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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/jim-smith/lampstand/
Let's turn together, please, to Exodus and chapter 25. Commencing in the book of Exodus chapter 25, we find the construction of different articles for the tabernacle. While my dear brother has been bringing the temple before us, I'm going to back up a bit, and we'll look a little at the lampstand in the tabernacle, and I hope it will be a help to us.
For the sake of the younger folk that are here in particular, we do want to emphasize the exercise that you should have to appreciate that when you come together in an assembly meeting, the presence of the Lord Jesus is there.
That's very humbling. It is very precious. And that's what helps us to come with reverence. It helps us to come with a right spirit. It will help us to be very careful how we act and what we're thinking.
He is there, as we've been hearing, for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I. Oh, to value and to appreciate and to realize in our gatherings, beloved, God has trusted us with his holy word, and he associates his own presence with us and with his word as we gather.
So I do trust that our coming together and what we have been listening to and what we shall consider now will help to make that reality very precious and make us sensitive to it as we move from one meeting to another.
So we're going to read concerning the lampstand as it's found built in chapter 25. We'll commence our reading at verse 31. And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold. Of beaten work shall the candlestick be made.
His shaft and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers shall be of the same, all of the same piece. And six branches shall come out of the sides of it. Three branches of the candlestick out of the one side and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side.
Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop, that is a bud, and a flower in one branch. And three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower. So in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
And in the candlestick, and the better word of course is lampstand, there's no wax candles in this. This is a lampstand made from gold. So I'm going to use the word lampstand. In the lampstand shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their buds and their flowers.
And there should be a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same, and a bud under two branches of the same. Three different places on each branch. According to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick, the lampstand.
Their knops 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 itself.
That's an interesting statement. And the tongs thereof, and the snuff dishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold, shall he make it with all these vessels. And look that they'll make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.
May the Lord most graciously bless our reading, and help us to get a little glimpse of the person of the Lord Jesus. As we look at the tabernacle, you will remember, as my brother has been bringing before us, there's a place for the ark.
And that beautiful piece of furniture called the ark in the tabernacle and in the temple speaks of the person of the Lord Jesus in the midst of his people. But in the second little section, there are three pieces of furniture, and each of them likewise represent the Lord Jesus in three distinct characteristics as he is in our midst.
One of them is a table with 12 loaves of bread upon that table, and that table is the person of the Lord Jesus, who is the bond of the unity and fellowship of being in an assembly of God. He's the bond of that.
It's not me, and it's not what I teach. It's himself. His presence is the bond. In other words, I'm gathered unto his person. And so the person of the Lord Jesus is the reason that I am a part of the fellowship of the assembly of God wherever you may live, and where I live.
And then we have another little piece of furniture called a golden altar. And that's the person of the Lord Jesus in our midst as the receiver of our worship. Because from that little altar, it filled that place with perfume and every priest and the high priest who functioned there was touched by that perfume.
That's the Lord Jesus receiving the service and the worship, the thanksgiving, the praise of each one of our meetings, and he presents it with a sweet savor unto God. Then there is the lampstand that I want to notice with you a little here.
I trust with the gracious help of God to notice with you the Lord Jesus as he is the authority for all activity. That's the lampstand. Its purpose is to give light so that all activity and even the position of the function of those little pieces of furniture, the presence of the Lord in the midst of his people, all of it will be enlightened and given authority by this lampstand.
So that is the Lord Jesus, dear younger believer and older saint, when you come to your prayer meeting. He is there, and that's why we come. Never forget that. You're coming as a priest into the presence of these four pieces of furniture, the presence of the Lord Jesus himself, and he is the authority for what will happen there, and therefore he's the administrator of it, and he is the reason that you have come.
There's the bread on the table, one loaf for each one of the tribes, and that kept them together in that bond of unity. And a very interesting thing about that table, too, it says concerning them, their faces were all towards the Lord.
You know what that's saying? They were committed. Every one of those tribes were committed to perpetual testimony for the Lord Jesus, and the bond of the person of Christ is the one that kept them together in that commitment.
