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[0:00] Hey guys, thanks for listening to our Calvary Chapel Charlotte podcast.! I will walk by faith and not by sight.

[0:48] Well, good morning everyone. I was reading this morning in Ephesians 5.

[0:58] No, not five. My bad. Ephesians 3, verse 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

[1:11] And I think sometimes in my humanity, I read that and I think, well, he's able, but is he willing? But I think the reality is that he's always above. Everything he does is always above what I would expect, what I would ever imagine.

[1:24] He always does things in a way that is always a blessing. He's always willing. According to the power that works in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end.

[1:37] Amen. Amen. Again, it's so interesting how, you know, just teaching through the Bible, just the themes and topics that the Lord wants to bring out.

[1:58] He brings out and he's definitely been bringing out over the last three or four weeks here, just this work of God. We've looked at his glorious work. We've looked at how his work is spectacular, how he wants to bring us into that work.

[2:09] He leads us into the work. He brings us into the work. And then we saw last week how he qualifies for the work. He said, well, who's, what are the requirements to do this work?

[2:20] How do you work this work? And Micah 6, 8 says, he has showed you, oh man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? You think, well, I can do that.

[2:35] But then you realize I can't do that. I can't do that. I can't do what is good. He's shown you what is good. Okay. He's shown me, but how do I do it? I can't do that. What does the Lord require to do justly?

[2:48] Have you tried to do justly? Have you seen the world around us? It's not a very just place. And as well-meaning as we are and as well-meaning as this world may be, it is lacking in justice.

[3:00] To love mercy. That's a hard one. I love it when people are merciful to me. Maybe that's what it means. Loving mercy. Yes. Please be merciful to me. It's hard to love mercy.

[3:11] It's hard to love mercy when I know that person doesn't deserve mercy. When they haven't treated me mercifully. And to walk humbly with your God. Now, there's a big one. That one.

[3:22] How do you walk humbly with your God? Humble yourselves, therefore, into the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due times. To walk humbly with our God. To put my desires, needs, wants, and expectations aside.

[3:34] Just to continue in what God's called us to do. So, we can enter into this work because why? Well, like we saw last week, that beautiful picture of the courtyard of the tabernacle.

[3:46] That wooden post in a foundation of brass with a silver cross beam. And hanging off of it was those white linens. At the cross, righteousness was hung upon redemption.

[3:58] And it was pinned in place by judgment. Those brass pins. Well, Jesus had those nails hammered into his hands. And all the requirements for the work of God were satisfied on our behalf.

[4:09] He satisfied it. So that now, what is required of me? Well, he met the requirements. I can enter into this work. God has given us the privilege to enter into his work.

[4:20] Like we saw last week, to be under rowers. Right? We're not directing the ship. We're not on the tiller. We're just pulling. And just pulling. We're just as under rowers. But God's work, it's also not an optional work.

[4:36] It's not something we can just be like, well, that's kind of neat. I hope that's good for you. Jesus said in John chapter 9, verse 4. He said, I must work the works of him that sent me.

[4:49] I must. I must do this. Well, it is day. The night comes when no man can work. There's a time that's appropriate to work. And Jesus said, this isn't something that's optional. I must work this work.

[5:01] Paul would write in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 15 through 17. He says, see then that you, us, the church, walk circumspectly.

[5:12] Walk in awareness. Walk not as fools. In other words, the fool is not aware of anything that's going on. But as wise. Redeeming the time because the days are evil.

[5:23] Wherefore, be you not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. It's God's will. This is God's desire. Redeem the time. Why? Because the days are evil. God wants to redeem.

[5:35] His whole purpose is to redeem. It's what we sing about at Christmas, that Jesus came to redeem. Well, these are very evil days. And God's desire is that we be part of that work that he's doing to redeem.

[5:49] Couple more scriptures. Romans 10, 13. I mean, Romans 13, 10. Dyslexic moment. Through 12. Love works no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

[6:00] And that knowing the time. What time? Well, evil days that need redemption. Now it is high time to awake out of sleep. Because Jesus said it's day and it's time to work the works of God in the day.

[6:14] Awake out of sleep. For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. You see, we have not yet received the fullness of our salvation. Now we are fully saved, but we have not received the full experience of that.

[6:26] We are not in glory yet. We have not received that full promise where Jesus said, hey, you're going to be with me forever. And you're going to be in my father's house. And I'm going to give you a new body.

[6:38] No, so our salvation is near every day. It's a little bit near, right? Every day we pass through one of those evil days that needs redemption. The night is far spent. The day is at hand.

[6:49] Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. It's time, guys. We are in the days where God's work needs to be done. There will be darker days ahead.

[7:00] There are darker days coming for the church. And then darker days when the church is removed and they are no longer here. It will be a very dark time in this world. But we are to put on the armor of light.

[7:11] And a couple of verses later in Romans 13, it says, but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ. So today we're going to look at, as Moses wraps up kind of writing about the design of the tabernacle, the furniture of the tabernacle, the equipment of the tabernacle, and all of this.

[7:28] He's going to wrap it up now as he's going to look at the garments of the priest. And so we have looked at one who's called into the work of God. We've looked at what's needed to be qualified into God's work.

[7:39] And so today we're going to look at the one who serves. What does the one who serves look like? The one who's been led into this spectacular work, qualified for this spectacular work, a work that's not optional.

[7:50] Well, what does the one who serves look like? So we're going to jump into Exodus 39, where, again, he's going to be speaking of the priest's garment as Moses kind of finishes wrapping up.

[8:02] Here is now the implements that are being made. So all of this is Bezalel and Aholiab and those guys that are wise in heart, that have been given understanding with willing hearts. They've been coming and putting all this stuff together.

[8:13] And so they put all the last pieces of the tabernacle together, as we saw last week. And then Moses now is saying, OK, now here is the last piece, which is the garments of the priest.

[8:25] It's the one who serves in all of this wonderful and glorious work. There is one who will serve. Verse one of Exodus 39. And of the blue and purple and scarlet, they made cloths of service to do service in the holy place and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.

[8:44] Now, Exodus 28, we went in depth into all of this because that's where we first saw where when Moses was on the mountain, he got God gave instructions to Moses for the priest's garment.

[8:55] And we saw how just beautifully it reflects Jesus. So we're going to go pretty quick through this. I mean, there's 43 verses. We're going to go pretty quick and just we're not going to go into depth in all these things. But we want to see is we want to see this beautiful picture of the person who's serving in God's work.

[9:09] And I think we can see that through the garments, how Jesus and how the Lord calls and equips those that are part of his work. So chapter 39 is just describing now these garments of service again and their implementation here.

[9:24] And of blue and a purple and a scarlet, they made clothes of service. So we saw that in the tabernacle and the hangings in the entrance into the holy place, the entrance to the holy of holies, the covering over the tabernacle, the inner covering.

