Attending to the Tabernacle

[0:00] And we're getting into some interesting territory. I call it interesting with air quotes being that it's getting into some stuff that has a relation to you and I believe.

[0:14] I try to bring a simple point out to you this morning from this passage. But we're getting into some things. It's not a story. It's not of them leaving Egypt.

[0:25] It's not of the plagues. It's not of the commands. It's just some furniture. We're reading and studying about some furniture. But there's, as always, there's a reason for it being in the book. And there's truth to be learned and to be applied, I believe.

[0:40] So backing up a little bit, last week we started with the first piece of furniture in the tabernacle, which in verse 10 was the ark. And with the ark on top of it was the mercy seat made of pure gold.

[0:53] And so we looked at those and just saw that that was a very important piece. The first one mentioned, therefore it was a special piece. And very, very heavy, I think, and lots of gold on that.

[1:05] We also noticed it had a special place into that second sanctuary, the innermost sanctuary of the tabernacle by itself. And then it had a special purpose where God would meet with them and commune with them.

[1:18] And they could even communicate or ask questions to him, as we saw later in the book of Judges, where the high priest stood before the Lord and he spoke and the Lord replied and gave him answer. And so there's a special purpose for this ark, and as well as it has a special presence, showing that it was the thing out there leading the way for the children of Israel.

[1:38] It gave them confidence and assurance when they went to battle that the presence of God was there and he was fighting for them. And so we likened all of that to a very special portion or piece of you.

[1:50] The most special, if we could say it that way, is that your heart. And I could even kind of tweak that a little bit, leave it at the heart, because that's the term the Bible uses, where the Lord looks upon the heart and Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.

[2:06] But if we want to say you're a body, soul, spirit, that might be the innermost person, the soul, where God dwells and where God quickens and makes you alive in Christ. Now, your heart is a unique and a secret portion of you that very few, if anybody, ever gets to see in its entirety.

[2:24] It's something that God looks upon, as I mentioned. It has a space in there, as the ark had between the cherubim and above the mercy seat, a space that only the Creator can fill. And I believe every man and woman on this planet has an empty place built into them that only God can fill in their hearts.

[2:42] And with God in you, He can communicate to you back and forth, like we saw in the Old Testament tabernacle there, as well as God can lead the way. And with God in you, He can give you that confidence and assurance that you're a child of God and how you can please Him.

[2:57] And so the thing matches pretty well, and we're going to piggyback off of that and continue today to try to make sense of all of this in an application to you and I that we're making our lives a tabernacle for God to dwell in.

[3:10] That's really the overall theme of these messages, is something we've already seen from the beginning of chapter 25. So today we're going to continue and we're going to study the next two items mentioned. And these are being made for the first compartment of the sanctuary.

[3:25] If you would pass through the first veil into the inner court, or the, I guess that's the word to use, is you're going to find a few items of furniture in there, and these two are going to be in there, whereas the ark went into the second, past the second veil.

[3:40] So I'll tell you how we're going to look at this today. I'm going to, first we're going to read in chapter 25 what I'll call the information that God gave to Moses up there on the mount.

[3:51] And then we're going to look at the location of these pieces where they were placed within that tabernacle, and then the operation of these pieces of furniture, how the priests had to minister and what they were doing there.

[4:03] And then we're going to look at some representation of them, like kind of mention some things, by the way, of typology, and finish up with some application, really a simple thought that I think is something that we need and can take home.

[4:16] This will go quickly. It sounds like five long points, but I promise you it won't be that long. So let's begin reading the information that's given in Exodus 25, starting in verse number 23.

[4:31] Thou shalt also make a table of shittim 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.

[4:46] And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.

[5:01] Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be born with them.

[5:12] 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.

[5:23] And thou shalt set upon the table show bread before me all way. And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold. Of beaten work shall the candlestick be made.

[5:33] His shaft and his branches, his bowls, his knops, his flowers, shall be of the same. And six branches shall come out of the sides of it. Three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side.

[5:49] Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch, and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower. So in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.

[6:01] And in the candlestick shall be four bowls, made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.

