The Tabernacle and Ministry of Christ

00:00 Good morning. We greet each one in the name of Jesus this morning. Let the church say, Amen. Amen. It's a beautiful day in the Lord, even though the weather is not quite so beautiful. But it is in the Lord, and the promise of a year before us, 00:19 a new year, it seems hardly, hardly possible that we are where we are already in the passing of time. And yet here we are. And here we are looking for my notes. I know I put them in here. Somebody have a song to sing? 00:40 All right. Well, turn in your copies of the Scriptures to Hebrews chapter 9. 00:44 We want to tabernacle this morning. That's on its side. But that's okay. That's okay because the important part is facing the right direction. All right. Anyway, here we are. Let's go with it this morning. Hebrews chapter 9. 01:00 "Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared, the first part in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, 01:20 the part of the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. 01:41 Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. Now, when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 01:53 But into the second part, the high priest went alone, once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit indicating this that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. 02:13 It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience, concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation. 02:32 But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all, 02:53 having obtained eternal redemption." I want to share with you this morning the tabernacle and the ministry of Christ. The tabernacle and the ministry of Christ. As we ended on in chapter 8, we read the words that in that he says a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete. Now, 03:11 what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. In chapter 9, he comes to the issue of the tabernacle, its furnishings, and its function. And so we want to talk this morning in chapter 9, verses 1 through 5, about the essence of the tabernacle. 03:31 And in chapter 9, verses 6 through 10, the enactment of the tabernacle. And verses 11 and 12, the fulfillment of the tabernacle. So we have its essence, what it is. 03:45 We have its enactment, how it functioned in verses 6 through 10, and its fulfillment in verses 11 and 12. I'd like to ask you a question this morning. How do you know how do you know that your sins are forgiven? How do you know that your sins are forgiven? 04:04 On what basis do you base that forgiveness of your sins? And the Old Testament, we would know that there were sacrifices that would be offered. There was a list in detail of those sacrifices and those washings. And there were sacrifices for this sin and for that uncleanness and for this sin and this sin. 04:24 And then at the end of the year, religious year, there was a sacrifice for the entire nation. And the sacrifice for the sins that were done in ignorance by the nation was atoned for by the high priest going into that most holy place. 04:47 So how would you know in the Old Testament that your sins were forgiven? Well, I guess there was a number of ways to know. One, you would compare the requirements of Scripture, and then you would compare that with what you did as far as bringing your sacrifices. Did you get it done? 05:02 And did you do it with a measure of faith and believing that God wanted to forgive sins and had a way to forgive sins and to approach? But when it came to that Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, there was one primary way that you could be sure that your sins had been forgiven or at least covered over for another year. 05:24 And that was when that high priest came out and was still living. When he came out of the most holy place that last time, and he had done his duty and his job, and God had not smitten him down because he had failed in some way. But when he came forth out of that Holy of Holies for the last time, 05:45 you could be assured that you were good to go for another year, at least as a nation. 05:52 And so we asked the question this morning in relation to the new covenant and into the New Testament, what is the basis by which we base our faith on and our confidence in our salvation and in our forgiveness of sins? 06:08 What do you appeal to when you appeal to the confidence in being in right, standing in right relationship with God? And we want to look this morning, first of all, is the tabernacle essence. What was included in the tabernacle? Now, a number of months ago, I did a series on the temple. 06:30 Now we look at the tabernacle. And you'll notice there in that long period there on the right side of the screen, you'll notice there is an entrance. That whole red square there represents the outer court. 06:46 And then down at the bottom of the screen, which actually was more accurate when it was turned the other way as far no, don't turn it back. But as far as facing the east, it faced the east. And as you came in, you came past the brazen altar, which was down there at the bottom. 07:06 Next was the laver of brass. And then you entered into the tent, the tent of meeting, the holy place, which would be separated from the common people by that gate or that curtain that was there. And then as you come into that long, 07:27 narrow tent there, you find two rooms. 