A Way In - Exodus 27:1-21

[0:00] Oh, good morning, everybody. What a blessing. It's cooler out. It wasn't 100 degrees this week. It's been wonderful. The Lord is good.

[0:10] I was reading this morning, just meditating in Psalms. I make my way through Psalms in my own reading. And we're going to look at some of these scriptures today as we continue to look at the tabernacle.

[0:21] But Psalm 84, How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yet even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

[0:33] And our desire in coming together is because we want more of the Lord. And we find Him where He is. And He's put His presence in the body, in us, as a temple of the living God.

[0:45] And so, so wonderful to come into His tabernacles, not this place, but to come into the space that we can meet with the Lord. And it's so wonderful to do that together. All right, well, you can turn your Bibles to Exodus 27.

[0:59] We have been journeying through the book of Exodus with the children of Israel. They've come out of Egypt through the Red Sea, not yet to the Promised Land, not yet turned away from the Promised Land to wander in the wilderness, but they're at the Mount of God.

[1:13] They've received the Ten Commandments as God has audibly spoken that from the mountain to them. God then calls Moses up onto the mountain, where he is right now, 40 days and 40 nights, hearing from God specifically, as God lays out for him, now the outworking in a sense, an application of the law, and then how man is to interact with God.

[1:36] How is this nation of former people in bondage to Egypt, millions of people, how are they to be a nation? How are they to commune with God? What they know of God to date is He's mighty.

[1:48] He's a deliverer. But He's kind of scary. You know, a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud, and He's parting the Red Sea, and then they see all of Pharaoh's army dead on the shore the next morning.

[1:59] It's wow. But He's also provided water out of a rock. He's provided manna in the wilderness. And so God has now been laying out the order of the tabernacle.

[2:09] He calls Moses onto the mountain. Like, one of the first things He tells him is, all right, Moses, let's get down how my people are going to approach me. How am I going to dwell with my people? The point of this is not, Moses, so that I can get all these people out here to show them how cool I am or to make sure they never, you know, sin again or that they're perfect people.

[2:28] I know they're not perfect. But I've called them out here because I want to dwell with them. I want a people that I can dwell with. And through them, then, we'll dwell with all people as the Messiah would come who would choose to be part of that.

[2:42] But last week, we looked at the coverings of the tabernacle. We started looking at, if you remember the first week, we looked at the Ark of the Testimony as God starts inward, the very center of a relationship with Him.

[2:56] It starts inward and He goes out from there. And then the table of showbread and the lampstand and then the covering and then the boards that make up the tabernacle.

[3:07] And it was one of those chapters, Exodus 26, like, okay, boards and blankets. All right, let's move on to the next one. But as you dig into it, you see such a picture of Jesus. And it's just been, I've just thoroughly enjoyed going through the tabernacle and seeing Jesus all over the place here as He desires to dwell with us.

[3:24] And so last week, we looked at the different layers of the tabernacle. We said how the inward cannot be seen from without. The outside is just a badger's skin or whatever it is in the Hebrew.

[3:36] It's some type of, it seems like aquatic animal turned into skin, but it's an unclean skin. That's all you see from the outside. But then as you move inward, the different layers, a ram skin dyed red, the inward covered over with red, covered with scarlet, the blood of the lamb.

[3:52] Goat's hair, fine linen. But the only place you see that fine linen, that beautiful tapestry of gold, scarlet, and blue would be from within, from the inside.

[4:05] As each layer is peeled back, what do you see? Well, you see God's grace become more apparent as each layer is pulled back. You see, we unfortunately, we approach, we approach our own hearts and we approach the inward from the outward and we're never gonna, that's never gonna change.

[4:20] Like, well, I'm inside of me. Well, yes. But Jeremiah 17 told us, the heart's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Nobody can know their own heart. Nobody's gonna be closer to you than yourself.

[4:32] No one's closer to your own heart, but you're not gonna know it. You're not gonna know it like God does. I, the Lord, search the heart. And then he gives us a new heart, a brand new heart. He takes away that heart of stone, a dead heart.

[4:43] He gives us a living heart. But because we have our old nature and because we know who we are, well, I don't deserve to be saved. No, I know who I am. I've come face to face with who I am.

[4:55] We still then fall into this idea that, well, on the inside, there's nothing but junk. There's nothing good in there. It's just, oh, Lord, don't look in there. And the Lord looks in there and what does he see? He sees himself.

[5:06] He's like, but I'm in there. I've made it clean. It's the place of my presence. There's the light of the world in there. There's the bread of life as we look inward. The Lord said to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16, 7, yeah, to Samuel, when he was looking for a replacement king for Saul and he sees David's oldest brother, he says, surely this is the Lord's anointed.

[5:31] The Lord said to Samuel, do not look on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him. For the Lord sees not as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

[5:43] The Lord looks deeper. And now that we have a relationship with the Lord and now that the Lord is there in our depths, man, he gives us eyes to see too. We can come to a passage like Exodus 26 and today Exodus 27 where we will cover the altar and the court of the tabernacle.

[6:00] And it's a chapter you just look at and go, why? What's there? The Lord says, well, let me show you. Let me show you with eyes that I see with. So we come into God's presence.

[6:11] We come into God's presence by God's means and God's way. Always. There's no other way. But there is a way. Thank God there is a way in. And that's what we're going to see today.

[6:23] Malachi chapter 3 verses 6 and 7 says, For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers, you are gone away from mine ordinances and have not kept them.

[6:38] Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But you said, wherein shall we return? How shall we return? You see, God has made a way for us to come into his presence, but it's his means by which we come to him.

[6:54] And here he's saying his indictment to Israel in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. He's saying, turn back. You're not consumed because I don't change. Well, what is it that he's not changing? That he wants relationship with his people.