[6:15] Their knops and their branches shall be of the same, and it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof. And they shall give light, or they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. And the tongs thereof and the snuff dishes thereof shall be of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it with all these vessels. And look, very important, look that thou make them after their pattern which was showed thee in the mount. He reiterates that. He said that earlier in verse 9. Now he says it again about these items and the furniture. They must be made after the pattern that I showed you already up there in the mount. So there's two unique pieces in addition to the ark and the mercy seat.

[7:02] These two unique pieces, we need to get this right away, these were designed by God. Their dimensions, the crown of gold around, everything that he says with how this lamp is going to be, everything is from God.

[7:16] It's from his mind. He designed this thing and they have a purpose in the sanctuary and a significance. They picture for us some important things and some probably some essential truths that need to be present in our sanctuaries. We'll again refer to our lives.

[7:38] The table is pretty straightforward. The candlestick, maybe not as much. Much more delicately designed and decorated piece. So there's the information that Moses received up in the mount. The words that God gave him and they're written, they're recorded in the book.

[7:58] The table, we read the details of the dimensions, the materials, the design of the crown, the rings, the staves for transportation. I might make a note here.

[8:09] Something that I just realized in the last year with my King James Bible was that the word staves is just plural for the word staff. And it's maybe not a big deal to you, but to me it's like, hey, that's pretty good.

[8:22] Because I saw that in Zachariah where he's got two staves, beauty and bands, and it mentions the one staff and the other staff. And when he talks about them together, they're called staves.

[8:33] Just like the word knife is singular, but then plural has a V-E-S. So this is what staves is. It's a plural form of staff. In case that's something that's always eluded you.

[8:45] for what it's worth. So there's the instruments of the table. Also mentioned, I think that was in verse 29. Different instruments used there at the table.

[8:56] It has a cover. And I believe that cover that is mentioned is when the, when it's transported in Numbers chapter 4. You can read, if I recall, it's the Kohathites that have to take these items and move them and they have to break down the tabernacle or these portions.

[9:12] They cover it with some some blue or some, I forget now exactly, but if I recall, that's what the cover is mentioned about in verse 29. Now that's kind of a straightforward thing.

[9:23] It's smaller than this table here in front of us. It'd be much shorter and probably, and just a little bit thinner of a table. So it's smaller than the ark that we looked at last week.

[9:34] But just to give you a little visual idea there. The candlestick, the information on the candlestick, we read the details. This one, not as straightforward. It has a main shaft as a, let's see, that was mentioned.

[9:48] I have to turn my page. It was mentioned in verse 31, a main vertical shaft with two branches coming out at three different places. So six total. Most of the times, if you look this up, you're going to see a picture of a, of seven of all these arms coming all the way up to the top and even.

[10:05] A lot of times that's what you see, right? In your mind, you're picturing seven lamps all across in unison in a row. And I don't know, based on the reading of that, it doesn't seem like those arms are any longer in length one over the other.

[10:19] So I don't see that the top arms are short and then the bottom arms are much longer to get up to the top. From the look of it, they're identical in length, which would make them more the light kind of coming down the sides of it with the six lamps on the sides and the one at the top.

[10:33] But I can't say this for sure. I'm not there and I don't see it. So there's just one thought there to bring out. The decorative details mentioned of the bowls and the knops and the flowers, the seven lamps mentioned in verse 37, and then its instruments also given in verse 38, the tongs and snuff dishes.

[10:54] And so of the tabernacle, I think this is probably the hardest one to picture for sure. And one note I'll make is that there's no dimensions given for this piece of furniture.

[11:07] It's no measurements at all. The only thing it talks about is a talent of pure gold in verse 39, but no dimensions that I can see in any way. And what that tells me is that beyond just a vague description of knops and flowers and almonds and branches, nobody can say for certain that they know what it looked like.

[11:28] If you go do a Google search, you'll see a lot of different ideas. They're all comparable. They're all kind of a lamp with seven total, but not one is identical and not one can you say that's what it looked like.

[11:42] And so that's just something. You can't replicate this today with certainty. And I think we can learn something. That these details were given as a guide. This information was a guide for making these items.

