Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10235 - One Way. God’s Way. - Exodus 27 - 28

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#10235 - One Way. God’s Way. - Exodus 27 - 28 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Exodus chapter 27, if you take your Bibles and open them,
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Exodus 27, we're studying the faithfulness of God as He leads
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his children out of slavery in Egypt to abundant life.
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It's a life of faith, it's a life of freedom, and it's really
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an exciting time in their history.
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You have to step back for a moment and consider how much
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they're experiencing so quickly. God has delivered them
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miraculously and leading them along the way.
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They haven't, they haven't rebelled yet.
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They're they're still filled with hope and excitement.
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And then God pauses and gives them a covenant and they say,
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yes, we will follow. Then he begins to reveal to them
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this place where now he will come and meet with them here in
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the Tabernacle on the mercy seat.
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And it's such an exciting time. In Colossians chapter one, verse
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13, in the new Living Translation, it says, for he has
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rescued us from the Kingdom of darkness and transferred us into
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the Kingdom of his dear Son who purchased our freedom and
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forgave our sins. It's just exactly what we've
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experienced in the New Covenant. The believers here are
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experiencing in the Old Covenant.
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They've been delivered, taken out of the Kingdom of darkness,
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Egypt, and transferred into the Kingdom of their dear Son, of
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His dear Son, which is still yet future, the promise of complete
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redemption through Messiah. We're in the middle of the
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instructions to build the Tabernacle.
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Remember, God downloaded all of this information into Moses mind
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and now He's giving it to them piece by piece by piece.
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Notice verse 1 of chapter 27. You shall make an altar of
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Acacia wood, 5 cubits long, 5 cubits broad.
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The altar shall be square and its height shall be 3 cubits.
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You shall make its horns on its four corners.
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It's horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay
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it with bronze. Also you shall make its plans,
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its pans to receive its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its
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forks, fire pans. You shall all make its utensils
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of bronze. You shall make a grate for it, a
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network of bronze. On the network you shall make 4
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bronze rings at its four corners.
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You shall put it under the rim of the altar.
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Beneath that the network may be midway up the altar.
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And you shall make poles for the altar.
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Poles of Acacia wood, overlay them with bronze.
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The pole shall be put in the rings.
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The pole shall be on the two sides of the altar.
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To bear it. You shall make it hollow with
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boards, as it was shown you on the mountain.
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So how they make it so? This 5 by 5 cubits squared, or
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about 7 1/2 feet squared, overlay with bronze all the
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utensils made of brass, with a great a network of bronze of
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these bronze rings and poles to carry or bear it.
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Now, if as you approach the Tabernacle from the east, there
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was a fence 7 1/2 feet tall, 75 feet wide, 150 feet deep, The
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gate that you looked upon was about 30 feet wide with
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embroidered work. And the first article you would
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approach was a brass altar that was raised up about 7 1/2 feet
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square, 4 1/2 feet tall, made of wood overlay with bronze.
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This is where the priests would sacrifice the lives of the
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animals there with all the blood flowing again, the blood
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speaking to the future of the cross, this sacrifice on behalf
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of the people. In order to approach God to
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coming through in this opening, you had to go through this
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bloody place. And it reminds us today, as this
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altar of bronze is there before us, that before there's worship,
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there's often sacrifice. And truly, if you want to step
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back one more, before any type of worship comes from you and
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me, there has to be a sacrifice. Not our sacrifice, but the
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sacrifice of the cross. He's the one that made the way
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open for you. This sacrificial lamb was
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innocent, never sinned, never made a mistake, never dishonored
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God and its own little lamb life, never rebelled.
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Yet there was the innocent lamb that was sacrificed in the place
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of the people, again pointing to Jesus.
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As we're studying the Tabernacle, as we're studying
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all the instruments, we're looking for those places that
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would point to the coming Messiah, where it's easy now,
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seeing the new covenant, we can look backwards.
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And yet God was giving these little pictures that everything
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was on purpose. And that little lamb would speak
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of the future lamb, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of
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the world. This is what we would call this
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animal. This is what we would call the
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vicarious atonement, where he, the animal's death would be on
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behalf of others, this sacrificial death, the
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substitution for you and for me or for the children of Israel.
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They would go through now and have a whole new way to live
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again. They're not living as slaves in
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Egypt anymore. They're not living under
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taskmasters. They are now living a life of
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freedom, following God, choosing where they wanted to obey Moses
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or not, his representative following along the new
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prescription. God says I am God and this is
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how I'm to be worshipped. As we've seen in earlier
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studies, you couldn't just make it up along the way.
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You couldn't just do your own thing.
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God's prescription was important.
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And of course, with this bronze altar, we know that bronze or
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brass speaks of judgement in the Scriptures.
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The innocent lamb taking the judgement of God sacrificially
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for the sins of the people. The best picture of Jesus yet.
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Verse 9. You shall also make the court of
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the Tabernacle. For the South side there shall
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be hangings for the court woven of fine linen, 100 cubits long.
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For one side it's 20 pillars and their 20 sockets shall be of
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bronze. The hooks of the pillars and
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their bands shall be of silver. Likewise, along the length of
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the north side there shall be hangings 100 cubits long, with
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its 20 pillars and their 20 sockets of bronze in the hooks
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of the pillars and their bands of silver.
