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[0:00] Take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Exodus, Exodus 39, and we'll pick up in verse 32. We will be finishing the book of Exodus tonight. We've been in it for some time.

[0:11] I don't know exactly how long. I did not go back and look, but we've looked at a number of messages from the book of Exodus, and we will be wrapping it up tonight. I'm so excited about it. I'm equally excited about getting into the book of Leviticus, because the book of Leviticus is a book which I have not preached very often out of, if at all.

[0:32] Maybe a sermon here or there. I've definitely never preached through the book of Leviticus, so I'm excited about the time of study that it's going to take for me to get into it and understand it.

[0:42] One thing I do know, kind of a precursor, the book of Leviticus is about the holiness of God. More and more, it's about the holy standard of God, and the further you go in, it's like entering the inner room of the tabernacle, the holy of holies. It's going into God's presence.

[1:04] There are a lot of things in Leviticus that we say, you know, if we were reading that, or when we read that, we'd say we wouldn't make it out of the book of Leviticus, because there are all these sun-dry laws, laws about if you do this, you should be stoned, and if you do that, you should be stoned.

[1:18] And the reality is, is none of us would ever make it out of the book of Leviticus, because of the standard that it sets, but it's all about the holiness of God. And I'm excited about getting into it, but I'm also excited about wrapping up the book of Exodus, because I have really enjoyed my study in it.

[1:38] For me to be able to preach the books, I have to really study and get into them, and quite often I get more out of it than you do, because I spend more time thinking on it, and studying it, and being challenged by it, but I hope at least you get something out of it.

[1:53] So before we get into it, let's open up with a word of prayer tonight. Lord, we are so thankful for this opportunity, and God, we rejoice in the chance you've given us to come into fellowship. We thank you for the opportunity we have to come and gather together, lift our voices up in song to worship.

[2:08] I pray, Lord, we continue to worship as we read your word, and as we hear it. And Lord, that we would be moved by it and transformed through it. Lord, we pray that you would be exalted, you would be glorified, and your name would be magnified.

[2:21] And we ask it all in Jesus' name, and amen. We were skipping a number of chapters in the book of Exodus. If you remember, we looked at Exodus 34, the renewing of the covenant, and then we looked at the first part of Exodus 35, or we looked at all of 35 into 36, of them ordering the materials, collecting the materials.

[2:47] And we are skipping 36, 37, 38, and the majority of chapter 39. Now, it's not that we are counting those as lights or trying to skip over some easy portions of Scripture.

[2:59] I want you to understand this. It is because these chapters are really a repetition of things which we have already looked at in great detail. They are a repetition of the materials that were needed and collected and the way they built these things.

[3:14] They are in there for a purpose, and you hopefully will get that purpose tonight as we see the message tonight. But we do not have to take as much time to go through the verses or the chapters because we already have what the ark is made out of, the curtains, the rings, and the boards, and the sockets, and the posts, and the coverings, all those things.

[3:36] We went through those when God was giving the instructions to Moses for the building of the tabernacle, and we looked at each one of those articles. So we do not have to take the time to go over them again, but hopefully by the time we get through tonight, you'll know why they're there.

[3:49] Because you say, well, then why is it recorded twice? If it's not important for us to read it again, why is it recorded twice? Hopefully you will see that, and you will understand why God allows for it to be there as a testimony and also as evidence, and we'll see why in just a moment.

[4:07] But tonight, I'm going to start reading in Exodus 39. I'm going to read a large section of Scripture, and I'm going to do it. It's going to be a little cumbersome, but I want you to, because some of it is repetitious, but I want you just to follow along with me.

[4:22] I've heard, and just a complete side note, I get on these rabbit trails every now and then. It's not that I lose train of thought, but there are so many things that come to mind.

[4:33] But I have heard, and often I have quite, I've thought about doing this, of pastors and churches getting together and having Bible reading marathons where they start in Genesis 1-1, and they read continuously through the Bible, and they take turns, not the same person, but they'll take turns, and sometimes it takes like 24 to 36 hours of them reading Genesis to Revelation.

