Address—David Mearns
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Maybe we could sing #271 That's 271.
Lord of the World of.
The.
God, where my trampoline?
Come on.
But far, well formed and far they are gone with 100.
5.
Hour, Lord.
And find by the spring of blood.
Just ask the Lord for his help.
Our God and our Father, we again thank thee for.
Blessed One, our Lord Jesus.
Notice so willingly send.
Thank you for that. Blessed One is on high on our behalf.
And we thank thee, our God, that it's our privilege to be here in a land like this where we can have Thy precious word opened. Help us not to take these things for granted, our God, as we realize that many of our brethren are being persecuted for Thy name's sake. And so we just would pray that as we have this opportunity, that we would, uh, have energy and have a real desire to, to hear thy voice, our God, as we would open my precious word.
And pray that it would be for real profit we.
Safety that it's our privilege and we just would ask these things, our God giving thanks and the worthy and the precious name of our O Jesus, Amen.
I'd like to turn to a few thoughts and the songs.
Look at.
After the 85th Psalm.
This is a little cluster of songs that are from for the Sons of Korah. We spoke about that a little earlier in connection with the Altar of Burnt Offering. You know, I really.
Feel that the sons of Korah had a real sense of how the grace of God reached down and picked them up. They could so easily have gone down into the pit with Umm, Those other ones that we read of, you know, all the families of Umm Dathan and Abiram, they all went down to the pit, but not the sons of Korah. And it's sweet to see that there were those that Umm carried on. They, they took a stand. It was against their father, they took it.
00:05:13
But they were preserved and we find the fiddle a cluster of psalms here for them. There's a number of them.
That we find in the 85th Tom, just to pick up on a verse.
Wilt Thou not the sixth verse of Psalm 85? What, Thou not revive us again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? Choice Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation. Well, I know that there's going to be a coming day when the remnant is really going to lay hold of these Psalms, but I just thought of that in connection with ourselves in the sixth verse. Will Thou not revive us again? Sometimes we need that, don't we?
We just need that little tender loving care to revive us again that you might once again really enjoy things as we once enjoyed them before.
Umm, the 87th Psalm, the very end of the chapter. We sometimes see this, this phrase up on the wall on the text. The seventh verse. All my springs are in the well. What a marvelous thing for the sons of Korah. Well, let's look at the 84th Psalm.
84 Some starts off How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts, My soul longest, yeah, even faintest for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Ye the Sparrow hath found in house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. Even mine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God, blessed are they that dwell in my house, they will be still praising thee.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, and whose heart are the ways of them. The passing through the valley of Becca make it a well. The rain also fill up the pools.
Think of the Valley of Baca. You know, we sometimes read that portion and how it's made it. Well, it doesn't really seem to to to make sense.
And yet to to realize that.
Some of the situations that we find ourselves in, our situations that the Lord passes us through for our good and blessing and so that we'd be able to see more the beauties of the Lord Jesus and perhaps be able to appreciate them in a way that we weren't able to. You know that 80.
The 85th Psalm. We often read the end part of it.
Sometimes in the breaking of bread, the 10th verse, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace of kissed each other.
Truth shall bring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from the earth. Well, you know to to see it prefaced by that sixth verse. Will thou not revive us again? Well, just with these thoughts, I'd like to look at um.
Exodus chapter 35.
Exodus chapter 35.
And I might make this.
This comment before we read some of the verses of this chapter.
As I mentioned, the the sons of Korah had a real sense in their souls of how the grace of God reached down and and picked them up. And that's a good thing for us to realize too, how the grace of God has has reached down and picked us up. I've been, I've been impressed this last little while and both in my own assembly here have heard me mention it.
In connection with Noah, we find that the Lord looks down on the world, He looks down on the children of men, and he says every imagination of their hearts is only evil continually. And we could add one thing and Noah was no better.
Noah was no better.
So we think, well, you know, maybe he was just a little bit better.
So that the Lord said, well, you know that that man there, he's just got the edge on everyone else and I'm going to preserve him. Noah was no better.
Says Noah found grace in the eyes of Lord. Noah found grace was the grace of God that picked no up, just like the grace of God picked every one of us here up. It's a, it's a, it's a wonderful thing. It's a marvelous thing. It's a humbling thing to sit here this evening and to recognize that it was none other than the grace of God that reached down and picked us up.
00:10:20
Just with that in mind, as we go through this chapter, we find the people bringing all the various things for the altar they offered them willingly, and we find in the in connection with the building of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle had, umm, had uh, had walls like any building does.