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Verse 12. Along the width of the cord of
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the West side shall be the hangings of 50 cubits with their
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10 pillars and their 10 sockets, and the width of the cord on the
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east side shall be 50 cubits. The hangings on one side of the
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gate shall be 15 cubits with their three pillars and their
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three sockets, and on the other side shall be hangings of 15
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cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.
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For the gate of the court there shall be a screen 20 cubits
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long, woven of blue and purple and scarlet yarn.
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There's those colors again, and fine linen thread made by a
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Weaver. It shall have 4 pillars and four
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sockets. All the pillars around the court
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shall have bands of silver. Their hooks shall be of silver
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and their sockets of bronze. The length of the court shall be
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100 cubits, the width 50 throughout and the height 5
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cubits woven a fine linen thread and its sockets of bronze.
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All the utensils of the Tabernacle for all of its
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service, all its pegs, all the pegs of the court shall be of
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bronze. Now in this outer court, you see
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right away there's a lot of brass, a lot of silver, a lot of
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wood. Later we're going to read in
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Exodus chapter 30, verse 25, that just beyond the altar of
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judgment was the bronze Laver for washing.
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Where the priest would wash, they would wash ceremonially
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their hands and their feet. Now what's interesting is the
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articles for the outer court were brass.
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And as you get closer, as you walk out from the outside,
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they're brass. But as you get closer, the
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articles are overlaid in gold until finally you get right in
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the middle of the Tabernacle where there's the mercy seat,
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which was made out of pure gold. So the closer you got to the
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mercy seat, the more pure and valuable the metals that were
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used. Again, if you're taking notes,
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just by way of reminder, the bronze and the brass and the
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Bible often speak of judgement. Silver speaks of redemption,
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Wood, we've already learned, speaks of humanity, and gold
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speaks of deity, The pure gold at the mercy seat.
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And so you could step back and you can look at the Tabernacle
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this way. The structure was a means of by
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which the people could keep covenant with God.
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And He was at the center. He was at the center of it all
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physically as he would meet the people on the mercy seat.
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He'll come and I will meet you there.
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God said he might be at the center of their minds
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permanently, allowing that worship to be always.
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They would wake up in the morning and the Tabernacle would
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be there. It was the center of camp.
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They would be reminded of the leadership of Moses.
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They were being reminded of the significance of the details that
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went in to building this. They didn't have a Tabernacle in
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Egypt. They didn't have freedom of
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worship. They had a thought.
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They had things handed down to them.
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They had hope, but they didn't have this prescription.
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And the Tabernacle made was a reminder and also made a way for
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worship to be available. You'd wake up and see.
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And so I can, I can approach God.
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He made a way so I could approach him.
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I'm not alone. God is among us.
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We see the priest going in and out.
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You see the blood, you listen to the washings, you smell the
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aroma, and the Tabernacle made worship possible by the covering
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of sins of the people. It was just a tent, though.
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It was a temporary tent that you'd pack up and take with you,
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and then you bring out when you stop to camp.
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What was it that God honored with?
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Just a tent and just a box and just some silver and just some
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gold and just some poles and just some skins and just some
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hooks and some fashions. What, what was it that he
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honored? Well, it's exactly what we're
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learning in our time on the weekends.
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God was honoring their faith. It was just a tent.
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It was just a, a building. And yet out of obedience God was
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honoring their faith. In Romans chapter 3 and verse 27
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I will says, where is boasting? Then it is excluded.
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By what law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
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Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart
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from the deeds of the law. That's why it really gets us
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nowhere when we tried to sidestep the work of God in our
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lives, when we try to take shortcuts, when we take things
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in our own hands, when God has given us a prescription, He's
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given us a direction, He's given us instruction.
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He, He has told us what He desires, but more importantly,
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it's not just what He desires. The other side of that coin is
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what's good for you and what's good for me?
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What will help us get to where we really want to be?
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What will enhance our worship experience?
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When when you look at the things in your life that you don't want
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or you don't desire, you look at the difficulties in your life,
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you have to step back and wait a minute.
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God is allowing this in your life right now to build your
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faith, to draw you in intimacy and closeness with Him.
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And of course, we go through those seasons in our life where
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we're so upset about it and we're so we just think it's the
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end. And I don't know how we'll ever
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recover. And I don't like this and I
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don't want this. And before you know it, it
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becomes your identity. And you forget that God sends
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you into the storm so that he might bring about a faith as he
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gets you to the other side. Drawing from us faith, it seems
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to be the least thing that we want to give.
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We want everything explained to us.
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We want the easy path. I don't blame you, I want it
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too. I'm not certainly not standing
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in judgement. I'm just stating the facts, like
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which one of us among us that would want if we could grow
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without pain that we would give, we would grow without pain.
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Can I get an Amen or not? Of course we would.
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Why would we want to go through pain?
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And yet God allowed that. Why?
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So he might draw faith from you. You, you can see the kids
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getting up in the morning and saying, Daddy, daddy, what's up
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with the 10? That doesn't make any sense.
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Like we can't even go in only the pre.
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Why the 10 and why this and why that and why the wood and why
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the brass and the parents? The parents go, oh, don't worry
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about it, son. That's just, you know, it's just
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the worship. That's what the priest do.
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Or the parents could say, son, let me tell you a story about
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the faithfulness of God. Every time you see that
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Tabernacle on what you remember we were slaves in Egypt.
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Well, I don't know, Dad, what does that mean?
