Exodus Message #53 Ed Miller Jan. 19, 2022 Conclusion – The Light Within and Light Without

Listen to the audio above while following along with the transcript below (also available for download in Word at www.biblestudyministriesinc.com)

We’re preparing to see the Lord as we look into His Word.  I want to share a passage from Ezekiel 48, the last chapter of Ezekiel he described the spiritual temple, the spiritual tabernacle.  At the end he’s talking about the city of God and the different portions for the saints.  Ezekiel 48:15 says, “The name of the city from that day shall be, “The Lord is there.”  Those are the last words in Ezekiel, the Lord is there.  That’s our prayer, that it’ll always be our testimony.  When someone looks at your life or mine, the Lord is there.  That’s the great testimony.  In fact, that’s the only real way to distinguish between religion and spirituality.  They look alike.  Someone could very much be having morning devotions religiously, but if the Lord is not there, it’s not spiritual.  So, we just want the Lord there.  Let’s bow and give our time to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, we thank You this morning for Your indwelling Holy Spirit.  Lord, how we need Your life!  We thank You for the Word of God that You’ve given us, and we pray that Your Life, the Holy Spirit, might take the written Word and that we might be able to behold the living Word.  We want to see Christ.  Thank You, Lord, that You’re going to guide us.  We commit our time to You in the matchless name of Jesus.  Amen.

I think you know that this is our last study in the book of Exodus.  It’s our conclusion.  We’ve spent fifty-three wonderful hours in that tremendous book.  Lord willing, next week I’d like to introduce the book of 1 Peter.  So, you might want to prepare your heart.  I’m confident that the Lord wants us to look at 1 Peter.  In our last session together we considered chapter 40, the last chapter in the book of Exodus, and we called it, “The Dedication or the Consecration of the Tabernacle.”  You know that the heart of God from the beginning was to abide in His people.  Exodus 25:8, “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them.”  It has always been His heart to dwell among His people, to live in a house made out of skin, to fill that skin with His glory, to establish His throne, to find in His own heart a resting place, and to be able to manifest Himself through that house of skin.

In our study last session we saw that before God would fill the tabernacle with His presence, the ark, the symbolic throne of God, had to be in its rightful place.  He won’t fill a life if the Lordship of Christ is not central.  Then we saw, also, that the Holy Spirit had to take possession of every part, illustrated by the oil sprinkled everywhere, and the Holy Spirit must take part.  Then when the ark is in its proper place, and the Holy Spirit has taken full possession, we read Exodus 40:34, “The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.  Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Before the presence of the Lord filled the tabernacle, it was just an empty building.  Until the Lord fills you, you’re just an empty building, and until He fills me I’m just an empty building.  The only thing that matters is the presence of the Lord.

When we closed last time I called attention to the fact that when the tabernacle was finally dedicated and the Lord filled the temple, there were two lights.  There was the glory of God on the inside, and there was the pillar of fire on the outside, the glory of the Lord pervading the entire sanctuary, and we looked at that part last time.  When I left off I was about to discuss the light on the outside, and that pillar that rested on the tabernacle.  You had the glory in and the pillar on top.  How does the light on the tabernacle differ from the light in the tabernacle?  The light within is clearly the testimony of Jesus, but that testimony must be manifest.  That’s the goal of the Lord living in us, that the light would come out.  It can’t just be in here.  It has to be manifest.  The testimony of Christ within must become the testimony of Christ manifest.

You may ask, and rightly so, was the cloud, the pillar of fire ever visible to unredeemed eyes?  In other words, did anyone who didn’t know the Lord see that pillar of fire, as well?  If not, in what way is that a testimony, if that’s the light on the outside, and the unsaved can’t see it, it doesn’t look like much of a testimony.  What we have here at the dedication, it finds its reality, its final fulfillment at Pentecost.  That was the great dedication of the temple.  We have a similar thing.  Acts 2:3&4, “There appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves.  They rested on each one, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.  At Pentecost there were two lights.  There were the tongues of fire on the top, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.  The question is, once again, did anybody on the outside see the tongues of fire?  Did they see the light that was over every head? 

Exodus 40:36, “Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out.  If the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.  For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.”  Outside on the day of Pentecost, the Bible said that there were people from every nation under heaven.  Did any one of those people see the fire that was over the heads, or was that only for the one hundred twenty that were in the Upper Room? 

