The Veil That Was Torn

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The veil in the Tabernacle bars the way to the true presence of God, but Christ, has made a way so that we can be reconciled to God.

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It is with great precision and care that God has laid out for us in extensive detail the instructions regarding the building of His tabernacle.
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Instructions that He has given to Moses both verbally and visually and through Moses to the people.
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God not only describes how His dwelling place is to be built, but He has also shown to Moses what the finished product should look like.
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As we have journeyed through this, we are continually reminding ourselves that since we were not and are not privy to the visual representation of the tabernacle, that we only have the verbal directions to guide us, it is not that we are to come and build our own tabernacle, but that we are to seek understanding of God's purposes and intents in this work.
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At the completion of the tabernacle, once God's work has been completed, the task is done and the tabernacle will ultimately serve the people of Israel for 400 years, roughly.
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The tabernacle will stand until the time of Solomon when Solomon will, through the work of God in his life, build the temple and the construction for the temple would be completed in approximately 957
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BC. After the construction of the temple, you may recall in some of our studies that after Solomon's rule and because of the sin in Solomon's life, the nation itself is split as a result of God's judgment upon Solomon.
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And the people of Israel and the people of Judah both go through cycles of obedience and disobedience, ultimately to the point where God allows the
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Babylonian Empire to come in and utterly destroy the temple,
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Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Judah as a whole. Now, this destruction took place around 587
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BC. The kingdom of Judah, the people of God would spend approximately 70 years in captivity.
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In Babylon, we have much of that recorded for us in the book of Daniel. When they return, or the return of that is recorded for us there, and when they return, they begin to rebuild the temple.
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Once the temple is rebuilt and begins to be reused again, it will stand until the year 70
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AD when the emperor of Rome, Titus, would lay siege to the city of Jerusalem and once again utterly destroy both
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Jerusalem and the temple itself. Now, during the many years of service of the temple, it would go through a number of alterations and refits and upgrades.
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The final phase of that being completed by Herod, and so the second temple has become known as Herod's Temple.
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And if you've ever researched it, it was a massive construction. But one of the things that is at the center of all three of these structures, the tabernacle, the first temple, and the second temple, is a small space that is known as the
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Holy of Holies. Scripture identifies the Holy of Holies as the resting place of the
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Ark of the Covenant, or the Ark of the Testimony, and its lid, the
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Mercy Seat. It is the Ark and the Mercy Seat which formed the throne and the footstool for the
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Almighty God as He dwells the space between the cherubim. And in the temple, the
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Holy of Holies was separated, just like it was and is in the tabernacle, by a veil.
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It was this veil in the second temple that is described in extra -biblical text as being composed of over 2 ,000 square feet of fabric, standing approximately 24 foot tall and spanning approximately 83 feet wide.
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It took, in one account, when it was soiled, approximately 300 priests to handle, to take through the process of cleaning it.
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It is this veil that is described during the crucifixion as being rent in two from the top down.
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It is this veil that served as a barrier, the preventative measure that held back the priest from entering the
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Holy of Holies, where the presence of the Most High was until the appointed time, and then only after the proper preparations had been made.
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It is the instructions regarding the original veil that will occupy our attention for the next few minutes this morning.
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As a reminder, as we have walked through all of these instructions over the last few weeks diligently, and as we have stated on more than one occasion, we need to be reminded that the descriptions are contained within the text for a purpose.
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Obviously, for the Israelites, the description was there for them to be able to construct the tabernacle as God required.
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But for us, it is useful in that it continually reminds us of the person and the work of Christ.
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As we see woven into the very details of the instructions, the very aspects of Christ.
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Last week, we took a look at the framework and foundation that was established for the tabernacle.
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We discussed how that framework and foundation for our lives is the very
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Word of God, both the revealed written Word and the
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Word that was made flesh. This week, we will look at the final two pieces.
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The curtain that creates the veil that separates the holy of holies from the holy place, and the doorway.
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With that in mind, let us turn to our text, and please rise for the reading of God's holy, infallible, and errant, authoritative, and sufficient
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Word in Exodus chapter 26, beginning in the 31st verse, continuing through verse 37.
