All right. Well, let's go ahead and let's pray. And then we'll then spend some time in the epistle of Hebrews. Dear gracious Father, we just come before you. We thank you and we love you so very much for everything you've blessed us with. We thank you just for the opportunity we have to Just remember the incarnation and remember that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to come and die on the cross for our sins, but that he added on human flesh, fully God and fully man. And as we think about this great mystery and as we think about this as the beginning of our salvation, knowing that this baby was born to die, we just ask that we would remember the real reason for the season and that it's your son, Jesus Christ. We ask that you would help us tonight as we look into another aspect of the tabernacle and how we as Christians can learn and glean from things that are found in the Old Testament. We just thank you and love you in your son's name, amen. All right. Just by a show of thumbs up or thumbs down, what do you think of this statement? All Christian denominations are relatively the same, but superficially different. All Christian denominations are relatively the same, but superficially different. How many thumbs down? everybody except for Mike okay no I'm kidding you know what's funny is that this is live and nobody knows whether that's true or not so No, obviously that's a terrible statement, right? Anybody that knows anything about Christian theology knows that all Christian denominations are very different. We might be superficially the same, but substantively we're different. Yeah, I don't like the statement either. And I think there's a lot of, there is some overlap. However, whenever there is overlap, there is still a difference. So just think of this. In my office, I try to have a copy of every single avenue's persuasion systematic theology. I don't like to quote from secondary sources. I like to quote from the horse's mouth, right? And so, most of the systematic theologies I have in my office all affirm the doctrine of the Trinity. In fact, most of them use the same arguments. And we would say, well, that sounds like the same. What's interesting though, is as they start to discuss the Trinity in relation to mankind, well now all of a sudden, that's a hugely different thing. I can't express to you how different all these different denominations are, especially on how God relates to man, even in a Trinitarian setting. Most, I was reading an article this afternoon, and the one article said that even though there is some divergence on the issue of the Lord's table or the communion or mass or the Eucharist, whatever we want to say, even though there's difference in how we talk about it, it's relatively the same. That is untrue. It's amazing, it's amazing to me how many divergent views they are of something so simple as the Lord's table. In fact, in church history there's been humongous fights, humongous wars, theological wars over the meaning of the word is in the statement, this is my body. I'm not kidding. Martin Luther and Ehrlich Zwingli had weeks-long battle where people were keeping them away from each other because they might punch each other over the question, what does is mean? Zwingli argued that the word is, when it says this is my body, Let's go to Luke 22. I just want to show you this. Luke 22. Go with me to verse 19. Actually, I'll start in verse 14, just for some context here in Luke 22, 14. It says, when the hour had come and he reclined at the table and the apostles with him, and he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say to you, I shall never eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, take this and share it amongst yourself. For I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes. And when he had taken some bread and had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, said, this is my body, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. See that phrase, this is my body? That's the word in question. They're trying to figure out what that means. Zwingli argued that this was an ordinance given by the Lord, but it's meant to remember him, right? It's to remember his death, burial, and resurrection. And so as I'm thinking about this, I realize that I've received grace because of what Jesus Christ has done, and it causes me to think back to that event that happened on the cross, right? That's kind of the idea that he brought in. That's known as the memorial view. Luther had a different idea. Luther said, it's inconceivable to me that our Lord would say this is my body and not believe that there's some physical presence of Jesus Christ inside of the bread. When he says is, it means equivalency. I think we all are pretty familiar with the Roman Catholic view of transubstantiation, where they literally believe that when the priest prays, that bread and that juice turns into the body of Christ. When they take a drink of that, they believe they're drinking the blood of Christ. When they eat the bread, they believe they are literally eating the body of Christ. I have talked to a lot of Roman Catholic people about this particular doctrine, just trying to wrap my head around it. I told one guy, I said, that's probably some of the most confusing logic I've ever heard in my life. And he said, that's because you're focused on man's things. All of God's wisdom is a mystery. And I thought, that's