[4:55] The church is gathering together and just reading through the Bible, and I've often thought that would be a blessing to do. Not everybody could sit and listen to it, but just to know that at that point, the Word of God is being sounded forth in that building from Genesis to Revelation.

[5:10] What an amazing thing that would be. But anyway, tonight I'm going to be in Exodus 39. I'm going to read, starting in verse 32 of Exodus 39, I'll read all of that chapter and all of Exodus 40.

[5:23] Okay, so a number of verses. This is why I don't ask you to stand on Sunday nights, but I want you just to listen and follow along with me if you can. The Word of God records for us, Exodus 39, starting in verse 32.

[5:38] Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed, and the sons of Israel did according to all the Lord had commanded Moses. So they did.

[5:48] They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent, and all its furnishings, its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets. And the covering of ram skin dyed red, and the covering of porpoise skins, and the screening veil, the ark of the testimony, and its poles, and the mercy seat, the table, and all its utensils, and the bread of the presence, the pure gold lampstand, and its arrangement of lamps, and all its utensils, and the oil for the light, and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense, and the veil for the doorway of the tent, the bronze altar, and its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils, the laver, and its stand, the hangings for the court, its pillars, and its sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, and its pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting, the woven garments for ministering in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron, the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister as priests.

[6:41] So the sons of Israel did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. And Moses examined all the work, and behold, they had done it, just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done.

[6:54] So Moses blessed them. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month, you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with a veil.

[7:07] You shall bring in the table, and arrange what belongs on it, and you shall bring in the lampstand, and mount its lamps. Moreover, you shall set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle.

[7:20] You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. You shall set up the court all around, and hang up the veil for the gateway of the court.

[7:35] Then you shall take the anointing on, anoint the tabernacle, and all that is in it, and shall consecrate it in all its furnishings, and it shall be holy. You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and the altar shall be most holy.

[7:51] You shall anoint the laver in its stand, and consecrate it. Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him, and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to me.

[8:06] You shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them, and you shall anoint them, even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to me, and their anointing will qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.

[8:19] Thus Moses did, according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did. Now in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. Moses erected the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up its boards, and inserted its bars, and erected its pillars.

[8:36] He spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent on top of it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Then he took the testimony, and put it into the ark, and attached the poles to the ark, and he put the mercy seat on top of the ark.

[8:50] He brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up a veil for the screen, and screened off the ark of the testimony, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Then he put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil.

[9:05] He set the arrangement of bread and order on it, before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Then he placed a lampstand, in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. He lighted the lamps, before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[9:19] Then he placed a gold altar, in the tent of meeting, in front of the veil, and he burned fragrant incense, on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. Then he set up the veil, for the doorway, of the tabernacle.

[9:29] He set the altar, a burnt offering, before the doorway, of the tabernacle, of the tent of meeting, and offered on it, the burnt offering, and the meal offering, just as the Lord, had commanded Moses. He placed the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing.

[9:45] From it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. When they entered the tent of meeting, when they approached the altar, they washed just as the Lord had commanded Moses. He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar and hung up the veil for the gateway of the court.

[10:00] Thus Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it.

[10:13] And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle throughout all their journeys. Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.

[10:26] For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day and there was a fire in it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel. So ends the book of Exodus.

[10:37] We can almost picture each of these articles which are repeated a number of times here which God had given very detailed accounts of what they should be and how they should be constructed.

[10:48] If you were with us when we went through that, you know that each one of these articles represents something of the nature and the person and the work of Christ. They are representative. They are pictures of New Testament truths and New Testament realities.

[11:02] But we can almost picture Moses here building this tabernacle for the first time. It struck me as I read this passage that any time after this that someone laid a hand on the Ark of the Covenant, they died.

[11:15] The only person, the last person to touch the Ark of the Covenant and not die from it was Moses when he set it in there and then he put its bars in there. Because you may remember that when David was wanting to move it back and they put it on a cart and Uzzah stuck out his hand to keep it from tipping over, the Lord struck him dead at that moment.

[11:33] He said, well that's not nice. Well no, that's holiness. That's what that is. God said, you're going to respect me and do it the right way. Moses here puts everything in place and he builds it just like he received the instructions from the inside out.