[11:56] But the only one person who can know for certain if that's what it's supposed to look like was the one who saw it up in the mount was Moses. Now God gave the men wisdom and understanding to make the stuff, Bezalel and Aholiab and some of them, but only Moses saw it.

[12:16] And God says it, I'll read the verse again in verse 40. It says, look that thou, Moses, singular, thou make them after their pattern which was showed thee in the mount.

[12:27] He was the one responsible for making sure that the craftsman made it the way God showed him. Because they can only follow the guide, but they don't know how big's the almond, how big's this knop, and how big's this flower, and should I stretch an inch, two inches, three inches?

[12:43] How are we going to build this thing exactly? That also tells me something else, is that these instructions were not written and preserved so that the Hebrews could one day rebuild a tabernacle.

[12:57] Because all they have here is just a guide. They don't know what it looked like. And you've been hearing a lot of prophecy boneheads tell you that this is written because the Jews are going to have to take it up and they're going to be able to build it exactly the way it's supposed to be built.

[13:13] And God's going to do something. Man is just not as, doesn't have a handle on some of those future things. And when people talk a lot about prophecy, just most of them don't know what in the world they're talking about.

[13:24] I can assure you of that. I got a call from a guy this week, just the other day, and he wanted to, among other things, he just, he basically, I'll give it to you like this.

[13:34] He had his mind made up of what things are for the future. And he wanted me to give him the Bible verses to back up what he believed. Where's it in the Bible that says this, this, and this?

[13:45] And what he's trying to do is put together this whole big one world order Illuminati connection to everything in the Rothschilds and the banking systems. And he just went on and on and on and on and finally I was like, bro, I think you're off base.

[13:57] And I think you're trying to use the Bible to prove something that you watched on YouTube. And you're not really studying the Bible. And so that's just for what it's worth, if that's something you do tend to do, then get off of that and get into this and there we go.

[14:11] It's impossible for them to build that with accuracy, without the pattern, without knowledge of the pattern. And that's why God gave it to Moses.

[14:22] So anyway, the information's given there in chapter 25. Now the location. Look at chapter 26. The placement of these items in the tabernacle.

[14:32] Chapter 26 and look at verse number 35. And thou shalt set the table without the veil.

[14:44] Meaning on the outside of the veil that separates the ark and the mercy seat from the outer tabernacle. Thou shalt set the table without the veil and the candlestick over against the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south.

[15:01] And thou shalt put the table on the north side. So if you were coming through those doors and as the tabernacle lay, you would be coming from the east, walking in to your right.

[15:13] I hope you can picture a compass with the north and the east, south and west. To your right would be the table. And coming through those doors in this church to your left would be the candlestick.

[15:24] As it's set up here, northward and southward. Look at chapter 40. Exodus chapter 40. And this is the actual placement of these items after they were built.

[15:37] Exodus 40 verse 22. 22 through 25.

[15:48] And he put the table in the tent of the congregation upon the side of the tabernacle northward without the veil. And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[16:02] And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation over against the table on the side of the tabernacle southward on the left hand side. And he lighted the lamps before the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses.

[16:15] So the table on the northern side, the right hand side, the candlestick on the left hand side directly across the room from the table. If you want to get an idea of distance, the room wall to wall was roughly 15 feet wide.

[16:29] So even there's nothing really to compare it to that matches directly. I brought a tape measure in here the other day just to see if I could give you a perfect, and I can't. But this pew in front of here, this middle pew is about nine feet.

[16:40] And so if you want to put three feet on either side, there's your width of the room itself. And the tabernacle, or the items would kind of be resting, I'd say, in the aisle way with about the pew's width in between them, give or take.

[16:53] So if that helps you to see it in your mind the way it's laid out, good. Now, the operation. They didn't just place them in the tabernacle and walk away. There was some required attention, which is going to be an important thing to consider.

[17:10] The table of showbread, we read in chapter 25, thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me always. Now, what about that?

[17:20] Well, let me take you to a few places. Look at Leviticus, the next book to your right, Leviticus chapter 24. And I'm just going to bounce around a little bit here, so be ready.

