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Pastor David Mitchell
Turn with me to John chapter 8 this morning, if you would, enjoy that music. We've been discussing the light of the world lately, and so I'd like you to read with me in John chapter 8 verse 12, and we have a little bit to finish up on what we started last week, and I don't know exactly how far that'll carry us, but if we get through in a few moments, then we're going to be going into the same tabernacle that you studied in Sunday school this morning, so you might want to have your picture handy.
We may not quite get there today, we don't, we'll get there next Sunday, but we might get there today. So, let's read John chapter 8 and verse 12, read it to yourselves here as I read it. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Now remember before this was the story of the woman in adultery, and if you look down at the end of this passage into chapter 9, you'll see the story of the healing of the blind man, and all of this has to do with emphasizing the teaching of Jesus being the light.
You have to read several chapters there to really get the full impact of what Jesus was teaching because he uses, well he brings about actually all of these events on purpose to teach the spiritual truth that we need to know.
Now what we started last Sunday, if you look at the middle verse 12, it says, he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, and that implies a very strong truth, and that is that he that does not follow Jesus does walk in darkness, and in fact as we go through this very chapter and go on into some of the following verses, we see the great darkness that is in the world.
We see the great darkness that mankind has without the Lord Jesus Christ, and we can go back before we were saved, and we were in this darkness, and the sad thing about it is that if you remember the picture of your tabernacle, the wilderness tabernacle, if you have it there to look at, look at that right now, because the truth is that if you get out into the area of that outer court and you get off away from that holy place and you stay away from it very long, you're very capable of walking in the flesh and being right in the midst of this darkness in a sense, and your actions and your heart can surely show it.
That outside part of that tabernacle, that outer, you might want to, if you're from Texas, you might call it a fence, it's a curtain that goes around, it's actually part of the whole structure, but that outer part pictures your physical body, that's the part the world looks at, and that physical body is not really saved at all yet, and the fact is it is supposed to remain a slave and a servant to the new man that you are now, now that you're saved, and so that body should be a slave or a servant that takes you where you need to be to do God's will.
It should never be the thing that's in control, and yet sometimes we know that we get into that area of walking in the flesh and we fall right back into this darkness and it is truly a terrible darkness, and so we want to continue studying that until we're through with that part about the darkness, but then we come back to the true light and we'll end the study with the spiritual light that Jesus is talking about when he says, I am the light, and so let's go, last time, let me just review just a little bit, if you go to chapter 8 to verse 13 and following, you'll see a list of things that have to do with darkness, you might call this a list of symptoms of someone who is in darkness, and the first one in verse 13 is that they accuse God of lying, and I'm not going to read the verses again because we did this last Sunday, but just to review, verse 14, they cannot tell whence Jesus came or where he is going, and verse 15, they judge after the flesh, whereas Jesus says, I judge no man after the flesh, and verse 19, they don't know the father, they think they do because they're religious, they have religious nature, but they don't even know the father, they don't know who he is, and then in verse 20, and also in chapter 7, verse 30, chapter 7, verse 44, back into chapter 8, verse 20, chapter 8, verse 59, the last verse of the chapter, and then over into chapter 10, verse 39, those are all places where we see this fact, that those who are in darkness believe that they can exert their, quote, free will, now that's a very interesting phenomenon, in verse 59, they took, then took they stones to cast at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them, so passed by, he went right through the middle of them, and yet they couldn't cast the stones at him, and yet it was their will to do so, and they felt with all of their being that they could exert their will and do anything that they chose to do, there was another man who was that way, and that was Pilate, and John chapter 19, and verse 10, the Bible says, then said Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me, knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee, Pilate felt with all of his fiber that he had the will and the power to do what he chose to do in his life, he told Jesus Christ, don't you know that I have the power to put you on that cross, or to not put you on that cross, he thought he could exert his will and accomplish anything he wanted to do, Pharaoh was the same way, wasn't he, and all of us go through that thinking from time to time, and the world certainly does, and most of the religious world, including most of the Baptists in this world believe that their free will is what runs everything, and yet what did Jesus answer, Pilate, in verse 11, Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all, except it were given thee from above, and so Arthur Pink makes this statement, he says, God, my dear reader, is no mere figurehead, a lot of people act like God created everything, and then he sits up here like this and just watches, but he can't do anything, or he doesn't do anything, and that is such a modern view of God, it's the modern belief in our churches today, and so therefore it's left up to us to get everything done, that's never been true, and it's not true today, God is in control, he is a sovereign God, and he proves it again and again, Jeremiah 10, 23, O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps, so who does direct them?
