(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) . . Take your song books and turn to song 328. Song 328 in your song books. We'll sing I Want That Mountain. And if you would stand, we'll sing song 328. I saw the giant of prayerlessness upon the mountain high. He laughed so hard at my unbended knee. No longer in the wilderness I'll stay and so I cry I want that mountain it belongs to me. I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of escrow grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me. There was a giant of laziness who said I wouldn't go and witness for the one who set me free. I'll come from out the wilderness I'll witness now I know I want that mountain it belongs to me. I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of escrow grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me. One faithless giant upon the crest of Hebron's lofty hide has vowed that he's the one to make me flee. I'll climb from out the wilderness and trust Jehovah's might I want that mountain it belongs to me. I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of escrow grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me. Let every giant of distress and unbelief and sin get ready now to vacate for you see I've come from out the wilderness I know I'm going to win I want that mountain it belongs to me I want that mountain I want that mountain where the milk and honey flow where the grapes of escrow grow I want that mountain I want that mountain the mountain that my Lord has given me. All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, again, we just want to thank you for another chance that we get to hear your word preached. Thank you, God, so much for the series through Exodus and all that we've learned and been taught, Lord. I pray, Lord, that you would just continue to bless our pastor as we're ending that book. I pray, Lord, now that, again, you would just be honored and glorified out of everything that's said and done, for it's in Jesus' name we ask all, but amen. All right, you may be seated and turn your songbooks to song 247. Song 247. We'll sing Saved, Saved. Song 247. And what His grace can do for you Saved by His power divine Saved to new life sublime Life now is sweet and my joy is complete for I'm saved saved, saved He saves me from every sin and harm secures my soul each day I'm leaning strong on His mighty arm I know He'll guide me all the way Saved by His power divine Saved to new life sublime Life now is sweet and my joy is complete for I'm saved Saved, Saved when poor and needy and all alone in love He said to me come unto me and I'll lead you home to live with me eternally Saved by His power divine Saved to new life sublime Life now is sweet and my joy is complete for I'm saved saved, saved Saved Amen Welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Wednesday evening and just being in prayer first of all for those that aren't feeling well Clara had a pretty high fever yesterday and today and so hopefully it doesn't go through the whole family that vicious circle but just being in prayer for those that aren't feeling well tis the season for all that stuff to rear its ugly head but as far as service times everything should be normal on the list here so everything on Sunday as far as our morning service and afternoon service should be the same and then we have our main soul winning time at 1pm as you see there on the list and then we have our regional soul winning times and especially with this with it getting darker and all that just be sure to be on the whatsapp when it comes to any of these times to make sure especially on the weekday ones that there might be times where we're trying to go earlier and stuff like that so it's not pitch black when it's when you want a soul winning and then on the upcoming events the women's prayer meeting on Black Friday so the Friday after Thanksgiving and then we there's a soul winning marathon that brother Matt and brother Jim are leading up out in the Pittsburgh area and so that'll be on the 26th so that's the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then the women's prayer meeting is there on December 3rd and we are planning a Christmas fellowship on December 10th so that's a Saturday we're gonna have a sign up sheet I think it's already up there as far as if you want to bring anything the way we've done it before is anything from a main course to dessert you don't have to bring anything you can just come here but we're just trying to feel it out to see if anybody wants to bring like a ham or if they want to do mashed potatoes or if they want to do rolls and see what everybody's up for doing if everybody's just like I'm bringing a pie then we'll provide the food so we're just kind of feeling it out to see what everybody wants to do and who wants to bring what but it's not a big deal as far as expenses but obviously home cooked ham and mashed potatoes is better than us getting it catered but we can do that we did it once we had Bevins it was pretty good but listen you know I've eaten a lot of your guys' food and it's better okay I like Bevins I love Bob Evans but but yeah so that's kind of the plan but obviously we'll look at the list and see what we need to fill in when it comes to if there's anything that we need to do there but hopefully everybody can make it to that I know with the holidays people are usually traveling or seeing family and stuff like that so hopefully this is kind of like in the middle of the month where it's not like that whole time where everybody's kind of away so and then on the back of your bulletin we have our chapter memory for the month 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5 is the memory verse for the week trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding be in prayer for