Come Commune With God

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to Hebrews chapter 9 verse 1 and following is our text today 1 through 11 Hebrews 9 1 through 11 and the title today's message is "Come Commune with Christ." So the invitation is for you to come into Tabernacle with Jesus Christ. Come commune with Christ. After studying this message I was reminded of my New Testament professor Dr. Johnny Tiller who has since passed and gone on to glory and who so graciously took this young preacher to Israel on a tour with him and having the New Testament memorized us little preacher boys used to love to come alongside of Johnny Tiller and start to read something out of the New Testament and he would pick up and just start reciting it right with us and so he truly had the New Testament memorized and we used to test him and had such a great time with that and he was a scholar of scholars and as we went through this tour one of the things that he mentioned to me personally which was so impactful was when we were looking at the Wailing Wall he said, "Casey, there's 50 chapters in the Bible dedicated to the Tabernacle but only one dedicated to the stars." And so in Genesis chapter 1 verse 16 he made the stars also and so how vast the cosmos is and how beautiful it is to study these things but it pales in comparison to Christ. And so keep your eyes on Jesus, keep your eyes on him because he's better. That's the point of Hebrews, the whole sermon of Hebrews is saying keep your eyes on Jesus. Look to Jesus. He's greater, he's better, he's better than angels, he's better than Moses, he's better even than the earthly tabernacle. The whole old system, the old covenant, the old law, everything, it points to Christ and if you get your mind set on the things of earth you'll go downward but if you set your mind on things above you'll go upward. And so I just want to give you up front the take home truth. The crux of today, the answer is if you are not walking with Jesus I think that the best encouragement that I could give you is Psalm 37.4, "To delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." If your heart is not in it, if you're walking aloof from Christ it's your job to point your mind to Christ, to delight yourself in the law of the Lord, to delight yourself in the Bible, to seek first the kingdom of God, to think about Jesus, to think about scripture, to invest yourself in knowing the Word more and more and more, memorizing it like we do so well around here. And then when you do that God utilizes your disciplines, your effort to conform your heart to his, he will give you the desires. You will actually desire worship, you'll desire to commune with Christ, you'll desire to fellowship with the saints, you'll desire to pray. How many of you do not want to pray? Hey, I'm giving you the answer to today's sermon up front, "Delight Yourself in the Lord." Choose to delight in him. Bring your mind into the things of Christ. Bring your emotions into the things of Christ. Bring your life in alignment with all of what Christ has given you, which by the way, the hope of the world and the answer to most everything is found in a good local church, the essentials of the local church. And so this communing with Christ is the essence of the message today and you're invited to come and to commune with Christ. And I'll say by way of a propositional statement that if you know of the tabernacle, which we'll read here in just a moment, in Hebrews chapter 9, if you know of the things of the tabernacle, but yet you do not tabernacle with Christ, you've missed the whole point. If you know cognitively, but yet you're not engaged emotionally or heartfully in all of this, then you've missed it. The whole point of the tabernacle, the whole point is to dwell the tabernacle with Jesus. And I want to prove that to you. Let's read the text together in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 1 and following. It says, "Now even the first covenant." Okay. This is the old covenant, the one if you look back to verse 13 chapter 8, that is obsolete. The first one, gone, finito, finished, Christ fulfilled it, disappeared. Okay. And now we have a new covenant. So Hebrews 9 and 1, "Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and earthly sanctuary, for there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread." And this is called the holy place. Okay. So let's work our way intellectually into this, just by way of observation first. Think of the tent in the wilderness, okay, the tabernacle. And the curtain that you would walk through would put you then into the holy place. This is the outer part. This is the first part that you walk into. And now we've observed in this tabernacle the furniture, the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread. Now if you're a scholar, there's a piece missing and I'll get to that and why. Verse 3, "Behind the second veil," and if you are thinking apologetically or critically like you should when you read the text, you should say, "Well, I only know of one veil. Why is there a second veil here?" Well, according to the preacher of Hebrews, you walk through a curtain to get into the tabernacle and then there is a second veil, the veil that we all know that was torn from top to bottom. So he's referring to that second veil. And just by way of explanation, I'll say to you that that's the second veil because where a lot of meaningful information really is. You should know that this veil is also a type of Christ. This veil, according to the preacher here at Hebrews, is the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hold your place here and turn to Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19. Just flip one page forward. Hebrews 10, 19, "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place," okay, so you've entered into the tabernacle, you're walking through, you see the furniture, you see the pieces that we've just named, you're able to enter by the blood of Jesus, this verse says, "by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil," okay? So this is the second veil that he's talking about. And now he goes on to say that this veil, that is his, with a capital pronoun there, Jesus's flesh. And so this is a type that we are seeing that even the minute details are being used of the Hebrew preacher here to point you to Jesus, to point you to think about Jesus. And obviously right at the same time that Jesus was crucified, that veil was torn in the temple from top to bottom. Back to Hebrews chapter 9. So now we are working through the first part of the temple, or you see the tabernacle, or you see the tent, there's very synonymous terms here. In verse 3, behind the second veil, okay,