The Lord does, where is it in Psalms where it says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, the Bible teaches, now we'll go into verse 21, and we commented on this at the end of the message last Sunday, many people may well seek him, but they may still die in their sins, verse 21, then said Jesus again, and to them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and ye shall die in your sins, whether I go, you cannot come, notice he didn't say you will not come, he didn't say you don't choose to come, he said you can't come, now there is a slight difference between Jesus and us, and that is that he knew exactly who the elect were, he could look at them, and he knew, and he knew that these people he was addressing, these Pharisees, these religious hypocrites, were lost goats, they were not lost sheep, they were not going to be saved, and so he looked at them right in the eye, and he said you shall die in your sins, he didn't say you might, he said you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins, now we can't go around telling that, the great Spurgeon Prince of Preachers said God didn't put a yellow stripe down the elect's back, so we don't know who they are, so God's commanded us to preach the gospel to the world, and that is exactly the way it should be, but we must understand that Jesus reveals to us in verse 21 that there are many people who will even go so far as to quote seek him from a fleshly point of view, and they still will end up in hell, let me give you a quote from Arthur Pink, he says sickness, the fear of death, a serious financial reverse, the drying up of creature sources of comfort, these frequently draw out much religiousness, under a little pressure a man will say his prayers and read his Bible, and Pink goes on to talk about some of the modern techniques of evangelism, where people are talked into by using psychology and sales techniques that are taught to salesmen who go around selling vacuum cleaners, the same techniques are taught to us to convince people to be saved, and Pink even in his day in the early 1900s made this comment, he said let the pressure be removed, let health return, let there be a change of circumstances, and how often we behold the zealous professor returning to his old ways, etc, etc, he says how many there are who under the superficial and temporary influence of the modern evangelistic meetings come forward to the front seeking Christ, for the moment many of them no doubt are in earnest and yet the sequel of their life proves that they saw in vain, why is this?
Two reasons, and this is where we stopped last week, the first reason is because when they seek him they don't seek him in dead earnest with all of their heart, Jeremiah 29 13 says and ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all of your heart, and the second reason is because Jesus said search the scriptures for they speak of me, so people are not looking in the right places anymore, we take them to all different sorts of places to find salvation, we bring them down to the altar and we give them the Romans road, or we tell them to come and to pour out their hearts, or we tell them to come and get right, or we tell them all these things, but we don't have them searching in the scriptures and that's where Jesus is found, now it is impossible for a person to come to the Lord without the Word of God, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God the Bible says, and so too many people are looking in the wrong places, too many people are given a prayer formula to pray, dear Jesus come in my heart and save me amen, now look at me in the eyes and shake my hand if you really meant it, that's not where he's found, now he told this crowd in verse 21 you cannot come whether I go you cannot come, so there are people in this world who have not been chosen to salvation, Jesus was very clear on this, he didn't expect us to figure out who they were, but he knew who they were and the fact is true Jesus said few there be that enter in, many there be that go by the broad way, why is it that these individuals could not come in, well first because of God's holiness, darkness and light cannot dwell together and they cannot turn the light on by themselves, secondly because of God's righteousness and his justice and the fact that his law must be fulfilled, and third because they have the wrong character, if you go in and you study the characteristics of darkness that we're studying here, we see so clearly that these are people who cannot see, there are people who are blind, there are people who are deaf, there are people who are dead in their trespasses and sins, just as we were before salvation, a deaf man can't hear God, a blind man can't see God, a dead man doesn't care about God and so therefore it is an absolutely impossible for a man to save himself, now we as Baptist people of all people should know that and we should proclaim that but we have forgotten that in so many circles in this country, we've almost gotten to the place where we would put the bumper sticker on our own cars that says I found Jesus and yet we know that Jesus said unless the Father draws him no man can come to me and so why is that because a dead man can't do anything, a blind man can't see anything, a deaf man can't hear anything and unless you happen to be walking down the road and the light shines and you look up and say Lord what would you have me to do, you're not gonna ever be saved, Saul was not walking down that road to be saved, he was walking down that road to continue killing Christians and persecuting Jesus Christ and Jesus called him and that's the way salvation still works today and until it hits a person is in complete darkness as we've been describing in this passage, now let's go to verse 23 he goes on and he says and I say unto them ye are from beneath, you see this crowd of people these these now this you have to understand Jesus can see right through you, he can look at you and tell things, he could look at these people and he saw where they were from and where they were going, these were not sheep, Jesus did say in John chapter 10 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me which is a fact of life and those whom the Lord before the foundation of the world knew and loved his own those will hear that voice and come.
