In this sermon transcript, the speaker recounts their experience of visiting a place where they were preaching the gospel. They initially feel unsure about being there and question the significance of their message to the people living in a grand house nearby. However, they realize their responsibility to share the gospel with all, including those who may seem high and mighty. The speaker decides to approach the house and invite the residents to their preaching events. The transcript ends with the speaker requesting to speak to the general of the house, but the maid leaves to inform the general, leaving the speaker in anticipation.

Well, this is to be the grand finale. I hope you're all comfortable because I'm not sure whether we'll finish just before midnight and just after midnight. But I'll try and do my best to finish a little after half past eight. So this evening we're going to turn our attention to the board, the bars, and the foundation, and we're going to follow our reading of this morning, the book of Exodus, and reading in chapter twenty-six. Exodus, chapter twenty-six. One or two remarks as we are reading. Reading from verse fifteen. Exodus twenty-six, verse fifteen. And thou shalt make boards. Now, notice, please, he says, make boards. I want you to notice that because these boards were very big boards. And I don't think... Exodus, chapter twenty-six, verse fifteen. They were very large boards, and so I don't think they could have formed these boards. I think they probably made them as we make these laminated boards today. And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle or the case you would standing up. Ten cubit shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board. That means they would be about fifteen feet long and two feet three inches at least in width. Now, that's a very large board. Verse seventeen. Two tenons shall there be in one board, set in order one against another. Thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle. Now, reading about these two tenons in each board, I've got a model board here, or you can see it enough, and it has got these two tenons. You see, there is the board with the rings, and there are the two tenons. Each board having two tenons. Verse eighteen. And thou shalt make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards on the south side southward. That's on the side where I'm standing. And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards. Two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons. And for the second side of the tabernacle on the north side, that's the far side from where I am standing, there shall be twenty boards, and there forty sockets of silver, two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board. And for the sides of the tabernacle westward, thou shalt make six boards. Now, what he means to say is, you've got two sides, you've got the north side and the south side, and as you go to the far end of those two sides, you come to the back of the tabernacle. And that's what he means for the sides of the tabernacle westward, coming on to the back part. Thou shalt make six boards, and two boards shalt thou make for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides. And they shall be coupled or twinned together beneath, and they shall be coupled or twinned together above the head, above the head of it, unto one ring. Thus shall it be for them both. They shall be for the two corners. Now, I've got a specimen board again here which you may be able to see. There's the corner board, the same amount of board as there is in the ordinary board, and there are the two tenons, which would make it easy if you set up the corners, then you can put in position your ordinary boards. Now, a moment or two later I'm going to give you just a short demonstration. I'm going to put these boards together so you'll see how they are fitted together. I used to have a complete tabernacle, and I would build it up for people to see, but it took a lot of time, and we didn't get very much out of it. So, I now have just one section that you will be able to see. So, now he says, verse 25, and they shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. And thou shalt make vats of acacia wood, and five vats for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle, and five vats for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five vats for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the two sides westward. That's at the back. And the middle bar in the midst of the board shall reach from end to end. And thou shalt overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars, and thou shalt overlay the bars with gold. And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the manse." Remember, I said, there in the manse, he must have seen it. And so here it is, thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the manse. Now we want to read a little more about those sockets of silver, so turn please to chapter 30. Chapter 30, to read about these sockets of silver. Now this is where they obtained the silver. Chapter 30, verse 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them when thou numberest them. This they shall give every one that passeth among them that are numbered half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary. A shekel is twenty geras, and half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered from twenty years old and above shall give an offering unto the Lord. