======================================================================== THE TABERNACLE by G.W. North ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon delves into the significance of being washed by the mediator, Moses, in the Old Testament, and the transition to being washed by the blood of Jesus in the New Testament. It emphasizes the importance of obedience as a demonstration of genuine love for God, highlighting the need for believers to overcome the world through faith in Jesus Christ. The sermon underscores the covenant God makes with His people through the blood of Jesus, sealing them in His love and truth for eternity. Topics: "Covenant", "Obedience and Faith" Scripture References: 1 John 5:6, John 1:32, Hebrews 10:19, 1 John 5:3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon delves into the significance of being washed by the mediator, Moses, in the Old Testament, and the transition to being washed by the blood of Jesus in the New Testament. It emphasizes the importance of obedience as a demonstration of genuine love for God, highlighting the need for believers to overcome the world through faith in Jesus Christ. The sermon underscores the covenant God makes with His people through the blood of Jesus, sealing them in His love and truth for eternity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Following our time together on Sunday morning, a gentleman came up to me and he said, Something you said this morning confused me. Oh, I said, well, what was it? And he made an inquiry along a certain line. So I want tonight to make that our starting point. I want to clarify that and go on from there. It was concerning the statement I made about the water and the blood. You may recall we were referring to the sea, the gigantic lava, the sea, a tremendous size of a thing, 15 cubits across, and you know the old cubit is from the elbow to the fingertip. Fifteen of those in diameter. Much, much bigger than those that he made as lavers, copying what Moses had done at the beginning. And I pointed out that in the sea, that is, that great big place, the priests were washed. They had their initial cleansing. They were plunged into it, and they were washed all over by the mediator. They didn't wash themselves in it for a beginning. Now keep that very clear. They were washed by Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, God's man, God's representative. Then they were dressed in their priestly clothes, anointed, and all the things which I hope you know about, in that you are more and more acquainting yourselves with the Bible. It's all in there, and all you have to do is to read it. And I also, from there, pointed out that these lavers were where the priests had to wash the offerings. You will know, for instance, that the first offering mentioned in the book of Leviticus, well, I'll tell you what, let's read it. That's why I stood up with my Bible tonight. It's best that we read it exactly as it is. In the book of Leviticus, which follows hard, I was going to say, on the heels of Exodus, as though Moses had written it on the run. But in verse 1, then, of chapter 1 of Leviticus, And the Lord called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord, And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. And his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water. And the priests shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet savour unto the Lord. So you will see the parts of the offering were washed. The whole burnt offering, of course, had not to do with sin. There were in the Old Testament the sin offerings, trespass offerings, peace offerings, meal offerings. Here was the great burnt offering, which a man just voluntarily, without commandment from God, but in sheer gratitude to him and love, would bring this most precious, spotless, best animal of his flock and give it all to God. Now that was very wonderful. So there you have an instance of the offering being washed. So then, in the Solomon's day, when the temple was built and he went in for these great things in a big, big way, a permanent way, for that's what the temple signified. The days of tabernacling and moving around, not knowing where the tabernacle might be tomorrow, if the cloud lifted in the night or in the day, they just had to go on and pitch the tent somewhere else. And it was here, it was there, it was somewhere else. Now the days of permanency had come in Solomon's day, in the days when the kingdom was established in a great way. And there were the labors. And that's where the animals were washed. And I pointed out that that's where the blood and the water are combined in the Old Testament. Tremendous thing it is, beloved. Then to see that there was a time when the water and the blood were mingled together. And also, that glorious thing that God did is clear. If you want the figure of baptism equating something like what we have today as water baptism, that is by immersion, it was in the labor. All right? They were put in that sea and they were scrubbed. Well, I suppose they were. And that was it. And it was done by Moses. It wasn't done by themselves. It wasn't done by any man except the God-man, as we may speak of him there. For you will remember, this is what God said to Moses. He said, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh. You may read that in the opening part of the book of Exodus. In that