Heaven On Earth

[0:00] Please open your Bibles to Etzies chapter 25. Now, I'm sure you guys are way more spiritual than me, but that light bulb flickering was bothering me.

[0:40] So I'm sure it wouldn't have distracted any of you during the sermon, but forgive me. All right. We're continuing a series in the book of Exodus.

[0:51] Today, we're looking at verse nine. It's one verse. We've been looking at narrative parts of the Bible, and maybe you've seen we've typically gone through larger sections in narrative.

[1:03] But what I'd like for us to do is take today and look at a single verse, Etzies 25, verse nine, and really take some time to consider this as a framework for understanding what we're going to see really probably for the next 10 or so chapters.

[1:18] So if you'll look there with me, Etzies 25, nine. Let's pray together.

[1:33] Dear Heavenly Father, we again acknowledge our need for your spirit to work through the preaching of the word. Lord, overcome the weaknesses of your messenger and even of the hearers.

[1:48] What tiredness or distractions there may be. Lord, we pray that you would remove, give us an alertness and attention to your word. Lord, we pray that it would end in you being exalted among us, you being glorified.

[2:03] We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. So we're coming into a section where we're going to look at the guidelines for building the tabernacle and all the furniture and all the elements of the tabernacle.

[2:16] And as we do so, there's going to be a lot of details about the elements of the construction of the temple. So, again, I want to take one week just to look at one verse and consider why does any of this matter?

[2:27] And, again, I think this is a framework type of sermon because if we don't see this, then it could get tedious in the weeks ahead. We may think, why are we spending so much time talking about how to build a lampstand?

[2:40] And I'll just go to Walmart and pick one out. What does it matter? Or lamp. Maybe you don't have lampstands. But so I want us to think, why does this matter? Why such specific details?

[2:51] Why did they have to make it exactly this way? You saw our text. Exactly as I show you, you shall make it. Why do they have to make it exactly as God shows them?

[3:05] Well, let's consider first the pattern because it discusses a pattern here. Verse 9. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

[3:22] So what's the pattern? What pattern is it that he's talking about? Well, while Moses was on the mountain, he was shown the pattern of what the tabernacle was to look like. Now, remember, Moses is up there 40 days with the Lord.

[3:36] This is one of the things that's revealed. Maybe he sees it multiple times, but he's given very specific guidelines. At the very end of our chapter, chapter 25, you see in verse 40, again it's repeated, And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.

[3:53] So some kind of pattern is being shown to Moses there on the mountain. In Acts 7.44, this is Stephen when he's about to be martyred.

[4:09] In his sermon, he says in verse 44 of Acts 7, Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as those who spoke to Moses directed him to make it.

[4:21] I'm sorry, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen. So again, this concept's continued. It's repeated. Really a quotation of verse 40 of our text.

[4:34] Moses made it according to the pattern he saw on the mountain. In fact, just in the book of Exodus, we see seven times, two of which we've looked at already. But we see five additional times in the rest of the book of Exodus, where it specifically said that he is to make it according to the pattern shown to him on the mountain.

[4:52] So seven times this is reiterated. Why? Why does it matter that he makes it according to this pattern? Now the Hebrew word pattern, which I think here in the ESV, that's really a good translation of it, the pattern.

[5:04] But the Hebrew word can also be translated as image, form, or likeness. Image, form, or likeness. So he's to make it according to something that's been shown to him while he's on the mountain.

[5:21] There's a specific plan and a design that's to be followed exactly. I don't know how many of you guys, this may be more true of some of the men, but you open that box and there's an instruction sheet, right?

[5:35] And we all take diligent time to read it and study it and make sure we put everything together according to the instructions that are set before us. Typically, I try to do it myself. I get frustrated.

[5:47] I realize there's some part that got left out. And end up, one of the kids reads it and tells me, Dad, you were supposed to do this. They're given very specific instructions to follow. What's the pattern that's being discussed here?

[6:01] Now this, I think, is very important for us. This is a framework I want you to see that there is a true tent that the tabernacle is but a copy and shadow of.

[6:12] So the tabernacle is a copy and shadow of a true tent. Listen to Hebrews 8. And Hebrews spends a great deal of time giving us commentary on this.