And so be at the prayer meeting. Take your place. Be at the remembrance of the Lord Jesus, because that is the person of the Lord Jesus is the reason that we come together. He is the bond of that unity and that fellowship, and we are giving expression of our commitment unto him.
Now let me note with you the construction of the lampstand that we have. And just in passing, it is a very interesting study to notice lampstands in your Bible. They have very different occupations. This one is in the temple, or in the tabernacle, pardon me, in keeping with the presence of the Lord in our midst as the authority of all activity in the holy place.
I'm just going to mention two or three others just for the sake of your study. Some of you, some of you, dear young folk, are taking notes, and I would like you to look these up and consider them yourself as you will prayerfully meditate upon them because they are going to represent the person of the Lord Jesus and his association with different situations relative to his word.
It's used again, of course, when one thing that is very interesting in the temple where my beloved brother has been taking us, there were ten lampstands, not just one. Five silver ones and five gold ones.
That's a very interesting study, and that's a lot of homework right there. Do you consider God's Word in the person of the Lord Jesus? But when you turn to the book of Daniel, you'll find the lampstand was in the wrong place, and it was a condemnation.
You remember how you read of Beldeshazzar when he took all the pieces of furniture out of the temple and took it away to Babylon, and then he had a party? And the lampstand was in the room of that party, and right over top of the lampstand, the finger of God began to write on the plaster of the wall.
A lampstand in the wrong place is going to be condemning, not blessing. Don't forget that. Make sure that we recognize the authority of the person of the Lord Jesus and his Word in relation to the place where you should gather.
And in Zechariah chapter 4, we find that the lampstand is related to the work of the Spirit of God when he's going to deal with the nation of Israel and restore them, reconcile them unto himself in the future.
But one that I really love to look at, and I'll just mention this other one, is found in Revelation in chapter 21, and it says about the Lord Jesus in heaven. He says, the Lamb is the lampstand thereof.
I love that. The Lamb is the light, but the word light means lampstand. And in throughout all eternity, we are going to dwell in the blaze of the light of the Lamb forever and ever. He is the lampstand of heaven.
And that helps us to see that the lampstand of the Old Testament tabernacle is linked with the Lord Jesus. So we must see him in this lampstand and his precious Word. So first of all, let me notice with you the composition of the lampstand.
It was made of pure gold. No wood. When you come to the little golden altar, it was made out of wood covered with gold. The same with the table, made out of wood covered with gold. Not so the lampstand, pure gold.
So what we are looking at, first of all, is to consider the eternal nature of the Lord Jesus and his Word. That's its immutability. It cannot change. It is the Word which is eternal. And so the person of the Lord Jesus in our midst, we can see that it's sovereign authority.
Pure gold. And that lampstand was made all of one piece. So there's not something that's added now and again. It is him. That center shaft is the lampstand and the six branches that come out of the lampstand.
That's what God is going to show to us. So we need to see, first of all, that the Lord in the midst of his people, beloved, we are in the presence of him who is eternal. That will help us with our reverence.
It's going to help us to be careful. Think of those priests. Only one priest at a time, always in company with his high priest, he would be in that holy place. And twice a day, he had to go over to that lampstand.
He's dealing with an article of exquisite beauty, remarkable value, as we've been hearing. Pure gold. And thus as we come to his Word in every gathering, we are handling, we're touching that which is pure gold.
The presence of our Lord and his Word are one. How I treat his Word is equal to how I treat his person. You'll be slack with his Word, dear believer, and it shows a slackness of appreciation for his person.
John chapter 1 and verse 1, we read these words. In the beginning was the Word. That's oneness with his spoken Word or the Word personified, the Word of God. He is his expression. He is its channel of revelation.
He is its authority. That's the lampstand. Therefore, we handle the Word of God with reverence. We are touching upon the glory of his eternal person. That's why there are some words that are used about the Lord Jesus in the Scriptures.
For example, the lampstand is called the light, and it's the emphatic article. The light. In other words, the source of all light is this lampstand. And so it was in that holy place. There were no windows.