[11:46] We would walk into it opposite the way he built it. We have this picture of this great tent. It is not just a tent. It is actually a tent inside a wall, a wall of curtains.

[11:57] If we were to walk up to it, we would see that there would be this great wall of curtains with one opening. And that opening opens what? On the eastern side, right? Towards the east. You have to come and you have to come into the presence of God.

[12:09] And that matters because when we read in scripture, those who were moved to the east were those leaving the presence of God. If you came from the east, you were coming into the presence of God.

[12:19] We see that starting in the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis. So you would enter in the eastern side coming from the east. When you stepped into this walled curtain, it would not be completely covered because the tent is inside that.

[12:33] That wall, that curtain, was there to separate the holiness of God which dwelt inside of it from people. It was there to protect the people, not to keep them out. It was God's way of saying, stay out of here.

[12:46] You can't just rush into my presence. Entering that door, which by the way, there was but one door. You may remember because there's only one way into the presence of Yahweh. We know that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and life.

[12:58] And he is the door. And none can come any other way but through him. So there is but one door. When you walked into that door, you were met with a bronze laver. That laver was there for your washing, for your cleansing.

[13:10] We don't have to go through each one of these. But you would see that as soon as you washed your hands and your feet, you were met with an altar. On that altar, you would offer your sacrifice. And after you offered your sacrifice, your burnt offering, the blood, you would take the blood of that.

[13:25] And then you would enter into the tent. When you entered into the tent, you would go through the veil. And inside that veil, there would be a golden altar for incense that we know is representative of the prayer of the saints.

[13:37] Zechariah was at that altar of incense burning. After the altar of incense, there was on the one side the table of showbread. It was the bread of the Lord, the bread of the presence. He was there.

[13:48] And in opposite the bread of the presence was the lamp that stayed lit, which ought to show us that the light was continually burning, though no one would ever see it until they went into that place. Once you passed that lamp, there was a third opening that went into the Holy of Holies.

[14:04] And the Holy of Holies is where the Ark of the Covenant was at. Inside the Ark of the Covenant, there was Aaron's rod which budded, a jar of manna, and the Ten Commandments, the two tablets of stone.

[14:15] But above it was these cherubim who had their wings. You remember the pictures. One wing touching one side. One wing touching the other. Touching in the middle. And those cherubim were forming what we refer to as the mercy seat.

[14:29] Or the seat of propitiation. Because it was above the Ark of the Covenant that the presence of the Lord was manifested. And the good thing that we have here is there is the law.

[14:41] But above the law is His mercy. And the mercy stood between the presence of God and the law of God. And we've seen the truth that Jesus is our mercy seat.

[14:52] He is our propitiation. He is that which allows the presence of God to dwell among us, though the law of God stays true. So Moses erects this. He is the first one to touch the things.

[15:02] He's the last one to touch it. He is the first one to offer the prayer of incense. He is the first one to light the candles. He is the first one to lay out the bread. He is the first one to offer on the altar a burnt offering.

[15:15] He is the first one to wash in the bronze laver. Because He is the forerunner. It is Moses who goes first and does it all. He goes into the presence and He paves the way. All of these should matter to us.

[15:27] Because we know that Moses was a forerunner for the nation of Israel. Just like Jesus Christ is our forerunner. Because one like unto Moses would be raised up that would be the forerunner for the people of God.

[15:39] Deuteronomy 18 and we know that one to be Jesus Christ. Moses is just an imperfect picture of the perfect one to come. But the tabernacle was built. It's there.

[15:50] The book of Exodus has been about the redemption of God's people. It has been about God setting His people free even when they did not know they could be set free. We have said that we cannot rightfully understand our own salvation until we correctly understand the Exodus event.

[16:05] In that we are born into sin. We are born into slavery. We cannot set ourselves free. God has to send someone from outside of ourselves in order to deliver us from ourselves. And it is only through the blood.

[16:17] Over and over again we see this. We see that it is a picture that after our deliverance that we are not yet what we should be. We have to be sanctified. That is the wilderness wanderings. And that sanctification is always on the road to a place of promise that God sets us free to bring us in.