Tabernacle had a roof like any building does has doors.
They also had a floor.
There's only.
One mention of the floor of the Tabernacle. I believe in the word of God, only one.
And it beautifully portrays the grace of God.
Umm, I'll just turn to the verse. We won't read the portion. It's in Numbers chapter 5.
Where we have only that one mention of the floor of the Tabernacle, and it's in connection with.
A wife that has been unfaithful to her husband.
And there's a spirit of jealousy with the husband.
And the priest takes her, and he brings her unturned unto the Tabernacle. Here in verse 16. The priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord. And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, And of the dust that is in the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall take and put it into the water. We won't take the time to read the portion. What transpires here is there is a man that's jealous of his wife because of what is what his wife has done. And the priest takes this water, and he he, he takes.
The dust from the floor of the Tabernacle, and he puts it in the water and he stirs it up, and he makes her drink it. And if she's guilty, then it turns within her into tremendous bitterness, bitterness, bitterness.
You know when I thought of that.
And looking at that picture of a man and his wife.
And I thought that those of us who are part of the bride of Christ.
And how unfaithful we've been.
I look at my own heart and realize how unfaithful I've been time and time again.
And it's just like that drink has been mixed up for me.
But you know, it's the Lord Jesus.
That took the cup for us and drank that cup. Here we find the man is jealous and he wants his wife to drink it. But isn't it marvelous? The Lord Jesus stepped in our stead and took that drink which would have caused us to be guilty, would have caused tremendous bitterness. He took that drink. The cup that my father hath given me to drink. Shall I not drink it? Oh, what a beautiful picture. The only mention of the the floor of the Tabernacle. But as we go through this portion in the.
The 35th chapter.
I thought of it in connection with the hearts of the sons of Korah, while we read in chapter 35 of Exodus. And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the Lord hath commanded, that ye should do them. Six days shall work be done on the 7th. There shall be to you on holy day and Sabbath of rest of the Lord. Whosoever do with work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire, fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day.
And Moses spake unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying.
Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord. Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering unto the Lord. Gold, silver, brass.
Just consider everything that was in the Tabernacle. This is where all the material came from. Blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goat's hair, ram skins, dyed red, badger skins, shittim wood, oil for the light and spices for anointing, oil for the sweet incense and Onyx, stones and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breast. For the breastplate. Well, I thought of all this material that was brought by the children of Israel.
I don't say that everyone brought.
Doesn't say that everyone brought something.
I plotted that some time.
00:15:01
You know, there's an interesting statistic in this world, in this country, in the country that's to the South of us.
The number one killer?
Of the human race.
Is heart disease?
It's heart disease.
One in five people have it.
That's pretty pretty high statistic.
Most don't know.
And most people that are taken with heart disease.
They die of a heart attack and there was no recognition beforehand. All of a sudden, boom, they're gone. But there was heart trouble before that, even if they didn't know it.
And it caused me to think, you know?
The number one difficulty.
In our Christian pathway is also heart trouble.
The number one problem.
In the pathway as a believer that I walk.
Number one problem I fate I faced is heart trouble, Heart trouble, infections of my heart being divided. As the Lord yearns for my fellowship, He yearns to walk with me. He yearns to have me all for himself. He wants that so badly. He wants it for every one of us here. And heart trouble causes us to be at a distance from God.
Let's read some of these verses.
Verse 10.
And everyone shall come.
Well, no.
Every wise hearted among you shall come.
And make all that the Lord hath commanded the Tabernacle, and his tents, and his coverings, and his attaches, and his boards, and his bars, and his pillars, and his sockets, the ark and the staves thereof on the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering the table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the showbread, and the Candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps with oil for the light. The incense alter is stays in the anointing oil, sweet incense, and the hangs for the for the door, and so on. The list goes on. But then it says the 21St. And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of the Lord, and they came.
Everyone.
Whose heart stirred him up, and everyone with whom his spirit made willing.
Before we go on further, let's just consider how.
The Lord has brought us here tonight, and I thought of these bars, you know.
And how they form.
Part of this Tabernacle.
That's a picture of the believer.
They all have their place all the way around. They form the Tabernacle just like all the believers form the Church of God. Every one of us has been made for a specific purpose, a specific purpose. Lord has made us all for His pleasure, and He's made us for us with a specific purpose in view.
And you know, as we consider that and and consider these boards every time they went up.