The light on the tabernacle was a guiding light.  It was a fire, but a fire that was not designed to burn.  It was designed to guide, and they followed that light.  As I understand it, at least from my study of the Bible so far, I don’t think the unredeemed ever saw that light.  What did the world see?  You see, the light inside and the light outside, the Christian sees the guidance, and the unsaved can only see the path that they take.  They can’t see the light, and they wonder sometimes why you are going down that road.  They can’t see the light.  You do.  You know why you are going there.  Only you can see that light. 

The unbelievers can’t see the light, but they see the testimony of Christ.  They see the path that the redeemed are taking in response to the guidance.  It’s the testimony of Christ.  If I’m following the Lord, walking in the light of the Lord, He’s going to lead me in paths of righteousness.  They won’t see the light, but they’ll see me in the day of sickness, and they’ll see me in the day when I have to go to the nursing home, and they’ll see me when I have to stand at the graveside of a loved one.  They see the path that we take.  They see me in my business dealings day by day.  The see me as I have compassion on others.  They can behold that.  They see us and our attachment to all the redeemed and the saints, and the rich fellowship and love we have one for another.  They can see the clothes you wear and can see where you go, what is interesting to you and what kind of books you read and music you listen to, and so on.  They see us, and that is the testimony of Christ.  They see my walk.  Matthew 5:16 sort of summarizes that, “Let your light so shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  They see Christ by seeing the path.

That’s the only light I have on that.  I think I’ll leave that there, summarize, and move on.  The completed tabernacle, Christ is Lord, the Holy Spirit takes possession, the glory of God fills it, and then, little by little, He gives His light.  We follow that light, and that becomes a testimony.

As you know, this is our last study in Exodus, and there are a few dangling things there and I just want to deal with those.  A technical thing, before we clinch the message.  I want to speak for a moment about Aaron and his family, over against the rest of the tribe of Levi.  They are all priests.  Aaron and his family are priests, and the rest of the tribe are priests.  Once again, God is going to do what He does so often.  Sometimes we look at these different things and say, “There are two truths here.”  Actually, many times it’s two parts of one truth, two sides of the same coin. 

For example, in Exodus 17 at the Battle of Rephidim, Moses is on the mountain holding up his dead stick toward God in heaven, and a couple of saints are bracing him up, helping him in the direction of helplessness, and the Joshua is down in the valley.  So, some Christians say, “Well, there are two different things.  Some Christians are called to be on the mountain and pray, and others have to do the hard work and go down and fight.”  No, no, no; that’s one picture and two parts.  Every Christian is called to the mountain to trust God, and every Christian is called to the field of battle.  So, it’s two parts of one picture.  We did the same thing when we saw the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement, the two goats.  That was one picture.  It’s John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God,” that’s the first goat, “that takes away the sin of the world,” that’s the second goat.  I’m just trying to remind you how God communicates His truth. 

We’re going to look at Aaron, his family, and then we’re going to look at the Levites, but it’s one truth, and I want you to see it as one truth.  In our last session I told you that the chief direction of the ministry of Aaron and his family was to minister unto the Lord.  Exodus 28:3, “You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I’ve endowed with the Spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to the Lord.”  Exodus 29:44, “I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will consecrate Aaron and his son to minister as priests to Me.”  The Bible says that Aaron and his family ministered directly to the Lord.  They were dealing with the altar and the sacrifices, the lamp, the table, the incense, and so on.  In other words, in the holy place, and they were unto the Lord.

The difference for the rest of the priests, the tribe of Levi which were priests, but not of the family of Aaron, in their functions, in their duties, in their responsibilities, in their privileges it was a different direction.  Numbers 3:5&6, “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Bring the tribe of Levi near, set them before Aaron, that they may serve him’,” serve Aaron; it doesn’t say, “Serve the Lord.”  They were to serve Aaron.  Numbers 1:50, “You shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over its furnishings, over all that belongs to it.  They shall carry the tabernacle, all of its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle.”  Numbers 1:53, “But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will be no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel.  So the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle.” 