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel. When they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord to make an atonement for your souls. So the silver for the sockets of the board came from the ransom money of the children of Israel. Now let us see how much silver they obtained as ransom money. Turn to chapter 38. Chapter 38. I'm reading from verse 25. And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand and seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels after the shekel of the sanctuary. A bitter for every man that is half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary for every one that went to be numbered from twenty years old and upward for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men. And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the veil. And hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. And of the thousand seven hundred and seventy and five shekels that were left over he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their chapters and filleted them. Well now that is our reading for this evening and it is bringing before us the boards, the bars, and the foundation. Now this morning we were looking at the sanctuary and we saw how that this sanctuary is again bringing before us our Lord Jesus Christ. As we have been going on night by night we have seen how God designed it all so that it would bring before us the person, the work of his beloved son. And so we got to the sanctuary and this we looked at these curtains, tents, and coverings and we saw something of Christ personally. That outward covering of seal skin bringing before us the Lord Jesus Christ, what he was to man, his reputation. And then that inner covering of ramskins dyed red, what he was to God, his consecration. And then the tent made of goat's hair, reminding us of that great day of atonement, what he was both to God and to man, his expiation. And then we saw the inner curtains, the tabernacle itself, curtains, these brought before us our Lord Jesus Christ, what he is going to be in the day yet to come. He's going to be the center of all that God shall gather together. He's going to be the head, a wonderful Christ that we have. So thinking of Christ personally and the curtains, the tent, the coverings, we turn our attention now to the structure, to the boards, the bars, and the foundation. And I said this morning that we would be seeing something of Christ corporately. In the curtains, Christ personally. In the boards, bars, foundation, Christ corporately. That might not be very clear at the moment, but it will become clear as we move on. Now first of all, let us remember that God said they were to make this foundation of silver. The structure itself was to rest upon these silver stockings. And we have seen where the silver came from. It came from the ransom money of the children of Israel. And there was no difference there. The poor were not to bring less. The rich were not to bring more. Each one was to bring just that half shekel, that half weight of silver. And then all that silver was put together, and it was made into talents of silver, and each of those talents would weigh about 114 pounds. And so as there were two sockets under each board for the two tenants, then we have 228 pounds weight of silver under each board. And that would mean that in the whole foundation of the tabernacle, there would be about five tons or more of silver. So it was a very weighty foundation. But also it was rather a costly foundation, because I suppose in present day currency, a talent of silver would be worth about $1,500. So that two talents of silver would be $3,000. And as we think of all this, we shall find that in those hundred talents, there would be about $150,000 worth of silver. So it was a foundation, and it was a costly foundation. But we have to remember this, that whilst the children of Israel brought silver, and that silver was put into the foundation, and it was a memorial, they themselves were represented there. In that ransom silver that was made into the sockets of silver, they are represented there. We remember that we are not redeemed, as Peter says, with silver and gold, because at one time they brought gold for ransom. We are not redeemed by such corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the foundation of the tabernacle was in silver, bringing before us the fact that the foundation of this dwelling place of God, which is Christ corporately, rests upon silver, rests upon the precious blood of Christ. A weighty foundation, a costly foundation. Some years ago when I was in England, I was going round the village from house to house, speaking to the people and inviting them to come to the meetings, and I came to two very large gates set in a wall, a very old cockscomb wall, and these wooden gates were carved. And then at the side I saw a smaller gate, and I stood there looking at these gates, and I thought, well these must be of good age, I don't know how long this place has been here, and I don't know what's at the back of it, but I'd like to know, being a bit nosy, I thought, well I'd like to know what's the back of these big gates. And so I went to the little gate, and I opened it, and I peeked inside, and as I looked inside I saw beautiful gardens there, and I saw a nicely made path wending its way in and out, and it came up to a very big house, a lovely house. So I said to myself, well there must be some high and mighty people living in there, so I don't think that they would be interested in my preaching of the gospel. And then I said to myself, well I don't know, may not be interested, but then you have a responsibility, not only to preach the gospel to the ordinary folk, but to these folk too, if you can reach them. And so I thought, well perhaps I ought to go up there, you see, to this big house, this wonderful place, and invite the people to come along to these humble little meetings we're having. And then I said to myself, ah, you'd be better to leave them, leave them alone, leave them where they are, because they won't be interested. I thought, well no, why should I leave them out? So I found myself walking up the path, and I kept saying to myself, well you know, you may be going to make a bit of a fool of yourself by going up to these people, but I kept going. And when I came to the house, I stood there, and I thought, well, now