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Redeemer Bible Church


Unreserved Accountability to Christ. Undeserved Acceptance from Christ.

The Prayer of the Tabernacle


Exodus 25:1-31:18

Introduction
Today is my anniversary. Gayle and I have been married for twelve years.

And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy for us to get married. We faced obstacles from
the get-go…in the form of her parents.

Gayle and I had been seeing each other for about a year-and-a-half. And over
that time, I had spent quite a bit of time with her parents. We had a very good
relationship. I thought they were a lot of fun, and they liked me, too.

At the same time, they were still not comfortable with Gayle’s conversion to
Protestant Christianity. They were not born in the United States. They were born and
raised in the Philippines, and at the time Gayle and I were dating, had been in the
States about 23 years. Their Roman Catholicism was as much a part of their culture as
it was their religion. In many ways, for them, being Filipino meant being Catholic. So
when Gayle became a Protestant (and I daresay, a biblical) Christian, her parents were
not pleased.

But by the time we had been dating for eighteen months, I can say that they were
certainly more comfortable than they were when I first met them. Still, this doesn’t
mean that they were happy about it. It still bothered them greatly.

Well, enter into this context a man dating their daughter with desires for
vocational Christian ministry, and you have a recipe for difficulty.

But as I said, they liked me, and I liked them, and we got along very, very well.

So although I knew of the struggles Gayle had faced and that there would likely
be some resistance over us getting married, I bit the bullet and one night decided to pay
Mr. Uriarte a visit.

I figured I’d drop by the house and invite him to the Coach House Diner for some
cake and coffee. There I could ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Again, I knew
this would be difficult, but nothing prepared me for what I received when I showed up at
his house.

I knocked and he opened the door, and looked a bit puzzled.

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I said, “Hey, Mr. Ur.” “Hello, Bob,” he said. There was an awkward
pause. And he didn’t let me in.

“Can I come in?” He didn’t answer, he just opened the door and as
I was moving into their foyer he asked me what I wanted. I said, “I wanted
to take you out for coffee and talk to you about something.”

Now keep in mind that that night their house was like Grand Central Station. I
don’t remember exactly, but I think like 4,000 relatives were staying at the house.

But when I came in and said, “I wanted to take you out for coffee,” it was as if you
could hear the needle scratch the record, the music suddenly stopped, it was quiet and
all eyes were on me. Then he spoke.

“If you’re here to ask to marry my daughter, you can just go home.”

Yikes!

But a discussion ensued, and without ever taking a seat we talked for about 15
minutes (some of the longest of my life). To my surprise, religion wasn’t the issue. The
issues were practical. What would I do? Would Gayle finish college? What if someone
else came along, would I just love another girl instead? He was being a good father.

But he didn’t give permission. He wanted us to wait longer than the ten months
we were proposing.

Well, we couldn’t wait. We spoke with our pastor and other godly counselors.
We fasted and prayed. We searched the Scriptures. And we decided respectfully to
disagree and to get engaged anyway.

Well, needless to say, that made things worse. Gayle’s parents were very upset
with her decision—so were her brothers and her aunts and her uncles.

Now in the middle of all this heat, Mr. Uriarte invited me to talk things over. He
wanted to see where I was coming from and (I think) to talk some sense into me. And it
was during this conversation that the Lord made it clearer than ever that Gayle and I
should pursue marriage.

He said, “Look, you pray about it and I’ll pray about it, and whoever God answers
is the one that’s right.”

This was the most spectacular thing I could hear. You see, I knew that Mr.
Uriarte had not been born-again, he was not a biblical Christian; so I knew that God
would not hear his prayer. In a sense, he threw down the gauntlet to God, put him to

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the test. Only those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ truly can have the assurance
that their prayers will be heard. Gayle and I were getting married.

Well, as the ten months passed, Gayle’s parents got warmer and warmer to the
idea of our marriage. We made every concession biblically possible—I even joined their
Filipino Association Christmas Choir: “O mga kasama, Halina! Halina!”