The Bible says that they served Aaron; they served the tabernacle.  Then when the temple was built it said, “They served the house.”  Everything about the Levites had to do with the tabernacle.  And remember, that’s you and me; that’s the body of Christ, and they’re serving the body of Christ.  When Ezekiel was given his vision of the spiritual temple, Ezekiel 45:5, he was showing the space that the Levites would have, “An area 25,000 cubits in length and 10,000 in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house…”  Ezekiel 46:24, once again they’re called ministers of the house. 

It sounds like two different things.  Aaron and his family are ministering to the Lord, but the rest of the Levites, even though they’re priests, they are either ministering to Aaron or they’re ministering to the house.  Some people would say, “Well, it’s more spiritual.  I wish I was in the house of Aaron.  Then I can minister to the Lord.  I don’t want to just minister to the house, and I don’t want to just minister to the people.  I’d rather be called a minister to the Lord than a minister to the house.”  The Levites ministered to the Lord as well as to the house, and Aaron ministered to the house, as well as to the Lord.  The house of Aaron, the family of Aaron, was not more spiritual than the rest of the Levites.

Now this becomes so clear in the New Testament, because the Old Testament is the seed form, and then the New Testament develops it.  Do you remember that wonderful parable Jesus told, Matthew 25, when the Son of Man would return in glory, the parable of the judgment of the nation, separation of sheep and goat?  In that parable He said, “You fed Me when I was hungry, and you provided drink for Me when I was thirsty, and you took Me in when I was a stranger, and you clothed Me when I was naked, and you visited Me when I was sick, and you visited Me when I was in prison.”  And in the parable the question was raised, “When did that ever happen?  I don’t remember that You were ever hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or incarcerated.”  And then Jesus answered, Matthew 25:40, “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”   Ministry to the house is ministry to the Lord.  “If you do it to the least of them, you do it unto Me.”  So, it’s one; it’s not two different pictures, Aaron’s ministry to the Lord and then the Levites ministering to the house.  It’s all ministry to the Lord.

Now, there’s a wonderful relationship given in the Bible about the relationship Aaron had with the Levites.  The Lord gave a command, Numbers 8:11, “Aaron then shall present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, that they may qualify to perform the service of the Lord.”  The Levites ministered to Aaron, and Aaron was supposed to offer them as a wave offering.  Numbers 8:13, “You shall have the Levites stand before Aaron and before his sons to present them as a wave offering to the Lord.” 

I’m not going to get into all the details of the wave offering but let me give you the heart of it.  What exactly was that wave offering?  It’s always connected with the peace offering.  It’s sort of a thank you; it’s a thank you offering.  The wave offering was part of this ceremony that they had.  In the wave offering they would take the good part of the lamb, the shoulder of the lamb, and they would hold it up to God, and say, “You deserve the best part.”  And God said, “No, no.  You take it.”  And that became a wave; give it to the Lord, and He gives it back to you.”  Sometimes some scholars think that the wave didn’t go this way (up and down) but went this way; they gave it to the altar and the altar gave it back to them.  In any case, the wave offering is that I give it to Him, and He gives it back to me.

And so, these Levites were serving Aaron, and God told Aaron, “You better thank the Lord for that.  You give the Levites to the Lord, and then God will give the Levites to you.  It’s a wonderful, wonderful truth.  When God began to discover the truth of the wave offering to my heart, I began to apply it in my family.  I love my Lillian; I do.  I didn’t really have her until I gave her to the Lord, and then He gave her back.  That’s the wave offering.  You give it the Lord and He gives it back.  I didn’t have my children until I gave them to the Lord and He gave them back.  I didn’t have my grandchildren and now recently our great grandchildren, we gave as a wave offering; we gave it the Lord, and He said, “I’m going to give them back to you.”  Sometimes I wonder if we have anything that we haven’t first given to the Lord.

I remember Jacob; he tried to have the birthright, but he didn’t have it.  Later when he was being wrestled by God, he said, “I’m not letting go until You give me a blessing.”  “Well, I thought you had the blessing.”  And Jacob, in effect said, “I’ve learned I don’t have anything unless you give it to me,” and he gave it back, and then God gave it back to him.  That was the wave offering.

I wonder if you’ve ever thanked the Lord, just a figure of speech.  Many of you have ministered to us, and how we appreciate it, my Lillian and I!  But if we’ve given it to the Lord, He’s given you back to us, as a wave offering.  I’m going to come back to the wave offering as we get to the end, but it’s just a thank you, “Thank You for these Levites ministering to me,” and then God gives them back.