[9:37] You have here again, the blue, the purple and scarlet. So blue heavenly, purple royal and scarlet redemption. The one who serves in the work of God looks very heavenly.

[9:49] He looks very royal. It looks like one is redeemed. But also the one who serves, he looks like a high priest. The one who serves in the work of God, he looks like a high priest.

[10:02] All of these amazing implements. Not anybody can just go into the tabernacle. Not anybody can just say, well, pick me and sign me up. He has to be a priest. And specifically here, he looks like a high priest.

[10:15] We're going to let the scripture do a lot of our commentating today. I won't have a ton to say until towards the end. We'll just let the scripture commentate on this. I think it has so much more to say and so much better to say than I could say it.

[10:28] But the one who serves, he looks like a high priest. And Hebrews 4, 14 to 15 says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens.

[10:38] Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession. He's done his part really, really well. He held fast to his profession.

[10:49] Cannot we hold fast to ours? For we have not a high priest who, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like we are, yet as without sin.

[10:59] You see, the priest was specifically to stand between God and man for what purpose? Well, the next verse, Hebrews 4, 16 tells us, therefore, let us come boldly under the throne of grace, that we may obtain grace and find mercy to help in time of need.

[11:14] The priest stood between God and man for the sake of mercy and grace. The one who serves looks a lot like a high priest who stands between God and man for the purpose of mercy and grace.

[11:26] We see here, the one who serves, he's also obedient to the commands of God. As the Lord commanded Moses, the one who serves obeys God's commands. Jesus in that role in John 14, 31, he says, but that the world may know that I love the father.

[11:40] And as the father gave me commandment, even so I do. The one who serves, he obeys God's commands. You think, well, of course he does. Yes, of course he does.

[11:51] But man, I claim to serve the Lord. I don't always obey his commands. We also see here, the one who serves, he takes part in a holy work.

[12:03] They were to make clothes of service, to do service in the holy place. And they made holy garments for Aaron. The one who serves takes part in a holy work. And the one who serves is clothed in holiness as well.

[12:17] 1 Peter 1, 14-16. Peter says that we are to be as obedient children, not fashioning ourselves according to the former lusts in our ignorance.

[12:28] Not fashioning ourselves. Not taking up the look and actions that were according to our fleshly desires. And we did that in ignorance. Well, we're not ignorant anymore. We know that now he who sows to the flesh, love the flesh, reap corruption.

[12:41] I'm not ignorant of that anymore. So I shouldn't be continuing in that. But as he which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation, a manner of conduct and lifestyle.

[12:52] Because it is written, be you holy, for I am holy. And that is a direct quote from Leviticus 11, 44-45. Which we'll probably get to in 2026. But holiness is fashionable to God.

[13:07] He says it right here. He says, don't fashion yourselves according to your unholy desires. Holiness is fashionable. God says, be clothed in holiness. Holiness, that's his brand. It's a very holy brand.

[13:19] Ephesians 4, 24 says, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. That's what we're to be clothed with. That's what we put on. Those who serve in service to God, they are very fashionable in their holiness.

[13:37] After God is created in righteousness and true holiness. And so the one who serves looks a lot like a high priest. And he does so in a holy work with holy garments.

[13:48] And now Moses is going to tell us a little bit about those garments, specifically as they're being made. The first is the ephod. Remember, the ephod is, nobody knows exactly what it looked like.

[13:58] But it would be what would be the purple middle part and then the shoulder pieces. Was it that small or did it encompass more of like a smock or an apron? Either way, that is what the ephod is.

[14:11] And so we're looking at the ephod. We're going to look at his, the crown of golden crown on his forehead. We're going to see the shoulder pads, the blue robe. So the things that were specific to the high priest were the golden crown, the ephod and the blue robe.

[14:26] All of the priests would have had a white turban, a white robe, and then a sash or a belt made of the purple, the blue and the scarlet. And it says in verse two, and he made, so this would be Aholiab, Bezalel and all those guys.

[14:41] And they made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen. And so here we have added in gold. It's not just the blue, the purple and the scarlet. We now have gold.

[14:52] But this is a symbol, the priest's garment, especially the ephod, are specifically a symbol of what? Of who he is. The symbol of the authority that he has.

[15:03] The one who serves, he does so with authority. Because that authority comes from God. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus is talking to the disciples who have just come back from being sent out to heal the sick and to preach the gospel of the kingdom and to cast out demons.

[15:21] And they are excited. And Jesus said, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not.

[15:34] In other words, don't let this be your cause of joy. That seems pretty joyful. That seems pretty wild. He says, don't let that be your cause of joy.

[15:47] That the spirits are subject unto you. You do have an authority. We have an authority. We don't wear an ephod, as it were, but man, we are clothed in Christ. We have an authority. But rather rejoice because you have an authority to have your name written in heaven.

[16:02] Let that be your source of joy. The authority we have in Christ puts my name in heaven. Forget what it does in hell. Forget what it does on this earth. Forget what it does to those spirits.

[16:13] Man, rejoice. Let your source of joy be that you have an authority to have your name written in heaven. And here we see in these colors, we have a picture of that authority. We have an authority to serve.

[16:26] That is the gold. It's pure. The blue, it's heavenly. The purple is royal. Scarlet redeemed. And the white robe, it's righteous. Our authority to serve. It's something that's pure.

[16:37] It's heavenly. It's royal. It's redeemed. And it's righteous. But authority is only for those who keep his commands. There's no authority outside of that.

[16:47] It's only for those. This high priest, this high priest, he couldn't just show up and say, well, I'm the high priest. You know, I'm wearing my pajamas today. This is who I am.

[16:57] Well, no, no, no. Your authority is in the fact that you obey God's commands, that you kept God's commands. That's where your authority is. Because we don't have any authority. We can't say, well, I'm a Christian. Well, I go to Calvary Chapel.

[17:08] Well, I go to Calvary Chapel Charlotte. You know, I have authority. We don't have any authority. We have no authority except for the fact that we have kept his commands. We have put our trust in him.

[17:21] We have responded to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. And we said, I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. And my name's written in heaven. 1 John 5, 3 says, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.

[17:35] And his commandments are not grievous. Was it grieving to keep the command that said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved? That was not grievous. That was wonderful.

[17:45] The one who serves has authority. But that authority is based in love. But this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.

[17:56] When we keep God's commands, it gives us an authority. Yes. But in what? To tell you what to do. To tell you where to go. To tell you how to live and how to dress. No. I have an authority in love. I have an authority based on God's word and the work of God to serve God by loving you.

[18:11] By loving people. And they then did beat the gold into thin plates. Verse 3. And cut it into wires to work it into the blue. And so he said, this is how we got the gold woven into all this.