And I’ll never forget what happened at our wedding reception. Mr. Uriarte came
up to me, shook my hand, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I guess the Lord
heard your prayer.” Wow! What a testimony! What a testimony to the reality of
answered prayer. It was true; the Lord heard my prayer—not because I was in any way
better than Mr. Ur—hardly—but because by the grace of God, I belonged to Jesus
Christ. Because of my connection to Christ, I could know that my prayers would be
heard.

And this is the assurance that underlies this morning’s text.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus 30:1-10 and read with me.
1
Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you
shall make it of acacia wood. 2 "Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit, it
shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece
with it. 3 "You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and
its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4 "You shall make
two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side
walls—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry
it. 5 "You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 "You
shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front
of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.
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"Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he
trims the lamps. 8 "When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense.
There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
9
"You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal
offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 "Aaron shall make
atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the
blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It
is most holy to the LORD.

A Stately Shrine
As you can see, this appears to be a set of instructions for building an altar of
incense—a far cry from a text about prayer. And on the face of it I would agree with that
assessment. This passage seems to have absolutely nothing to do with prayer. So if
you were confused, or thought I took you to the wrong text, I totally understand.
According to verse 1, we have a set of instructions for making an altar as a place for
burning incense.

Incense altars were common in the Ancient Near East. They were used for
worship. And they were also used in the residence of kings, to make their homes smell

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nice—a kind of pre-modern Glade plug-in. So it makes perfect sense that an altar of
incense would furnish the tabernacle.

First, the tabernacle is the place where the Lord, the King, chose to dwell. Turn
to Exodus 25:8. 8 "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among
them.”

This is the overarching commandment of Exodus 25:1-31:18: Let them (the


Israelites) construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. God wants a
sanctuary; a sacred space to be made for him to come to that he might dwell among his
people, that he might make his presence known to them. The sanctuary, or tabernacle,
is the king’s residence.

In fact, the specs for the tabernacle resemble to a large degree the tent dwellings
of Ancient Near Eastern kings, the tents that they’d pitch among their people as they
were on the move, especially as they were engaging in battle. Like the kings of the
surrounding nations, Israel’s king, the God of the universe, set up his residence among
his people as they were on the move. So it shouldn’t be at all surprising to find on altar
of incense inside.

But this tent isn’t just a tent for God to come and make his presence known, like
an ordinary Ancient Near Eastern king; in addition, it is the place where God’s people
come to meet with him, to offer him their worship. The sanctuary of the God of Israel is
also a shrine, complete with special ministers to mediate their worship.

Chapters 28-29 give detailed instructions for the priesthood—what they would
wear, how they would be prepared, and what they would do. They would serve as
mediators between God and the people, making sacrifices within the sanctuary
compound for the people’s worship.

The altar where they made their sacrifices is described in 27:1-8. Let’s read it
together.
1
"And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five
cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. 2 "You
shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it,
and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 "You shall make its pails for removing its
ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its firepans; you shall
make all its utensils of bronze. 4 "You shall make for it a grating of network of
bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5
"you shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will reach
halfway up the altar. 6 "You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood,
and overlay them with bronze. 7 "Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that
the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8 "You shall
make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall
make it.

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1. Turn ahead to Ch 30.

2. Now, we’ve just read the material about the bronze altar, the place where the
priests would make sacrifices to God. Here we read of an altar of different
material, an altar of gold; nevertheless, it’s an altar—a place of worship.

3. But even though it is an altar, it is never to be used to make sacrifices like the
bronze altar in the courtyard. Check out v 9: You shall not offer any strange
incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not
pour out a drink offering on it.

4. This altar is not to overlap the function of the bronze altar. It says, You shall not
offer burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink
offering on it. In other words, this is a different altar than the one outside. “It’s
for burning my most holy incense only and for nothing else.”

