May we never get over the love that sought us, the blood that bought us. and the grace there that brought us into the fold. Aren't you thankful that long before you sought out for Jesus, he sought you and found you and washed you, made you his own. Okay, we're turning back to Exodus this morning. Last Sunday morning we paused the series for a standalone message from Isaiah 6, but this morning we're back to Exodus, Exodus chapter 27. God willing, we want to finish off Exodus 27 this morning. we're in that section of the book which deals with the tabernacle. It's a fruitful and important study for us as believers. The Bible dedicates many chapters and many verses to the subject of the tabernacle and so we know that the Holy Spirit does not include something in His Word just to fill space, just to make up time. We know that whatever is included in the canon of Scripture is is there for our help, it's there for edification and so if the Holy Spirit saw fit to include so much detail about this tabernacle in his word, no doubt there are many lessons for us. Principally we see Christ in the tabernacle, that's the purpose of it, it's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, It presents many wonderful pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ, but of course there are practical lessons for us today as well about the priesthood of the believer, that we're called to serve in a high and holy office as New Testament priests, not Levitical priests, we're not Israel, but as New Testament priests. And of course the picture of purity of life and sanctification, separation from the world, these are all themes we see in the tabernacle. So Exodus chapter 27 and let's pick up our reading from verse 9 to the end of the chapter. The Bible reads, and thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle for the south side southward. There shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side. And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings of 100 cubits long and his 20 pillars and their 20 sockets of brass, the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver. And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of 50 cubits, their pillars 10 and their sockets 10. And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be 50 cubits. The hangings of one side of the gate shall be 15 cubits, their pillars 3 and their sockets 3. And on the other side shall be hangings 15 cubits, their pillars 3 and their sockets 3. And for the gate of the court shall be in a hanging of 20 cubits of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twined linen. That's a reoccurring theme isn't it? Wrought with needlework and their pillars shall be four and their sockets four. All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver, their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets shall be of brass. The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits of fine twine linen, and their sockets of brass. all the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof and all the pins thereof and all the pins of the court shall be of brass thou shalt command the children of israel that they bring the pure olive oil beaten for the light to cause the lamp to burn always in the tabernacle of the congregation without the veil which is before the testimony aaron and his son shall order it from evening to morning before the lord It shall be a statute forever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel. Let's pray, shall we? Ask for the Lord's help for today's lesson. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege that is ours to open your eternal word today. And we thank you that every time we read the words of scripture, we have heard your voice speaking directly to us. And we just pray now that you would fill the preacher with your spirit We pray, Lord, that he would be empty of self, filled with your Scriptures, filled with your Spirit, Lord. We pray for that very necessary guidance and direction for the message, Lord, as we go through, to emphasise what needs to be emphasised, Lord. And Father, we just pray now that you would take control of these moments together, that you would speak to every heart, minister to every need, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. In our last lesson, just a quick review here, we looked at the veils of the tabernacle, the inner veil and the outer veil. And so if you were to come to the tabernacle proper, sitting within that court, that area, you would come through, if you were one of the priests, through that first veil and you would enter the holy place. And in the holy place, you would find three pieces of furniture. You would find to your right, the table of showbread, directly in front of you, standing right in front of the veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies. You'd have the altar of incense and then to your left you would have the candlestick that would provide light in the holy place. And this was the place of service for the priests. Then you would come up to that second veil, that's where prayer would be offered, that's where God would commune with you. and of course only the high priest had the privilege of entering through that second veil once a year on the Day of Atonement because inside this inner sanctum was the Ark of the Covenant where the Shekinah glory of God was manifest and where God would meet essentially there with his people. then we looked at the brazen altar didn't we and all of that all of the wonderful pictures there of the cross the brazen altar was the largest piece of furniture in the tabernacle area and as you entered that door the very first piece of furniture that would be before you was this altar of brass and its size