[18:24] To work it into the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen with cunning work. So the one who serves, he ends up being tried like gold. To get gold into this work. To weave it into this work.

[18:36] Man, that gold had to be prepared to serve. Didn't it? 1 Peter 1.7 tells us that the trial of our faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes.

[18:48] Though it be tried with fire, might be found in the praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. No matter how beautiful that gold was woven into the work of the high priest.

[19:00] It was a work that would perish. But the gold, in a sense, that Jesus weaves into our life. That's woven in there through what? Through trials that test our faith. Well, I continue to put my trust in the God of the word.

[19:13] And in the word of God. So how is gold prepared? Well, gold is prepared to serve. Or gold that is prepared to serve. It went through fire. It had to be refined by going through the fire.

[19:24] It was beaten. Beaten flat. Sometimes you can feel very beaten flat. Like, Lord, you say pressed but not crushed. But I feel really flat. He's like, yeah, that's because the next thing I'm going to do, I'm going to cut deep.

[19:38] Cut very deep. To make those fine, thin pieces that could be made to fit to serve. And it all became part of something beautiful. Something he wove into something beautiful.

[19:48] And so the trying of our faith. God looks at that in the same way. He says, man, I'm going to use that to weave something beautiful. So that you can partake in this service. And the one who serves, he does so with authority.

[20:01] In God's word. In God's love. All right. The next thing now is going to be the shoulders of the ephod. This is the onyx stones specifically on the shoulders of the ephod.

[20:12] And then the names of Israel written on the stones. Half on one set and half on the other set. This is verses four through seven. They made shoulder pieces for it. For the ephod to couple it together.

[20:23] So the front and back piece, they were held together by these shoulder pads. By the two edges was it coupled together. And the curious girdle of his ephod that was upon it was of the same. According to the work thereof.

[20:35] Of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. As the Lord commanded Moses. And they wrought onyx stones. Enclosed in sockets of gold.

[20:47] Graven as signets are graven. With the names of the children of Israel. So there's the onyx stones. Which is black. And it would sit in this like golden frame. And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod.

[20:59] That they should be stones for memorial. To the children of Israel. As the Lord commanded Moses. And so the high priest. The one who is serving in the work of God. The one who serves. What does he do?

[21:10] He bears the people of God. The one who serves in the work of God. He bears the people of God. Galatians 6.2 says. Bear you one another's burdens. And so fulfill the law of Christ.

[21:22] The one who serves. Bears the people of God. The names of God. The people of God. On his shoulders. Jesus fulfilled that. As we saw when we looked at this. Back in Exodus. What did I say that was?

[21:33] 29? Or 28? How Jesus bore upon his shoulders. In a sense. All the names of all the people. When he bore that cross to Calvary. He had our names on his shoulders.

[21:45] But the one who serves. He also takes place in memorial. Doesn't he? And they shall be upon his shoulders. Of the ephod. That they should be stones. For a memorial. To the children of Israel. So the one who serves.

[21:55] Takes part in memorial. And that's what we're going to get to do today. We're going to take part in communion. We're going to take part in memorial. So. First Corinthians 11. 24. And when he had given thanks. He break it. The bread.

[22:05] And said take. Eat. This is my body. Which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. So the one who serves. Takes part in memorial. And the one who serves.

[22:18] He bears the people of God. Verses 8 and 9. We move now. To the breastplate. Of the ephod. This would be the part. Where. The stones would be placed.

[22:29] On. The. Linen. Square. And he made the breastplate. Of cunning work. Like the work of the ephod. Of gold. Blue.

[22:40] Purple. And scarlet. And fine twined linen. And it was four square. And they made the breastplate. Double. A span. With the length. Was the length of it. And that'd be the span. Is the length of your hand. And a span.

[22:50] The breadth of it. So it was square. And it was doubled. So it was like folded over. And this is where. They would keep the. Urim and Thummim. Where they would kind of like. Discern God's will. At that time.

[23:01] The high priest would. And it was somehow. Some way. In a pocket. In this thing. But the thing is doubled over. And I don't know. For me. That just made me think. Of all the scriptures. That talk about.

[23:11] Like double. I think of like. Second Kings 2. 9. When Elijah. Is going to heaven. And he says to Elisha. What do you want from me? It's one of my favorite passages. In all of scripture. And Elisha.

[23:23] Said. I pray you. Let a double portion. Of your spirit. Be upon me. Let there be a double portion. Be upon me. The one who serves.

[23:33] Has a double portion. The one who serves. In the work of God. God desires him. To have a double portion. Isaiah 61. 6 through 7. Says. But you shall be named. The priests.

[23:44] Of the Lord. Those who can serve. In the work of the Lord. Men shall call you. The ministers of our God. You shall eat. The riches of the Gentiles. And in their glory. You shall boast yourself. For your shame.

[23:55] You have received. Double. Or you shall have double. And for confusion. They shall rejoice. Rejoice in your portion. Therefore. In their land. They shall possess. The double.

[24:07] Everlasting joy. Shall be unto them. For your shame. For your shame. You shall have double. The one who serves. Has a double portion. And this fantastic scripture.

[24:17] In Zechariah 9.12. Return you. To the stronghold. You prisoners. Of hope. Sign me up for that. Even today. Do I declare.

[24:29] That I will render. Double. Unto you. Double what? Double hope. Prisoners of hope. See the one who serves. In the work of God. Man.

[24:39] He has a double portion. God desires that for him. In Luke 11.13. Jesus instructs his disciples. And says. Listen. If you then. Being evil. Jesus didn't.

[24:50] Like. He told him how it was. Boys are evil. But I love you. You then being evil. Know how to give good gifts. Unto your children. How much more. Shall your heavenly father.

[25:01] Give the holy spirit. To them that ask. God desires us. To have that double portion. Next week. Is the most important week. Of all of these. The work of God. We've looked at. Because next week. We're going to see the anointing.

[25:11] We're going to see the all of God's work. It can't go anywhere. Without the anointing. And man. We need that anointing. We need the anointing of the Holy Spirit. To work in the work of God. So. Next week. If you had to miss one.

[25:23] Miss today. So leave now. And come back next week. So the one who serves. He has a double portion. And they set now. These stones.

[25:34] These four rows of stones. On this breastplate. The first. Was a sardis. And a topaz. And a carbuncle. The first row. And the second row. An emerald. A sapphire.

[25:45] And a diamond. And I think on here. If you look. The way this guy. Made it and laid it out. Sardis. Topaz. Carbuncle. I think he's going from that. One, two, three. Moving down.

[25:57] A second row. An emerald. A sapphire. And a diamond. The third row. A ligure. An agate. An amethyst. And the fourth row. A barrel. An onyx. And a jasper. They were enclosed.

