The perfume

When I was young, I did a lot of things by impulse. Now that I'm older, I hope this is not an impulse. Because I want to close the meeting and just fix our eye on the person of the Lord Jesus for the last few minutes of the meeting.

I ask you please to turn to the book of Exodus and chapter 30. I trust my beloved brethren will be very gracious to me and not be too hard when they tell me I shouldn't have done it. Exodus, please, in chapter 30 and verse 34.

And the Lord said unto Moses, take unto these sweet spices, stacte and onyca and galbanum, these sweet spices with pure frankincense. Of each shall there be a like weight. And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy.

And thou shalt beat some of it very small and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation where I will meet with thee. It shall be unto thee, unto you, most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof.

It shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. Whosoever shall make like unto that to smell thereto shall even be cut off from his people. Now one other reading is in Psalm number 45 concerning the Lord Jesus.

This is a very beautiful prophetic psalm concerning the Lord Jesus and his two comings, his coming into the world in incarnation out of the ivory palaces and his coming again. And verse 8 reads, All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Look down to verse 12.

And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift. Even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. The king's daughter is all glorious within, that is within the palace.

She likewise will enjoy the beautiful perfume that is upon his garments. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework.

The virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought unto thee with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's palace. I just want to notice with you a little the character of these two different characteristics of perfume that are related to the person of the Lord Jesus.

In the first one, it has to do with the wilderness journey of the people. In the second one, it has to do with the coming out with the king in his glory. And dearly beloved, our Lord Jesus is the character of the perfume that we're looking at here.

You'll have noticed in chapter 30 of Exodus, God said no man is going to be like this and don't put it upon a man. It belongs alone unto the Lord. It is that which was put into the little spoons and twice a day it was put upon the little golden altar and filled the sanctuary with the perfume.

Now I want to notice with you how that is characterizing the priest in his wilderness journey. And dearly beloved, every one of us who are saved here, as we've been hearing fittingly from the Word of God today, we are priests ministering unto God first of all. That is an honor.

To me it is a very humbling thing that the eternal God in all the sufficiency of his own person and in all the weakness that we represent, he has said you're my priest. I want you to minister unto me. And the idea of ministering there is making him look great, bringing things to him that extol him, ministering unto God.

And every time a priest went to do the duties that were his portion as he went into the sanctuary, he went in where this beautiful perfume had been put upon the altar and when he came out he would carry it with him. Now dear brethren and sisters, as we move through our wilderness journey we realize that there is opportunity. Yes, every day we have the opportunity of entering into the sanctuary with our God.

And I want you to notice how these four different ingredients in this perfume that speaks of the presence of the Lord as it attends unto his people in their holy service. When you pray as we were hearing, when you seek to minister in that holy place around the lampstand, that's handling the word of God. As you're reading and as you're praying, as you're meditating, as you're enjoying the beautiful fellowship of that bread upon the table, you are being adorned with the perfume that belongs to the Lord Jesus.

Let me notice with you these four ingredients. They relate to the four gospels. There's a characteristic about these ingredients that gives to us to see the person of the Lord Jesus as he was in the wilderness of this world, and yet he carried with him that beautiful perfume that honored God in every step he took.

Likewise, he desires to see that in the priesthood as they're ministering unto God. The first one is the stacte, and it is spoken of as the humble plant. And I want you to think of the meekness and the humility of the Lord Jesus in Matthew's gospel.

Beloved, it's the king who is seen in Matthew's gospel as a teacher, and as well he is seen as a minister in Matthew's gospel. That's the meekness and the humility of the Lord Jesus. And when you and I spend time in that holy place, that's the effect it's going to have upon our spirit, because meekness is bringing all that you are into submission and subjection to the glory of his person.

It brings me to come into the position of recognizing that I am honored with the holy presence of the Lord. That's what creates humility. Now, humility is not you going around with a false face.

Humbug, don't try that. That's a lot of nonsense. Humility is you being who you are in Christ, no more and no less.

That's the reality of it. And when we look at the Lord Jesus as he moved in his ministry, that's what he ever was. He never pretended he couldn't.

It would be sinful. Neither does he intend us to. What fragrance is this like unto the Lord Jesus? And when we come to the second one we have before us here is the Annika.

That was a stone, or rather a shell, that came from the sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the great sea. It's called in the Old Testament, which is the Mediterranean. And it had multiple uses.

Sometimes it was used like a vessel, like a cup. Such was the shape of it, and it was a very beautiful shell, a very beautiful bloom. But that shell, when it was taken for this perfume, it was crushed.

But what I want you to notice is Mark's gospel. Because in Mark's gospel we see a vessel. A vessel that is honoring unto God.

A servant, an instrument, whereby God is going to be able to convey and communicate his love and his purposes, the designs of his grace to the people. And that is what will be the portion of each of our hearts, beloved, when we spend time alone with that perfume of our blessed Lord upon our person. We will come forth with a readiness to serve and to give ourselves as instruments of righteousness unto God.

When we come to Luke's gospel, we're looking at the Gulbanum. The Gulbanum was a very, very tender shoot. All you had to do was squeeze it and you would get teardrops from it.

It was very tender. And when I think of the Lord Jesus in Luke's gospel, I see a touch of tenderness. I see him with the widows in their weakness.

And I see him weeping. And I see the Lord Jesus in his tenderness with families. He was one who knew how to experience and weep with others, to rejoice with others.