indicates its importance, there sin would be dealt with, there the sacrifices would be slain, the blood would be poured out at the base of the altar, symbolic of Christ's blood that was poured out at the cross, then the sacrificial victim there would be consumed upon the altar there by fire and of course the picture being of substitution, the picture there of a sin bearer, the sacrifice for sin and of course we see how that pictures the Lord Jesus so wonderfully. Well in our reading this morning we come now to the court of the tabernacle. So we're going to focus this morning on the court or the outer court of the tabernacle, the gate of that court and then the oil as well at the end of the chapter which fueled the lamp. And so we come to the court of the tabernacle, the court of the tabernacle. And let me just reread some verses here for you as we watch this animation that hopefully will give us a bit of a feel for this structure as it's described in the text of scripture. And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle for the south side southward. There shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of a hundred cubits long for one side. And the twenty pillars thereof, and their twenty sockets, shall be of brass, the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets shall be of silver. Likewise for the north side, in length there shall be hangings of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars, and their twenty sockets of brass, the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets of silver. And for the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three. And on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits, their pillars three, and their sockets three. And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of twenty cubits of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework, and their pillars shall be four, and their sockets four. All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with silver, their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of brass. The length of the court shall be in a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the height five cubits, that's the height of the fence there, of fine twine linen, and their sockets of brass. All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass. Okay, so let's consider the court of the tabernacle for a moment. Let's look at the structure of the court. The structure of the court, it was 100 cubits in length by 50 cubits in width and that equates to about 22.9 meters in length or 75 feet, sorry, pardon me, that equates to about 45.7 meters in length and 22.9 metres wide. So you have a rectangular shape, don't you? And that means that as you calculate this, the total area covered by within the court of the Tabernacle here was about 1046 square metres. To try and put that in perspective, a typical basketball court is 420 square metres. So you're looking at about two and a half basketball courts as far as surface area covered. So not a huge area, large enough but pretty small really considering and it was this area in which the Alder of Brass was found, the Laver and then of course the Tabernacle proper sitting towards the back section of the Tabernacle area. Now, as for the materials, we notice that the perimeter fence here was made up of a number of elements. Firstly, fine twined linen. So you have these curtains, again made of fine twined linen, and this is one of the main materials that is used in the tabernacle. And these curtains hung on pillars and we know from our previous studies that the fine twined linen pictures Christ's perfect righteousness there and of course we see that in the tabernacle fence there. These panels of fine twined linen speak to us of the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus. Then you have the posts that were described there. The outer court had 60 posts in total. You had 20 posts on both of the long sides, called north and south. And then you had 10 on the west and east side. So 10 for the east side there, three on each side of the gate, and then four pillars for the gate. So 60 posts in total. And then the sockets are noted as being of brass. So you have these outer pillars that hold up the fence sitting in sockets of brass and we've talked about the fact that brass is symbolic of divine righteousness in judgment and so the Lord Jesus bore the wrath of God against sin on our behalf and perfectly satisfied God's just demands. Then you'll notice some other elements, there were also hooks and fillets. Now the hooks were for holding the fabric panels in place and the fillets were basically joining rods, that's what the word means. So if you read Strong's definition, he says the word fillet means attached, that is a fence rail or rod connecting the posts or pillars. So both the hooks and that held those curtains in place, and then the joining rods, no doubt to bring stability to the whole frame, were made of silver. Exodus 38.17 also reveals that the pillars were crowned, so you had like a silver capping on the top of each of those pillars. So as you stood back and looked at the fence here, you would be struck, especially as the sun shone on it there, shined on it, you would be struck by a number of things. You'd see the white, fine twine linen. You would no doubt see flashes of silver because you've got the silver cappings, you've got the silver joining rods and the silver hooks holding those panels in place. You would see the brass footings there or the brass sockets holding up those pillars. And so as you stand back and look at the fence as a whole, you see different aspects of the character of the Lord Jesus. You see His perfect righteousness. You see the fact that God is a