of gold for it, and put them in four corners. Thereof
two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in
the other side of it. Now shall make staves of shittum
wood and overlay them with gold. Now shall put the staves into
the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be born
with them. The staves shall be in the rings
of the ark, they shall not be taken from it. Now shall put
into it the ark of the testimony which I shall give thee. Let
us pray. Father, we come in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
our blessed Savior, our closest and dearest friend, our elder
brother, the one who sticks with us closer
than a brother, who helps us in our direst needs,
and who meets every need we have. We thank you that through him,
your grace is sufficient for every need we have. Father, we
pray with heavy hearts concerning those of our company who are
sick, Brother Fred, we ask your help for him as he undergoes
these treatments for this lymphoma. We ask, Lord, you'd be with him.
You know what our heart's desire is. For our dear sister Loretta,
she's finding out what this is with her new cancer. We ask,
Lord, you'd be with her. Watch over her. Heal her, Father,
if it be according to your good pleasure. Be with Sylvester,
she ministers to her and also be with Arlene, she ministers
to Fred. Pray for her sister who has COVID. We ask Lord you'd be with her.
Watch over her and bring her back to a good measure of health.
Pray, continue to pray for Julie and also that you'd minister
to her and for Wayne, that you'd be with him and Ethel. Lord,
we ask these folks are loved by you, and we say with Martha
as she came to you about Lazarus, he whom thou lovest is sick.
We ask, Lord, you'd minister to them as only you can. We pray
for ourselves tonight, fathers, we gather here that you might
be pleased to open your word to us, to teach us your word,
to draw us close to you. Let us be thankful that we have
this word that sets forth the glories of the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ever teach us more and more about
Him. We pray in Christ's name, Amen. Now the study of the tabernacle,
as we looked at last week, is the study of the person and the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Concerning the elements that
was needed to construct the tabernacle, the structure was very costly. Setting forth the inestimable
value of Jesus Christ Himself, the size and the layout of the
tabernacle was impressive, but it wasn't very large. The exterior
of the structure could be seen by anyone passing by. They would
just see white linen curtains they couldn't see inside. The
interior and the furnitures could only be seen by the priesthood
which sets forth the principle of the natural and the spiritual
mind. For the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit,
they are foolishness to them, neither can he know them or discern
them. But the spiritual man discerneth all things, yet is discerned
of none. So if someone was to walk by this great tent in the
wilderness, they would not be able to see any of the elements
inside. All the elements inside were
closed only to the priests, The exterior part of the structure
was 75 feet wide by 150 feet long. It had one entrance at
the east gate, and that east it was facing the sun. This pictured
Christ as the door, the only way to God, as the sun rising
with healing in his wings, the bright and morning star, the
day spring that springs in our heart and the only source of
true light in the world. The interior consisted of two
sections, the outer and the inner court. The outer court contained
two pieces of furniture. Just inside the gate was the
brazen altar where the burnt offerings were made, and that
represented Christ's finished work of salvation. The second
element was the brazen laver. where the priests cleansed themselves,
signifying the washing of the water by the word, as it says
in Ephesians 5 and Titus 3. Near the west end of the structure
was what is called the tabernacle proper. It consisted of a 45
by 15 foot room divided into two parts. The first section
was a room, it was 30 by 15, that was referred to as the holy
place. That was the holy place. In this
section on the south side was a candlestick or a lamp stand. Today it's called the menorah.
It consisted of a central stand that had three arms on each side.