funny. No, I don't think that's true. And then I asked them one time, I said, how is it that when you give out this bread, that you're not re-crucifying Christ? And they gave an answer like this. This is actually taken from somebody who says things better. His name is Peter Kreft, probably the best Catholic apologist to Protestants. He's probably the most versed. This is what he says. He says, the Eucharist is not a repeat of the sacrifice, but rather a re-presenting of the sacrifice to the Father. Oh, that sounds like the same thing. Thank you for the tauntological argument there, sir. But when I would ask them, I said, okay, so what text do you go to that prove that you think that Jesus' body, like the bread actually turns into Jesus' body? They point to a passage like this, and then there's another one, John 6. Go with me to John 6. So at the beginning of John 6, notice there in verse 1, how Jesus, that's where Jesus feeds the 5,000, right? In John 6, 1 through 14, he feeds the 5,000. And remember, this is a pretty big picture. pretty big miracle, right? So there's all these people, nobody had brought anything to eat. Jesus says, you feed them. The disciples said, we have nothing, right? We only have a little amount of money. And then there's then what, the five loaves and the two fish and Jesus feeds them. And the sense that I get from this miracle is not like how I've seen it in movies where Jesus blesses and all of a sudden there's like food all over the valley. It's more of the idea that Jesus blessed it and he handed it and said, go give this to the people. They went out and gave it to the people. They came back and Jesus had more food. And they went out and Jesus had more food. And they went out and Jesus had more food. They went out and Jesus had more food. That's the sense I get. Then you have them crossing the Sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus walks on the water. Right, the people didn't really know what was happening. So let's pick up the story in verse 26, right, because Jesus is on the other side, then all the rest of the people come to the other side, and they said, hey, rabbi, Jesus, when did you get here? And Jesus says to them in verse 26, truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Now this is an important part to remember in this account. They walked all the way around the Sea of Galilee to find Jesus because Jesus fed them. It wasn't because of the signs and it wasn't because of the message that Jesus was preaching. And as you look at the people of why they followed Jesus and the numerous reasons of why, I really believe that the majority of people that followed Jesus during his earthly ministry just didn't have a clue. I'm not just talking like they didn't understand. I think that they followed Jesus for myriads of reasons and the majority of the council we have in the Gospels, Jesus is correcting theology of people and exposing the deficient views of people saying, you're following me for the wrong reasons. On Wednesday night, we were going through Mark, and I pointed out that people were following Jesus because Jesus was doing miracles. And remember, this was when he was first in Capernaum, and he was doing all these miracles, and people were like, oh, I like this. And so Jesus went away to pray, and Peter came and found him and said, hey, where you at? People are looking for you, man. Come on, come on, monkey, perform. Right, people wanna see a miracle. Come on, let's show them something good. And the Lord said, I wasn't sent here for this purpose. I was sent here to preach the gospel. These people here, they're not following Jesus because they believe he's the Messiah. They're not following because they think he's something great. They're following because he fed them, right? Important thing to remember. Then verse 27. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you will give to you, for on him the Father has set his seal. So Jesus is telling them, look, you guys are working so hard for earthly things. You need to stop, you need to stop this. You need to work for the food that endures for eternal life. You need to work for that food which actually brings life. And you need to, Yeah, this type of food that goes to eternal life, this is the type of food that the father is pleased with, right? And then notice in verse 28, therefore they said to him, what shall we do so that we may work the work of God? And Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. So they say, okay, well what's this work? Jesus says, look, you're chasing after bread, stop working so hard after bread. Bread, right, physical bread. Go for that, do the work that brings eternal life, right? Go for the food that brings eternal life. What is that work, Jesus? Believe on the one whom he sent, right? Namely himself. This is his message. Seems pretty simple, right? The work is to believe on Christ. Right? There's no other precondition, right? Does anyone else see any other precondition here? Very clearly, Jesus is saying, you need to believe in me. Then notice what they say in verse 30. They said to him, what then do you do for a sign? What did Jesus just do? He fed 5,000 people, right? These people knew that Jesus was healing people, right? I mean, he didn't do this in a corner. He didn't do this secretively. Think of the audacity. You're following a guy around because you think he's gonna give you food, and then he says, no, you need to believe on me, and they say, all right, I know you fed me before in a really impossible way. Do it again, and then I'll believe in you. Right, because notice what it says. So that we may see and believe in you, what work do you perform? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written. He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. Right? Yeah, God's done this before. He's like had bread fall down. Do that. If you do that, we'll believe you. Now, I find it kind of funny because Jesus pegged them from the very beginning. You're following me because you want to eat. And you kind of get the sense that they're kind of like, what do you mean? What do you mean? Jesus says, look, do the work that brings eternal life. That's believe in me. All right, well, do a sign. You know, like bread that we can eat falling from heaven. They expose what they really want. They really want bread, right? They don't want to believe in Jesus. They just want bread. So yeah, yeah, have bread fall down from heaven. Notice what Jesus says then. Verse 32, Jesus then said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it's my Father who gives you true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to this world. Then they said to him, Lord, always give us this bread. And Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. Right? So Jesus is very clearly saying, I'm the one sent from God that gives eternal life. When Jesus says, I'm the bread of life, he is not talking about the Lord's table. You gotta make a serious, hermeneutical jump and then squint real hard, and then rewrite it, and then do another jump off of a trampoline to get me to believe that this is even close to him talking about the Lord's table. I mean, you gotta stretch this. This is, he says, I'm the bread of life. But notice what the bread of life is. The bread of life, what does it do? It comes down from the Father, and that whoever partakes of this bread will not what? will not hunger. The idea is that they will have life. They'll never thirst. It gives the idea that it's sufficient, right? This is the work, that you believe in Christ, and that work is sufficient enough for salvation. It's sufficient enough for eternal life. That's the idea of Jesus being the bread, right? That's how we understand him being the bread. He is sufficient. He gives life. You need nothing else. He himself will satisfy. So notice what he says in verse 36. But I say to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and all who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of Him who sent me. Of all that He has given me, I lose nothing. but raise it up on the third day, for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day. Therefore the Jews were grumbling about him, because he said, I am the bread that came down out of heaven. They were saying, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know, How does he now say, I have come down out of heaven? Jesus answered them and said, do not grumble amongst yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. Now that's a really important truth. Yet these people saw the truth, they heard the truth, and they can't believe it even though they saw it, and the only way for them to believe is if the Father draws them. They're grumbling, how can you be the bread of life? And then notice what he says next. He says, it is written, and they shall all be taught of God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. and the bread also which I give for life of the world is my flesh." So, Jesus is very clearly talking about his death, right? That's what he's talking about. He's talking about his death. You have to believe in him. He died on the cross for us. You have to believe in him. Some say, no, this is Jesus talking about how when we take the Lord's Supper, we are actually eating the body of Christ, even though it still tastes like bread, it's a mystery, you're stupid if you don't get it, because it's a mystery, and no one gets it, but you just gotta believe it, because it's a mystery. And as I think about these things, I think they are really confused. They're very confused about this. They're taking this wonderful truth, and they're blowing it up out of proportion. And it's possible for us to do these same things. And you say, Caleb, why do we have this really long discussion about this? Because that's really all my introduction. Now we're gonna get to the book of Hebrews. If it's possible for us, if it's possible for people in our own day to take things which are a symbol and a memorial, which is, that's really what the Lord's Table is. It's an ordinance, it's commanded by God for us to do to remind ourselves of what Jesus Christ has done. We all come thinking, look at his grace that he has sent his son to come and die on the cross for our sins. And as we eat the bread and drink the juice, we are reminding ourselves of the sacrifice of Christ. We are reminding ourselves in this idea of in unity, right? We're all doing it unified. It's one of the few events in the church, maybe other than singing, where we're all doing it. We're all doing the same exact thing. It teaches us that really only from Christ can we have true nourishment. It's teaching us so many things. But it's easy to take this memorial and shift it. And if it's possible for us, well then it is definitely possible for our brothers and sisters who are found in