[26:07] In sockets of gold. In their enclosings. And the stones. Were according to the names. Of the children of Israel. Twelve. According to their names. So their names. Were upon these stones. Like the engravings.

[26:18] Of a signet. Everyone with his name. According to the twelve tribes. So the one who serves. He has a heart for God's people. He's got people on his heart. He's the names of God's people there.

[26:30] The one who serves. He has a heart. For God's people. Ephesians 4.32. And be you kind. One to another. Tenderhearted. Forgiving one another.

[26:41] Even as God. For Christ's sake. Has forgiven you. Tenderhearted. Tenderhearted is not usually on any other description. Except maybe child care. You know.

[26:52] It's like man. I'm going for an interview tomorrow. This high corporate position. First question. Are you tenderhearted? That's not going to be on there. How well can you get the job done?

[27:05] You know. Are you able to control people? Can you manage this? Be you kind. One to another. Tenderhearted. Do you have a heart for God's people? Do you have a heart that responds like that?

[27:17] Forgiving one another. Even as God for Christ's sake. Is forgiving you. I can tell you this. If you don't find yourself. Being very kindhearted. Tenderhearted. My guess is you're not very forgiving.

[27:30] What does that mean? Means I need to receive more forgiveness. Right? He who's forgiven much. Loves much. Means I need to receive more. Before I have it to give. The one who serves.

[27:41] He sees every name. As precious. Every single name. Is precious. On a precious stone. Malachi 3. 16 and 17. Then they that feared the Lord.

[27:51] Spake often one to another. And the Lord hearkened. And heard it. And a book of remembrance. Was written before him. For them that feared the Lord. And that thought upon his name.

[28:04] That's us. Your name's there. He's writing it down right now. He's like oh. They're talking about me. They're thinking about me. They're fearing my name. That's going to be in his book of remembrance. And they shall be mine.

[28:15] Saith the Lord of hosts. This is what he's saying about you. Now. You shall be mine. And that day when I make up my jewels. I'll spare them as a man spares his own son. That serves him.

[28:26] See the one who serves. In the work of God. He sees every name. As precious. Every soul. Can you see souls behind the people? Behind that person who. Maybe the world would. Would be the off scouring of the world.

[28:38] Or the person that. You know what God sees? He just sees a soul. That's all we are before God. That body. Is gone. They're going to receive. New bodies. Right?

[28:49] We will all receive new bodies. The lost. That body they have. That's not going to be theirs for eternity either. They're going to be cast. Into outer darkness. Not with that body. But his living souls.

[29:00] Can we see them as souls? Every name is precious. To the one who serves. And now he moves into these chains of gold. Which is going to be how he holds all this together. Verses 15 through 20.

[29:12] And they made upon the breastplate. Chains at the ends of the wreath and work of pure gold. And they made two sockets of gold. And two gold rings. And put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate.

[29:24] And they put the two wreath and chains of gold. In the two rings. On the ends of the breastplate. And the two ends of the two wreath and chains. They fastened it. And the two signets. Or the two.

[29:37] Whatever that word was I just used. Sockets. And put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it. And they made two rings of gold. And put them on the two ends of the breastplate. Upon the border of it.

[29:48] One here and one here. Which was on the side of the ephod inward. And they made two other golden rings. And put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath. Just means front and back.

[30:00] Toward the fore part of it. Over against the other coupling thereof. Above the curious girdle of the ephod. So he's saying they made golden rings. Top and bottom. And then they made this chain.

[30:11] Front and back on the top. To connect it. Hold it together. First Corinthians 13.5 says. Love does not behave itself unseemly.

[30:23] Love seeks not her own. Love is not easily provoked. Love thinks no evil. Because love is pure. Love is pure. Like gold. Hosea 11.

[30:35] Verses 1 and 4. Says when Israel was a child. Then I loved him. And called my son out of Egypt. Well we just experienced that in the book of Exodus. Verse 4. I drew them with cords of a man.

[30:47] With bands of love. And I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws. And I laid meat or provision on them. The one who serves is bound by love.

[30:59] Bound by these cords of love. These pure chains of love. The New Testament. Paul will write in Colossians. Chapter 3 verses 14 through 15.

[31:10] And say above all these. Above all these things put on love. Which is the what? The bond. We are bound by love. The one who serves. It's all held together. It's all bound together by love.

[31:22] It all falls apart without love. Which is the bond of perfectness. Completeness. Harmony. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. To the which also you are called in one body.

[31:34] And be you thankful. Love is what holds us all together guys. Love is what binds us together. Love is what allows us to have harmony amongst each other. Love is what causes us as a body to be complete in him. It is love that does that.

[31:47] Love is interesting though. Because love cannot exist. Alone. Love can only exist. When love has an object. Love cannot exist by itself.

[31:58] You say well God is love. Yes. And God has never existed alone. God is the Father. The Son. And the Holy Spirit. Remember what John writes. He says he wants us to have fellowship. With him.

[32:10] And truly our fellowship is with the Father. And with his Son. Because it's already there. The fellowship is already there. The love is already there. We love him because he first loved us. God was love before we were created.

[32:20] We were not the first object of his love. Sorry to disappoint. You weren't the first object of God's love. But that love has an object. And it is you. God loves.

[32:32] Because love must have an object. Love can only exist when it has an object. And those that love. They're unified by love. Love is the bond that unifies us. It's what holds us together.

[32:43] Brings us together. And it's what creates unity. Without love there's no unity. Ephesians 2. 4-5. But God who is rich in mercy. For his great love.

[32:53] Wherewith he loved us. Even when we are dead in sins. Has quickened us together. Love brings unity. Together with Christ. By grace you are saved.

[33:04] He's quickened us. Together. He doesn't say wherewith he loved you. He says wherewith he loved us. Those who serve are unified by love. Verse 21.

[33:17] And they did bind the breastplate. By his rings. Unto the rings of the ephod. With a lace of blue. This is the lower portion now. That it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod.

[33:28] Above the sash. The belt of the ephod. And that the breastplate might not be loosed. From the ephod. As the Lord commanded Moses. Love is heaven sent.

[33:39] Love which binds us together. Is heaven sent. Is the color of heaven. We love him. 1 John 4. 19. Because he first loved us. And I love that wording there. Where he says. That it might not be loosed.

[33:51] Man we're not let go. He holds us tight. When Jesus ties a bow. Nobody's going to untie it. Love that is heaven sent.

[34:02] Has a certain ring to it. Has a certain look to it. James 3.17. Says the wisdom that is from above. It's first pure. It's then peaceable.

[34:14] It's gentle. It's easy to be entreated. It's full of mercy. And good fruits. Without partiality. Without hypocrisy. That's a heaven sent.

[34:26] Love. But you know. The verses right before this. James tells us how to identify a love that's not heaven sent. He says in James 3.14. Through 16. But if you have bitter envying.

