Exodus 26:1Scripture
Everybody, turn your Bibles this morning to Exodus chapter 26. And we had, what was it, 26 and 27? We're supposed to do something like that.
I'm doing 26, verse 1. So that's all I could really get through, and I'm not even sure I can get through that, so we'll just see how far this takes us. I'll give you a moment to turn there, and then we'll read it together. Now, while you're looking, I just want to say this mainly to Brook: you are not going to find point one, point two, and three in this sermon. So I'm just going to get this out of the way, because Brook's like, "I didn't hear your points," you know. And you won't hear them. You can make up your own if you would like.
Good luck with that. This is going to be very narrative. I'm telling a story. And honestly, for you to really get the picture of what's happening and what's being constructed, and the instructions that are given to the people and what they are to construct, I want to zero in on a specific part, which is the veil. Now, to understand this, to understand the veil, understand its purposes, to understand what is actually being sewn on the veil, you have to have a better, or a bigger, picture, more of a narrative idea of what's happened from the beginning, right? So we're going to try to paint a picture of what happened in the beginning. Where do we first see the cherubim show up? And then what does this veil represent? And then what problem does this veil represent, and how is God going to solve this problem? All right, so very narrative, and so just enjoy the ride. Don't look for the checkpoints. Just enjoy the ride. Don't try to figure out where I'm going; you will not figure it out. Enjoy the ride. Just hold your hands
Point 1Meeting with God takes time and skill
Up. Enjoy the ride, okay? That'll help you note-takers out there. All right, Exodus 26:1 says this: "Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them." Ladies and gentlemen, this takes time to do. Have you ever seen anybody do needlework on something this big? What are those little circle things they put on fabric? What is it, like a what? Like a ring? Like a ring, and then they cross-stitch. Loomy circle thing. Hoops. Hoops, loops, that thing. This big. Do you know how big this curtain is, this veil? You know how long it takes? I mean, it might be, I typically see older ladies working on this, but I'm sure young ladies work on this too. This big, to do something ornate, it takes time. It takes time to build something like this.
See, oftentimes we want an encounter with the Lord, but we want it to be absent of time, or we want it to be on our timeline.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 3:36
It takes time. It takes investment. It utilizes your skill. It's amazing, because we have skills today. All of us come in today with different types of skills, and it is amazing, because inside the church we don't want to use a skill. We want to check out from using our skills in the church, because we've been using them all week. The reality is, if not for God, then who for? I understand we get tired, but God didn't seem to care here. He gives the command, and the command is attached to the skill, and it doesn't matter how much you've been using it. I found it interesting, because those who are most qualified to teach children don't want to teach children, because they've been teaching children all week. The hardest people to get to serve in the children's ministry are people who are highly skilled to serve in the children's ministry. So what does the church get? Unskilled laborers. Are you with me? Because we throw our... Brook's making, like, "Oh no, you can't say that. People are going to get mad." I don't care, you know what I mean? Because everyone else gets skilled laborers. The world gets skilled laborers. We get people who've checked out. "Okay, well, I just want to be nice." But sometimes, right, sometimes the truth is we need the truth, because the truth motivates us to check in.
Okay, this is not for shame's sake, but it is to wake us up, because when the world gets our best and the church gets second best, we got a problem.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 5:44
We got a problem. They're looking, God is looking, for skillful workers. Notice here, it's not people who want to do it, but it's people who are skilled to do it. It will be interesting for you to know that the word "veil" doesn't appear until we get to the New Testament. What we call the veil in the New Testament is referred to as curtains in the Old Testament, and the curtains were made of fine twined linen, and the twine was blue and purple and scarlet, and it was of skillful work. It took quite a bit of time for them to make it. And in case you didn't know, they had to remake it every year, right? Oh man. And that was 40 years' worth of that, and they had to transport it for 40 years in the wilderness. They were carrying all of the tabernacle everywhere they went. They carried everything everywhere they went. Aren't you thankful for this church building?
How many, I've been a part of a portable church. I love showing up later on Sunday. The waking up and showing up at 4:45 to unpack a church is not fun when services attend. They carried it everywhere they went. See, we think that a life with God is a life of ease. Why do you think he calls it a sacrifice of praise?