the book of Hebrews. So if we go to Hebrews, remember this audience, they're struggling with a lot of stuff. struggling with a lot of stuff, that they're in this time where they're struggling with Christ and how they understand Christ in light of the law. It is very easy for them to become confused and to look to the old traditions and look to the things that are found in the law and go back to that and see those rituals as like spiritual antennas. Like if I do this, there's like a spiritual antenna that will send my prayers to God and it'll punch through quicker than everybody else. Or it's like turning on a faucet, right? Like if I do this, it like turns on a faucet and God's blessing will come gushing out. That's what they were doing. That's what they were doing. And they were looking at the temple and doing this. And so the author, in Hebrews nine, is very clearly, notice what he's doing in Hebrews nine, starting in verse one. He says, now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary, for there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one. By the way, I had said, I'd said that it cost $100 million to recreate the tabernacle. Mike Lamey informed me that my figures were way too conservative. It would cost more. If you want to know the exact number because he deals in black market porpoise leather, go talk to him. No, I'm kidding. He doesn't do that in the black market. He does that out of his van. No, I'm kidding. Okay. Right. So really expensive, right? And there was the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread. This is called the holy place behind the second veil. There was a tabernacle, which is called the holy of holies, having the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold. which was a golden jar and holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which is budded, and the tables of the covenant. And above it were cherubims of glory overshining the mercy seat. But of these we cannot now speak in detail. Now when these things have been so prepared, The priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship. But in the second one, the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed. Meaning, during the Old Testament, you stood outside. There was no access for you to go to the holy place. You couldn't go to the place where God's Shekinah was. You didn't know what that looked like. No one had any clue what that looked like on the inside. It's disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time, according both gifts and sacrifices offered, which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience. You see, you see, it's possible for us to take these things, these symbols that God gives us, we put too much on them, and then when it doesn't do what we thought it would do, then we say, well, see, the whole thing's broken. We misappropriate and we put too much on the symbols. They're symbols of what? Of Christ. Tonight, in Hebrews 9-2, we're gonna spend the remainder of our time which is slowly, slowly closing in on us, on this one and two, which is talking about the table and the sacred bread. So as you were to walk into the tabernacle, you would have the outer wall, you would go past the brazen altar where they would make the sacrifices, you would pass the brazen laver, which the priests would use to wash themselves, you would then enter into the tent, which is known as the holy place, We've already talked about the thing that is directly on the left, which is the lampstand, right? We talked about that last time we were talking about Hebrews. And now, directly to our right, there's now gonna be this table that is filled with bread, right? Filled with bread. Now, it talks about this construction of this table in Exodus 20, 25. Let's just go there quickly. Exodus 25, start in verse 23. It says, you shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and two cubits wide and one and a half cubits high. You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a golden border around it. You shall make for it a rim, of hand width around it and you shall make gold border for the rim around it. You shall make four golden rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet. The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table. Right? So here's this table, right? It's supposed to be yay high, and it's supposed to have this rim, and this rim is to keep the bread on the table, right? Notice what he then says next, in verse, where am I at? Verse 24, or verse 29. You shall make its dishes, and its pans, and its jars, and its bowls, with which to pour drink offering, you shall make them out of pure gold, You shall set the bread of the presence on the table before me at all times. Now that's kind of an interesting phrase, don't you think? You shall set the bread of the presence of the table. What do you think that means? What is the bread of the presence? That's what I'm thinking. What does that mean? Anyone want to take a stab in the dark? Okay. So when they see the bread, they're supposed to think of what? God is present with the 12 tribes of Israel, right? Because there's going to be 12. Anyone else? Yeah, I think that's exactly what it's supposed to do. When they were to look at this, they were to see that God is physically present with Israel, right? They're to remind themselves, we are standing in the presence of God, and we are representing the nation before God. Now, it