07:30 And the first room had the table of showbread on the right and the golden lampstand on the left. And right there in the mid-section was the altar of incense. As you go then, there's another veil. And that's the veil that we know as the veil of the temple, 07:51 which was rent in the time of Christ, at the death of Christ. And then in beyond that was the Ark of the Covenant and covered by the mercy seat. We're familiar with this, or at least we should be as Christians. This is the basis of our appeal to get into the presence of God, to get into fellowship with God. 08:13 And each one of these things had a significance that we'll look at this morning as we move through this passage. Now, the Old Testament system, verse 1, had its ordinances of divine service and earthly sanctuary. 08:28 It had been prepared by Moses going up into the mountain and then receiving the pattern and coming down and building that pattern. And verse 9 says that this was symbolic. It was symbolic. It was symbolic of something to come. 08:45 But as long as it was standing, that which was to come was not made manifest. 08:51 And so God ultimately destroyed the temple, the tabernacle, which then became ushered in the temple and destroyed the temple so that men would have no other way of getting into God's presence but the way of the cross. And so he says we need to be familiar with this. 09:11 In verse 2, there was the lampstand and the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, 09:29 in which were the golden pot that had manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the cherubim overshadowing the mercy seat. And of these things, he doesn't go into great detail. Now, when we look at the essence of the tabernacle, there are some problems here that we want to, 09:49 first of all, contrast the old and the new. The old was earthly. In chapter 9, verse 1, we see that it was an earthly sanctuary. The new covenant is a heavenly sanctuary. In verse 11, it says that Christ came as priest of the good things to come and the greater and more perfect tabernacle, 10:09 not made with hands. And so we're talking about the heavenly arrangement. And if you want to understand chapter 9 and 10 of Hebrews, you must understand that what they had in the tabernacle was just a symbolic picture of what was the arrangement of things in heaven with the glorious presence of God. 10:31 So the old was earthly. The new is heavenly. The old, in verse 11, was material. It was material. 10:39 It had its good things to come, but it was made with hands. It was physical curtains. It was physical furniture. It was physical rituals. But the new is spiritual. In verse 23, 10:58 what's beyond our text, but it is applicable, there it was necessary that the copies of the things in heaven should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 11:11 And so the earthly sacrifices, the material sacrifices, covered the physical and material items in the temple. But the heavenly things, the heavenly things are covered with better sacrifices than that. And that is with Jesus' blood himself, his own blood. 11:31 The old was local. In chapter 9, verse 1 through 5, we know that the tabernacle was a place where it was set up. It was a mobile worship center. It would move from place to place, but it would be set up. And you had to go to the tabernacle to worship. You had to go later to Solomon's temple and then on to Herod's temple. 11:50 You had to go someplace. But the new is universal. Verse 15, he is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 12:08 So whoever is called and whoever comes by way of the cross can be included in this great universal heavenly temple and tabernacle. The old was inadequate. 12:23 Verse 13, it says the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled the unclean to the purifying of the flesh. But in the new is all sufficient. How much more shall the blood of Christ cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 12:41 And so if the old was sufficient to cleanse the physical environment, that's all it could do. The new now is all sufficient to cleanse our hearts and to cleanse the conscience. And then another contrast, the old had restricted access. 13:03 Verse 7, the high priest went in one time a year and only the high priest and only on that day. And the other priests, they would go into the first part of that tent. They would go into the courtyard, of course. They would offer the sacrifices. They would cleanse their bodies with the water, washing of the water. 13:23 And then they would enter into that first room of the tabernacle. And they would tend to the table of showbread. And once every week, they would put new loaves out there on that table and sprinkle incense between the rows. There'd be two rows of six loaves on that table of showbread. 13:42 And then every day, twice a day, they would trim the lamps on the golden lampstand. They would trim the wicks, trim the lamps, fill the oil. That oil was to never run out. 13:55 And it was to never be deficient. It was to be tended. It was to never go out. In fact, the holiday for the Jewish people of Hanukkah was just celebrated. How many of you have heard of Hanukkah? Have you ever celebrated Hanukkah? Well, probably not. We don't usually. 