Because the evidence of your praise is found in your sacrifice, not in your ease.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 8:03
There is the outer court, the inner court, and then there is the holy of holies. And the veil here that we're reading about separates the outer court and the inner court from the holy of holies.
Point 2You can only come so far on your own
It was finely made with skillful workers, with cherubim knitted into it. Now, you've got to go as far as you can by yourself. Maybe you can get into the outer court, and maybe you can get into the holy of, well, no one's, I mean, maybe you can get into the inner court, but no one's getting into the holy of holies without help. No one's getting in there. In other words, as we come to this place, we realize we've come as far as we can come by ourselves, okay? In the church today, there are many different things that are preached from our pulpits. We preach a lot about discipline. We preach a lot about longsuffering. We preach a lot about making good choices. We preach about those things, and those are wonderful, but those things won't get you into the holy of holies.
No matter how good you are, no matter how perfect you are, no matter how without sin you are, you ain't getting in there, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 9:33
And when you have sin in your life, you drop dead in his presence. You ain't getting in, and you definitely aren't getting in and staying alive. You need help to get in here. In other words, you've come as far as you can come on your own. Today there are people in the room, there are those that have been coming to church, you've been considering and weighing out: who is this Christ that we speak of? Who is this Christ that Shawn talks about every Sunday? Who is this Christ that I read about in the word?
What is this message and this good news of salvation that comes through him? What of all of this? And you weigh and you measure and you consider this Christ for your life. But coming to church is not coming into the holy of holies. And for some of you've come as far as you can come, and to go to the next level, you need help. You need help. Now, this is narrative. Track with me. It's going to seem like I took the wheel and went, but I didn't. I know what I'm doing. 1 Corinthians 6:18–20 says this: "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 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 were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." Every other sin, it says, is outside the body, but sexual immorality is an inside job. You're not your own. You've been bought with a price. That sounds simple enough. How many people are living this out, even inside the church? Your life is not your own. How many people here are living this out? Your life is not yours. Your future is not yours. Your plans are not yours. Your money is not yours. Your talent is not yours. Your kids are not yours. Your husband or wife, not yours. How many people inside the church are living this out? Glorify God in your body. What are you doing with your body? Because it's not yours. Isn't it something that we are more free to give our body to somebody else than we are to God? When you do the figures on those inside the church that are involved with sexual immorality versus those outside the church, you'd be shocked. So I know we read this and you're like, "What are we talking about this for? We're in church, Shawn." I know. Why do you think Paul wrote it to the church of Corinth? "Well, that was way back then. They, you know, they had a sexual immorality problem." In case you didn't, have you noticed what's happening in our society? Do you know that's bled over to the church? And then we make excuses for it, because we say, "Well, I love them," or, here's a good one, "I'm going to marry them." Isn't it something that we more freely give our body to somebody else, and we go, "Listen, God, ask for anything. Ask for me to, you know, to engage you and love you and commit to you spiritually, but don't ask me to give you my body. Don't be in control of what I put in my mouth, put in my ears, put in my eyes. Don't ask me to be yours. You can't have those things. I'll worship you. I'll worship you in spirit and in truth, but don't ask for my body." He bought it at a price.
It's his. And this Scripture says that's where his presence resides and tabernacles with his people. So in case you didn't know, this was written to his people. His presence tabernacles in his people, so what you do to your body, you do to him. This is serious business. We celebrate: "Oh, the veil was ripped in two when Jesus died! Yay, the veil was ripped in two, and now he tabernacles in his people!" Do you know what that means? Do you understand the gravity of that? God says, "I'm a jealous God. When you see flesh, you're ready to throw your whole body at it. When you see me, now you're conservative." And that's the attitude in the hearts of lots of people inside church today. "I see flesh, throw my whole body at it. I see worldly things, throw my whole body at it. I see God? Let me think about it." I thought we might as well get this fight going. There's no sense in pulling punches, so no reason in fooling around, so let's just get at it. Some of the wildest, kinkiest, freakiest, most perverted people get into a church and act like they love God. You were bought with a price, and your body is not yours. "Well, Shawn, I'll glorify God with my spirit, but don't ask me to glorify him with my body." Your body was bought with a price.