just God who must judge sin. And you see that in the sockets. But at the same time, you see these beautiful flashes of silver that remind you of the principle of atonement and redemption. Yes, God is a holy God. Yes, Jesus Christ is a holy Christ. At the same time, He is a God of grace, a God of mercy, a God who desires to extend redemption to us. So what a beautiful picture. Really, what we see here is that the whole of this perimeter court was held together by silver. Silver speaks of redemption, Atonement mentioned that, and so we see the picture there, as it were, of redemption holding the whole structure together, and is it not the redemption of Christ, the Atonement of Christ, that holds Christianity together? It's the very core of everything, isn't it? It's the silver lining, the silver rod, as it were, that binds it all together. So that's the structure of the court. Then consider for a moment the separation of the court. This caught was a barrier, wasn't it? It indicates a separation between a holy God and a sinful people. You could not just barge in on the tabernacle, you could not just enter this sacred enclosure, there was this perimeter fence higher than the average height of a man that barred you from coming into the presence of God except you came through the one available gate. We'll talk about that in a moment. But as you think about this court surrounding the tabernacle, it should highlight to you the principle of separation. It really pictures the separation that exists between the sinner and God. Did you realize this morning that it is our sin that separates us from God. You see that white fence there, you see the sockets of brass, you're reminded God is holy, God is righteous and because God is holy and because God is righteous and because I am sinful, I cannot just barge into God's presence in my sinful state. I must come God's way and have my sin dealt with before I enter the presence of God. Sin is what separates us from God. I think as you look at the height of that fence, it reminds us of the truth, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've fallen short of God's holy standard. Now just to give you the height of that fence, I think I've got it here somewhere, it's five cubits high or about 2.3 meters, so basically an average door height, some doors are 2.3 are they or close to. Alright, so you're talking, that helps you put it in perspective because you don't think of some tiny little wicket fence you could just peer over. No, no, this is quite a high fence and the height of that fence symbolizes the high and holy nature of God. and that you cannot just barge into God's presence as a sinful person. And the height of that fence is a reminder to us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. True, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. You take all of the good things you've done, it's never going to match the height of God's righteousness. It's never going to measure up to the height of God's righteousness. That's what we see in the Bible, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The presence of that fence reminds us that it is our sin that separates us from a holy God. Listen to the words of Isaiah 59, 1-2, Listen. but your iniquities have separated you and your God and your sins have hit his face from you that he will not hear.' Do you realize that sin separates us from God and all have sinned and that little word all means all of us, covers everybody doesn't it? Three-letter word, so small and yet so broad in its scope. Every single person on the face of the planet has sinned. You say, how have I sinned? By breaking God's law. 1 John 3 verse 4 says that sin is the transgression, the crossing over, the breaking of the law. All you have to do is glance over the Ten Commandments and it doesn't take very long for you to realize why the Bible says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Ten Commandments present God's perfect standard of righteousness. And what did we do? We shattered it. We broke it. We absolutely decimate it, as it were, in our own lives, the perfect standard of God. And so this is the reality, sin separates us from God. And you have to realize that, you have to come to the realization, as it were, as you look at that beautiful white fence, you have to realize that God is holy, you are sinful. Until you're ready to realize that, you're never going to come through the door to the altar of sacrifice for redemption. Why would you come for redemption if you don't see yourself as a sinner? Why would you come to Jesus Christ, to the cross? Why would you come there and receive the blood sacrifice on your behalf unless you first see that you are unclean and in need of cleansing? And so the white fine twine linen reminds us of the indescribable perfect righteousness of Christ. Can we even put into words Christ's spotless righteous nature? At the same time those flashes of silver remind us that God is also God of grace who holds out the hope of redemption to us. And so you must come. We're going to get to that in a moment as we think about the gate. But you have to understand that, that this fine twine linen fence reminds us that we are separated from God. It was a wall of separation between God and sinful people. And the only way that sinful people could be reconciled to that Holy God was to come through the one gate provided to the altar of sacrifice. Sin had to be dealt with. But I think as we think about, I believe as we think about the court here for a moment, we could also say it pictures the principle of separation between God's house and the world. This fence of righteousness provided a line of separation between the house of God and the world. Was not the tabernacle the