So, the altar of incense is not the altar of burnt offering—but it’s still an altar, it’s
still a place of worship, and so it is a fitting piece of furniture for God’s sanctuary.

But why does God want incense burned in his sanctuary? Does he simply want
to show that he is a king, a gracious host, inviting his people to enter his presence to
enjoy the delightful smell of burning incense, rather than dirt and sweat and slaughtered
animals? Or is there something more? Well, I would suggest to you that the Lord
wants to communicate something more than that he is the king. The altar of incense,
like the rest of the furnishings of the sanctuary has a deeper symbolic function.

The Incense of Heaven


What is that? Well, to explain that to you, let me remind you that the whole
tabernacle complex is meant to be a microcosm of the creation. That is, it’s a mini
universe.

The outer courtyard is the earth and the sanctuary inside is the heavens. And
like the heavens, the heavens of the sanctuary have two spheres—the heaven of sky
and the heaven somewhere “above” the sky. The heaven of sky is called the Holy
Place and the heaven “above” the sky is called the Most Holy Place (or the Holy of
Holies).

With that in mind, I want you to see where the altar of incense goes.

You should start getting a hint beginning in verses 3-6. Check it out.
3
"You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and
its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4 "You shall make
two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side
walls—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry
it. 5 "You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 "You

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shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front
of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.

What is the altar overlaid with? That’s right—gold. It’s overlaid with gold. And
you know from the rest of the instructions that whatever’s gold is for the sanctuary
proper. Following the picture we’ve portrayed, it’s for the heavens.

Look at verse 6: You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the
ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the
testimony, where I will meet with you. As you can see, the altar is placed just outside
the veil in the Holy Place.1

Following the image of the tabernacle being a mini universe, the altar of incense
goes in the heaven of sky, just outside the heaven of God’s special dwelling.

Now then, let me ask you this: What kind of effect would be had by placing the
altar of incense just outside the Holy of Holies?

Think about it. When incense is burned, can it be contained?

If you went to college, think about it for a moment. Let’s say that some people in
your dorm wanted to smoke pot, what would they do? Well they’d burn some incense to
attempt to cover the easily identifiable smell of marijuana. And it worked (of course,
whenever incense was burning, you just assumed that people were in their room
smoking pot, but I digress).

The point is that even a closed door could not keep the smell of incense from
your resident assistant or preceptor. Its smell would have seeped out of the room,
under the door, out the window, and through whatever cracks or crevices might have
been there.

Now, think of how this would work with a two-room tent. I mean, if burning
incense can seep out of a room of cement and wood, how much more could it seep out
of a room made of fabric? The effect of the burning of incense would be to fill both
rooms, the entire sanctuary with the sweet smell of incense, wafting from the heaven of
sky right into the presence of God.

Alright, what’s the point of all this? Well, it’s simply to inform you that the incense
is, symbolically speaking, in the sky, making its way up into heaven.

“Okay, Pastor Bob, you’ve lost me. I thought you said that you
were going to tell me what God is communicating to us by having the
incense altar in the sanctuary, but all you’ve said is that it’s in the symbolic
sky, wafting up to symbolic heaven. This doesn’t help me at all. What on
earth are you talking about?”
1
See also Exodus 40:5, 22-26; 1 Kings 6:22, Hebrews 9:3-4

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Excellent question—what on earth am I talking about?—let’s move to the earth.

From Earth to Heaven


In the tabernacle complex, there’s another altar, isn’t there? You bet! It’s the
altar of burnt offering, the one that God clearly distinguishes the altar of incense from.
Look again at verse 9: You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or
burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.

So there is no question that the altar of incense is different from the altar of burnt
offering: one is for sacrifices of animals and food and the other is for “sacrifices” of
incense; one is overlaid with bronze and the other is overlaid with gold; one is in the
Holy Place (in the sky) and the other is in the courtyard (on earth).

But these two altars also have much in common. In fact, they are inseparably
connected to one another in three significant ways:

1. They were both square—verse 2: Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a
cubit, it shall be square. And Exodus 27:1 says that the altar shall be “five
cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square.”