[7:07] He wants them to come into his presence. He wants to dwell among them. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 7 if you would. If you don't have a Bible, we'd love to get you a Bible.

[7:19] We can grab you one on the way out. And I was thinking about it this week. I think Bibles. I think a lot about Bibles. That it's potential. We're potentially at a time in history where we have a generation that could grow up in a home with Bible-believing, Bible-reading, God-fearing, God-believing parents.

[7:38] And these kids could never see their parents open a Bible because we do so much on these things now. But when you use your Bible on your phone, and I'm not saying don't ever use your Bible on your phone.

[7:48] I mean, it's nice. You can zoom in. You can back in. But your Bible is just one among many things on here. The primary thing is this. And when you're, even if you're just scrolling on your Bible, you know, what are we exemplifying to the next generation?

[8:03] When you have your Bible open, it is the only thing. It's the only thing. I mean, unless you've got a comic book hidden there. It's the only thing you're going to be reading when you have it open. And just think how important it is to have our Bibles, to have something in your hands.

[8:16] So if you need a Bible, we'd love to give you a Bible and get you a Bible. Please have a Bible. It's very important. Anyway, that was just also extra.

[8:28] Turn to Jeremiah chapter 7. Jeremiah is also essentially saying the same thing that Malachi is saying.

[8:39] He's saying that God has put before them a way, a means, and a method to come to him. We're going to pick up in verse 23. Just look at these two verses in Jeremiah 7. He says, But this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God.

[9:01] You shall be my people, and walk you in all the ways that I've commanded you that it may be well unto you. But you hearken not, they hearken not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and the imagination of their evil heart.

[9:17] We went backwards and now forwards. You know, as we've gone through the law here so far, I don't think there's any place yet we've got the idea that God is all about rules and regulations and doing the right thing for the sake of rules.

[9:32] God wants them to do the right thing because he wants them to be the right thing. He wants them to have a right heart. And even here, as you see what Jeremiah is saying, he's saying, you didn't walk in all the things I commanded you. But what did they do?

[9:44] They went after the evil imaginations of their heart. Starts inward. They went backwards and not forwards. Turn to one more place. Isaiah chapter 1, if you would.

[9:56] Before we dive in here. Isaiah chapter 1, Isaiah's just coming into his ministry. God has called him and he's beginning to preach to the nation.

[10:09] He was under King Uzziah until Uzziah dies. That's where we get that passage. In the day that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up and his glory filled the temple. When he starts his ministry, he's under King Uzziah who's been king for like 40 years or something.

[10:25] It's a good time in the nation, it would seem to be. But the Lord sees the heart. Isaiah chapter 1, we're going to pick up in verse 11, if you would. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord?

[10:40] Today we're going to look at the altar. God's going to institute a place of sacrifice, but then he's going to get to the point where he's going to say to his people, what's the purpose? What's the purpose of all this? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he goats.

[11:00] What's he saying? Guys, the point of the altar was not because I wanted a bunch of animals to eat. The point is, I don't need all of this. It's for something else.

[11:10] It's for another reason, wasn't it? Verse 12, when you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand to tread my courts? Today we'll see those courts, what they are.

[11:22] So, well, God, didn't you require this? Aren't you the one who told us to do this? Yeah, but not for the sake of just going through the motions. God says, those who just go through the motions, it's like they're trampling my courts.

[11:34] This place that I've set aside for a purpose and a reason isn't just to go through the motions. And Isaiah 1, jump down to verse 16, if you would. Isaiah 1, 16, wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

[12:01] Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

[12:11] Yes, do what's right, turn from evil. How so? Because of something God does inward. Because your sins that are scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

[12:23] Through the deeds that I do and going through the motions, obviously not, because he says, I'm sick of your motions, I'm sick of you just going through the motions and the deeds. Something must be behind that. There must be a reality that's there.

[12:34] If the reality's not there, then the act means nothing. It's only when there's the reality that it gives any substance to the things we do. Now, we all do different things in life, right?

[12:46] There's a certain part, though, that's going to overlap always in our walk with the Lord, right? We're going to be of the things of the Spirit. We have the fruit of the Spirit exhibited in our lives. You may tend towards some things than other people, right?

[13:00] You may be such a joyful person. Well, maybe this person over here just isn't so joyful. They're more of an Eeyore, but the fruit of the Spirit in their life is they're so generous, right? It's not going to be like, man, as I'm walking with the Lord, I just love going and screaming in people's faces, just telling them how sinners they are.

[13:16] That's not the fruit of the Spirit, right? You may have come up with that idea that some motion you should go through, but you may have a heart to share with people and go and tell them about the Lord. That's great.

[13:27] That's great. That's going to overlap, but it's all going to start inward before we end up in the outward. The danger is we look around at us who are, the people around us who are living that way, like they have an inward reality expressing itself through an outward act and we go, man, I want that reality.

[13:43] I really want to live that way, so I'm going to try and do what they do. That's what I'm going to do. And then we lay heavy trips and burdens upon ourselves. We enact for ourselves a religion, and before you know it, the Lord is saying, what are you doing?

[13:57] I don't want your bulls and your lambs. That's not what I'm calling you to do. It's not out of a reality. The tabernacle was not some mystical means by which man could draw near to God.

[14:08] It wasn't because of some ritual. It was not in the doing, but in the believing that Israel would approach God. It's the same. We come by faith.

[14:19] Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Would they believe what the tabernacle declared about their God as we are looking at all that's being declared about our God? Or would they simply see the tabernacle as a work to be accomplished to keep God happy?