[17:41] Leviticus 24. And I'm getting a verse loaded in Exodus 29. Okay, Leviticus 24.

[17:51] Let's read together verses 5 through 9. The operation of this table of showbread. Verse 5 says, Thou shalt take fine flour and bake twelve cakes thereof.

[18:04] Two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord.

[18:15] And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.

[18:33] And it shall be Aaron's and his sons, and they shall eat it in the holy place, for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.

[18:45] Now, you'll notice a few things here. First of all, they're called cakes in verse number 5. Twelve cakes. A cake is not a loaf. And to show you that, you don't need to turn, but you can write down Exodus 29 verse 23, where the Bible is talking about a different offering and sacrifice.

[19:02] But it says, And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket. So a cake and a loaf are discriminated differently.

[19:14] There are two different things. Specifically, Leviticus says that he's going to bake twelve cakes thereof. And he's going to set these twelve cakes in two rows, six on a row.

[19:28] Now, a lot of people show this as a, trying to give you a graphic of it, and I can't say for certain, but a lot of them stack like twelve pancakes of thick bread, standing up one and two, like columns, standing, saying that those are the rows, six on a row.

[19:45] Very much could be the case. Others I've seen with twelve, like six loaves and six loaves, and I don't believe that's true at all based on this reading. So we're talking about twelve cakes, whether they're stacked in two rows of six or laid or overlaid somehow, they're on that table.

[20:02] And every Sabbath day, the priest comes in and puts new bread on and takes the old bread off. It's to be before the Lord, continually, that shows up I think three times in these verses we just read in Leviticus.

[20:17] So, frankincense also brought into that, and it says the frankincense, verse seven, that it may be on the bread for a memorial. So there's the operation of this, a weekly operation, Sabbath to Sabbath, fresh new bread being put on.

[20:34] This bread was made by the children of Israel. They were to bring some of these items for this purpose, as well as you'll see in the next one, the candlestick. And for that, come back to chapter 27, Exodus 27, the candlestick.

[20:49] Let's look at the operation of the candlestick. verse 20 and 21.

[21:03] 27, 20. And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure oil, olive, beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

[21:15] In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord.

[21:26] It shall be a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel. So the operation of the candlestick demanded a daily routine that could not be forsaken, to continually, daily bring oil and fill the lamps.

[21:43] Both the people and the priests are involved, as I believe is the case with the bread, with the fine flour beaten as well. The people are to bring this. Back in chapter 25, one of the materials at the very beginning was oil for the light.

[22:00] And so that's something that's to be gathered of the children of Israel. Now, it says that it's to burn always at the end of verse number 20. To burn always.

[22:11] And so some take that to mean that it's perpetually never going out. It's like the Olympic flame that's always on day and night. Yet it does say in the verse that they're to order it from evening to morning.

[22:23] So is this a, what is going on? Well, I'll show you what I believe here. That, look at chapter 30. Let's get another verse here. 30 and verses 7 and 8. Exodus 30 verse 7.

[22:42] And Aaron shall burn thereon. Now he's referring this time to an altar, an incense altar that's in this same room. He shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning.

[22:53] When he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it.

[23:04] A perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. So it looks like in the morning he comes in and puts the lamps out with the snuff dishes that he trims the lamps so that they are, the wick is right and it's going to burn bright.

[23:18] Maybe fills the lamps. But at even, he comes back to light the lamps as he does also mess with this, to burn incense upon that altar. If you're not sure, I'll give you one more verse.

[23:30] And this one is in 2 Chronicles 13. This is something years and years down the road, probably 500 years later, when Israel's in their land, they've gone through a lot of kings and they've had a lot of ups and downs.

[23:44] And the kingdom's been divided. You've got Jeroboam to the north and the kingdom of Judah to the south. In 2 Chronicles 13, the Jews from the south are complaining against those of the north, saying they have rebelled, but we have not.

[24:05] And we're still doing it the way God told us to do it. And you can skim through some of this and see what their accusations are. In verse 9, he says, Have ye not cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron and the Levites?

[24:18] And then you've got other priests. A little bit later, look at verse number 11. I'll start in verse 10. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken Him.