[34:37] And strife in your hearts. Do not glory. And lie not against the truth. This wisdom. Descends not from above. But is earthly. Sensual.

[34:48] And devilish. How do you know. If your love is heaven sent. Well is it of the earth? Is it a sensual love? Is it devilish? What's devilish? Well what does the devil do? He says.

[34:59] Has God said? There's another way. Let's fulfill myself. Right? So the love that is from above. The heaven sent love. It's pure. It's peaceable.

[35:09] It's gentle. Easy to be entreated. Full of mercy and good fruits. Without partiality. And without hypocrisy. Because the one who serves. He is bound. By love.

[35:21] Now he moves into the high priest's robe. Which would be the blue robe. Underneath the ephod. In verses 22 and 23. And he made the robe of the ephod. Of woven work. All of blue. And there was a hole.

[35:33] In the midst of the robe. As the hole. Of our hebergen. With a band. Round about the hole. That it should not rend. So it's just a hole. For his head to go through. And it's hemmed. So it doesn't tear.

[35:43] Right? It's just a single robe. With one hole. But it's blue. It's our color of heaven again. So the one who serves. He's clothed from heaven. He's heavenly clothed. Jesus said in John 6.38.

[35:56] For I came down from heaven. Not to do my own will. But the will of him. That sent me. And you and I. Have a promise. That we will also be clothed.

[36:07] In heaven. Currently. Yes. Be clothed with Christ. Spiritually. Clothed with heaven. But we have a promise. Where we will have. Physical. Bodies. From heaven.

[36:18] Second Corinthians 5.1-2. For we know that if our earthly house. Of this tabernacle. Were dissolved. Love it. Here we're studying the tabernacle. And there it is. So what's he talking about? If my earthly home.

[36:30] In Mount Holly is dissolved. Well at least I got a home in heaven. Is that what he's saying? No. He's talking about our bodies. Right? These earthly homes. That contain us. For we know if our earthly house. Of this tabernacle.

[36:41] So my body's a tabernacle. Were dissolved. We have a building of God. A house not made with hands. Eternal in the heavens. So like I have one here on earth.

[36:51] A body. In like I have a heavenly one. That's eternal. That's not made with hands. For in this we groan. Earnestly desiring to be clothed upon. With our house.

[37:03] Which is from heaven. Because the one who serves. He is heavenly clothed. The one who serves. He also fulfills God's word. You know again as this priest. As he's putting these things on.

[37:15] He can't leave any of them out. We saw that going through. This section earlier in Exodus. How each one. Is so specific. To pointing to Jesus. That he can't leave any of it off. He can't like. You know what?

[37:25] I don't want to wear a gold crown. It's too heavy. I'm not going to wear this gold crown. This is holiness to the Lord. You know purple is not my color. So I'm just not going to wear this one. But I can still do the work. But the one who serves.

[37:38] He fulfills God's word. And he's careful to fulfill his word. Because the one who serves. Is always pointing to. Jesus. Jesus as he was. On the cross.

[37:48] It says in John 19. That the soldiers. That had crucified him. They took his garments. And they made four parts. And to every soldier a part. And also his coat. But now the coat was without seam.

[37:59] It was woven from the top. Throughout. It was one piece. And they said therefore among themselves. Let us not rend it. Why couldn't they rend it? Because he was a high priest.

[38:11] You could not rend the garment. Of the high priest. And it had a hole. And a band about the hole. That it should not rend. But let us cast lots for it.

[38:23] For whose it shall be. That the scripture might be fulfilled. Which said. They parted my raiment among them. And for my vesture. They did cast lots. And these things. Therefore the soldiers did. Because the one who serves.

[38:33] He fulfills God's word. Careful to fulfill God's word. Because he knows. That he is pointing to something. Much bigger than himself. And much bigger than the work. He's a part of. Now he focuses in.

[38:44] On the. The hem of his. Garment. Of the blue garment. The lower part. It has some very. Interesting. Decorations down there. Verses. 24 through 26.

[38:56] And they made upon the hems of the robe. Pomegranates. Of blue. Purple. And scarlet. Entwined linen. And they made bells. Of pure gold. And put the bells between the pomegranate. Pomegranates.

[39:07] Upon the hem of the robe. Roundabout. Between the pomegranates. A bell. And a pomegranate. A bell. A pomegranate. Roundabout. The hem of the robe.

[39:18] To minister. As the Lord commanded Moses. And so you'd. You'd hear the. You'd hear the jingle. Jingle. Jingle. And you'd look down. What would you see? What would it draw your attention to?

[39:28] It would draw your attention to. Fruit. The one who serves. He bears fruit. He bears the fruit. Galatians 5. 22 through 23 says. But the fruit of the spirit.

[39:39] Is love. Joy. Peace. Long-suffering. Gentleness. Goodness. Faith. Meekness. Temperance. Against such there is no law. There's no law that can stand against that.

[39:50] But what's in between these fruit? Well it's the bell. It draws your attention to the fruit. The pomegranates. Are a beautiful picture. The fruit of the spirit. And the bells of the gifts of the spirit.

[40:01] The gifts. The gifts. Exists. For the fruit. They exist to draw our attention to. The fruit. What happens if we took away all of the pomegranates? You would just have what? The bells clanging against each other.

[40:13] Paul says that if he speaks with the tongue of men. And of angels. And he doesn't have love. He doesn't have the fruit. It's just going to be a loud. Clanging noise. I become a sounding brass. Or a tinkling cymbal.

[40:24] See without the fruit. The gifts can become very very noisy. Gifts are not meant to be noisy. They're simply meant to draw our attention to the fruit that's there. Take away the fruit. And you just got a lot of noise.

[40:36] It may be loud. It may be showy. But if there's no fruit. What does it matter? And so the one who serves. He gets to bear fruit in the service of the Lord. And now we look at the robes for all of the priests.

[40:49] In verses 27 through 29. And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons. This would be the one who serves is robed in righteousness. Revelation 19.8.

[41:02] And to her was granted the church, the bride of the Lamb of Christ, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. The one who serves is robed in righteousness.

[41:14] And he was given also a mitre or a turban of fine linen upon his head. A goodly bonnet of fine linen. And linen breeches of fine twine linen. And a girdle of fine twine linen.

[41:26] Blue and purple and scarlet would be his belt of needlework. As the Lord commanded Moses. And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold. And they wrote upon it a writing like to the engravings of a signet.

[41:40] Holiness to the Lord. And they tied it. And they tied onto it a lace of blue to fasten it on high upon the mitre.

[41:50] As the Lord commanded Moses. And so they have this crown of gold, whatever it looked like. Again, I love how we're given so much detail. And we're given so little detail. Some of it's so very specific.

