Okay, well today I'd like to lead us into our prayer time by drawing an encouragement for prayer from the message of the Tabernacle. And I'd like to look at Hebrews chapter 9 for this. Hebrews chapter 9, verses 6 to 8, I'll just read them here. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section of the tabernacle, so that would be the holy place, performing their ritual duties, but into the second section, that would be the most holy place, only the high priest goes. and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this, the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy place is not yet opened, as long as the first section is still standing." I want to hone in on that phrase in the last sentence, by this the Holy Spirit indicates. Indeed, the Holy Spirit conveys a message to us. in the tabernacle, and it's one that we want to hear. The latter chapters of Exodus 29 and 30 give us the big idea of the tabernacle, where God says, I will dwell among the people of Israel, and I will be their God. They shall know that I am Yahweh, their God. So it's about, the tabernacle is about God's presence among his people. And yet in a general sense, the tabernacle's architecture was full of barriers, right? A courtyard and then a first entrance into the first section and a second entrance into the Holy of Holies. So although God was present, he was still separate, unapproachable, except that you come on his terms. And so I want to ask two questions in relation to God's presence today. One, how do we get in? And two, once we're in, what do we do there? So one, how do we get in? If you were approaching the tabernacle from the outside, you would come into the courtyard entrance, and there, before you even get into the tent, into the tabernacle, you would encounter two main pieces of furniture, a bowl and a bronze altar. Priests were to wash themselves ceremonially at the bowl before approaching the altar or entering the tabernacle. And we read in Exodus 38 that the bowl was made, was smelted from the melting down of the looking glasses of the woman of Israel. And so the word of God is like a mirror into which we gaze to see a true image of ourselves, not in order to pretty ourselves up and to admire ourselves, but in fact to see the ugly truth of who we are if we're to stand before a holy God. So the message that we should draw from this bowl is that before we come to present our offering to God, before we come to worship this holy God, examine yourself. Because of sin, we are unfit to enter God's presence. And the bowl speaks for a need for cleansing and repentance. Now in front of the bowl, ahead of the bowl, there's a bronze altar for offerings. And if you weren't part of the priesthood, this is probably as far as you would get. The Bible gives prescriptions for all sorts of kinds of offerings that different people would bring throughout the year to God. But only one kind of offering would gain access into the Holy of Holies. And that's mentioned in the verses of Hebrew Nines we just read together. It only happened once a year. It involved the high priest, and it was not without taking blood. And it happened on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On that day, the high priest would offer a regular morning offering lamb, and then a bull for his own sin offering, two goats for the people's sin offering, and then two rams, one for Aaron's and one for the people's burnt offerings. So all in all, On Yom Kippur, six animals were offered, and that's a lot of blood. Only then could he enter into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, carrying coals from the burnt offering and blood from the sacrifice, which he would then sprinkle on the mercy seat. And the message of the altar I would like for us to hear is that we enter into God's presence only on the basis of what was accomplished on the bronze altar outside. This is, of course, a foreshadow of Jesus Christ's death on our behalf. So the answer then to the first question, how do we get in, is simply we enter by Christ's blood. That's the only way in. It's like Ephesians 2 says, now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, now you're made nigh by the blood of Christ. For through him, we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Amazing, right? Okay, that's our first question. This is how we get in. Second question, once we're inside, what are we to do? Hebrews 9 refers to two sections of the tabernacle. You enter through the first curtain into the holy place, and there are all the objects in this room. And all the priests who would enter this room, they were all anointed with a holy anointing oil. And you can read about that in detail in Exodus chapter 30. Oil speaks of the choice of the Lord. That was how the Lord showed his selection, was by anointing, right? And in this place, all the furniture, all the tent itself, and all the people, God says, I choose them for worship of me. And the shadow that was cast by the anointing oil in the Mosaic covenant is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit in the covenant of Christ. Because the Spirit does what for us? It points us to Jesus Christ. So then the message of the anointing oil is that God will accept only worship that arises from the furniture and from the people on which the Spirit rests. The oil furthermore is sacred. That is, its recipe and its use were strictly controlled. God said to Moses that the anointing oil shall not be poured out on the body of any ordinary person. Why does he have to say this? Because it is the bent of man to replicate the effects of the spirit by the arm of the flesh. And just like it was in Israel in the days of Rehoboam, many of God's people today are still formulating a replica oil to pour out on their own flesh. Slick advertising, sensational productions in church, all these things are substitutes for the unifying power of the Spirit and spiritual prayer. In front of the veil into the most holy place stood the altar of incense. And the incense is a picture of prayer. We know that from passages like Revelation 8, where John sees in his vision of heaven, an angel come and stand before the altar. So there was also an altar in heaven where John was seeing this unfold and he held a golden censer and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended to God out of the angel's hand. So just like the oil, the incense was sacred. God told Moses very clearly, the incense that you shall make according to this composition, you shall not make for yourselves, it shall be for you, holy to the Lord. So I want to hear this message from the incense of the tabernacle. When we stand before God's throne, it is to pray. The blood and the coals that the priest carries, they said, the prayers that I'm offering you here, I do so only by right of the substitute that was already offered on the bronze altar outside. Prayer is holy. It's holy. God claims in our prayers. our exclusive trust, our praise, our thanksgiving, a humility and a dependence and a casting off, a casting away of our cares and anxieties. But we should not give to anything or anyone else that same devotion. In other words, we should not substitute human counsel for God's direction. We should not seek from government and civil legislation the redemption that only God promises. We shouldn't even look to a spouse to give us security and provision that should only come from God. And certainly we should let no entertainment compete for the time and focus that prayer alone must occupy, right? And I run this risk. Every time I sit down to pray and I have my device in my hand, I have to put it down. I have to put it away because it competes for my devotion. So once we're inside, what do we do? We draw near to God in prayer. So here's a message for us. In summary, every time that you sit down to pray, whether it's solo or whether it's in a group like this, in United Prayer, We should remember the message of the tabernacle in these four things. One is the bowl. Examine yourself. Cleanse your hands and cleanse your heart. Two is the bronze altar. Lay hold of Christ's work on the cross as a substitute for you and then carry the merits of what he did with you into God's presence. Thirdly, the anointing oil. Restrict your communion with God to spiritual things, the things that He has designated for worship. And this enables you to pray in Jesus' name, not according to your own will. Fourthly, the incense. Protect your prayer. Do not offer its devotion to any other thing or person. and then linger before God and just let the incense of your prayers fill the space. I hope that is encouragement for us to pray now in our time together, amen.