14:14 It's a Jewish holiday. But it represents the time in the intertestamental period between Malachi and Matthew where the Maccabees tried to overtake and push back the enemies who had tried to destroy and defile the temple. 14:32 And there was a time period there where I think it was eight days where the oil did not run out. It was a miraculous happening. The oil should have run out and the light should have gone off in the temple. But the oil did not run out. And they were not able to fill it. And so they celebrate the Feast of Lights, the lights. 14:52 And Jesus celebrated Hanukkah. If you look at the scriptural record, he went to Jerusalem and celebrated the Feast of Lights. It's not a bad thing to celebrate. It's just not when we understand that the light of the world is Jesus, what we actually would be celebrating is Jesus. So the old was restricted. 15:12 The new is available for all. Why don't you just flip over to 10:19? And I can't wait until we get there. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest, that is the Holy of Holies, by the blood of Jesus. That's you. That's me. That's Christ. 15:30 And us being ushered into that holy place by Jesus Christ. And so where the old could only take one person once a year, we can go in with Christ continually, continually, continually anytime we pray. What a blessing. And then finally, the old was temporary. 15:50 Verse 7, it was temporary. It was only for the sins of the people for a year. But the new is eternal. In verse 12, he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. And so we contrast the old and the new. 16:10 However, there's some also things, some things that we want to look at here in the essence of the temple or the tabernacle. We had three things that were in the Ark or some places it refers to being before the Ark, in front of the Ark. Number one was the pot of manna, which speaks of God's provision, 16:30 a golden pot where God instructed them, "Take some manna and put it in that pot." And I believe it did not rot. It was as good when they took it out as it was when they put it in because it was a symbolic thing of God saying that his provision was eternal. His provision in Christ was eternal. 16:51 Then there was Aaron's rod that budded, which speaks of power and authority. You read about this in Numbers. I believe it's chapter 16 or 17 where Numbers tells the account where Korah, Dathan, and Abiram challenged Moses and Aaron and their authority and said, "You take too much upon you. Everybody is holy before the Lord. 17:11 And everybody should be able to do anything. And we should have no leadership, and especially not of Aaron and Moses." And you remember how that turned out for Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and 250 leaders in Israel. This was a mass coup. Let's make anything against Donald Trump or Joe Biden or anything look like secondary in importance. 17:33 I mean, this was a mass coup of the important people in Israel. And they said, "We're done with Moses. We're done with Aaron. God wants everybody to be equal and have equal access." And so then the earth swallowed up, came and swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. You remember that account? And then they still complain. They complain that you killed these men. 17:53 And so how can you be a good spiritual leader when you go around killing people and having the earth open up and slay people? And so God, by this time, is quite vexed. And Moses is as well. And God told Moses, "Take 12 rods from each tribe, one from each of the tribes, 18:12 of the leaders of every tribe of Israel, and lay them out in the tabernacle. Lay them out in the tabernacle and leave them overnight. 18:21 And I will prove to you which family is to approach me as authority and have the power and authority to represent me in the tabernacle worship and in leadership." And they went in that next day and they found that of all 12 of those rods, just simple rods of the 12, 18:43 one rod had budded. And so that was Aaron's rod that budded. And that budding rod didn't unbud, I don't believe. And so that was to be placed either in the tabernacle or in the Ark of the Covenant or in front of it. And then the tablets of stone speak of the precepts. 19:03 We have the provision, the power, and the precepts, the precepts of God, the word of God, the communication of God to his people in the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God, and then placed in that Ark of the Covenant, which is interesting, brothers and sisters, 19:22 when they made atonement for the sins of the people in the Holy of Holies. When they made atonement, there was the mercy seat covering the Ark of the Covenant, the box where the glory dwelt. And in that box was the Ten Commandments, the law. 19:45 And over that box was the mercy seat and the blood. And the blood covered the broken law. And that's significant because it's called the atonement where the blood covered the law which had been broken. And that's what Jesus Christ's blood has done for us. 20:05 He is our covering. He has covered our brokenness, our sin, our shame, our rebellion, our ignorance, and our deficiencies with his own precious blood so that we can come into the presence of God. So those are the three things in the Ark. Now, 20:24 when we look at this, something ought to stand out for you and compare the diagram, which we know as the arrangement of the tabernacle, and verse 3. And it kind of causes people some problems. And what happens with this is some people say, "Well, the writer of Hebrews isn't authentic. 