Holly with the pregnancy and everything main thing I'm praying, obviously I'm praying for the baby to be healthy and everything to go well the last time they did an ultrasound the baby was right side up, upside down however you want to look at it basically not head down like they're supposed to be but that doesn't mean that he may have already switched around but the big thing is I don't want to have to have a C-section you know if I'd like it to be a natural birth because I'm the man obviously Holly's the one that's got to give birth but personally I'd rather it just be a natural birth and not have to do the whole C-section thing because they basically are like if it's breached they're not going to even try there's things they can do to try to turn the baby around but anyway just praying that obviously he turned around everything's normal and that we get to the hospital that we make it to the hospital and that it's not another truck baby but just being in prayer there and being in prayer for anybody else in the church that may be pregnant that we don't know about and I don't know I'm not saying that like I know and I'm just not going to tell you I have no idea I'm usually the last person to know by the way usually like brother Dave knows before I know when it comes to if anybody's pregnant but I know ladies won't tell until later on all that stuff so just being in prayer there you never know besides that we are almost done with Exodus we're in chapter 39 and then next week Lord Willem will be finishing it up but yeah excited to wrap it up but also to get into another book but offering boxes back there mother baby rooms for the mother's babies only but Dave's going to sing one more song and then brother Wade's going to be reading Exodus chapter 39 for us alright take your song books and turn to song 147 song 147 in your song books we'll sing leaning on the everlasting arms song 147 what a fellowship what a joy divine leaning on the everlasting arms what a blessedness what a peace is mine leaning on the everlasting arms leaning leaning safe and secure from all alarms leaning leaning leaning on the everlasting arms oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way leaning on the everlasting arms oh how bright the path grows from day to day leaning leaning on the everlasting arms leaning leaning safe and secure from all alarms leaning leaning leaning on the everlasting arms what have I to dread what have I to fear leaning on the everlasting arms I have blessed peace with my Lord so near leaning on the everlasting arms leaning leaning leaning safe and secure from all alarms leaning leaning leaning on the everlasting arms alright take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter number 39 Exodus chapter number 39 in your Bibles and we'll have brother Wade come and read that for us Exodus 39 and of the blue and purple and scarlet they made cloths of service to do service in the holy place and made the holy garments for Aaron as the Lord commanded Moses and made the ephod of gold blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen and they did beat the gold into thin plates and cut it into wires to work it in the blue and the purple and the scarlet and the fine linen with cunning work they made shoulder pieces for it to couple it together by the two edges was a couple together and the curious girdle of his ephod that was upon it it was of the same according to the work thereof of gold blue purple and scarlet and fine twine linen as the Lord commanded Moses and they wrought onyx stones and clothes in the alches of gold graven as signets are graven with the names of the children of Israel and he put them on the shoulders of the ephod that they should be stones for memorial to the children of Israel as the Lord commanded Moses and he made the breastplate of cunning work like the work of the ephod of gold blue and purple and scarlet and fine twine linen it was four square they made the breastplate double a span was the length thereof and a span the breadth thereof being doubled and they set in the four rows of stones the first row was a sardius a topaz and a carbuncle and was the first row this was the first row and the second row was an emerald a sapphire and a diamond and the third row a laguer an agate and an amethyst and the fourth row a barrel an onyx and a jasper they were enclosed in alches of gold in their enclosings the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel twelve according to their names like the engravings of a signet every one with his name according to the twelve tribes and they made unto the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathin work of pure gold and they made two alches of gold and two gold rings and put the two rings in the two ends of the breastplate and they put the two wreathin chains of gold on the ends of the breastplate and the two ends of the two the chains, they fastened in the two couches and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod before it. And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate upon the border of it, which was on the side of the ephod inward. And they made two other golden rings and put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, tore the fore part of it over against the other coupling thereof above the curious girdle of the ephod. And they did bind the breastplate by the rings unto the rings of the ephod with the lace of blue, that it might be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod as the Lord commanded Moses. And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work of all blue. And there was a hole in the midst of the robe as the hole of a habergeon with a band rounded belt in the hole that it should not rend. And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twine linen. And they made the bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe, roundabout between the pomegranates. A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, roundabout the hem of the robe to minister in as the Lord commanded Moses. And they made coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron and for his sons, and a mitre of fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and linen breeches of fine twine linen, and a girdle of fine twine linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet of needlework as the Lord commanded to Moses. And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote upon it in writing, like into the gravenings of a signet, holiness to the Lord. And they tied unto it a lace of blue to fasten it on the high upon the mitre as the Lord commanded Moses. Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished, and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they. And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his furniture, his tatches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and the sockets. And the covering of ram skins dyed red, and the covering of badger skins, and the veil covering the ark of the testimony and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat. And the table and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread, the pure candlestick with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for the light. And the golden altar, and the unoiting oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door, the brazen altar, and the grate of brass, his staves, and all the vessels, the labor, and his foot. The hangings of the court, his pillars, and sockets, and the hanging for the court gate, his cords, and the pins, and all the vessels of the service of the tabernacle for the tent of the congregation. The cloths of the service to do service in the holy place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his son's garments to minister in the priest's office. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, to the children of Israel, made all the work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded. Even so had they done it, and Moses blessed them. Let us pray. Dear Lord, please be with pastor. Let us get something from the message, and let us hear your word tonight. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. So you're there in Exodus chapter 39. And as you know, in chapter 25 through 31, Moses was in the mount, in Mount Sinai, and God showed him all of these things. And so we actually already hit on, or we already went through the priest garments already in chapter 28. So as far as going extensively into all the details as far as what made this look like, and just how things were attached, and all that, I'm not really getting into all those details. Like I said, with these chapters, where they're actually making it, I'm more so dealing with maybe what some of these things represent, okay? And so what I'm actually gonna be hitting on in this chapter is the breastplate. And also, you know, basically the shoulder pieces and the breastplate. As far as these precious stones, if you will, these stones that are representing the children of Israel, and all that, and I kinda wanna just get into what I believe these things represent, and kinda maybe show you how that applies to the New Testament, and maybe what it means, what's the idea behind all of this, okay? Because remember, everything in the Bible, or there's nothing in the Bible that's incidental, which means like it's not just there for no reason. When we see all these different stones, and we see this breastplate, and all this stuff, it means something, it represents something. And so sometimes it's fun just to dig in to maybe see what does this represent? Now, starting off there in verse one, let's look at these shoulder pieces. But the first thing, though, in verse one there says, and of the blue, and purple, and scarlet, they made claws of service to do service in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron as the Lord commanded Moses. And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twine linen. Now, the thing that's interesting about this is that when you think of blue, purple, and scarlet, it's very clear here that this is cloth, right? It's kinda like thread, and it's just the color of it. Now, in some cases, it could be the fact that it's a certain fabric that has a certain color to it. But when you see the gold, you're like, what is that? Just like a gold-colored fabric, you know? This is actually really gold, okay? So when they're weaving all this stuff together, they're actually weaving in gold with this fabric. Notice what it says here, because you say, well, how are they doing that? Well, in verse three there, it says, and they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires to work in the blue, and in the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen, with cunning work. So basically, they just made really thin, like, gold wires that they were just basically weaving in with everything. So if you'd imagine these garments, or even the curtains, and all that stuff, when you're looking at the curtains, it's kind of partially got metal in it as well, okay? So just something interesting there, as far as like, well, how did they exactly do that? You know, like, how did they get the gold in there? Is it just, you know, gold-looking, or is it actually gold? But it's actually gold weaved in to the fabric. Now, verse four there, the thing that I kinda wanna hit on, which I hit on in the sermon in chapter 28, but I just wanna refresh it really quick, because it does tie into the breastplate, okay? So in verse four there, they made shoulder pieces for it to couple it together by the two edges, was