there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,

"having a golden altar of incense in the Ark of the Covenant, covered on all sides with gold, in which was the golden jar holding the manna and Aaron's rod which butted in the tables of the Covenant." And so now you have another list of items that's in this Holy of Holies, this second part of the tabernacle. In verse 5, "And above it were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat." But of these things we cannot speak now in detail. And so now this is a hint for you to be able to see that this is most certainly a sermon because the preacher is preaching and he's not taking the time to explain in detail that which the Hebrew audience already knows of. Israel knows of pieces of furniture and to detail them specifically in order chronologically is not the aim. The aim is to point their minds to Christ. And so there is one missing in here and that doesn't mean anything really except for the fact that he's off to the races. In fact, he doesn't even quote all of the quotes that he's quoting because he's not in a rush, but he's preaching, he's teaching. I want to prove it to you. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2 verse 6. See that this is something that the Hebrew preacher is doing in the hearts of the minds of the people here. And as the Hebrew preacher quotes from the Old Testament, he even says this right here in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 6, "But one has testified somewhere," saying. So you see that this preacher is not in his study with all of his parchments, with all the scrolls, with all of the scriptures and detailing out this. This is literally underneath the inspiration of God by memory from what he knows. God is drawing out of the well of this preacher to be able to quote from the Old Testament wonderful riches and to be able to continue in. And so nevertheless, my point is made clear here in that the accomplishment of this sermon is to point people to Jesus. And so now we see the tabernacle and not only just the tabernacle, but all the furnishings in the inside are also used typologically by the author of Hebrews here to point people to Jesus. It's incredible. Now to continue to prove that it is signifying, it is a symbol. Let's continue to read together in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 7. Hebrews 9, 7, "But into the second," okay, this is the Holy of Holies area, "only high priest enters once a year, notwithstanding the blood which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance." Verse 8, "The Holy Spirit is signifying," okay, circle that word signifying, signifying this, "that in the way into the holy place," all right, just even for you to be able to come into the front door, the front curtain, the first part of the tabernacle, he is signifying that the way to get into this holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing. And this outer tabernacle is in reference to the Old Covenant, the temporary law that was in place, okay? This is the Old System. Verse 9, which is a symbol. It's a symbol. It's very clear right here that we see that the tabernacle, the law, the sacrificial system, the priesthood, the everything, it was a symbol. We've got to look at this symbol and truly see what is being symbolically communicated, which is a symbol for the present time according both to gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshipper perfect in conscience since they relate only to food and drink and various washings and regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. Verse 11, "But when Christ appears as the high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle," circle perfect tabernacle. The old tabernacle now symbolizing the perfect Christ, not made with hands. You see, this is a perfect tabernacle. It's not made with hands. We're looking at the old tabernacle, but it's pointing to the tabernacle that is not made with hands, the true tabernacle, that being Jesus Christ. And so the perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation. Remember that Jesus is the creator. He is not a created one. And then in verse 12, "And not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, he entered the holy place once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Pray with me if you would. Lord, thank you for these 11 verses and help us to extract the main points of truth and the intriguing information that points us to know you more. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