2. They both had horns. Look again at verse 2: Its length shall be a cubit, and its
width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns
shall be of one piece with it. And like Exodus 30:2, Exodus 27:2 says the
same for the altar for sacrifice: “You shall make its horns on its four corners; its
horns shall be of one piece with it.”

3. They were both used at the same time. Look at verses 7-8: Aaron shall burn
fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the
lamps. When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense.
There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your
generations. Now look back to verses 29:38-42.
38
"Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs
each day, continuously. 39 "The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the
other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 40 and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah
of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of
wine for a drink offering with one lamb. 41 "The other lamb you shall offer at
twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering
as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD. 42 "It
shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of
the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you
there.

Do you see the connections between these two altars? In spite of the
differences, the similarities are quite striking. In fact, I would suggest to you that their

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similarity explains in part why the Lord takes pains in verse 9 to be sure that the priests
don’t use them for the same purpose.

“Hey, they look the same; maybe they’re for the same thing!”
“Not so fast. They serve different purposes.”

But just because they serve different purposes, doesn’t mean that those
purposes are not related. The connections we’ve seen indicate that they are very
closely related…which brings me back to earth.

What’s happening on earth every morning and evening? That’s right—sacrifices


are being burned on the altar of burnt offering. And what’s happening in heaven at
precisely the same time? Incense is burned and its smell is wafting heavenward. Are
you seeing the connection yet?

Well, turn to verses 29:18, 25, 41 for one more hint.


18
"You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt
offering to the LORD: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.
25
"You shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on
the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the LORD; it is an
offering by fire to the LORD.
41
"The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the
same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing
aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD.

When the offerings are made on the earth, they are called a soothing aroma to
the Lord.

So what do we have? Every morning and evening sacrifices that smell good to
God are burned on the altar in on earth…and every morning and evening sacrifices that
smell good to God are burned in the heavens. Can you connect them yet? If you can,
then you’ll understand what the incense is meant to show God’s people. Do you know
what it is?

Well, come back next week and I’ll tell you.

No, I’m just teasing you. I won’t make you wait.

Here it is: the altar of incense represents what happens to the smoke of sacrifice
as it’s burned on the earth. I like the way one writer puts it: “[T]he incense-offering
was…a transfiguring of the burnt offering.”2

2
Keil, The Pentateuch, Vol II (Baker, 1977 reprint), 209, italics added

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As the smoke of the burnt offering rose to heaven (the sky, the Holy Place), it
became a sweet-smelling aroma that entered God’s presence in heaven (the Most Holy
Place). The burning of incense meant that God received and accepted the people’s
offering. As long as the incense was burning the people could know that their offering
had been accepted. And since their offering was accepted they knew that they had
been granted the privilege of communion with God, which is what the ministry of the
tabernacle was all about.

God provided a vivid picture to demonstrate his acceptance of the people’s


worship. The smell and smoke of incense proved that the burnt offering had been
transfigured into an acceptable act of worship.

Prayer and Incense?


Now then, how does this all connect with prayer? Well, first of all, “the New
Testament clearly identifies the rising incense with the prayers of the saints.”3 Turn with
me to Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4
8
When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-
four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls
full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
3
Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and
much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the
saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the
incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's
hand.

So the New Testament identifies the rising incense with our prayers—this is
clear. But how? How do the writers make this connection? It doesn’t seem that
transparent in Exodus. Well, let me say that it’s not transparent in Exodus; nor should
we expect it to be—that’s the nature of the relationship between the Old and New
Testaments. But just because it’s not transparent in Exodus, doesn’t mean is absent
from Exodus.

Think again about the relationship between the bronze altar and the altar of
incense. The altar of incense shows what happens to the smoke of the burnt offering as
it makes its way to God—it is transfigured into the sweet aroma of incense. It shows
that God receives the offering made on the altar on earth.