talks also then about the making of the bread. Go with me to Leviticus. Leviticus 24. Leviticus 24, let's just do verse five. It says, then you shall take fine flour and bake 12 cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. You shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. See that? Before the Lord, before the Lord. It's all in the presence of the Lord. You shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread. even an offering by fire to the Lord. Every Sabbath day, he shall set it in order before the Lord continually. It is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel. It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is most holy to him from the Lord's offering by fire, his portion forever. So think of this, not only is the bread representing of Israel, because there's 12, not only is it speaking of the presence of the Lord, but it also is speaking of this memorial, right, when they think of this, that there's this memorial portion for the bread with this incense, and then they're supposed to eat it, which has this idea of provision, right, of feeding hunger. Now, think back to John 6, when we were looking at John 6, right? Remember when Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who eats will not be hungry. Isn't that a great thought, when we then think of this table, and we think of the bread, that Jesus is the bread of life. Not only does it symbolize the presence of God, not only does it symbolize the provisions of God, but then it also reminds us of the work of God through Jesus Christ. This is an incredible thing. I couldn't help but think, I couldn't help but think, as I was thinking about the bread, of thinking about how Jesus is sufficient, and how Jesus feeds us spiritually himself, how we are placed inside of the body of Christ, and I couldn't help but think about how Jesus provides for us. provides for us. There's one passage that came to my mind as I was mulling over all of this, thinking about how Jesus is the bread of life. If I eat from him, I'll have eternal life. And as I think about this table and this bread, there was one passage that just kept on surfacing and surfacing. It's found in the book of Philippians. I'm sorry if I'm kinda jumping around a little bit, but this one's found in Philippians 1. Thinking of this idea that he is providing for us, he is giving us eternal life. But notice what it says in Philippians 1.6. Paul says, So think about Jesus as the bread of life, and thinking about how there's provision made, how there's eternal life, and I thought of this, and I thought of Paul's confidence that he, right, as God begins this good work, he's the one that starts my life. He's the one that's provided. Remember in John 6 when it says, no one can come to me unless the Father draws? My own salvation wasn't even from myself. It was from him. He was the one that beckoned me to come, and I came. It wasn't even my faith. Faith is the gift, right? This is the work of God. He began this work in me. And if he's the one that begins the work, knows what it says in you, he will perfect it. Meaning what? That God himself is the one who not only begins the work, but he's then the one that gives me what I need throughout the work until it's done. Think of this, he's not done with me at the moment of salvation, he works on me throughout my life. And doesn't he give us what we need, provides for us? until the day that we see Jesus Christ? Now, it might not be exactly what I thought I needed to be prevented for, right? Like there's things that I think this is how God should provide for me, and God does something different, and I go, well, he might not be listening to my prayers. But he provides, right? He provides in the way that he sees fit. He's the bread of life. If I eat of him, I will not be hungry. He is sufficient enough. He's sufficient enough at the moment of salvation. He's sufficient enough all the way through to right now. He's sufficient enough until the day of Christ Jesus. He will be sufficient for me until I see Christ Jesus. This is an incredible truth. Jesus is the bread of life. Incredible thought. It's my hope that we don't take some of these symbols that the Lord's given us, some of these beautiful symbols, even like the Lord's Supper, which is an incredible symbol, and we put too much on it. It wasn't meant to do that, right? It's like hooking up a fifth wheeler to a motorcycle. I suppose it could pull the fifth wheel for a little bit, but it wasn't meant to do that, right? It wasn't meant to do that. It could do it for a little bit, but it wasn't meant to do that. In fact, it's incredibly dangerous. We can do the same thing with some of these rituals, right? Some of these statements. We can put way too much on it. We can put way too much meaning on it that was never meant that way. and we lose sight of Christ, the actual substance, the actual thing, right, the actual thing that leads me and guides me and provides for me, Jesus Christ himself, his grace that he gives through his word, I can become so distracted that I lose sight of this wonderful truth that he who began a good work in me, the one who called me, the one who called me to eat of the bread of life, the one who sustains me will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Let us remember that Jesus Christ is the bread of life and that we need nothing else. Any other thoughts or comments or questions?