[24:30] And the priests which minister unto the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business. And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening, burn sacrifices and sweet incense. The showbread also set they in order upon the pure table, and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof to burn every evening.

[24:49] So it sure looks like that's the case. When it says burn always, it's a reference to saying to every evening, every night, you come in there, and that candle is to stay burning throughout the night.

[25:00] And that's what it looks like the operation is. Do you remember in 1 Samuel chapter 3, when Eli was priest in Shiloh, that at nighttime he laid him down, and Samuel laid down to sleep, and the lamp of God went out in the temple of God.

[25:16] And so that happened at nighttime. And then the Lord spoke to Samuel, and he said, you know, the case there back and forth with Eli. So there's the operation of these two items inside where they're placed in the tabernacle.

[25:30] Now let's get some representation, if we could. And maybe we can't. Many expositors, many Bible teachers, assign individual types to these particular pieces of furniture.

[25:47] For instance, or for example, the table, some say, represents the Word of God. And the reason they say that is, well, there's six and six, which looks like 66 books of the Bible.

[26:00] Or man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. And with some scripture, they kind of make that to be a picture of the Word of God.

[26:11] I'm not against that. I'm just telling you that's just one idea that some have. The candlestick across the room, they say, some say, is a picture or type of the Holy Spirit. And with that oil, which can very easily be made of the Spirit, it matches another type there.

[26:29] And that candlestick over against the table, it sheds light upon the Word of God, is the idea. That the Holy Spirit sheds light upon the Word of God.

[26:40] The candlestick and the table working together. And that's a great idea. And those significance, those representations, they have some bearing and some truth, I believe. Others say that no, no, both of them picture Jesus Christ.

[26:54] The Lord Jesus Christ is the bread of life. He's the true bread that came down from heaven. And so there's Jesus Christ likened to the bread. And then they also say, well, the Lord Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

[27:08] And He's that true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. So I get it. I get it. The Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, I get it.

[27:19] You can almost look at it through any different lens and kind of extract some truth and some typology. I see the individual particulars. I see the significance.

[27:31] But I don't believe we're treating the text faithfully by limiting these items, or in some cases, maybe even stretching what it says to make an interpretation.

[27:43] What I do see is this. And this is just me. Take it or leave it. But what I see is that every work of God bears witness, bears resemblance to the nature of God, the attributes of God.

[28:04] They reflect in some or in many ways His hand and His person. meaning God ordered this tabernacle. God designed these pieces of furniture.

[28:17] This was all in His mind. These exact dimensions and details. And therefore, they will reflect His hand and they will reflect His person and His working.

[28:29] They'll declare Him as does everything that He creates and fashions. The heavens declare the glory of God. Man is created after the image and similitude and likeness of God.

[28:46] So the table, yes, the table speaks of Christ. And yes, the table speaks of the Word of God. And those two, if we know this correctly, they're virtually inseparable.

[28:56] the incarnate Word and the written Word. They do because they bear the design of a holy God.

[29:07] And it reflects, it reflects other things wrought by His hands. It also reflects, that table reflects the people of God. Did you not notice the 12?

[29:19] The 12 cakes that were baking? Could you not see the 12 tribes surrounding this tabernacle? Does that not speak to the 12 tribes of the children of Israel? There on that table presented before the Lord?

[29:32] Does it not also mention that every Sabbath day while the new 12 cakes are brought in, so like the people of God are brought back to their tents to rest every Sabbath, to remember it and keep it holy?

[29:47] And so, yes, it speaks of Christ. Yes, it speaks of the Word of God. It also speaks of the people of God. Just the same. The candlestick, of course it speaks of Jesus Christ being the light of the world.

[29:58] But it also pictures the Holy Ghost of God illuminating the Scriptures like I mentioned. But also, the Bible says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

[30:12] In addition to that, God's people, the Jews, in Matthew chapter 5, Jesus Christ says, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid.

[30:26] And he likens them to a light that's put on top of a candlestick. The people of God likened to the same thing and not to be forgotten is the New Testament church, the people of God today.