This was the only light in the holy place. There was a roof
over it and curtains on the side. The only light in the holy place
was this lamp stand. This signified that Christ was
the only light of the world. A few feet away from the north
side was the table of showbread. On the north side was the table
of showbread. It was laden with loaves of bread
that were pierced, and it was the food of the priests while
they did their functions in the tabernacle. The bread pictured
Christ, the bread of life, who was pierced in his hands and
feet inside and is the sustenance of the priesthood, which is the
Church. The next piece of furniture was the Golden Altar or the Altar
of Incense. Its location was west and placed
central near the fourfold veil of the Holy of Holies in the
forefront. Coals from the brazen altar where
the sacrifice was made was placed on this altar and then fragrant
incense was put upon it and the odor and the smoke rose up to
glory. Incense in scripture signifies
prayers and intercession, and that pictures the intercession
of Jesus Christ continually that he makes for his elect, always
conditioned to punish finished work. For who is he that condemneth,
Romans said, it is Christ that died. Yea, that is rather risen
again, who ever liveth to make intercession for us. That's repeated
in Hebrews chapter 7, when he says to the other, most of them
that come to buy him for ever liveth to make intercession for
his people. Christ is our intercessor. He
came to this world to intercede for us. He interceded for us
on Calvary. He intercedes for us in heaven
as advocate with the Father. Next was a 15 by 15 foot cubicle
enclosed, it was an enclosed room. and it had no door. It
was an enclosed room and it had heavy curtains or veils, four-fold
veil that the high priest entered in, but he didn't have no door
to open up. He had to crawl underneath on
his belly with a censer to fill the place with smoke and with
a ladle, with a basin full of blood to sprinkle on the mercy
seat. That place is called the Most Holy Place. or the Holy
of Holies, it was entered into only one day a year, one time
each year, by the high priest as he represented the elect on
the Day of Atonement. That's the only time anybody
entered that place, one time a year. Out of a 365-day year,
all during that time, in the outer court and in the holy place,
the priests were busy. they were busy they were offering
daily sacrifices they were keeping the lamp lit they were changing
the show bread and so forth they were busy but only one man that
is the high priest entered in that holy of holies one day a
year on the day of atonement and on that day he wore the names
of the children the twelve tribes of Israel on his breastplate
and on the ouches on his shoulders and he went in with a basin of
blood and he sprinkled himself and the walls and the mercy seat
for between the cherubim rose up the Shekinah glory of God. That was the light of that place,
that holy place. There was only one piece of furniture
there, which was a very important piece of furniture in Hebrew
history. It was called the Ark of the Covenant, upon which sat
something called the Mercy Seat. There and there alone, God says
in verse 22 of this same chapter, there and there alone is where
He will commune with men. Where did God commune with men
today? On the mercy seat. And the mercy seat in the New
Testament, four times it's used, is translated propitiation. Propitiation, that is satisfaction
of God. So God will meet with man where
his law and his justice is satisfied, and that is pictured by the mercy
seat. There and there alone did God
commune with men. The make-up of the ark and the
mercy seat pictured and typified the Lord Jesus Christ and his
successful work of salvation. Now attached to the mercy seat
and rising upward were two cherubims facing one another with outstretched
wings. They were made of gold and between
them resided what is called the Shekinah glory of God. It comes from the Hebrew word
Shekin which means to reside or be present, the present glory
of God. and that the eyes of God were
ever upon the blood of propitiation. The only time that your kind
of glory showed up was when the blood was shed and put on the
mercy seat. Our Lord said to hear in his
love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and gave his
son the propitiation for our sin, the mercy seat for our sin. There is no other furniture in
the tabernacle. There was no chair. There was
no sofa. There was no settee or no cot.
The priests that attended the tabernacle never sat down because
their work was never done. Because of all the sacrifices,
they had to keep the flames lit, the bread fresh, and the insects
burning. And they did all that continually, 365 days a year,
24 hours a day, in shifts. They had shifts. That's what
they called priest courses. they had courses that they were
in the tabernacle. They did that 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Never would any of them ever
sit down. Why? Because in all the things
they did, what was pictured was never accomplished. It pictured
the remission of sins, but no sin was ever remitted under that
old covenant. That sin was remitted on Calvary
alone. All the things going on were
a shadow of things, good things to come but not the very image
of those things, it says in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 1. Now,
before the layout is set forth, before the structure is defined
by God, before anything else is mentioned as to furniture
or what else is in the sanctuary concerning the construction,
the wondrous, majestic tent that God was going to put up, before
He put any of that in Moses' mind, the Lord instructs Moses
in the construction of the essential thing. This comes first. This is the first thing. The first thing to be made is
the Ark of the Covenant. That's the first thing. Before
He talks about the linen curtains, before He talks about the silver
studs that go down into the ground, before He talks about the brazen
labor, even the brazen altar. Before he talks about any of
it, first he talks about the place where sins were forgiven
or atoned for, and that is the Ark of the Covenant. The first
thing is made is the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat.