And so the Holy Spirit is signifying the way into the holy place. This is verse 8. The Holy Spirit's job is work is to draw and to bring. So the invitation today, by way of title, is to come. Okay, come commune with Christ. First of all, the word come is evangelistic. And so picture the tabernacle and you've got a bunch of Israelite heathens out there. Not all of them are saved. Not all of them are truly believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not all of them have looked forward to see the Savior to come. Not all of them have been saved. According to the Old Testament, have evil hearts still, many of them. And they've done a lot of evil things and turning to idols and whatnot. And so it's the same picture for today. The invitation to come. In Isaiah 55 and verse 1, the invitation into the everlasting covenant, the new covenant, is to come. And so the evangelistic call to all, to whosoever will, is to come. Come to Jesus. Come tabernacle with Christ. Come commune with Christ. Come be saved. This is important to realize because in Isaiah 55 and verse 1, not only does it say come, but in 55.3 it specifies that this is the everlasting covenant signifying the new covenant. Turn with me if you would too, Isaiah 55.3. I want you to see this. This is so important.

Incline your ear and come to me, Isaiah 55.3. Listen that you may live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. This invitation is not only just to come to Jesus and be saved, but it is also to enter into a very personal, marital-like covenant. Intimate, personal, rich, wonderful, an abiding walk, something that is rich and far beyond the rewards of simply following the law. This is interacting with the maker of the law, the Lord of the law. This is incredible. And so you see now the new covenant in the Old Testament in Isaiah 55 and verse 3. "Incline your ear." Turn your ears. Turn your attention to this. "Come to me," Jesus says. This is going to unfold even farther when Jesus continues to ask the word to come. "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest." All this invitational type talk. All these scriptures are to come. And so what I want you to do is picture, back to Hebrews, picture the tabernacle as Jews and Gentiles outside being invited to come into Christ. And as you come into the tabernacle, it gets richer and deeper and more personal and more wonderful and more glorious. Unsave people on the outside, save people on the inside, and now you're going to get to the Ark of the Covenant all the way into the Holy of Holies. So see this picture of Jews and Gentiles outside of Christ being invited into Christ. This tabernacle pictures, first of all, redemption right up front for outsiders. As soon as they come in, there is the brazen altar. And we're going to see this a little bit here in just a moment. And then as they continue to go in, there is worship. And then you go into the Holy of Holies and there is the covenant. And so the picture here is from redemption to communion with Christ. Now when you tabernacle with Christ, what this means is, is that you're not only going to just simply dwell with Him, you're going to rest in Him. And you're going to be maturing in Him. Your hope is going to be in Him. If you're going to rest in Him, then you are following what the Hebrew preacher has said in chapter 4, verse 1. If you're going to be ministered by Christ as your personal high priest, you're following what was already established in chapter 8, verse 6. If you're going to mature and grow in Christ, you're following what the Hebrew preacher mentioned in chapter 6, verse 1. If all of your hope is in Christ, nothing of this world, if your hope is truly genuinely in Christ, in Christ alone, then you're following what the Hebrew preacher has already talked about in chapter 6, verse 19.

If your security is in Jesus because He is your personal guarantee, then you have aligned your heart and mind with chapter 7 and verse 22. If you are drawing near to Christ with confidence, then you've learned what has already been established in chapter 7 and verse 25. And if you have Christ, if you look at Jesus as someone whom you have, you know, in Psalm chapter 23, you see these personal pronouns. The Lord is my shepherd, okay? And here in chapter 8 and verse 1, if you have Christ, do you have Him? This is something that you have. Have you had Christ in your home? Do you have Him? Do you walk with Him? Is He yours and you are His? And this is such rich, metaphoric terminology that it goes even to like Song of Solomon when it talks about, "I am His and He is mine." It's marital language in how you belong to one another.

