For we have nowhere else to flee. No sanctuary, Lord, but thee. It is all our rest and peace to see our sanctuary, Lord, in thee. And while we rest our souls on thee, thou wilt our sanctuary be. This shall support each fainting heart. that thou our sanctuary art. Do you have any idea what the topic might be this morning? Let's turn together, shall we, to Mark chapter eleven. Today is Palm Sunday. I will remember how I used to come swelling home on Palm Sunday after Sunday school, although I never heard the gospel in that church. with a little cross made out of palm leaves. Palm Sunday was one of those special Sundays because it was always just made a little different. Here then is the story of Palm Sunday. And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, the Lord Jesus sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you, and as soon as ye be entered into it ye shall find a colt-tide whereon never man sat, loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this, say ye that the Lord hath need of him, and straightway he will send him hither. And they went their way and found the colt-tide by the door without in a place where two ways met, and they loose him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosening the colt? And they said unto him, And to them, as Jesus had commanded, And they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way. and others cut down branches off the trees and strawed them in the way. And they that went before and they that followed after cried, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our Father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus ended into Jerusalem and into the temple. and when he had looked around about upon all things, and now the even was come, or the even tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. Now this is not the first time that I've stood here on Palm Sunday. I can remember talking about the cult. I can remember talking about the people who didn't want him loose, but then let him go. I can remember talking about other things, but I'm not going to talk about the story this morning. I'm going to talk about the end of it. But before I do, I suppose just about six hours ago there was a vast crowd gathering on a roadside that leads across the face of the Mount of Olives. And at a given signal, and I think it would be about six, maybe six and a half hours ago, they would dig in their walk down what they call the Palm Sunday Road. A much narrower road than the one on which they are standing. They would have had a donkey. They would have led him, and it would have been possible from the top of the Mount of Olives, to watch them wending their way down the mountainside along a now paved and even walled road that runs over the path down which the Lord Jesus went on the donkey on Palm Sunday. That vast crowd will funnel into that narrow road and wend their way with their palms and with their bows and branches. remembering that the Lord Jesus passed that way on Palm Sunday. Now, how did all of this end up? It says, And Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple. And when he had looked around about upon all these things, he went out. I don't know what you know about the temple. If indeed some of us go and visit Israel in November as we're tentatively planning, we'll go and see a model of the city of Jerusalem in Jesus' day, actually in a little earlier than Jesus' day. But we'll see there the model made of the very materials of the temple as it stands there above its fifteen steps. When we read about the temple, we remember that there were at least three temples. There was Solomon's temple. And again, if we go in November, we'll go along the wailing wall, at least we men will, for the ladies will not be permitted, and we will look down a lighted shaft where they have fairly recently excavated part of the foundation of Solomon's temple. The light is very bright. and below the light you can see where gold has been thrown, where silver has been thrown, where other valuable coinage has been thrown, in an act of dedication because of the discovery of that foundation. Now Solomon's temple was followed by the one we call the Rubbable's Temple. And then that was followed by the one that the Lord Jesus went into and out of and visited on this day. Herod's temple. It was twice as big as the rubbables, and Herod built it because he wanted to please the Jews of his day. He wanted to get on the right side of them because he had a fear that one day he might be ousted like many others and lose his job and he wanted to surround himself with friends. He gathered all of the materials together before he touched the old temple and then when everybody was fully assured it was going up, he trained a thousand of the priests. as masons and carpenters, and he put some ten thousand men to work on the building of the temple. It was built of white marble, and its front was covered in gold. Plates of gold. Now, it is likely that when the Lord Jesus went in and out, It wasn't finished, although it was started long before his birth. You remember when the Lord Jesus said, destroy this temple and I'll build it up in three days. They said, this temple has been forty and six years in the building. He was speaking of the temple of his body, the Word of God says. But the temple was not finished. That is, with all of its appurtenances and so on, many buildings surrounded the temple. There wasn't just the building itself composed of the holiest and the holy place. All of these other parts had to