Well, what are the offerings? The offerings are acts of worship. And these acts
of worship, interestingly enough, all have counterparts in the life of prayer.

There are offerings for the forgiveness of sins and there are prayers for the
forgiveness of sins. There are offerings of adoration and there are prayers of adoration.

3
Vern S Poythress, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses (P & R, 1991),
22

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There are offerings of intercession by the priests on behalf of the people and there are
prayers of intercession by priests on behalf of the people. The offerings are almost like
nonverbal prayers4—the physical version of the corresponding prayers.

Moreover, the connection between the incense of the sanctuary and prayer is
made elsewhere in the Old Testament. For example, Psalm 141:1-2 says, “O LORD, I
call upon You; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to You! May my prayer
be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.”
Did you hear that? David connects prayer and the incense offering!

And the first century, the common practice was for God’s people to pray while the
incense was burned. A familiar example is from Luke 1:8-11:
8
Now it happened that while [Zechariah] was performing his priestly
service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the
custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord
and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer
outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared
to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

So when we read Revelation 5 & 8 we shouldn’t be surprised to see the rising


incense identified with the prayers of the saints—with our prayers. From the
perspective of the New Testament, the incense of the sanctuary was a shadow of the
incense of heaven itself, our prayers to God, prayers that to him are as sweet-smelling
as the incense of the tabernacle. We worship in prayer and God is pleased to receive
our worship.

But the point of all this, and the point that Revelation as a whole makes clear is
that without the Lamb, without the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross,
acceptable prayer is impossible.

The ministry of the tabernacle teaches us that there is no acceptable prayer


without the sacrifice of the altar. The sacrifice of the bronze altar prefigured Christ’s
work of atonement and the golden altar of incense prefigured the connection between
Christ’s work and the intimacy we enjoy with God through prayer. You can’t have one
without the other.

Prayer is not acceptable to God unless Christ is sacrificed to God. Oh, the Old
Testament saints enjoyed the privilege of prayer, but only because the ministry of the
tabernacle prefigured the ministry of Jesus Christ. Their answered prayers came
through Christ just like our answered prayers come through Christ. Theirs came
through the promise of Christ, ours through the fulfillment of Christ—but both came ever
and only through Christ.

Christ Died for Prayer

4
Ibid , 22

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So what the tabernacle teaches us is now quite clear. Before our prayers may
be accepted by God, we must have Jesus’ sacrifice for sin. This is an astonishing truth.
It means that Christ died for every answered prayer.

ƒ Christ died so that Emily Warren could end her chemotherapy early.
ƒ Christ died so that Katie Campbell and baby Nora could be healthy.
ƒ Christ died so that suitable housing could be found for Marcie Dunham’s sister.
ƒ Christ died so that John Harms could have a gospel opportunity with a Muslim
student.
ƒ Christ died so that Gregg Williams could make a step toward repairing his
relationship with his mother.
ƒ Christ died so the Colby Vennes’ school schedule would allow him to attend
prayer meeting.
ƒ Christ died so that Gayle and I could be married on January 21, 1995.

And we could go on and on and on.

Isn’t this remarkable?! It’s virtually unbelievable! Have you ever really stopped
to think about this—that Christ died for answered prayer?! Wow.

Incidentally, this explains why it’s not arrogant for Christians to say that God only
hears our prayers and no one else’s.

I began this morning with an illustration from my own life, the confidence I had
that I would get married because an unbeliever laid down the gauntlet to God. I’m sure
that the story could easily sound arrogant. You might even be thinking this morning
about sincere Muslims or Hindus or Jews. How can God not hear their prayers?

Well, of course, there is a sense in which God hears every prayer—after all, he’s
omniscient! But you know that’s not what we’re talking about here.

I am claiming that the Bible teaches that God does not receive or accept prayers
from anyone except Christians. In fact, if the Lord were to answer prayers of people
who didn’t trust in Jesus Christ alone, the Lord would make Jesus’ death meaningless.
Jesus died so that our prayers would be heard. If God were to hear your Muslim
friend’s prayer without that Muslim converting to Christianity, it would be to make God a
liar and the cross utterly vain.