[42:01] Like the Lord specifically said, a bell and a pomegranate. A bell and a pomegranate. You have to repeat that. Like, hey, continue this pattern. But what exactly did they look like? I don't know.

[42:12] I can tell you what they're made of. You know, we know that they were. The bells were pure gold. And the pomegranates. That they were a blue and purple and scarlet. But what exactly did they look like? I don't know. I can tell you there was a crown of gold on his forehead.

[42:24] What exactly did that look like? I don't know. Can I tell you exactly what it will look like as you enter into God's service? As you are the one who enters into the work of God. And that you serve in that work. I can't tell you exactly how that will play out.

[42:35] I can tell you the principles we're looking at today. I can tell you the one who serves is crowned in holiness. I don't know exactly how that's going to play out in your life. I don't know what facet God's going to use in your life in your service to him.

[42:49] But I do know the one who serves. He is crowned in holiness. The one who would serve in this glorious work. Isaiah 6, 3. And one cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

[43:01] The whole earth is full of his glory. And then in 2 Timothy 4, 8, Paul would write, Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.

[43:15] And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. There's a crown of righteousness. There's a holy crown for us. The one who serves is crowned in holiness. And also for those who love his appearing.

[43:29] Man, you can serve the Lord just by longing for Jesus. Just by loving the fact that Jesus is coming for us. That he will fulfill his promise. That he will right all wrongs.

[43:39] And he will set up his kingdom on this earth. Man, that right there. Says that's, okay. I see that as service. Thank you. But the one who serves in the work of God, he must be separated.

[43:52] He must be holy. He must be separated unto the God of the work. You want to serve in God's work? You need to be separated unto him. And it's a requirement. Because God's work is not optional. And you say, well, I don't want to be holy.

[44:04] But I sure want to be part of a holy God. That's not going to really work that way. I don't really want to live a holy life. I don't want to be righteous. But I sure want to go to heaven wherein dwells righteousness. Well, it's not going to really work that way.

[44:17] The one who serves in the work of God, he must be separated unto the God of the work. And verse 32. And thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished.

[44:29] The one who serves, he serves in a completed work. We serve in a work that's been completed. Philippians 1.6. Being confident of this very thing. That he which has begun a good work in you, he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

[44:45] Colossians 2.10. And you are complete in him. You are complete in him. Because we serve in a completed work. We enter into his completed work so that we then might take part in his completed work.

[44:59] Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of congregation finished. And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

[45:11] So did they. The one who serves obeys the word. The one who serves obeys the word. The one who serves in the work of God, he obeys the word of God.

[45:22] John 4.34. Jesus said unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. That's my portion. That's what's been portioned out for me.

[45:34] That's the thing that sustains me and keeps me going. It's not about how much food physically he has. It's not about his status in this world. It's not about his finances. Jesus said, The thing that sustains me and keeps me going is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

[45:50] I don't know if you notice here the phrasing that we have for the tabernacle. It's shifted. If you remember last week, we saw how the tent of congregation up until this point has referred to in Exodus 33, where Moses takes his own tent and runs outside the camp and creates that tent of congregation, that tent of meeting where he can meet with the Lord.

[46:09] And the tabernacle has been called the tent of testimony. And now that it's finished, we see here that it's called the tent of the congregation. And it's finished.

[46:21] You know, God uses what we give him. God will take whatever we give him. He will take whatever time we'll give him. You know, if you give him an hour a week, he'll take it. He'll take it and he'll use it.

[46:33] He took what Moses gave him. Moses gave him his own tent. He said, God, there's a tent of congregation. Here's where we'll meet. But just because God will use what we give him, it doesn't mean that God doesn't want to give us so much more.

[46:45] And with the tabernacle, now that it's complete, it is so much more than what they've had. It is so much beyond what they could, like we said in the beginning there, that it's above and beyond what we could ever ask, think or imagine.

[46:56] He does exceedingly abundantly. So God will use what we give him, but it doesn't mean he doesn't want to give us more and do so much more if we're willing to just walk in the work that he gives us.

[47:07] If we're willing to be one who obeys the word. So I thought it was cool how all of a sudden that phrasing changed. Now this is the tent of congregation. And Moses could have been upset by that. Like, wait a minute.

[47:18] I put all this time into my tent over here and we've always met over there. Now we're going to do it this way. I don't want to do it that way. I like it the old way. Look at the scripture, it talks about the new wine into the new wineskin.

[47:30] And it says that you have to put the new wine, the new wineskin, or else the old wineskin will burst when the new wineskin grows, or the new wine grows within it. It ferments, it will burst it. And he says, and then I think it's in Luke, he tags on and says, And no man likes the new wine who has drunk in the old.

[47:47] What does that mean? It means it takes time. It takes time to be acclimated to something new. When God does a new work and you're so used to the old one, He's like, why are we discarding the old one? It works so well. And God's like, because we're doing something new.

[47:59] Well, God, this is taking me a little while to get used to this. It just doesn't taste like it used to. It just doesn't feel the same. I never expected this. I never expected this. God's like, yeah.

[48:11] But the one who serves, he obeys God's word. And the one who serves, he's also willing to yield to the work that God wants to do in him.

[48:23] Because God's tabernacle is for a purpose. It's far beyond what we want to do. It's far beyond what Moses' desire was with his tabernacle. God's tabernacle is to gather his people.

[48:33] It's the tabernacle of the tent of congregation. It's for the people. Ephesians 2, 13 through 14 says, But now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off, you're brought near by the blood of Christ.

[48:47] For he is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us. God's tabernacle is to gather his people. The reason Jesus came and tabernacled among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Son of the Father, full of grace and truth, the reason he tabernacled among us is to gather people.

[49:05] It wasn't just so he could show us how neat it is to be the Son of God. It wasn't just to show us he could resurrect, but it was for the sake of people. God's tabernacle is specifically to gather his people.

[49:17] God loves people. Moses, I think, is really excited at this point.

[49:27] I think as he's getting to the end here, I think he's really excited that this is, it's happening. That they did it. That they brought the things, they worked in it. And now he's going to reiterate here very quickly.

[49:40] Verses 33 through 42. Every piece of the work of God. I think he's excited. They did this. They did this. And they did this. He's writing this down for posterity, yes, but I think he's writing it going, Lord, check and check.

[49:56] And Lord, they love each other. Check. God, they're praying with one another. Check. They're reading your word. Check. The one who serves, he serves in a completed work.

[50:10] In verses 33 through 42, Moses will reiterate all the work of God. Again, of the tabernacle. And we will quickly just go through that. Because the one who serves, he serves in a work that's a furnished work.

[50:24] Verse 33. And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent and all his furniture, his tachets, his boards, his bars, his pillars and his sockets. The one who serves, serves in a work that is a furnished work.