And those who are the seed of Satan that the Bible so clearly talks about in the parable where it says that the evil man came by night and sowed bad seeds into the ground this that seed will never be saved.
It is bad seed. Now he's talking to some bad seed right here in this passage. In fact he says in verse 23 your origin was from beneath. You are the children of Satan. You are from beneath. I am from above.
You are of this world. I am NOT of this world. Don't ever make the mistake folks. And it's an easy mistake to make when you're first saved or when you're reading through this passage and you think that you were like this at one time you think that when Jesus speaks to these people that he's just simply speaking to the lost.
That's not true. He's only speaking to lost goats in this passage. You are not from beneath. Ladies and gentlemen if you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart today you were never from beneath. You were from above.
In fact God says in Deuteronomy chapter 7 that he knew you and he saved you because he loved you from eternity past. He says in Ephesians 1 the same thing he says that you were chosen before the foundation of the world he has.
You have always been from above. But there are people all around you who have come from beneath. Their origin is from beneath and that's where they're going to go. I guarantee you there's art. Well will never be a person that hits hell who could have been saved.
That is ridiculous. Theology. It is impossible. If Jesus Christ died for sins then the people whose sins were died for cannot pay for them a second time. God's not an Indian giver and he doesn't believe in double jeopardy.
And so if the Lord is in your heart today rest assured that your sins have been paid for by his blood. You never have to pay for them. And there won't be anybody in hell who is paying for sins that Jesus already paid for.
Are you following me. That's impossible. That's why he pointed these people. And he says you're not from above. You're from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. Now Jesus tells us very clearly we're not of this world.
He said we're like he is. And he said therefore the world will hate you. As I am am in this world so are ye. So we're not from beneath. And we are not of this world just as our Lord and Savior is not of this world.
And you never were. You just thought you were. You were in darkness before you got saved and you thought you were just like these people. In fact they were your best buddies. In fact how many of you would give a testimony today that within just a few days and weeks after you got saved those same buddies wouldn't even run with you anymore.
That was my experience. Anybody else have that experience. Raise your hand. If you did I'd like to see that you lost a few friends at salvation. Why is that. Because they're still from beneath. Verse 24 I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins.
For if you believe not that I am he shall die in your sins. And of course they did not believe that he was who he claimed to be. That's why they picked up the stones in verse 59 and tried to kill him.
Right there. Well look at verses 33 and 34. Another trait of darkness is that they do not see their own bondage. Now remember this whole passage. He is speaking to the non-elect. He is speaking to folks who are flat are not going to go to heaven.
But I will tell you that this that these principles of darkness do in some way apply to the way your mindset was before you got saved. Your mindset was a mindset of darkness. You had been duped by the devil into believing that you should follow his way.
And you were following his way. And so was I. And we were in complete and utter darkness. And we were absolutely as depraved as any goat could ever be even though we were lost sheep. And the reason is we were walking in the flesh.
And when we walk in the flesh our flesh is the same as anybody else's flesh. Would you agree with me on that our flesh is lost. And it is not going to be what's the word people like to use reformed. It will never be reformed.
It can only be crucified. But the new man which is the real you if you're saved today the new man is from above. Now these folks in verse 33 and 34 did not recognize their bondage. And I'm going to tell you this even as a saved person if you get off in the area of the flesh you will fall into bondage again.
And you may not recognize it. Everyone around you will see it. But you may not look at verse 33. They answered him we be Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any man. Isn't that amazing. They're sitting there telling God we're never been in bondage to any man.
How sayest thou that you will make us free. They did not see their bondage. So how could they desire freedom. There's no way that a person who's walking in darkness can see their own bondage or see their need for salvation.
And that's why we can't save ourselves. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can call out from heaven. And if you're his sheep you'll hear that voice just like Paul did Saul did when he turned to Paul that day he said Lord what would you have me to do.
And it's all in God's hand. And Jesus said of all of those which the Father hath given me I shall lose nothing. Isn't that comforting this morning they shall all be raised in the last day. Verse 34 Jesus answered them verily verily truly truly I say unto you whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin.
So there this tenth trait of the darkness is that they could not even see that they were in bondage to sin. Another trade is found in verse 35. And the servant abideth not in the house forever but the Son abideth forever.
Now think about this one for a moment. Listen to this through Jewish ears if you could they all considered themselves to be the servants of God. Didn't they the Jews the Pharisees. They were God's servants.
And in fact they were. But you know what. So is Pharaoh. Pharaoh was God's servant. In fact did you know mr. Clinton is God's servant. Everything God created is God's servant. Even Satan himself must do what God says to do.