it coupled together? And the curious girdle of his ephod that was upon it, it was of the same, according to the work thereof, of gold, blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twine linen, as the Lord commanded Moses. And they wrought onyx stones, enclosed in ouches of gold, graven as signets are graven, with the names of the children of Israel. And he put them on the shoulders of the ephod, that they should be stones for memorial to the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses. Now, turn back to chapter 28, and what's going on here? So well, basically there's this linen ephod that's made that's going over the high priest, but then there's gonna be this breastplate that's attached to it, and then, but they're basically stating that there's these two shoulder pieces that are on this garment that there's like these ouches of gold, and what's an ouche of gold? Think about this, if you have an engagement ring, okay, man, you don't know what, you know, but you may be giving your wife an engagement ring, an ouche is like what holds the diamond, right? It's kinda like the, whatever that's called, you know? You're like, it looks like it's claws to me. It doesn't really matter, it's just holding, it's holding a stone, right? So the idea there is that there's like this gold piece that basically has something there to hold onto the stone to where it can, so the stone's not gonna fall off or whatever, okay? That's all I was talking about. So basically you had these two gold pieces that are put on the shoulder, and it's tied onto that ephod, but then there's gonna be these two onyx stones. So an onyx stone, an onyx stone that's gonna be on the shoulders. And it says that basically in them is gonna be graven, the names of the children of Israel. Chapter 28 gives you a little more information about that. So in verse nine there it says, so Exodus chapter 28 in verse nine, it says, And thou shalt take two onyx stones and grave on them the names of the children of Israel, six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone according to their birth. Okay, so basically you can imagine the first six sons of Israel are on the one shoulder and the last six sons on the other shoulder, okay? Now what's interesting about that is the fact that the onyx stones that are on there, there's an onyx stone that's mentioned in the breastplate, and it's the second to last stone that's mentioned. Well, Joseph is the second to last son that's born to Israel, okay? Remember Benjamin's the youngest, but Joseph is the second to last youngest, right? So if the breastplate and the order of stones, which we'll be getting to those stones, but I just kinda wanna mention this, is that if it's going in order of birth as far as these stones that are in the breastplate, which I believe they are, then the onyx stone will be attributed to Joseph, okay? Or the tribe of Joseph. Now go to First Chronicles chapter five, First Chronicles chapter five, because you may ask yourself, why on the shoulders is the stones onyx stones, right? And then on this breastplate, it's all the children of Israel by their birth, right? But it's stated that each one has a different type of stone, right? And we're gonna get into those different types, but then why are these onyx stones? And I believe it's attributed to Joseph for a reason, okay? Notice what it says in First Chronicles chapter five, verse one. So First Chronicles chapter five, verse one, it says, now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, where he was the firstborn. So Reuben, just so you know, Reuben's the firstborn. We kinda got that from this verse right here. Then it goes down the line. You have Simeon, Levi, Judah, and it goes down the line, okay? But Reuben loses his birthright, and here's what it says. It says, for he was the firstborn, but for as much as he defiled his father's bed, if you remember, he went into, I think, Bilhah, his concubine or his wife, right, that basically it was Rachel's handmaiden, okay? Anyway, he went into his father's bed. His birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel. And the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright, for Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph. So this is why Jesus comes through the line of Judah, okay, and it explains that basically the genealogy, though, what genealogy? The genealogy of the seed that's to come, right, wasn't given to Joseph, it was given to Judah, okay? So it skipped past Reuben because of what he did with Bilhah and then it skipped past Simeon and Levi because of what they did because of Dinah, their sister, they ended up killing all those men and people because of that whole situation. Look that up later in Genesis chapter 38. But then it goes to Judah as far as the genealogy's concerned. The birthright's given to Joseph, though, okay? And notice that it's given to his sons, though. How many sons did Joseph have? Two, he had Manasseh and Ephraim, right? So if you think about it, when you think about these two stones, there's two stones, there's two shoulders, right? Ephraim and Manasseh, that's the birthright that's given to him and on each one of those stones, and that stone is associated with Joseph, right? And on each one of those stones is basically half and half of the tribes of Israel, okay? And I kinda hit on this in the last sermon, so I don't really wanna hit on it, but in Genesis 49, you can go there in your homework if you want. Genesis 49, Jacob is basically giving some prophecies, but also just kinda stating what's gonna happen with their sons or their, basically their line after he leaves or after he dies. And what it says about Joseph is very kinda linked to what we're talking about here with these stones. So I think it's pretty clear that