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[0:00] of Exodus chapter 40. And you'll want to put a bookmark in there. We'll do a little reading here. The beginning of the message will be top heavy! And then we'll stay right there in the chapter of Exodus 40.

[0:14] We'll look around at a couple of things here and kind of set you up for what I want to bring to you this morning. Exodus chapter 40. We'll read most of this chapter. We'll read all of this chapter through this morning, but we'll read most of this chapter here at the beginning.

[0:27] And this is dealing with the tabernacle of God, the finality of the tabernacle of God. I know your pastor just taught on the tabernacle not too long ago, I believe.

[0:38] And so I'm here to clear up all of that. Amen. But anyhow, I think this will kind of work into this, what you've learned already about the tabernacle and kind of look at it on a practical side and how it affects us.

[0:53] Here in Exodus chapter 40, verses 1 through 15, we'll just see God's command to Moses on putting the tabernacle together. So let's just read a little scripture here and then we'll read the second half of this here in just a second as well.

[1:06] It's just good to read it so you kind of see how it goes. I've taught through the tabernacle a number of times. In fact, the first time I ever taught the tabernacle, my brother-in-law asked me to come and do some revival meeting at the school there in Red Lion.

[1:19] And I was studying on the tabernacle at that time and he came, he asked me to come down. And so I taught each one of these things I'm going to talk about that is put in the tabernacle on a session apiece.

[1:30] I didn't know that I only had 40 minutes to teach those things. But I mean, I taught for a long time. The bell would ring out there and I thought that was me just to keep going. That was actually supposed to be over. But I was praying about it and I said, God, you know, I really need to know, you know, it's really nice when you do a message and then somebody comes up later and goes, that's what I was, I needed that.

[1:50] And then you're like, okay, I know, I praise the Lord, I picked the right one, right? And I was like, Lord, I'm going to teach on the tabernacle and make this practical, like the things that are in the tabernacle, are they in our life in a spiritual way?

[2:02] And I think there was a man that worked on their computer system back there named White, I think his last name was White. And he wasn't supposed to be in the services at all. But he said, I'm going to listen to what this guy has to say. He came to the first session and I started to talk about the tabernacle.

[2:13] And he had just started a study on it and wanted to know more about it. And so he came to every service and he came up to me during one of those and he says, I wanted to know more about the tabernacle. And so it was just kind of neat to see the way the Lord works in those things.

[2:25] So that was back in 2007, I believe it was. So it was a long time ago and I taught on that. I've taught on it since then. I've taught it through my church. I've preached a number of messages that are just a real condensed version of that whole series on the tabernacle.

[2:40] And what I've done in my church when I taught through it is that we went out and we got a tabernacle puzzle, a 3D tabernacle puzzle, and we started putting it together. I was teaching through it Sunday nights. And so I laid it out there on the table and we would put together the different pieces of the tabernacle.

[2:56] People could see how it was set up. And tabernacle is not very big. You're from Pennsylvania. So I think you've probably, if you've been to the tabernacle, the little one they have there, the Amish have an actual scale-sized tabernacle there in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

[3:11] And you know, we think this is a really big thing, but honestly the tabernacle would fit with inside this building right here. I mean, it was not very big. You would come in and inside of there were the different things and you'd have your Holy of Holies where the Ark would be.

[3:24] And we'll get into all of that here a little bit. And we'll kind of talk about those things as we get into this little lesson here this morning. But I want to preach on God's tabernacle here today. Let's just do a little reading here, verses 1 through 15.

[3:36] And these are the instruction that God gives Moses on how to set the tabernacle, how to put the tabernacle together. It says, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

[3:49] Thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony and cover the ark with the veil. Thou shalt bring in the table and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it. Thou shalt bring in the candlestick and light the lamps thereof.

[3:59] Thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the altar of the ark of the testimony and put the hanging of the door of the tabernacle. Thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.

[4:14] And thou shalt set the tabernacle between the tent of the congregation and the altar and thou shalt put water therein.

[4:26] and thou shalt set up the court round about and hang up the hangings at the court gate. Now this is what we're going to focus on. Those things right there. There's about seven different things that are actual structures and things that they put in the tabernacle.

[4:38] From there on, he talks about the oil and the ointing, the anointing that you would do upon each one of those things. It says in verse 9, And thou shalt take the anointing oil and shalt anoint the tabernacle and all that is therein and shalt hallow it and all the vessels thereof and it shall be holy.

[4:52] And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all his vessels and sanctify the altar and it shall be an altar most holy. And thou shalt anoint the laver in his foot and sanctify it.

[5:02] And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons under the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and wash them with water. Thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And thou shalt bring his sons and clothe them with coats.

[5:15] And thou shalt anoint them as thou didst anoint their father that they may minister unto me in the priest's office for their anointing shall be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generation. Now if you would, I just want to kind of set this up.

[5:28] This table right here is going to represent the courtyard. This is going to be the whole area where the tabernacle would be. You would have your tabernacle, the tent would be set up here. You would have these court, outside the courtyard, keeping a separation from all the 12 tribes that were centered around the central figure, the tabernacle of the camp.

[5:46] You would have these, the curtains and the rods and everything and it would separate everybody from the courtyard of the tabernacle. In order to get into the tabernacle, there would be an opening here and there would be an altar of burnt offering.