if you've got any sense, you go back, you know, through the gate, and get on talking to the ordinary folk. I thought, why should I? So I stood there looking at, and there was a sort of a bell pull, you know, not a bell push, but a rod going up, and I thought, well I don't know what's at the end of that. So I took hold of it, and I hesitated for a minute, and I said to myself, you know, you'd be better if you go back and get through that gate there. And why should I? So I pulled it, and it was clang, clang, clang, clang, I expected a bell, but it was clang, clang, and I felt like running. I said, well, I'm going to stand my ground now, and the door opened immediately, and there was a maid there with a little lace cap on, a lace apron, and she said, morning sir. So I said, good morning. She said, what is your business? Well, I said, we were preaching the gospel in this hall in the village, you know, and, oh just a moment, she said, and I'll tell the general. General? Oh, I said, stop, just a minute, stop, but she'd gone. General? I don't want to talk to the general. But she'd gone, and she was back in a few moments, and she said, sir, the general would be very pleased to see you. Come this way. And I said, oh dear, why didn't I go back through that gate? I walked into the hall, and it was just like going into a museum, you know, a wonderful collection of all kinds of things gathered from all over the world. And I looked at these, and I said, oh dear, why did I ever come to this place? This way, and yes, through a doorway, and it was a great big room there, and sitting in the middle of the room, there was a man with his feet up on a chair, and as I came through the door, he said, come in! I thought to myself, well, now I've got somewhere. So I went in, and I thought, general, who general and I was straightening myself up, you know, and I was going through left, right, left, right, and I came up in front of him, and he said, sit down! So I sat down, and I thought, dear me, why did I come here? What's all this about, he said, preaching the gospel. I said, well, that's right, we've got a little place over there, and we're preaching the gospel, and I've been around inviting the people, and I thought, yes, he said, you're preaching the gospel, eh? Simply by believing on the Son of God, everlasting life is free. Is that it? I said, yes, that's it, sir. Yes, he said, lazy lot you are. He says, anything for free, and you are there. He says, I believe in working for it. I believe in doing something for it, he said. You lazy lot. Anything for nothing, he said. You want it, don't you? I believe in working for it, he said. I worked my way from the rank to become General Sir Reginald Hoskins. He said, where were you during the war? I said, I was in the army. Where were you in the army? I said, I was out east. Out east where? I said, I was out in East Africa. Then you were under my command. Do you remember me? General Sir Reginald Hoskins. Yes, sir. Oh, yes, you were under my command, he said. Now, he said, what's all this about the gospel, he says, and everlasting life being free? Well, I said, that's what we are preaching. Yes, he said. It's too cheap for me. I said, work my way up, he said. And I believe in working for everlasting life. Too cheap, he said. And then I thought, the Lord is helping me now. I said, excuse me, sir, when I was in South Africa, I wanted to get away right up into the Congo, about 3,000 miles by train. So I went along to the railway station, I said, how far is it to Lubumbati in the Congo? And they said, oh, about 3,000 miles. I said, what's the rail fare? And they said, oh, about $35. Oh, I said, that's cheap enough. So, $35. Yes, and they said, if you're a missionary, well, we'll deduct $5 off you, see, it'll be just $30. So the General says, oh, that's good. He says, I was in South Africa, I would like to have settled there. He says, wonderful country. Yes, he said. What'd you say, $30? He said, yes. 3,000 miles? Oh, he said, that's cheap, isn't it? I said, yes, sir, this is cheap, yes. I said, just for $30, I went from one end to the other of that railway. Cheap, he said. I said, yes, but have you any idea how much he cost them to build the railway? Oh, he said, I haven't got the foggiest idea. Well, I said, I believe he cost them more than a thousand pounds a foot. Well, he said, sir, 3,000 miles? I said, yes. He said, the cost must have been colossal. I said, it was. But I went from one end to the other for $30. Everlasting life is free. Do you know what it costs God? Do you know what it costs Christ? I said, well, for me, it's free. Jolly good, jolly good. He comes to me again, do you? And I went and I saw him again several times, and in the end he said, I believe, I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died on that cross for me. Thank God for that. And I remember the day when he had his funeral. Well, there it is, it's a costly foundation, it's a weighty foundation, it's in silver. We have got the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I'm persuaded that when they set up that building, they would first of all mark out the place for the sockets of silver, and they would put those sockets in position, and then they would begin to set up the boards and bond them all together. And so, I want to come down, if I can manage it, and just give you this little demonstration of how these boards and bars were fitted together. Now, this represents these sockets of silver, as you can see there. Each board, with its two tenons, goes down into two sockets, you see. And then here is a corner board, you see, with its two tenons. That is in position. And here is the other corner board. So that would be the back part of the tabernacle. Now, when they put those sockets in position and set the boards up, they probably put one of the bars through these boards, you see. There is a bar going through from that end. And then they would