20:45 He made a mistake. Brother Dustin, here's a mistake," they would say, "in the Bible." And because what you have here in the first room of that tent was the lampstand, the table of showbread, and then the second veil and behind the second veil and part of the tabernacle, 21:04 which is called the holiest of all, had the golden censor and the Ark of the Covenant. Now, wait a minute. How could that altar of incense? And if you have anything other than the King James or New King James, if you have an ESV or an NIV this morning, you probably noticed that that word censor, 21:24 the golden censor, is actually translated the Ark or the golden altar of incense, the altar of incense. So how can you have the altar of incense outside of the most holy place and inside the most holy place? And so some people will come along and say, 21:44 "Well, Christians have a corrupted text." And it causes some people to stumble and some of the skeptics to criticize us and say, "We have a corrupted text." I'm not going to spend long on this, but I just want to give you some options here as we study this. Number one option, and this isn't a very good one, but it was actually in the Holy of Holies. 22:05 But this contradicts Exodus 30:6. In Exodus 30:6, it says, "You shall put into the..." it shall put it, that is the altar of incense, "before the veil," that is before the Ark of the testimony, "before the mercy seat that is over the testimony where I meet with you," and put it before the veil. 22:26 And so that has led us to believe that scripture says it should be in that first room. Hebrews comes along and says it's in the second room. What gives? Well, some people would say it actually was in the Holy of Holies. But that contradicts Exodus 30:6. Other people would say there were actually two altars of incense. However, 22:46 there was one in the first room and one in the second room. However, there is no biblical or historical record of this to make this a plausible explanation. 22:57 Another one would say that the altar was moved on the day of atonement, that this altar would have been set back into the second room to accommodate the exercises on the day of the atonement. That's probably not a real viable option either. 23:15 Another one would say the altar belongs to or is in close association with the mercy seat and the Ark, hinted at in Exodus 40:5. 23:29 Exodus 40:5 hints that this may actually be a legitimate understanding because let me turn to Exodus 40:5. 23:42 It does say there that, "You shall set the altar of gold for the incense before the Ark of the testimony and put it up the screen for the door of the tabernacle." And some translations translate that it belongs to or the altar of 24:01 incense belongs to the Ark of the Covenant. In 1 Kings, 1 Kings 6:22, he talks about those things that belong to the Ark of the Covenant. And so there would be those that would say that this would help solve that dilemma. And we're getting a little bit technical here, 24:21 so I don't want to lose you. Number five, there's a possibility that the veil was moved or pulled back on the day of atonement, allowing full access into the Holy of Holies by the priest. So there could have been the fact that that veil was pulled back so that the first room and the second room were as one. 24:42 One of the more viable options for resolving this is one that I would tend to lean toward. The last three, I think, could all be possibilities. 24:53 But I would tend to lean toward that the golden censor, when it's translated here in the King James and the New King James, the golden censor in verse 4 and the Ark of the Covenant, and it's not actually talking about the altar of incense. 25:08 It's talking about a censor that was able, a piece of furniture 25:14 with which they shuttled the coals from the brazen altar where the sacrifice had been made back into the Holy of Holies where the incense would be placed on those coals and the blood would accompany them and the blood would be sprinkled on the mercy seat. 25:35 And the censor was that which the priest used to take the coals back to the Holy of Holies. And so the brazen altar and the Holy of Holies in accordance with Leviticus 16:12 and 13 and placed inside the veil. Leviticus 16:12 and 13 goes like this. 25:56 It says this, "Then he shall take a censor full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord with his hands full of sweet incense, beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony lest he die." A lot of technical jargon there, 26:18 but there are good illustrations and good reasons to think why that this is not a corrupted text. The author of Hebrews is not trying to pull the wool over our eyes, that he does know what he's talking about. And there are ways of resolving these seeming contradictions in scripture. 26:36 It's interesting to associate that with what we heard this morning in our Sunday school hour. So here we are talking about the essence of the tabernacle, what was in there. 26:50 Now we look at the function of the tabernacle 26:59 and the 27:01 enacting of these commands. Where in verse 6, he sets this tabernacle up. And the second part, the Holy of Holies, the high priest goes in once a year with blood and offers a sacrifice for himself and then offers also a sacrifice for others. 