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The Word of God records this, You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.
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It shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful designer. You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four bases of silver.
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You shall hang up the veil under the clasp, and you shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil, and the veil shall separate for you the holy place and the holy of holies.
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You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies. You shall set the table outside of the veil in the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south, and you shall put the table on the north side.
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You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver.
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You shall make five pillars of acacia for the screen and overlay them with gold, their hooks also being of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.
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Father, grant us through your spirit that we would rightly worship, that as we come into your presence this morning we would put the world behind us, that we would be attentive to the fullness of life that you give, that we would be refreshed, that we would be comforted, that we would be blessed by your truth.
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Lord, grant us knowledge of your goodness. Reveal to us through your word,
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Christ, our mediator, our brother, that we may be drawn near.
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Father, remind us as we gather to worship that the veil has been torn and that we can enter the holiest place where we can receive in rich abundance the blessings that this day, the
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Lord's day, was designed to impart. Father, it is our prayer that our hearts would be guarded and protected against worldly thoughts or cares, that our minds would be filled with peace beyond comprehension, that our meditations on your word would be sweet, that our acts of worship would be filled with life and joy.
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Father, that we would drink from the streams that flow from your throne, that our sustenance would be your truth, our defense the shield of faith, and our hearts drawn closer to our blessed
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Lord and Savior. Father, it is in his name that we ask these things.
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Amen. You may be seated. As we begin today, we are actually going to begin with the last item that is described for us in the text, the construction of the doorway.
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It is only given two verses. But as you may recall from our previous conversations regarding the curtains of the tabernacle, the curtains of the tabernacle and the covering for the tent all formed three of four sides of the tabernacle and left one side open.
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It is this side that the doorway will cover and close in. But unlike the veil that separates the holy place from the holy of holies, the doorway screen is a mixture of woven fabrics in four specific colors, but do not contain the cherubim embroidered on it.
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Now this is an important fact. The doorway, which formed the fourth wall, as I mentioned, also faced towards the east, the direction where each day would begin anew.
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The dawn of a new day and night would come to an end. After the fall, you may remember that the subsequent expulsion from the
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Garden of Eden resulted in God stating in verse 24 of Genesis chapter 3,
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So he drove the man out, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
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So as man was removed from the garden, not only was he removed, he was prevented from re -entry by this cherubim that was placed to guard the way.
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Thus far as we have talked about the tabernacle, cherubim have played a major part in all that we have seen.
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They're sitting on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. In the Temple of Solomon they would actually construct two large cherubim to go in the
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Holy of Holies alongside the Ark. The veil and the covering of the tabernacle itself had cherubim emblazoned upon them.
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We talked about how cherubim represent the judicial authority of God. So it is by no accident that the east facing wall, the wall that would serve as the doorway, would be absent of this cherubim.
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Because you see, what had once been completely lost, the way guarded,
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God has provided a way once again, at least in part.
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You see, in the day of the Israelites, they would not be allowed into the presence of God, but they were at least allowed the priest to enter the dwelling place of God.
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Not by God, but only by virtue of the atonement.
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As we look at the tabernacle on this side of history, having the benefit of the fullness of God's plan revealed, we can see, represented by the colors that make up this doorway, that the one way to enter into the dwelling place of the
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Most High is through Christ. Once again, as we have discussed in previous weeks, the four colors that are represented here represent for us
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Christ, in all of His roles, in all of His ways. Each different aspect revealed, pink, is helpful in this description of these colors.
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He writes the following, The blue points to Christ as a heavenly one, the Son of God. The scarlet refers to Him as the
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Son of Man, suffering in the past, glorified on earth in a coming day.
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The purple speaks distinctively of the kingship of Christ, but also points to the wonderful union between His deity and His humanity.
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In fact, the mention of the blue and the purple and the scarlet is repeated no less than 24 times in connection with the tabernacle's accessories and priesthood, yet its order is never varied.
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The only difference in the order of the four colors is that, if you will recall, when we talked about the curtain that formed the basis for the tabernacle, that the white linen, the fine linen, was listed first.