[5:58] And it stood up a little bit in the air. It was a little bit higher. The priest would go up there and he would offer some things. He would offer bullocks or lambs or whatever it might need be. And as you got farther into the courtyard of the tabernacle, there would be the laver.

[6:09] It was the place that had looking glass and a mirror where you could see how dirty or clean you were and you would wash your hands before you ever entered into the tent of the tabernacle. Once you entered into the tent of the tabernacle, right there would be the Holy of Holies, the veil.

[6:23] And right in front of that, I believe it was, you would see the altar of incense. On one side, you would have the candlestick sitting upon a table that would give light to now the darkness. No windows in this tabernacle.

[6:34] Those seven lamps, if you ever lit one candle, it's pretty, you know, it gives a lot of light. Could you imagine lighting seven lamps in a little space? It would give you all the light you would need. And on the other side was the table of showbread.

[6:46] And that was on one side. You'd have the altar of incense there where they would light some incense and give a nice smell, cover up all the body odors that may be coming in from the years of traveling in the desert lands.

[6:58] You know, they don't know if you didn't really have, they have campgrounds of America where you could go in and get clean showers all the time, you know. So, I mean, light that incense and it would give something. You'd have that bread there and you'd have that candlestick to give light.

[7:09] Now, past that veil, it would be right around here, past that veil was where the Ark of the Covenant was and inside there were some different things. That's another whole message of itself. But this was, there was a reason for this tabernacle.

[7:20] Now, God said, this is how I want it set up. And so what we just read in those first 15 verses is exactly what God said to do. Now, look at verse 16. This is a really important verse because look, it says this, thus did Moses.

[7:33] This is very important. You can get the instructions from God, but you need to now do the instructions from God. So, Philippians chapter 4, verse 8 says we're supposed to think on a variety of different things, things that are just, holy, good, virtuous, of good report.

[7:46] And verse 9 is coupled with verse 8 where he says, those things which you've now received do, and the God of peace shall be with you. So there's that little simple word, do, and if you do not do it, then God will not be with you.

[7:59] You can think about all the things, all the instructions that God has given you this week in the preaching, but until you do it, there will never be a change. So God looked at Moses, he said, this is what I want, this is how I want it, I wanted it, and done in a certain way, all things done decently in an order.

[8:14] And now, thus did Moses. And here we go, according to all that the Lord commanded him, so did he. It came to pass the first month of the second year, the first day of the month that the tabernacle was reared up, and Moses reared up the tabernacle, fastened his sockets and set up the boards thereof and put it in the bars thereof and reared up his pillars.

[8:32] And he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent above it upon it as the Lord commanded Moses. And he took and put the testimony into the ark and set the staves on the ark and put the mercy seat above upon the ark.

[8:46] And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the covering and covered the ark of the testimony as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the table in the tent of the congregation and upon the table, upon the side of the tabernacle northward without the veil.

[9:01] And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation over against the table on the side of the tabernacle southward.

[9:12] See the bread's northward just on the opposite side is where the candlestick was. And he lighted the lamps before the Lord as the Lord commanded Moses. And he put the golden altar in the tent of the congregation before the veil.

[9:26] Right before he got it past that veil where the ark was, he put it before the veil and he burnt sweet incense thereon as the Lord commanded Moses. And he set up the hanging at the door of the tabernacle.

[9:37] And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation and offered upon it the burnt offering and the meat offering. Read it with me. As the Lord commanded Moses.

[9:49] And he set the laver between the tent of the congregation and the altar and put water therein to wash with all. And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat. When they went into the tent of the congregation and when they came near into the altar they washed.

[10:03] Read it with me. As the Lord commanded Moses. And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle of the altar. That's that hanging that separated everything that we just read from the congregation.

[10:15] All the people's camping outside. He reared up the court round about the tabernacle of the altar and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. God said do it. Moses did it.

[10:26] Now it's finished. What's the next word? Verse 34. Then. That's pretty important. Then and only then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

[10:47] Only then after he did what the Lord commanded. Look back at chapter 25. Keep your place in chapter 40. We're coming back there. Chapter 25.

[10:57] You say what's the purpose of the tabernacle? Well in verses 1 through 9 God gives this idea to Moses. This is the beginning of it. This is where it starts in chapter 25.

[11:09] In chapter 40 is the finality of it. The Lord spake unto Moses saying. And he goes down through all these things in verses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

[11:20] He tells you what you're going to need. Different things. These are all the things you're going to have to have. And verse 80 says. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

[11:32] According to all that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof even so shall you make it. I'm going to show you something kind of cool there in just a second. But verse 8 says this.

[11:44] Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. This was central to the camp. This was central to the 12 tribes. They would position themselves decently in an order given by commandment of God where they were supposed to.

[12:00] The tribe of Asher and Dan and Gad and Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Judah, Naphtali, you know, all those tribes. All on different sides. And right in the center of it was the tabernacle. And this was all about God.

[12:12] What was it? It was his sanctuary where he could communicate and where he could dwell in the middle of his people. And that's an amazing thing to think that a pure and wonderful, holy creator of the universe wanted to have a place in the middle of nomadic earth wanderers.

[12:29] Dirty people. And he said, this is mine. This is what I want. And when he gave Moses that, Moses did it. And then the glory of the Lord came down upon it. Man, that's pretty cool.

[12:40] Look over Hebrews chapter 8. Now in verse chapter, in chapter 25 of Exodus, verse 9, he says, according to the pattern of the tabernacle. You know, this didn't just pop out of God's just mind. I just want to do this.