the onyx stone would be Joseph's stone, and that's why the shoulder pieces are onyx stones, because it has the representation with he has the birthright, and the birthright was given to his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, that's why there's two of them, okay? And that's why the names of the children of Israel are upon those stones, okay? So everything has a reason, okay? So the point you were like, why is that so important? Well, everything's important in the Bible, but here's the thing, everything has a reason. It's not just random, okay? Like, you just picked onyx stones, okay? I believe there's a reason why it's an onyx stone, okay? Now, go back to Exodus chapter 39, and I wanna get into this breastplate, okay? And I'm gonna explain a correlation with something that happens in Revelation, and then I wanna apply it, meaning that I believe there's a nice application for studying the Bible, okay? When it comes to this correlation, okay? And so that's kinda all I wanna really get across in this sermon, so this sermon could be really short, could be really long, you never know, because sometimes I go off on rabbit trails, but really I'm trying to get this across with this breastplate and how it ties in with New Jerusalem and these precious stones that we see with New Jerusalem as well, okay? Now, in verse eight here of Exodus chapter 39, it says, and he made the breastplate of cunning work like the work of the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twine linen, and it was foursquare. Now, I want you to keep in mind these things, okay? It was foursquare, it means it was square, okay? So basically it's this square breastplate that's gonna be attached to these two ouches of gold and all that, but it's foursquare, and it says they made the breastplate doubled, or doubled, a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof being doubled. Basically what I believe that means is that it's basically two pieces of gold that are put together, okay, and then it goes on to say, and they set in it four rows of stones. The first was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle, that was the first row. In the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. In the third row, a ligur, an agate, and an amethyst. In the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in ouches of gold in their enclosings, and the stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, 12, according to their names, like the engraving of a signet, everyone with his name according to the 12 tribes. That's why I'm getting that onyx, okay? So that onyx stone is the second to last one, right? If you're going in order of birth, right, then that first one would be, the sardius would be attributed to Reuben, right, and going down the line, and obviously the last one there, that jasper would be Benjamin, okay? So when you're dealing with this, you have this thing that's four square, and if it's four rows, there's three stones in each row, okay? Now, I think this is very interesting to how this applies to New Jerusalem. Go to Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21. These 12 stones are actually in Revelation 21, but they're not in some breastplate. They're actually in the foundations of the wall of the city of New Jerusalem, okay? You're saying, well, what's the point of having these foundations with all these different precious stones in them, right? I mean, think about it. Can you see the foundation of this building? Hopefully not, because if you can, then we have problems. You know, we start calling the landlord. Usually the foundation's covered up by dirt, right? You don't see it. You shouldn't see it, okay? But if you understand, though, New Jerusalem, basically the streets are pure gold to where they're transparent glass. You can actually see below it, okay? So if you think about it, you can actually see the foundations because everything is clear as crystal, okay? So just an idea there as far as like, you know, the fact that we're gonna be able to see the foundations. We don't have to dig them up. Oh, yep, that's right, you know? It's actually like he said it, okay? But in verse nine here, okay, dealing with New Jerusalem, and I want to just show how this links in with this breastplate, okay? Because remember, everything in the tabernacle and in the Old Testament was a picture of the true. It was something to foreshadow what was to come, okay? And in verse nine here, it says, And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues. And he talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. And having the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal, and had a wall, great and high, and at 12 gates, and at the gates, 12 angels, and the names written thereon were our, I'm sorry, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel, okay? So New Jerusalem's coming down. This is new heaven, new earth. So this is the finale, right? This is where we're, you know, New Jerusalem's gonna be down on the new earth forever. We're gonna rule and reign with Christ forever. But this city, it states here that there's these 12 gates, and each gate is represented by one of the tribes of Israel. So we're dealing with the 12 tribes. You know, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, right? But what's interesting is that when it comes to the city, notice how the gates are split up, okay? It says in verse 13, it says on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. So when you're dealing with these stones, what are they? They're in four rows, right? Well, you have four directions, north, south, east, and west, right? So north, south, east, and west of the city, you have three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the east, three gates on the west, and each