This is truly what it means to come into the tabernacle and begin to tabernacle with Jesus and get past the altar of sacrifice where Jesus was the Lamb, get past worship and prayer and get into the Holy of Holies and start truly, truly tabernacling with Jesus, walking with Jesus. This is something that I'm convinced that most Christians are missing today, and I am not overshadowing or overshooting our own congregation. In the conclusion of today's message, I will drive home a conviction point that I think that we're most all guilty of for the majority of the day, and that is having fellowship with one another about Christ and not with Christ. I believe that that's true. I think that we go through our days having fellowship about Christ, maybe talking about the Scriptures, maybe talking about these things intellectually, but we have missed what it means to tabernacle with Jesus. And it's written on your faces. It's written on the worries. It's written on your life. But to truly dwell with Jesus and to have Him as your security, to have Him as your hope, to be dwelling with Him, to be maturing in Him, to have Him as your all in all, to be communing with Him from the time you wake up and before you put your feet on the floor, communing with Christ and seeking first the kingdom of God and truly giving yourself to Him and His purposes and doing all things for His glory, no matter what you're doing, whether it's cooking, whether it's preaching, whether it's living, whatever the case may be, it is truly walking with Jesus and abiding in Him. John chapter 15 and verse 1 says that He is the true vine. And that picture pictures you as having nutrients from the vine. If you've been grafted in, if you're a wild olive branch, you've been grafted into the true vine, then all of what you need comes from Jesus. All of what you think, all of what you need. We had one who was 109 years old here some time ago, her name was Verona, and she said over and over and over again in the hospital, "I'll never forget this," and going to visit her in her latter days, "All you need is Jesus." And she said that over and over and over again. She had lost the majority of her sight and the majority of her hearing. And so with all of her voice throughout the entire hospital, all you could hear was, "All you need is Jesus." Over and over and over again. Every doctor, every nurse, every patient could hear her saying this. And so at the end of 100 plus years of walking with Christ, that's what she summarized life as. All you need is Jesus.

And so today we're going to learn how to tabernacle with Jesus. Point number one is the tabernacle pictures Jesus, the whole.

The tabernacle is so much more than just a tent in the wilderness. It truly shows how a holy God, a thrice holy God, Isaiah 6, 3, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. It shows, the tabernacle itself shows how a holy God can dwell with sinful men. It pictures this, His dwelling among us. God being one who is holy and separate and in heaven, condescends to earth to dwell with us. The whole tabernacle erected among Israel pictures God's presence among His people. That's Old Testament, New Testament, John 1, 14. Turn there, I want you to see it. The New Testament application then moves from the tabernacle and the Old Testament in the wilderness to Jesus and His humanity among the people.

John 1, 1 says in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And then as it continues to unfold what the Word is in verse 14, John 1, 14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt and tabernacled and lived among us and we saw His glory."

They saw God's glory in Jesus. You want to see something fascinating? Turn to John 17.

The same glory that was in the tabernacle in the Old Testament that is on Jesus He gives to His children.

In John 17 and verse 6, just a simple phrase towards the latter end of that verse is, "You gave them to me."

So Jesus is acknowledging that God has given believers to Him as a gift.

And in verse 22, "The glory which you have given me I gave to them."

The same glory that God is and has in the Old Testament tabernacle in whom He has lived out in the flesh in Jesus Christ having this glory. Now He gives this glory to His children. This is unmistakable. We should truly be shining, shining bright because of the glory that is on us, that separates us from the world that makes us to live unto Him, to speak unto Him, to worship Him. And everything that is exuberated from us is from being filled with Him, being filled with the Holy Spirit. And in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 says that it's a sin not to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And it's our job to be submitted to the Holy Spirit to actually be living in Him. And so John 1.14 invokes the imagery from the tabernacle in the Old Testament and applies it to Christ and then Christ applies it to you. See this gradual growth and fulfillment of wonderful concepts. And so beyond the idea of Christ simply dwelling with us in the New Testament, and the tabernacle then also makes it to where we are impacted by His glory. Moses, what? He was affected by the glory, wasn't He? And His face shone. And now since Christ has made a way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies, we, if we do this, will be impacted undoubtedly by His glory. You cannot tabernacle with Christ the way that is described in these scriptures and not be impacted and not be changed. You will reflect the glory. You will shine like bright lights, those who are truly, truly tabernacling with Jesus. Turn to Exodus chapter 40 and verse 34 and see this. This glory that has always been is not only showing up in the tabernacle, but it's showing up now in the life of Christ in which now it moves on to you and your life. In Exodus chapter 40, the whole chapter kind of summarizes all of the furnishings of the tabernacle, a summary of the prior chapters. But in verse 34, Exodus 40, 34, then the crowd covered the ten of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And then Christ embodies this glory and then gives us glory to His children. And so to tabernacle with Christ is to be heavily impacted by the glory of God.