[12:51] Let's just do it this way. No, no. In Hebrews chapter 8, we know that the tabernacle on earth was a shadow of heavenly things. Hebrews chapter 8, the Bible says, verse 1, now the things which you have spoken, this is the sum, the finality, that we have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens.

[13:13] If you realize the tabernacle going into that holy of holies was only the high priest's job. That was Aaron's job. A minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle.

[13:23] He's talking about Jesus Christ in heaven. A minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched. The Lord pitched and not man. Moses pitched that tent according to the will of God.

[13:36] But there is a true tabernacle that God pitched, not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Wherefore, it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.

[13:49] For if we were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve as an example and shadow of heavenly things.

[13:59] That means that Aaron was a picture, as we now know, of what Jesus Christ is to us. He is the priest who makes intercession for us. Aaron was a picture of that.

[14:10] That means the tabernacle was a picture of a heavenly one, a thing that God wanted. Alright? He says this, Luke, if you would, who serve as an example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, foresee, saith he, that they'll make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.

[14:36] That means everything that that tabernacle was set up from the courtyard, the hangings that go around it, to the altar burnt offering, to the laver that you would wash in, to the tabernacle itself, to the table on the north side with the bread on it, to the table on the south side with the candlestick on it, to the altar of incense right before the curtain, and even the ark of the covenant of itself was all a picture, a shadow of heavenly things.

[15:01] Now right up here, we don't have the greatest that light here, but if I get down here like this, as I get closer, the closer I get to earth, you should be able, if you couldn't see my hand, you'd be able to see that shadow right there and you'd be able to say, oh, that's a shadow of a hand.

[15:15] That's a shadow because there's something above it that's making that shadow. That means this right here, the pattern of the tabernacle was already set in heaven. This is what God had in heaven.

[15:27] That means what God had in heaven, God wanted on earth in order to dwell with men and communicate with them. All right, let's have a word of prayer. Jump into this a little bit more here as we're going to look at two things.

[15:39] We're going to look at my tabernacle and then we're going to look at God's tabernacle. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for this day. I thank you for this opportunity, God, to open up the word of God.

[15:51] Lord, look at something that is such a, I have a passion for this study because it's such an important thing in the life of every Christian. in the body of every believer.

[16:03] This is very important for you, God, to have fellowship with us. Lord, we want you to be here. We want you to be in us corporately, that you feel comfortable within Bible Baptist Church.

[16:17] But God, we want you when we walk out of this church and we begin to roam through this desert land, that you have a place where you dwell amongst us and are comfortable at home in our tabernacle.

[16:30] Father, be with us today as we look at this in your name I pray. Amen. My tabernacle. Now you're right there in the book of Hebrews, so go over if you would to 2 Peter. 2 Peter. The tabernacle itself was made of different skins.

[16:46] I don't know if you know it or not, but you and I are made of skin. It's got a problem. You think you're going to keep it young. You've got these two little cute little babies over here. I mean, they've got that baby-like skin. And man, people invest thousands and thousands of dollars to have baby-like skin.

[17:00] But guess what? It's going to fall apart. But every one of us were enveloped in skin. That tabernacle was made of different skins. This right here is my tabernacle. Peter says it over here in 2 Peter 2.

[17:13] Peter's talking and he says this in verse 13. He goes, Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle, he's talking about his body, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as the Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.

[17:32] Over there in the book of John chapter 21, Peter is talking to the Lord and he's like, Go feed my lambs. Go feed my sheep. Go feed my sheep. And then Peter looks over at this guy that John, you know, the beloved, the one that the Lord said, That's my beloved.

[17:43] I like him, right? You know, the one who I love a lot. And Peter looks over and he goes like, What's this guy going to do? And God said, Jesus says, Don't worry about what he's going to do. But he talks about Peter and he says, What's going to happen to you one day is you're going to be carried about a place where you didn't want to go.

[17:56] See, God had showed him what was going to happen to him. You know the history of Peter. I believe he was crucified upside down. They say because he didn't want to be crucified in the same way that Jesus Christ was. He said that was his crucifixion.

[18:08] I don't want to dishonor that. I don't know the whole logistics of it all. I'd have to read it on myself. But God had showed him what was going to happen. He's talking about his tabernacle. He says, The Lord showed me that this thing right here, this flesh and blood, I'm going to leave it behind.

[18:23] I'm going to put this my tabernacle off. Paul even addresses his own body over there in 2 Corinthians. I'll just read it. He says this, For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

[18:38] Verse 4 he says, But we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened, not for that which we be clothed, but be clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life. You know what I'm looking forward to one day?

[18:50] And I'm not looking to the process of it. The process of it is different for others, different for some, you know. But one day, this tabernacle right here, this faulty body is going to fall away and I'm going to get a new one.

[19:01] I'm going to drop this mortality and get immortality. I'm going to drop this corruption. I'm going to put on incorruption. I'm going to drop this thing that you see only Nathan Gipp and I am predestined, amen, one day to be conformed to the image of God's Son.

[19:14] And I will not have to worry about this, my tabernacle anymore. But while we were here, you know what this thing is designed for? I got legs. You say, what are they supposed to do? I got hands. This thing is mobile.

[19:27] I'm supposed to be able to go. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. Go and all power is given unto you. Go, John 15, that fruit may abound.