Old Testament house of God? And we are not the tabernacle but we know that the Bible, in fact I was thinking about it this week, really a good understanding of the tabernacle will help you to understand a lot of the New Testament because there's a lot of the language... God uses a lot of tabernacle slash temple language in the New Testament to describe various aspects of the Christian life. The New Testament church is called the house of God. It's called a holy temple in the Lord. It's a spiritual edifice, of course, not a literal tabernacle, but we understand the principle there. And so as we look at this house of God, this house of worship, we see a line of separation between that house of worship and a sinful world. And there certainly is a principle for us as a church that we need to have, the church needs to maintain separation and distinction from the world. Now, not exclusive to the point you have some groups, literally you can't physically get into their buildings, the gates are locked and all right, these colts, that's not what we're talking about here, all right, there was a gate here but at the same time there was a fence and the fence was high, okay. The doors of the New Testament house of God are open to all to enter, at the same time and rightly so, the doctrinal standards are high, standards of Christian conduct for ministry are high and we need both those things, we need to reach out with the gospel, we're all for that, at the same time we make no apologies as a church for seeking to maintain biblical distinction from a wicked world. And there's something wrong when churches today just pull down all the fences, pull down the doctrinal fences, pull down standards of conduct in the local church, and just let the world wash in and out to where now many churches are practically unrecognizable. There's very little difference really between the modern church of the 21st century and the world. It's got the same kind of music, same kind of entertainment, same kind of very often philosophies that are running it. No, we are called upon by God to maintain a line of distinction, a line of separation between a wicked world and the house of God. And we're not going to make any apologies for that in this church. Now, we trust that our standards, our fence, as it were, is a biblical fence. We believe in holding to sound doctrine and to sound principles of Christian practice. We're not talking about some form of man-made legalism that goes way beyond the Bible. We're just talking about doctrines that find their basis fairly and squarely in the Word of God. We're talking about some pillars of separation and conduct that find their basis in the Word of God. Purity is to be maintained in God's house. The door is open wide, but the fence is high for a reason. You say, but I thought we're supposed to reach out. Yes, we are, but do not see evangelism as being in conflict with biblical separation. Do you know both go hand in hand? Listen to the words of Jude 1.22, and here you will find both evangelism and separation. And if some have compassion, making a difference, that's evangelism, isn't it? And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, that sounds like evangelism, doesn't it? Don't miss the last phrase, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. So we are to evangelize, at the same time maintain purity. hate the garment, love the sinner, hate the sin, and be careful that in the process of seeking to reach souls, we do not mar our own purity and do not compromise with the world. And so the two things go hand in hand. In fact, it's very important to have them connected to one another because separation maintains the purity of the church's message. You see, what's happened today is many churches have lost the purity of their message and in so doing have lost the power of their message. Okay, if you want a powerful message, it must be a pure message, not a message that is adulterated by the world. So separation of the court. Consider then what I would call the security of the court. For the one who made the decision to step inside the gate, he would find himself in a place of safety and security. Imagine yourself as a worshipper for a moment, you come through that one gate to the altar, your sins are dealt with, now those walls that in a sense excluded you, now include you. Okay? Now those walls that once shut you out, shut you in. that's the picture. When you step into salvation, when you step into Christ, that's what the Bible uses, that term of being in Christ. When you're in Christ, you find now yourself in a place of safety and a place of security in Christ. Does that make sense? Once the worshipper took step through the door, the fence that once excluded him now included him, that which used to separate him now secures him, the linen curtain that once shut him out now shuts him in, he stands in grace with God's righteousness on his side. And so we do believe, don't we, in the eternal security of the believer. Once you're in Christ, once you've received his saving grace, you are safe in the Savior. So that's the court of the tabernacle. Consider now the gate of the tabernacle, I've already mentioned it a couple of times, but we have this described for us in verse 16 principally. Verse 16, read it with me on the count of two, will you? One, two, And for the gate of the court shall be a hanging of 20 cubits of blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen wrought with needlework and their pillars shall be four and their sockets four. So there you have the description of the gate. It is made up of fine twined linen and woven into that fine twined linen we have those three dominant colors of the tabernacle, the blue, the purple and the