Job. The book of Job especially chapter 1 proves that. But the entire book proves it. Now they servants of God. But notice this truth that Jesus gives them. He says isn't it truth. Isn't it the truth that in a household where you have a master and his wife and they have their own children but they also have servants who live in the household and they have maybe some servants children who grow up with their children that they are like servants together.
But the truth is that the servant does not abide in the house forever. There comes a time when they leave or they're cast out or they go elsewhere but the children abide there forever. And that an interesting truth that he's pointing out to these people.
So these people of darkness will not abide in God's house his cosmos his orderly creation. They will not abide in that forever. They will go to a place called hell which as far as I'm concerned is not part of God's cosmos because the cosmos means a thing of order.
God is a God of order not the God of confusion. And hell is going to be a place of darkness and confusion and loneliness and a place of continual falling a place totally void of light. And to me that's not part of God's cosmos.
So these people are not going to be in it forever. They're going to be cast out into this place made for them by God himself called hell where they'll be forever. The next point of darkness is found in verse 37 and verse 47 and it is the fact that God's word has no place in these people.
I know that you're Abraham seed but ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you says verse 40 37. Verse 47 says he that is of God heareth God's words. Ye therefore hear them not because you are not of God.
And the next point of darkness is found also in verse 37 through 40 and that is just simply that they are not Abraham. See. Now let's think about this for a minute because this is very important. He says I know that you're Abraham seed but ye seek to kill me because my word hath no place in you.
I speak that which I have seen with my father and you do that which you have seen with your father. Do you see that they have a different father. These people have a different father than God's children do.
They answered and said unto him Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them if you were Abraham seed you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God.
This did not Abraham. He's telling them they are not Abraham spiritual seed. They may be his physical seed but not a spirit spiritual seed. And so they are of a different seed. Now we go down into verse 42 through 44 and especially verse 45.
It simply says that they are not children of God. Jesus said to them if God were your father you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech.
Even because you cannot hear my word doesn't say you will not or you choose not to. He says you can't hear it. Verse 44 you are of your father the devil. Now that should clarify in anyone's mind who does not understand that there are two different seeds in the world Satan seed and God's seed.
Jesus says you're of your father the devil and the lust of your father. You will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speak the lie he speaketh of his own for he's a liar and the father of it.
Now look across at verse 55. Yet ye have not known him but I know him. And if I should say I know him not I shall be a liar like unto you. But I know him and keep his saying. That's one of the most stern remarks that Jesus ever made to these religious people.
He said you don't know him he said. And if I said I don't know him then I'd be a liar like you are. When you say you know him he wasn't cutting him any slack. Here was he. He's talking to darkness. He just stood before the nation in verse 12 at the lighting of the temple during this wonderful feast of the tabernacles when they were all thinking about water and light he pointed at the water and he said I am the water of life.
And as they're thinking about the lighted temple he says I am the light of the world. And then he begins to talk about these people and upbraid them for the very spiritual darkness that they are in the midst of and so they are not children of God.
And then next we see in verse 46 another trait is that they have no faith. Look at verse 46 which of you convinced me of sin. And if I say the truth why do you not believe me. They don't have any faith.
Did you know that you didn't have any faith before you were saved either. Because the Bible teaches very clearly that your faith was a gift from God. Your faith was a gift from God. In fact your faith is Jesus's faith.
And God has given you the very faith of Jesus Christ. And that's how you can then come around and have our eyes opened and all of a sudden our ears can hear and all of a sudden we're alive and we can see the light.
And the last trait of darkness is found in verse 48. And this is perhaps the most serious of all. And that is that they ascribe to the Holy Spirit the work of Satan. There are many theologians who conjecture that that is in fact the unpardonable sin.
Verse 48 says. Then answered the Jews and said unto him say we not. Well that thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil. So there are 16 traits of darkness that we find in this little passage where Jesus is really talking about the light.
Isn't that amazing. He doesn't just throw in the positive. He throws in the negative. You can't have positive without negative. Can you. He talks about darkness and how dark this darkness is. And he speaks of himself as the light.
Arthur Pink says. Knowledge true holiness true happiness ignorance and error guiltiness depravity privation and misery. They are totally the opposites. Saved man sees where he is going and he enjoys God's countenance while he goes in that a beautiful statement.
I want you to take a moment and look at your wilderness tabernacle. I'm tired of talking about darkness. That's a Sunday and a half of it. Let's finish by talking about the light in verse 12. Then spake Jesus again and to them saying I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. And if you go into John chapter 10 you'll see who it is that will follow him. Look at verse John chapter 10 and verse 25.