And I'm not preaching against sex; I'm preaching against sin.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 17:01
You know the difference? Covenant. That's the difference. The Bible says marriage is honorable and the bed is undefiled. The big difference here is covenant. Koinonia, fellowship. Covenant, commitment. That's the difference. Fellowship with God and with man. And listen, there's protocol to that. You've probably heard it: the cross is symbolic of a right relationship, or fellowship, between us and God and us and man, right? That's the vertical relationship and the horizontal relationship. It's not just a vertical one; it's also a horizontal one. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. They're connected. It's connected. We're in relationship with God, and we're in relationship with man. There's something you get out of your horizontal relationship with people that is equally as important as your horizontal relationship with God. The Bible says, how can you say you love God, whom you've never seen, if you hate your brother, whom you see every day?
See, being holy doesn't make you mean and crotchety, contrary to what you might think from people you've met at church.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 18:43
Being holy should make you nicer, right? It should make you nicer. People ought not feel strange when you're horizontally connected to them.
Point 3Love for God and others is sacrificial
They should feel better when they leave your presence, not worse, okay?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 19:18
People should feel better. Both directions are sacrificial. Listen, we seem to understand the sacrificial direction of love that goes between us and man. We have a hard time with the sacrificial connection that comes between us and God. A mother has no problem sacrificing for her children, and that same mother would have difficulty sacrificing for God. Are you tracking with me here? This helps us, actually, because it helps us take a gauge of our love for him, okay?
Love is not something that's contrived or manipulated. Love is something that spills out of you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 20:04
Track with me, track with me. If my son is held at gunpoint and somebody's about to pull the trigger, I'm jumping in front of the bullet. I don't have to be disciplined to do that. I don't need to reread "10 Steps to being a Better Father." I don't have to go to a conference on fatherhood to know how to jump in front of a bullet and take one for my son. Love does it without thought, without manipulation, without coercion. You just, love makes you do that. You don't need to be disciplined to do it; you just do it. Why would we not sacrifice for God? Could it be we don't love him? Because love spills out. Love spills out. Love is not coerced.
It's amazing, because the church has gotten into the business of coercion instead of introduction.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 21:26
It is our job to introduce you to Christ, and for those that love him, it spills out. Could it be we're trying to coerce people into a man-made relationship that's not a true relationship, motivated not by love but rather by duty, and that no more saves than being a sinner? Could it be that coercion has become the veil in our modern context?
Because works do not save; love saves.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 22:23
Jesus looked at Peter and said, "Do you love me?" "Of course, God, I love you." Jesus looked at him again and said, "You sure you love me?" "Yeah, of course I love you. Why did you ask me twice? That's really insulting. You asked me twice." And then he says, "Do you love me?" "Yes, of course." And then that love is tested with a bullet, and you know what Peter did? He dodged. He dodged, because love will be tested. It's amazing, 'cause he gets a second chance for love to be tested, and he didn't dodge. Are you tracking with me here? The Bible says, how can you say you love me, whom you've not seen, if you hate your brother? Both directions are sacrificial: love to God and love to others. Genesis
Point 4The veil began in the garden
2:9. All this is going to come together; just track with me. Seems like I'm a little ADD, but just track with me here. Just stay with me. We're going on a journey. It's a roller coaster ride. Genesis 2:9 says this: "And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." So here in the garden we have the tree that gives life and the tree that we should stay away from: the tree of life to sustain you and the tree of knowledge to test you. Love is proven by tests.
A love void of sacrifice is one of convenience, and quite honestly, not love at all.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 24:45
A father who loves his child has no problem doing what's necessary for the child, because they are compelled by love.
The problem with the church is that we are trying to teach people to be disciplined, but we are not saved by discipline; we're saved by love.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 25:02
Genesis 3:21–24 said, "And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." So here we have the tree of knowledge and the tree of life, and we know from the story that they were told not to drink, or not to eat, from the tree of knowledge. They could eat from the tree of life, which would sustain them; they would live eternally. But they could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know from the story, though, right, that they plucked a fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they ate that. They sinned. They did what they shouldn't have done. Their love was tested, and they failed. They failed. So here's what God does: "And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins," sound familiar to what's happening in the tabernacle? There is a layer of goatskin, "and clothed them. Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever,'" stuck in this condition, "therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim." Are you with me? You seeing the connection here? They sinned. Everybody say "sin." They were broken, they were covered, and they were kicked out. They were put out. They no longer had access to the life they once had access to. They used to walk with him in the midst of the... They used to have fellowship. They used to be in covenant. They used to be with him. They are kicked out. They no longer have access. They've been put away from his presence. They no longer have access. And to guard them from getting access to his presence again because of sin, he puts cherubim to block them from getting access to his presence. And listen, these cherubim had swords. I mean, I don't know, I just see this is the dumbest thing, I just see cherubim going like this, spinning, bing, you know what I mean? Like, you can't get in. Flaming swords spinning in every direction. Not sure what that is, but it's wackadoo. Basically, you ain't getting in. You get decapitated if you try to go in. You die trying to get into his presence. You no longer have access. He put them out. The cherubim, "a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."