scarlet that all speak of various aspects of Christ's person and work. The blue, his heavenly origin, the purple, his royalty, his deity, his kingliness there, the scarlet, that beautiful rich red pointing to his sacrificial death. And so that's where it talks about fine twine linen wrought with needlework. If you're a sewer here, as a woman, you understand that, has the idea of embroidery or fancy work there. So these are beautifully woven door hangings where you have this beautiful white fine twine linen and then interwoven into that these three colours of the tabernacle. So let's look at that door for a moment. Look at that door to the tabernacle and consider a number of things about it. Firstly, the exclusivity of the door. The exclusivity of this door. There was only one gate into the court. It was there on the east side. A cloth curtain gate of about 20 cubits wide. That's about 9.1 meters or 30 feet. So it was nearly one half the width of the east side of the court. But the point is, there was only one gate. only one point of entrance into reconciliation with God, into fellowship with God and I hope you don't miss that because that one gate into God's presence pictures Christ who is the only door. There is only one door of access to God, and his name is Jesus Christ, because Jesus said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. If you want to be saved, you have to come through Christ the door. Christ the door. And so the tabernacle pictures salvation as both inclusive and exclusive. It's inclusive in that it is available to all, but it is exclusive in that it is only for those who receive Christ. And that's a very offensive message today, but it's the message of the Bible. There are not many roads to God. Is that not the common lie that many people believe out there? Well, it doesn't really matter what religion you're in. All roads lead to the same place. All roads lead to God. Now actually, the Bible makes it very clear that there is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. The Bible makes it very, very, very clear that all other roads but Christ lead to hell. There's only one road that leads to heaven. There's only one way, and Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14, verse six, you will never come to the Father. You will never come into the presence of God. You will never come to heaven except through Jesus Christ who is the only way. We're here to tell you in the words of Acts 4.12, Jesus is the only way. If you're here this morning thinking, well, this is interesting. Christianity is just one option on the table with all the others. There's Buddhism and Shintoism and there's Islam and there's Hinduism and there's all these different it-isms there. And basically I just take my pick because after all we all worship a God and we're all kind of going to end up in the same place. It's not true. It's a lie of the devil. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. You must come by the one available door. that's Christ for there is one God and one mediator between God and men not Mary not the Saints not the priests the man Christ Jesus 1 Timothy 2 verse 5 so Jesus is the door one door into the tabernacle no other door meaning there was no other way to get to that altar of sacrifice that pictures the cross, no other way for redemption, no other way to the blood sacrifice, no other way to sins forgiven, but through that one and only door. Oh, be careful of doors that promise heaven, you step through them into the flames of hell. Do you know there are many situations like that, many religions? Be careful of going through a door that promises heaven but hell's on the other side. That's going to be a huge shock, isn't it, for so many people who thought that heaven was through their religious works. Be careful of the door called self-righteousness. I'm going to get to heaven because I'm a good person. That door leads to hell. Be careful of the door that reads religion. man-made religion. And you look at it, when it all boils down to it, you have all the various religions in the world, do you know basically what they preach? They preach good works. When it all boils down to it, honestly, they all have their differences, different goals, different beliefs, different writings, but at the core of man-made religion, it's self-effort and works. Study Islam, at its core, you have to earn your way to God. Buddhism, Hinduism, whatever it is, it's all your own efforts, but the door label good works opens with hell on the other side. God is not going to have you come one day and stand in his presence and say, I deserve to be here because look at all my righteousness. Your righteousness, according to God's word, is as filthy rags. Even the good things you've done are tainted by your sin nature, and mine too. So I think that illustrates it well. You've got, cross the door leads to heaven, all other doors lead to hell. That's the reality. You know it's not just the door of false religion though is it? There are false doors of human philosophy. What about the door called atheism? there's no God, there's no heaven, there's no hell, step through that door, you'll find out God is real, you'll find out hell is real, but it'll be too late. Richard Dawkins can say all he likes in his interviews that when he dies, there's absolutely nothing after, there's no afterlife, it's all over, I'll be six foot in the ground, he will find out that God is real and that God is not a delusion. you'll find that he was deluded, unless he repents. The door of humanism, the door of self-help, the new age, we could just go on, couldn't we? Witchcraft, demonism, whatever other door you are thinking about, it's a door that will take you to hell. You must come through