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And as we come now to the doorway and the veil, it is listed last.
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Now, it should be obvious to us that the entire purpose of a doorway is to permit access to the dwelling place of God, yet even access to the dwelling place.
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So I want you to understand again, we need to make sure we're very clear in this conversation.
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The doorway that we are speaking of is the doorway to the tabernacle, and if you pass through the doorway, you entered into the holy place.
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This is where the priest did their daily work. Beyond the holy place lie the veil, and beyond the veil the
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Holy of Holies. This was the place that was only allowed entry once per year.
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But through this initial doorway, even Levitical priests could not enter if they had not gone through the ceremonial cleansing that they were required to do.
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If atonement had not been made in a specified way, they could not even enter into this first area.
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As we've studied the book of Exodus, one of the things that we have talked about multiple times is how Moses is a mediator between men and God.
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That in the presence of God he stands for man, and in the presence of man he stands for God. Yet even
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Moses himself, the scripture teaches us, is not the final mediator, that there is but one mediator.
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Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 2, verse 5, for there is one God and there is one mediator between man and God, the man
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Christ Jesus. Apart from this mediation, entry even into the dwelling place of God is forever denied.
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Apart from this doorway, this singular doorway to enter into the tabernacle proper, into the holy place of the tabernacle, entry is denied.
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Hebrews 5 .20 is one of the many texts that shows us that anything we do that is not done through the mediator, that is not done according to Christ, that is not accomplished according to Christ, is seen as the father as nothing but filthy rags.
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This is the contention point that often creates an issue with people in their lives.
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They cry out, but I do good acts and I do good works and I do good things, but the things that we do that are good and the acts that we do that are good that are not done according to the word of God, that are not done through the power of Christ, are done by our power and in our strength and are not according to the way of God and are thereby sinful.
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Now this is a hard reality, because what this means is that as a person who is working, who is not a believer, who is not saved by faith through or by grace through faith, who is in this situation, even when they do actions that would be seen as good in the word of God, it's still not good because the heart, the motivations, the issue lies in a different place.
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Ephesians 5 .20 demonstrates even to give thanks must be done in the name of the
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Son. Always giving thanks, Ephesians 5 .20 says, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our
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Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Hebrews 13 .15
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shows that our sacrifice of praise again must enter through this one doorway.
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Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of lips that confess his name.
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1 Peter 2 .5, Peter again reiterates that our spiritual sacrifices are only acceptable to God once they are done through Jesus Christ.
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As you also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.
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Finally, in chapter 4 of the same letter, in the 11th verse,
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Peter reminds us that only those who truly glorify God, that the only way to truly glorify
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God is through Jesus Christ when he writes, whoever speaks as one speaking the oracles of God, whoever serves as one serving by the strength which
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God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever.
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Amen. What deepens this truth for us even more is that we find in the description of the tabernacle that although the doorway permitted access to the dwelling place of God, the entrance into his presence is barred.
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Which brings our discussion around to the final curtain, the veil.
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Exodus chapter 26 verses 31 -35 give us not only a description of the way that the veil was to be constructed, it gives us a description of how it was to be hung and then what was to be enclosed by it.
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Interestingly enough, the word that is used here is a different word that is translated in other places as curtain.
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And it is only used in scripture to refer to the veil that separates the holy place from the holy of holies.
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Even when we go into the Greek Septuagint, the word that is used that is also used in the
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Greek New Testament to refer to the veil is only used to refer to the veil that stands between the holy place and the holy of holies.
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The Hebrew word that we find here has the root in the word that literally means to bar.
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Meaning that this veil, this curtain that is placed here is a barrier to prevent the priest from entering the holy of holies except that it is done according to God's plan.
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Now, you may recall that as we studied the Ark of the Covenant we briefly mentioned these plans, but it bears repeating in this discussion so that we begin to grasp the fullness of what is happening.
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Leviticus chapter 16, God details these procedures. We won't read the entire chapter, but verses 1 through 17 give us the description that leads up to and includes how the priest can enter on the day of atonement as they make their sacrifice.
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Leviticus chapter 16, verse 1 begins this way. Now, Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they came near the presence of Yahweh and died.