[19:38] What are we supposed to do? We're supposed to pick up and go do what God tells us to do in this, my tabernacle. That's the first point. We're done. Going to the second point. We're going to be back in Exodus chapter 40.

[19:50] But here's what I want you to think about. Doesn't he own this? Hasn't this, my tabernacle, been bought with a price? October 13, 1985, as a five-year-old boy in Auburn, New York, I bowed my knees at a couch on a Sunday night and I asked the Lord Jesus Christ in my heart, you say, what did I do?

[20:07] I let him into this, my tabernacle. He now lives in my heart. His Holy Spirit lives in my heart. This is now his.

[20:19] It's been purchased. It's bought. Don't you think that what he has in his tabernacle in heaven, he wants now in his tabernacle on earth? If I went and bought a house, another house, I don't want less than what I already have.

[20:34] I want the exact same thing. I'm not going to go look for a house that doesn't have a master bathroom and shower in it, right? Not anymore. When we upgraded, we upgraded.

[20:46] If I leave the house that I'm in now, I don't want my realtor one day to go, yeah, I found you something better. Here's a tent. Maybe that's what's happening around here, but that's not what I want. Amen? I want every commodity, everything that I've gotten used to, everything that for the last 40-something years of existence I've had before, I want it in my new home.

[21:07] Why in the world would God be any different when He purchased us and He put His Spirit in us that now we go, I'm going to live my life and do my life my way, but you just live with inside me.

[21:19] That's not what God wants. God wants what He had in the true tabernacle on the one that is the pattern of heavenly things. And am I not supposed to be like Christ?

[21:31] That's what Christian means, like Christ. That means when people see me, they should see Christ. So that means the things that are in me should make Him at home, maybe less of me at home.

[21:45] So what was in the tabernacle and how is it a picture of what we need in our lives? Exodus chapter 40, let's look at God's tabernacle. Exodus chapter 40, we won't read all these scriptures again, we'll just stop at each one of these and look at this, but Exodus chapter 40 verse 3 starts off with thou shalt put therein, in the tabernacle, thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony and cover the ark with the veil.

[22:13] God wants His presence in you. We'll talk about how that happens here in just a minute, but God wants His presence to dominate your life.

[22:25] He must what? He must what? Say it. He must increase. I must decrease.

[22:37] There needs to be more of Him and less of me. He needs to be the one that is comfortable. The Bible says that this place, what a thing that God had the greatest of foresight to set up a place where He could be in the center of His people.

[22:59] That place, the Bible says in 1 Samuel, is where God dwelled between the cherubims. It says it over there in Psalms 80 verse 1, Give Eero, shepherd of Israel, that thou leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

[23:12] Think about it. God wants to live inside of you and have total control of you. How far off is that? That the world wants the exact same thing.

[23:22] it is striving to have its biggest presence in you. This is how we tell some, you can tell Christian sometimes you get to talking to them if they're godly, right?

[23:34] Or if they're worldly. Just by what they've allowed to be the central focus of their life. This whole thing is about the presence of God. That Ark of the Covenant was about the presence of God in the middle of His people.

[23:50] That means God wants that in us. When we leave here, oh it's very easy to act godly amongst the godly. In fact, it's very natural. Iron sharpeneth iron.

[24:01] We come in here and we got the dross of the world hanging us and you start singing this, saved by the blood. You start singing, nearer my God to thee and you know what? You just feel it a little bit. You get to shake hands with some of the brethren and give a smile and a nod across the room and you're like, man, this feels good.

[24:15] And you go out there into the world, it shouldn't end here. It continues on out there in the purchased tabernacle where God has his presence fully sitting on the throne.

[24:26] You know the old adage, the old thing that we say, there's a cross and a throne in my heart and if God's on the throne, I'm on the cross. But if I'm on the throne, God's on the cross.

[24:37] He needs to be on the throne. Paul says, I am crucified. I die daily. So he can reign, he can live and have his whole presence in our life. That's what he wanted. Centrally located, the most powerful spot in that tabernacle is where God sat down and dictated to all of Israel what he wanted done.

[24:55] And that presence, man, Israel knew it. That cloud settled down. Parents could look up and say, hey, guess what? God's sitting there. We can't see him, but we feel him.

[25:06] We see it. We know he's there. Do people know that about you? Does God feel comfortable? Is he prevalent in your lives? Look, if you would, in verse 2.

[25:20] It says, and thou shalt put the ark of the testimony there, the covering of the ark, excuse me, verse 3, and cover the ark there with the veil. And thou shalt bring in the table and set in order the things that are to be set upon it.

[25:32] You say, what are we supposed to have here? This is the table of showbread. You say, what's the table of showbread a picture of? It's a picture of the Bible. These bread were set in two stacks of six and six, which is how many books you have in your Bible.

[25:47] 66. You know what God wants in your heart? He wants more of His word and less of the world's. You know, if you could hide, thy word have I hidden mine heart that I might not sin against thee.

[26:00] Wherewithal shall men cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hidden mine heart that I might not sin against thee. He wants that word to go in there.

[26:10] You know, in Isaiah chapter 55, it says that God puts that word in. And if He puts that word in the thing where it'll prosper when He wants it and it will not return void.

[26:21] You say, what do I do? I read my Bible every day and I just say, all right Lord, I don't know if I got anything out of this, but I know I got something into me. And you just got to get it out when you want it. And it's an amazing thing that I'll be witnessing or I'll be talking or I'll be counseling or I'll just be whatever.