take another bar, and they would set it through from this end, you see. And those two bars would meet there in the middle, you see, two bars. And then there would be another bar slipped through from the top, as you see there, from that side, and then the other bar would go from this side, and these two bars would meet in the middle, as you see there. So now you've got two bars below, two bars above. Then the middle bar would reach from end to end, and so there is the middle bar going right through, you see. So what they did with the back part, they did with the side. Put up so many boards, and put the bar through the top, the bar through the bottom, set up the other set of boards, the bar through the top, the bar through the bottom, and then the middle bar goes right away through from end to end. Now, there are people who've got a different idea, but I couldn't accept it. And that is that they have, as you see there, I've got two boards, and there are four bars, you see, two above and two below. But there is a fifth bar, but you can't see it, can you? And you say, well, where is the fifth bar? Well, it's there, you see. So if you divide the boards, you've got a bar which is going right through the centre there, so there's two bars above, two bars, and the middle bar shall shoot through the midst of the boards. They think that it means through the middle of the boards that way. Now, remember that this bar would be almost the length from the front seat to the back seat. So it would need to be quite a thickness, maybe four to five inches, in order to be able to handle it. And if they're going to put a hole through the board, and yet not weaken the board, remember the weight of those curtains, the weight would be such that if you hadn't got sufficient thickness, all the boards would crack across the middle and it would fall in. Now, in order to put a bar through there, you would not be able to do it with boards, you would need logs in order to do that. So I couldn't accept this, this is impossible. And then again, of course, the thought is we have these bars outside which are visible, but the bar that goes through the midst is not visible, and so it brings before us the Spirit of God as that uniting bond of His people. But remember, all the bars were made of acacia wood, and they were all overlaid with gold. And you never get the Spirit brought before you with regard to acacia wood, which speaks of the perfect humanity of Christ. So I'm afraid that doesn't fit very well. So anyway, that's just giving you an idea of these boards, how they were fitted together. So now we can carry on with our talk. These boards all fitted and framed together. Now you may remember that the Apostle Paul, when he was writing his epistle to the Ephesians, he uses that word together, together, together. He has in mind a building, probably this building, because he speaks of those who believe as being fitly framed together. These boards, many boards, were all fitly framed together, and the bars passed through the rings bonding them together. So he speaks of being builded together, of being bonded together, of being united together. He speaks of being quickened together, of being raised up together, of being seated together. You see? Together, together, all the time. And so thinking of the building, fitly framed together, built together to be a habitation of God through the Spirit. Now here it was, God's dwelling place, bringing before us the person of Christ. And we're looking at these boards, 48 boards, all fitly framed together, all resting in those sockets of silver, a building. Many boards, fitly framed together, but only one dwelling place. Now whilst the Apostle is talking about a building, he also has in mind something else. So there he has the thought of the building, all fitly framed together, built together, bonded together, but he's got something else. He's thinking about a body. And he says, there's one body, it's the body of Christ. There are many members of that body, but all the members form one body, the body of Christ. Not Christ's body personally, I know, but this is Christ corporately. You see? Just as you have in this dwelling place, many boards, fitly framed together, built together to be one dwelling place, so the Lord Jesus Christ. Corporately, all Christians are bonded together, fitly framed together, they're all brought in as members of the body of Christ, not the personal body. Remember that he went to the cross, he took a body that God prepared for him, he went to the cross and in that body suffered, shed his blood and died. Raised the third day from a bonded egg, he was received up and he sat down there at the right hand of God. On the day of Pentecost, all that believed were together. You see? They were together. And then there came that sound of a mighty rushing wind, those cloven tongs of fire rested upon each one of them and they were baptized into one body. They all became members of one body. Now usually our thought seems to be that on the day of Pentecost, those who believed were together and the Spirit came and entered into them, and from that time onwards they endured with this power from on high, they went out to preach the gospel. But I rather look at it like this, that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered, died, shed his blood, was buried, raised again, received up, and on the day of Pentecost, he himself came in the power of the Spirit and he took up his abode in another body. In that body which he had, that human body, he was handicapped and he could not do the greater work that he wanted to do. And so that body, suffering, dying, being buried, raised, received up, he's there at the right hand of God. But on the day of Pentecost, he comes. He comes in the power of the Spirit. And all those that were together, they were baptized into one body. He is now in that body in the power of the Spirit. Many Christians made up to be one