[30:39] In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul says, Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. You're of the day, not of the night.

[30:51] In Philippians chapter 2, he says that we are to shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. On top of that, Revelation chapter 1, there are seven golden candlesticks, John sees in his vision.

[31:10] And those seven golden candlesticks are said to be, verse 20, seven churches. And so, don't be confused by what I'm saying here. What I'm recommending or suggesting is that these items don't match one type or one person of the Godhead alone, as if that isolates it to that only and that representation.

[31:30] but I believe they, being divinely ordered, reflect many things that are ordained by God. The Son of God, the Spirit of God, the Word of God, the people of God, that all speak because it's coming from the divine mind.

[31:49] And therefore, what he creates cannot be isolated to one thing. That's my take on the representation. Now, their representation in this tabernacle, I don't find to be straightened to one type or to one picture.

[32:03] But I think they speak volumes. But today, I want to get to one main thing, one application, a real simple thought that I want to put forth from this text and kind of take a representation that's a little bit outside of the box that really matches what we're studying, that is, that God, that our lives would be a tabernacle for the Lord.

[32:25] Because these two items represent so much, because they reflect many individual truths of God, I'm going to limit our application to just a simple idea.

[32:36] Remember, your life is to be a sanctuary to God. I'd like to introduce a singular representation that does apply to your and to my individual life.

[32:49] So we have a table and a candlestick. We have bread and we have light. the night that the Lord Jesus Christ met with his disciples before he was taken to be crucified, he took bread and break and he said, take, eat, this is my, what?

[33:16] My body. This is my body. The broken bread was a picture of the broken body of Jesus Christ. Christ. So that's interesting. On the other side of the room, in Proverbs 20 and verse 27, the Bible says, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord searching all the inward parts of the belly.

[33:42] The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. The candle of the Lord. Lord, if the table displays bread representing a body, it's fitting for the candlestick across the room to represent your spirit.

[34:03] And to conclude the thought, last week we looked at the innermost part of you behind the veil unseen your heart or as I said more fitting your soul.

[34:14] Let's consider the operation of these two items. We're almost finished. the table. The function of the table was to show bread. It's called show bread.

[34:26] It was said to be before the Lord. It's to show bread. It's a presentation before the Lord. Would you take your Bible and you can leave Exodus and go to Romans chapter 12.

[34:39] I want to take you around a few verses of our New Testament and we'll conclude. Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12 and look at verse number 1.

[35:02] I beseech ye therefore you brethren by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service.

[35:20] A living sacrifice continually being presented not just one time I've made a prayed a prayer and it's over no but that's a that's a living thing that's an everyday thing that bread is to be presented before the Lord continually.

[35:36] You're to present your bodies a living sacrifice holy like everything else that's to be inside of that sanctuary. what about the candlestick that thing was not designed although it may have been ornate and of pure gold and decorated and delicate it wasn't designed to be adored it was designed to display light and to stick with the analogy your body does not display light but your spirit does your spirit displays your attitude your spirit displays your demeanor your spirit reveals outwardly what dwells inwardly in the heart and the function of the candlestick was to fill the space with light and that precious peace inside that tabernacle must be attended to daily or the tabernacle is overtaken in darkness the ark saw the presence of the high priest one time a year with blood sprinkled and applied to it however what we're looking at this morning the table and the candlestick these needed frequent attention the table saw weekly activity like clockwork every sabbath before me continually the candlestick every morning and every evening we know that the fine flower didn't show up on its own we know that the oil that was beaten from the olives that didn't just happen on its own either there was behind the scenes work throughout the week preparing these items even daily there's much preparation to bring forth the bread to bring forth the light to present it the point

[37:24] I want to make to you this morning is a simple thought that while your soul with the blood of plied dwells satisfied with the presence of God your body and your spirit need much attention daily attention the light will go out pretty quickly the bread will get hard and stale quite quickly for the tabernacle to be a place where God's pleased to dwell in these areas need attention and if they don't get it your presentation won't be holy nor acceptable the spirit of God likened to that oil in the candlestick it needs the spirit your spirit needs a daily input of something pure to keep it pure to keep it burning bright to keep it shining as a light or it'll get dark quick now you're in Romans flip over to the next book 1st Corinthians and just a quick two verses here 1st