[6:23] So in some ways, I said we're preaching on one verse. We're going to spend probably as much time in Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 9 as we will here in Etzis. But they give us commentary on what's being set before us here.

[6:34] So Etzis 8, verses 1 through 5. We're jumping right into the middle of this.

[6:46] Speaking of Jesus, our high priest, which was also part of our theme for our worship this morning. Now the point in what we are saying is this.

[6:57] We have such a high priest. One who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. A minister in the holy places in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

[7:12] What's he contrasting there? There's a tent, a tabernacle that's being set up. And what we're looking at by man. Verse 3. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.

[7:27] Thus, it is necessary for the priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he, Jesus, would not be a priest at all. Since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.

[7:41] That probably even speaks to him not being of the tribe of Levi, but a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Verse 5. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.

[7:55] For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. Well, Hebrews then, after Acts and everything we saw in Etzis, that makes this the, wait, ninth time that we've heard those instructions repeated.

[8:17] He's to make everything according to the pattern that he saw on the mountain. And notice in verse 5 it says, They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. Now I think this is huge.

[8:28] But what I want you to understand is, what we're about to see about the tabernacle is that it is a copy and shadow of heavenly things. And so it's quoted here.

[8:45] Our passage, or verse 40 perhaps, which is in some way a repetition of our passage today, verse 9. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.

[8:58] So Hebrews interprets that pattern to say, That pattern is the heavenly things of which the tabernacle is a copy and shadow. So the pattern he's being given, maybe we can say the pattern itself is a copy and shadow, of that which is the reality.

[9:16] I don't know if any of you guys ever did model cars. I remember making model cars. There was a pattern. I had all the pieces given to me. There were instructions. There were copies of the real car.

[9:26] I couldn't drive them. I couldn't really fit in them. They were one twenty-fifth of the size or something. But they looked like the car. A copy and shadow of the things being made.

[9:43] Now back in our first part of this, in verses 1 and 2, it says, The point that we're saying is, We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. Where is Christ now?

[9:54] Now, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And it says, A minister in the holy places. He's serving as a high priest in the true holy places.

[10:08] In the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. And so hopefully you've already seen what's going on here. That the pattern that's given to Moses is a copy, a shadow of a reality.

[10:26] Where Christ now is ministering. Where is he ministering? In the true holy place. It even says the true tent. Which is a direct contrast or comparison with what we've seen in the tabernacle.

[10:40] Or what we're going to see as the tabernacle is built. The true tent. Set up by God, not by man. What we're going to see is the tent set up by man.

[10:51] But it's a copy of the tent that's set up by God without human hands. It's described as the throne of the majesty in heaven. Where God is seated.

[11:01] So you think of, we're going to see bits of the holy of holies. God's presence rests there. Like the throne room of God in heaven. Where God's presence is.

[11:13] Where he's seated. It's a copy and shadow of heavenly things. There's a more perfect tent maybe as a way of thinking of this. Hebrews 9.11. I told you that Hebrews has a good bit of commentary on this.

[11:26] Hebrews 9.11 says, But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

[11:40] Now some of you have heard before, I take issue with the idea of more perfect. There aren't degrees of perfection so I'm sure there might be a better way of translating that in the Greek. But nonetheless, he's saying, we have a perfect tent and as great as the tabernacle was, it was a shadow and copy of the reality that's even greater.

[12:04] And what is that tabernacle? It's where Christ is appearing for us, where he is interceding for us as our high priest. Again, heaven itself. We see it again further on in that same chapter, Hebrews 9.11.

[12:17] Hebrews 9.11. Verses 23-24. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

[12:32] For Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself. Now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

[12:45] So at least the third time we see that same contrast. And one of the big distinctions is it's not made with human hands. He's entering into the reality itself that God has made. Jesus is now ministering as a high priest in heaven in a way that is similar but greater to what we're going to see happen in the tabernacle with human priests ministering there.

[13:16] I probably don't need to say this, but the same is true of the temple that's to come later on. The plan of the temple was revealed to David. We read in 1 Chronicles 28.19.

[13:27] All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of the Lord. All the work to be done according to the plan. So later the temple plans are revealed to David in a very similar way to the pattern that's shown to Moses on the mountain.