Last time we looked at the dedication of the tabernacle.  There’s something I didn’t mention that took place right after the dedication.  That is that God said, “I want you to set aside twelve days, one day for each tribe.”  If you want the record of that, it’s in the book of Numbers 7.  You don’t need to remember this, you can trust me on this; day one was for Judah, day two Issachar, then Zebulon, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, Asher and finally Naphtali.  Each one had their own day.  Joseph and Levi were not mentioned because the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim filled that.  Each day was a day God said, “You built the tabernacle, and I filled the tabernacle, and now the tabernacle must be maintained.”

Remember when God handed down the blueprint for the tabernacle?  We call attention to how meticulous He was.  He gave details, details, details, “Do it this way, and don’t add to it, and don’t subtract from it, follow every direction.”  Everything was spelled out, nothing for man to decide, but when it came to these twelve days He said, “Tribe of Judah, tribe of Issachar, whatever, bring a love offering to the Lord.”  What should I bring?  God is silent.  God doesn’t tell them what to bring.  When God gave the Levites their commands, they were very specific.  Some were to do this, and some were to do that, and some had to carry the furniture, and some had to carry the veils, and all of that.  Their duties are spelled out in great detail.  You see that in Numbers chapter 3.

Let me give an example.  Levi had three sons who became sort of the leaders: Gersham, Kohath and Merari.  You don’t have to know all of this at this time.  Let me just use Merari as an illustration.  His duties are spelled out in Exodus 3:36, “Now the appointed duties of the sons of Merari involved the frames of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, all its equipment, and the service concerning them, and the pillars around the court with their sockets and their pegs and their cords.”  What do I want you to know about that?  I want you to know that they got the heavy work, and it wasn’t optional.  God said, “Carry it.  You are going to disassemble this.  We’re going to disassemble this and we’re going through the wilderness.  Your job is to carry all of that stuff: the frames, the bars, the pillars, the sockets, the things that held up all the curtains all around the outer court.  You carry that.”  But He didn’t say how.

Well, when the people saw what a burden that was for the four sons of Merari, when their day came, they decided, “Wow, maybe we can help.”  Numbers 7:2, “The leaders of Israel, the heads of their father’s household, made an offering (they were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who were over the numbered men).  When they brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen, a cart for every two of the leaders and an ox for each one, then they presented them before the tabernacle.”  Numbers 7:8, “…four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service.” 

It seems to me, I could be wrong on this, but I think Moses struggled with that.  He was so used to God giving orders, and God giving directions and God being specific, “Do this, do this..,” and all of a sudden here comes a tribe with carts and oxen, and he said, “Did God tell you to do that?  What are you doing?  God never told you to do that.”  Then God had to speak to Moses.  Numbers 7:4-5, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Accept these things from them, that they may be used in the service of the tent of meeting, and you shall give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.”  My point is simply this; there’s no mention of oxen and there’s no mention of carts.  This was the prompting of loving hearts who looked out at the people of God and saw their needs, and then they responded in their hearts, and they brought that, and God said, “I accept that.”  You don’t need a special word to do this or that.  If it’s in your heart, give him $100, give him a telephone call, send them a letter, go visit them, bring them some meals, offer to give them a ride, do some shopping.  God accepts what’s in your heart as part of the maintaining of the house of God.  I just thought that was an important point to have those days and that distinct.  It’s hard enough to trek through the wilderness, and it’s hard again with a burden on your back, but great day, carrying the whole tabernacle with all the structure, the boards and the bars; that was a great burden, and God’s people looked at that and said, “That a burden for them.  Let’s get some carts and oxen and make it a little easier.”  I just thought that was a precious thing.  I don’t have to wait for a command.

Someone told me this some time, “Sunday school is not in the Bible.  Why do you have Sunday school?”  I don’t need a command for that.  If somebody has a burden for kids, give me a break, God accepts that.  There was no command for a Christian Shelter, and we have the Christian Shelter, because God lays it on the hearts of His people to respond.  God doesn’t tell you to write a book or to write a song.  It’s in your heart and God accepts it.  Only be certain that all ministry is unto Him.  You minister to Him, and then He gives it to you, and then you give a wave offering of thank you.  Everything from this moment on in terms of the tabernacle, everything about the Levites… when they marched, they had to march in terms of the tabernacle.  When they camped, it was all about the tabernacle, and I promise you, if you’ve accepted the Lord, it’s all about the body of Christ; it’s all about the tabernacle, when you march and when you move and when you camp, it’s all about them, and your heart will be responding in terms of the tabernacle.