[16:32] That is a great promise. I love that by the way. God didn't set you free just so you could be free. He didn't redeem you just so you could be redeemed and you could go about your merry little way. God set you free that He may bring you in to a place of promise.

[16:45] That is His presence. He always delivers so that He could bring to. And we saw that in the book of Exodus. And we have seen the truth that in the book of Exodus the tabernacle.

[16:55] And I know I am giving you a lot of information but stay with me. The tabernacle was to be the manifested presence of God among His people. God was present with His people.

[17:08] He is always present. You are not going to go somewhere where God is not. We understand that right? He is what we call omniscient and omnipotent. He is always. He is all things and all places at all times.

[17:19] He is all powerful. He is all seeing. He is all knowing. And He is all present. You cannot go somewhere. The Bible tells us that. Where can I go? Because if I go to the depths of the sea, you are there. If I go to the height of the mountain, you are there as well.

[17:31] If I go to the other part of the earth, you are there as well. God is present in all things, in all places, at all times. But there are times when God chooses to manifest His presence.

[17:45] That is to let you know He is there. That is to reveal to you the truth that is always there. And the tabernacle is to be God's manifested presence, to show and to signify, I am here.

[18:01] That is what the church is today. The church is God's manifested presence among His people in the world in which they live. Because Jesus says, we're two or more gathered together, I am there as well.

[18:13] He manifests His presence in His people. So we've seen these. We end the book of Exodus with God doing what He said He would do. He manifests His presence.

[18:24] He comes down. The Shekinah glory fills the tabernacle. I can't claim it as my own, but I think it was totally went blank.

[18:36] Warren Wearsby who said that this is one time where Moses cannot enter the glory, the Shekinah glory of God. He cannot go into the tent because he does not do that to the Mount of Transfiguration in the New Testament where Moses is there with Elijah and Jesus is glowing.

[18:55] He is radiating. Then he is seeing the Shekinah glory face to face. Because if you remember, Jesus is talking to Moses about His what? About His departure. Remember that?

[19:05] You know what that word there is? That word is Exodus. Isn't that cool? The Mount of Transfiguration. What Jesus is talking to Moses about is Jesus saying, Moses, you had an Exodus one time.

[19:16] I'm about to do an Exodus too. I'm going to go to the cross and Exodus this world. He was talking to him about that. That's why we understand all these things. The Bible is not a bunch of stories.

[19:27] This is what is so good. The Bible is one great story. We see this even in the Old Testament. With all of that information, I want you to see a few things with me.

[19:42] You'll understand why those other chapters that we skipped over are there. I want you to see the testimony of the tabernacle. What is the tabernacle saying to us?

[19:53] Because when God went into the tabernacle, He was saying, Yes, I agree with what's done. Yes, I accept this tabernacle. Yes, my presence is here.

[20:04] He accepted the work. And I want you to see the testimony of the tabernacle. Four things that the tabernacle testifies to. And we will not be looking at a number of verses because we're taking it in context here.

[20:17] I want you to see four things that the tabernacle testifies to. Number one, the tabernacle testifies to the complete obedience of the people. It testifies to the complete obedience of the people.

[20:29] It said in chapter 39, verse 32, Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed, And the sons of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

[20:40] So they did. Over and over again, we read the reality that what they did was everything Moses told them to do. They did everything that they were instructed to do. The reason that these other chapters that we did not read are here is to show us we can take, We have the privilege of reading the book of Exodus and seeing God's instructions.

[21:02] And then we can turn over a couple of pages and see man's construction. We can compare the notes and we can see that everything that they did was exactly what God told them to do.

[21:14] When he told them to build the Ark of the Covenant by such and such, by such and such, to these exact measurements, That's exactly what they did. When he told them to have this many sockets and this many rings and this much gold and these many boards, That's exactly what they did.

[21:29] We have the great privilege of seeing what God told Moses to do and what the people chose to do. And what they chose to do was to walk in complete obedience. The fact that God dwelt in the tabernacle is a testimony to the reality that the people had done what God told them to do.

[21:48] Now this is important because these are the same people who had sinned so greatly. These are the same people that while Moses was receiving the instructions, Had built a golden calf and had tried to worship the true God in a wrong way.