[13:46] So why does this matter? Why spend all this time looking at the furniture and design of a tent that no longer exists? Well, it matters because what we're seeing is that we're being given heavenly realities in earthly form.

[14:06] We get a glimpse into heaven and look, I'm telling you now this is better than any of those books of people who did the day trips to heaven and wrote books about it.

[14:17] My visit to heaven or I don't know well the heaven is for real. This is the reality of what heaven is like. As much as God has revealed it to us. We're going to see the tabernacle represents something of the throne room of God in heaven.

[14:35] So the man-made tent that we're going to see was symbolic. It was a symbol of the true dwelling place of God in heaven. Now the symbol that's meant to be communicated is God is in their presence.

[14:51] At least the last two sermons and probably all along the way in the book events is I've tried to hit on this to make this clear. This is what we're moving toward. This is the desire. This is what we're longing for.

[15:03] God in our midst. And so the tabernacle in the very middle of the camp with three tribes on all four sides was meant to remind them of can we say heaven in their midst?

[15:18] God in their midst? Them dwelling around the throne of God? I mentioned some of this in the last two weeks but I want to spend a little bit more time here as we move forward and look at the elements to understand our second point the temple with God.

[15:38] A temple with God. So the tabernacle it's pointing forward to something that I want us to see but before we get there I want you to understand as well that the tabernacle points backwards.

[15:52] The tabernacle is pointing backwards all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Now again I mentioned some of this last week. Let me read a quote from you. This is from Tim Chester from his commentary on Exodus.

[16:07] He says seven times in the account of creation we read God said and seven times in the tabernacle instructions we read the Lord said to Moses Moreover both accounts culminate in the description of the Sabbath.

[16:25] The building of the tabernacle is like the building of our garden home in Eden. And last week you may remember I taught some about the description of Eden and the jewels that were there and some of the jewels that were being used in the tabernacle and the quality of the gold versus the quality that will be used in the tabernacle.

[16:47] So as we look at the tabernacle in some ways the tabernacle is a recreation of the Garden of Eden. Or if I were to look at it the other way I could say the Garden of Eden was the temple of man where they would meet with God and Adam and Eve had communion with God they walked with God in the garden.

[17:12] And so as the tabernacle is being built it's reminding them of what they had before that they longed for that relationship that communion with God that they sought and desired. And that temple was expanded to the ends of the earth.

[17:31] We were to be God's vice regents God's representatives as the gospel spread to the ends of the earth as God's reign and dominion spread throughout the world that God would be glorified all throughout this world.

[17:45] That this whole world would become a temple. And how did we do it that job? Not so great. We sin Adam and Eve are kicked out of the Garden instead of guarding and protecting the Garden as they were meant to do God places cherubim there specifically to keep them out of the Garden.

[18:05] And so what we're about to see happening is huge in redemptive history. God is restoring the temple the tabernacle with man.

[18:18] He's restoring the Garden. More than that He's restoring and reestablishing His presence with man on earth. Nothing like this has been experienced so far.

[18:33] God has met with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He's revealed Himself to others almost will say in passing. They've known of Him.

[18:45] They've prayed to Him. But God is about to reveal His presence among them in a way that has not been seen since the Garden of Eden. Not to the same extent. It won't be as good. There's still sin.

[18:56] But God's restoring that relationship. Listen to Ezekiel 37-27 My dwelling place shall be with them and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

[19:11] That's a repetition of the covenant promise. It says 29-45-46 we see something very similar. I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God and they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them I am the Lord their God.

[19:29] So this is the purpose of that salvation from Egypt. Why did God save them from the bondage that they were in? That they might have communion with God. That they might dwell with Him.

[19:40] That He might dwell in their midst. And we've talked all in our study of how that's even representative of the Christian life. That we are in bondage to sin. That God saves us from bondage to sin.

[19:52] Why? That we might have relationship with God again. Communion with God. We can even go further with the wilderness wanderings of this life.

[20:03] And how we commune with God in the midst of really a desert of culture and sin around us. Now as we move throughout redemptive history.

[20:15] So we have the Garden of Eden. We lose it. God's restoring it with the tabernacle. Later on I mentioned David's given plans that he's to build specifically the temple according to the plans. Why?