As we come to the end of our time in Exodus I want to return to the final illustration, and that is one third of the book, the tabernacle itself, the dwelling place of God, His rest.  I’ve repeated many times that the message of Exodus is the message of redemption, full redemption, by power and by blood, full redemption.  The message of the tabernacle is the message of Christ filling the tabernacle, and He’s full of redemption because He is the Redeemer.  To the degree the Redeemer fills my life, to that degree I’ll be filled with all the truths illustrated in the tabernacle, all the truths of redemption.

Each part gave a different truth.  We saw the curtains around the outer court.  That was one truth.  That high fence teaches us something about redemption.  The brazen altar teaches us about redemption.  The laver teaches us about redemption.  All the furniture in the holy place, the coverings itself, everything about the tabernacle has something about redemption.  The heart of it all, of course, is Exodus 40, the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle, the presence of the Lord is there.

Although every Christian, regardless of their walk with the Lord, every Christian has the Lord, and He’s in the tabernacle.  Not every Christian enters in at the same time to the full message of redemption.  Not every Christian knows all of the parts of our great redemption.  He delights to manifest Himself through those who are filled with redemptive truths.  Christ is going to manifest Himself, and the more Christ is in my heart, the truth of redemption is in my heart, the more testimony I will have.  In terms of that, I believe there is such a thing as an outer court Christian, and I believe there is such a thing as a holy place Christian, and I believe there is such a thing as a holy of holies Christian.  So, I’d like to spend a little moment here, and much of this is my own testimony.

I want to be a complete Christian, and I’m sure you want to be a complete Christian, filled with the fullness of the Lord, so that it can be manifest.  I’m just going to go through the outer court and the holy place again in terms of its furniture, and so on, and describe what I think is an outer court Christian.  The outer court Christian has no doubts about the imputed righteousness of Christ.  You get somebody who is just saved and they are taught right at the beginning, “I’m surrounded by His righteousness.  I am righteous in Christ.”  But the outer court Christian is very sin conscious.  By that I mean that there are only two pieces of furniture out there; one is the altar, and the other is the laver; one has to do with sacrifice and the other has to do with cleansing. 

The outer court Christian, though he has no doubts about Christ is righteous and He accepts me, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be made sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God,” but his life is characterized by altar/laver, altar/laver, altar/laver.  He can’t get past the cross: altar/laver, altar/laver.  “I’m a Christian, and I’m saved, and have the righteousness of Christ, but I messed up.  So, I go back to the altar and I confess, and then I try to go further, but I look in the mirror because the laver was made out of mirrors, and I see myself dirty, and it’s the experience many times of the young believer; he’s up, he’s down, he’s up, he’s down.  One day he’s a great Christian hot on fire for Jesus, and the next day, “Oh, man, I need to repent.  I blew it again.”  He’s just back and forth with no victory over sin, one day completely victorious, and the next day completely defeated.  He’s rejoicing in the blood.  He’s rejoicing in God’s cleansing, but he no sooner gets on the right track, dedicates, rededicates, commits himself, surrenders, re-surrenders, and then he falls on his face. 

Seven years I lived in the outer court, and I wanted so much to move on.  I couldn’t move on.  I dedicated one by one every book in my library.  If you’ve seen my library you know that’s a big thing.  I started with my own body, and I gave my ears to Him and my eyes to Him and my mouth to Him and my hands to Him and then I went through my family, and dedicated everything.  I no longer finished that and I sinned against the Lord.  I couldn’t help it, and back to the altar and back to the laver, back to the altar, back to the laver.  I’ve got to admit this, but let me read the verse, Psalm 84:10, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”  Even the outer court Christian is better off than anybody in the world that doesn’t know the Lord Jesus, even if you never get past that.