Jesus Christ, the only door. Consider then though, as you look at that door, consider the attractiveness of the door. Could I lift up before you the beauty of Jesus this morning? If you're not sure about whether you want to step into Christ, as it were, you're not sure whether you want to take that step of decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, can you not see in the beauty of this door a picture of the indescribable loveliness and beauty and perfection of the one we preach, whose name is Jesus Christ? How can words even begin to describe the perfection of His nature? How can words even begin to describe the loveliness and the beauty of the salvation and the sacrifice that He provided for us? Oh, could I attract you, as it were, to Jesus this morning? Think about that. You know, it's a beautiful picture. This gate was located facing the east. the east, directly to the east of that gate was the tribe of Judah, that's where they camped, see I can see a picture there, Jesus came of the tribe of Judah. But you know when you think about the gate facing east, I'm not sure which direction it is but don't worry about that right now, the gates facing east, think about it when I was at Israel, it was kind of like that... at Israel. Where does the sun rise from? the East. Can you imagine as the sun rose each day, the first light of the sun would shine on that gate? The first rays of sun would illuminate that gate. Can you imagine standing there seeing this beautiful gate, the beautiful fine twine linen there, needlework, blue, purple, scarlet and the rays of the morning sun shining on that beautiful gate? If you would come to Christ, you have to come to the light. Jesus is the light. You have to be prepared to have your sin exposed in the light. You have to be prepared to confess your sins to God. You must come to God through Jesus Christ, but oh, the beauty of this gate, the attractiveness of this gate, the light surrounding this gate, what a beautiful picture there of the loveliness and the beauty and the majesty, oh, the indescribable wonder of our Lord Jesus. Think about if you're saved this morning what was it that drew you to salvation? Was it a religious system? It was Christ wasn't it? because Christianity is all about Christ and I guarantee if you've been saved this morning it wasn't a man-made religion, it wasn't a priest, it wasn't a preacher ultimately that drew you to Christ but you saw something of the loveliness of Jesus Christ and do you not understand that when you start to catch a glimpse of all that Jesus Christ is, all that Jesus is and of all that he's done, oh it'll powerfully draw you to him. your heart was drawn to this loving Lord Jesus, wasn't it? Oh yes, there's light associated with this door, there's beauty associated with this door, no back entrance, no side entrance, you had to come through that one door and it's attractive, that's what the Holy Spirit's ministry is, to show you Christ So look, look at the cross, look at who Jesus is, the Son of God, God manifests in the flesh. Jesus said in John 12, 32, and I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me. You see, Christianity is not about a religious system, it's about a person. Do you feel drawn to that gate? Do you feel drawn to that door which is Christ this morning? Do you know what that door represents for you? A point of decision. Some of you have been standing at that door of decision for some time now, and you've been considering what the Bible says about the Son of God, Jesus Christ. You've been considering what the Bible says about the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gospel there. Maybe some of you here have done the Christianity Explained course. Maybe you've had it explained to you various times. about who Jesus is, that He's not a figment of our imagination, that He's God of very gods manifest in human form there. He's the Son of God who came and gave His life on the cross. Have you not heard that wonderful account of the fact that Jesus shed His blood on the cross and died for your sins, that He was buried and rose again? And you've had the attractiveness and the beauty of Jesus held up before you. You've had the door presented to you. I'm here to ask you this morning, are you going to make the decision? to step through that door. It's time for you to step through that door. It's time for you to choose Jesus Christ. It's time for you to take that step of faith towards the cross where you will find forgiveness and healing and purification. As we look at Jesus, we say with the Song of Solomon, His mouth is most sweet, yea, He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Song 516. Is that not an accurate description of our Lord? All together lovely. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. You look at the Lord Jesus, you'll never find any trace of sin. You look at the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll never see any darkness. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Oh, would you look at Jesus today and see him in his perfection and see him in his glory? And would you come and receive him as your own saviour? Would you step through the gate into salvation? Consider then, as we look at this door, the accessibility of the door. Not only the exclusivity of the door, there was only one door, the attractiveness of the door, but consider the accessibility of the door. Its accessibility is highlighted by its width. This door or gate was 20 cubits wide, meaning about 11.2 meters, thus providing a generous space for access to that altar of sacrifice and it speaks of the availability of salvation to all who will enter in by faith. It's like this gate preached a message, whosoever will, let him come. There's space, there's room for all to enter. Can you see that? Beautiful picture there, the wideness of the gate. There, the width of the gate providing space for all to enter. None were excluded from entering the place of atonement, but each one had a choice whether to avail himself of that place of atonement or not. I'm here to tell you this morning that Christ invites all to come. He will not force you to come, but Jesus Christ invites all to come by faith to Him. The message that we preach is a message of whosoever will, for God so loved the world, John 3, 16, that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Romans 10, verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 2 Peter 3, verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness, but his longsuffering to us would, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Revelation chapter 22 verse 17, "...and the Spirit and the bride say, come, and let him that heareth say, come, and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely." Yes, Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that means He wants to be your Savior. He is available. You say, I'm not sure this morning, this whole Christianity thing, you know, it sounds good, but I'm not sure if it's for me. Yes, it's for you. Christ died for you. Christ bled for you. Christ rose again for you. You must come, though, and make that choice on your own. This entering of the gate signifies repentance and faith. By entering the gate, the individual had his back to the world and false religions, which is repentance. And the act of entering was the act of faith in the gospel as depicted by the altar of sacrifice. You see the concept of repentance here. You have to turn away from all other ways. You have to leave your old life behind, as it were, at the gate. You come through the gate and there's faith looking to the altar of sacrifice, looking to the blood that was shed. That's the twofold aspect there of your response. Repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. You must repent. You must turn from your sin in your own way and come by faith to Jesus Christ who alone can save you. And so this morning you are presented with a decision. A decision. And the seriousness of this decision really cannot be overstated. You're standing, as it were, at that door this morning. Which way are you going to go? You say, well, I'm just neutral. No, but you're not going to stay neutral at a door forever. You're either going to choose to enter that door or you're going to turn away. What decision are you going to make? You say, I'll make the decision next week. You don't know you'll be alive then. I'll make the decision next year. No, the Bible says now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. The Bible tells us that the time to make the decision for Christ is not tomorrow. It's not next week. It's not in a year's time. It's not in 20 years time. It's now. choose carefully because the outcome of this decision is literally the difference between heaven and hell, eternal life, eternal damnation, Christ or Satan. It's so black and white. There's no in-between. There's no purgatory. There's no middle choice. There's no middle ground. It's either Jesus Christ or the devil. It's either heaven or hell. Which will you choose? Choose you this day whom you will serve. Thirdly and lastly, we note the Bible talks now about the oil for the tabernacle. The oil for the tabernacle, verse 20 and 21. So we have the oil described. Consider firstly the purity of this oil. This oil was to be pure. The oil was produced by beating. beating of the olives there, and the oil would fuel the candlestick in the tabernacle. A few pictures that come out of this, the picture of the oil, the oil there typifies in the Bible the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it's the Spirit of God's ministry, we talked about Him a little bit this morning, it's His ministry to attract you to Christ, to shine a light on who Christ is that you might be drawn to Him. So why is it when I hear a message like this, I feel this sense of conviction, I feel this pull and tug in my heart, that's the Holy Spirit saying, come to Christ, come this way, here's Jesus, here's forgiveness of sins, he points to Christ, that's the picture. The beating of the olives reminds us of the sufferings of Christ who was beaten for our salvation. It takes our minds to the garden of Gethsemane. The word Gethsemane means oil press, where our Lord Jesus Christ was pressed under the weight of our sin, pressed under the weight of the impending sufferings of the cross there, and that the pure blood of God's Son there came out of his sweat there. He sweat great drops of blood. The oil produced a light in the tabernacle reminding us of the ministry again of the Holy Spirit who illuminates Christ, I've mentioned that. The purity of the oil reminds us of the purity of the Spirit, He's the Holy Spirit. He's the Holy Spirit. Don't forget He's the Holy Spirit and therefore He's interested in that which is holy. not encouraging you to do something which is sinful and lewd and dirty and irrespectful and irreverent and disgusting. The things that are done today in the name of the Holy Spirit have got nothing to do with his holy character. The Holy Spirit will not lead you to dance half naked in God's presence. The Holy Spirit will not lead you to babble in some incomprehensible gibberish that does not come from the Spirit of God at all. The Holy Spirit will not lead you towards anything that is unholy. He's the Holy Spirit and the purity of the oil should remind us of that. The oil flowing through that lampstand, causing it to shine brightly, reminds us of the picture in Revelation where the Apostle