[20:25] Because the temple then becomes a more permanent version of the tabernacle or where God will dwell with man. Israel is a nation in the midst of Israel. We have Jerusalem and there in Jerusalem is a temple where God's people can come and gather but in the middle of the country there God's presence is.

[20:45] And so we have a more permanent version. at the same time I want to say not only does the tabernacle point forward to the temple it points forward to Jesus Christ.

[20:58] The tabernacle points to Christ. God's dwelling with them in the tabernacle and in the temple was an anticipation of a day when Christ would come God incarnate to tabernacle among them.

[21:13] That's the words that John uses in John 1.14 And the word became flesh and dwelt among them and we have seen his glory glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth.

[21:27] That dwelt there is the same Greek word that's used for the tabernacle. God tabernacled among them. And so it's pointing us back to that reality just as God was with them in the midst of the tabernacle and then in the temple now God's even more so to a greater degree going to be with them in their presence.

[21:52] God incarnate will walk among them. The tabernacle points not only to Christ but also to the Christian. And I won't say in a greater way but as we okay I will say in a greater way greater than the presence of God on earth walking among us in the person of Jesus Christ there is a now new temple tabernacle that in which God dwells.

[22:24] And so remember as Jesus is going from the earth the disciples are troubled they're worried what do you mean you're going to leave us? And Jesus says I will not leave you alone but I'll send my spirit to you.

[22:41] And so Jesus sends his Holy Spirit and what does the Holy Spirit do? It dwells in us. We then become the location in which God's presence dwells on earth.

[22:54] Listen to 1 Corinthians 6 19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? You are not your own for you are bought with a price so glorify God in your body.

[23:12] And so now the tabernacle in which God's presence dwells by his spirit is the Christian. So again consider redemptive history for a moment.

[23:28] Adam and Eve walk with God and I've said before probably in some form a pre-incarnate Christ God incarnate some kind of human form or theophany of God at the very least they walk with God in the garden.

[23:42] That's pretty great. But then they send to get kicked out we're at a low point and then gradually we see this increase God makes covenant I'm going to dwell with you again I promise you I will be your God and you will be my people and I will dwell among you and so he gives the tabernacle takes them out of slavery gives them the tabernacle and we know that God's right there in our presence and we've seen his glory that Shekinah glory that's revealed to us there and then the tabernacle a more permanent version of that same reality and then Christ comes and he walks among them in a way that is very similar to what we had in the garden of Eden and as great as it is to be there and have the presence of Jesus right there by you just consider salvifically how many were saved through the presence of Jesus there among them the disciples probably were somewhere around 72 maybe a few more of women that weren't included in that number but a small portion of people who saw the presence of

[24:50] God actually saw God's presence as his presence and worshiped him as that but now in an even greater degree God is with us in the sense that not only does he meet us when we gather together to worship corporate but all throughout the week every moment of every day his presence indwells us so we have a greater communion with God can I say than it has ever been had in human history even greater than what Adam had greater than what Peter and James and John had who were there at the Mount of Transfiguration we have something greater in the spirit indwelling us and so garden we go down we dip we're coming back up we're coming back up and I'm saying we're even higher now and I would argue that's not the end of it the tabernacle ultimately points us to the symbols the patterns the copies that we talked about before of heavenly realities so the tabernacle and can I say that also would imply than to us who are the tabernacle of the

[26:00] Holy Spirit are intended to point us to a greater reality yet to come for us at least where Christ now is and ultimately in the new earth and the new heavens so my argument if you're tracking with me is why does the tabernacle design matter because it points us to our eternal reality in the presence of God in the new earth and the new heavens and so let me give me some time and you guys are welcome to turn here as well we're going to look at the book of revelation because I think the book of revelation really deals with this in greater detail so the book of revelation this is chapter 21 and what I want you to listen to is language that would point us back to the tabernacle to the temple houses connected all right revelation 21 beginning in verse 1 then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more and I saw the holy city new

[27:16] Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God he will wipe every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither shall they be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away and he who was seated on the throne said behold I'm making all things new also he said write this down for these words are trustworthy and true and he said to me it is done I am the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end to the thirsty I will give them from the springs of the water of life without payment the one who conquers will have this heritage and I will be his