Point number two, if you're taking notes, is that everything in the tabernacle pictures Jesus. Okay, everything in the tabernacle pictures Jesus. The progression here that I'm logically taking us through is that, first of all, the whole tabernacle itself pictures Jesus as a whole. But now we're going to get a little bit more detailed inside of the tabernacle and say that everything in the tabernacle pictures Jesus. And so by way of caution, many go too far with typology and lean into allegory. And the difference between these two is very simple. As the Bible expounds upon these truths, typology is more exegetical. And if you're reading and someone or preacher or teacher gets more allegorical and starts reading into things and assigning concepts to where you don't see it in Scripture, that's allegorical. And you don't do that. You don't take your thoughts to the Scriptures. You get your thoughts from the Scriptures. And so draw out the truth. Don't look into and make things up. And so now as we look at the details within the tabernacle, we've talked about that there's two different sections. The Holy of Holies and the Holy Place. And we're going to walk through this first section together. And it's going to get deeper and deeper and deeper. And we're just going to kind of walk through some of these things that help us to see that everything points to Jesus. But if I could give you before we get down into the nitty gritty details, just three things that I really, truly want you to see that I think that is most important in regards to thinking about the tabernacle. And if you get anything from the tabernacle in the heart of this message and the details, think of this is right down in worshiping Him, in worshiping Him. First of all, you got to be in. You got to be saved, gloriously saved. And then once you're in and you get past this brazen altar where the sacrifices are, you'll get to another altar where the altar of incense is worshiping and praying to Him. And then when you're in worshiping Him, you get to actually into the Holy of Holies, you're in Him, the presence of God, the glory of God, into where the Ark of the Covenant is. And so three different stages, I believe, would be safe to characterize as the most important concepts when you view the tabernacle in worshiping Him. As you come in, first of all, you'll see this altar and salvation and then worship and then presence and glory. All right. So as we unfold the details, as you're walking through back to Hebrews, chapter nine and verse one. And so there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one. Okay. This is the reference to the holy place, the outer section, not the intersection of the Holy of Holies, in which there was a lampstand and a tabernacle and a sacred bread. And this is called the holy place. Okay. So now you have a few pieces of furniture mentioned here. But before you get to the furnishings, you have to get inside the tabernacle. And it has been noted that to come into Christ, Christ would like Him Himself as the door. And He said that I am the door in John chapter 10 and verse nine. And so before you even come in, we recognize that the door to get into the tabernacle or the curtain is entering into Christ. And the first thing that you're going to see is an altar where God meets man and provides atonement and forgiveness for Him. And this altar, having not been mentioned right here, but yet is very clear all the way through Exodus and such, proves the point that all of the hearers of this sermon of Hebrews knows about all these furnishings. And to skip over one is no big deal. He's not going to circle back around and say, "Oh, I forgot one piece." That is because it's a very important piece. And so the brazen altar here signifies atonement. And we know from 1 John chapter 2 and verse 2 that Christ is our atonement. And so the first thing that you run across when it comes to this furnishing points to Jesus, not only the entry into it, but also the fact that the first piece of furniture, this bronze altar, simplifying, simplifying, or symbolizing sacrifice and atonement points to Jesus, because ultimately He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John 1, 29. And so you see the whole tabernacle is pointing to Jesus. Now to get into the door points to Jesus. And now the bronze altar is pointing to Jesus. As you continue in, you're going to see some other furnishings that's been mentioned, one being the lampstand. And you remember in John 8, 12 that Jesus said that I am the light. And so this light would be kept going all day and all night by the priest. What a job to keep these things lit and going. And Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And so as you see the light of Christ and the way coming into the tabernacle, not only would you see a lampstand, but you would also see sacred bread and a table. And Jesus said this personally, I am the bread of life in John 6, 48. In fact, He went on to clarify and say that I am the true bread in John 6, 32. And this is important because not only do you see these furnishings, the table and the bread, but the significance behind it is not only fullness in God, but now as the ideas are maturing, it's fullness in Christ. Okay, so the sacred bread points to Jesus. And not only that, now you have an altar of incense, which is symbolic for intercessory prayer.