Jesus answered them. I told you and you believe not the works that I do in my father's name. They bear witness of me. But you believe not because you are not of my sheep. Now do you see that. You see we think that people don't believe because we don't do a good enough job of presenting the gospel.
We think that they won't believe because our personalities not good enough or because we didn't go often enough. Now we ought to go and preach the gospel to every creature. But the truth is God is certainly not foolishness foolish enough to have placed the eternal destiny of mankind in our hands.
He did not do that. Jesus looks at these people who are unbelievers. And he tells them why they don't believe. He said because you're not of my sheep. It's the same crowd he was talking to in chapter 8.
He says you can't believe what I'm saying because you're not my sheep. You will never believe. He says you cannot come where I'm going. There are people like that all around us. Don't be discouraged when everyone you tell the gospel to doesn't get saved.
God is giving us this information. He's telling us basically we're an enemy territory. But you know what. There are people all around you to somewhere around you perhaps that is a lost sheep that hasn't seen the light yet hadn't even heard the voice yet.
And all you got to do is speak the gospel to them. And Jesus will call out their name. And they'll look up and say Lord what would you have me to do. And you know what's nice about knowing that's the way it is is then you don't get to take credit for that.
You don't get to write into the sword of the Lord and tell how many people got saved baptized this month. Because you didn't do it. Now look at verse 26. But you believe not because you are not of my sheep.
As I said unto you my sheep hear my voice. It doesn't say they might. It says they do. My sheep hear my voice and I know them. And they follow me. Doesn't say they might follow me. It says they do follow me and I given to them eternal life.
He doesn't say I give him life that stops. He says they give him life that lasts forever. And they shall never perish. Doesn't say they might perish or some of them will perish. It says none of them will ever perish.
Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. For my father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. The Jews took up stones to stone him.
Why. Because every time Jesus begins to mention the sovereignty of God they want to kill him. Look back at chapter 6 in verse 65. And he said therefore said I unto you that no man can come to me except it were given unto him of my father.
From that time forth many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. And he asked his own will you leave. Also. That's a tough doctrine. Even Jesus didn't gain much popularity preaching it.
But it is absolutely the truth. And that's why he continues to preach it. So his sheep will hear his voice. You heard his voice because you are his and he loves you. Not because you're any better than anyone else.
Not because you had greater faith than anyone else. Not because we had more talents and abilities. God told the nation of Israel. I didn't choose you because you're the greatest of the nations. He said you are the most.
Nothing of the most nothing is what the Hebrew says. I chose you because I loved you. Amen. Now when you think about this place the brother Otis taught us about and I had the privilege of getting to see that 50 page document that he's teaching from and I've already read it and it's it's awesome.
And as we look at this picture if you have it in front of you look at the one. That's the kind of the floor plan the floor plan side of it not the three-dimensional picture but the floor plan. You'll notice that the gate is on the eastern side.
And that is the place that the Lord Jesus will come through in the actual city when he comes again the eastern gate. As you walk through this gate you have to realize that the gate is Jesus as brother Otis pointed out in Sunday school.
Jesus said I am the door. He said anybody that tries to enter in another way is a thief and a robber and seeks but to kill and to destroy. And he said I am the door and I'm the only way. I'm the only truth.
I'm the only way to the father. So you must walk through Jesus Christ to get into this outer court. Now as we walk in the first thing you'll see when you go through that gate is the altar which pictures the cross.
It pictures the altar which is the cross. It pictures the blood of the cross. And it pictures the Savior who was the sacrifice on the cross. Now notice that you don't see that until you get through the gate.
Now think about this. There's a lot in this tabernacle a lot to be learned. The most common theology taught today the most popular theology taught today is that people need to accept Jesus. And you go out and you tell them the gospel with your best personality and your finest clothes on.
And you convince them that they will be saved. And the problem with that is that if you'll watch this tabernacle it is not until the little gate of course was a tent. It wasn't a door on hinges. It was a little like a flap.
I guess you had to lift it up and go through it. And it's not until that your head is inside that flap looking in that you see the cross. Why is that. Because you can't see the cross when you're dead.
You can't see it when you're blind. You can't see it and hear about it when you're deaf. And so salvation my friends is a miracle. It is not something that man can accomplish. Naturally it is an absolute spiritual miracle.
It's the greatest miracle that ever happens. And it happens around us every time someone is saved. And brother Otis has this delightful illustration where he'll take a piece of paper and stick a ballpoint pen through it.
And they'll say what appeared first. The tip of the pen or the hole. Well think about it. What happened first. You prayed and asked Jesus to save you or you were already saved. So the light came on and you knew to talk to him.