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And you begin to explain them what slavery is.
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You begin to explain they're, they're just young.
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They don't know. They didn't experience it like
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you did. Why?
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Because they experienced the grace of God through God's
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deliverance in your life. And they need the context.
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And the best way to hear the context is from your mouth and
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your testimony to really see God's faithfulness.
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They may have been delivered with you, but they didn't
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experience the same way you did or the next generation.
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Your kids were born into a Christian home.
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Imagine that they don't have no idea who you were or what you
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were saved from. And they'll know from you.
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He's allowing that in your life not only to build your faith,
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but #2 to strengthen your resolve to develop in you more.
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As we've learned the Greek word, even though we're in the Hebrew
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right now in the Old Testament, but we learned it when we were
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studying through Hebrews, the Greek word huppamone translated
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many times, endurance, translated other times,
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perseverance. You look at the situation in
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your life that I know if you have the chance, you would get
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rid of it. I would too.
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Certainly I'm with you, but I also know this.
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God has not given me that choice.
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He has not given me the choice to get rid of the problems in my
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life or to change someone's behavior or to convince them or
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such and such and so and so. But what He has given me is to
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learn how to endure whatever I'm in right now.
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And if I can't endure it, then I'm going to be crying out to
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God. He's like, Lord, I have no more
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strength. I don't know what to do.
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And God, he's so grateful as he strengthens our resolve, He's
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allowing those things and those issues that he might train you.
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Thirdly, or we, we use the word, you know, the Christian word for
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training is disciple. So whenever you hear someone say
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disciple you, what they're talking about is training.
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The picture is of a rabbi and a student.
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A student would become like his teacher.
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A student would learn so closely and listen so carefully that you
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knew that he was perfectly trained when he became like his
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teacher. Not only that, he's also
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allowing that in your life to teach you to depend upon him.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
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Lean not on your own understanding and knowledge Him
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in all your ways, and he'll direct your paths.
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He'll help you along the way. And then finally, 1234, number
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5, He's allowing this in your life so that you might learn how
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to follow his lead, to follow him closely.
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That's how it all began. It begins with that sense of
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Jesus. Like I always get the picture.
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I don't know why, but I always remember Matthew.
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I just picture him sitting at the table collecting all his
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taxes, doing his thing, ripping people off, living life.
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And then his his life changed. Hey, you get up and come and
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follow me. And it changed his life.
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But that get up and follow Jesus is continual.
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It's a continual choice. It's a content.
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So God allows these things, sends these things, so that you
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might learn. I'm going to follow Him in that
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too. Not just in the easy times, but
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also in the challenging times. Not just in the happy, but also
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in the sad. Not just when I'm in victory,
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but also when I'm in defeat because He's worthy.
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I got up and I followed Him, and I'm not going back.
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I trust Him with my life. The Tabernacle, it had one door.
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The Tabernacle had one door. Jesus, what did he say?
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I am the door, one source of light.
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Jesus said I am the light of the world.
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The menorah had one stem, 1 vine with branches.
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Jesus said I am the vine, you are the branches.
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Salvation and peace available where mercy seat.
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Jesus is our mercy seat, the only source of peace.
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And even today, now, we don't have a mercy seat to come to,
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but we have a gathering that God has where we're all seeking the
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Lord together. And I wonder, just being among
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believers has cut the edge of what you walked in here with.
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Didn't remove it, but cut the edge.
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God's replaced it with a sense of peace where you're just like
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you weren't thinking of it until I just reminded you.
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Now I ripped your piece off. But no, I really didn't.
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I can't do that because it's reality.
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We carry things. We've got all kinds of things in
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our life. We're carrying them, thinking
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about them, wrestling with them. But then we make that effort to
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come together to encourage one another, to be encouraged.
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And what does God do? He honors.
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You'll be blessed. We used to sing a song often.
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You will be blessed because you came, because you pressed into
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the things of the Lord, because you came to the modern day
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Tabernacle or you flipped on the radio.
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You couldn't be here, but you're just pressing in the best that
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you can, turning on a YouTube video of all the billions of
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options there. But no, you're listening to
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Bible study so the Holy Spirit can minister to you.
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The whole Tabernacle was pointing to the coming of
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Messiah, reminding truly that God is the source of every need
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you have, every area of life. Then he goes in to notice the
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oil in verse 20. And you shall command the
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children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed
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olives for the light to cause the lamp to burn continually in
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the Tabernacle of meaning outside the veil which is before
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the testimony. Aaron and his sons shall tend it
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from evening until morning before the Lord.
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It shall be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of
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the children of Israel. Fine olive oil only comes
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through pressure, through intense pressure and intense
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pressing of the green olives. And Jesus endured the pressing
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in the Garden of Gethsemane, only then to endure a greater
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pressing where our salvation was paid for, not in Gethsemane, but
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on the cross. The blood of Jesus Christ shed
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and oil in the Bible often speaks of the Holy Spirit,
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Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 15.
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And let's turn hold your place in Exodus, turn over to
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Zechariah, one of our favorite passages.
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So if you can find it, Zechariah is going to be all the way past
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Jeremiah. You're going to get into the
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minor prophets there. And if you flip through, you'll
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get to Zechariah. When you get there, turn to
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chapter 4. If you can't get there, that's
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OK. But Zechariah is right before
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Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, and right after
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Habakkuk Haggai Haggai Zechariah.