27:22 The Holy Spirit indicating that the way into the holiest of all, the Holy of Holies, was not made manifest for everybody while the first tabernacle was standing. It was symbolic. It was symbolic. Now here we have the ministry of Christ, the fulfilling of the ministry of the tabernacle. 27:43 We have the altar of brass, speaks of the sacrificial ministry. And if you look back here, you'll see the red marks there. They have the red mark that kind of got dislocated. But the mark down there in the bottom right-hand corner, the altar of brazen altar and then the brazen laver, 28:06 this speaks of the sacrificial ministry of Christ. The brazen altar, the altar of brass, speaks of the sacrificial ministry of Christ. 1 Corinthians 5:7, "For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 28:22 He is the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world." So when we think about this heavenly tabernacle of which the earthly tabernacle was symbolic, we have this place of sacrifice and that represents Jesus Christ and his sacrificial offering for us. 28:41 And then there's the laver of brass which speaks of the cleansing ministry of Christ. Titus 3:5, "According to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. 29:00 We read it in Ephesians 5 this morning, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. There is a cleansing that cleanses the soul and the spirit and the conscience of the believer just as symbolically it cleansed the body of the Old Testament priest. 29:19 Okay. And when I did that this morning, that circle was around in the right spot. So somewhere in the translation between the programs, I think it got displaced. So if you look at that circle in the middle of the page, right to the left of that is the table of showbread. And what does that speak of? 29:39 It speaks of the nourishing ministry of Christ. John 6:51, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever." And so when you come into that tabernacle and you see that showbread, it's speaking of Christ. 30:00 And then you move over to the left side of that first room and you see the golden lampstand, the golden lampstand. He speaks of the illuminating ministry of Christ. 30:13 2 Corinthians 4:6, "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world.'" And so we have again the ministry of Christ, the fulfillment of the Old Testament tabernacle. 30:33 And then as we look there straight in front of the veil up towards the top of that tabernacle was the altar of incense. And the altar of incense speaks of the intercessory ministry of Christ. Hebrews 7:25, "Therefore he is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, 30:54 seeing he always lives to make intercession for them." Jesus Christ today is praying for you. He's praying for his people. He's praying for us. Not only did he pray for us in the garden, not only did he pray for us in John 17, the great high priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, but he's praying for you today. 31:16 Whatever you bring to him in the name of Jesus goes to the Father through Jesus. Jesus is praying for you. It's wonderful when somebody tells us, "I've been praying for you. I'm praying for you. I'm praying for you." We have prayer requests. We know that prayer works. Actually, I don't believe that I don't believe that prayer works. 31:35 I believe that God works through prayer. It's not just the Hail Mary, throw a pass of prayer. But it's actually appealing to God to work and it is activated by prayer. So technically, prayer works, but I prefer to say God works through prayer. And so Jesus is praying for you today. 31:54 I want to encourage you with that word as you face this next year of 2023. Whatever it is that we face, Christ is praying for you. He is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. And then, of course, we go behind the veil. We go behind the veil to the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat. 32:16 The mercy seat speaks of the reconciling ministry of Christ. Romans 5:11, "We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." The Old King James version uses the term atonement, the atonement, 32:37 the atonement of God and man. It's actually probably better translated the reconciliation, the mercy seat with the cherubim pointed in and they're facing one another with their heads down and their wings extended over that mercy seat. 32:54 God meets mankind right there and he reconciles with man. And he does that through the Lord Jesus Christ, the mercy seat. And then, of course, the Ark of the Covenant speaks of the glorifying ministry of Christ. John 17:24, "That they may be with me where I am, 33:13 that they may behold my glory which you have given me." It's the place of fellowship. It's the place of intimacy with God. It's the place where God and man meet. And we do that in Christ, the Ark of the Covenant. And here's what I want you to know. When Jesus, 33:33 when that high priest took that sacrifice and went into the Holy of Holies and offered that sacrifice for himself, came back out and got another sacrifice to take into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood for the people, Christ went in there once, didn't have to go in and out and in and out. 33:54 He went in there one time, offered his own sacrifice of his own blood as a sufficient payment for eternal redemption. That's what he's saying in verse 11 and 12. "But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come or the good things which now are," is another subtranslation of that speaking of in Christ, 34:15 "with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most holy place once for all having obtained eternal redemption. Nothing more needed, nothing lacking, nothing more to come. 34:36 It is done. It is finished. It is full. It is sufficient." Now how do we know? How do we know? And this is where it all ties together in the gospel beautifully. 