[26:36] Maybe I'll be starting to do something wrong and the next thing I know, boom, here comes the word of God. Where did that go? Well, I hid it in my heart and God said it's mine. I'll pull it out when I want it. You know what you need to have? You need to have a ever present love of the word of God in your heart.

[26:52] You need to put it in front of your eyes on a daily basis. God wants His word in your heart. He should feel at home there. If you read that Bible every time and you're like, man, I love this Bible, but there's some times where I read it and it is just a rebuke to me.

[27:09] You say, what's it doing? It's knocking away some of that dross. The Bible says, let not mercy and truth forsake thee, bind them upon thy neck, write them upon the table of thine heart.

[27:22] The Bible says, my son, keep my words and lay up my commandments with thee, keep my commandments and live for my laws, the apple and I and bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

[27:33] You know what God wants? He wants this word to be all over your heart. You know what comes out of this heart? Every evil thing that contaminates man from within cometh out that which defileth man.

[27:46] Mark chapter 7. You know what I need more of? I need more of the washing of the word of God. You say, why? Because that's what God wants because it makes him happy. It makes him feel at home.

[27:58] Who cares what I feel about? This has been purchased by this. That's what he wants at home. That means I've got to get into it.

[28:09] I know we're Bible Baptist church. The other day we sang and we substituted the words King James in one of the songs. That's awesome.

[28:20] And I got to read it every day? What? Yes. Bible. You know the acronym. B-I-B-L-E. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.

[28:32] You know why sometimes we don't know what we're supposed to do in life? We're not reading the instruction manual. Get into it. Listen. You might not be a good reader and that is a very solid fact especially today.

[28:45] You might not have been educated to read. You might struggle with reading. I had a young man in my church in New York. He's now 30 something now. And he came to me one time and he says, Pastor, I can't read. And all of his family could.

[28:56] I think he might have been dyslexic a little bit. It's a legitimate thing, man. It's legitimate. So I was like, oh man, you don't have to read now.

[29:07] No, that's not what I did. You know what I said? I said, I think you can get some Bible reading CDs. CDs, I don't know if you know what those are, but circular thing with a hole in the middle. But I said, you can get the Bible on CD.

[29:20] And I said, what I want you to do is I just want you to read a chapter or two a day and turn that on with it so that way you can read with the Bible. You said, why? Because I want the Word of God in him. Because God wants the Word of God.

[29:31] God wants His Word in him. You know what we need to have in our tabernacle? The one that's been purchased? Not just the presence of God. Oh yeah, I'm a Christian. I'm like Christ. But I need to have the Bible in my life.

[29:45] Very, very important. Look what he says, the same verse, chapter four there. Thou shalt bring in the table and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it. Thou shalt bring in the candlestick and light the lamps thereof.

[29:57] Now, a very interesting thing about this candlestick is that this candlestick, unlike the ark, see the ark was made of wood and overlapped with some gold here and there. The table of shoe bread was made of wood and overlapped with gold.

[30:09] Even the altar of incense was made of wood and overlapped with gold. But the candlestick itself is 100% gold. You know what gold is a picture of? Deity. Gold is a picture of God.

[30:21] And there's seven lamps, which the Bible talks about, the seven spirits of God. This is a picture of the Holy Spirit. You know what God wants? He doesn't just want you to read the Bible. He wants to have His Holy Spirit guide you in it.

[30:32] You know what we do too many times? I want you to imagine this right here, this table, has a couple of balloons hooked to it. Just imagine a couple of balloons floating here, or a balloon. And these balloons represent our philosophy.

[30:47] And everybody has a philosophy in life. Your theology. But this represents the Bible. Right? You know what you need to do? What you believe? Because so many times we come to the Bible and we read it according to our own private interpretation and don't let the Lord speak to us through it.

[31:03] This is what I've been taught and this is what I see. And the Holy Spirit's going, I'm the one who's supposed to shed light on the Word of God. I'm the one who's supposed to show you what to do. But I was taught this way in Bible school.

[31:13] And I was raised this way and I was preached this way. And so what we need to do is if our philosophy and theology goes contrary to the Bible, the Holy Spirit says this isn't good anymore.

[31:24] You should be able to take a scissor and go chop and let those balloons fly away and stay with the Word of God. Unfortunately, too often the Bible is the balloon and the table is our philosophy and theology and we're too willing to go, I'm going to stick with what I've always done.

[31:38] Even when the Holy Spirit is saying, can I shed some light on it? I happen to know a whole lot more about it than you do. You know what I've learned as I've gotten older? That I have to be more worried about what my father thinks instead of what my dad thinks.

[31:54] My dad's a good man. He's raised me right. And we walk lockstep, amen. But I need to be more worried about what he's telling me than what my dad is telling me.

[32:07] Or the educators of my spirituality on this earth. Say, what is it? I need to have that Holy Spirit. And you know what we do too many times with that Holy Spirit is we grieve him.

[32:18] We leave here immediately. You say, what are you going to do today? I'm going to take a nap, hopefully. You know what I'm probably also going to do? I'm going to watch some of the masters that I've recorded. Amen. There's nothing wrong with that. Shady green pastures.

[32:29] God leads us along. Amen. But I'm going to tell you this right now. There's too many times where we put something in front of our eyes and our ears. We let it come in the eye gate and we let it come in the ear gates.