This is God's mercy here, that he put you out, because if you got access to the tree of life after you had sinned, and you were broken, and fellowship was broken, you'd have been stuck in broken fellowship forever, eternally. This is good news. This is God's providential way of showing mercy and grace to you, to us all.
He had to get Adam out of the garden so he wouldn't be stuck in a state of sin and rebellion. And then the Bible says in 24, and I'll read it again, "He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." Adam and Eve could not go in any longer. And here's the good news of this: the first man got driven out. Because of Adam, the first man, we got driven out, I should say. The last man, Jesus, caused us to get access again. It says of Jesus, when he died, the veil was ripped and the cherubim removed, that we might get access in again. But there's only one way to get access.
It's not discipline. It's not coercion. It's Jesus.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 30:35
He's the one that gives us access. Sin drove you out. Sin built a wall. Sin brought separation. Sin caused the great divide. It caused it from the beginning, folks. It isn't like when the veil showed up in Exodus, that's when it began. It began in the garden. The veil is a symbol of what happened in the garden. The veil that they're constructing, and they're sewing the cherubim, is a picture of what happened in the garden. It's a continuation of what happened in the garden. He put up a wall. Your sin put up a wall. Your sin brought a barrier. Your sin caused the great divide. Your sin separated you from the presence of God. Your sin caused this. Now, a great divide is a wonderful thing when you're away from the things you don't want and the people you don't want. Can I get an amen? Some of you are scared, because you're like, "Wait a minute. Love God, love your neighbor. Oh no." This is not the kind of wall that just keeps out scoundrels. You need to understand what kind of division
This is. This is a wall that separates two lovers.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 32:11
This is sad. I was watching on Instagram this week. It was really cute. I think it might have been Cathy's post, maybe. It might have been Cathy's post, I don't know. I watch some of your stuff, and so, but it was, she posted some interesting things. I like it. So, but it was a post, and it had military people coming home after being gone a long time, separated by distance, by war, by service, by water. It was so cool. It's so cute. It's cute every time. But I really love it when the kids get surprised by their father or their mother coming back from a long stint away. There's just something precious about reunion, because there's nothing more tragic than two lovers being separated. Are you with me today? And that's the picture when they make the veil in the temple. This is a picture of separation. Not only is it a picture of separation; it's a picture of separation caused by you. Two lovers separated. Isaiah 55:8–9, in case you want to know what kind of separation this is. Isaiah 55:8–9 says this: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Notice that this is not just a geographical separation. Notice it is a mental one. Notice that this is not just a geographical separation. It's not just a physical wall; it's an intellectual wall. It's an emotional wall. Now we have this problem where our thoughts aren't his thoughts anymore, and our ways aren't his ways anymore. We've been separated so long, we don't even think like him, act like him, have mannerisms like him. We're not even like him no more. Listen, it's so cute when you see your kid begin to pick up mannerisms that you're okay with. You see what I did there? Because some of you are like, ".." How many of you have mannerisms that really are you, but you blame them and say they're your wife's? That's your kids being like you, right now. You know they're really like you, but you just say, "That's your kid," because they're picking up on mannerisms that you don't really like. But it is really cute when they have mannerisms like you. I have people now in my life that have met my dad, done life with my dad, and they'll say, "Man, that sure reminded me of your dad." Our ways no longer are his ways. We've had so much distance, we don't even look like him no more. We don't talk like him, we don't walk like him, we don't motion like him. There is a divide that our sin has brought, of separation: an emotional divide, an intellectual divide. And this Scripture shows that separation. Really, this reveals distraught lovers. And some of you won't get this, because the only person you've ever loved in your life is yourself, and you just won't understand it. You won't understand what it is to be a distraught lover. I'm talking about the kind of love where you call up, you know, your lover, and you're talking on the phone, and all of a sudden you just run out of stuff to say, and you've been on the phone for a long time, and nobody said nothing. You're just on the phone hearing each other breathe. And then one of you goes, "What you thinking about?" "I don't know. What you thinking about?" You know what I mean? And you stay on the phone, you know what I mean?