[50:37] Verse 34. The one who serves, serves in a work that's a covered work. And the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of badger skins and the veil of the covering. Verse 35.

[50:48] The ark of the testimony and the seat of mercy because the one who serves, serves in a merciful work. The ark of the testimony and the staves thereof and the mercy seat. And the table of showbread and all the vessels thereof.

[51:02] Verse 36. The one who serves, he serves in a life-giving work because Jesus is the bread of life. Verse 37. The candlestick. The one who serves, he serves in an illuminated work.

[51:14] Jesus is the light of the world. And he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The pure lampstand with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order and all the vessels thereof and the oil for light.

[51:28] Verse 38. The one who serves, serves in a worthy work. The altar of incense. The place where our prayers are accepted before God and God sees us as worthy. The golden altar and the anointing oil and the sweet incense and the hanging for the tabernacle door.

[51:42] In verse 39. The altar of sacrifice, the brazen altar. The one who serves, he serves in a sacrificial work. And his grate of brass, his staves, and all his vessels, the laver and his foot.

[51:57] In verse 40. The one who serves, he serves in a sufficient work. There is nothing left out. God covers everything down to the smallest pins and pegs. The hangings of the court, his pillars, his sockets, and the hangings for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle for the tent of the congregation.

[52:16] For God's work is a sufficient work. God's work is a holy work. Verse 41. The clothes of service for the priest, as we just read about in this whole chapter.

[52:26] To do service in the holy place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and his son's garments to minister in the priest's office. The one who serves, serves in a holy work. And lastly, verse 42.

[52:39] The one who serves, serves in a work that is a commanded work. According to all the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. So the one who serves, he serves in a furnished, covered, merciful, life-giving, illuminated, worthy, sacrificial, sufficient, holy, commanded work.

[53:00] What a privilege to enter into that work, to be counted as one who could serve in that. Our last verse in Exodus 39. And Moses did look upon all the work and behold, and this is where you can tell Moses is just excited.

[53:16] They had done it as the Lord commanded. Even so, they had done it. And Moses blessed them. They did it. They did it. They did it. Moses is just so excited. There wasn't a golden calf among them.

[53:27] Whew! They did it upon all the work. He looked on all the work. He said, it is good. It is good.

[53:39] The one who serves is one who's blessed. And Moses blessed them. The one who serves is one who's blessed. The one who serves according to the commandment of God is blessed by the God of the commandment.

[53:54] Matthew 25, 23, and he said, and his Lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant. That's what Moses was saying. You did it. Well done. Good and faithful servant.

[54:06] Good job, Bezalel. Good job, Aholia. Good job, all of you whose hearts were moved with wisdom. You did it. You have been faithful over a few things.

[54:17] And so now it's retirement. You get the rest of eternity off. No. Now I'll give you other places to serve. I'll make you ruler over many things.

[54:28] Enter into the joy of the Lord because serving the Lord is where blessing and joy exists for all of eternity. Blessing and joy will be in serving the Lord.

[54:39] You have been faithful over a few things. Let me give you a lot of things to be faithful over. Wasn't that blessing? Wasn't it joy to be faithful over those few things? Yes. I don't think any of these guys when they stood around and saw the tabernacle all put together were like, you know, I could have been in a church basketball league instead.

[54:57] No. I think they were like, wow, we got to be part of that. And then when they saw what it's going to be used for, when we get into Leviticus and we see God's recipe for redemption and we see what all of this is used for, I think every time a holy ab and Bezalel came to the tabernacle, I bet they were just overcome.

[55:20] I bet they were entering into joy. Jesus says in Luke 22, 27, I am among you as he that serves.

[55:32] He says where two or three are gathered, he's in our midst. What's he doing here? Serving. John 12, 26, if any man serve me, Jesus says, well, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be.

[55:47] Where God is working is where God is. You want to be where God is? Be about God's work. If any man serve me, him will my father honor.

[55:58] In God's service, there is blessing, there is honor, there is joy. And the one who serves, he looks like a high priest, yes, but the one who serves, he looks a lot like Jesus.

[56:11] Philippians 2, verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, verse 7 and 8, who made himself of no reputation. And he took upon him the form of a servant that God on high would choose to serve.

[56:25] Wow, what an amazing God. And was made in the likeness of men. Not just did he choose to serve man, he did so by becoming man. That God would become something so puny and vile.

[56:41] Something he created, he became. And being found in fashion as a man, well, he ruled over man. He became lord and master and king.

[56:52] No, he humbled himself. And he became obedient unto death. Whoa, I hope it was a quick death. I hope it wasn't very painful. No, even the death of the cross.

[57:05] Let that mind be in you. The one who serves, he looks a lot like Jesus. The one who serves in the work of God. He looks like a high priest. He's part of a holy work.

[57:16] He does so with authority. He's tried like gold, bears the people of God, takes part in memorial. He has a double portion. He has a heart for God's people. He's bound by love, is heavenly clothed, bears fruit, is robed in righteousness and crowned in holiness.

[57:32] He serves in a completed work. He obeys the word and he is blessed because the one who serves, he looks a lot like Jesus, our high priest.

[57:44] The one who did that for me, who humbled himself and became obedient. The one who serves looks a lot like a high priest. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of God.

[58:00] Let's just hold on, guys. Let's hold fast to what he's given us. What faithful thing, small thing, as he said, be faithful over this. You've been faithful over a few things.

[58:11] Just be faithful over that. Don't look around and try and figure out what everybody else is being faithful over. Just be faithful over that. You see, only a priest can work in God's tabernacle.

[58:23] Only a priest can enter the holy place. Only a priest once a year with blood can approach the mercy seat. Perhaps at that time at the tabernacle, maybe there's some little Levite boy and he's outside and he's looking through the curtains of the court, right?

[58:39] Looking through one of the slits and he's watching the priests go about their work. And then he sees the high priest with the sun glinting off of his golden crown. He's like, I want to do that.

[58:50] I want to be a priest. Well, he can't unless he's a son of a priest. See, only sons of priests can become priests. Say he is a son of a priest and he grows up and becomes a priest and then he's given him the privilege to be the high priest.

[59:04] And he's the best priest anybody's ever had. They love that priest. He's great. He gives short messages and they're wonderful. He's great. Only a high priest can enter the Holy of Holies.

[59:18] Only a priest can serve in God's work and only a priest can approach the mercy seat. And no matter how good that priest is, what can he not do? He cannot overcome death.

[59:31] No matter how good he is, he will die. That priest cannot stand in the place between God's people and God for mercy and grace beyond his lifetime no matter how good he was.

[59:45] Only a priest can approach the mercy seat and you say, well, Jared, I'm none of those things. I'm not a Levite. Some of us aren't even men in here. I'm certainly not a priest.