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So notice with me. This is a verse that's been
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handed down to us and our family of churches.
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We've held on to it. It's part of our philosophy of
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ministry. It's so important that you grasp
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this. As we're reminded of the fine
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oil, there's that season in the life of Zerubbabel when he's
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faced with an impossibility. His hands are tied.
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He has no control over the situation.
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He is overwhelmed. Zerubbabel is a man's name.
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Nehemiah and Ezra have come back to Jerusalem from Babylon to
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rebuild the city and to rebuild the temple.
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And they're faced with difficulty after difficulty
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after difficulty and challenge after challenge.
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They believe that God has called them to do this, and they
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stepped out in faith. But the things going on around
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them, very discouraging. Does it ever sound like your
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life, like you're there and you believe it's from the Lord, but
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then something along the way, you believe anything from the
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Lord, it's not going to have any trouble.
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And you know that's not true. That's where they are many, many
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thousands of years ago. And so notice with me it says in
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verse 1 of chapter 4. Now the Angel who talked with me
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came back and wakened me as a man who is waking out of his
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sleep. And he said to me, what do you
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see? And so I said, I'm looking and
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there's a lamp stand of solid gold with a bowl on top.
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And the stand, 7 lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.
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2 olive trees are by it, one on the right of the bowl and the
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other it's left. And so I answered and spoke to
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the Angel who talked with me, saying, What are these my Lord?
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And the Angel who talked with me answered and said to me, do you
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not know what these are? And I said no my Lord.
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And he answered and said to me, this is the word of the Lord to
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Zerubbabel. He sees the lampstand he's
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watching and unfold. These two olive trees are giving
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it an endless supply of oil. And this is the word Deserbabel.
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And it may be the word for you tonight, just in your situation.
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It's a general word for sure, as we read it over our lives, but
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it could be just the word for you.
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Not by might and not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord
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of hosts, your human effort, my human energy.
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I think of how many times and I'll give you a phrase to watch
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out for, for some of you, not all of you, but I'll give you a
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phrase to watch out for when you are veering away from the power
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of God, when you are veering away from the wisdom of God,
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when you have pointed your life just a little bit, you know,
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just maybe 1%, maybe 1/2 percent where you love God.
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This isn't necessarily a sign of rebellion.
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It's not necessarily a sign of of, you know, resistance.
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It's just humanity. This is where the spirit in the
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flesh battle and I'll give you a phrase to watch out for when
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you're faced with an impossibility, you're faced with
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a difficulty, you're faced with, I don't like where I'm at.
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I don't like this situation. I don't like and and you sit
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back and this is what you say. You ready?
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Get ready to write this down or you probably remember it
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forever. If it's your phrase, if it's
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your phrase, maybe I need to get some kind of response for at
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least one person. But when you start saying this,
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I just need to figure this out. Anybody, I just need to figure
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this out. Let me give you another phrase,
24:19
OK, that didn't cover everyone. I'm going to cover everyone.
24:21
I'm going to go through a few phrases that are very familiar.
24:23
I'm going to hit one. I'm going to hit most of you by
24:25
the time I end. But then just to give you
24:26
another one, it's maybe it's not a need to figure this out, but
24:29
it's this. I don't understand.
24:33
I don't understand and how you respond to I don't understand or
24:40
the temptation to figure this out, how you respond is going to
24:44
dictate how you face that difficulty.
24:48
So God comes to you and he says, I want you to see.
24:50
Do you see? He shows you a vision.
24:52
Look at the menorah. Look, and you go, what?
24:54
God says what isn't? I don't know.
24:57
I don't know what it is. I have no idea.
25:00
And God comes and says, I want to show you what it is.
25:02
I'm going to tell you. I'm going to give you something.
25:04
Even today here at Calvary, He's telling me to do this right now.
25:07
I'm going to show you something. There is an unending supply of
25:10
the Holy Spirit to every single born again believer.
25:15
There is an unending internal supply.
25:17
There's an unending baptism power, the Dunamos, the dynamic
25:22
power of God available to every single believer so that you come
25:26
and here's the word of the Lord to you.
25:28
Put your name in there. You could even write to it if
25:32
you like to write in your Bibles.
25:33
This is the word of the Lord to me, not just the rebel, but to
25:37
you and to me. It is not by your strength, not
25:43
by your power, it's not by your might, but it's by my spirit,
25:50
says the Lord, which requires A yielding, not a figuring out.
25:55
It requires A yielding and surrender, not understanding.
26:01
It requires faith, so that in verse 7 you can say, who are
26:05
you? O great mountain before
26:08
Zerubbabo, you'll become a plane, and he shall bring forth
26:12
the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it.
26:17
Do you know what God is telling Zerubbabel here in the midst of
26:19
his discouragement, in the midst of his wondering, in the midst
26:23
of just getting to the end, thinking, I thought this was
26:26
from the Lord. This is what I want, I thought,
26:28
and I just don't ever see it. He says, Zerubbabel, it's my
26:31
strength. I'm going to help you finish the
26:35
temple. You're going to finish it, the
26:38
capstone. You're going to cry out at the
26:40
end. Grace.
26:42
It's grace. It is your faithfulness, God.
26:46
It is your strength. It is your power.
26:49
You get all the credit for bringing me through the fire,
26:55
for delivering me, for encouraging me, for speaking to
26:59
me. You're the endless supply of the
27:02
oil again. Come back to Exodus.