[32:40] And you know what it does? It grieves that Holy Spirit. And we can't hear him talking anymore. Huh. And then that word of God is bland. Church service is bland. Our prayer life is bland and we wonder.

[32:52] We blame God for it and we're the ones who have moved farther back and have stifled his Holy Spirit. You need to let that Holy Spirit. The Bible says, Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.

[33:05] After that, candlestick right before the veil would have been the altar of incense. Verse 5. And thou shalt sit the altar of gold for incense before the ark of the testimony and put the hanging of the door to the tabernacle.

[33:16] Right before you go past that, right after that, right before you get into that Holy of Holies was that veil and right outside it, candlestick on this side, table of Schubert over here was the altar of incense and that's a picture of your prayers.

[33:30] Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication of the saints. You say, what is prayer? I pray in Bible reading, man. They go hand in hand.

[33:41] First things I do in the morning. I'm an avid. I do everything very systematically. My life is broken down into hour blocks. I mean, that's just kind of the way I run things. So I'll get up in the morning. I'll pray for everybody.

[33:51] I'm stretching while I'm praying. Jesus says, watch and pray. I stretch and pray. That's what I do. So I'll stretch for 20 minutes and I'll pray over people and I'll walk and pray. You know, you don't have to just get on your knees all the time and pray, although that's a good place to be.

[34:06] But I mean, you can pray wherever. I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't limit your prayers if you were going off the edge of the cliff to be like, oh man, I've got to get on my knees. No, you'd be like, Lord save me! Sort of like Peter did when he stepped out of the boat, right? Lord save me!

[34:18] So I'll pray every morning. You say, what is prayer and Bible reading? I call it the wheel of communication. God's in heaven, I'm on earth. Say, what do I do? I get up in the morning and I pray. I pray for others and I tell the Lord what I need and I'll just pray and then when I'm done praying, there's a little couple of seconds there where I get my coffee.

[34:39] Amen. Amen. And I open up the Word of God and I let Him talk to me. I talk to Him, He talks to me and we communicate. You want to have some power with the Lord?

[34:53] Prayer is the wheel that moves the hand of God to action. We wonder sometimes, well, we're not seeing things done in our life. Maybe we just need to talk to Him some more. There's times where you don't even know what to say.

[35:04] That's okay, groanings which cannot be uttered. There was a time last year, I don't mean this in a bad way but I yelled at God and I didn't yell at Him, scold Him but in my church I didn't know what was going on, brother, with my life and I'm at my altar.

[35:20] No one else is there. It's on a Thursday or a Tuesday, I don't know and I'm just staying there and I'm just saying as loud as I can, can you hear me? You say, where were you?

[35:33] I was begging Him to help. Begging Him. Even in the darkest moments, the greatest moments, you need to learn to communicate with God. You need to have prayer time.

[35:45] If that's what this thing down here on this earth was a picture of what's up there, you think that they communicate in heaven? Doesn't He want communication down here? You think in heaven everything runs according to His word?

[35:59] Doesn't He want it? Do you think heaven's full of His presence and His spirit? If He got it in heaven, don't you think He wants it down here? You and I. If we're going to be, He's going to be at home in this, our tabernacle.

[36:11] We need these things in our life. Look, if you would, in verse 6, Before you can ever, ever get into this tabernacle, this courtyard is all separated by all these different curtains that surround it from all the tribes.

[36:39] But right here is an altar of burnt offering. It sits up a little bit higher. This is a picture of the cross. This is a picture of your salvation testimony. Jesus said, You had to walk up on steps in order to offer this.

[36:50] There were four horns that the sacrifice would be strapped down to. By the way, Jesus Christ had four nail holes to hold Him onto the cross. He said, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to Me.

[37:03] Before you can ever have God's presence dominating your life, before Bible reading and prayer and the Holy Spirit ever matter to you, are you saved? You're not getting into this and you're not having that relationship with God without at one point realizing that something had to be sacrificed for your wrongdoing and iniquities.

[37:22] All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to His own way. And the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. Do you have that in your life?

[37:35] I don't, you know, we say it, but it'll be very true. You know, there's times where I've preached. I remember this young lady one time, we were last year to go to camp. She was allowed to go to camp up until 19 and she was 19.

[37:48] And she was struggling with going to camp. Man, the devil was really pulling at her too. The devil was pulling at her to not go and I mean, she, you know, she was one of our best young Christian girls in our youth group and even to this day, now she's married and her and her husband are the youth pastors of the church in New York.

[38:04] It's awesome. He's the youth pastor. She's not the youth pastor. I said that kind of like in ecumenical way. I didn't mean it that way, but he's the youth pastor. He's his wife and just a good couple. She's a little girl who came up through our ministry from, you know, just a little child up until the time that we left and I remember she's going to camp and I'm just like, why is this such a hard time?

[38:22] She's always wanted to go to camp. I mean, I had a lady one time, I'm standing in this new building. Can you believe that this Christian demonized woman came up to me one time while I'm standing next to this girl trying to tell her to go to camp. She comes up and she goes, you don't have to go to camp.

[38:32] You're 18 now. You're 19 now. You need to get a job and go to work and I thought, shut up and get out of here. I didn't say that, but that's what I thought and I thought, there is a battle.

[38:43] I told my wife, I said, there is a battle to get this girl to go to camp for her last year. I said, we're going to win it and we did and at camp, they would have, if you got saved, you would have to stand up.