sense, he was to bring judgment upon them. Egypt being representative of the world and the great outpourings of God's wrath, not just upon the people of the land, but upon the things that they worshipped, that he may destroy idolatry in the eyes of Israel. And that was a tremendous thing. Unfortunately, he didn't destroy it by his many judgments in the eyes of the worldling. Idolatry can never be destroyed from the eyes of the worldling. It cannot be done. They don't worship scarabs and the Nile and Pharaoh and the young heir to the throne that was slain during the Passover. They worshipped cars and money and televisions and rock stuff. I don't mean what you get out of the ground. They worshipped all kinds of things. They worshipped their stomachs. They worshipped their sexuality. They worshipped all kinds of things like that. That's what they do. But God wants us to understand that he poured out his wrath there and he made Moses the symbol of God to Pharaoh. Remember, he called him to the burning bush. Moses didn't want to go. He was more afraid than Peter was on the platform tonight. And God had to make him go. And he went, loathe to go. But unless he was going to judge Pharaoh and the blatant sins of the Egyptians, he would never be their savior. For God sent him down to be a savior, to bring his people out of Egypt. And it was the God-man then. He wasn't the God-man in the sense that Jesus is the God-man. I suppose I've got to make this very plain. I don't want to leave confusion in anybody's minds tonight. Jesus was the only God-man. And God, marvelous, praised his name. But Moses in type was fulfilling this blessed ministry. And that was a wonderful thing. Now you will notice that Moses did not wash all Israel. Keep that clear. He only washed those that were going to be priests. I think you'd better get that very clear. Now let the significance of that sink into your heart. He only washed, he only immersed, scrubbed, cleansed, did what you want. All right. He only did that to the priests. No one else. Not even the priest's relatives, that is the Levites. He never scrubbed all the rest of the tribes. Oh, fairly exclusive, wasn't it? Indeed, it was. In this 24th chapter of the book of Exodus. The Lord said unto Moses, This was after they had come out of Egypt. And he had brought them to himself at Mount Sinai, as he said. Preparatory to taking them into the promised land. That's what he had done. He stopped them at Sinai to receive his law. And it was the law that they were to get into their hearts before they entered the promised land. They were not going to be allowed by God to live in his land. The land he had chosen for them. The promised land. Unless they would go there under his rule. Not just because of his redemption. The redemption led to the rule. All right? Say yes or no. Good. And let's understand it. So he stopped them there to receive his rule. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You could say rules. But I have left off S. He was showing them that he was the king. He's the sovereign. Hallelujah. That's why he'd had Pharaoh killed. Because he did. When the crossing of the Red Sea. It's why he'd had the worshipped child of Pharaoh slain. So that both the terrible king and his heir were slain. Keep that right. For you must understand that the heir of the satanic king on the human level is the old man. Get that very clear. And God then dealt with them and brought them to himself. And in verse 1 of chapter 24. We read that he said unto Moses. Come up unto the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? The reading of scripture. You must linger. Tarry long. You must not read it. Gabble, gabble, gabble. He said to Moses. He didn't say now listen. Are you following it? He didn't say come up to me. He said you come up to the Lord. If you're coming up here Moses. You've got to realize and recognize that I am the Lord. You just don't come to me. You come to the Lord. It was him of course. I want you to understand the language in which he spoke. For when we're living in days of such total disrespect. Where honor and respect is given to no one. And you can't do that if you become a Christian. Come up unto the Lord he said. Speaking of himself. Thou Aaron, Medab, by whom. And seventy of the elders of Israel. And worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord. He had to be the mediator. Do you understand? I'm just building up the great truth here. They shall not come nigh. Neither shall the people go up with him. Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord. And all the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said. All the words which the Lord has said will we do. Moses came to the people and brought these things. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And rose up early in the morning. And built an altar under the hill. And twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel. Which offered burnt offerings. And sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the Lord. Now I want you to notice something here. It's very important that you do it. I must beware that I don't stop on every little step. Because we shan't get away till midnight. But here is the truth. Until now there had been no sin offering made at all. It is important for us to understand. That in the land of Egypt there was no offering made to God. None. God would not accept offerings while people are in the world. You understand that clear? The lambs they slew in the land they had to eat. They were not offered to God. I don't want the mima. He said I'm going to put it in language anyway. If you don't eat it or burn it. Burn it. He didn't say on an altar. He said burn it. The blood that was put on the houses was not put there as a sin offering. It was put as the mark. What a marvelous thing. It was put there as the token on those houses. He said, that is the Lord. He said when I see the blood I will pass over you. And that's what happened. So the lamb offered in or slain in Egypt was not offered to God. The blood of the lamb was used as a token. It was not poured upon an altar. All right. It wasn't for sin. The next offerings spoken of are these that we have read together. The next offering in 24 verse 5. Burnt offerings and peace offerings. Hallelujah. Not yet was God dealing with sin. Because there was no law except embryonically. It had not yet been established in Israel. He had not told them thou shalt not or thou shalt. Now God is very meticulous about this. And it was so tremendous. God never acts out of line. So they offered burnt offerings which we read about in the book of Leviticus. They weren't there for sin offering. He told them afterwards that the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the tabernacle, their bodies had to be burned outside the camp. God would have nothing to do with them at all. God never has anything to do with the sin offering. In other words, he doesn't want them on his altar. He doesn't want them offered to him. Keep that very clear. Burned rubbish outside the camp. The blood was brought in. Making you think, isn't it? That's good for you. It's been good for me. Here's the great thing. So they did that. Sacrifices of peace offerings. Sacrifices of burnt offerings. Lord I'm so grateful. Lord I'm so thrilled. You can say what you like. And they were accepted. But now look at the blood. Before the blood was on the houses. Let's read it. Verse 4. Roses wrote all the words of the Lord. He rose up early in the morning and built him an altar under the hill. And twelve tribes, pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Unshakably surrounding the altar. There they stood. The pillars were of stone. Beside them rose the stone mass. Sinai. The rock. The immovable rock. They were, if I may use a phrase, the Lord will excuse it I'm sure. The pillars were chips off the old block. If you know what I mean. You know what that means in our phraseology. And that's where they were put. Rock. Round an altar undoubtedly made of stone. Beside the great rock. And atop of the great rock. God their rock. Amen. That was very, very wonderful. And then Moses in verse 6. Took half of the blood. Put it in basins. And half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant. Not the two tablets of stone. They were yet to be given him. And they were put on, if I may say it again. Chips off the rock. That's where they were put. The whole picture is of immovability. Well he takes the blood. Half he sprinkles on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant. And read in the audience of the people. And they said. All that the Lord has said will we do. And be obedient. And Moses took the blood. And sprinkled it on the people. And said. Behold. The blood of the covenant which God hath made with you. Concerning all these words. Now the covenant was made with them. Concerning the things that God had said. And Moses was written down. It wasn't a willy nilly. Here I'll cover you. Great big covenant I made. Do this, this. Oh no. No. It was only a covenant. Or covenanted only. On the conditions that they would obey God. He will not enter into covenant with you. Just because you say you want your sins forgiven. The root of all sin in mankind is this very thing. Disobedience. God said to Adam. You shall not eat of this tree. That's it. And he did. And that's the root of all sin. So far as man and woman is concerned. And he's not prepared to marry a defiant will. He's not prepared to save. He's not prepared to covenant with anybody. Unless they come down to his feet. And tell God thou do everything he says. Now that's the solemnity of it. And this is why so many people never get into the real glorious fullness and overflowing. Life. That's right. Listen to Paul. He says that the carnal mind. That's the mind of the flesh. That's. We all have one. If we still haven't got it. Is enmity against God. It will not do what God says. Won't. You can't convert it. It has to be exterminated. And that's a tremendous thing for us to understand. And this is what we owe to the great apostle Paul. When he takes up his pen. Or someone takes up a pen of his dictation. And he writes that great letter to the Romans. Here is the great truth for us to understand. Moses took the blood. And he sprinkled it on the people. And he said. Behold the blood of the covenant. Which the Lord has made with you. Concerning all these words. That's marvelous truth. Beloved. Well. Behold this blood. He said. Behold it. Half of it was on the altar. Some of it was on the book that he'd written. The sum of it was on them. On the altar. On the book of the covenant. That's the words of the covenant. And on the people. That's where it was. Now that was a completely external thing. When we come into the New Testament. You will recall. That in that upper room. Before he went to Gethsemane. And then on to the cross. The Lord instituted the new covenant. At least the practice of it. And he gave them the wine and the cup. And he said. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Drink it. It was outwards in the old. It's inwards in the new. What a glorious thing it is. And of course I need not remind you. That his blood. Covered all the blood offerings of the Old Testament. All of them. There wasn't part of it for sin. Part of it for peace offering. And part of it for a burnt offering. That kind of thing. It was all done. That which was divided up as God in grace. Moved down to the bare minds. And beliefs of people. I say that because. He couldn't move down. Unto their inward parts. Not in those days. The inward covenant wasn't established. But all those things that came in little bits. And pieces. Part here. Part there. As the Old Testament teaches you. You won't find this in the New Testament. Here a little. There a little. Line upon line. Precept upon precept. You don't get that in the New Testament. I wish people would wake up between the difference. See the difference between the Old and the New Testament. They quote this thing and they haven't even seen it. That doesn't belong to the New Testament at all. Jesus never said it. They were great men who said it. But they were not in the New Covenant. And God wants us to understand this great difference. Now. I'm making a gigantic leap. I'm coming into the New Testament. Put down my entire Bible. And we'll go into the New Testament. Now. I pointed out to you earlier. That. The washing. The cleansing. The clothing. The anointing. Blood and oil in the Old Testament was only on the priests. Keep that clear. The priests were the greatest men of the Old Testament as a company. Unfortunately this has been carried over in some hierarchical religions. And the priest is the big man. People are afraid of him. They have to do what the priest says. That's been carried over. Again it's confusion between the Old and the New Testaments. But only the priests were washed. Only the priests were immersed in that big labor of regeneration. Now keep this clear. Only the priests from there proceeded to make the offerings to God. Only those. You say, well where would we stand in all this then? Surprise perhaps to you. It ought not to be. But if you read with me. In say the book of Revelation. Seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace. From him which is and which was and which is to come. And from the seven spirits which are before the throne. Don't read that as being seven holy spirits. There's only one. Angels and archangels are spirits. There are those special ones around the throne. God could use any of them. And when he came into any of them. That angel spoke as though he was the Lord. And he was called the angel of the Lord. Because the Lord, all the angels belonged to him. Like he says, all the earth is mine. But there were seven spirits before the throne. In which, in perfect number, you know number seven is the number of perfection. And through which he manifested himself through the ages. And always has and I suppose always will. From Jesus Christ, 2 verse 5. Who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead. And the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us. And washed us from our sins in his own blood. And hath made us, you will have kings and priests. But it's really a kingdom of priests. Unto God and his father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Now turn back with me into the first epistle of Peter. And we'll find in the second chapter, verse 1. First epistle, chapter 2. Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy. You see, if you got malice and guile and hypocrisy. You'll try to slip round the covenant he's made with you according to the words. Do you understand? That's all got to go. As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word. That you may grow thereby. If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming as unto a living stone. Think back to what we've been talking about, the rock. Okay. Disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. May I repeat that little word. If, if this is so. Let's read it again. And only if, I may say. If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming as unto a living stone. Not just as a saviour. All right. God was their saviour on Sinai. He made them come to the rock. As unto a living stone. Disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. You also as living stones. Are built up a spiritual house. And holy priesthood. To offer up spiritual sacrifices. Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Beloved. Wake up, shall we? To the fact. That every born again one. That is born again on God's terms. Is born a priest. Cleansing. Regeneration. The labor of regeneration. It's only for those who are going to be priests. If you are not a priest. Now you don't see me in a frock. And a collar turned around the other way. I have a tie on. And nothing to do with that at all. Beloved. You got to see. That unless you are prepared to be a priest. And enter into the priesthood. Which has nothing to do with seminaries and colleges. And elections. And conferences upon people of names and titles. Has nothing to do with that at all. Unless you are prepared to function as a priest. You cannot be regenerate. That is your calling. The great mediator of the new covenant. Only immerses priests. Amen. What do you know about it? If we went into the Hebrews. Which we will do. We'll touch on it if possible sometime. Tonight. You will see. That our Lord Jesus. Was and is. The great high priest. Now he didn't walk about in flowing robes. There were no golden bells and pomegranates. Tinkling wherever he went. He had no great mitre on his head. With a plate of gold saying holiness unto the Lord. He only. Immerses in his precious labor of regeneration. If I may use the term. Those who are prepared to be priests. In fact they were only made priests. By that immersion. But everyone in Israel. Knew what they were. Every priest. Heir to the priesthood. Knew he was going to be a priest. He went for that reason. To be immersed. But today they say come to Jesus. And have your sins forgiven you see. Of course it's so right. But have you never heard. This phrase and how true it is. That the good stands in the way of the best. People want that which is good. They don't want the best. Now. Glory, glory, glory to God. This is where we see the great truth. Turn with me into the book of the Revelation. I'm sorry into the book of Hebrews. Let's look at another verse. So plainly written here. You will know the wonderful 10th chapter I'm sure. About the law verse 1. It only had a shadow of good things to come. Not even, I put the word even in. The very image of the things. Is a miles away from being the image of what was to come. If you like it was a faint, faint picture. For it was all done in things. Stone, gold, silver. Hangings, clothes, crowns, mitres, jewellery. That was the best they could do I suppose. Then which earth could produce no better. They took it up for God. It always troubles me when I hear stories about mighty buildings in England. Or anywhere else. These wonderful cathedrals that they built to the glory of God. Of course they didn't. They built it to the glory of man. They laboured long and lovingly. It took them centuries sometimes to put the top most stone on. Alright. And so people go and worship at these shrines. It's a lot of rubbish. And God will show you it's rubbish. He's going to burn it all up. He doesn't burn up precious things. And God wants us to see this beloved. But when you come into this great tenth chapter. It says in verse one that the law only had a shadow of good things to come. And not the very image of the things. But in those sacrifices there is remembrance made again of sins every year. For it's not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. And so he goes on. Now as we go down to the chapter we read these things. Here they are. Verse fourteen. By one offering Jesus has perfected forever them that are sanctified. Well hallelujah. When those priests of old were immersed in that great sea. They were sanctified utterly unto their ministry. They were not even allowed to go out of the tabernacle anymore. With one or two exceptions. They had to live there. When they went in they said goodbye to mum. They didn't say goodbye to dad because Aaron was in there. Their father was in there. Okay. They said goodbye to all outside things. And that's where they lived. You should read about it. It's a real eye opener to read the Bible you know. You'll come out of all fantasy land if you'll do that. You'll come out of all false ideas if you'll just read the Bible. That's why we have it. They were sanctified wholly unto the Lord at their new birth. When they were taken out of the world where they'd been living. And they rose up and they became a priest unto the Lord. Hallelujah. Therefore there should be no division between regeneration and sanctification. Should not be doctrinally. And God wants to see. Of course there had to be then the ongoing sanctification. What is it? You stay there. You don't go out of it. You don't take those robes off. You don't do this. You don't the other. You're here. You're sanctified unto me. And that's why the chief priests had to wear the golden plate. Which said holiness or sanctification. Whichever word you want to use. Unto the Lord. Sanctification unto the Lord. Everywhere he went. Towering above everything else. This man representatively of God. What a marvelous thing it is. Now may I ask you this question beloved? Are you entirely sanctified unto the Lord? Did someone not preach the truth to you? You answer that. So anxious for you to get your sins forgiven. They should be too. Inside if you'd be quiet. Is the accusation going on? You're a sinner yourself. So you say, well I'm only a sinner. I'm trying to help other sinners. What a disgraceful thing to say. We're all sinners. Who said so? We were all sinners. So salvation is a predestination to sin. At least till we leave the earth. So when this great man writes this letter. You may think it was Paul. Others don't think it was. Doesn't matter. But this is what it says. By one offering verse 14. He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. Now let me ask you a question. Is the Spirit witnessing to you that you are perfected forever? I'm asking you the question. You shall answer it. I'm not quoting out of a book according to Mr. North. I'm quoting from the Bible. The Holy Ghost witnesses that we are perfected forever. Witnesses that the perfect offering has been made. What is that lovely phrase that you know about? I never was in the Church of England. One full, perfect, sufficient, ablation. Come and say it to them. You can just see him with a dog collar on, can't you? He used to be decent on a platform then. Here, here, here. I'll leave it to him tomorrow. Here's the truth, beloved. We've got to see it. Do you see? Follow it with me, verse 16. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. That's after the days that the old covenant was finished, was finished. I will put my laws into their hearts and into their, and in their minds will I write them so that they won't have to repeat them, but that they will think them. They won't have to talk themselves into some creedal acceptance of repetitious things. They will think this way. They will. And because you will really think deep down in the subconscious realm, that's where he'll write it. You understand when God writes in a human being, he puts that human being in one sense to sleep. What's the man talking about? All right, I'll tell you. The great covenant that God cut with Abraham, the father of circumcision. You may read about it in the book of the Genesis. He told Abraham what to do. To cut the sacrifices into halves, stack them up as a great gateway, and he then put Abraham to sleep. And when he was in a deep, deep sleep, God came and cut his covenant into him. That was Abraham's secret. He could persist, and insist, and go through where there was no leader, and no teacher. Because it was cut into his being by God. God cleanses the subconscious mind. Or else what use is this salvation? Is it just a ticket to heaven? Can't I be changed on this earth? Can't I become a new person on this earth? Can't I become all that God wants me to be while I'm on this earth? Cannot I be that? Why bid me hope then? Here is the great and glorious things I fear that so few people have got hold of this all right. The Holy Ghost. Listen. I'll put them in their hearts. I'll write them in their minds. And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. He doesn't say, I will not remember your sins and then I'll write it. You notice the way it's put. I will write it first. And then, he says, I will not remember their sins anymore. Because you have written into your subconscious being. Right down there, it was there in your unconscious being. When you were a little baby and you never knew you were you. Here is the great thing. He says, now where remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. God has made no provision for offering for sin beyond that. Glory be to the name of the Lord. That's a very, very wonderful thing. The ever present, supreme, permanent sacrifice is here with us. Hallelujah. And it's also wonderful. Now, now that's glorious. And remember, he's talking about priests. That's what the opening part of the chapter is about. Because, oh God, he's only dealing with priests. Do you understand this? You may call yourself a missionary. You may call yourself a pastor. You may call yourself a prophet. You may call yourself a church member. You may call yourself this, that or the other. God is only dealing with priests. It doesn't matter who they are, what other name they may bear. The fundamental thing is that you're a priest. And you are to give yourself to it. And all the elders in every fellowship is to see that their members give themselves to it. But don't crack whips. Now we're going to read on. Here it goes. Having therefore, 19, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest of all. That's how it was spoken of. Into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. By the new and living way which he hath inaugurated for us. Through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having an high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near. Are you listening closely now or reading it closely? With a true heart. That is a true heart that has the laws of God written in it. Having our heart in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. And our bodies washed with pure water. The labor of regeneration. It's nothing to do with water baptism. It was done by immersion in the Old Testament. If you thought that baptism by immersion was something of the New Testament, then you've had an eye opener tonight. The greatness of the temple was that God began something gloriously new. Through the tabernacle they had come right through and to that place. And then God revealed to David something greater and something better. He said when he drew up the plans for the temple. Isn't it marvelous? He was an architect as well as a king and a shepherd and a fighter and a killer of giants. I don't know what he was. This tremendous man David. And he drew up the plans and he said, God made me understand this in writing by his hand upon me. I sat down. Now you'll know the secret of true inspiration when you read your Bible. God's hand came on him. Covered his hair. And he wrote it. And what everybody must have thought. He's gone beyond Moses isn't he? He's gone beyond Moses. What's this sea business? He was introducing us to the New Testament. That's what he was doing. David's greater son. Solomon. Kingdom of peace. You can offer peace offerings. A kingdom where you can give yourself wholly unto God. Marvelous. Hallelujah. It was all building up to this. We know that centuries went past. And God had that temple