You know that John 17 is the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ for His own. It is interceding. He is interceding in this chapter for His own. And so Jesus fulfills all of the purpose of this altar, which again is another clear pointer to Jesus Christ. And this is the holy place. All of these furnishings now in the first part of the tabernacle is the holy place. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 12.

Hebrews 10, 12.

It says this, "But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins once and for all, sat down at the right hand of God." And so He being the sacrifice, here recognized at the beginning when you walk through in the holy place, now as you get to the veil, He then is the veil that was torn. This is true and it's clear in the Gospels as Jesus, the moment He was crucified, the veil was torn. And so nevertheless, not only the holy place and all of its furnishings, but now we get to the veil. And the veil in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 3, behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle and this veil points to Christ. Just by quick way of review, the door, the whole tabernacle, the altar, the lampstand, the bread, the altar of incense, now the veil. All of these have symbolic meaning pointing to Jesus. Now we're going to go behind the veil into the most holy place. And this is Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 3 is where we're at. Behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle, which is called the holy of holies, having a golden altar of incense. And the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, an errands rod which budded, and the tables of the Covenant.

And it goes on and has some more very significant meaning here. But here in the most holy place, you're going to have the Ark of the Covenant, which is the most significant piece. And this Ark represents God's presence, God among us, God dwelling with us.

Does this sound familiar when you think of Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14, where His name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us?

And so you see how these furnishings and their symbolic meanings are fulfilled in the life and ministry in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, not to go through every single piece and be here forever and ever and ever, maybe some more next week, I would just like to also mention that even when it comes to the priesthood, when it comes to Aaron serving inside the tabernacle, the priesthood symbolized Jesus Christ and was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So Aaron, the priest who burned incense, according to Exodus 30 verse 7, and made atonement in Exodus 30 verse 10,

which is His priestly duties, was pictured now in Hebrews chapter 5 verses 4 and 5. And I'll read Hebrews 5 verses 4 and 5 to us. Hebrews 5 verses 4 and 5, "And no one takes honor to himself but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was." OK, so you have Aaron the priest. And then, "So also Christ did not glorify himself as to become the high priest, but he who said to him, "You are my son, and today I have begotten you." And so now, Christ is the priest forever, according to verse 6, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. And so now Jesus is the fulfillment of the priesthood, and we see that even in Aaron. But it doesn't stop with Aaron. This is fascinating again. Please turn to Exodus chapter 32. Exodus 32, not only is Aaron and his priesthood symbolically pointing to Jesus, but also Moses in Exodus chapter 32.

Moses and Aaron were the main two in regards to the tabernacle. God gave Moses the details to build it, and Aaron worked it. And now both Aaron and Moses are typologically pointing to Jesus as well. In Exodus chapter 32, verses 30 and through 32.