Right before the eyes of the outer court Christian is another door, a door that lead into the holy place.  Let me describe the holy place Christian.  Once one has left the outer and entered the holy place, everything is new.  It’s like he got born again.  He didn’t but it feels like you’re born again again.  You’re into this holy place, and everything is new and fresh, even the air is different that you breathe.  This old sin consciousness and looking inside yourself and all of that analysis, you’ve entered a new realm and all of a sudden you’re in the room of priests, and you discover there is ministry here.  God has gotten me beyond, thank God for the righteousness of Christ, thank God for the altar, thank God for the cleansing, but now I need to move on and there’s ministry here.  The smells of the outer court have been replaced by the sweet incense of the holy place.  Exodus 30:7, “Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps.  When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense.”

The chief characteristic of the outer court was a sin consciousness, almost condemnation, living under condemnation.  The chief emphasis of the holy place is ministry.  It’s service.  We called attention in the past the fact there is no chair in the holy place.  Hebrews 9:6, “Now these things have been so prepared, priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing divine worship.  In the holy place it’s busyness.  It’s zeal and activity.  It’s ministry.  From morning until night, day after day, gathering oil, gathering spices, gathering flour, cooking bread, trimming lamps, making sure there is enough oil, running from one altar to another, bringing coal to the altar of incense, back and forth, ministry, ministry, ministry.  The ministry of the holy place, one labors to keep the light going; we’ve got to keep that light burning.  We can’t let it go dim.  We’ve got to keep that bread fresh.  That’s the ministry.  You don’t want the bread to go stale.  Some of it looks like its going stale.  The altar of incense, what pleases the Lord?  There’s a lot of things He’s not happy with.  We’ve got to keep God happy.  We’ve got to do the things that are going to make Him pleased.

The end of the outer court is utter frustration.  I know.  I was so frustrated.  The end of the holy place is exhaustion.  You get so tired.  I struggled so long, I couldn’t keep my own light burning, and I felt obligated that other people are depending on me to keep their light burning.  So, you’re looking in the world, give me some light, I’ve got to do this and that, and so on, always trying to keep the light burning.  I already taught on Bible study, I taught on prayer, I need to teach on fasting, and then I need to teach on discipleship, and we better learn about missions, and we better learn about spiritual gifts, and spiritual disciplines, and what about prophesy, and what about church politics, and we need to understand the church, and on and on I went.  I was tired; I was exhausted.  I felt it was my responsibility to keep that table with the bread; keep the people well-fed.  Many times it seemed like it was going stale, so, okay, we’ll have a new program.  We’ll go in another direction, and we’ll have an evangelistic outreach, and we’ll saturate the area with literature, and so on.  We’ll have youth ministries and let’s go have a missions trip.  We’ll go to some third world country and that will give you missionary enthusiasm.  Let’s work with the military, work with the young people, young married people, on and on and on.  And then you get to the altar of incense, and God’s not happy and we’ve got to have rules.  You can’t do that, and you can’t go there, and you can’t wear that, don’t smoke, don’t chew and don’t go with girls that do.  It’s all activity, and you get so tired.  This is missionaries come limping home from the field.  There are actually missions for burned out missionaries, because they get burned out in the holy place.  That’s when authors stop writing their books, and artists stop their musical ministry, and you get so tired.  You quit and throw in the towel and give up.  That’s a holy place Christian.

I’ve been there.  Everything is academic and cerebral, and it’s all in the mind; I’ve got to do this and that.  Praise God there’s more!  Let me home in on the holy place Christian. As a sin conscious outer court Christian ends in frustration, as a ministry worker mentality ends in exhaustion, now we move into the holy of holies, and the end of that is rest, and the end of that is liberty, rest not only for me but for Him.  As you know, there’s only one piece of furniture in the holy of holies, and that was the ark of the covenant, the symbolic throne of the Lord.  In that room, in that holy of holies, we had that representation again, of the Lordship, authority and King Jesus, the rule of heaven, the rule of God.  You remember on that throne was a mercy seat, and that mercy seat was sprinkled with blood.  You see that in Exodus 25:22.  I won’t read it.  That throne with the mercy seat sprinkled with blood, what’s the fully developed form?  That’s an Old Testament picture.  The fully developed form is Hebrews 4:16, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

Throne of grace; have you ever heard that expression, the throne of grace?  Who hasn’t?  Do you know why I’m saying that?  It’s because that’s the only verse in the Bible that mentions the throne of grace.  It’s not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible.  How come everybody knows about it?  It’s because of the great need in their heart.  They need it, so they lay hold of that one expression.  It’s only one time in the Bible, but they need mercy and they need grace, and so they know the throne of grace.