[14:35] Does the tabernacle declare who God is? Or do I just see it as something I need to do to keep God happy? You know, we don't have a tabernacle today like Israel. But we have those things in our lives that we can look at and go, this is something that I believe God would have me to do in my life.

[14:51] But what is the motive behind it? Well, I want to keep God happy. I want to make sure he's blessing my life, stamp of approval. Or is it because of who God declares himself to be that I then respond to that?

[15:04] Titus 3.5 says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Not by works of righteousness.

[15:17] Okay, I don't have to do works of righteousness. Is that what that means? No, not at all. But according to his mercy, he saved me by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. And when that's a reality in my life, the works of righteousness just follow.

[15:29] We simply follow the roadmap that God points out to us, that he puts before us. But it is the destination we are seeking, not the means by which we get there.

[15:42] We are seeking God. He is the destination. We don't come here because we are seeking church, because we are seeking validation or approval or whatever it is. We're seeking the Lord.

[15:53] He's the destination where we want to get to. We continue in all the ordinances of God, not because they keep God happy, but because they keep God near.

[16:06] Why do I read my Bible and keep God happy? No, because I want to draw near to God. Why do I like fellowshipping with all of you? Because I want to draw near to God. Why do I say no to the flesh and reject sin?

[16:16] Because it separates me from God. I desire to be in God's presence and to be near him. Hebrews 10, 22, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith.

[16:27] By the time we finish the tabernacle, this is going to be our memorized verse. For a while, if you remember, it's Jeremiah 29, 11. I think as we're going through the patriarchs, behold the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, are not of evil, but of good, to give you a future and a hope.

[16:43] I think as we go through the tabernacle, this is our theme verse. But today we're going to look at the altar, which is in the very front of the tabernacle as you first come into the gates, into the court, and we're going to look at the actual perimeter of the court.

[17:00] So if you would join me in Exodus 27, verse 1, we will read. And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad.

[17:12] The altar shall be four square, and the height thereof shall be three cubits. So again, if you've not been measuring in cubits this week, seven and a half feet by seven and a half feet by four and a half feet tall.

[17:23] This is a pretty good sized altar. The altar, what is the altar? What do you do at the altar? It's a place of death. It's a place of death and sacrifice.

[17:35] The altar was to be glorious. It would be made of wood and then it was eventually overlaid with brass. It was glorious, but deadly.

[17:46] Hebrews 9.22 says, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission. Sins, the altar, the glorious place, but deadly.

[18:01] Remember when Noah got off the ark and the whole ecosystem had changed, the whole structure had changed, physiologically, humanity had changed, where they had lived predominantly before the flood on the fruits of the ground.

[18:16] Well, now God says, hey, you're going to live by animals. You're going to eat them, but don't eat the blood. And then he says about the blood of man, he says, Surely your blood of your lives will I require, this is Genesis 9.

[18:30] At the hand of every beast will I require it. At the hand of man, at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man, who so sheds man's blood. By man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man.

[18:44] Blood would be required for the life and the liberation of man. Blood is the requirement. And that blood would be shed at the God-given place of blood, the altar.

[18:59] It wasn't just, you know what, I don't really want to go and sacrifice in the tabernacle at the altar. We're just going to do it in our house. Honey, bring the lamb in. It's going to be a little messy. No blood would be required for the life and liberation of man, but it would be shed at the God-given place.

[19:17] It was his decision, his choice, and his place where that lamb would shed his blood. At the altar, there's death, there's blood, and there's fire. There's also judgment, atonement, and consecration at the altar.

[19:33] The construction of the tabernacle has to this point displayed to us God's approach to meeting with man, hasn't it?

[19:45] If you think of what we've looked at, here's a little kind of overview. We looked at the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies, and the next thing God tells Moses is he moves out from there and he goes to the holy place, and he says, here's what you're going to do to set up the table of showbread.

[19:59] Here's what you're going to do to set up the lampstand. And then he does the veil that separates between the holy place and the most holy. But what did he not cover? The altar of incense.

[20:10] Why not that? And I was wrong. Last week I said that was the last thing. It's not. The bronze laver. So now he's started inward. He skips the altar of incense, and God jumps out all the way to the front of the tabernacle and says, now we're going to talk about the burnt offering, and then we're going to talk about the courtyard around, and we're going to talk about the entrance in.

[20:31] And then he'll jump back to the altar of incense before he comes out again to the bronze laver. And we'll look at why about all of those things. But right now, what I want you to see is, I believe what we've seen is, God was showing us his approach to meeting with man.

[20:46] God's approach is the interior of the tabernacle. God's approach is, I've given my presence in my word and at the mercy seat. It's a holy place. Holy of holies. And in the holy place, I've given the bread of life, the showbread.

[20:58] And the light of the world, the lampstand. That's all God's part. God brings all of that. And he says, now man, oh man, how do you approach me? How do we come to God?

[21:10] Before man could progress into the presence of God, he had to first deal with the altar. There'd be no getting around it. For man, as we come now to the place that God has established, his tabernacle, I want to dwell with God.

[21:21] The first thing we come into that we see is the burnt offering. And I think now we're going to see this picture of how man progresses into God's presence, where God has established his presence.

[21:33] And the altar of incense and the bronze laver both have to do with a man interacts with God. But first, he comes to the altar. Verse two, and he shall make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof.

[21:45] His horns shall be of the same and thou shalt overlay it with brass. This is a four square altar with four corners. It means it's accessible from all sides and from all directions. It's not closed off in any direction.

[21:59] Look before, bronze meaning judgment or trial or as by fire. Bronze could withstand the heat, something that could withstand the fire or the judgment. And we've been in Revelation on Wednesday night and all I could think of was in Revelation chapter one where John sees Jesus, this vision of Jesus as he is in Revelation.