That's the perfume. Oh God, help us, brethren, to be more like our blessed Lord. And the only way we can be adorned with such perfume is to be in that holy place alone with him.

When we come to the frankincense, we have John, the gospel according to John, because the frankincense was pure. It was as pure within as it was without, white, just like the snowflake, pure through and through, just like our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. And in the beauty of holiness, he is spoken of as being a sweet incense.

And again, we underline, for our own soul's good today, beloved, the exhortations that we have been hearing together from God's Word. We're going to learn the value of them in the holy place, because they're going to be seen in the Lord Jesus. So we gaze upon our blessed Lord.

God says, I want to have that perfume twice a day in my holy place. And the spoons would be emptied upon that little golden altar, and every priest that came in there would be affected by it. Can we not say from our hearts, Oh Jesus Christ, grow thou in me, and all things else recede.

That is what the heart's desire should be. As we think of the exhortation that we have received from this morning and this afternoon, that it might be in the atmosphere of the fragrance of the presence of the Lord Jesus being upon us, that when we come forth, it might be known that we have been with Jesus. Let me notice very shortly with you, very quickly, in Psalm 45, we have a future scene.

Ah, thank God, brethren, there is a future of glory that lies before each one of the people of God. And in this passage, we have it pictured like this lady who was in the same palace with the king. Thank God.

What shall we do, brethren, when we gaze upon the face of that blessed one and all the marvel of his glory in those four ingredients of that perfume? We're going to see the fullness and be like unto him morally forever. But did you notice that the three ingredients of the perfume in Psalm 45 are different? Different than what you have in the Old Testament. Because Exodus is for the wilderness.

Psalm 45 is for the glory and the revelation of that glory. And that is what we have with this lady that is found, of whom we read the king's daughter, is all glorious in that palace. I find there's three things about this girl that I want to notice with you, as we see her in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

But let me point out to you the meaning and the use of these three perfumes. The first one we have is myrrh. Now, myrrh, as we understand, does relate to bitterness.

And you know, brethren, I cannot help but think of the book of the Revelation. I have often wondered with rejoicing to see that the Spirit of God has put it in that book when he's speaking about the Lord Jesus 27 times. He's the Lamb.

It's always going to be before us, brethren, for eternity. The sacrificial Lamb of Calvary, the mighty triumph of the cross, of the Lord Jesus, the work he has accomplished, will ever be before our gaze. Every feature of glory given to the Lamb in heaven is all because of an accomplished work at the place called Calvary.

And that's what we have in the myrrh. It's going to be eternally reminding us of the greatness of the sacrifice of the King. But the second one, interesting allos, has to do with healing.

It's the great truth of resurrection, the mighty truth of the triumph of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the resurrection of believers. Because this young lady is in the palace with him, that's where you and I are going to be beloved forever and forever in all the healing power of the resurrection glory of redemption. We shall enter into the glory with himself.

But cassia, really it's cinnamon, cinnamon has to do with weddings. And that's what is going to be the next occasion when the King comes out of the palace. It's for the wedding supper, the greatness of that moment of revelation when the King will come.

But his bride will be with him. And that's who we have in this young lady, if I may express it to you, as we look at this passage. And the three things that are about this young person.

Notice what it says about her first of all. Forget your past. Forget who your father was.

That's not the question now. The question is, you are the bride of the King. Ah, dearly beloved, that's our future.

To be at the side of our blessed Lord Jesus, what you will look like then, beloved sister and beloved brethren, is going to be composed of two things. What he has made you and what you have prepared for adornment. That's what we have in the passage.

The King's daughter is all glorious within that palace. That's Revelation chapter 20 and chapter 19 and chapter 21. And there we read about being clothed.

She has made herself righteous. Right, pardon me. She has clothed herself in the garments of righteousnesses.

That which is the glory given to her and that which she has acquired through as we've been hearing. Loyalty and faithfulness to the King in the wilderness. God help us, brethren.

The day is coming. Oh, to bear the feature of smelling, if you will, the perfume of the Lord Jesus forever and forever. He is altogether glorious.

Upon heaven's throne today, he desires that we be in the sanctuary to bear a little of the sweet savor, God says, don't ever give that to another man. Glory not in men. Glory in the Lord.

And thus the beauty that we see of him in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John can only be found in the man in the wilderness. May it indeed adorn us, brethren. And as well as we ponder the day of glory.

Oh, to be like him as we've been hearing to be finished with the flesh forever. Young and old alike. Marvelous day of deliverance.

And then as well, we notice this young lady is adorned with a garment of needlework. She's been working at it. And so are you, sister.

Your obedience to the Lord Jesus puts threads of gold in that adornment to be with him. It will compliment him forever and ever. You likewise, dear younger brother, in your character of holiness and seeking to in devotedness of love to the Lord Jesus, just be loyal to his word.

Threads of gold, threads of silver, threads of crimson that will adorn your person and your honor and make that blessed one look great as we gather around him in the day of his revelation. He is coming with myrrh. Calvary will never be forgotten.

Allel's triumph of resurrection in redemption. Cassia for the marriage supper everlastingly to be enjoyed in the presence of the palace of the king. God help us, brethren, to bear a little of that perfume to a poor dark world.

Make sure we spend time with him in the sanctuary and with him in the palace that we may have that which will glorify him forever and ever.