Look how Moses is also a type of Christ. "On the next day, Moses said to the people, "You yourselves have committed a great sin, and now I'm going up to the Lord. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." And so Moses, making a payment or atonement, is acting as a type of Christ. In verse 31, "Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if you will forgive their sin." Here Moses is praying, interceding, and asking God not to blot them out. In fact, blot him out if he could. And so this medatorial work of Moses, as he is interceding prayerfully, and offering atonement on behalf of those wretched Israelites, who would make an idol, a calf of gold, instead of worshipping in the temple, how sinful this is. Now we see Moses as a type of Christ, and as well also you see there's more typological insights in the Bible that points to Moses, but my point is clear. Everything in the temple points to Jesus. Everything, everything, everything. My last point is that Jesus is the substance, okay? He's a substance. Jesus is a substance of the tabernacle's shadow. He is the substance of the shadow. Okay, all of the tabernacle, and all the furnishings, have what could be called a shadow. And the shadow, when the sun is on something, the substance makes a shadow. So the shadow is not the substance, but the substance is the substance. Okay, so if the sun is on a basketball goal, and it casts a shadow, the basketball goal is here and it casts a shadow. Well, the whole tabernacle is a shadow, pointing to the substance. The substance is Jesus Christ Himself, and so Jesus is the substance of the tabernacle's shadow.

And the way that He is the substance is that He replaces all of the religious system and all of these things. He's replaced the tent, okay? He is our tabernacle. He's our true tabernacle. Hebrews 8, 2, He's the true tabernacle. This has been replaced. He's the substance. He's the real thing. And you also see that Christ replaced the lampstand. He is the light. John 8, 12 says, "I am the light." And then as well, the table. Jesus replaced the table. Our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, 1 John 1, 3. Our fellowship is with Jesus. It's not with a table.

I love wood. And I love wood that's sanded and cut well. I love wood that's stained. I love wood. Traveling around the world, sometimes you see wood that's been for centuries. I just love it.

Oh, but how ridiculous it would be if we still had the Ark of the Covenant, which is overlaid with gold and made out of vacation wood, or the table, and we're looking at the wood instead of the substance. See, these are pointers to Jesus. And so we can't get fascinated with earthly things. We have to keep our eyes on the Lord because He's replaced the old system, the whole law, and replaced all of these pieces. And so as you're studying the tabernacle, as you're studying these pieces, don't get too fixated on the pieces themselves. You have to stay fixated on the Creator of creation. He's replaced the bread. The provisions is what this is. In John 6.32, "I am the bread of life." He was the veil that was torn. Christ replaced the incense in John, Chapter 17, and the prayers. And Christ replaced the Ark of the Covenant, the physical presence of God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1.14. And within this Ark of the Covenant, Jesus has replaced the manna and the staff and the tablets. These three items within it, John 6.32, He's the manna. And then as well, the staff being a symbolic item for authority. In Matthew, Chapter 28, verse 18, all authority has been given to who? Jesus. And then the law, the tablets. Jesus said, "If you keep my commandments." Okay, in John, Chapter 15, verse 10. And then the mercy seat. He Himself is our propitiation and the priest. All of these things in Hebrews, Chapter 9, in verse 5, the preacher says, "I cannot now speak in detail." It would be able to, it would have to review all of the Old Testament information. And so now I leave you with this. What do we take home from this tabernacle information? Well, I would re-quote what Elder Howe sent to our text thread as elders. He shared this quote and it's spot on from Paris Readhead. Paris Readhead. He says, "Most Christians do not have fellowship with God. They have fellowship with each other about God."

We have to be careful, really careful not to get fixated on information. And that'd be the end goal, more, more, more information, information, information. Knowledge can end in getting puffed up. And it'll rob you of your relationship and your walk with Christ. And Pastor Paris Readhead states this, "Most Christians do not have fellowship with God. They have fellowship with each other about God." The full quote is this, "It is possible to spend years talking about God and very little time actually with God." We can know the sermons, know the Scriptures, know the theology, have Christian friends, attend church faithfully and still neglect the secret place.

Paris Readhead put it sharply, "Most Christians do not have fellowship with God. They have fellowship with each other about God." There is a difference between knowing about God and walking with God. We can discuss prayer without praying. Talk about His presence without seeking Him. Study His Word without allowing it to search our own hearts. Even good Christian fellowship can never replace fellowship with Christ Himself. Jesus did not call us merely to know things about Him. He called us to abide in Him.