They umm, they were. They were. They were put in the same place.
And they had. They had that function.
They.
They they weren't interchangeable. Every, every, every piece in the Tabernacle had it had its, had its place and had its function. You know, I, I've often thought of umm of these bars and how, you know, if we were to turn to New Testament, we would see how that.
The connection with the Church of God and how it's quickly joined together. Sometimes we find ourselves maybe at a communion we don't function. Umm.
With the rest of the body in the same in the same way that we perhaps should we're out of sync. This bar here which would speak of the Spirit of God. It puts us in a position where we can't leave the body, but our function sometimes is at a sink and and we want to go our own way and the Lord desires our heart. He desires our fellowship and the purpose that he has for us. We're not seeing it in our lives and we decide we want to do what we want to do and so we're like this board that's.
Function and why? Because we have heart trouble. We have trouble trouble with our hearts. Let's read on.
21St verse They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up. Oh, that we would have our hearts stirred up tonight, every one of us, that our hearts would be stirred up, that we would go on to pursue that which is a real, that's that which is of real value, that which is that the apostle says it's Timothy, that which is really life, whose heart stirred them up. And they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the Tabernacle, the congregation for all his service, for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, and as many as were willing hearted.
00:20:30
And they brought bracelets and earrings and rings and tablets.
And all jewels of gold and so on.
Can we find in the 25th, 1St there are a number of people that are singled out, it says in all the women.
That were wise hearted.
What were we doing in the assembly without?
Those were women.
What would we do without the mothers in the assembly?
That character that some of us who are husbands that we don't, we don't, umm, can't identify with. It's a character, you know, that comes right from the Lord.
We see that portrayed.
In Lord, in numerous ways we see it in in in the red heifer. We see it in connection with the Umm. The Ethiopian eunuch, as he read, we find as a sheep.
Before her shears is dumb, so we open. It's not his mouth, it's that character that's given to the woman.
That soft character. I told the story last year in the assembly here. We had a few chickens. Those of us, those of you know, we, we have a few chickens and we had three last year that we thought were gotten by Koons. And you know, our, our place is infested with varmints. There's, there's ***** there's, there's mink, there's we lost the chicken to a fox right in our front lawn this, this spring.
After these ones were taken by ***** a couple of weeks later, the three of them came tripping into our yard with little trails of chicks behind them. You know, where did they get the the intuition to be able to live out in the woods for those two weeks with the place infested with, with the varmints and and predators and to be able to have preserve and to preserve that that little, little trail behind them. We see the Lord looking over Jerusalem and he say how often what I have what I have.
Umm umm.
Covered thee as a tender.
Helping with the, uh, portion of the hand that, uh, to cover her checks. But, uh, you, you know what I'm saying is that preserving character that the, the Lord portrayed, he, he portrayed himself as, as just that, that with that character. And, and there is that in the assembly that, that female character that's so, so very much needed. So we find here that it's, it's the woman that were wisehearted. They did spin with their hands the 25th 1St and they brought that spun.
Both of blue and purple, and of scarlet, fine twine, linen. And all the women whose hearts stirred them up, Well, we find 21St verses everyone that stirred them up. But now here's the woman whose heart stirred them up.
In wisdom, spun goats here.
29th Verse. And the children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work.
What we find that we haven't spoken about.
The two that were.
Singled out in a special way. We have it in the 30th verse, Moses said unto the children of Israel. See the Lord have called by name Bezalel, the son of Yuri, the son of her of the tribe of Judah. I'm sure he didn't go to Home Depot or go to Kohl's and buy some baseboard to do the altar of burn offering like we have here, but we find that he was filled with all, with the Spirit of God and wisdom and understanding and knowledge in all manner of workmanship to devise curious works to work in gold and in silver and brass.
And so on.
Verse 35 Well, no. The 1St 34 and.
Put in his heart, that he may teach both he and Aholiab the son of Ahisama of the tribe of Dan. Then hath he filled with wisdom of heart. Wisdom of heart to work all manner of work, of the engraver and of the cunning workmen, of the embroidery in blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen, of the Weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. Then rob Bezalel and a holy and every wise hearted man.
In whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord had commanded. Moses called Bezalel and a holy AB, and every wise hearted man in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work.
00:25:10
Well, isn't it marvelous that when you see someone who has a stirred up heart.
To carry out a work for the Lord, whatever it might be.
However big, however small, just to have a stirred up heart for the things of God.