How could you have seen the cross and the blood and the Savior if you hadn't your head hadn't been poked through that gate. And I think it's the father who pulls the gate up and lets you look in. But once you're you're in.
Because once a sheep looks at that altar and sees that blood his heart will never be the same. He sees that blood on that altar and he knows where it what it pictures in the Old Testament than you what it pictures.
Now we look back at the cross and we know exactly. We don't see the type. We see the real thing. We see the blood. We see the Lord Jesus suspended above earth willfully of his own giving his life for his sheep.
And we don't know what all he went through on that cross. We can read about it but we don't know the depths of it. Because he suffered eternal separation from the father with whom he had been for all eternity.
And we first see that blood and it is sprinkled all over us and we become a believer priest. And it is the blood that sanctifies us. That's all we're walking around on earth. The same kind of dirt as brother Otis said it's outside of that tent.
The only difference is that when they sprinkle the blood on that altar it says they took the rest of it. It's in the labor. And they pour it out at the foot of the altar and it goes and flows out through this and it sanctifies this dirt.
So now we're on holy ground when you when you're saved and you walk through that gate you're on holy ground. Now there is a labor of water that's closer I believe than that picture shows probably is closer to the entrance of the holy place that pictures confession first John 1 9 because you've already been past the altar before you ever get to that place.
Now the problem is this and I want you to turn to this verse. Turn to Exodus 29 and verse 42. There's there's an interesting item that the picture doesn't show that is inside this holy place. Now notice there's a holy place and then you go beyond the veil.
There's the most holy place or sometimes we call it the Holy of Holies. And in their day only the high priest could go in this place once a year and he had to be ready. He had to have the blood all over him and he had to be past that labor and his hands and feet and everything washed and he had to be just right to go in this place.
But in the holy place that comes before that we see a table of showbread. We see an altar of incense and we see the lampstand which is the light of the world which is what we're talking about this morning.
But we're not in that place yet when we get saved. When we get saved we've just walked into this outer court. I'm so glad you have this picture before you this morning. It's just vivid it just shows the Christian walk.
I'm going to tell you this morning what the great problem with the modern church is and most church members that you know this is the great problem. Many of them have been saved in their in but they are walking around this outer court.
The blood of that altar has been applied to their life and they're walking around out there and they're praising God. They're singing songs together which is a wonderful thing. In fact when this is turned into the actual temple later instead of the wilderness tabernacle then they build Solomon's temple.
There were actual musical instruments that David created for that temple that weren't used anywhere else. They were temple instruments of music. So there was great and awesome music in this place. But the place where the music was found was in this outer.
What was the equivalent of this outer court inside the big temple. It was not. If you go into the holy place of the real temple Solomon's temple they didn't go in there and play a bunch of music and stuff that was done on in the outer court.
And you see that pictures church so much because we have so much going on in our churches today and it's because we are saved and we love the Lord. We've had the blood applied to our lives and we're happy about it.
And we ought to be praising God ought to be playing music and doing all the wonderful programs that the different churches have. I mean they're not evil in and of themselves. But the problem that we have is is that it makes a lot of people think that they're spiritual and yet they're still walking around this outer place and notice in Exodus 29 42 this shall be a continual burnt offering now that now look at the big altar right there when you walk in the gate that's where this takes place.
Now inside the holy place there's a little bitty small altar that you can barely see over there next to the veil. Do you see that it says altar of incense. We're not talking about that altar. We're talking about the big one out here in the court and there will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of congregation before the Lord.
Why is it that that is continual. Because that proves that your salvation is continual. Once you walk into this court you're saved you're born again. You cannot lose your salvation. Now remember the tent that goes around the outside of this whole larger area pictures your body your physical body the flesh.
Now he says that this will be a continual burnt offering where I will meet with you. Where I will meet you to speak there unto thee and there I will meet with the children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.
Now the truth is God was in the holy place the most holy place. The presence of God was in the most holy place. What's amazing about it is as the congregation met outside in this outer court they could very very much sense the presence of God.
In fact I believe they could get a message from God because God says this is the place where I will meet you to speak there unto thee. And yet he was speaking about the priests he was going to speak to the priests.
But yet as the priests would come out of this little holy place into this larger congregation the people would ask them what did God teach you. And they would share it with them. And they were excited about it and they got to hear that.
Did you know that that's where most Christians dwell their whole life. All they know about God is what somebody told them either their Sunday school teacher or their quarterly which we don't have those in this church hallelujah or their preacher or their wife.
Somebody told them that hurt didn't it fellas sorry about that. Or their husband may have been one of their children somebody in youth group taught him something about God. And that's all we know. What a sad state of Christianity.