So in conclusion, I offer you three quick take-home points. Number one, walk closely with Christ.

And walking closely with Christ, it's intentional on your part to delight yourself in the Lord, and then He will give you the desires. Your desires follow what you think about. And so as we think on the things of the Lord, our heart, our feelings, they trail behind what we're thinking about. And so that's how you guide your emotions. You set your mind on things above and not on things of the earth. Walk closely with Christ. Out of step with Christ means that you are not abiding in the true vine, John 15. One, take home truth number two is simply glorify God.

Think of God's planning and waiting and implementing of all of this tabernacle type information through the centuries. And then be overwhelmed and moved to glorify God with your lips and speak of these benefits. Review the whole system and the benefits. This is in picture form so that we can see it. This is a real-life picture so that we can live it and not forget it. So nothing is more important than dwelling with Christ and glorifying Him. Two aspects here that tabernacle is pointing to is not only salvific, but also not only redemptive, but worshipping and living and dwelling with Him. And so not only walk closely with Christ but glorify God. And this third one, I think that is a little bit more for us. By way of observation, and I'll explain, my third take-home point is this. Always be conforming.

And when I think of the Hebrew audience for which this message was intended to pierce their hearts

and convict them from drifting from Jesus and draw them back closer to Him, I think of what they were dealing with. One of the things that they were dealing with was that they were more comfortable with theonomy, the fact that they ruled their own selves, the fact that they had a temple and they had a Sanhedrin. They made their own laws, so to speak, and they governed themselves. And now if you was to take this New Testament idea of being in covenant with Christ seriously, then you have to make the Old Covenant obsolete, which is to mean the whole, the onomic system of the Old Testament was now gone with the whole old system. It's gone. And now they have to be subject to the governing authorities at hand. Who would want to submit to King Herod or Rome? Right? This would cause some trepidatiousness inside of their heart and soul.

I want you to think of this, that if it's not too much for God to ask them to change and conform to Christ and to keep perhaps writing their theology with a pencil, to keep growing in Christ, to not become like a stump, stubborn and unmovable in your ways. Don't become hard-hearted or hard-headed. Don't become like an Israelite.

Be always conforming to Christ. Be always learning. You're never going to arrive in what you know about Christ. You're never going to arrive in your theology. You're never going to arrive. And so wherever you are, praise God. But at the same time, do not think that you have arrived. That you're on top of the theological mountain and nothing can be told to you to make you reconsider where you are in your theological framework or the way that you worship, the way that you believe about Jesus or anything. Truly, we submit to the Scriptures and we, like good Bereans, take good information back home with us and we compare it to the Scriptures and we internalize what God illuminates to us. And so we always have to be open and conforming and being in His glory and basking in His glory. And so I would say this as a warning that if they, the hearers of the Hebrew text here, had to abandon the Old Covenant and the Old Law and the Old Ways and grow in Christ, has anything changed? No. None of us are true know-it-alls. The only true know-it-all is God. God is the only one who has ever, ever known at all. Will never be a know-it-all. And if you do become a know-it-all, your pride will embarrass you and expose you. And so I say to you, like the preacher of the Hebrews has to say to them, "Listen, the Old Law's obsolete grow in Christ." And the same is true for us. Our Old Ways in the flesh need to be obsolete and continue to conform to Christ. Keep conforming. Keep transforming. Transforming and renewing your mind, Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. Growing and maturing in Christ, the whole book of Ephesians, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. And so walk closely with Christ, glorify Christ, and always be conforming to Christ. Let's pray together.

Lord, thank you for the picture that we cannot miss, that being the tabernacle pointing to you. And if anyone has never come into the tabernacle and never yielded to the prophet Isaiah's call to come, pray, Lord Jesus, that you would draw the lost souls by the power of your Holy Spirit into yourself and grant them the faith to confess their sin to you and to believe in their heart that you died on the cross and rose again for their sin. And to be saved, be biblically baptized, joining a local church, and continuing to mature in you. Ultimately, to make disciples for your glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.