We see that in this chapter. Everything else will be constructed,
as it were, around this essential element because this singularly
represented what most glorifies the triune Godhead. What is it? The atonement or salvation of
the elect. by the blood of the sacrifice. This is what's important. This is what the whole Bible
is really about. It was Spurgeon who said we ought
to take a scarlet cord and a needle and punch it through the front
cover of the Bible all the way to the back, no matter what page
we turn, there'd be a red line, a red cord, so we know this book
is about the blood. So the first thing before this
tabernacle, and every element of this tabernacle, every element
of it represents some part of Christ and His work. And first
thing, is where His blood was offered before God, and God was
satisfied. That s the very first thing. Everything else was constructed
after this essential element because this singularly represented
what glorifies God. God is glorified in creation,
there is no doubt about that. God is glorified in providence,
there s no doubt about that. But God is FULLY glorified in
ALL His attributes in the salvation of His That's where He's glorified. His wrath is glorified. His justice
is glorified. His mercy is glorified. His grace
is glorified. His sovereignty is glorified. All these things
are glorified on the Cross of Calvary. And the Ark of the Covenant,
the Mercy Seat, we'll look at next week because I would be
preaching all night otherwise. The Ark of the Covenant was a
box or a chest which was 45 inches long and 27 inches in width and
depth. that's seen in verse ten he says
and thou shalt make an ark of shittum wood two cubits and a
half shall be the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth
thereof and a cubit and a half the height thereof now a cubit
was basically uh... was the length between the elbow
and the middle finger that was a cubit that was the length of
a cubit generally about eighteen inches is what it would be there
was a difference between the Jewish cubit and the Egyptian
cubit, the Egyptian cubit added two inches to it. They, of course,
had to have everything better than the Jews, so they had a
bigger cubit than they did. So this was the makeup of the
Ark. It was made to contain the testimony
of God, for God says to him, I'll tell you what testimony
to put inside that Ark. And we know that this testimony
was the stone tables upon which God exed his ten commandments
from the law. the golden pot of manna, which
represented their journey in the wilderness and God's care
for them during that time, and Aaron's rod that budded, which
represented the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the ark is to be made of planks of Shittem wood. Some say this
wood was from the Acacia tree. I don't know whether it was or
whether it was actually a tree called the Shittem tree. I don't know.
But this wood was used because it was highly durable. It was
a highly durable wood. It resisted rot and decay and
it was very long-lasting. If you built something out of
this wood, you'd probably die for it, for it passed away. This pictured the humanity of
Christ. He came as a root out of dry ground. His humanity also
represented his eternality because he pre-existed as the Son of
God given in Isaiah chapter 9. He's ever-living as the resurrected
Lord and he endureth forever He endured the wrath of man,
He endured the wrath of God, and He endured the humiliation
that attended the cross, and He did it all for the joy set
before Him, and the full and free salvation of His people.
The Shiddom wood was to be overlaid with fine gold, fine gold, on
the inside and the outside of the planks. which represented
the royalty of Christ and the deity of Christ. So you have
the humanity in the wood, you have the deity and the glory
or the royalty in the gold. And that pictures Christ in His
dual nature. He is God and He is man. The mystery endures, the mystery
of God manifest in the flesh, for in him dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. This Shittum wood, make up of
the Ark, was a representative of Christ, the Word being made
flesh for us. The Ark was portable. now on
the ark also there was a crown around it what that means it
wasn't like a crown that you put on your head there was a
a gold rim that was scalloped like a crown if you will all
around the edge of it and that represented the royalty of the
Lord Jesus Christ these were made uh... so this uh... Ark of the Covenant was a portable
thing. So that being the case, four
rings were cast out of pure gold and attached to the edge of the
four sides of the Ark. And into these four rings of
gold were placed two staves or poles. Now these poles were made
of shidom wood and overlaid with gold. And that pictured man who
was both flesh and spirit, the child of God. though the staves
were not attached to the ark, they were separate from the ark.
Once they were put in place, they were never to be removed.
That's what this text says here, they'll never be removed. Let's
read that in the beginning of verse 12, And thou shalt cast
four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners
thereof, and two rings shall be on one side, and two rings
on the other side. Now shall make staves of shed
of wood, and overlay them with gold. Now shall put the staves
into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be
borne with it. And the staves shall be in the
rings of the ark, and they shall not be taken out." So once this
was all put together, this box was put together and this crown
was upon it. This was before the mercy seat
was made and placed upon it. These four rings were set up
and these staves were put in the ark so it could be transported. It was only transported on the
shoulders of priests. They transported it and they
did not see it. The high priest covered it completely. They never
saw the Ark of the Covenant. It was covered up with badger
skins and so forth so it could be seen. It was transported on
the shoulders by these staves. These things were attached to
the Ark and not to be removed. The Ark was to be born from place
to place and within the Ark was the testimony of God. The rings
and staves represent the Church. and the ministers of the gospel
that carry the gospel of Christ. The testimony of God, wherever
God leads them. The minister of the gospel is
attached. He's separate from the gospel,
but he's attached to it and he cannot be removed. This was the
very part, or this is the first part of the tabernacle construction.
This is a pretty big deal going on. There's a lot that goes on.
Eight chapters cover the construction of the different elements of
this, but the first thing is where God will ultimately reside. The first thing is where God's
testimony is, where the gospel of Jesus Christ is. This is the
first thing. Upon this chest we'll set the
mercy seat. We'll look at that next week.
God bless you.