So it is not arrogant to think that God only accepts the prayers of Christians.
Jesus is the only one through whom prayers can be answered.

But as you know, just because it’s not arrogant in itself to think that God only
accepts Christian prayers doesn’t mean that Christians don’t act arrogantly with that
truth.

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And yet we dare to do this. Our privilege to pray was purchased by Christ’s
blood—did we earn that?! Did we earn his death for us?! May it never be! To the
contrary, the fact that Jesus died to secure our life of communion with God should
humble us to the dust. Christ died so that my prayers, even the small, mundane ones—
for safe travel, for suitable office space, for strength to work long hours—Christ died to
that my prayers would be heard! What could be more humbling than that!

And from this posture, we are in the position to take the privilege of acceptable
prayer to every non-Christian we know.

Think about what your life would be like without the gift of prayer.

Just yesterday my sister-in-law called to tell us that her husband, Andrew, has
cancer in his mouth. Or take our brother Mark Wyder. His visit to Mayo this week was
not a happy one. His cancer is growing despite his treatment. And they’ve found still
another tumor, this time on his pancreatic lymph node.

Imagine if your doctor made such grim discoveries and you couldn’t turn to the
Lord in prayer. Can you imagine that?

Well, that’s what it’s like for unbelievers.

1. Now it’s true that some of them, in their ignorance, pray anyway, thinking that
God will hear them.

2. And sometimes God gives them what they want to further harden them in their
unbelief.

3. And some just screw up their courage and put their faith in their own capacity
to fight their hardship.

4. But most people just weep, they sob, totally beside themselves, not knowing
where to turn in the light of such profound adversity.

Mark and his family and Andrew and his family know the Lord Jesus Christ. His
sacrifice on the cross was for them. The incense of their prayers makes it to the
chambers of God’s dwelling place.

But for so many people, the sense of hopelessness and helplessness is more
than they can bear. If you’re a Christian this morning—you have something you can
bring them.

First, you can tell them that you’d be glad to pray for them in their adversity. But
you can tell them something even better.

Exod 25:1-31:18: The Prayer of the Tabernacle © 2007


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“You know, I could pray for you, but I want to offer you something
greater. What if I told you that you could pray to the Lord and that your
prayers would be heard? Would that comfort you? Well, you can have it.
Oh, I don’t know for sure that he’ll remove your cancer. But he can. And
whatever his answer, no matter what he’ll give you peace that you won’t
even be able to explain. It will be peace like you’ve never known and it
will defy your ability to wrap your mind around it. Would you like that?
You can have it. I have it. And if I have it, you can certainly have it, too.”

Rather than the “God hears me and he doesn’t hear you, nah, nah, nah, nah,
nah, nah” approach, why not take the privilege of prayer to non-Christians and tell them
what can be theirs if they would entrust themselves completely to the Lord Jesus
Christ?

Conclusion
Now I could easily conclude this morning by turning this into a call to prayer.
How can we not pray when the Lord has gone to such lengths to secure this wonderful
gift and privilege? One writer hit me right between the eyes. He said that by neglecting
prayer, “we really despise the cross of Christ, because our privilege to pray was
purchased by his blood.”5 Truer words have never been spoken.

But I don’t want to end there. I want you to be full of joy and wonder and awe
and amazement at the privilege of prayer. Christ died so that our prayers might be the
sweet incense of the golden altar, permeating God’s presence. What a gift! What a gift!
Amen.
Redeemer Bible Church
16205 Highway 7
Minnetonka, MN 55345
Office: 952.935.2425
Fax: 952.938.8299
info@redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.redeemerbiblechurch.com
www.solidfoodmedia.com

5
Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God s Glory (Crossway, 2005), 931

Exod 25:1-31:18: The Prayer of the Tabernacle © 2007

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