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And just briefly, if you don't recall, the death of the two sons of Aaron specifically dealt with them worshiping
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God in a wrong manner. In other words, they were worshiping in a way that was different than what was prescribed by God.
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And if I may take a moment to take an aside here, it should terrify us to come before an almighty
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God in a manner other than how He has prescribed. Now, Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they came near the presence of Yahweh and died.
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And Yahweh said to Moses, Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil before the mercy seat which is on the ark so that he will not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.
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Aaron shall enter the holy place with this. So these are the instructions that will allow Aaron to enter into the holy of holies.
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With a bull from the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen tunic and the linen undergarments shall be next to his body and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban.
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These are holy garments. Then he shall bathe his body in water and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
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Then Aaron shall bring near the bull for the sin offering which is for himself that he may make atonement for himself and for his household.
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And he shall take the two goats and present them before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh and the other lot for the scapegoat.
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Then Aaron shall bring near the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell and he shall offer it as a sin offering.
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But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before Yahweh to make atonement upon it and send it out into the wilderness as a scapegoat.
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Then Aaron shall bring near the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household.
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And he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. And he shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before Yahweh and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and bring it inside the veil.
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And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony so that he will not die.
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Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat. On the east side, also in front of the mercy seat, he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
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And he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull.
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And he shall sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins.
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And thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness. Now when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all of the assembly of Israel.
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As we think about these instructions, these instructions should help frame our thought process regarding not only the construction of the veil, but the importance of the veil, the purpose of the veil, the reason that the veil is ever there.
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I think it's often missed. The statement that is made here in Leviticus chapter 16, the whole reason that the veil existed was not just to close off God's existence, but was to protect the people.
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He said Aaron shall not enter inside unless it's the appointed time. Why? So that he will not die.
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That's the purpose. And so in our description God begins by again describing for us the material of which the veil is to be made.
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And again we see the colors repeated throughout the tabernacle. Those colors that point us again to Christ.
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Like the curtain that formed the body of the tabernacle proper, the veil also contains the cherubim.
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But there are a couple of differences in the description of the construction of the veil versus the construction of the curtain.
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First of all, the first thing that we see is, as we mentioned earlier, the order of the colors.
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The white linen that was first in the description regarding the curtain of the tabernacle has now been moved to the end.
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And so we see blue, purple, scarlet, and then the fine linen. Now this tells us a couple of things.
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One is that as we study the language, it is believed the description here means that the colors were more variegated.
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In other words, where the predominant color of the curtain that went over the tabernacle was a field of white, here it was an interweaving of all four colors.
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That it was not necessarily this one primary color, but that we are shown all four in equality as they represent the fullness of Christ.
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Again, we should be reminded, secondly, that as in the case of the primary curtain, the veil also contained the cherubim.
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The symbol of divine judicial authority and guardianship. Once again, Genesis 3 .24
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should come to mind that as He cast them out of the Garden of Eden, He placed the cherubim at the east end with the flaming sword that was turning all about to prevent access to the tree of life.
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Again, reminding them that access beyond this point is prevented.
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The final comment that is different here regarding this particular piece of fabric is that it is to be made of the work of a skillful designer.
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Now this particular use of this phrase in the original Hebrew is only found in a very few places in all of Scripture and it is typically in relation to the veil and the breastplate of the high priest.
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Now what is sad here is that our best English translation, which quite honestly is this translation, this understanding of a skillful designer, pales in comparison to what the
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Hebrew pictorial language would have done. Not only is this the skill of the human craftsperson, their ability to weave this cloth together, but also the divine inspiration that goes into and instruction that is given to the craftsman to even conduct and construct this piece.
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The veil though, once constructed, was to be hung by four pillars. Now without going down this side, there have been individuals who have drawn similarities between the fact that the veil was held up by four pillars and there are four
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Gospels in the New Testament. That's something maybe you could study a little more on your own time.
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But these four pillars are to be built again of acacia wood and shrouded in gold.