be built, too. And that temple was completed six years before it was totally destroyed in AD. Jesus, it says, went into Jerusalem and into the temple. Now that temple had walls seven and a half feet thick. It was meant to remain forever. But you know God didn't intend it to remain forever. When the Lord Jesus entered the temple it says that he looked round about at all things and went out. I wonder what the Lord Jesus was thinking about when he looked around the temple and at all things. I'm sure among the things that came into his mind was a perhaps a little sad because of the building's association down through the history of Israel. First the tabernacle. Then temple number one, temple number two, now temple number three. But the Lord Jesus within days was going to render that temple absolutely useless. Turn to our portion in Hebrews. It's chapter eight. The sanctuary. Verse one of chapter eight in Hebrews says, Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such an high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that are forgets according to the law, who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle. For, see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mountain. Now, although there was a tabernacle and a first temple and a second temple and a third temple, they were built to the same general pattern, and they had to have a holiest of all that was square and a holy place in which the priests came and went, and that was somewhat bigger than the holiest of all. The pattern was there because the lesson was still to be taught. And the people who went to it, and the priest who ministered into it, or inside it, and the high priest who went into the holiest of all, they were to learn that this was just a picture. You'll remember that in Hebrews we've been learning that the Old Testament contains the shadow, and the New Testament the substance. Now that's been the subject all through this past week. Now from time to time, among the better things I've mentioned has been the better priesthood, and we looked at that at the end of chapter four through chapter five, chapter six, and chapter seven, the better priesthood. And we mentioned the better sanctuary, and the better sacrifices, and the... What was the other one? I've forgotten it. A little bit louder, please. Covenant, of course. The better covenant. Thank you very much. I'll know where to appeal on all the next occasions when my memory fails me. But now as we move on into chapters eight and nine, we find having dealt at length with the better priesthood, now the Spirit of God is going to show us the better sanctuary and the better sacrifice and the better covenant. I remembered it that time. Now I want you to go into chapter nine. We've read about... The first sanctuary we've read about, the better sanctuary. Verse nine says, Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly sanctuary. I want you to notice that expression. For there was a tabernacle made, the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary or the holy place. And after the second veil, for one veil hung at the door, you'll remember, after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all, which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant, and over it the cherubim of glory. shadowing the mercy seat, of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, that is, the holy place, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone. Once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people. Listen, the Holy Ghost is signifying that the way into the holiest of all, that is the real holiest of all, was not yet made manifest, while, as yet, the first tabernacle was still standing, which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts, and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. That means the time of making straight for Christ. Being common high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats... And the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spots to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Now we could and should read further, but we haven't a time to do that. I want to talk then about the old sanctuary and about the new sanctuary. And there isn't too much to say because it's self-explanatory. I've read it to you, and it's very simple to understand. And I took the time to read it all so that if I didn't get through what I wanted to say, the message would be there anyway. Now, four things. And by the way, under the Old Testament economy, there were just as all down through time, sinful man stood in need of a way back to God. That has always been so. It was so with Adam, and it was so all the way down through time. Now under the Old Testament economy, these four things resolved themselves into these. An assurance with which to come to God, an animal with which to come to God, an approach by which to come to God and an abode to which to come. Now the first of these, the assurance, was met in the covenant with its specific promises. The second, the animal, was met in the sacrifice with its particular virtues, without spot and without blemish. The third, the approach, was met by in the priest with his recognized qualifications, and the last the abode in the tabernacle or the temple with its various ceremonies. All of this was part of the shadow. This individual has been telling us all the way through that every one of these has been superseded. because there's a better covenant and a better sacrifice and a better priest, priesthood and a better tabernacle. Now the old sanctuary. We're told first of all that it was passing. It's called a worldly or an earthly tabernacle and nothing earthly lasts. Everything earthly comes to pass. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away, they fly forgotten as a dream, dies at the opening day. The old sanctuary, whether tabernacle, temple one, two, or three, was passing. It couldn't last forever. Now the new sanctuary was so different from that. But we'll come to that in a moment or two. It was not only passing, it was partitioned, because we read about the first tabernacle and the second. Now, it doesn't mean another tabernacle. It means that the tabernacle was divided into two parts. At the entrance there was a curtain, and partway down there was another curtain that was the partition dividing the holy place from the holiest of all. Now the construction of the temple into which the Lord Jesus went, like the others, was, it was built in two parts. It wasn't a curtain as the others had been in the sense that Herod had outshone himself, providing everything that was the very best that Earth could provide. Now we are told that... In the one was the candlestick, or better still, the lampstand, the table, and the showbread. Now when the priests went into the holy place, this was that among which they moved and that with which they had to do. Now when the high priest went in through the second curtain, the second veil, into that square, that place with square construction. He was presented with the golden censer. He was face to face with the golden ark. He was face to face with the mercy seat. Why, I wish we had time to look at Psalm one hundred. It has to do with the mercy seat. Angels out of beaten gold, just one piece. at either end of the mercy seat. That's how it was in the tabernacle. And I don't think that Herod came short in this particular temple that the Lord Jesus knew so well. But not only was its construction in two parts, its ceremony was in two parts. That's what the chapter here tells us. There was a daily ceremony, and all the priests, including the high priest, took part in the daily ceremony. And then there was the yearly ceremony when, as the chapter tells us, the high priest went in alone and not without the shedding of blood. The old sanctuary. It was passing and it was partitioned. It was also parabolic because we are told here that it was a figure for the time then present in which were offered this, that, and the other. A parable. Because the way into the true holiest was not yet made manifest. That was to be a New Testament revelation. And this passing, partitioned, and parabolic building became pointless. Christ being come, we read in verse eleven, Christ being come, the high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. That brings us to the new sanctuary. It's called, you'll notice, the greatest or the greater, and the more perfect. It had to be that. Whatever the new sanctuary was, it had to be that, because Christ was the high priest, and the sacrifice was his precious blood, and the covenant was his word confirmed by an oath. It had to be a better sanctuary. And indeed it was. a greater, more perfect, and God was its builder. Now that's what we're told a little further back in the epistle. God built this sanctuary. Because its priesthood is eternal and enthroned, it must be a tabernacle in some eternal place. And of course it is. It's permanent. It's perpetual. It will never, like the others, come to an end. We read here, even heaven itself. Now that's at the end of chapter nine, where it says, Jesus, our forerunner has entered for us. Verse twenty-four. He's not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself. now to appear in the presence of God for us. This, then, is the better sanctuary. No petition. I reminded you earlier in the week, it must have been a very traumatic experience, for the priests who that day, when Jesus died, were ministering in the holy place, and had never been in, never even seen in, the holiest of all, who must have wondered what is it like? What must it be to be a high priest and to go in there? How solemn! How terrible! Especially when they saw, if tradition is true, the high priest go behind the curtain with a rope around his waist trailing beyond the curtain. so that should he presume and be struck dead, they could pull out his body without trespassing in the holiest of all. Those priests must themselves have trembled sometimes when they thought about the wonder of the presence of God in the holiest of all. And when Jesus died, suddenly... And I think it could not have been without sound. The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and for the very first time the priest looked into the holiest of all. God was saying there is no place of separation. The holy place is the holiest. And the holiest is the holy place. For the New Testament priest shall be able... without any kind of hindrance, without any delay, at a moment's notice, to enter into the, not the holy place, but the holiest of all. So in one place it says the holy place. The reason being that the holy place had become the holiest of all. God's presence was there. Now we are New Testament priests, and we have the privilege of entering in. Jesus, we learned on Friday night, Jesus has opened up the way into the holiest. Our forerunner entered. He was our forerunner. Now we have the privilege of entering too, because he has made a way for us. Now the ministry is complete as to sacrifices. You remember how the division