man, the corporate man, the Christ. So that's Christ personally up at the right hand of God. He is Christ corporately. Every member of the body, every true believer, everyone who's been truly born again is a member of that body. No matter what denomination or church or group they belong to, if they are truly born again, they belong to that body, they are members of that body. We have to get that settled once and for all. But that's not saying everything. And I want you to remember what I'm talking to you about now is nothing denominational. Neither is it anything interdenominational. And it might surprise you when I tell you it's not even something undenominational. We've got to be very careful. So now we are thinking of this corporate man. It's the Christ. I want you to follow me. I want you to think back with me. Think back to eternity. And a way back there in eternity is God. And God is thinking. God is planning. God is purposing. There is God himself a way back in eternity. And as God looks, he can see a man. And he can see there the shadow of a man. Adam, the man that was brought in, was a figure of him that was to come. He was a shadow. A way back in eternity, the eternal light was shining upon a person. That person was God's beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was a shadow cast. And that was the first man, Adam. So now in God's thought, a way back in eternity, there is the thought of a man. He's going to have a man. And when God started to remake this world, to bring out of chaos, cosmos, an ordered state, he was doing it for the man. He wasn't making the man for this world. He made the world for the man. A way back in eternity, God has before him a man. But not just a man personally, but a man corporately. God had in his mind bringing in a race of people, many men as one man. God was going to bring in a man and a woman, and they were going to multiply and fill full here, and then God was going to secure in this race of people, he was going to secure that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself. Way back in eternity, this is what he decided to do. A corporate man, many men as one man. But sin came in, and that was all frustrated for the time being. And the man that God was seeking to have for himself, the devil acquired that man. He became the devil's man. And if in the first place, God intended to secure in that corporate man, that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself, well, now that the devil has secured the man, he is going to seek in the man that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself. That man is going to become more and more devilish. Well, then does God leave it at that? Has the devil secured the man, and now God is frustrated once and for all? No, no. God moves on, and he moves on so that he will have his man. But he must meet this state of emergency. This sin has come in, and God must deal with the sin, and we've been looking at this in the tabernacle. And we have seen how the only possible way of being able to make one's way into the presence of God is by way of that shedding of blood. Without the shedding of blood, there could be no remission for sin. And so God is meeting this state of emergency, and he shows it in type, in figure, in shadow, all through the ages, all pointing on to that cross where the Lord Jesus Christ was made to be sin and made to be a sin offering. And there God is meeting this state of emergency. And when we are brought unto the sound of the gospel, and we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are born again. We are begotten of God. We belong to a race of people. We are many, but we are builded together, fitly framed together, bonded together to be a habitation of God. This is the corporate man. This is the Christ. Way back in eternity, God intended to have this corporate man. And so we are thinking of the boat, and they are bringing before us Christ corporately. We are all brought into that oneness, into that unity, into that togetherness. Now that's something, of course, as I say, we've got to get settled once and for all. But then, whilst this is perfectly true, and as seen by God, it's all of a piece, it could not be so down here. All Christians throughout the world could not be together to manifest that oneness. And so God, it pleased him to have it so that in any given locality, there would be a number of those who had been saved and born again, and brought into that togetherness. They would continue to be together. And whilst they could not be the body of Christ, they could only be a part of it, nevertheless, wherever they were, in whatever locality they were in, they were to be that body of Christ in implication. They were to be that body of Christ in representation. Have you got that? See, the body of Christ is one. All those who believe, all those who are born again, are members of that body. There's a oneness, there's a unity, there's a togetherness there. But we can't all be together in that way, practically. So, in every locality there may be a company, a number of those members of the body. So they could not be the body, but they can be that which represents it. They can be the body in implication, meaning that wherever there is a company of those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ come together, then they should manifest the same truth concerning the body of Christ. Now, we've got to be very careful about this, because so much is done these days to make churches, to bring into being what would be called these parts of the body of Christ. Local churches of one kind and another. But this is largely the effort on the part of man. And he works in such a way as to produce an organisation, you see, whereas God never works along those lines. What God is out to have is not organisation, but an organism. It's altogether a question of life where God is concerned, not organisation. So you may be able to get people