There were no windows in the door. The only possible light was the lampstand. And in keeping with that, that lampstand had to be attended so that it would never fade and nothing could be done in the shadows of the dark.
The lampstand, the presence of our blessed Lord in the midst, to be honored and his Word to be honored because it is made of pure gold. Again, it's called the brightness. Now the idea of brightness is the everlasting character of it.
Brightness had no beginning. And brightness can never be overcome with darkness. Light always overcomes the dark. And that is true of the Word of God in our midst and the presence of our blessed Lord.
And the other word that's used for him as the light is majesty. That's an interesting characterization of light. Majesty. And what it is speaking of, of course, is the position of its authority. It is majesty.
In all the brightness and all the glory that attends unto majesty, so is the person and the presence of our Lord Jesus in our midst. I have to say to you, beloved Saints, I feel so inadequate and so small when I think that even here this afternoon we are gathered in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The golden lampstand. The marvel of handling his holy Word should be with fear and with prayer and humility and a desire only that he should receive his rightful glory. He is the lampstand. Pure gold.
The second thing I want you to notice that God mentions, he says, you have to beat it out. You're not going to melt it and pour it into a mold. There is no mold for him. No mold, brother. No, the Lord Jesus never took shape in character or nature from any other form.
It's beaten out. But there's another reason for it being beaten out, because God is going to tell his people to beat out different things. He tells them to beat out the manna, and of course the reason for beating out the manna is to make it into different cakes.
And he tells them to beat out the olive oil, out of the olives, which of course is dealing with the person of the Holy Spirit. It's learning submission and subjection to that divine person. As you're beating it out, you're learning of his claims.
You're getting to see his qualities. You're beating it out. And when you're beating out gold, one of the great results of it is beaten gold will never tarnish, and I love that. Poured gold, yes, it could tarnish, but beaten gold does not tarnish.
It's never affected by time. It's never affected by environment. That's my blessed Lord. That's the one brethren who is in our midst, and we glory in him. There's no possibility he could ever be tarnished.
No possibility that time or environment could ever cause a default or any type of a lessening of the value of the pure gold that is beaten out. But we must take a few moments and note with you the center shaft.
You noticed when we were reading how it says his shaft, and the branches came out of his shaft? That's a beautiful thing. You see the Lord Jesus is the center here of his word. He is the word personified.
And then there are six branches that are attached to this lampstand, but they're all beaten out of the one piece. They're not made separate and then welded. They're all beaten out of the one, but they're called branches from his shaft.
This is the point that's being emphasized for us, I believe. The Lord Jesus is in preeminence here in his word. And all the branches, as we read at the end of the chapter, are throwing light on the middle branch.
That's amazing, brethren. That's going to be a help to you, dear younger brother and younger sister, when you're reading his word. Because we're going to have to notice with you that there are six branches, and that's very instructive relative to your Bible.
Because there are six character of books in your Bible, and those six character of books make a complete revelation. And what is it doing? Every one of those character of books are taking a different avenue to throw light on the Lord Jesus.
To reveal him, to show the need for him, to show in typology, even as we're looking at a little now, of his character and he in our midst. So I'm going to mention that to you. But first of all, we're going to look at the ornamentation of that center shaft.
This is important, dear brethren, and I love it. I see in the center shaft the picture of resurrection. And furthermore, we see the picture of fullness. The first thing he mentions is a bowl. Now that bowl was not the lamp.
That bowl was was hollow. And in that branch there was a hollow bowl. Was it for a reservoir of oil? I don't know that, because the lamp is separate. It's set on top. But what we see is the lamp stand has a bowl, and it reminds me that the one who is in our midst, the one who is giving authority to our activities, the one who is there to receive our worship, to keep us in the beauty of that fellowship, in him all fullness dwells.
He's the reservoir of every doctrine and every truth that can ever be revealed of the eternal and of the spiritual. It's all in him. Marvelous, brethren. All that is beaten out. That's what God wants you to do, dear younger believer, with your Bible.