But you know, it wasn't good enough just to have a stirred up heart because we finished that verse, it says here in verse 2.
Uh, whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work?
To do it.
Well, the Lord lay something on our heart. You know, sometimes I make this little statement, I said. I say, you know, one of these days I'd like to do such and such.
One of these days I'd like to do this. Or one of these light days I'd like to write someone a note, Or one of these light days I'd like to visit someone.
You know, for myself in saying that, it's a soft way of me saying.
I'm never gonna do it. I'm never gonna do it, but I don't like to say it that way. And so I say, well, one of these days maybe I will. It's a little bit more palatable for my for my soul. And I think, oh, well, you know, that's nice. Maybe one of these days it will. But it's a way of saying I'm not interested in doing it. I'm just not interested. I just don't have the moral fiber to be able to follow through with what the Lord has laid in my heart. Here we find those they had their hearts stirred up.
There was a work for them to do.
There was a purpose that the Lord had created them as there was a purpose for everyone of us. And what happened, they did it, They did it. I'm thankful for those that we have here whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work.
To do it, Verse eight. In every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the Tabernacle, made ten curtains of fine twine linen, and blue, and purple and scarlet, and so on we go into the curtain as well.
As I said earlier.
The number one difficulty in my own soul, my Christian pathway, is heart trouble. Sometimes the Lord even stirs up my heart, but then that's as far as it goes. It doesn't find its way into my feet and I need some reviving again. You know, we need that at every stage we are in our life. Doesn't matter how old we are, whether we're six here or whether we're 86. The Lord can stir up our hearts and we can follow through with that which the Lord has laid in our heart to do.
As being created for his pleasure and to be such a blessing to our own souls and to be a blessing to the people of God. Oh, to have stirred up hearts to do what the Lord would have us to do. Well, let's turn back now a couple chapters.
Two.
Where we started Umm.
This afternoon on the 25th chapter.
Exodus 25.
And verse 23.
Thou shalt also make a table.
Of shittimwood, 2 cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
So in our little model here we have a little table of shortbread.
And we have a full size one. This is the size of it. The details of it we don't know exactly.
We're we're told some details and we don't know exactly what, uh, Bezalel and, and a holy ad were shown what Moses was shown in the mouth. We don't know exactly the details, but we know it was this size approximately. And so we read and I shall lay it with pure gold, verse 24 and make there to a crown of gold roundabout. Now shall make unto it a border of an hand breadth roundabout, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof.
Round.
About.
So I read here about two crowns. A lot of little model here only has one. I wasn't too sure where to put the other one.
But there's there's so many beautiful pictures that we have here and just show one this, this table of Showbread, it wasn't simply a table. It had a border all the way around it. And that border was in hand breadth it was this high. And so we put our hand here and we find out that's the height of the border that went around the table. And it's a beautiful picture of eternal security. Can we find way back in the Tabernacle a picture of eternal security? How those those loaves that can't fall off the table beautiful to see with ourselves.
00:30:09
That no man can pluck them out of his hand to realize that we're just eternally secure.
Beautiful to see that just here in this little picture of the Tabernacle of eternal security. So we read here about two crowns. Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereof to a crown of gold roundabout, and we find the 25th verse, another golden crown. Well, you know it speaks to me, and speaks to us perhaps of the two crowns of the Lord Jesus had.
And this world afforded him a crown of thorns. A crown of thorns.
But then we find that he's crowned in glory now.
You know, we we sing that little hymn.
Umm, Jesus, thy head once crowned with thorns is crowned with glory. Now you know when there's so many, so many pictures that we see of as Peter brings before us the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. There's numerous times that we read read of that we read of it in connection with the altar of Brune offering. Let's just look at that in the in the in numbers chapter 5 just in passing.
Numbers Chapter.
It's not numbers five, it's numbers 4.
When they were to move the camp and they were to move the items of furniture, they they moved when they were covered. And we find here in verse 13 of Numbers four. And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and they shall spread a purple cloth thereon will the ashes you know, and the bird on the altar of burnt offering. There was lots of ashes. Well, those ashes were taken away and over top of that of that altar was placed this purple this this purple covering. It would speak of the glory, the ashes speak of the sufferings of Christ.
And the purple speaks of the glory that should follow. And so we find that theme throughout the Word time and time again, the sufferings of Christ.
And the glory that should follow, we see it in the crowns, we see it in the altar of burnt offering, we see it in the other items of furniture too. But we have to pass on now. And so we read in verse 26.
Thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof over against the border. Shall the rings be for the places of the staves to bear the table?
Thou shalt make the phase of Shittim wood and overlay them with gold, that the table may be born of them.
Thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and the spoons thereof, and the covers thereof, and the bowls thereof, the cover with all of pure gold shall thou make them. Thou shalt set them up on the table. Thou shalt sit upon the table. Showbread before me always. What we find the tables mentioned other places of the word. You know the Lord records umm how David ate the showbread in umm. In the Gospels we we find that the the table is mentioned umm in various places.
But it's.
It's really touching to our hearts what it speaks to itself, a table. It speaks of fellowship.
It speaks of fellowship we read at the table of the Lord, but this table, you know, they, they, the priest would go in umm, in through the, uh, in through the, the umm, the hanging here. And incidentally, this hanging here was, was different than than this one. You don't see the difference so much, but.
It was made of the same thing, but this one had cherubims on it and it just seems that the closer the people of God got.
To.
The actual dwelling place of the Lord the more they saw the beauties of the Lord. And so this one was this one was made of needlework. This was embroidered, but this one was specially made of needlework. And there was those those chair bins that that really portrayed the holiness of God and and brought out some of the beauties that we see in the Lord Jesus so that they were different even though they looked exactly the same. Well, the people of God, the priest rather they could they could go through this opening and the table of showbread was right on the right hand side of the.
Of the of the holy place. And we find, you know that fellowship is a wonderful thing. Let's turn to 1St John.
First John, chapter one.
00:35:13
First John, chapter one.
Verse three. That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
We enjoy the thought of fellowship, don't we? We appreciate it.
You could break the word down to fellows in the same ship. When you're a ship, you just can't decide you're going to leave. You're there together. We find that in connection with a table.
We're going to go through Luke's gospel. There's numerous times in Luke's gospel where we find the Lord sitting down with someone and eating with them. More times in Luke than anywhere else.
We, we can, umm, you know, we can, we can visit here umm.
We visited before supper and we visited during supper and we visited after supper. When I'm visiting with someone, we can stand and talk and you know I can leave at any time. And you're sitting at a table with someone, though.
Just can't get up and leave same way as when you're visiting with someone, you're standing up. And so you know there there are times that we really enjoy fellowship with someone when we're sitting at a table. And here we find in first John, we find really 2 forms of fellowship.
And so we appreciate having fellowship with each other. But then it says here though that truly our fellowship is with the Father.
And with his son Jesus Christ, and it just seems that if our fellowship.
With the father is such that it's an enjoyment to him and it's an enjoyment to us, then we're properly going to be able to enjoy fellowship one with another. That's really the basis for our fellowship.
The word of God, the Lord himself. And if I'm enjoying the Lord, you know, I don't know if you've ever had the experience. I have it often where I'm walking down the road with someone or talking with someone in the meeting room and they're just enjoying things, you know, that they've enjoyed. And I've kind of had a bad day and I just.
Just not able to enter into those things that are enjoying with me. You know, of course, desires that we would have fellowship with him. That's what he that's why he wanted this Tabernacle. He said let them make me a sanctuary that I made well among them. He wanted their fellowship and he desires our fellowship too on a continual basis.
Well, if he has our fellowship, you know, that's going to put us into a, into a position where we're so much better to be able to enjoy the fellowship one with another so much more. You know, it's the same with umm. I enjoyed the the one time the people of God in the in the wilderness, when they came to the end of the wilderness, they'd been eaten manna. And we don't have the time to look at the manna, but there was one day where they ate banana and they ate the old carnival land ate them both only one day.
They got into the land, they ate the old corner land. But I've looked at it this way, that if we.
Enjoy a portion of the word of God, say in the morning before we leave.
It far better equips us to be able to draw alongside someone and to be able to have fellowship with them. It's far better equips us when we bump into someone and they try to share a thought with us. We've already enjoyed something from the word. Oh, it just equips us to be able to enjoy something that someone shares to us when we come to meeting that night. If we've already had a portion. How much better equipped we are to be able to enjoy something collectively from the Word of God, what the prayer meeting or wherever it might be.
Fellowship. The Lord desires our fellowship. That's what he wants.
We desire fellowship too, don't we? We really do desire and fellowship. Oh, how much more the Lord desires our fellowship.
Well, we find the table beautiful picture there, uh, the Lord sitting down with so many people and, uh, enjoying fellowship with them. So let's turn back now to Exodus.
25.