[22:20] He says, and I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and gird about the paps with a golden girdle and a sash.

[22:36] And his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire and his feet like undefined brass as if they burned in a furnace.

[22:47] And his voice is the sound of many waters. Be covered with brass, something that can withstand the heat, withstand the fire. There's a picture of Jesus standing in judgment, standing in the fire for us.

[23:00] But there's four horns. What are these horns for? I mean, they're just decorative. What's the point of them? Psalm 118, 27 gives us a little glimpse into what they're for.

[23:11] It says, God is the Lord which has showed us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords even under the horns of the altar. It wasn't that it was alive and they were binding it there. They would, at the base of the altar, they would slit the throat but the sacrifice would be laid out and tied to the horns of the altar.

[23:30] The horns represent something that's complete and secure. More specifically, a complete and secure commitment that what you are giving in sacrifice, what is going on at the altar, is not coming off the altar.

[23:44] And I read out of the King James. You know, we've talked about this before. I don't think it's the only version. It's just the one for me because it's what I've memorized. It's what comes to mind whenever a scripture comes to mind.

[23:55] It's in that flow. I like the flow of it. But in the King James, I love where it says, you shall make the horns of it upon the four corners. His horns shall be of the same. It's referring to the altar.

[24:06] It's horns, you could say. But I like how it's translated his into the English. His horns. The horns secured his complete and consecrated offering.

[24:19] Secured his offering, which was complete and fully consecrated at the place of sacrifice. As Jesus, in John 19, bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, God is the one who determines where the sacrifice was to be made and where the blood was to be shed.

[24:40] And he took that cross and he went to the place called the skull, which is in the Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him. And his complete and consecrated sacrifice, it was held in that place of sacrifice, not by cords, but by nails.

[24:56] And there's no coming off that altar as Jesus offered himself. His horns, his complete and consecrated sacrifice. And you shall make his pans to receive his ashes and his shovels and his basins and his flesh hooks and his fire pans.

[25:10] All the vessels thereof should be made of brass. So all the implements that would be used in the fire of ministry, in the place of the fire of the offering, being the burnt offering, would first themselves go through the fire and would be purged and forged by fire before they could be used at the place of fire.

[25:31] And it's where they would receive the ashes. I like this picture someone made better. It kind of shows, we're going to read in a minute here, there's a grate in the middle of it and so the ashes would fall beneath and they would scoop them out.

[25:45] You think, well, those are worthless. Just the ashes, what does it matter? They're not wasted. Nothing's overlooked or wasted in the worship of God when we sacrifice for God. Not even the ashes.

[25:57] They will also have a purpose. Isaiah 61 says, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise, the spirit of heaviness.

[26:18] God doesn't overlook even the ashes. Even the ashes of our own lives. There ain't nothing that can come from that. That relationship's toast. That bridge is burned. That situation's not redeemable.

[26:29] God says, oh no, I'm going to make beauty. You give me your ashes. I'll give you something beautiful. Peter, when he says to the Lord, we've forsaken all and followed you, Lord.

[26:42] What shall we have therefore? In Matthew 19, verse 29, in every one, Jesus says, that's forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake shall receive a hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life.

[27:02] God never overlooks anything. Anything in our worship or sacrifice for him. Lord, it's too much. He says, you'll receive a hundredfold and everlasting life.

[27:16] And yes, it means going through the fire. It means that if we want to be used by God in the worship of God and the ministry of God at the place of fire, it means we have to go through the fire.

[27:26] We have to be tested and going through the fire so that we can then be purified and used and forged. But even then, the Lord doesn't leave us alone. Isaiah 43, 2, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

[27:42] When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle upon you. Now, if you had that promise, what would you do?

[27:53] Like, if you were fireproof, okay, physically fireproof, what would you do? Man, I'd be looking for fire all the time. Like, hey, watch this. Didn't burn me. I'd be going through fire everywhere I could find it if I was fireproof.

[28:06] So the Lord says, hey, you're not going to be burned and the fire is not going to kindle upon you. I don't need to then fear when the fire is in front of me. Okay, Lord, let's go through this. Boom, we're going to come out the other side as gold refined in the fire.

[28:19] Verse 4, and you shall make for a grate. So that's going to sit down inside of this altar. A network of brass upon the net you shall make for brazen rings in the four corners thereof.

[28:31] You have the four corners. You shall put it under the compass of the altar beneath that the net may be even to the midst of the altar. And you shall make staves for the altar, the staves of Shittimwood and overlay them with brass.

[28:45] The staves shall be put into the rings and the staves shall be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it. So everything that God is having them make is to be born, is to be carried. It's not something that's just a one and done.

[28:57] God says, no, this is to be carried throughout your entire life. This is something we bear. All of the implements of the tabernacle, they would be born by men, people. Like we said, it's not like God just picks this thing up and miraculously drops it wherever they go.

[29:13] We have to bear them. We have to bear each of these things. It's very simple, this setup that we've looked at. It's not super complicated. It's sacred, yes, but it's simple.

[29:26] But it's not to be carried lightly. It's something that we have to bear and it's heavy. It can be heavy. It's brass, wood overlaid with brass. It's going to be a heavy thing.

[29:41] Galatians chapter 6, verse 14, Paul writes, but God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.

[29:55] From henceforth, let no man trouble me for I bear, I carry in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. It can be a heavy thing.

[30:07] It's very simple. It's very simple. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has simply and effectively done for me what nobody else and nothing else could do. It's brought me into relationship with God.

[30:18] It's very simple to put my faith in Christ. It could be a heavy thing to bear in our bodies the marks of that relationship. But how does he end that there? The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[30:30] It's by grace that we progress forward. So here is the full altar put together. And I didn't do this. This is this guy's channel that I'm so thankful for. And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood five cubits long and five cubits broad.