knocked down. It was knocked down because these people moved away from God. Moved away from the revelation in David's heart. They moved off. They came under God's scourge. You will do that today. You will be under the scourge of God if you are truly a child of God. And you've gone away. You will come under the scourge of God. You'll be done in love of course. What son is he whom the father chastiseth, chasteneth not. You're a bastard he said. That's all in this Hebrews letter. If you don't have the chastenings of God. It's a lovely scourge. Amen. But he does to bring us into line. I hope you don't think I'm whirling a scourge around my head speaking to you tonight. I want to say beloved that I'm not so far from tears. God's great heart of love. His exposure of himself unto men. Oh. They had to go in with their bodies washed with the pure water. And he's not referring to what John Baptist dealt with. We need to get this thing of baptism cleared in our minds. And if you like cleared out of it. If we're relying on being dipped in water. I've been dipped in water. Don't think I'm decrying it. The glory of it is beloved that God wants us to move into all the fullness of it. Can you still hear me? There's a drummer playing on the roof. But we don't believe in tom-toms. We'll go on with God. It's no good going out. You'll get soaked. Just sit still. Oh hallelujah. I know this that God had to combine so many things. When he's dealing with things he has to combine them. How can things, one thing, exhibit Christ fully? How can it? He had a candlestick. He had a laver. He had a table. He had an altar. He had an ark. He had a mercy seat. And all kinds of things. They were all little bits and pieces that he put together to try and show you one whole. So that's why he had it put inside, shall I say, a canvas thing. No it wasn't. It was a goat skin and seal skin thing. It was all put together and it had to be kept together because it was portraying Christ. This little bit did. That little bit did. That little bit did. But you don't need any of those things today. We have the whole Christ. It's all in him. What we need, beloved, is awakening up in our souls unto the truth. And only that will set us free. He set me free. You mean he took drugs away from you and drink away from you and gambling away from you. That's only superficial. The freedom of the Lord is that I go right into God. That's the freedom. And I get free from myself, horrible self. I get free from all these things. That's my freedom. That I have liberty with God. And it's for all of us. This is what the priesthood is about. Can you still hear me? Good. Afraid you're going to get wet, son. Here then is the truth. Now I spoke about the great sea and the labours. And in the labours, you will remember, they washed the sacrifices that were acceptable to God. That God would have on his altar. You can burn them all up for me. That's what he was saying. And they did. But there were the labours, as I say, where blood and water was mixed. Now I want you to turn with me to the epistle of John. The first one. Many of you will know where I'm going. In the first epistle of John and chapter 5. He defines what love of God is. Now if you want to know whether you really love God or not, just read John. It could shock you, but still you'd better face up to the shocks. He doesn't say, now this is the love of God that you feel all sort of swoony, and somebody throws their arms around you and says, ooh. No, no, no. Get it out of your mind. I mean, I know, I like a hug up like anybody else. That's not the point. But I don't let it confuse me. Listen. In chapter 5, we'll start at verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. So you may sit there and say, well I believe that Jesus is the Christ. I must be born of God. But that's because you have done what so many people do, and preachers do it, and they teach their congregations to do it. Don't say, now do as I do. But that's what they're teaching. You must understand that this John wrote a gospel. And in the gospel is the qualification of what he's saying in the epistle. We do ourselves ill. We will destroy truth unless we pay God the attention we ought to, and his book, and read it properly. When they went to John Baptist, who was baptizing, in case anybody thinks it's all mixed up with wall of baptism. They went to John Baptist, and they wanted to know why he was baptizing. Are you Moses? Are you Elijah? Are you that prophet? He said, no. Well, who are you? We want to give an answer to them that sent us. And that's when he went on and said he was the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. And all these kinds of things. And then he went on and on and on. He said, what are you baptizing for? He explained it to them. And then came the day when he baptized Jesus. And Jesus went into the water, had no sins to confess, none at all. This was the most surprising thing. Everybody else that went down there confessed their sins. He stood there, and whilst he stood there, you know what happened. As he came up out of the water, the dove came down, set it on his shoulder. This is what John says. Would you like to read it with me? In the first chapter of John's Gospel. I might hang it on a little longer tonight, just to keep you dry. In John chapter 1, this is what he says. Verse 31. John speaking of Jesus. I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing with water. It was a way of manifesting Jesus. Keep that very clear. It was God's chosen method. So Jesus comes in, and this is what he says. Verse 32. He bear record, and he said, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but he sent me to baptize with water. The same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him. Now listen to this. The same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bear record, that this is the Son of God, the great Christ. Okay. If thou art not the Christ, why are you baptizing? In other words, beloved, if you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, why aren't you baptizing the Spirit? Because that's what he came for. He came to baptize people in the Holy Ghost. So I thought he came to die on the cross. Of course he did. Great as it was, wonderful as it was, necessary as it was, it was but a step toward going home and pouring forth the Holy Ghost. Did you know that? All right, you're baptized in the Holy Ghost, are you? You must be. For regeneration is by immersion in the labor of regeneration. And that's a tremendous thing, and we'll read on. Listen. Everyone that loveth him that begets, loveth him also that is begotten of it. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. Now you know whether you love him. This is the love of God, so you keep his commandments. Don't say, I believe in Jesus. You keep his commandments. Did no one ever tell you that? This is what the love of God is. It isn't semi-swooning in a conference, overcome by all kinds of things. Lovely, you'll probably be doing it again. I'll incite you to it before we're through the week. But you must understand, it is not that. In other words, he's not prepared to make the covenant with you unless you will agree to obey him. That's right. Now I like this kind of God. I don't like anybody that I can sugar up and tell him nice things and he'll do what I want. I want a real God. Someone I can honor and respect, who has majesty. Someone I can bow before him and say, Lord, send me where you want. I'll do what you want me to do. That's it. That's the kind of God he is. Even his own son said that. He said, I didn't come of myself. I'm an obedient servant. I put those words in. He sent me. Father sent him. He said, oh, I love you, Father. You see, oh, just look. He was a man under orders. The basis of it all is obedience. Now I know we need our sins forgiven. I know we need all these things, beloved. So true. But this is the genuine thing. And John goes on. Whatsoever, verse 4, is born of God, overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world. Even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. This is he that came by water and blood. There it is. Water and blood. We're in the labors again. This is he that came by water and by blood. Even Jesus Christ. Not by water only. So don't think that if you've been dipped in water, you've come. You haven't. You've come by blood too. So tremendous, Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and the blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. And you will know that on the day of the crucifixion, John stood by the cross and saw the blood and the water run out of the side of Jesus. That's what you will see. You will know it. And he was put there so that he should see it and that he should record it in the book. There is no easy cheat. Believism. Wonderful love. Glorious truth. Well, you and I have to come in by the only way, beloved. For in the day when the thunders roll and the lightning flashes and the earth wants to run away and hide, you'll need to know you've come and come the right way. And that it can't touch you because you are a child of God. That's what it's about. Blessed, blessed Lord. He's moving unto a future fulfillment for all of us. All of us who are already in the covenant with God. Blessed be his name. Oh, he made covenant with them in the blood of some animal that was really worthless. He made a covenant with them on something that Moses wrote in a book. He made a covenant with them on these kinds of things. But not with you and me, beloved. His covenant is made in humanity and in God. It's in flesh, in its blood. It's in his heart. It's in his spirit. It's in his mind. It's in his love and his glory. He's outpouring. He's giving. He's yielding. Anything farther, thy will be done. That's it. Now, he'll make a covenant with you on that basis. On that basis, you wonder why you're up and down and in and out and round about. And you have days when it's all bright and you might go weeks down in depression. And somebody's trying to pick you up again. Now, I'm not saying that which may be physical, especially with ladies. I'm talking about this which is a spiritual thing in here. That ought not to be. It need not be. It's whether you'll come and make the covenant with God. And whether you'll get it sealed once and for all. My testimony to you is that that is what God did for me. Amen. Amen. I was a long time coming to see it. I had to fight my way through many brands of doctrine. And there came a time when you launch onto the written word of God. And that's where you stand. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/ysBK9RQaBQs.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/gw-north/the-tabernacle/ ========================================================================