And those of us who are not young anymore, he wants us to get a hold of the fullness that's in our blessed Lord and in his holy word. Oh, brethren, God deliver us from just being children by the seashore, wetting our feet in a wave.
God help us to get into the water like Ezekiel, right up into his waist until he said, I could swim in this. Help us, Lord. The bowl is full. The fullness of our Lord Jesus, three times his fullness is mentioned in the epistles.
What does it mean, his fullness? One avenue of fullness is in him dwelleth all the fullness of Godhead. If you want to know what God is like, you watch the Lord Jesus, you listen to him, you quietly study him, and that you will get to see the features of the nature of deity, and that's the one that's in our midst.
That is the one who gives light upon our activities. The fullness of Godhead is in him, all fullness. The fullness of wisdom and knowledge, the word tells us. And the fullness of light, the Bible tells us, is all in him.
But when I look at the little buds, and we look at the flowers, and then we see the nuts. Isn't that a beautiful picture of resurrection? That's our Lord Jesus. He could say, I died, but I am alive forevermore.
He lives in the power of an endless life. You see, the bud has life in it. That's the Lord Jesus in resurrection. He has life. Resurrection life, eternal life, and the flower is the display of that. That's what he is in his activity.
That's what you see in him as you read the epistles. Read Colossians chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, and you have three flowers. Displays of a resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. He's not Jesus of Nazareth, dear younger believer.
Don't treat him that way. Sometimes people will say that, well you know Jesus is just a humble little man amongst us after all, and so it doesn't really matter whether we're dressed to suit his presence or not.
He's just a nonsense, brethren. He is this golden lampstand in all the majesty of his glory. He is in our midst. He is Lord. He is the majesty of the heavens. He is in the power of resurrection life. In him is the bud.
Life is in him. In him is the flower, the display of how he acts and moves and responds from heaven to God and to his people. And then he is the almond. Now the almond is communicative because you take the almond and you plant it and you'll get another one just like him.
That's what the promise is. That's what we have in our blessed Lord. Now that's the background of the authority of his word. A resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is the background and foundation for the authority of his presence and his word in the midst of his people because Israel was gathered always around that tent right in their midst and there settled that cloud over the ark and those three pieces of furniture representing the presence of Jehovah in the midst of his people.
Let me notice with you the six branches. As I mentioned to you, there are different characters of books that are found in your Bible. And as we look at the character of them, the first one we're going to see, of course, is there are prophetic books.
And then there are poetic books such as Psalms and Proverbs and actually even Isaiah is all written in prose. Very beautiful piece of work, but there are poetic books and there are historical books and there are doctrinal books as well.
And then there are synoptic books. And as we look into each character of these books, each one of them is going to give to us a reason for the Lord Jesus. Going to display him even in the poetic books.
Beautiful. As we read through the Psalms, Psalm 1 is the Lord Jesus. Psalm 150, the last one, says, Praise him. Hallelujah. Let heaven and earth praise him. So from one to the end, it's the Lord Jesus.
Look in the book of Job, which is a poetic book. And again, we hear from the lips of that man what he received in revelation. I know that my Redeemer liveth. Amazing. I shall stand with him in the latter day in the flesh.
I shall see him. Marvelous revelation. Each of those characteristics of books. So when you are studying your Bible, whatever character of book that you are reading, remember that book is given primarily to show the glory of the Lord Jesus.
Even the book of Chronicles, as we're hearing. And the book of Kings. And the book of Samuel. You say, well, what is there about the Lord Jesus and all those kings forever fighting each other? It all depends on the relationship to two kings.
David and Solomon. That's the whole thing. Did they walk according to David? Did they follow the wisdom of Solomon? Some did. Some didn't. That's the whole secret. That's what's being shown to you. The results of recognizing the Lord Jesus and submission to him and his word.
The results of pro or con in the life of those followers. So we have those beautiful branches and we see. Yes, I'm sorry. I thought I had to sit down, but not quite. Put up with me just a few more minutes.
I want to notice with you now, not only those beautiful branches relative to their, the character of them being a part of the lampstand, but they are adorned the same way as the lampstand. There's the evidence of life here.