[59:58] How can I approach? 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10. But you are a chosen generation. You are a royal priesthood. You know, there's something that never, two things that never came together in the Old Testament except in Melchizedek.

[60:17] You never have a priest and you never have a king. David longed for that. David so badly wanted to be a priest. He was a king. He wanted that so bad. But he wasn't a priest. But we are a royal priesthood.

[60:30] In Christ, the two things come together and then he welcomes us into that. We are a holy nation, a peculiar people. We are a people set apart that we should show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light, which in time past you were not a people, but now are a people of God, which had not obtained what?

[60:49] Mercy. But now you've obtained mercy because only a priest can approach the mercy seat. Only a priest can work in the work of God. And because of Jesus, our high priest, he now looks at us and says, you're qualified.

[61:06] Enter in. Be one who serves. What does it look like to be one who serves? Looks like Jesus. You know, Jesus, after he had been crucified and was in the grave three days and three nights, all the ladies, the women came to him.

[61:20] It was like, what, four or five of them. And they come to the tomb and they see the door rolled away, the stone rolled away. Mary Magdalene at that time turns around and runs and goes back to the two, to the apostles to tell them. The other women, they stay, they see the angels, they say, he's not here, he is risen.

[61:33] And then go and tell my brethren, behold, I go before them into Galilee. They leave and then Jesus will appear to those women. In the meantime, Mary Magdalene gets back to town, tells Peter and John, hey, they've taken his body, we don't know what they've done.

[61:47] And so they run back. It says they run to the tomb. John gets there first, he goes down and looks in, so does Peter. And then they leave. Mary Magdalene, obviously not as fast, gets there afterwards. She's there now alone.

[61:57] The women have been there and left. Peter and John had left and she is there alone. And Mary stood without, John 20 verse 11, at the sepulcher weeping.

[62:11] And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher. And she saw two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet. Where the body of Jesus had lain.

[62:24] She stooped down and she approached the mercy seat. She saw the mercy seat. You know, under the Old Testament, in the Old Covenant, under the law, once a year, the high priest would go with blood into the mercy seat.

[62:35] He would go and he'd sprinkle blood. He would represent death in the mercy seat. Mary goes to the mercy seat. And what does she find there? Life. There's no longer death. Death has been removed.

[62:47] The resurrection has happened. And they said unto her, her woman, why are you weeping? He's not here. You're at the mercy seat. And she said to them, because they've taken away my Lord and I don't know where they've laid him.

[63:02] And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and she saw Jesus standing and she didn't know it was Jesus. This is going to happen a few times. Jesus' new body looks a little different than his old one. And also she's weeping her eyes out.

[63:13] You know, ladies, if you've ever had a good attack of weeping, how well can you see? And how well are you paying attention to what you see? She's overcome with grief. She's looking for Jesus, but she's looking for the wrong Jesus.

[63:25] She's looking for Jesus through death instead of looking for him through life. Woman, why do you weep? Whom seek you? And she's supposing him to be the manager of the property, the gardener, the property manager.

[63:36] She said unto him, sir, if you've taken him away, tell me where you've laid him and I'm going to take him away. I'm going to take a dead body, put it on my shoulders. It's been in the grave for three days and I'm going to take him because I'm so desperate.

[63:48] I'd rather have a dead Jesus than no Jesus. And Jesus said unto her, Mary, well done, good and faithful servant.

[64:03] Or as Moses said, you did it. You did it. Mary, and she turned herself and said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say master. Mary expected to find Jesus through death.

[64:16] But at the mercy seat, the mercy seat we come to now through the new covenant, the mercy seat we can approach because we have been entered into the service of God. We can, we can stand there. The throne of grace is not a dead Jesus.

[64:30] And yes, we remember him through a broken body and through poured out blood. Yes, we remember his death, but we don't look for him in death. We remember his death because he's alive.

[64:42] And Jesus said unto her, don't hold me so tight. Touch me not. Or don't cling to me, Mary. You got to let me go. For I'm not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend to my father and to my God and to your God.

[65:02] Only a priest can work in God's tabernacle. Only a priest can approach the mercy seat. And no matter how good that priest may have been under the old covenant, he could never say he's my father. He could never say, I know him through life.

[65:14] We have a privilege. We can approach something that under the old covenant they never could. And we can enter into the work of God because it's a completed work. Because the one who just fulfilled all of those characteristics we look at has fulfilled them on our behalf.

[65:30] The one who serves looks a lot like Jesus. And I just encourage you as we take communion as they play, maybe you're looking for a dead Jesus. Maybe you're looking for Jesus through something that you need to let go of.

[65:43] You need to let go of that and you need to understand he's your father and he's your God and that you can experience him through life. Maybe you need to come to the mercy seat of resurrection and not continue to hold on to the things that are dead.

[65:56] Yes, he's forgiven us of our sins because of the cross. Praise God. But that's so that we can walk in newness of life. God wants to bring you into the work of God. God wants you to be a part of the work.

[66:07] He wants you to serve. And the one who serves looks a lot like Jesus. So I just encourage you as you just sit with the Lord, just ask the Lord, Lord, just clothe me.

[66:19] Clothe me in a risen Christ so that I can enter into the service of God. Jesus said in John 4, 34 and 35, he said, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

[66:32] We read that scripture earlier and then he said to us, to the disciples, I need your help. I need you to be part of this work because I'm going to go and it's more needful for me that I go because one Jesus in body can do so much.

[66:49] But one Jesus, his body spread across many people can do a lot more. Say not, therefore, that there are yet four months and then comes harvest.

[67:01] Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look. I think where Moses said that he looked, he looked on all the work and all that they had done. Man, lift up your eyes, look on God's work.

[67:12] What part is it that he has in there for you? Look on the field for they are white all ready to harvest. It's not a hard work. They're ready for us, guys. Just go out and just kind of grab some. We enter into his finished work of the cross so that we might end to his living work of resurrection in this world.

[67:31] That is our privilege. Father, thank you so much, Lord. Lord, what a blessing, Lord. I know you spoke to me. Lord, in a way I wasn't expecting and I just thank you for that, Lord.

[67:47] I thank you. It's your work. I thank you that, Lord, we have the privilege of being called into this work. Lord, I thank you that we can look around and go, how do I know, Jesus, how do I know how I'm supposed to serve?

[68:06] And you just tell us, just keep your eyes on me. You just look to me. Keep looking to Jesus. That's what it looks like to serve. Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters this morning.

[68:17] I pray that you would equip them in the work you've called them to. I pray you would clothe them in Christ and I pray that they would live resurrected lives because of a sacrificial lamb, because of a high priest who's never died or who has died but will never enter into death again.

[68:34] He will not stay dead. Thank you for that, Lord. And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace. The Lord be gracious unto you.

[68:46]  The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you. you.