[30:47] The altar shall be four square and the height thereof shall be three cubits. And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof. His horns shall be of the same and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

[31:03] And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes and his shovels and his basins and his flesh hooks and his fire pans. All the vessels thereof thou shalt make of brass.

[31:16] And thou shalt make for it a great of network of brass. And upon the net shall thou make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof. And thou shalt put it under the compass of the altar beneath that the net may be even to the midst of the altar.

[31:34] And thou shalt make staves for the altar staves of shidimwood and overlay them with brass. And the stave shall be put into the rings and the stave shall be upon the two sides of the altar to bear it.

[31:49] Follow it. So there's there's our our altar. Place of sacrifice a place of death a place of fire and yet every part of that can withstand the fire.

[32:03] Verse 8 hollow with boards shall you make it. As it was showed you in the mount so shall you make it. And we've seen that as each section kind of ends.

[32:14] God reiterates to Moses make it as you've seen it Moses. Don't change anything. It's four square Moses. Don't make a round one. Don't make an octagonal one. Four sided Moses. What we obtain on our mountaintop experiences with God is to then be practically implemented in our daily journey with God.

[32:32] There's things that God gives us in these mountaintop experiences and then they're to take and we implement them practically in our daily experience of journeying with God. This altar is going to get old. We're going to carry it for years.

[32:45] A lot of sacrifices are going to be put on it. You know in the moment when God does something new and big and exciting it's like whoa God that's amazing. That's beautiful. But it gets old.

[32:56] We get used to it. We get comfortable with it. Do we still see it in the same light? Are we still able to approach it in the same way and understand what it is? It's by faith we practically implement the things that God speaks to us in our daily journey.

[33:12] So now the court of the tabernacle. In verse 9 for the south side southward you shall make the court. There shall be hangings of the court of fine twined linen. Linen means something bleached white.

[33:26] Twined linen of a hundred cubits long for the one side shall it be. 150 feet long on one side shall it be. It shall be what? Bleached white fine linen all around this thing on both sides front and back.

[33:45] Revelation chapter 19 verse 7 says let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready. I can't wait for that.

[33:56] First the rapture. And seven years of feasting with the Lord as he wraps things up down here as we're looking at a revelation. For the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white for fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.

[34:18] So God is instituting here he said you shall make the court of the tabernacle surrounded with fine linen. The court would be a place that was clean righteous and pure. When you enter into it you'd be surrounded by that.

[34:30] 150 feet long on one side and there'll be 20 pillars thereof and their 20 sockets shall be of brass. What they would sit in to hold them upright and the hooks of the pillar and their fillets shall be of silver.

[34:43] What does that mean? Well in our rendering that we're using it he shows this and he shows the fillets of silver being like just decorative but I don't think so. In the Hebrew the term seems to be hanging and it makes more sense because while that looks nice how in the world are you really going to stretch the linen to actually stay that taut and in place?

[35:05] I think what it means is you're going to have the wooden pillar, you're going to have a brass base that it's going to sit in and then there will be silver poles that the fine linen will hang off of that will be between each one.

[35:18] So you're going to have corruptible pillars of wood that are securely standing in an incorruptible base. a base that was forged out of brass and fire and judgment.

[35:29] You're going to have a boundary of white held together by silver and supported by brass. A boundary of grace hung upon redemption grounded in judgment is the court that the Lord is making here for his people.

[35:45] That says when you come into my courts you will come into a place of a boundary of grace that's hung upon redemption but it's grounded in judgment. That's our relationship with the Lord.

[35:56] And likewise he's going to reiterate the same thing here on the north side is the same as the south side. In length there shall be hangings of 100 cubits long or 150 feet and his 20 pillars there are 20 sockets of brass the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

[36:10] And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of 50 cubits or 75 feet as you where is that one image there we go as we look all around this thing.

[36:20] pillars of 10 and their sockets 10 and the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall also be 75 feet. The hangings of one side of the gate now he comes to the front so we looked at two sides in the back and he says now in the front there shall be 15 cubits three pillars thereof and three sockets thereof and on the other side of the gate there shall be hangings 15 cubits there are pillars three and there are sockets three so you're going to have 22 and a half feet on each side and then the gate in the middle.

[36:57] And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of 20 cubits of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen wrought with needlework and their pillars shall be four and their sockets four.

[37:11] So we've seen this before. We've seen the blue purple and scarlet and the fine twine linen with needlework before. We saw that the veil separating the holy place from the holy of holies.

[37:21] We also saw it at the door to the tabernacle going from the court into the holy place. There's an image there. You can see the going into the tabernacle you'd have that same thing.

[37:32] The gate of the court will be 30 feet long. There's only one entrance into the court of the tabernacle. There's only one way in. There's only one entrance into the tabernacle and there's only one entrance into the into the holy place.

[37:48] The holy holies I mean. And they're all the same thing. They're all blue and purple and scarlet. Fine twine linen. They're all the same. There's only one way in though.

[38:00] Jesus says in John chapter 10, truly truly I say unto you he that enters not by the door into the sheepfold but climbs up some other way the same as a thief and a robber. Well that kind of gives up different pictures.

[38:12] We're looking at the court of the tabernacle. Someone climbing up over. There's only one way to enter in. The same as a thief and a robber. But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

[38:24] Then said Jesus unto them again truly truly I say unto you I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved.

[38:37] He shall go in and out and find pasture. There's only one door. It's the same door. And yet there's depth to our relationship with God.

[38:50] We come through the door into the gates of the tabernacle in a place of purity and redemption and God says come deeper. You go into the holy place. It's the same door. This looks familiar. Then you hit the veil.