[38:58] Now, went to camp with us also, this 19-year-old girl, a bunch of other kids. We took about 10, 12 kids to camp that year. There came a first-time girl named Sarai. This older girl's name is Mary.

[39:08] There came a first-time girl named Sarai. She was just young, just about 12 years old, just got into the age of where she could go to camp and there's Sarai and we were praying for her salvation and one night, Sarai stood and Mary was sitting right next to her and Mary stood and I thought, man, that is such a blessing.

[39:26] Sarai was afraid to stand to show that she got saved and Mary probably just leaned over and said, I'll stand with you. So the camp director looked and he said, oh, you've been saved and there was a number of other people.

[39:39] There's about 300 kids there and there's a number of them standing and he looked at Sarai and Sarai goes, I got saved last night and she sat down and Mary stood standing and Mary said, I got saved last night.

[39:51] He said, what did I think? Oh, I thought she'd been saved for years. She had a testimony when she was a kid. I think there's going to be Baptists in hell. Baptists who've had the King James Bible pummeled into them.

[40:03] Baptists who know how to rightly divide, who understand everything that I'm saying. You say, why? Because they've never actually asked the Lord into their heart. How many times there was a man that I went to visitation with and I would knock on doors with him and I'd go visit people with him and he said, you know, he goes, here's my testimony.

[40:20] He says, my testimony is that I came to church. He would get up in front of the church and teach and preach. He goes, I came to church as a lost man. Everybody thought I was saved. I became a deacon in the church.

[40:31] Everybody thought I was saved until one day the Lord convicted me and said, you never actually did this. And he says, I went to the altar and I asked the Lord into my heart. Now, I'm not trying to retread people.

[40:42] Do you understand me? But you ain't getting into heaven until you got a testimony of that salvation. We say, what did Paul do? Oh, Paul knew all the doctrines. I mean, he was given special revelations, spent time with Peter, went out into Arabia and spent time and the Lord showed him things.

[40:57] You know what Paul did whenever he rolled into a town? He gave his testimony of when the Lord came down and saved him there on the road to Damascus. Do you have that?

[41:08] That altar of burnt offering in your life? Once you get past that is the labor of brass. Whereas now that you're saved, you know what that labor of brass is?

[41:18] It's found there, if you would, in verse 7. Now shall set the labor between the tent of the congregation and the altar. Shall put water therein. So once you make it past that, you've got a salvation testimony.

[41:30] You know what happens? Once you're saved, you're not always clean. You want to get closer to God who's in the tabernacle. You want to get to that prayer life and that Bible reading life and that Holy Spirit filled life to get closer to the presence of God dominating your life.

[41:43] Oftentimes, between here and there, the world comes in. You know what you need to do? You need to spend some time cleaning up. Boy, do we ever need to do that. Oh, we have become God's sons and God's daughters, but there's an old man that is tracking right alongside of us.

[42:01] I'm 46 years old and my new man's 40. He'll be 41 this year. Some of you are older and your new man's much younger. You say what it is. That old man, he's been doing things his way and he's not redeemed.

[42:15] He's still doing things and thinking things and his reaction to things is ungodly. His mindset is ungodly. The verbiage that comes from his mouth is ungodly.

[42:27] And you know what we need to do? Between here and there, we need to spend some time getting right and clean with God. Boy, is it ever necessary in our life. Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness and the fear of God.

[42:47] The last thing there is found in verse 8. And thou shalt set up the court round about and hang up the hangings of the court gate. Boy, here's something that we don't like to talk about.

[42:59] You know what we need to have? You need to have an obvious separation from the world. You don't have to have my separation. You need to have a separation.

[43:12] There needs to be, do you have some set of guidelines and things that thou's and thou shalt nots that you don't do in your life so that the world shows it? You heard it yesterday.

[43:22] One of the preachers was talking about, you know, when you start following God, the world will respect it, and that's so true. They'll start asking, why don't you talk the same way? Why don't you laugh at the same jokes? You say, why?

[43:32] Well, yeah, I used to. It's just not the right thing to do because I'm supposed to be like him and he's supposed to be comfortable here, and I just need to have a separation from the world. And I need to be different.

[43:45] I need to come out from among them and be separate, sayeth the Lord and I will receive you. This wasn't just open for anybody to come into their leisure on any side. No, you had to come through the cross.

[43:56] You had to come through a determined Christian walk, have a little bit of time with your Bible, have some time with prayer, with the Holy Spirit, lighten out on those things, to get closer to the presence of God.

[44:07] This is all about him feeling comfortable in the tabernacle that he's purchased here on this earth. Verse 16, Thus did Moses according to that to all that the Lord commanded, so did he.

[44:26] Paul says this, What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with the price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.

[44:41] I'm not worried about your soul if you're saved, you're going to heaven, what we're worried about is your body. See, one day you're going to stand before God, Christian, and you're not going to talk about your soul, because your soul's been saved, but you're going to give account of everything good or bad you've done in your body.

[44:58] I've carried the Holy Spirit around with me for almost 41 years, from place to place. just like the tabernacle enveloped in the skin, him in my heart, and one day I'm going to have to give account, did he feel at home in his tabernacle?

[45:19] Did he have everything down here that he had up there that made him feel right at place? Look at these verses here as we end this out. every verse from 18 to 23 starts off with almost 18 says and Moses, but you know who we're talking about from verses 19 to 23 says and he, and he, and he, and he.