[22:05] They had tried to approach the true God. They weren't trying to approach some false God because Aaron was wanting to call a feast to Yahweh with the golden calf. And they tried to approach the true God in a wrong manner, with a wrong standard, and in a wrong way.

[22:20] And now we see them doing exactly what God called them to do. We see the obedience of the people. And the reason that is important is because, friend, listen to me, The reality of repentance is always shown in faithful obedience.

[22:34] We know they were genuine in their repentance when they cried out to the Lord and Moses interceded on their behalf. We know that they were sincere in their heart's desire to serve God, At least for this moment, at least for this time, because they completely obeyed.

[22:52] We know as God's people that we are sincere in our repentance. It is not the fact that we are just caught in something and we want people to forget about it. It is not that all of a sudden we want to get away from the consequences.

[23:03] We understand the sincerity of our repentance because we live lives of complete obedience. We will fail. We will mess up. But when God gives clear instructions, we will do what he has called us to do.

[23:15] So we see the testimony of complete obedience. The work testifies to their obedient life. The work testifies to the fact that they chose to obey God in his clear instructions.

[23:27] There will be times when they will fail. There will be times when they fall. But when God had spoken, they had done it. This applies to the church today because the church is God's people who have been called to live in his manifested presence.

[23:40] And we understand that we show or we testify to his presence when we live lives of faithful obedience. So we see the tabernacle testifying to the complete obedience of the people.

[23:51] Number two, we see the tabernacle testifying, and this is just as important, to the faithfulness of Moses. To the faithfulness of Moses. We read here that the people completed what God had called Moses to do.

[24:05] And they brought this work to Moses. And they brought it before him, and it says in verse 43 of the 39th chapter, And Moses examined all the work, and behold, they had done it just as the Lord had commanded.

[24:17] This they had done. So Moses blessed them. They did the work. Moses didn't do the work. Moses received the instructions. He gave the instructions, and he allowed someone else to do the construction.

[24:29] And they brought it to him, and he looked at it and said, Yes, this is everything God had called me to do. This is what he has given us clear orders to do. He examined it. He looked over it. And then he blessed the people.

[24:40] Now this is important because we see here the faithfulness of Moses. Think about this. There was one man who was given the detailed plan. Only one.

[24:51] And that was Moses. Something like the tabernacle was very important. Because if it had not been according to the pattern in heaven. Remember, God said, Be careful to build it according to the pattern which I have shown you which is in heaven.

[25:04] If it did not follow that pattern completely, God would not come dwell in it. And it was Moses alone who saw that pattern. It was Moses alone who knew exactly what God was calling his people to do.

[25:18] And the burden fell on Moses to convey to the people exactly what God called them to do. It was Moses who bore the burden of saying, This is what I have seen.

[25:30] These are the details. If he had got his measurements off. What if he had got his... I said it wrong last week. I said the tortoise skin was dyed red. That's not what was dyed red. Right?

[25:41] It was not. It was the ram skin that was dyed red. And the tortoise skin was not dyed at all. I need to make sure we have the details right. Because the details at this time matter.

[25:52] And Moses was doing exactly what God told him to do. That's important to us. You know why that's important to us? Because here we see that Moses was faithful. The Bible tells us in the book of Hebrews.

[26:04] Hebrews chapter 3 verse 5. That Moses was counted faithful in all his house. That is God's house as a servant. For a testimony of these things which were to be spoken later.

[26:16] The fact that Moses was faithful was a testimony to things to come. If Moses could not bring down the exact details God had given him for the construction of a tabernacle.

[26:26] Can we trust him to write the first five books of the Bible? Which are by the way the foundation stones for the rest of scripture. Think about this.

[26:37] Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. And we trust that everything that is written from Genesis to Deuteronomy is completely accurate.

[26:49] And our trust rests in one individual and that is Moses. He is faithful. We see the faithfulness of Moses because he was faithful in what God called him to do to the tabernacle.

[27:01] He would be faithful later on. You say yes he was moved by the spirit of God to write the word of God. Exactly. But he is still flowing through the conduit of Moses. Just like the spirit of God revealed the plans for the tabernacle of God to Moses.