Because the fact is that when you walk through the gate it was very different than when they did in the Old Testament. Because we're this side of the cross. When you walked in this gate what you saw was the cross and you saw yourself on it in Christ.
And when you walk to the labor and you saw that water you realize that was he washing your feet and he said but you don't have to have your whole body washed just your feet. And when you looked at the entrance to that holy place and you walked through it and you look straight into that room you didn't see that second veil because it's not there anymore.
You saw directly into the Holy of Holies and you were directly present with the Father because you were in Christ. Do you see the difference. It's far better than this picture. But this picture teaches an awful lot about it.
And what we don't know and maybe some of us know it and we never utilize it is that we can walk into that holy place. We do go by the altar of blood work because we're saved. We went by that the first day we came into this whole area.
And we must go by the labor and ask the Holy Spirit to bring unconfessed sins to our hearts and minds and confess them. But as soon as that takes place we can go right through this entrance into this holy place.
And if we look to the left we see the light and the only light that's in there is Jesus Christ. You don't get it confused with the light of intellect or the light of consciousness or the light of the world that's out there.
This is a different and peculiar light. It is not natural at all it is totally spiritual. It is Jesus Christ. And as you walk into this place you realize that that veil has been removed and you find yourself in the very presence of the Father.
And he says this is the place where I will meet you and speak with you. And all the sudden God teaches you something and you're all by yourself with just God in his Word. Go ahead and turn there with me if you would.
Leviticus 25 23 it speaks of this showbread this table of showbread. There's some things we just have to see this morning. It describes how this table should be made and what size it should be in verse 23 of chapter 25.
And then it says in verse 24 it would be overlaid with pure gold. And then it says in verse 26. And 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 places of staves to bear the table. Now let me suggest something to you this morning that God showed me this week that I had never thought of before about this table. This table pictures perfect fellowship with God around the bread of life who is Jesus.
They were not allowed to touch this table when they carried it away. Human hands did not touch it. They had to take these poles and put it through these rings to carry it. That tells me that this kind of fellowship has absolutely nothing to do with the flesh.
It doesn't have a thing to do with what you look at. When you look at the mirror this morning this is a totally spiritual thing that happens deep inside your body which this temple pictures your flesh is this outer little fence as we'd call it in Texas.
Going around is what the world looks at way beyond that area deep inside of you in this holy place of your own life. Even inside of that place is another place called the Holy of Holies where it which is where God dwells in the new man.
And that new man by the way cannot sin. The Bible teaches that very clearly in 1st John chapter 5. So when you stay in that room you won't sin. It can't sin because the presence of God is there and you the new man is the temple of the Living God that's where he dwells now.
And when you go into this place and you look to the north which of course we know the Bible indicates the third heaven is towards the North Star out towards the north out beyond our universe in the northerly direction from our point of view.
So this fellowship comes from the heavenlies. This fellowship is not of the earth. This fellowship is the kind that's talked about in the book of Ephesians and especially in the book of Colossians chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 when it says you're not from below he said seek the things that are of from above where Christ sitteth.
I can't quote it Deborah. I bet you could I know it but I just went blank on it. But the point is that we're seated in the heavenlies in Christ. That's where this fellowship comes from. There's no manner of physical thing that you can do to prepare for this other than go by that laver.
And that's not even a physical thing anymore. That's confession of sin. Now when we look the other direction towards the south we see the lampstand which is the only light in this room and it pictures the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's significant that it's to the south because that's the opposite from the north which pictures the earth as opposed to the heavenlies. And Jesus said that his delight was with the sons of men. You can go back before the foundation of the world.
And Jesus said my delight was before the father and his delight was with me. And he said my delight was with the sons of men. And Jesus Christ is our captain he is our salvation. He is God all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
And he came to this earth which is pictured by the south to be the light of the world. And that light can only be seen in this place directly. Yes those who stay outside in the court they can sense the presence of God.
There's no doubt they can sense it. They know he's there. They yearn to be near to him in a way they hear great teachings from God that come from those who come out of that holy place and teach them the things they learned.
And they love those things and they cherish them. But they never venture forth into this place themselves. They never go to that table and have heavenly fellowship with the Father. They never look at the lampstand and literally see Jesus Christ by faith.
And so therefore they never can get to this altar of incense which pictures prayer. Their prayers are meaningless absolutely meaningless. Because I'll tell you this unless you're in this place where God said he came to speak with you then you can't pray because you don't know what to ask for.
You just ask a miss. The only way we can know what to ask for is by the intercession of the Holy Spirit. And that's pictured by this altar of incense. There's one thing that's missing from this little room though in the picture and I'd like you to see that before we close this morning.