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Their bases are again to be silver. The veil itself was to reach from the ceiling of the tabernacle all the way to the floor so they completely sealed off and separated everything from the presence of the
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Almighty. Now although the original veil would not remain in place until the time of Christ, there would always be a veil to perform this function at least until God's appointed time.
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Now as a kid, I always remember in Sunday school or even in church when we were talking about the
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Easter story for one reason or another this particular section, this understanding of this veil being ripped into always stood out to me.
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Perhaps it was because of the description. I don't know. I didn't really understand. It was almost to me as if this great mystery had been revealed.
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Which it has. Of course I didn't understand it at that time in those ways.
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But even today, I stand before you and the amazement in this piece has not dimmed.
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It is in absolute awe that the deeper that we study, the deeper that we understand this truth, the greater the amazement becomes.
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Now, in order to do this, we are going to do something that is going to seem to be a bit repetitive.
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And quite honestly, some people would say, why do you keep repeating yourself?
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And here's my answer to you. Here's why I keep repeating myself. It's because when I read the
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Word of God and I get to a specific set of verses in a specific book, in a specific chapter,
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I am called to be reminded continually. Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 say this,
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Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
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And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may approve what the will of God is, that which is good and pleasing and perfect.
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The reminding, the repetition of truths is this action that is referred to here as the renewing of our mind.
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And I find that the older I get, the more I need to renew. But the reality is, is it is a constant task that we are to undertake.
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It is necessary because although we stand here justified by Christ, through grace, by faith, although we are saved to the uttermost, we are still sinners inhabiting sinful flesh.
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And we need to be reminded. The first of those great truths that we need to be reminded of is that the
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Bible is the revelation of God's redemptive history, His story,
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His plan. His plan that is designed to bring glory to Him.
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The very creation of man, the very purpose of man, described as being to glorify
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God and enjoy Him forever. You know, so often
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I see people ask this question, why? That's why. Unfortunately, what has happened in many of our pulpits is the answer has become, well, this is a manuscript for you to live your life by, which is in many ways true.
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But at the end of the day, if it's all about you, it's not about Him. And if it's all about you, then you missed the whole point.
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It's about glorifying Him. To truly be able to glorify
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Him, to truly be able to enjoy Him, we need to be in His presence. However, by our nature, by our existence, the sinful flesh that we are, our sinful nature prevents us from accessing.
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This is what the veil was all about. The whole reason that they could not enter into the presence of God, that they could not go beyond the veil unless the proper preparation had been made, was because of their sinful nature.
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A little bit further in Exodus, in Exodus 33, verses 18 to 33, we find a little story that a lot of people love regarding Moses and a request that he makes of God.
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It begins in this way. Moses says, I pray, show me your glory. Now this is an emphatic demand of Moses.
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It's not a request. Moses says, show me your glory. This is
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God's response. And he says, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you.
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And I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whom
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I will show compassion. But he said, you cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live.
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Then Yahweh said, behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand there on the rock, and it will come about while my glory is passing by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
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Then I will remove my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.
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Verse 20. No man can see the face of God and live.
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Why? Why can't we be exposed to the full glory of God?
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Because in His full glory, in His full face, in all of His holiness, in all of His righteousness, in all of His justice,
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God would be left with no alternative but to call to debt the wages that are due.
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This is why you would die in the very presence of God, because the wages of sin are death.
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Scripture makes it clear. There is no person who is seeking
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God. There is no person who is being obedient to God.
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Adam was worn in the garden. If he disobeyed, he would surely die. We know from God's Word that all have sinned, all fall short, none seek
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God. Ultimately, truthfully, the full and final wages required of sinful man is death.
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Now again, we must be clear, because so many people take this and they go, well, but people still die every day.
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The death that we are protected from is not physical death. You and I, unless we happen to still be alive when
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Christ returns, will die. These mortal bodies will cease.
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They must, because they are corrupt. What we're talking about here is the second death.
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The full, final death that for all of eternity puts you under the wrath of God.
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In my life growing up, hell was described as many things.
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The absence of God, an eternal place of torment. But it was not until I was much older that I understood that hell is not the absence of God.
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Hell is the full wrath of God being poured out on those sinners.