How many of you have ever fallen asleep on the phone talking to somebody? Can I get it? You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, because you just don't want to be separated, even for a moment, even if the extent of you being together is hearing each other breathe. This is a separation that makes lovers distraught. Are you distraught, those that are not near him?
The Bible truly is a love story.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 37:28
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts." My ways are no longer your ways.
Point 5God made a meeting place, then tore the veil
God says, "Don't worry, I'm coming for you. I'm gonna fix this problem." There is this, I think it's an Indian proverb. Here's the proverb: if a bird and a fish fall in love, where are they going to live? Well, we got a problem. Houston, we got a problem. If the bird goes up where the fish is and begins to live in the air, the fish will surely die. If the bird goes down into the water, did I say that right? If the bird, just replace it. If the fish goes up into the air where the bird lives, the fish will surely die. If the bird comes down into the water where the fish lives, the bird will surely die. They can't live in each other's habitat.
God can't live in sin, and sin can't live in holiness.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 38:34
And ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem. We got a habitat problem, because here in the world we're living in sin, and God's presence can't dwell there. His presence can't dwell there any more than a bird can live in water, and we can't dwell where he is, because sin can't dwell where he is. We got a habitat problem.
There's a division. There's a wall. There's a veil. There's a curtain that divides us, much like the curtain between the air and the water for a bird and a fish. Oh, and track with me here's the beauty of it: a bird can go down into the water for a little bit, but it can't reside there. You ever seen a bird go down into the water, go underwater, grab a... Come out of the water? But it don't stay in there. It doesn't stay there. You live in sin; God lives in holiness. The problem is, the bird and the fish are in love, but there's no place to live. The bird and fish are looking for a place to meet. The bird will fly down as low to the water as it can, and the fish will stick its head out of the water, and they're trying to find a place to meet. They're looking for a meeting place. Track with me. The first place was the garden. That's the place we met God. It was a meeting place. The second place was the tabernacle. It was the place of meeting.
Isn't it beautiful that God creates a place of meeting when our habitats don't allow us to reside together?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 40:47
Come on now, it's beautiful. It's a place of meeting. Oh, we can't habitate with him. We can't dwell with him. We can meet with him. In Exodus we see he creates a place to tabernacle with his people, to meet with his people, and his presence is there to meet with his people. A bird can go to the water for a minute, but it can't stay there. There are times God came and visited, but he couldn't stay. The Bible said, to stay, the man had to be born of a woman. God visited his people, but he didn't stay until Jesus came, born of a woman. The reality is, we have a sin problem that separates two lovers. We have a veil and a curtain and a wall and a divide that sin has created, and Jesus came, born of a woman, to deal with sin for you and me, to restore us to fellowship with him. And isn't it good that when he died and rose from the grave, the veil was ripped in two? That wall, that divide, that separation brought down between two lovers. What must that picture look like? If a lover is on this side of the veil and a lover is on this side of the veil, and the veil is ripped, what would happen between the two lovers? They'd be like, "What up? See you later"? I imagine it would look like a father looking every morning up a hill to see a son. This morning, not seeing his son. The next morning, not seeing his son. The next morning. Who left, spent all his father's riches on sin and revelry. And one morning, from a long distance, he sees the son and goes running. That's what it looks like. There are those of you this morning that this picture reveals: the separation is gone in Christ.
The question is, will you run, lover? Will you run to Christ?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 44:12
55:08
49:20
54:12
51:05
39:27
1:02:21
1:05:55
1:08:37
1:14:26
56:32
48:06
1:00:59
50:25
59:35
40:20
49:20
45:24
47:29
40:57
47:59
32:41
38:34
40:34
36:34
28:51
40:09
53:10
44:36Now playing
47:32
29:24
39:47
44:44
51:20
50:58
40:39