[27:15] Same conduit. We have to trust the faithfulness of the man who would be faithful in all of his house as a servant. For the things which were to be spoken to later. Moses is a faithful servant in the house of God.

[27:28] And we see it because the tabernacle was completed just as God had called him to do. And if anyone had reason to fail it would have been Moses. He entered great seasons of discouragement.

[27:39] While he was up there. I mean he went through 80 days of fasting and praying. 80 days. There is a pastor in our convention. Well actually he is not a pastor anymore. He is actually. I can't remember.

[27:50] I think he works with the Southern Baptist Convention entities now. Ronnie Floyd who used to pastor in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is no longer a pastor. He has since resigned from that.

[28:00] And taken on a position with either the North American Mission Board. That is who he works with. Ronnie Floyd goes through 40 day fast. He is a little bitty fellow. Now when I say little.

[28:11] It is joked about. If you ever go to the Southern Baptist Convention. He is always referred to as the best dressed man. At the Southern Baptist Convention. But he is about this tall. And he is real skinny. And he goes through 40 day fast. And when I see him I am like yeah.

[28:22] He can probably stand to go 40 days and not eat. That would take a lot more to sustain myself. But he goes through. He has great books of prayer fasting. He will go through 40 day fast.

[28:33] Blows me away. But he even then drinks water. And drinks juice. And things like that. Moses is 80 days. In the presence of God. 80 days.

[28:44] 40 the first time comes down. They had built the golden calf. Gets mad. He goes back up. He is up there. Another. If there was anyone who had any right to be discouraged. You say how in the world could he be alive. Because man can't go 80 days without nourishment.

[28:55] You are right. He was being nourished in the presence of God. He's being nourished in the presence of Yahweh. What was it? It was Jesus who said man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that comes forth from the word from the mouth of God.

[29:07] God was nourishing him and feeding him and sustaining him and keeping him. But yet we see that Moses was faithful. And we know he is faithful. Because what he told them to do. They did exactly what he told them to do.

[29:19] And look at the people he was using it. You know one of the greatest testimonies in all the world. One of the greatest testimonies in all the world. Is the church. Moses was dealing with a multitude of messed up people who had just fallen.

[29:32] Built in a golden calf. Worship God in the wrong way. Yet they built a perfect tabernacle. Why? Because Moses was faithful. And let's not try to be. I'm not trying to be you know down and out.

[29:44] I'm not trying. But the church is full of messed up people. Me being the chief of them. I am you know. I have all my issues. We have all of our problems. And the church is full of that. But the greatest testimony in all the world. Is the church.

[29:54] Because in spite of us. Jesus is doing exactly what he said he was going to do. He is building his church. And the fact that the church cannot be wiped off the face of the earth.

[30:05] Is a great testimony. To the faithfulness of Christ. Not to the worthiness of man. It is the faithfulness of the one who is over all the house.

[30:15] Moses was a servant in the house. Jesus is the owner of the house. And he is faithful. His church will not fail. And the plan will go according to purpose. And according to plan. And it will be exactly right.

[30:27] He is building something that cannot be destroyed. He is not building a tabernacle. He is building a great building. Which is the church. We see the faithfulness of Moses. Number three.

[30:37] The testimony of the tabernacle. Probably one of the greatest. At least one of my favorites. Is the tabernacle testifies to the mercy and grace of God.

[30:49] The tabernacle testifies to the mercy and grace of God. God is going to manifest his presence among people who do not deserve to have his presence.

[31:02] Why? Because he is holy and we are not. And he does not dwell in any sin. He dwells in what is called unapproachable light.

[31:13] There is a reason all throughout scripture. That anytime someone sees the manifest presence of God. They fall on their face. And they say woe is me for I am about to die. Isaiah said I am about to die.

[31:25] I see God. Ezekiel said I am about to die. I have seen God. John says I am about to die. I have seen God. We see this over and over throughout scripture. Why? Because he is holy and we are not.

[31:36] And his mercy and his grace is seen in the reality that he came and he dwelt in the tabernacle. These people have just failed him.

[31:47] They have failed him miserably. He had redeemed them. He had saved them. Called them out. Set them free. And enriched them. He had blessed them. He had called them to himself.