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Revelation 21 .8 But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral in persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake of fire that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
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Secondly, along with the depravity of man, the utter sinful nature of man, we need to be reminded that there is only one way.
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Of course, the world today would have us to believe that there are many ways, but all ways lead to the same place.
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Scripture, however, would beg to differ. Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, the life.
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No man comes to the Father but by me. What's so amazing in that is if you really study the entirety of the book of John, you'll also know that no man comes to Jesus but by the
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Father. There is only one way.
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The other thing that I enjoy seeing from time to time is the claim that, oh, this is a new thing.
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This is God's second plan. This was something created not until Jesus walked the earth. But the reality is if you look right here in the
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Old Testament, just at the description of the tabernacle, you see that there is only one way. How many doors are there? One. How many veils are there?
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One. How many times of year can the high priest enter? One. How many people can enter when the high priest enters?
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One. There is but one way. And this truth never wavers.
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The only difference between now and then is the access that is foreshadowed in the veil has become a reality.
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And the sacrifice that is required to enter through the veil has now been made.
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Pink again is helpful. He writes these words. The whole ritual of Israel's worship emphasized the distance between God and creature.
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Bounds were set up about Sinai. If you remember when they encamped around Sinai, God said they can't get on the mountain.
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They can only come this close. Bounds were set up about Sinai so that not even a beast much touched it.
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Once the tabernacle is completed, only one tribe was permitted to encamp immediately around the tabernacle.
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One family alone of that tribe was singled out and allowed to enter the holy place. And one man alone of that family had access into the holiest.
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And that only once a year. And with such awe -inspiring preparations and ceremonies as must have filled him with fear lest he incur the judgment of the
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Most High. Can you just for a moment imagine Aaron's apprehension?
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Think about this for just a minute. Aaron witnessed the death of his two sons because they improperly worshipped
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God. Now God gives him a set of instructions to enter the place that he said don't go. And he said don't go there because if you go there, you'll die.
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Now, we all sitting here know that we're going to die. We've already covered that this morning.
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None of us are running out looking for it, are we? Aaron wasn't entering the temple going, man,
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I hope he just strikes me. I don't know how he even held the incense holder steady as he entered into the presence of the
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Almighty God. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read these words in Matthew 27, 50 -51.
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And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
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And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
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And the earth shook and the rocks were split. I get chills reading that verse when
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I think of this massive curtain.
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I told you a while ago it was 24 feet tall. Now, I don't know how many of you have ever climbed up 24 feet.
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But when you climb up 24 feet, it doesn't sound like a lot from here to there. But from here to there, it's a long way.
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I'm just going to tell you. And this is coming from somebody that's, you know, a quarter of the way or whatever it is there.
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That's still a long way. Not only was it 24 feet tall, the estimates are that it was four inches thick.
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And I want you to pay close attention. The same hand that was pleased to strike
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Christ on Calvary's cross reached down, grasped the veil, and ripped it in two, forever granting access.
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The way has been opened.
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The access has been granted. But the terms, the terms have not changed.
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One of the reasons that we need to study the tabernacle, and we need to study the priestly system of sacrifices, and that we need to understand what they had to go through, was so that we have a much deeper appreciation.
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And that we realize that apart from the shedding of blood, there is no entry into the presence of God.
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It was true for them then. It's true for us now. Apart from the shedding of blood, there is no entry into the presence of God.
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But God sent His Son, who was truly
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God and truly man, in order to perform and be the very sacrifice necessary for entry.
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Hebrews clarifies for us in Hebrews 10, 19 -20. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which
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He inaugurated for us through the veil that is His flesh, entry into the presence of God made only possible by the sacrifice of Christ.
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I often speak, and we often speak, of the necessity of being obedient to God, the necessity of living a
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Christ -like life. Both things are which 100 % true.
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But both of those things are only possible once we have been saved by grace, through faith, in Christ, according to God's Word, for God's glory.
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Apart from that salvation, none of those other things are possible. Obedience is not possible. Living a
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Christ -like life is not possible. And when we look at the veil, we see that beyond the shedding of blood, beyond the sprinkling of that blood on the mercy seat to atone for the sins of the individual, no one can enter into the presence.