And verse 30.
And thou shalt set upon the table Showbread.
Before me alway.
You know, that was the showbread was food for the priests, food for the priests. These loaves were freshly baked food for the priests.
00:40:03
You know the Lord desires to give us food. Let's turn to one more Scripture just comes to mind in Revelation.
In connection with these things, Revelation chapter 3.
Stop.
We still find so often, at least I find it my own soul, this this layer to see in spirit, this lackadaisical spirit of of saying, you know, I really don't need anything rich and increased with goods. I got needed nothing and I coast now we don't read coasting in the Christian pathway. We don't read of that. We we lead busy lives, you know.
Umm, it's hard to umm.
I uh.
I had a desire to have a little chat with someone and so.
And so I I said, well, maybe the way to do it is to go out for breakfast. So we asked the brother to come out to breakfast. Well, just didn't work and.
Tried another time and it just didn't work. It still hasn't worked yet and our lives are so busy that.
It's hard to be able to.
To make the time to sit down with our brethren is to have fellowship with them. I'll tell you who the brother was.
There's my son.
He lives in the same house as me. We get up together.
We, we, we read together, we sit at the supper table together, but to have, I'm not gonna tell you which one it is, umm, but the, the concept of, of being able to, to sit down and, and to have a chat and to be able to have breakfast together, to make an appointment to do that, it's just hard to do. We live busy lives. We really live busy lives. And, and you know, the cares of this life are, are very real. They're very real.
And they choke out the word. They choke out our time. That's so needful to be with one another. You know that that example seems bizarre, but it's not really. I I live in a household. There's six adults. We've got 7 cars in the driveway. We all go different directions every day. It's busy. It's just busy.
Just to be able to have fellowship. We know the Lord desires our fellowship through the day and to be able to properly have fellowship one with another. Well, what do we find here in Revelation?
18 That council will lead to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayst be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed. The shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eyes out that thou mayest see. Oh, that we would have our eyesight such that we can see, that we'd have discernment. Samson lost his eyes, never got him back.
Hair grew back. They never got his eyesight back.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, that's hard sometimes to hear the voice of the Lord, it's hard. Oh, that we would breathe the word of God with our ears, not just with our eyes, to read it with our ears, that we would hear the voice of the Lord. I will come into him, and will Sup with him, and he with me. Oh, fellowship, that's what the Lord desires in this busy life that we live. And I don't seem to be time for anything. You know the Lord Jesus.
Doesn't seem like he's ever in a rush. He always had in the day. Just the amount of time to do the things that the father wanted him to do. I covet that, I covet that.
That's the same with us. The Word hath given us just the right amount of time to do the things that He wants us to do. Well, one of those things is to be able to sit with Him and to Sup with Him.
And he was me. That's what his desire is. Well, the table of Showbread, the first item on the right hand side they saw when they came in through that hanging.
The next one was the Candlestick.
The Candlestick of which we don't read any dimensions. Well, let's read about the candlesticks.
Back to Exodus.
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25.
Verse 31.
Thou shalt make a Candlestick of pure gold.
A beaten work shall the Candlestick be made. The shaft, his branches, his bowls, and his knobs, and his flowers shall be of the same.
6 branches shall come out of the sides of it. Three branches of the Candlestick go to the one side. 3 branches of the Candlestick go to the other side. Just like we have here in the little model.
Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knob and a flour in one branch.
And three bowls made like almonds in the other branch that's not like the model with a knot and a flower. So the six branches that come out of the Candlestick and the Candlestick shall be 4 bowls made like unto almonds with their knots and their flowers. You know, it looked like a looked like an almond tree in full bloom with almonds and uh, and flowers speaking. Perhaps so.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and resurrection. And the Candlestick shall be 4 bowls made like unto almonds, with their knots and their flowers, and there shall be a knob under two branches of the same. This is verse 35. And I'm not under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the Candlestick.
They're an OPS, and their branches shall be of the same all. It shall be one beaten work of pure gold. And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof, and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it, and the tongues thereof. And the snuff this is thereof shall be a pure gold of a talent of pure gold. Shall he make it with all the vessels look, that shall make them after their pattern. Here's this little phrase that we have again, which was.
Showed the in the mount.
Well, the first thing I'd like to look at in connection with the Candlestick because it speaks of our testimony.