What’s a rod of iron?  Let me help you.  It’s a rod made out of iron.  Okay, what’s a bar of gold?  Let me help you.  It’s bar made of gold.  What’s a block of wood?  You get the idea.  Around the outer court was a wall made out of linen.  What is a wall made out of linen?  It’s a throne of grace.  What’s a throne of grace?  It’s a throne made out of grace.  Everything about this throne is just made out of the grace of God.  It’s a blood sprinkled mercy seat.  It’s all grace now, and everything about the throne invites us to come boldly with an unembarrassed freedom of speech and liberty to come before the Lord.

I want to say a word about the One that sits on that throne, a word about what’s in the throne to finish my description of the holy of holies Christian.  Who sits on the throne?  Well, we saw that in Exodus 40; it’s the God of glory filling the whole room with His glory.  In the holy of holies you bow before the Lordship of Christ and everything is filled with the glory of God.  Psalm 29:9, “In His temple everything says glory.”  Nothing else matters.  “For this cause came I to this hour, Father.  Glorify Thy name.”  There’s no other motive for the holy of holies Christian.  1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether, then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  When you are in another part of the sanctuary or you are not a believer, if you dive through motives, because we don’t really know our motive…. “Why did you neglect your Bible?”  “Well, because my wife said this.”  “Well, why did she say that?” “Well because we…”  You’ll never get to the bottom. But the bottom is self, unless you are a holy of holies Christian, then the bottom is the glory of God.  That’s the last motive, the all-inclusive motive.  So, I’m just suggesting, if you want to avoid the frustration of the outer court, the exhaustion of the holy place, find rest for your soul, and bow before the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and set your heart on the glory of God.

And then what’s inside the throne, or included in the Lordship of Christ?  We looked at this before.  The commandments, everything I need to obey God is in the Lordship of Christ and under the blood.  The manna, everything I need for provision from this day until the day I get to heaven is in the Lordship of Christ and under the blood.  Aaron’s rod that budded, everything in my life that I ever need that can be called fruit is found in the Lordship of Christ and under the blood.  The holy of holies Christian is one who has fallen before the Lordship of Christ, and has embraced the glory of God as his only motive, and he’s trusting the life of God to obey, to provide, and to give fruit.  That’s a holy of holies Christian.

Now, I told you that when that veil was rent, when Jesus died on the cross, everything became the holy of holies.  That’s important because I don’t want you to think that the holy of holies Christian just needs this holy of holies.  No, everything is the holy of holies.  The holy of holies Christian needs to the outer court as much as the outer court Christian.  You’re not going to get past the place you have to repent and confess and need to be cleansed again with the blood.  You don’t belittle the outer court Christian.  You need that, and you need service, and you need ministry, but until the holy place becomes the holy of holies, you’re not going to know how to minister, and you’re going to become exhausted.  So, now everything is now holy of holies.  Mark 10:9, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”  Well, I don’t think I’ll dishonor the Lord if I turn that around; what God has torn apart, don’t try to put that back together.  It’s free and it’s open, and we are to have that liberty.

Another way to say it is just that the holy of holies Christian is filled with all the truths of redemption.  He hasn’t thrown away the outer court.  He has all that truth, and he has all the truth of the holy place, and all the truth of the holy of holies, and then God can begin to really use him in a mighty way.  Don’t answer; just think.  Are you ruled by His Lordship.  Are you  motivated by His glory?  And are you dependent on His Life for obedience, for provision, and for fruit?  That’s a holy of holies Christian.