together, you may put them together, you may make them go together, and you may say that that is a local representation of the Church of God, a local representation of the body of Christ. You may say that, but is it? The question is a question of life. Now, my wife is very fond of flowers. And often in England, at any rate, when I've been out in different places taking meetings, people have said to me, you're going straight home from here, Mr Brown, I say yes. Would you like to take some flowers from Mrs Brown? Sure, I would. She loves flowers. So they give me a big bunch of flowers. And away I go home, you know, I make myself some flowers. And she knows about the time I'm going to arrive, and she knows the familiar knock at the door. And so I arrive with my big bunch of flowers, knock at the door, she opens it. And when she opens the door, she looks at me and she says, oh, what a lovely bunch of flowers. Give them to me. You see, I get a bit teethed, you know. Now, what did she say? Oh, what a lovely husband, you see. Flowers! Oh, what a lovely bunch of flowers. Give them to me. I say, what about me? Oh, you're all right. Give me those flowers. And she begins to sort them out, puts them in the vase, you see, and she smiles at them and she admires them. Oh, it's lovely, yes. Oh, well, it's no doubt about it, she loves flowers. And so whenever I can, I bring them, you know. And then coming home one day, I said to myself, well, no flowers today. Doesn't seem to be the season for flowers. Very few about. I'm passing the shop, oh, they got some. Well, they got lots of them. So I went inside and I bought a big bunch of flowers. And home I go again, knock at the door, she's there, and she says, oh, oh, yes. Give me. She takes them, puts them down on the table, you see. So I say, you like them? Yes, they're all right. You're going to leave them there? Oh, yes, they're all right. Before, you know, she would set them out here and there. But now, it's all right. How have you been getting on? Tell us, what about these flowers? Oh, yes, that's all right. You see, there's something different about them. They were artificial. I couldn't get the real thing. So I brought artificial flowers. I know she says they're very nice, yes, but she put them down there. Didn't have to, you know. If they had been the real life thing, she'd have been setting them out and smelling at them and admiring them. But artificial flowers. Yes, all right. Well, the people that made those flowers, they gave them all that form and all that colour and all that organisation and even put scent in them. He could smell it. But there was something he hadn't got. He hadn't got life. That made all the difference. And today you can have churches put together by man, firmly framed together. Bonded together. There's something wrong. There's no life. Tragedy is that in those places you may have men who are truly born again, and yet they're in the midst of so much which is artificial. We've got to watch out for this. I remember having three ladies coming along to my meetings, a German lady and her daughter and a friend of theirs. And they belonged to the Lutheran church. And they came to my meetings and they enjoyed the meetings so much. They came to me every night and thanked me because this was wonderful. The word Christ was magnified. And I said, well, you're very welcome to come to all the meetings. And they came. And then one night they said, Mr Brown, can we have a talk with you? I said, yes. Well, we're going along to a friend's house to have a cup of tea and a talk. So you come along and then you can ask any questions you want to ask. So they came along. And then when we'd had a cup of tea, I said, well, now, what did you want to ask me? Well, Mr Brown, you see, we belong to the Lutheran church. We're truly Christian. We've been born again. The Lord Jesus Christ is very precious to us. And that ministry that we've been having all, we've been wanting that for years and years, but we never got it, you know, not in the Lutheran church. And they said, now we want you to help us. They said, that church is dead. There's no life in it, Mr Brown. And the minister is dead. So I said, well, I'm sorry to hear this. Well, they said, now, we want you to help us. Now, will you, Mr Brown, please arrange for us to join this church where you are having these meetings? We want to resign from that Lutheran church and we want to join this one. Mr Brown, will you please arrange that for us? I said, sorry, I just could not do it. Oh, Mr Brown, surely you could. No, I said, I'm sorry, I couldn't arrange for that. I couldn't arrange for you to join that, no. Oh, please. No, I said, sorry, couldn't do it. Mr Brown, you're not going to send us back to that dead church, are you, and that dead minister? I said, no, I'm not sending you back there. Well, then, will you arrange for us to join this church? I said, sorry, I can't arrange for you to join it. There isn't anything here for you to join. Mr Brown, will you please explain? I said, listen, if you are truly born again, you are members of the body of Christ. And here is that which represents the body of Christ. It is the body of Christ in implication, these people here. That's why you should have been long time ago. You can't join it. You already belong to it. Oh, I said, now isn't that wonderful? Yes, it is wonderful, isn't it? Yes. Oh, no, I said, you can't join it. No. If you're truly a child of God, you're a member of that body of Christ, you see? And wherever there is that local company of Christians who are following the scripture, where there is life, no artificiality about it, not an organization, they're an organism, they've each one been born again, each one partaking of the very life of Christ, that's it. You belong, as far as the Lord is concerned, that's your place. You can't join it. You're already a part of it, but you'd be somewhere else. Oh, I said, now. So, they