[45:46] You know it's up to you to make this happen. I wish when you get saved just everything falls into place. It just doesn't happen that way. Say what is it?

[45:57] It's work. To make God feel at home. And he, and he, and he. But verse 33 and 34, when you finally do things God's way, verse 34, then God's glory is seen in your life.

[46:11] Verse 35, you know what happens when God is filling your tabernacle? And Moses, that's the old man, and Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode they're on and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

[46:23] You know what? You will start feeling a little less pleased with the way that you used to do things. You'll start getting excited about heavenly things. Your old man won't feel as comfortable as your new man should.

[46:38] Moses was not able to enter. Moses is that picture of that old man who finally did the things that God wanted. Then God settled in and Moses was like, I can't even go in there. You know what? After a while, you're just like, I just want him to do whatever he wants with this tabernacle.

[46:52] And that's the way that it should be. Verse 36, only after God is in total control can life move forward for the Christian. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys.

[47:07] If the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, so in the sight of the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. Where's life going with you?

[47:19] Are you moving forward for God? I know sometimes we preach on standstill and all that kind of stuff, and I preached on patience yesterday, I get it. But are you moving on with the Lord?

[47:33] Maybe the Lord is not going to move us until we make Him feel comfortable enough to make us move. We need to let Him have total dominance in our life. Everything that He had up there has down here.

[47:45] Then He controls everything, and then life moves forward. You know what I'm constantly doing? Lord, is this what you want? I'm walking circumspectly. God, is this what you want?

[47:56] You know how many times I've prayed over this message, the one tonight, the one this morning and the days previous, the songs that were sung? Lord, whatever you want.

[48:07] I don't want to take a step without Him being completely satisfied and happy with where He's living inside of me.

[48:19] does God feel at home in His tabernacle? Does He have in your life everything that He wants?

[48:30] Who cares about what we want? Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Your heads bowed and your eyes closed this morning.

[48:42] have been bought with the price. You, if you're saved in this room, have been bought with the price, the highest price, purest form of sacrifice given that could ever be given for man, Jesus Christ.

[48:59] I've been bought with the price and now He lives within. But is He comfortable? Man, I've got to tell you there's times where I know he's not comfortable. You say, what do you do? I just keep coming back to that laver of brass and saying, Lord, clean me up. I'm sorry. Boy, you know what's a blessing is if I confess my sins, he is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Then all of a sudden, maybe that Bible reading, that prayer life, feeling that Holy Spirit conviction come again. It's a little more dominant in my life because I try to stay close, walk with him, keep separated from the things of the world.

[49:39] Oh, I'm saved. I've got that testimony. I know that. I want God to feel at home in the body of Nathan Gipp because I'm purchased. Let me ask you this. Nobody's looking around. Would you be honest this morning? Say, Pastor Gipp, I don't read my Bible the way that I should. No one's looking around.

[50:05] Here's my hand to acknowledge that. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Man, that's great. I need to read a little bit more. Pastor, I need to pray a little bit more. I need to get more in touch with God. Maybe there's somebody in this room who say this, I don't know that I'm saved.

[50:28] I'm afraid to raise my hand, but I will to show that. I won't call you out. I promise. The other day I had a big tough man come into my church and I preached on the resurrection of Christ.

[50:39] We had a full crowd, man. I mean, it was hopping. It was awesome. That big tough man, one person in the middle of 90 people raised his hand and said, I'm not sure I'm going to heaven. I never called him out. I just said, thank you for your honesty. Is there anybody in this room right now that would say, I'm not 100% sure that I'm going to go to heaven when I die. I do not know that for sure.

[51:05] Here's my hand to acknowledge that fact. Is there anybody to be honest enough? God knows regardless of whether you raise your hand or not. You're not hiding it from him. No hands have gone up. That means that every one of us in this room has got an altar of burnt offering where one day we accepted that sacrifice done for us. Amen. Thank you. Appreciate your honesty.

[51:28] Thank you very much. Saw that hand. That's a blessing. A couple of people that acknowledge that. That's awesome. You know that Jesus Christ loves you. He gave his life for you so that you could have a home in heaven. I'll tell you something right now, man, if you get saved and you let him run your life, you will experience joy and happiness. You might not have everything that you want, but if he runs your life, let me tell you, it's the best. His blessings are evermore.

[51:59] You want to know about the Lord Jesus Christ, this pastor, myself, we'd love to take the Bible. I've got nothing more that I want to do today than to open up the Bible and to show you how you can know for a fact that you're saved. The rest of us didn't raise our hand. That means it's our prayer life. It's letting the Holy Spirit. What are we letting in our life that's hindering the Holy Spirit from shedding his light and guiding us? Our prayers are a little dead. Our Bible reading is a little bland. That happens in the good, the good Christian's life at times. But if it's been that way for a stretch, maybe it's the Holy Spirit's not really dominant in our life anymore. He's there. He's just not the prominent voice. He's not the prominent guide. We've let things into it. Then that means the presence of God won't be seen by the world. The Lord's dealt with you this morning. You need to talk to God. I'll just let the piano play for a second. The altar's open if God's dealt with you.

[52:55]  Don't feel like you've got to come if God will not talk to you. You can deal with God right there as well. Think about the message this morning. that means the marker that the marker that the marker that the marker that marker that