27:06
The children of Israel don't have the full picture.
27:09
They don't understand every single picture and type that
27:13
we're studying today, but they're getting hints.
27:17
This is what fascinates me. This is what fascinates me
27:21
because they go, well, who's going to who's going to explain
27:23
the hints to them? God.
27:26
Anyone that he needs to explain something to, he'll explain it.
27:29
Anyone he needs to help, he'll help.
27:32
Well, what do you mean? Well, what do you think, Moses?
27:35
He was received the whole plans for this whole Tabernacle all by
27:40
himself. Why?
27:41
Because God gave him to him. What did Moses do?
27:45
Do you remember a few chapters back when Moses did not want to
27:49
go to Pharaoh? Do you remember that?
27:50
Do you remember when he came up with excuse after excuse after
27:54
excuse after excuse? And then finally God says, you
27:57
know what? Just get Aaron.
27:58
You're going to go, OK, I'll take Aaron.
28:01
But he went, he was the man that was reluctant.
28:06
He was the man who on the backside of the desert, finally,
28:09
every oz, every ounce of his desire to be somebody was
28:16
removed. And now that he was nobody, he
28:20
kind of the pendulum swung the other way.
28:22
And I don't want to do anything now.
28:24
No, no, no, no. We got to find that right place
28:27
where it's all of me. God says not of you, Moses and
28:32
along the way God would give insight and pictures and today
28:37
he's giving you what you need. And I think of it often we it's
28:41
a big popular phrase, but I apply it into my walk with the
28:44
Lord and I've learned this that I'm on a need to know basis and
28:48
God reveals to me things that I need to know when I need to know
28:52
them, not before and not after right on time.
28:57
He's faithful. I think of it in the oversight
29:00
of of the church here, just what the responsibilities God has
29:04
given to him. There's so much I just thinking
29:06
of so much, so many different areas, but I don't need to worry
29:08
about it. The Lord will show me when I
29:10
need to know, when I need to know it.
29:13
And if he doesn't show me, he'll show a brother next to me or a
29:15
sister next to me and we will go forward together.
29:20
That I don't even need have to be the source that he reveals
29:22
because the rebel can go back and go.
29:25
You would not believe this. I was so bummed down and
29:28
Nehemiah was, I'm bummed down, Ezra, I'm and I just want to let
29:30
you know, look what God has shown me.
29:32
And I'm like, well, what did he show you?
29:33
That he's the in the supply of power?
29:35
And he said, we're going to put the capstone on it and then
29:37
we're going to cry grace, grace and all the mountains that are
29:40
before us are going to be removed.
29:42
And do you think that testimony to Nehemiah and Ezra struck a
29:45
chord? Do you think that testimony to
29:47
the people struck A chord? I'll tell you it did because
29:50
it's striking a chord in you now, thousands of years later,
29:53
because of God's faithfulness in our lives.
29:55
I don't need to be all concerned and worried about things I don't
29:58
know. God will reveal them or not.
30:02
Perhaps He doesn't want me to know.
30:05
He just wants us to trust Him. He just wants us to take a step
30:09
little by little. So you have that continual pure
30:14
oil. I love it.
30:15
The purity of the Holy Spirit. Verse 1, chapter 28, how about
30:18
that we finish the chapter? Yeah, The next one's a little
30:23
bit longer. Verse one.
30:25
Now take Aaron, your brother and his sons with him and from among
30:28
the children of Israel, that he may minister to me.
30:31
Mark that. I wish we could just develop
30:33
that Bible study by itself, but that beauty, we're just
30:36
ministering to him. Those of you that serve in this
30:39
church, you don't serve me. You don't serve Calvary, you
30:42
don't serve a movement. You don't serve a man, You serve
30:45
the Lord. I want you to draw Aaron.
30:47
He's going to minister to me. And when I remember that I do so
30:51
well in my service, when I start to be distracted, like I'm
30:55
serving you or then then I get all messed up and tempted and I
31:00
get messed up when my eyes are not on the Lord.
31:02
But I remember when God said, Ed, you served me the rest of
31:05
your life. I've separated and consecrated
31:07
you to serve me. It's like, yes, Lord.
31:11
And so he says that he might minister to me as priests, Aaron
31:15
and Aaron, Aaron and Aaron's son Nedab in a Baihu, Eleazar and
31:21
Ithmar. You shall make holy garments for
31:23
Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.
31:26
The garments on those that are serving the Lord were for glory
31:30
and beauty. So you shall speak to all who
31:32
are gifted artisans, whom I fill with the spirit of wisdom that
31:36
they make. It may make Aaron's garments to
31:39
sanctify him, that he may minister to me as priest.
31:42
These are the garments which they shall make, a breastplate
31:45
ephod, a robe, A skillfully woven tunic, a turban, A sash.
31:49
And they'll make holy garments for Aaron, your brother and his
31:52
sons, that he may minister to me as priests.
31:55
They shall take the gold and the blue and the purple and the
31:58
scarlet thread and the fine linen, and they shall make the
32:01
ephod of gold and blue and purple and scarlet thread, fine
32:06
linen thread, artistically woven.