came along, and they were welcomed, and ever since then they've been going on, they've served the Lord, they're just on fire, you know? They're going round talking to others and winning others for Christ. It's amazing what these women have done since then. So then, can we get this clear then? There we have the sanctuary itself, bringing before us Christ personally, bringing before us Christ corporately. Well now, having dealt with that, I think it would be good if we could just, for a few moments, run through what we've already had, because I don't think I'll be coming here again, you know? There's so much on ahead there that I don't know how long we're going to be over here, or whenever we're going to get back to Africa. The way people are talking, and we've got this here for keeps, I think. And I do want you to remember this. Don't get this wrong now. This isn't my life's work. We have been doing missionary work for 48 years. Not going round the country, giving talks on Tabernacle. We're away in Africa, and sometimes this lies in boxes for as much as 15 years, never even look at it. We've been serving the Lord, preaching the Gospel among the Africans, establishing these local representations of the Church, of the Body of Christ. That's been our work, up in the Congo and in Zambia. And they're still going on for the Lord, and managing their own affairs. And we can go up there, and we can give them a little more ministry, and we can have fellowship with them. It's grand, you know, to do it. But every now and again, we feel we have to go on furlough. We go on leave. And when I do, they say, if you're coming over, you'd better bring the model of the Tabernacle with you. So when I come over on furlough, on leave, I start in on this. This is my furlough. This is my leave. This is how I spend it, you see, moving about from place to place. So do remember, this isn't my... Some people say, oh, you must be a specialist, you know, on the Tabernacle teaching. No, I don't like that, because they're telling me the specialist is one who gets to know more and more about less and less. That doesn't make me happy at all. Well, now then, briefly, I've tried to get before you how that God Himself designed it, and brought it in, and brought it in in such a way that would be a help and a blessing to us. And we saw that He began with His own very throne. Right there in the holiest, there's the ark, the mercy seat, the cherubim of one piece. And He came out, and we want to watch Him coming out. And He speaks about the table, and then about that lampstand, not about the altar of incense that should be there in front of the veil. Then He comes out, looks back at the building, speaks about these curtains, tent coverings that we talked about this morning, and the boards and the bars and the foundation, passes the labour, not a word about it, comes down to that altar of burnt offerings and deals with it. And then He looks around at this court, and this gate with its blue-purple scarlet, and then He decides to bring in the priesthood. And we've seen that this is also typical, Aaron the high priest, the type of Christ, our great high priest. Aaron's son's the priest, type of Christian, because every Christian is a priest. And now in bringing in the priesthood, you remember, there were these three offerings taken, sin offering, burnt offering, offering of consecration, and they are bathed and cleaned in their priestly garments. And then we find the sin offering, they put their hands upon it, they're identified with it, and then we find that Moses attends to that sacrifice, that sin offering, removes from it the fat, the kidneys, burns them in the altar, and then the sin offering itself is carried through the gate, through the camp, and burned in that clean place outside the camp. That's a picture to us of God coming out from yonder glory, comes out in the person of Christ, God was manifest in flesh, returned to the cross, there is Christ on the cross, made sin, made to be a sin offering, and God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. God comes out to where we are, in the place of sin, to make provision for us in a sin offering. And then having dealt with the sin offering, He comes into the burnt offering, the offering of consecration, and then He moves back into the sanctuary, to the altar of incense, and then out to the labor. Plainly saying, I'm coming right out to where you are, in the place of sin, to make provision for you in that sin offering. If you avail yourself of that sin offering that I've provided for you, it opens your way. You take in that burnt offering, that offering of consecration. You're brought now into a priesthood, you're established, you're able now to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to me. You can enter now into the sanctuary, you can have that communion, you can have to do with what is in there. So they were brought in in this wonderful way. And then we saw that all that was down here was not something in itself. God brought all this in as a means to something else. It had to do with what was in the sanctuary. And we notice the difference down in the court, that glittering blade doing its deadly work, day in and day out, their suffering, agony, blood shedding and death going on all the time. And when we stepped in the holy place, we leave that all behind us. Inside all is quiet, all is calm, all is glory. Down here, suffering, agony, blood shedding, death, Christ on the cross. Inside there, Christ up in the glory. So the moment we find we are in the priesthood, we realize that we can enter into that sanctuary, we can stand before that altar of incense which is Christ, we can bring out our cloud of sweet perfume, we can worship. We realize that in doing it, there was a labor when the priest went into the sanctuary, they must wash hands and feet thereat, so God has provided for us a labor. Should we sin? If we sin, then we can