In the first, in the first verse we read in verse 31, it says Thou shalt make a count stick of pure gold. The beaten works. Now what speaks of the shaft speaks of his branches, his bowls, his knobs, and his flowers, Speaking of perhaps all various different aspects of our life. And how are those various aspects supposed to be in connection with our testimony Shall be of the same.
You know, I'm sure if you talked to James, you'd find some time that.
I'm maybe a little different person at work than I am here.
Shouldn't be that way?
My testimony, my family setting should be the same as my testimony in my work setting should be the same as my testimony here with my brother. It's all the same a testimony. Well, I just want to make a little comment as to our testimony, and this is to me because so often my testimony is not very good. Let's turn over to the 28th chapter. So just go over a couple chapters.
In connection with the priest.
We find that.
It would be nice to be able to go through the garments of the priests and the breastplate and the ephod, the robe, and so on the girdle.
It's not our portion to be able to do tonight.
But we read umm.
And, umm.
Well, it goes through all the various different parts of the garment. But let's pick up with the 31St verse. And thou shalt make a robe that the E fought all of blue, and there shall be a hole in the top of it. In the midst thereof. It shall have a binding of woman work round about the whole of it, as it were the whole of the Hebrew gone, that it be not rent. And beneath upon the hem of it thou shall make pomegranates of blue, and a purple and a scarlet round about the hem thereof, and bells of gold between them round about. Well, so we have the priest and a bell, and a pomegranate. A bell and a pomegranate.
The progress Speaking of fruit, the bell Speaking of the testimony. Verse 34. A golden bell and a pomegranate. A golden bell and a pomegranate upon the hem of the road roundabout. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister. Now let's look at this next phrase, and his sound shall be heard.
His sound shall be heard.
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Every one of us has a testimony.
How is it with our testimony? How is it with my testimony? There's a sound that's heard.
What kind of sound does my life give off?
But what kind of a sound is my life not give off?
Am I thought that, uh, you know, I really, I really don't want people to know that I belong to the Lord in some certain situations.
When I'm here eating, I'm quite happy for people to know that I belong to the Lord, but I get myself into some situations and I just, I'm, I'm just not sure sure. I want to let that testimony. You know, we, we give out a sound, we give out a sound. What kind of a sound is that at home? What kind of a sound is it here? What kind of a sound is it at work? You know, this beaten work and all the various parts of the camel stick, They're all the same. And in connection with Aaron as he moved about.
When nobody else was around, even.
His sound shall be heard now, sometimes when people can't even see us.
There's a sound that's been given off.
Our testimony. Our testimony? Well, what is that testimony like?
Drop my glasses here. Let's turn back to that portion.
In the 20.
In the 20, uh, fifth chapter.
Umm.
Let's let's look at the 30th chapter here for maybe one more thought.
Thought.
I'm sorry this is the 37th chapter. I'm looking for the place that.
That speaks to the oil olive that causes the lamp to burn always. Maybe somebody can help me with that.
Thanks James. I was looking at 2027. It didn't make sense.
2720 That's right.
And now shall command the children of Israel that they bring the pure oil olive beaten for the light to cause the lamp to burn.
Always.
You know the oil would speak to us of the Spirit of God.
And I, you know, as you, as you went inside this, this, this room here.
The only light that was in that room was the Candlestick and it was it was burning with that oil. You know, the Spirit of God works with us on a daily basis.
I'd just like to submit this to my own soul.
What kind of a spiritual glow?
Do I have it says here to cause?
The lamp to burn. Always, always.
So I treat my testimony like a tap, and sometimes I glow and sometimes I don't glow.
You know the Lord would have us.
To be that testimony for His honor and glory all the time. Just to be that glow for Him. Maybe we don't say anything if we don't do anything, but it's evident there's a sound that we give of some sort that we indeed belong to the Lord Jesus, and there is that glow.
Well, we go now. See, we've only got a few minutes left.
So we go from the.
The Candlestick on the one side, the table of shortbread on the other side, and then we have the altar of burning sense just before the veil, which is this here.
I'd like to read.
Umm.
In Exodus the.
30th chapter.
I can see we're not going to get to the Ark.
Which is umm.
The most touching?
The most touching place, but that's our portion. Now I guess we'll look at the altar of Vernon sense in verse 30, Chapter 30, verse one. Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon. Of Shittimwood shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof in a cubit the breadth thereof and Foursquare shall be, and two cubits shall be the height thereof, and the horns thereof shall be of the same. I shall overlay it with pure gold, the top there of the tables thereof around about, and the horns thereof thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold roundabout. Now the horns on the altar burn offering spoke of strength, but the horns on the altar of.