34:50 You knew that God had accepted the priest's atonement of blood when the priest came back out and he'd lived to tell the story another year. How do we know that the Father received the offering and the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ and his shed blood? 35:09 Because Jesus came to life. He rose again from the dead. He came out of that depths of death victorious and he came back from heaven to testify to the fact that God the Father has accepted him and it is all complete and finished. 35:30 All you must do is receive it by faith. He's alive. He's alive. Now he doesn't talk about the resurrection in this passage. But as I ponder on this, how did you know? How did you know in your knower that your sins were covered for another year? 35:51 Well, when that priest came out and said, "It is done. It's done. You're good." It just pales in comparison, was only symbolic. 36:01 And when Jesus came back from the pangs of death and having been in the presence of the Father, I don't know what all transpired in that three-day period between being in the place of departed spirits and preaching to the captives in the place of departed dead and 36:20 being ushered into God's presence where he took his sacrifice and poured it out at the Father's feet. I don't know what all happened there, but I know that Jesus Christ came out alive and that's the confirmation that his atonement was sufficient. And we ought to rejoice in that. And so this morning, 36:39 brothers and sisters, if you're struggling with the assurance of salvation, if you're struggling, "Has the Lord really heard my prayer? Does the Lord know me and I do? I really know him. Are my sins really forgiven? Are they really under the blood?" I encourage you to take that route through the tabernacle. 37:02 Take it through the tabernacle with Jesus where you come past the sacrificial ministry of Jesus Christ and you recognize that he died for your sins. And you come to the laver of brass where you recognize that his blood cleanses us from all sin and his Word is washing us with the washing of water by the Word. 37:23 And you come into the outer, into the first room and you partake and feast on the Lord Jesus Christ and you eat of his body and drink of his blood and you experience his nourishing ministry in your soul. 37:37 And you look across the room and Christ is giving you light and you say, "I know that I know that I know because Christ has shown it to me in his Word." And then there's that altar of incense and you say, "God, Lord Jesus, take my prayers to the Father. I offer them in humility and contrition. 37:55 I offer them as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to the God within the veil." And that aroma fills your life. 38:04 You can actually go with Jesus, go with Jesus into that inner sanctuary and see where he sprinkled the blood and he atoned for our sins and rent the veil of the temple from the top to the bottom and says, "Whosoever will may come." And we put our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. 38:28 And he came out alive having done what needed to be done once for all. There is no version two or three. We had version one. We've got version two. There's no version three. It is finished. 38:51 Father, thank you for this beautiful, beautiful picture of the covenant, the relationships of the covenant between the old and the new and how that has been fulfilled in Jesus, how that bolsters and boosts our confidence, our confidence that our sins are forgiven, 39:15 our debt is paid, the Father has been reconciled and us to God have been reconciled, that we can place our full faith and confidence in the finished work of Christ and in the blood of Jesus, 39:33 that he came out alive to proclaim to us that the Father is now our God and our Father. And through him, we have received the reconciliation. 39:50 And so, Father, I pray if there be someone here this morning that's struggling under the guilt of the false guilt of confessed sins. They've confessed their sins, but they still feel this condemnation. 40:05 Lord, would you take them into that Holy of Holies and show them the reconciliation that has been purchased on their behalf? 40:16 And Father, for those who have not confessed their sins, who need to do that, may they know that the way is open, that Jesus Christ the Lord opened up the way to glory when he died to save us from our ruined state. 40:32 And then finally, Lord, you ask that we should go tell the world the story how the Savior will save them from their awful fate. So, Lord, as we begin this new year, we do so with faith and confidence in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ. 40:53 And we ride on his coattails. We ride on his shoulders. We ride on his reputation and his sufficiency and not our own. In Jesus' name, Amen.