[28:25] God and he will be my son but as for the cowardly the faithless the detestable as for murderers the sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters and all liars their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur which is the second death and so hopefully you heard there in the passage some of our parallels but that covenant promise that we talked about before finally reaches full fulfillment and consummation in verse 3 of chapter 21 behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God so what is the greatest realization of that even greater than having the Holy Spirit indwell us is for us to be in the presence of God eternally in the new earth and new heavens the new Jerusalem is the fulfillment of the old Jerusalem and the temple and the tabernacle and everything that we've seen come before is pointing us to that great reality and you may even notice in verse 8 unbelievers have no portion in this there's no communion with

[29:33] God for you if you have not trusted in Jesus Christ that's what's required to enter into this temple faith in Christ further down in this same chapter of Revelation 21 we have beginning in verse 22 so 21 22 and I saw no temple in the city now that's a huge oversight in light of everything we've seen in redemptive history right there ought to be a temple if God is going to dwell with them how is there no temple the temple is where God dwells with them and I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb the city has no need for sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the lamb by its light will the nations walk and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it and its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there they will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations but nothing unclean will ever enter it nor anyone who does what is detestable or false but only those who are written in the

[30:55] Lamb's book of life so why is there no temple in the new earth and new heavens because God himself is that temple and I would argue because the new earth is that temple just as the garden of Eden was to expand and the whole world was to become the temple of God with man vice regent reigning over the earth spreading God's glory and dominion to the ends of the earth that wasn't realized but God's going to make sure it is realized through the work of Jesus Christ and what he's accomplished this world will be consumed he will give a new created earth new heavens and God will dwell with us and the whole thing will be the temple of the Lord we will commune with God wherever we are because the temple is with us there the Lord himself and then in the next chapter of

[31:56] Revelation 22 verses 1 through 5 okay so we're still continuing this idea of the new Jerusalem and the new earth and listen to the description that's given in chapter 22 then the angel showed me the river of the water of life brightest crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the land through the middle of the street of the city also on either side of the river the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit yielding its fruit each month the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations no longer will there be anything accursed but the throne of God and of the lamb will be in it and his servants will worship him they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads and night will be no more they will need no light of lamp or sun for the Lord God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever anything strike you about this description it sounds a lot like the garden of

[33:05] Eden doesn't it in fact the tree of life which we have not seen since the garden was closed and I would argue probably was original the original was probably destroyed in the flood but the tree of life we see nothing of now appears in this new earth the new Jerusalem has the tree of life there and so God is recreating Eden to a greater degree and we're going to dwell there with him and even I said before every one of these passages is talked about nothing unclean will be there no longer will there be anything a curse but the throne of God and the God knows the concept of hell is hard in our culture today how could a good God ever judge anyone but understand something there's a fundamental flaw in the garden that meant we had to leave and that flaw was us it was our sin if we want the restoration of communion with

[34:06] God that's never going to happen in the presence of sin and so when God says to us nothing a curse will ever be there none of sin and the fallenness of sin will touch us there which is why there will be no tears in heaven right he will wipe every tear from our eye why there will be nothing to mourn about because our sinful hearts will be dealt with we won't face the fallenness and corruption this life I don't know if you even noticed but it talks about God's name being on their forehead everyone who's there has God's name on their forehead we're going to see as we look at the priesthood that that was one of the characteristics of the high priest and so one thing I thought was really interesting about the new heaven and the new earth is this that every person there is a high priest before God we all have direct communion with

[35:07] God as the high priest did and the language being used here is really that language of the Levitical temple service so what do we see God again dwells with his people he's now there in the throne the new earth will be created and that throne room is going to descend and encompass the new creation and we're going to be there with him and so as we look at the elements of the tabernacle my goal will be for us each time to think how does this relate to the new earth and the new heaven and how does this relate to Christ and God and his glory and so again it may be a little tedious when we go through every detail on how everything should be made we may not understand all the details of the artwork that's going to go into it but the point is that this is pointing us to something far greater for us to experience one day and so these specific instructions are not because

[36:08] God's being nitpicky it's for the benefit of Israel and for our benefit as well one commentator Paul House he writes this sanctuary must conform exactly to God's revealed pattern so that God's presence will truly be understood and experienced do you want to rightly understand God's presence among you build in this way otherwise you miss the symbolism of the true throne room of God you miss how it points to Christ how it points to the Christian and the Holy Spirit you miss how it points to the new earth and the new heavens and so the details are important to help us to see the symbolism of the shadow and copy that the tabernacle is of benefit of Israel and us and secondly I want you to see if this is true as we see the glory that's being displayed here as