[38:28] Corinthians 6 and then we're going to hop over to 2nd Corinthians 7 right next door 1st Corinthians 6 verse 19 and 20 what know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's these two parts of you require your attention they require your choice your decision to glorify God in your body and in your spirit the soul is satisfied the blood has been applied but on the outside of that veil there's two components that need much much work look now at 2nd

[39:31] Corinthians the next book chapter 7 and verse number 1 verse number 1 2nd Corinthians 7 verse 1 having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh there's your body and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God that's not a flesh the old nature don't get that confused because you're not going to cleanse your flesh but your body is to be cleansed of all filthiness as is your spirit and there's many sins of the flesh mentioned back in the previous chapter we were just in the fornications a sin against the body there's sins of the spirit just the same likened to envy and anger and a few other places I won't come up with them off the top of my head I'll turn you to one more place and that is let's go to 1st Thessalonians 5 a little bit further to the right 1st Thessalonians 5 and all the way to the end of this chapter he's giving some commands to rejoice to pray to give thanks to abstain from all appearance of evil and in verse 23 and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly completely and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our

[41:11] Lord Jesus Christ a prayer that Paul has for the saints is for their spirit soul and body to be preserved blameless God dwells in your soul like we can see back in that picture of the tabernacle but he very much cares about what's on the outside of that veil he very much cares about the body and the spirit this attitude that well if I'm saved then just anything goes because I'm a child of God that is not of the Lord and if this picture shows us anything it's that there is an order that God has for your life for your body and for your spirit and your life is to reflect the holiness of God it is to reflect the purity of the God that dwells inside of that veil and this activity on the outside is just as important as what's on the inside to him because you were created by him you were created for him you're told to be clean to be pure and to be separated and the items that we're studying this morning

[42:16] I show you I believe they reflect their maker your body and your spirit is a reflection of your God and it shows the work of his hand so your life should show that work means there needs to be a little less of you a little more of him as the days go on a little less of you a little more and a little more and a little more of him being reflected in your body and in your spirit your spirit comes through when you talk your spirit reflects what's inside of your heart you can be angry you can be gracious you can be nasty you can be merciful you can be treacherous and jealous and hard and envious or you can be tender hearted kind forgiving it needs daily work daily trimming pouring something pure into that every single day to keep it right your body and your spirit church

[43:26] God cares about it he's got your soul if you're saved he's got your heart but that body and spirit takes some work takes some daily work you know what I'm talking about and so seek to fulfill the scripture that you and I glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's let's bow our heads together and we're going to be dismissed Before we go I didn't make any direct application to anything in your life to any point I didn't try to be specific on things leave that to the Lord but if you're sinning against your body you need to be reminded that that's his that it was created and fashioned after his image much like those items in the tabernacle he designed them for his glory not your pleasure his pleasure your spirit oh that requires the most work much more than the body the

[44:32] Christian has a way of cleaning up the outside and yet being dirty on the inside and that's going to require the word of God and being filled with the spirit and allowing the light to shine and show anything in there that doesn't belong but it's an attitude and it's a choice and so I trust this morning that if there's something that you're dealing with in your life and it's not allowing it to be a sanctuary for God to dwell in then surrender it to the Lord and get on your face before him and don't get up until you've given it to him father as we dismiss this morning this has been some interesting study throughout this Old Testament tabernacle and Lord as we try to relate it to our lives God I pray that your spirit would do the work and would illuminate us to where our bodies and our spirits are not pure and not presentable before you and God convict us of that give us a desire within us to serve you and to love you and help us to put down our flesh and help us to resist the devil

[45:42] God give us courage to pray that you direct our thoughts and our hearts to Calvary to where the Lord Jesus Christ surrendered himself completely to your will and help us to follow in his steps and to be surrendered to you I just want to say that I love you and I thank you for this church and for this holy Bible and for the help that it gives!

[46:11] each day in this life please manifest it more into our hearts and help us to be completely submitted to you we pray in Jesus name Amen