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Again, Hebrews 10, 19 -20. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, there is a new and living way which
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He inaugurated for us through the veil that is His flesh. You see, it wasn't the life of Christ that granted us entry.
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It was His death. One writer put it this way.
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The incarnation, and I know that's a big churchy word for some folks.
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That simply means God made flesh. The incarnation by itself, apart from the redemption which was the purpose and object of it, neither brings man to God, nor God to men.
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True, it was God with us, just as the tabernacle was with men. But when the symbol of God's presence was with men, man could not have access to it.
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The beautiful veil was an effectual bar, and its one and only voice was, Come not.
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The life of Christ on earth was an unceasing proclamation of the fact that only
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His humanity was shown upon by and dwelt in the glory of God.
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The proclamation of His life ever was, Except you be holy, sinless, spotless, perfect, as I am, you cannot enter into the presence of God.
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It was not the object of the veil to give access to God, for it was that which prevented the access.
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It was not the perfection of Christ's life on earth that brings us into the presence of God.
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It was the action of His full and final and complete sacrifice.
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Apart from His payment, His propitiation,
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His full and final satisfaction of the wrath of the
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Almighty God, you, nor I, nor anyone can enter into the presence of the
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Almighty. We've seen this from the very beginning.
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All the way back at the Garden of Eden, they were cast out. The cherubim stood at the eastern gate. Access to the presence of God was barred.
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The veil of the tabernacle continued to be a reminder of God's separation from people.
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That sin, that our sin, separates, that His holiness, that entry into that holiness demands a high price, and that entry into His presence was not a matter of human effort.
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It was a matter of divine provision. You know, over the last few months, life has been a little challenging.
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And yet at every turn, the one thing that has never ceased to amaze me is the provision of Almighty God.
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That in every situation, in every circumstance, He provides the needs of His people, and the fact is that the greatest need, the greatest need is to dwell with Him, and still
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He provides. For centuries, the veil stood as a barrier, as a solemn declaration that man in his fallen state could not stand before a holy
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God. But on that faithful day, when upon Calvary's cross,
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Jesus yielded up His spirit, God rent the veil in two.
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The barrier was removed. Not by human effort, not by human hands, not by religious efforts, but by a sovereign act of God.
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Christ, our great high priest, did what no Levitical priest could ever do. He entered, not with the blood of goats, not with the blood of bulls, but by His own blood, securing eternal redemption for all who believe.
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The sad reality is that although the way has been opened, not all will enter.
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Entry is only through Christ, through His life, His righteousness, His sacrifice.
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These are the only means by which we may approach the throne of grace with confidence. So many live today as if they can get there in any way, in any shape, in any fashion.
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But the truth is it is only by Christ. By Christ's sacrifice, the veil has been removed.
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But the question is, do you believe? Do you believe that Christ's sacrifice, that His life, that His death, that His resurrection has provided the way?
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Or will you continue living as though barriers remain?
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Will you continue clinging to your self -righteousness, your religious rituals?
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And we're funny, we're Baptists, we don't think we've got any religious rituals. We do. Will we run to the fleeting securities of this world?
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Or will we, by faith in Christ, enter into the presence of God through the only mediator, the only
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Savior, the only way? The invitation is clear.
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The sacrifice has been made. The veil has been torn.
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Will you enter? Will you enter? Let's pray.
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Most gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you as we bow in your presence.
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Father, we thank you that we can even enter into your presence. Father, we thank you for this reminder that it is not of our merit, not of our action, not of our strength, not of our works, not of our efforts, not of our anything, that we can boldly enter into your presence, but by Christ's finished work on Calvary's cross alone.
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Lord, we pray this morning that as we move in our lives, that we carry the message that it is faith in Christ alone, that grace poured out upon us, that mercy was shed over us, if we but simply believe.
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Father, we pray that your Spirit would move in the hearts of the people that would call them to faith.
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Father, we love you. We thank you. We praise you. We give you the honor.
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We give you all of the glory. And Lord, we ask all of this in your most holy and heavenly name.