[39:01] The holy of holies. It's all the same. From without you cannot see what's within the tabernacle. Can you? You can get a glimpse of it when you look at the door.

[39:13] You see the door. Hey I want to go in there. You know when Jesus during his ministry was giving a glimpse in a sense into the kingdom of God into the doorway into the life that was available.

[39:28] All they could see was what he displayed. But there's so much more depth for those who choose to put their faith in him. Hebrews 2 verse 9. But we see Jesus who is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

[39:49] We just see Jesus. We don't see that glory that he has now above the angels. We just see this Jesus who died on a cross for us. But through that door we see all that's available to us in God's presence.

[40:03] God lays out man's approach to God. It is through the door and then by way of the altar that men will first encounter God.

[40:14] When you come through that door the first thing you see is that altar. Psalm 100 verse 4 says enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise, be thankful unto him and bless his name for the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations.

[40:34] Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. The first thing you see as you enter that gates is what? The altar. Verse 17, and the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver, their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

[40:46] They're all alike, but they all stand unique for their own purpose, don't they? They each have a purpose. They're all the same, what's it matter? But they're each unique, each holding a part in the whole.

[41:00] And the length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, 150 feet, and the breadth 50, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. 150 feet by 75 feet by seven and a half feet tall.

[41:14] So you can't peek over the top. Only way in is through the door. All the vessels of the tabernacle and all the service thereof and all the pins thereof and all the pins of the court shall be of brass.

[41:26] Shall be used in God's service. As we read this morning, Psalm 84 to my soul longs, yet even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cries out for the living God.

[41:40] Psalm 65, verse four. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. Who does God choose? Those who meet the qualification of those who are chosen.

[41:52] God will choose any who put their faith in him. That he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

[42:05] As David writes that one, there is no temple. Psalm 96, 8. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, bring an offering, and come into his courts.

[42:16] Makes sense now, doesn't it? Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, come into his courts, but you come in with an offering. And then as we put all of this together, the tabernacle, courtyard.

[42:35] And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle for the south side, southward. There shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen, of an hundred cubits long for one side, and the twenty pillars thereof, and their twenty sockets shall be of brass.

[42:53] The hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise for the north side in length, there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

[43:12] And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits.

[43:28] The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three. And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three.

[43:43] And for the gate of the court shall be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue and purple and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework.

[43:55] And their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four. All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver, their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass.

[44:09] And the length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen. And their sockets of brass.

[44:21] All the vessels of the tabernacle, and all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court shall be of brass. So there's our tabernacle.

[44:37] Only one way in. A place that is surrounded by purity, by righteousness, it's clean, there's only one method to enter in.

[44:51] It's through the gate, and the first thing we run into is the altar. Two verses left before we wrap this up. So we've looked at the altar, and we've looked at the court, and then the Lord, speaking to Moses on the mountain, kind of just throws these two in there.

[45:10] He says, and you shall command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure olive oil, beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.

[45:21] In chapter 28, we're going to get into the priest's garments, and we'll be in them. Chapter 29 is the consecration of the priests, food for the priests, and the altar of incense is until chapter 30.

[45:36] So before that, he throws this in there, they're like, hey, there needs to be a source. There needs to be a source for the lamp, the lampstand. As you shall command the children of Israel, they bring thee pure olive oil.

[45:48] This is not an option. This is not negotiable. You shall command them. This shall be. But they must still bring it. They must still choose to do that.

[45:59] The act of supplying the oil was not to be an option. You shall. But it would still need to be chosen upon and acted upon. There's still a choice involved, to bring it or not. God said, this is something that shall be done.

[46:14] It'll be pure olive oil, beaten for the light. Beaten means pressed, to be pressed. And that's how they would make the olive oil. They'd press the olives for this lamp to burn always.

[46:25] In the Hebrew, literally, burn always means to ascend. For the lamp to be ascending, always ascending. And I think that's the idea that the flames that go upwards, it seems like they're always ascending.

[46:35] To obtain the oil contained in the olives, the olives would first be crushed. How do you make olive oil? The resulting oil is then separated out from impurities and collected into separate vessels then.

[46:49] First thing that happens to the olives is they'll need to die. Every single one of those olives will need to die, need to be crushed for what's within to come out.

[47:00] Turn to Isaiah 53 if you would. And I think we turn here a lot.

[47:17] Isaiah 53 in verse 5. When you hear the rustling stop, I'll go. But he was wounded for our transgressions.

[47:31] He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. Jump down to verse 10 with me if you would.

[47:42] The in-between verses are really good too. But verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord, literally in the Hebrew, to crush him.

[47:53] Yet it pleased the Lord to crush him. He hath put him to grief. Why? When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.

[48:05] We're back at the offering. You were back at the altar. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Why would he crush him? What came out?

[48:18] His seed. You and me. He crushed him. It pleased him to do that. The pure oil extracted from the olives was extracted through pain, through suffering, and through death of those olives to allow the light of the lamp to shine forth continually.

[48:38] And pleased the Lord to crush that source so that that lamp, that light could forever shine. John chapter 1, verse 4, in him was life. In him was life.

[48:50] How do you get it out? You gotta crush it. And the life was the light of men which allows us then to partake forever of that source. Exodus 27, verse 21.

[49:05] In the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his son shall order it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

[49:21] So they're gonna supply this oil. Now here, it only mentions from evening to morning. There's the morning and evening sacrifice and at that time they would trim the wicks and replace the oil so that it would continually burn.

[49:34] If the lamp is not lit inside the tabernacle when you go through that door, the door of the tabernacle, the second entrance, courts, the door, and that closes behind you, that veil, it's dark.