[37:09] God's presence as well as among them if that's true of the tabernacle how much greater is this heavenly reality if this is the copy and shadow the reality is greater and so the tabernacle was helpful but it was insufficient it isn't the reality it's only a copy it was intended to point us to the greater reality and so what I want you to do is have a great reverence and respect for what we're going to see about the tabernacle and yet at the same time don't respect it too much my fear is coming into this our tendency is to not care a lot because we don't have that today why does it even matter what I want you to see is it matters because it points to heavenly realities at the same time to understand it's insufficient that's not where the glory ultimately is God who is spirit who is omnipresent in some way makes his presence especially manifest there and yet that's not

[38:10] God altogether there's something greater to be had for us in heaven it was intended to point us to a greater temple that was yet to come and even the priesthood that we're going to see is intended to point us to a greater high priest than what those earthly priests could ever accomplish I think probably we get that concept better so if you'll just have that in mind is Christ better than the earthly high priest sorry Hebrews spends its sense of time proving that point in every way is it better than is the true temple greater than the shadow and copy that we're going to look at in the tabernacle in every way does that diminish the importance of it not at all it of what the reality is I'll say Jesus' ministry is superior to those high priests even as we saw in Hebrews earlier because he ministers in the true temple itself he doesn't sin he doesn't have to make sacrifice for his own sin he doesn't die and have to stop the work he lives ever to intercede in the very throne room the presence of

[39:23] God in that holy heavenly temple in AD 70 the second temple was destroyed or the temple was destroyed for a second time let me just point out I'm not getting into this yet Lord willing I'm still praying and hoping I did a study I took a class this week on revelation I'm still hoping that we'll preach through revelation in the near future but let me just say that our goal as Christians is not to rebuild a building in Jerusalem our goal is not to rebuild the temple God judged Israel destroyed that temple so that we would not look there if we try to rebuild the copying shadow we miss the point God saying don't look to the temple look beyond the temple to the new Jerusalem to the new earth and new heavens to the true heavenly temple and so our goal is not to rebuild it our goal is to long for that temple to pray come

[40:29] Lord Jesus come quickly and so in the weeks coming as we study the tabernacle my prayer is that we will continue to look to Christ and to heaven and the true temple and long for that let's pray together Lord to to the new earth and new heavens new Jerusalem and that we would long for that Lord help us to do this we pray for any in this room who find themselves this day in the condition that was mentioned three times in revelation of those who are without faith who are unclean

[41:35] Lord that they would look to you that their ultimate end would not be hell or the lake of fire but that Lord they would put their faith in Christ that they too may enter into your presence and know the joy of being in your presence forever we pray this in Christ name amen our last hymn is hymn 546 and this hymn does exactly what pastor was speaking about in the last point speaks of wonders we see now and are glad for but recognizes that those wonders point forward to something better and we rejoice in what we see but we long for what we will see so let's stand together as we sing 546 the sands of time are sinking the sands of time are sinking the dawn of heaven reigns gang

[42:55] For more than a cycle, the thirsty born a waste. Our God hath been the pillar, while days with death end.

[43:14] And glory, glory, welled in Emmanuel's death.

[43:24] The King there in His beauty, without availed His sea.

[43:35] In world of sin's journey, the sinless play between. The Lamb with His bare army, the God of Zion's death.

[43:57] And glory, glory, welled in Emmanuel's death.

[44:07] O Christ, He is the mountain, the deep we dwell above.

[44:19] The streams on earth I tasted, for deep I'll drink above. There to an ocean fullness His mercy, God, may spread.

[44:40] And glory, glory, welled in Emmanuel's land.

[44:52] The bright eyes, mother, God, the earth I will change.

[45:03] My will, the gates and glory, the God of my King of grace. Not as the crown He gave them, but on His piercing way.

[45:22] The Lamb is all the glory, the Emmanuel's bread.

[45:36] Now, brothers and sisters, be encouraged that our citizenship is in heaven. And from it we await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[45:47] Amen.