And that is another thing that you must keep together when you're studying your Bible. Dear younger believer, remember, it's the Lord Jesus and the life he communicates to you and to me. That's the whole purpose of it.
That's testimony. The only thing the world is going to see of the Lord Jesus today is in you and in me. Oh, may God help us to walk humbly in his presence, to see the glory of his beauty, to honor him as we come into his presence.
But let me note with you as well that we have here the seven lamps that are on the top of them. Each one of these branches on top of the bowl, there was a lamp. And each of those lamps had oil in it and a wick.
And twice a day, the high priest and a priest came into that holy place with a little reservoir of oil. The priest carried the oil and the snuffers. But the high priest did the work. The high priest refilled the oil and he snuffed the wicks.
That's very, very helpful, brethren. It's good to see that when we're handling divine truth. Let me notice it with you. The oil is a type of the pursuit of the Holy Spirit. And the seven lamps are what you read of in Revelation chapter 1.
It speaks about the seven spirits of God before the throne. Now, there are not seven spirits. There are only one. But it's speaking of the perfection of the fullness of his work. The Holy Spirit of God is all sufficient as the interpreter of his own word.
And that's what these lamps are. But what the priest had to do was two things. What the people had to do in relation to this lampstand, brethren, this is our responsibility now. We know the Lord's presence is in our midst.
We come and we sit before him. We wish to act in keeping with the glory of his presence and handle his word. Even as others are reading it, and as you are reading it, it's giving honor unto him. It's complimenting him by your looking at it, reading it, embracing it, letting it embrace you.
And notice, that's the work of the Spirit of God that we have to cultivate at home and bring it with us. That's what the priest does. The people beat out the oil. You see, that's your work and mine at home, beloved, being in submission to the person who indwells us, the Holy Spirit of God.
He's going to make us conscious of things that are not pleasing to him, and we must set them right with our Father. He's going to remind us of things we forgot to do and meant to do and get busy and do it.
See, that's the Holy Spirit. That's beating out the oil, submissiveness to that divine person, and God's going to say to us, don't grieve the Holy Spirit, and don't quench that Holy Spirit. See, quenching him is procrastination.
Stopping it, putting it off, and grieving him is disobeying him. So we got, we have to set that right at home, and the priest then brings it and gives it to the high priest, the person of the Lord Jesus, and he takes your spirit, and he brings that spirit of submission, which you have cultivated, set things right at home, and you're bringing it to the meeting.
You come with the right spirit. That's what helps to keep the light burning. Submission to the Holy Spirit, it keeps the light bright, brethren. But there's one other thing, and that's the wick. Now, that's the person that's going to handle the work.
You see, without the wick, there'd be no light. We all know that. Just, the oil would be there, but the light would go down. It would quit. It requires a wick. That wick is the dispensable part. The only dispensable part of the whole lampstand is the wick.
But it's the high priest who snuffs that wick. Sisters or brethren, we come on the Lord's Day morning to remember him. I'd like to come with a spirit that has been set right first, so that there will be the light of his word honored as we come with worshiping spirits.
We come to repeat his word silently or audibly, sisters or brethren, and the spirit of God he gives to us that privilege, giving us his word, but it is the Lord Jesus that snuffs the wick. And could I say this kindly to you, brethren, keeping with what my beloved brethren have been bringing before us, always remember, you don't snuff the wick.
The Lord does that. You just supply the snuffers. See, that's the idea of giving the teaching. It's not you applying it. It's the spirit applying it. Don't force it. Just give it. That's the snuffers.
And the high priest, he applies it. Marvelous ministry of the Lord Jesus and the lampstand. But let me note with you in closing, as we have come time almost for our break, that I want you to notice how the Lord Jesus and his word are one in the in the Gospels.
Because he is in our midst, beloved, that beautiful piece of furniture is the person of our Lord Jesus in all the wonder of his glory and of his authority, and the light is burning 24 hours a day. There is no meeting that should not come under the direction of the wisdom and the light of that blessed lampstand, this precious book, giving the Lord Jesus his rightful honor.