[49:46] There's no source of light except this one. So they were to light that. This light, it was to be a present light where they were.

[49:58] It was a purposed light and it was perpetual. And all that God does on behalf of his people, he does it presently with purpose and yet perpetual.

[50:14] I mean, here we are presently but eternal. That's how God works. But they were to light this lamp but I like right here in Exodus it says from evening to morning, God's light was to perpetually shine in the darkest times of his people's lives.

[50:28] The darkest moments of their lives during the night season, God says, no, there's a light shining. There's a light in the tabernacle. John chapter 1, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.

[50:41] In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. He came unto his own and his own received him not.

[50:51] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. We partake in that light. His life was the light of men.

[51:04] To them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God.

[51:15] We come by God's means, by God's method and his God who brings the supply. The tabernacle has shown us that it is God's will that we draw near to him.

[51:27] It is God who gives the direction. This is the means by which you do this and it is God who lights the way and I put is, is God. It is God who lights the way.

[51:40] Psalm 119, 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. God desires us to come into his presence. He's given us a means to do it. He's lighted the way. We are commanded to be part of that but we still have to choose.

[51:54] Now it's going to happen irregardless because God's means and methods and God's plans they're not going to be thwarted but do we partake of that? Are we going to be a part of that? We are told in Luke 12 that we should let our loins be girded about and your light's burning like ready to run.

[52:11] They wore long skirts, long robes, hiked up and ready to run and your light's burning and you yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding that when he comes and knocks they may open unto him immediately.

[52:27] Let your lights be burning. Keep them always full. Let them burn. Ephesians 5, 8 for you are sometimes darkness but now are you light in the Lord.

[52:37] Walk as children of light. God's road map brings us through the door and face to face with the altar. It's the first thing we come face to face with isn't it?

[52:50] As we come into God's presence he's built this tabernacle this place we can meet with him but as we come in the door and we enter into his gates with thanksgiving what do we hit first? We hit sin. We hit death.

[53:02] The wages of sin is death. Romans 6, 23. That's the first thing we come face to face with. Hebrews 9, 22 all things are purged by blood. And if we were living in this time and you'd probably see the Bromka family going to the tabernacle a lot.

[53:19] There they go again. I wonder what he did this time. Come on, let's bring the sacrifice for sin. Right? What a walk of shame. Man, I just did this last week, yesterday.

[53:32] Here I go again leading this thing. To come into God's presence I have to bring this. I have to bring this sacrifice. I have to again put it on the altar and again thank you God.

[53:43] Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for cleansing me. I come and I confess this. We come face to face with sin and death as we come into God's presence. How are we going to reconcile that?

[53:53] How are we going to deal with that? I don't want to come. I don't want anyone to see my shame. So I'm just going to I'm just not going to go. I'll just stay here. Or in our own effort do we continue to try?

[54:09] We come face to face with sin and death but we also come to a place of sacrifice. And at that place of sacrifice is redemption because of the shedding of blood. John 1 29 The next day John the Baptist sees Jesus Jesus coming unto him and saith behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

[54:33] Behold the Lamb. How many lambs are you going to bring for your sin? John says there it is. There's the Lamb. 1 John 2 2 And he is the propitiation the payment the satisfaction the puzzle piece for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

[54:51] He's the one. And lastly I say lastly but for right now Hebrews 9 Neither by the blood of bulls or goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us.

[55:10] For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies them to purifying the flesh like if you could go and like the priest would declare yep you're clean outwardly but how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience inside from dead works to serve the living God.

[55:37] Because of the eternal sacrifice of the Lamb of God you and I will never have to walk the walk of shame again. You will never have to walk the walk of shame to that altar again for the sake of your sin.

[55:49] Jesus walked that walk for us. See yeah but I've sinned okay but you don't need to walk the walk of shame. You don't need to hang your head and say man I've I've sinned it's my guilt it's separating me from God what do I do I need to go and confess I need to you just need to go to the Lord.

[56:08] The door the door is there and it's open he's the door. The altar needs a sacrifice but he's the Lamb. He's bore our grief he's carried our sorrow it's his shame that he took upon himself so that we could have his righteousness.

[56:25] You see drawing near to God is not difficult but it's very detailed as we've seen and we cannot skip or negotiate the steps by which we approach God but we can approach we can approach but we can't skip any of those steps.

[56:40] Isaiah 55 says seek you the Lord while he may be found call you upon him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord.

[56:54] You see your way and your thoughts will keep you from going to the Lord. My way and my thoughts will always because I'll think I have to walk that walk of shame but the Lord's removed that.

[57:07] We don't come any longer to an altar that requires a sacrifice. let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon because the sacrifice has been made.

[57:30] We can draw near. Hebrews 10.22 let us draw near with a true heart there it is in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

[57:42] The sacrifice has been made and the door stands open there is a way in but are we going to take it? I don't know where all of you stand with the Lord I hope you've walked through that door but if you're not because you think yeah it's so shameful if you were to know I don't want to know and I don't need to know right?

[58:02] The sacrifice has been made when we walk through that door what we find is an altar it's not in use anymore because the lamb has been slain you can draw near you know it's a place that's pure it's holy it's righteous you didn't need to do that God established all of that we can abide there and we can stay there but I think we have drawn near I hope all of us in here we put our faith in Christ like oh wonderful Jesus has made the sacrifice of sin and death on my behalf great but to what end?