[31:58] He had nourished them and fed them. And he had given them water to drink. He had purified unclean water. He had had water come out of the rock. He had shown them his presence. They had heard his voice. And yet they failed him.

[32:12] And God says okay I am done with you. I can't dwell among you. Because if I am there for just a minute you are going to die. And Moses pleads. He intercedes. And God carries on and says okay.

[32:24] I will forgive them. I will show them that my presence is there. Friend listen to me. When the glory of the Lord fell in the tabernacle. God displayed his mercy and grace.

[32:36] Because he dwelt among his people. And nobody died. He came into the presence of sinful man. And allowed sinful man. To be in his presence.

[32:49] It was separated because there was a veil. There were three doorways. Before you could get into his presence. No man could run in there. Someone has said that the book of Leviticus. Is all about the problem that man faces at the end of Exodus.

[33:01] The fact that God's presence is inside the tent. And none of us deserve to go in there. So the book of Leviticus is going to show us how we get in there. It's about the holiness of God. Right? But what we see here is God showing his mercy and his grace.

[33:15] With the truth that he even chose to come down. He didn't have to. But he alone chose to come down. And he gave the instructions of how he would come down.

[33:30] It is through the blood of the sacrifices. But it was God who said build an altar. It was God who said offer up the prayers of the saints. It was God who said build the curtains. It was God who gave these instructions.

[33:42] The tabernacle testifies to the fact that God is gracious. He is merciful. And he wants to dwell among his people. The fact that Jesus says that we're two or more gathered together. I am there as well.

[33:53] Is a testimony to the grace and the mercy of God. In spite of who we are. All of these preparations and all of this work. This was ordained by the command of the Lord himself.

[34:04] So that he would have an avenue to dwell among his people. And we see this testimony. God still wants to be with his people. We wouldn't do it.

[34:16] But he still wants to. Why? Because he is a loving, merciful, kind God. Holy, sure. Just, absolutely. There will be consequences for sin.

[34:28] We see that later on throughout scripture. But in his mercy and in his grace. He manifests his presence among his people. Fourth and finally. And we'll be through.

[34:39] We see the final testimony of the tabernacle. One that we would do well to hold to. Because of the fact that Jesus says in the gospel of John.

[34:52] That he will come and make his abode with us. He says, I think it is in John 16. For his believers that he and the father would come and make their abode with us.

[35:02] The word abode in John is the word tabernacle. Jesus has said that he would come and tabernacle with us. That the father would tabernacle with us.

[35:13] We are his people. What we see going on in the book of Exodus is what he has done. We didn't have to build a tent. Because he is the tabernacle. And Jesus says, I'm going to tabernacle with you.

[35:25] Why? Because I have redeemed you. I have called you to myself. But I'm taking you somewhere. And along the way I'm going to tabernacle with you. I have set you free that I may bring you in.

[35:35] And we see this final testimony of the tabernacle in the book of Exodus. And it is that this is a sojourning people. That God's people are a sojourning people.

[35:47] Sojourning is not a word we use very much. So let's just say they were a traveling people. They were a wandering people. Not wondering like I wonder what that's about. But a wandering like moving from place to place wondering.

[35:59] They were a sojourning people in the fact that they constructed for God a tent. A tent that was never to be a place of permanent residence.

[36:11] A tent was to be a symbol of a temporary existence. A tent was to be a place of temporary stay. We read here at the end of Exodus that when the glory of the Lord filled the tent.

[36:23] That the people of God could not go in the tent. And then we have this note. That as long as the cloud stayed over the tent the people stayed still. But whenever the cloud was moved from the tent the people would move.

[36:36] Everything inside the tent had poles. Remember that? The table had poles. The Ark of the Covenant had poles. There were Levites to carry the tent. Everything went into sockets. It wasn't nailed together. There's nothing in the tabernacle that's nailed together.

[36:48] The boards all had grooves and they had sockets that they snapped into. There were rings that were holding. Much like a shower curtain ring that would hold the curtains up. Everything had poles that could be removed very quickly.

[36:59] Why? Because when God moved the people moved and the tabernacle could be taken down. The tabernacle reminds us that God was not making his people at home yet. Because they were not yet home.