confess our sin, he be faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse from all unrighteousness and restore us to that fellowship with himself. And now as we have access into his presence and can stand before the altar of incense, he wants us to take in the table and the showbread and the lampstand and the seven lamps upon it. Do you remember that that table brought before us? This fact again, that all we who have been brought in through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are at the table. Born again, we're at his table. That's our place of fellowship and communion. So the altar of incense is Christ up there in the presence of God. So the table is Christ up there in the presence of God, maintaining us in that place of fellowship and communion. Then the bread handed over to the priest after seven days and it became their food, their nourishment, their sustenance. So we too, having been made partakers of that divine, spiritual, divine, eternal life, that life needs support, it needs nourishment. We try to get clear before us that the fact that we have eternal life doesn't mean that we are living natural life now and that eventually we will begin to live the eternal life. That when this natural life comes to an end, we begin to live the life that goes on forever and ever. But rather that from the moment we are born again, we are made partakers of eternal life, spiritual, divine, eternal life. And we don't stress the fact of its duration, we are stressing the fact that it's a different kind of life, that it's the very life of Christ. And to live the life of Christ, we need nourishment. And the only nourishment to enable us to live Christ is Christ himself. So there is the bread, Christ. And then the lampstand, do you remember? One thought I tried to get clear, and that was that the lampstand itself, beaten out of a talent of pure gold, was bringing before us Christ, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You remember that the seven lamps put upon the lampstand brought before us the Spirit, and the lamps were throwing their light onto that lampstand, lighting up its lovely workmanship, reminding us that the Spirit takes to the things of Christ and reveals them to us, that we may be changed into the same image from glory to glory. Our sanctification. Christ has gone up to be our sanctification. He's a pattern and a power of sanctification in you and me. He, our sanctification, perfect and complete. We down here, not so. So practical sanctification must go on from day to day. And we can only become more like him as we have time for the Spirit of God to take of the things of Christ and reveal them to us. And where do we find the time? That's the problem, isn't it? And then we realised there was a veil there, and the veil said no way in. And we turned our attention to these people to realise that they were on probation. And whilst on probation to produce a righteousness that God could accept and they could be priests and enter his presence, then God said, I am veiled. Moses put the veil there. There's no way in until they produced that righteousness. And they never could produce it. God made the arrangements for them, but they couldn't do it. And so eventually God stepped in. And in Christ on that cross, he produced a righteousness. And that righteousness could be imputed to these people. It could be imputed to you and me. It can be reckoned to us. And when that righteousness is reckoned to us, we have access into the presence of God. So when the Lord Jesus Christ was on that cross, meeting the demands of a holy God, and coming out of that able to say, it is finished, he came out in a state of being right. And God is willing to reckon that same state of being right, that same righteousness to you and me, the moment we believe. You see? And the moment God produced that righteousness in Christ, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, declaring a new and a living way into the very presence of God. Through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, the sufferings and death of Christ. The veil. Through the veil we have access by the blood of Jesus. So all this we have tried to take in. God coming out to where we are, making provision for us. We availing ourselves of what he's provided, and then moving on step by step, taking in all that we find, all typical. Look into the New Testament and find so much there which we are able to see in these types. So we go on and in, and we have to do with Christ up there at the right hand of God. The great thing being, all this was a means to that. And all that we find in Christ and him crucified was not something in itself. It was a means to that. It was a means to our going on to know Christ in a deeper and a mightier way. So many people feel all you have to do is to get men and women to the cross. Get them there to the cross, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to know their sins are forgiven, and that's it. And they make the cross to be something in itself. God doesn't do that. As far as people are concerned, they think that the moment you come to the cross and you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're a Christian. Are you? That cross is making possible you being a Christian. Because being a Christian implies spiritual growth. It implies a going on. That cross is making that possible. And that going on means that we're going on to know Christ in a deeper and a mightier way. We're going on, and God is going to secure in us that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself. He can do it. He's got the corporate man, the Christ. And through Christ, the Spirit revealing to us the things of Christ, God is securing that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself. He met that stage of emergency in the cross, and now he has what he wants. Well, we can bless and praise God for it. I hope that every one of us here tonight