[58:37] to what end? so that we can draw near to God but so that we also might have the privilege of making a sacrifice on his behalf so we might live as living sacrifices of light and life on his behalf Romans 12 1 says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service come on now he became a dead sacrifice I can be a living sacrifice but why don't we because we we think I can't live up to that I can't I can't bring enough there and I can't bring what do I have to offer it's by the mercies of God again it's the inward work that produces the outward action a living sacrifice but the thing about a living sacrifice it's bound to climb off the altar isn't it well that was interesting that didn't work out well a living sacrifice will climb off the altar so it needs to be bound doesn't it how do we bind ourselves to that altar

[59:48] I'm going to bind myself to this through effort through will not will but how am I going to do that Colossians 3 14 and above all these things put on love which is the bond of wholeness we are bound by love I'm bound by love I don't have to I'm going to go out work hard for Jesus man that doesn't bring me into relationship with Jesus I've already been brought into relationship to Jesus because the door was open and the sacrifice was made but because I have relationship with Jesus I now get to go and live for Jesus as a living sacrifice but a living sacrifice is sounds a lot of fun doesn't it it's pressed and it's crushed so that the life within might be revealed Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 we are pressed on every side yet not distressed we are perplexed but not in despair we're persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed always bearing always carrying about in the body the dying of the

[61:03] Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodies a living sacrifice is pressed that the life might be revealed for I'm crucified with Christ and nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me how does that life get out I wonder how does the life within me become expressed I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me do I believe that do I have faith that when I'm being pressed and crushed did you think it would be easy did you think a living sacrifice would be fun did you think would always be a cake walk to be a sacrifice to live a life of death so that the life of God might be expressed outwardly you say God I feel so weighed down I feel like I'm being pressed and crushed why well because Christ lives in me and he wants that life to come out a living sacrifice it's bound by love it's not something we do by work or effort it's not meant to put a trip on us it's a privilege because we also then have a living altar a living sacrifice partakes at a living altar because we have an altar whereof they speaking of the

[62:33] Old Testament priesthood they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle we have an altar that we can come to that they can't partake of theirs was one under the law they pointed forward to our altar but we come and we partake at the place that God established for death for blood for redemption and then we enter in through the door in a place of purity and righteousness and joy oil in scripture that fresh oil represents the Holy Spirit represents anointing represents joy what is coming out of your life what's coming out of my life when it's pressed!

[63:15] out Galatians 5 22 the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering gentleness! goodness faith how do you partake of fruit?

[63:28] well if it's wax you put it in your you know you look at it you bite it you see what's in there you squish it you make juice meekness temperance against such there is no law and they that are Christ have crucified the flesh the affections and lust why because I want that fruit to come out if we live in the spirit that's the easy part guys that's the part that's easy God puts his life within us we live in the spirit and Paul says well let us also walk in it well if it's in there let it come out if you're alive in the spirit with the pure oil of the spirit to live a life that reflects the light of the world so that we can be a source for that light see living a life of sacrifice it's not always easy it's not always comfortable but it is always good always good

[64:32] Psalm 31 19 oh how great is your goodness which you have laid up for those who fear you which you have prepared for those who trust in you in the presence of the sons of men that's who we are because we've entered the door because we come to a place where the Lamb of God became a sacrifice for us we now live as living sacrifices we get the life of Christ because he died my death of sin do you want that I don't want that is it always easy no it's not it always comfortable very uncomfortable do we feel crushed and pressed Do we feel forsaken and abandoned sometimes?

[65:11] Yeah but we have a source that is continual and pure righteous I don't know what you need this morning but the Lord does I know I need more the altar the sacrifice is closed you can't bring another one it's done maybe you got a whole bunch of sheep lined up you're like just prepared to try and do something to make myself feel better it's closed you get there and it's like it's a closed sign it's just a memorial now but it's become a source a continual source of life for us so if you need that I just ask you to open your heart this morning let the Lord fill you afresh if what's coming out of your life every time you're bitten squished punched crushed it's not the fruit of the spirit you're not going to gain it by effort you're not going to work yourself back into it you're going to come back to that the!

[66:12] maybe! that I met with God that one time maybe that's not going to work that way you're going to have to start inward you're to say Lord I need a fresh source I need a fresh filling now we come back to the altar not to offer a sacrifice but to remember a sacrifice and yes today would have been a great day for communion but every Sunday would be!

[66:30] we're going Lord they're righteous oh Lord but they're crushed they're broken they're bruised they're pressed and Lord sometimes we question what we've done wrong where did I go off that this is happening Lord we come back to your word and you tell us no no no no!

[67:30] you're following the plan you're following the blueprint you I've mapped it out and you're walking it come through the door you come to the altar now you live a life that produces something but the only way to get that out is like those olives as we pressed filtered and refined it's like that brass tried in the fire and purified Lord I pray that we who have the life of Christ in us we who now live not by our own works by the faith of the Son of God Lord we would today we would let go of our efforts we let go of our own sacrifices we let go of our shame Lord afraid to come back to you because we just keep walking that walk of shame and you just remind us Lord there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus the shame is done away you offer for us to climb up onto the altar

[68:33] Lord to bind ourselves to it with cords of love because it's a place no longer of death but of life we love you Lord and we thank you as we worship you now Lord take the things that you spoken to us from your word and make them alive in our lives and in our hearts and in your name I pray amen you know two things one whatever you're going through whatever it may feel like is pressing on you he knows he was pressed!

[69:10] to death we're being pressed for the sake of life right our pressing is for life he did the dying part already but there's a way in and there's also a way out amen the second timothy paul tells timothy!

[69:29] he says i'm ready to be offered i'm now ready to be offered the time of my departure is at hand i've fought a good fight i've finished my course i've kept the faith henceforth there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness the lord which the lord the righteous judge it's worth it guys it's worth it because the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared for the glory which shall come there's a way in and there's a way out amen the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face to shine upon you the lord be gracious unto you the lord lift up the light of his count on you give you peace god bless you