32:09
She'll have two shoulder straps joined at its two edges, so
32:13
she'll be joined together, and the antrically woven band of the
32:17
ephod which is on it shall be of the same workmanship, woven of
32:21
gold and blue and purple and scarlet thread and fine linen
32:25
thread. Then you shall take 2 Onyx
32:27
stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, six
32:31
of their names on one stone, the remaining 6 names on the other
32:34
stone, according to their birth, with the work of an engraver in
32:37
stone, like the engravings of a signet.
32:40
You shall engrave the 2 stones with the names of the sons of
32:43
Israel. You shall set them in settings
32:45
of gold. You shall put the 2 stones on
32:47
the shoulders of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of
32:52
Israel. So Aaron verse 12 shall bear
32:55
their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial.
32:59
You shall also make settings of gold.
33:01
You shall make 2 chains of pure gold, like braided cords, and
33:04
fasten the braided chains to the settings.
33:08
Now Aaron and his sons will be taken for the priesthood.
33:12
The Levites, descendant of Levi, were responsible for the
33:16
Tabernacle. They were charged with keeping
33:18
it up, etcetera. But the sons of E Aaron would
33:21
serve as the priests. And notice that the priests were
33:24
appointed by God. It wasn't something you could
33:27
volunteer. It's not something you could
33:29
choose or take upon yourself. It was the calling of God.
33:33
A man could not do this unless he fit the qualifications and in
33:38
the ministry, God set apart for these men special clothing.
33:43
And you see at verse 4 the six pieces.
33:47
Now you Bible students, you know, in Leviticus chapter 10,
33:51
we learn about the mistakes that Nadab and Abaihu made by the
33:57
Bible described it as offering strange fire to the Lord.
34:03
And it's interesting that when God draws you to serve Him, you,
34:08
you can't do it your own way. Now let me let me say you can do
34:12
it your own way, but there'll be consequence for that.
34:16
And it's really not true ministry.
34:19
When you take things and you do it your own way, there is a
34:22
prescribed way. And he's very careful to
34:26
identify them with the robes and the pieces and the linen and the
34:29
garments. And then he goes in beginning in
34:32
verse 5, the ephod. When God wanted these made out
34:36
of the best material, this would be the inner clothing, the
34:40
ephod. Now, I know that certain
34:44
teachers here would point out in the false prosperity gospel
34:47
that, hey, you know, look at the clothing of the priest.
34:50
So today in the 21st century, you know, God wants pastors to
34:54
have the best. So you've got to give, give,
34:56
give. So the I don't, I do not believe
34:59
that is what God. That is a perversion of the
35:02
Scriptures. God wants us to know that he is
35:06
worthy of our best, not that you give your best to some man so
35:10
that they can get everything and you have nothing.
35:12
That's not the gospel at all. God is really interested in you
35:16
and I giving him our best, giving him the best that we
35:19
have, giving Him to, giving to Him a portion back of what He's
35:24
already given to us. That God doesn't get our
35:27
leftovers. He doesn't get our leftovers and
35:29
our time. He doesn't get our leftovers and
35:31
our talents. He doesn't get our leftovers and
35:33
our giving or anything else in life, But that God, he would get
35:38
our best all the time. We have a tendency to give
35:42
ourselves our best. That's our tendency.
35:47
We think of the best for ourselves, but God is worthy of
35:50
our best, not our seconds, our afterthoughts, our best.
35:54
I often think of those that like to donate things to the church
35:57
and they'll call the office. I haven't answered the phone
35:59
like this in a while, but back in the day I did and say, oh,
36:01
pastor, pastor, we're getting a new couch and we like to give
36:05
the church our couch, our old ratty, nasty, dirty, never been
36:10
clean. The kids threw up in it and you
36:13
know, there's poop stains on it and everything.
36:15
But you know, we've done our best to clean and I think it
36:17
would be great for the kids up in the youth.
36:22
And I'd say I don't want your keep your couch.
36:25
Give us your new one. Like give us the new one.
36:27
The kids deserve the new one. If we're purchasing something
36:30
for the kids, that's what we're going to get.
36:32
We're going to get the best of the best for the kids.
36:35
We're not going to give them our second best and the worst of the
36:39
worst. Just keep it, man.
36:41
The Goodwill doesn't even want your couch.
36:43
Why would we want it to give it? Don't.
36:45
When you're thinking of the church, you don't think of
36:47
giving the church your seconds and your thirds.
36:50
You got to think about, hey, this is an act of worship.
36:55
I want to give my best. I know it's a silly
36:58
illustration, but it's going to stay with you because it may not
37:01
be your couch or it may not be something that's broken and
37:05
needs to be fixed. But really, it's not about
37:09
what's given. It's about the heart of the
37:10
matter. You want to give your best.
37:15
You want to honor the Lord. You don't want to just use the
37:17
church as something to replace a junk removal service.
37:21
So we go to your house and we pick it up and go.
37:23
We can't use this. What's on your truck now?
37:25
All right, we'll take it down to the dump and throw it out.
37:29
No, that's not that's not what the church.
37:31
The church is not a trash dump place.
37:35
And those kids up there, those are the same kids.
37:37
They may not be your kids, but they're someone's kids.
37:40
Those are the same kids I think of upstairs up in the in the
37:44
middle school area. That or the high school kids
37:47
that get the sanctuary. These are the kids that just
37:48
came back from camp and these are the kids where God was
37:52
portrayed as a God who loves them, a God who cares and the
37:56
the whole theme of this of the retreat.