I want to clench the whole book of Exodus and this great tabernacle truth by bringing you to the last mention of tabernacle/temple in the Bible.  We’re in the book of Revelation.  Just bear with me, I want to read the verses, and then I’ll make a couple of comments, and we’ll wrap it up.  Revelation 7:14, “These are the ones that have come out of the great tribulation.  They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.  They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”  They serve Him day and night in the temple.  The temple is still on God’s heart.  He will put His tabernacle over them.  The tabernacle is still on God’s heart.  Revelation 21:3, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”  Tabernacle among men.  Revelation 21:22, “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

Now, that sounds like a contradiction; in heaven we serve Him day and night in His temple—there’s no temple there!  What’s that all about?  What is God saying there?  This is the consummation of it all.  This is temple living taken to heaven.  The tabernacle is still on God’s mind, and the temple is still on His heart, and they are before the throne of God, and He spreads the tabernacle over them, and they worship in the temple, and there’s no temple there.  Let me give you what I think is God’s heart on this consummation of temple truth.

You know in heaven it’s all Jesus.  You know that, right?  It’s all Christ.  You don’t need the sun, you don’t need the moon; He’s there and He’s everything.  In heaven it’s all Jesus.  You don’t need a temple; you don’t need a tabernacle; it’s all Jesus.  The Bible says that some day we’ll see Him face to face.  Now, don’t misunderstand that.  What that means is that we’ll see Him directly, without having to look through something else, nothing between.  Now we see Him through a glass, darkly.  There we’ll see Him immediately.  I don’t mean quick/immediately, but over against medium; I won’t need a medium.  I won’t need something else to look through.  Here we cannot see Him directly.  That’s not for this age.  We need a medium.  So, we can see Him through nature.  We can see Him through the Bible.  We can see Him through one another.  We can see Him through circumstances.  We can see Him in His providence.  We see the Lord, but always through this or through that or through the other thing. 

This idea that we see Him through means, the theologians call, “the means of grace.”  What are the means of grace?  In glory you aren’t going to need a means of grace.  Boy, I need the Bible to see Jesus.  I’m not going to need it up there to see the Lord.  Oh, we need the throne of grace!  You aren’t going to need it up there to find grace to help in time of need.  There are no times of need.  Right now I need Levites, those who serve the people of God, who serve His house.  They help me see Him.  They enable me to see Him.  I see Him through the breaking of bread.  That’s a means of grace.  I see Him in seasons of prayer.  I see Him in the trials of life, in the fellowship of believers, in the way He arranges divine appointments.  You see the Lord. 

The day is coming when we will see Him directly, and I don’t have to see Him through music, and I won’t have to see Him through a quiet time and I won’t have to see Him through miracles, and I won’t have to see Him through His providential guidance, or even the testimony of other Christians.  We’ll see Him as He is, without a medium.  The foretaste of seeing Him now; how can I have heaven on earth?  In heaven it’s all Jesus.  How can it be all Jesus here?  Stop focusing on the means of grace and look through it.  We see Him through it.  We are so tempted to focus on the means of grace.  “Let’s focus on the Lord’s Table.  Let’s focus on baptism.  Focus on the church.”  No!  Look through it to see Jesus only.  That’s temple truth.  That’s heaven on earth.  That’s how it will be there.  There’s no temple there.  We’ll be worshipping God in God, and we can have a foretaste of that right now. 

That’s why I think God ends with that great truth, that right now we have to see through the Bible and through people and circumstances and events, and so on.  So now, as God gives grace, I’m not going to look at the means of grace.  I thank God for them, but for me every means of grace is a wave offering.  “Thank you for that circumstance, thank You for that sickness, thank You for that trial, thank You for that blessing, thank You for that wonderful provision, thank You for that answer to prayer, thank You for God’s people, thank You for the church.”  That is tabernacle truth!  God has always desired to live in a house made out of flesh.  Everything now is holy of holies.  We bow before His Lordship, we live for His glory, and we trust His Life for obedience, for provision, and for fruit.  May God help us!

Exodus ends, and we’re going to look at 1 Peter, when they’re about to resume their pilgrimage to the Promised Land.  That’s the message of 1 Peter.  Let’s pray together.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the book of Exodus, for the light You’ve allowed us to have.  Protect from any observations we made that were not from You.  Lord, take us forward in a heart knowledge of Christ.  We want to be holy of holies Christians, and not stuck in the outer court or busy, busy, busy.  Lord, we want to enter Your rest.  We want to know Your Lordship.  We want to bring honor and glory to You.  We want to be filled with all the truths of redemption.  We want to trust Your Life.  We know to the degree that You are all and all in our life, to that degree You can manifest Yourself through us, a sweet fragrance to the world.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.