John uses this imagery. So I'm saying the imagery from the Old Testament, tabernacle, temple, you've got to understand it to understand a lot of the pictures in the New Testament. It's one book, isn't it? Just interwoven in such a wonderful way. And here, God uses the figure of the Old Testament lampstand or candlestick to describe his churches. Christ stands in the midst of these seven golden candlesticks. Christ walks in the midst of these seven golden candlesticks and then he writes letters to each of these candlesticks. Those candlesticks picture the ministry of the church and the oil in those candlesticks that fuel the light remind us of the ministry of the Spirit of God. Folks, without the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this church, our light is not going to shine very bright in this dark world. turn down the oil, as it were, take away the oil, you have no light. No light. We need the Holy Spirit's power fueling the witness of the church. We need the oil of the Holy Spirit empowering the ministry and the witness of the church. By the way, you need that in your own personal life. You want to be a witness for Christ and have an impact? You better ask the Holy Spirit to fill you. You better ask the Spirit of God to empower you. No, we're not afraid of that term. We're not afraid to talk about the power of the Spirit and the anointing of the Spirit. We just don't believe in some of the excesses that people have taken that to that go outside the Bible. So folks, as we think about that, Without the Holy Spirit moving in the church, our light won't shine. Might be good if we were careful not to grieve him. Might be good if we walked sensitively. Might be good if we cleaned up our bad attitudes sometimes towards the Lord and towards each other. Might be good if you thought twice before you dropped a slanderous comment on someone else's character. Might be good if you were careful about your personal life and didn't just delve into sin and just live the way you please. Might be good if you had the right attitude towards the preachers that God has placed over you. Might be good if you were careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit lest the light be dimmed. and our witness marred. And so there we have it. I'll bring you back to that gate. You stand today at that door of decision. Now maybe for many of you, you say, praise God, I've already stepped inside. Wonderful. You're safe in Jesus Christ, you're secure. But are you still at that point of decision? Will you take that step of faith this morning and receive the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior? Will you come to the cross, pictured there in that brazen altar, through the door there, the place of bloodshedding, the place where sin is dealt with, and receive God's forgiveness and eternal life? Let's all bow our heads please, close our eyes as we close the service this morning. The door of decision. Which way are you going to go? I haven't made my mind up yet. You need to choose. There's just no middle ground. At some point you're either going to accept Christ or you're going to reject him. You're either going to choose eternal life or eternal damnation. It's just so black and white. There is no in-between. But could I show you today afresh, oh, the beauty of the Lord Jesus, all that he is? Could I remind you of what he went through on the cross, how he bled and suffered in love for you? Is anyone here this morning say, Pastor, I'm at that point of decision. I've heard about Christ. I've heard about the gospel, His death, burial and resurrection, but I have not yet made that step, taken that step of commitment. I have not yet taken that step of faith to actually become a Christian, to receive Christ as my Saviour, to receive the forgiveness that's offered, but I'd like to step through that door today. If that would be you, would you raise your hand right now, please? I'd like to pray for you, and at the end of the service, we can show you how you can make that decision, how you can take that step Anyone at all? Pastor Simeon, I've heard the message this morning and I want to take that step and receive Christ as my personal Savior. No more indecision, no more holding back. I'm ready to step through the door today and receive Christ and give my whole life to Him, turning from sin, turning from my own way. Would that be you this morning? Would you raise your hand if that's you? Which way are you going to go? Anyone at all? Would you just raise your hand and say, Pastor, that's me, I need to take that decision today. I need to receive Christ. Anyone at all? Lord, we pray that you'd seal this message to hearts. Lord, we pray that For those who are still sitting on the fence, as it were, those who are still standing at that door of decision, I pray, Lord, that you would move them by your Spirit to step over the line to come through Christ and to receive forgiveness of sins. Lord, I pray for those of us who are saved that we might be careful about our relationship to the Holy Spirit. Lord, that our light would shine brightly as a church. Father, empower our witness. We thank you Lord for the various outreach efforts that are going on at this time in our church through the evangelistic studies Lord, the street outreach, the door knocking, the letter boxing but Lord we need you to empower our witness and with your spirit to fill us individually and to fill us as a church that we might shine brightly for you so help us not to grieve you Lord in this church, help us Father to Remember the principle of maintaining a spiritual distinction in the church from the world, Lord. And we just pray you'd seal these important lessons to our hearts this morning. In Jesus' name, Amen.