37:59
By the way, I got the final number back. 14 kids gave their
38:02
life to the Lord. 14 kids on top of that many other rededications
38:08
and men much prayer. The kids praying for you parents
38:13
for their grandparents praying for themselves lot going on in
38:16
the life. You guys know that they're your
38:18
kids. You know that these are the kids
38:21
that now from the camp, they're coming upstairs to worship the
38:24
Lord. And if those couches are going
38:27
to get beat up, we got to let the kids beat them up.
38:30
We got to let the kids use them. I don't know what it is for you,
38:34
what you might be holding back on God, but this is not a text
38:38
that you would use to make some man rich or some man the best
38:43
clothes. This is a text that God's
38:45
saying, you know, in my worship and my Tabernacle, I'm worthy of
38:49
the best and I agree with him. He's worthy of my best, my best
38:55
time, my best effort. He's not worthy of me taking
38:59
shortcuts or just going halfway or, or even worse, you know,
39:03
going, going along and doing, but then complaining along the
39:06
way like, well, I just have to do it over.
39:09
I'm going to serve the Lord and I, it's so hard.
39:12
I just, Oh, well, I, I mean, don't you think God's worthy of
39:16
better than that because you golfing, I love golfing and
39:21
you're all happy for golfing. And then when you serve the, I
39:23
don't like serving the Lord, Don't you think God's more
39:27
worthy of golf or any fishing, whatever hobby we're into?
39:34
God's more worthy than anything we'd be into.
39:38
And so the beautiful truth is, the Father gave his very best
39:43
for you in that He gave Jesus Christ, so that when we come to
39:47
Him, we give back to Him our very best.
39:51
I think that's what's being spoken of here.
39:53
These stones that were used, engrave in them the names.
39:58
Let the priest carry the names of the tribes.
40:01
Let them be on his shoulders. Let him carry the weight.
40:07
And the memory of the people by which he's called to serve the
40:11
service, remember first is they separate them and they're going
40:14
to serve me. But in serving me, they are
40:17
there to serve the people and let them never forget.
40:20
Through the clothing, they're serving me.
40:22
Through the stones, they're serving the people.
40:25
And I want them to remember by way of illustration that they're
40:28
carrying them along just like a Good Shepherd.
40:33
And then in verse 15, you shall make the breastplate of
40:36
judgement, artistically woven according to the workmanship of
40:42
the ephod. You shall make of it the gold,
40:44
the blue, the purple, the scarlet thread, fine linen.
40:48
You shall make it. It shall be doubled into a
40:50
square. A span shall be its length, a
40:52
span shall be its width. You shall put settings of stones
40:56
in it, 4 rows of stones. The first row shall be a
40:59
sardius, a Topaz, an emerald. This shall be the first row.
41:02
The second row, turquoise, sapphire, diamond, 3rd row
41:07
jasinth and agate and amethyst, 4th row Barrow, Onyx and a
41:12
Jasper. They shall set it in gold
41:16
settings. Where'd they get all the gold,
41:17
All this bronze, all the stones they planted the Egyptians when
41:21
they left, they just like get out of here and take our stuff.
41:25
You can have it all. And now you can see that God has
41:28
a purpose in it. God has a purpose.
41:30
You don't may not see it yet, but now you see these are the
41:33
things that are going to be on the breast of the priest,
41:36
representing all the tribes. The stones have the names of the
41:40
sons of Israel verse 2112, according to their names, like
41:43
the engravings of a signet, each one with its own name that
41:46
should be according to the 12 tribes.
41:48
You shall make chains for the breastplate at the end, like
41:51
braided cords of pure gold. You shall make two rings of gold
41:55
for the breastplate. Put on the two rings of on the 2
41:59
ends of the breastplate. 24 Then she'll put the two braided
42:02
chains of gold, the two rings which are on the ends of the
42:05
breastplate, and the other two ends on the two braided chains.
42:08
You shall fasten to the two settings and put them on the
42:11
shoulder straps of the ephod. In the front you shall make two
42:15
rings of gold, put them on the 2 ends of the breastplate and on
42:18
the edge of it, which is on the inner side of the ephod, and two
42:22
other rings of gold. You shall make put them on the
42:25
two shoulder straps underneath the ephod toward its front,
42:28
right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the
42:31
ephod. They shall bind the breastplate
42:34
by the means of its rings to the rings of the ephod using a blue
42:38
cord so that it is above the intricately woven band of the
42:41
ephod, so that the breastplate does not come loose from the
42:45
ephod. So Aaron shall bear the names of
42:48
the sons of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his
42:51
heart when he goes into the holy place as a memorial before the
42:56
Lord continually. So this breast type, this vest
42:59
type garment went over the garment, went over the ephod.
43:03
It's a vest of judgment because it pictures the fact that sin
43:05
has been judged. It points ahead to a new
43:08
breastplate that we would be spoken of as the breastplate of
43:12
righteousness in Ephesians, the righteousness of Christ.
43:15
It's just so. I mean, these are men have done
43:18
studies piece by piece, like word by word.
43:21
Through this we're kind of given an overview, but it's a
43:24
fascinating study. You get into verse 30.
43:26
Now you shall put in the breastplate of the judgment of
43:29
the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron's heart
43:33
when he goes in before the Lord. So Aaron shall bear the judgment
43:36
of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord
43:40
continually. And we don't know exactly what
43:43
these were, the Urim and the Thummim.