That's the work of the six branches, where I wish to close and notice with you. Six branches throwing light on him. When I turn to the to the the Gospels, which are one of the sets of the branches that throw light on the Lord Jesus, let me point out to you, dear younger brother and dear younger sister, in each Gospel there is the subject of worship.
And I'm just taking up that one subject briefly, because the lampstand is there when the priest takes those little spoons of incense off of the table, there's a border around the table, and it has six spoons on it, or twelve spoons, and he takes those twelve spoons over to the little altar, and he empties them out on that little piece of fire that's there on that altar, and it fills that place.
You know, that's... You know, beloved brethren, that's why I am thankful when my beloved brethren rise on the Lord's Day morning to give praise to the Lord Jesus, I'm glad to be able to say, Amen. Amen.
That's acknowledging the perfume. That's not playing politics. Whatever you do, never bring politics into the assembly. I heard just the other day, it kind of made me chuckle, one of the believers was telling me about their little grandchild, and he's talking about his salvation, and he said, he got touched by that word in Luke 18, you know, where the Republican came up to the temple, and he said, God be merciful to me, a publican, and he just had it turned a little bit, he said, and the Lord said to the Republicans, you're just a sinner.
Anyway, I don't know what he'd say to the Democrats, but that's what he said to the Republicans anyway, you're just a sinner. But dear brethren, we want to be careful, of course, but we want to be able to see the value of that precious word in its application towards us, as we notice in Matthew's Gospel, when you come from the beginning of Matthew, you find God worshiping his Son, and he sends men, Gentiles, with gold and frankincense and myrrh, to give to his Son as a little babe.
He's worshiping. When I come to the last chapter of Matthew, the Lord Jesus is standing before his disciples as King, as Lord, and it says, and they worshiped him. So you see, Matthew is going to unfold for you characteristics of the Lord Jesus that should make you burst out with praise.
Beautiful. God help you to find them, underline them, take your highlighter, underline the beauties of that blessed one that make the disciples worship him. When I turn to Mark's Gospel, I find in chapter 1, the Lord Jesus is a servant, Jehovah's servant.
Is anyone worshiping him? No, not in chapter 1. It's not until you come to the last two chapters of Mark, you're going to find worshipers, and it's those same men, and they're gathered around the Lord Jesus, and such is their character of praise and worship.
He is now going to commission them. That's the result of worship. Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. He's commissioning them, and I can say this from my heart, beloved. Iowa needs some young men who don't have an itch to preach, but are commissioned by the Lord, and the oversight are the men who will guide you.
Look to them. Don't tell them. Look to them for guidance. Be submissive. That's the work of Mark. When I come to Luke's Gospel, again, I find not only worship, and not only commission, but I find the Lord Jesus, right from the beginning, says, Dear Luke, I want to tell you the things which are surely believed amongst us.
And as I go through John's Gospel, you know what he's going to underline? He's going to underline the nature, and as well, the character of ministry of the Lord Jesus as a man. This is the kind of man you should be, Theophilus.
This is the kind of man I want to be, says Luke the Physician. This is the kind of man that you're going to find in the last chapter. Our hearts burned within us while he talked with us by the way. God make my heart burn just to talk with him.
That's what you'll find in this beautiful lampstand, in that branch, and when you come to John's Gospel, oh, how beautiful. Throughout the whole Gospel of John, there's only two chapters in which the Lord Jesus does not talk about his Father.
He's always talking to heaven. He's always showing to us an intimacy, and a loveliness, and a manifestation of the results of communing with your Father. Oh, dear brother, dear sister, not only do we say keep short accounts with God, that means very simply, every time you're made sensitive of sin, confess it, call it what it is, and get rid of it, but keep looking into the face of your Father.
He loves you. He will support you in times of trial of deep tears, or times of testing youth or older ones, and in times of testimony, and that's how John ends. How does John end? A man that was weeping because he failed his Lord, and the Lord restores him, and he says feed my sheep.
That's the lampstand, brother. He is in our midst. May we honor him. May we walk in the light of the glory of that blessed presence for his name's sake.