of our... book ended, where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. The sacrifice, that is. The ministry in the new sanctuary is complete as to offerings. This man, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. But it is continuing as to gifts. The priest of today, the New Testament priest, doesn't seek to make any sacrifice. The sacrifice has been made, but he has gifts to offer. You were in the worship service this morning. in the breaking of bread, I know that your heart would have been drawn out. I know it would. Because there in the sanctuary we were able to offer up the gifts of our worship and adoration and praise. And there is no other gift that God loves like this one. When His people draw sides for the specific reason that they want to tell him how much they love him. Yes, the ministry of offering gifts continues. It's in that sanctuary that we've offered the gift of our lives, I trust. It's in that sanctuary that we've offered the gifts of all that we possess, I trust. It's a very solemn thing to have possessions that have not been hand it over to God. It's a very solemn thing. And yet we don't think about it often. I can remember in the past saying to you, you ought to be able to pray a prayer like this. Lord Jesus, you have given to me a lovely home and I appreciate it. But if it isn't yours, please take it away. Lord, you've given me a lovely car. I appreciate that. It rides so nicely and I have good times driving it. But Lord, if it is not yours, please take it away from me. You know, that brings a silent hush on our hearts because we have an idea that there are lots of things that we possess that are God's gifts to us, that have not been made in the sanctuary our gifts to him. We need constantly to search our hearts and find out whether we are holding back anything from the Lord Jesus. Yes, the ministry is complete as the sacrifice, but it's continuing as to gifts. Its basis, praise God, is not conditional. There are no conditions placed upon those who seek out the new sanctuary. And they are not ceremonial, but they are real. No wonder the old sanctuary fades into the distance. No wonder the Word of God tells us it was just a picture. It was just an illustration. When the Lord Jesus died, he brought into being the new sanctuary. Do you remember? Through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. My. These things seem to be almost too wonderful. I don't know whether you've ever really studied the... the tabernacle in the Old Testament. You know, there are some preachers that have specialized in it. And it is good to know something about the old tabernacle, the plans of which God gave to Moses with a command, make it exactly like the pattern. Why? Because in every way the pattern was to tell us things. about that which was to be for us. Everything that was better replacing those that were not quite as good. Everything that was eternal replacing that which is called worldly or earthly or passing and so temporary. I think that as we think about these things we ought to get down before God and thank Him. There are so many other things that He could have done, you know, that He has made it possible for us to come into His very presence at any moment of any day and faced with any kind of good or evil. If ever the time comes, that the Queen is going to make you a member of the British Empire, which is one of her highest civilian medals. I can't think of another word, but it'll do. Honours. They'll make sure that you're schooled for a number of weeks. As to what you should wear, how you should walk. They make sure that you learn to courtesy. and every detail of protocol they go over with you. Such an important thing, is it, to come into the presence of the Queen of England. I don't think you'll have to bother learning these things. But, you know, in contrast, I sometimes think that we rush into the presence of God carelessly or casually. We don't realize the privilege... we don't realize the solemnity of actually standing face to face with the God of heaven and pouring out what's in our house. I'm praying that what we have learned from the Epistle to the Hebrews, and actually none of it's new, I'm sure that most of it you knew well, that it might have an impact upon our lives and especially on the area of worship. and adoration in our lives. If that part of our lives is right, everything else is going to fall into place. You know, that's the reason why some of us may be who come to the eleven o'clock service, but we never seem to be able to get up in time to come to the earlier service, or to think about it and pray about it. It's the only service that we have. which has as its object giving to the Lord Jesus and worshipping him. Let's pray, shall we? Our Father, once again, we thank thee for the comparisons in this wonderful epistle. The old sanctuary was wonderful. Its ritual was wonderful. Its ceremonies were so meaningful. But Lord, that which has replaced it is so much more wonderful. The ceremony has given way to that which is real, so that now there is no partition, there is no separation, that we are actually children of the Father with freedom of access into his presence that the child has with the Father. May we appreciate it more and more as the days go by, and may our hearts yearn and long. To come more often into our little rooms and to drop on our knees and say, Lord Jesus, I didn't come to ask you for anything. I just came to tell you that I love you. We seek thy glory, Lord Jesus. And we pray in your name.