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For an instance, they also speak, speak of strength, but you know that would speak to us of power and prayer, power and prayer. And we read down now in the sixth verse, Thou shalt put it before the veil, that is, by the ark of the testimony.
Before the mercy seat, that is over the testimony, and there I will meet with thee.
And Aaron shall burn their en suite incense every morning. When he dresses up the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
I just like to turn to umm, the book of Hebrews.
The Book of Hebrews.
The 9th chapter, because what we find in the 9th chapter is the same as what we've just read in the 30th chapter.
Hebrews Chapter 9 verse one of early the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary and there was a Tabernacle made the first we're in with the Candlestick, the table and the showbread which is called the sanctuary.
And after the second veil, the Tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden sensor.
And the Ark of the Covenant overlaid roundabout with gold.
When was the golden plot that had men in and Aaron's raw that buttered and the tables of the covenant? Yet we know from the end of the Book of Exodus that the altar of burning sense was here.
But we read in Hebrews and in the portion that we just read that it was here.
So why?
You know what it says there?
In the sixth verse.
And it's in connection with what we read in the 25th chapter when the Lord said, let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. It was always the Lord's purpose that he dwell amongst his people, and he'd be able to have fellowship with them. And so we find that the altar of burning incense was such that it was on this side of the veil for the priest of doing every morning to be able to burn it since they're on.
As it says here that I will meet with the you know, we know most Aaron could only go.
In here, once a year we find that Moses could go in this Tabernacle. We read many times where Moses went in so we could go in and out. But you know, it's always in the heart of the Lord for him to be able to commune with his people at all times. But in between this time that we read and I see our time's gone. But at the end of Exodus, we find that the altar of burning sense was taken from here, and it's put there.
Why in between those two types there was the golden carrot?
Where the people of God said anything that you tell us to do, will do. And once again, just like that, fellowship was broken in the garden.
So it's broken here.
You know, Thor's desire, the city health would have fellowship with us on a continual basis, and now the Vale's rent, the Vale's rent, and we can have fellowship with the Lord at all times, just like he always intended it to be.
And sometimes our hearts are so cold and so callous with my owners. And that concept of having fellowship with the Lord on a continual basis, it's just not there. His desire is that it would always be there, that we could enjoy that on a continual basis. That marvelous to see the order there in the book of Hebrews. The order here is different in the end of the book of Exodus. Well, I see our time is gone.
Maybe we could just sing a hymn before we.
Before we.
I was thinking of this, maybe we could just sing one verse of.
Of 313, I was thinking we didn't get to the arc. I was thinking a little bit of umm of how Joseph could say to his brethren, come near unto me, I pray you. And isn't that what the Lord desires for every one of us to be able to draw near to him? He desires that on a continual basis that I would get up in the morning and you have my fellowship throughout the day. Go to bed at night, get up the next morning and you have my fellowship again. Oh marvelous. And we have access. We have it.
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You know, but so often, as I mentioned earlier, we have heart trouble. Well, let's just sing this last verse in closing 313.
And now we draw near to the throne of grace for His love and my pray Father, and we joyfully seek God. Holy faith of our sensor afraid.
And pray of a harbor.
Ourselves.
Our God and our Father, what an unspeakable privilege. It is ours to be able to go into thy very presence.
To think of that blessed One, our Lord Jesus, and the depths to which he went, the Lord Jesus. What almighty stoop? How do snake to bring us into such blessing?
So we're just here before the Lord Jesus, humbly in my presence.
She realized the mighty work that's been accomplished on our behalf.
Privilege that we have of walking through this scene. Blessed Savior with thee.
Granted to be so.
Or chase us, We think about us tarry of the wonderful privilege that is ours on the Morrow, going into thy very presence to remember thee. We just would pray that it would be a sweet time. Umm, it's Terry. We just would pray our God, as we consider these things that we've had before us, we consider the table fellowship. We consider our testimony.
As seen in the Candlestick and we consider.
The wonderful privilege that we have our Jesus of going.
The veil being rent into the library presence.
The blood that's on the mercy seat, Lord Jesus, not the blood of cows, not the blood of goats and own blood was shed on our behalf. Blessed Savior, we thank and praise Thee. This wonderful portion is ours and we long for that moment, Lord Jesus.
Now give that shout, We'll gaze into thy lovely faces. Put a moment awaits us, blessed Savior. So we give thee thanks, my worthy and precious name. Amen.