So turn with me if you would let me give you these passages in Leviticus 26 35 it speaks of the candlestick and the light and the fact that it's on the south side. In Leviticus 30 verses 1 through 3 it talks about this altar of incense.
And Leviticus 25 23 through 33 it speaks of the table of showbread and the beginning of talking about the candlestick. But I want you to go to chapter 29 of Leviticus in verse 23 look what it says. And one loaf of bread and one cake of oiled bread and one wafer out of the basket.
I want you to think about that basket for a moment out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord and now shall put all in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.
And in chapter 29 verse 32 it says. And Aaron's and his son shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tabernacle of congregation on your little picture there.
I'd like you to draw a little basket right at the entrance of the holy place. That basket isn't talked about a whole lot even in Unger's Bible Dictionary. The baskets not drawn in there but it's there and they are supposed to eat of this bread that's in that basket.
And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made to consecrate and to sanctify them. But a stranger shall not eat it because these things are holy. You remember the passage where Jesus told him my body.
You must eat my body. This is my body that I've given for you. This is my blood. We picture it with the Lord's Supper. These priests when they went into this place and remember we're all believer priests we all have access to this place.
It's our choice whether we go in or not. But we have access these priests one of the things they did as they but I think before they ever went to the table of showbread before they ever looked at the lampstand and saw the light.
And before they went to the altar and prayed I think they ate of the bread of that basket and they became one with Jesus Christ. He was in them and they in him. And this is what Jesus means when he said if you abide in me you shall ask what you will and it shall be done.
There's a big if in that verse and the if is you got to go in this room and you've got to eat this bread which pictures Jesus Christ. Which then allows us to have the ability to go to the table and have fellowship with the Father because we're in Christ and Christ is in the Father's presence.
It allows us to look at the lampstand and truly see the light of Jesus Christ and go to the altar of incense and truly pray in Christ. And in fact that basket at the first entrance is the only thing that makes it possible for that other veil to disappear and not be there.
And us being the direct presence of the Father is because we're in Christ. I think the basket ought to be made part of the furniture in here. It's got the bread of life in it and we eat that and it pictures being one with Christ.
So this room is the only place where we can go and it's a place deep within our hearts and souls in the new man. It is the only place we can go where our spirit and God's spirit become one and there is a unity and we are in Christ and Christ is in us and we have perfect heavenly fellowship no matter where our physical body is.
We have this. This outer tent could be taken up and moved anywhere it has stakes. They can move it it moves. It can go anywhere. But this takes place in this innermost place. And we can have fellowship with the Father.
We can see the light of Jesus Christ and grow to know him more. And our prayers will be powerful. And we're dwelling in the very presence of God. Isn't it sad that the huge majority of Christianity stays outside of that holy place out there around the court.
It's nice that they made it in. It's nice that the Lord brought them in and they are saved. And they can swing by that little laver and first John 1 9. Their sins doesn't mean they walk through the entrance and go into the holy place.
Sometimes they don't. They just stay out in this outer court where the Gentiles and the women were. And I remember in the Bible the women were in a religious sense is always the kind of an evil connotation.
It's a carnal connotation. The type is the typology. Ladies is just a symbol. So they kind of stay out in that area of the flesh. They never even know what it means to be taught of God. Now there are many people in this particular room that have gone into this place because I know you I've been around you a long time.
There are many of us that have been in this place. But I want to leave us with this question this morning. Do we neglect this place. Do we make the choice to go in this place often enough as brother Otis said in Sunday school it's not like a light switch you can flick on when you leave the house and it stays on all day.
It's a choice of staying in this place a mental choice. Pray without ceasing. That's exactly what the verse means. And so I leave you with the question. Are we making right choices in our days. Are we choosing to be in this place enough.
Let's stand and have prayer together. Dear father we ask you to search our hearts and Lord if there any of us that need to come to this altar. And you would desire that we come to this altar and spend time in prayer with you for a moment perhaps time in worship with you at the end of this service.
Would you direct us to do so. Father if any of us need to confess the sin of fleshly Christian living and not being in this holy place with you may we come and do that this morning realizing that you'll cleanse us from that sin as any other and allow us to walk away from this place together clean and ready to go into that inner place with you.
And so father direct our hearts now if there's anyone among us Lord that's never even walked in through the outer tent if there's anyone here perhaps a young person or perhaps any of us who have been playing the religious game for years but we know we've never walked in through the main gate and seen what's inside.
And they've never come to the cross. Then would you lead that person to come today and let us know that they're inside. Father we ask these things in Jesus Christ. Amen.