43:45
Some believe they were black and white stones used to discern
43:49
God's will, sort of like a sanctified casting of lots or
43:53
like dice. But even more than that, Aaron
43:55
shall bear the judgement of the children of Israel over his
43:59
heart continually. He would, as we would learn in
44:03
the new covenant, shepherd the flock of God that is among you.
44:07
And this would be a reminder that Aaron is a priest, but he's
44:11
also a part of the tribes. Notice in verse 31, you shall
44:17
make the robe with the ephob all the blue.
44:19
It shall be an opening for his head in the middle.
44:22
It shall have a woven binding all around its opening, like the
44:25
opening in a coat of mail, so that it does not tear.
44:29
Verse 33 upon a Tim you shall make pomegranates, a blue and
44:32
purple and scarlet yarn all around its hem.
44:36
The bells are the gold between them all around.
44:38
A golden bell, a pomegranate, a golden Bale in a pomegranate
44:42
upon the hem of the robe all around.
44:45
They shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and it's sound will
44:49
be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and
44:53
when he comes out that he may not die.
44:58
These pomegranates, they speak of fruit.
45:00
The bells speak of a witness, an outside witness.
45:04
And this reminds us what is needed in our daily lives
45:08
exactly, mirroring the life of Jesus.
45:11
Much fruit and a strong witness and notice, as you see in verse
45:17
39, you shall skillfully, or excuse me, verse 36, you shall
45:21
also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like the
45:24
engraving of a signet. Holiness to the Lord on their
45:30
heads was to be this phrase, holiness to the Lord.
45:33
And that's the only way to see fruit and have a true witness in
45:37
this world walking in holiness, growing in our holiness.
45:43
The priests were be to this were to be distinguished and set
45:46
apart for the service of the Lord unless we think we're not
45:50
included. We're reminded of this new
45:52
covenant teaching from Peter in first Peter chapter 2 verse
45:56
four. We come to him as a living
45:58
stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious
46:04
you also, as living stones are being built up a spiritual
46:08
house, a holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices
46:13
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
46:16
Imagine that a holy we believe in the priesthood of all
46:20
believers, that we're equal at the cross by the blood of Jesus
46:24
Christ. Through Jesus we've become a
46:27
part of His priesthood, and we believe that God would have us
46:31
to be. Verse 37.
46:33
You shall put on it a blue cord, that it may be on the turban.
46:36
It'll be on the front of the turban, and so shall be Aaron's
46:38
forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things
46:43
which the children of Israel hallow in their holy gifts.
46:46
And it shall always be on his forehead that they may be
46:49
accepted before the Lord. You shall skillfully now the
46:52
coat, weave the tunic of fine linen thread, shall make the
46:56
turban a fine linen so that he would have a hat, shall make the
46:59
sash of woven work for Aaron's sons.
47:02
You shall make tunics, you shall make sashes for them, you shall
47:06
make hats for them, for the glory and beauty.
47:08
So you shall put them on Aaron, your brother, and his sons with
47:12
him. You shall anoint them,
47:13
consecrate them, sanctify them, that they may minister to me as
47:18
priests. You see that anointing,
47:21
consecrating and sanctifying, this would be approved by the
47:26
leadership of the of the people. This would be approved as part
47:31
of the family, God's calling witnessed by men.
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Verse 42 And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover
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their nakedness. They shall reach from the waist
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to the thighs. They shall be on Aaron, on his
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sons when they come into the Tabernacle of meaning or when
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they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that
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they do not incur iniquity and die.
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It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after
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him. This is so beautiful as you as
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we end today, how our names are inscribed upon the shoulders and
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over the heart of our High Priest like he carries us.
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You couldn't be more loved and more close to Jesus than you are
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right now by faith you there, there isn't any more that God
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could love you. And even as you think today,
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wait a minute, you know what kind of day I had today, But God
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knows what kind of day you had today.
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And when he sees you, he sees the blood, the blood applied.
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He sees the sacrifice, the satisfaction.
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He draws you into holiness. Yes, He draws you away from sin
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for sure, but He loves you. And we have the privilege of
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serving Him, giving our lives to him, no longer slaves to sin, no
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longer under the taskmasters of sin, no longer in the places
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where the enemy will have his way with us.
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But we have been delivered, and we have a new worship and a new
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life. And it's important that you
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decide to follow Him today, believer and unbeliever alike.
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Lord, thank you for the privilege of your word today and
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just the significance of all these details of the Tabernacle
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and the bronze labor and the the oil that was to be used and the
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light of the menorah and the the outer cord and the inner cord
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walking past the blood and the clothing and the crown and the
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turban and the words. And it was very involved.
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And I know today, God, we come through a better way, the
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finished work of the cross. But let us not take it for
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granted. We aren't required to put on
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these turbans or these special clothes or, you know, we're not
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required in the newness of life to follow the things of which we
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study in detail. But rather, Lord, they point to
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you giving to us, giving you our best.
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Just you're, you're speaking to some Lord about your power.
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Just the mountain, so discouraged.
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But it's not by our might. We don't need to figure it out.
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It's not by power. We don't need to understand.
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It's by your spirit, the gentle comfort, empowering presence of
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your spirit. And so, Lord, we come to you
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with faith tonight, we come to you in simplicity, and we just
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ask for an outpouring of your Holy Spirit that we would
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receive it and walk in the newness of life in Jesus name,
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Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study, delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
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Grace that's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.