[37:11] God was going to dwell among his people while they were on their way home. But they were not yet home. The tabernacle testifies to us that God's people were not supposed to say, Yes, this is it.

[37:22] We got a tent. We can make ourselves at home. This is where we're going to be. That's not what they were to be doing. We did not want to be people who set up residence where God has put up a temporary tent.

[37:34] We were to be people to see him moving and to see him where he stays, we stay. When he moves, we move. And this reminds us that where they built this tabernacle, it was a year after the Exodus when Moses erected the tabernacle.

[37:49] A year to the date. They were still at Mount Sinai. They had not traveled very far. But they were a lot further along than they were a year ago. Because a year ago they were in Egypt.

[38:01] A year ago they were slaves. Now they're free. Now they're eating good. They have manna every morning. Now they're comfortable. Now they have all the water they want. It's just coming out of the rock over there.

[38:13] Now they have the presence of God. And it would be real easy to say, boy, this is a lot better than we were a year ago. Let's stay here. But the tabernacle reminds us that that's a temporary structure.

[38:24] It's meant to be moved. Because God's people are not meant to be at home when they're not yet where God has called them to be. God calls his people out so that he may bring them in.

[38:35] And he is leading them to a land of promise, to a place of promise. My friend, Jesus said that he and the Father will come make their tabernacle with us. Do you know where he makes his tabernacle with us?

[38:47] It is in this life. He's called us and he's redeemed us and he has brought us across that land of despair. He is in the place of redemption and he has already set us free.

[38:59] The Red Sea has been parted and we've walked through it. Our enemies are behind us. But yet we are not yet where we should be. He has not yet brought us to the place of promise. I've read the book of Revelations.

[39:09] And I do not think we're living in the promised land yet. I've yet to find the tree of life beside the crystal sea. I've yet to see the throne of God that I can walk around. I've yet to see the golden streets.

[39:20] The thing that we cherish so much in this land. Them using it for asphalt in that land. I've yet to see the new Jerusalem come down and dwell upon the new earth. I've yet to see the manifest presence of God where there's no need for sunlight.

[39:33] I've yet to see the new Jerusalem which gates are never shut so that man can go in and out all they want to. So we are not yet in the place of promise. All of those things are promised to us. So Jesus says, I'm going to tabernacle among you.

[39:46] So don't make yourself at home because I'm living in a temporary place of residence. There will come a day when Jesus is no longer tabernacling among us because he is sitting on the throne among us.

[39:59] And when he sits down, so can we. And we can say we're home. We're here. We're where we're supposed to be. But the tabernacle testifies to us that God is moving and leading his people.

[40:14] Not causing them to be still and be comfortable. It testifies that the people had lived obediently. That Moses had walked faithfully. That God had displayed mercy and grace.

[40:28] And that he was still leading his people to the place he has promised. All of these things are resounding testimonies in our own life. We seek to live obediently.

[40:39] We want to be faithful. But we know that the one that we serve is not Moses. It is Jesus who is more than faithful. We know the mercy and grace of God. It is poured out upon us.

[40:51] And we understand the reality that we are not yet where we're supposed to be. So he is still tabernacling among us. And when he moves, we move. When he stops, we stop. And we walk in faithful obedience to that displayed glory.

[41:05] Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much. Thank you, God, for giving us the privilege of going through the book of Exodus. Thank you that we've had the divine privilege of completing the book tonight.

[41:17] Hope that the truth that it contained will be that which grips our hearts and continues to shape and mold us and conform us to your image. We pray, Lord, as we begin to sing a final song tonight.

[41:31] We're going to leave this place. Lord, there have been some today who have shared their burdens with me. There have been some, I trust, that have probably shared burdens with others. God, I pray you continue to make us the church you want us to be.

[41:46] We'll lift up those that are hurting. We'll lift up those that are facing surgery. We'll lift up those that are in the midst of conflict of all sorts. God, pray in your hand, rest upon them.

[41:57] You be glorified. You be magnified. In the end, Lord Jesus, it's all about you. It's in your name we pray. Amen. God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God, God Thank you.

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