gate basically has the name of one of the tribes of Israel, okay? So you can see how that would represent. By the way, the city is foursquare, okay? So notice, keep reading there. I'm gonna get to that. I guess I gave it away, okay? But I'm assuming most of you have read this, so you kinda know where I'm going with this. But in verse 14, it says, and the wall of the city had 12 foundations, and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the land. So 12 gates, which has 12 tribes of Israel named after them, right? And then these foundations of this wall had the 12 apostles, okay? Verse 15, it says, and he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare. So when you're dealing with these gates, what is it on? It's on something that's foursquare. Obviously, it's bigger than a span, okay? But the idea, the principle there is that you have this breastplate that's foursquare, it's a square, but then the city is, the footprint of the city is basically a square, okay? And on each side, you have three gates, okay? Now, keep reading there in verse 16, it says, and the length is as large as the breadth, and he measured the city with the reed, 12,000 furlongs, the length and the breadth of the height of it are equal. Now, when it comes to this, you're like, well, is it a big cube? Now, here's what I believe. New Jerusalem's likened unto a mountain, Mount Zion, okay? So if you think about a mountain, the base of the mountain's the biggest part, right? And then it peaks up. So when it talks about the height being as big as the width, then what you're dealing with is the fact that how wide it is is how high the mountain is, okay? So you can think about it like a pyramid, but I don't think it's a pyramid, okay? But you can kind of wrap your mind around a pyramid, right? The fact that the height of a pyramid is the same as the width and the length, right? But the reason I don't believe it's a cube is because one, that would be kind of weird, but two, the wall of it is actually, the height of the wall is 140 and four cubits, okay? So imagine you have this cube of a city and then the wall's like this little bitty thing down here. That wouldn't make any sense, right? But if you understand that, okay, you're starting down here, you got this big wall here, and then it's gradually going up to this peak, right, okay? And you can imagine how that would look as far as, okay, this wall would definitely work down there, but then you're looking up and you see the top of the city, way above the wall, okay? Now to give you an idea of how big the city is, and this really doesn't have to do with what I'm trying to get into in this sermon, but if you looked at the US, it's basically, because it talks about the furlongs, 12,000 furlongs, well, basically, a furlong is like an eighth of a mile, okay? So 12,000, you know, basically, if you were to look at like the US, it's like more than half the US in width, and same thing with the length, right? But then you think about the height of it, you're talking like, you're talking way higher than where our atmosphere is at, and you say, well, how can that be? You mean the top of this mountain is up in space? It's a new heaven, new earth, okay? So obviously, everything's renewed, everything's different at that point, so obviously, the atmosphere is gonna be bigger, you know, encapsulate this massive mountain, but I also believe that there's gonna be nations outside of that city as well, so it's not just that that's on the earth, but obviously, that's where God is at, and his throne's gonna be at, and everything, okay? Now, let's keep reading here, because I wanna get into these foundations, okay? It says in verse 17, it says, And he measured the wall thereof, and 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man that is of the angel. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. So again, when you're kind of seeing, okay, how are we gonna even see these mountains? Well, if everything's made of gold, and it's basically transparent, then you can see through, you know, see through the streets and all that. Now, look at what it says in verse 19, And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third, a chalcedony, the fourth, an emerald, the fifth, sardonyx, the sixth, sardius, the seventh, chrysolite, the eighth, beryl, the ninth, a topaz, the 10th, a chrysoprasus, the 11th, a jacinth, the 12th, an amethyst. The 12 gates were 12 pearls. Every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. So, each gate, remember it's four square, there's three gates on each direction. They all have the 12 tribes of Israel, you know, associated to them. And they all each have, they're all made of one pearl. They're not pearly gates, as far as like, there's a whole bunch of pearls around them, they're made of a single pearl, okay? So, that's the material of it. But, when you're dealing with these foundations, okay, you probably notice some of these that sound familiar. Okay, you know, the sardius, well, the sardius is mentioned in the breastplate, topaz is mentioned in the breastplate, emerald is mentioned in the breastplate, the sapphire, the amethyst, the beryl, the jasper, these are all mentioned in the breastplate. I'm gonna mention some here that are a little different, but I'll tell you, just looking up these stones, some of these, you'll see why they're the same stone, okay? The sardinics and the onyx are the same, okay? Sardinics is a type of onyx. You can see the name onyx within sardinics, but that shows you that probably the breastplate, because there's a black onyx stone, and then there's a red onyx stone. And you can kind of see the melding of sardius, the sardius and the onyx, okay? And meaning this is that it's more like a red stone, okay? Which means that the two stones on the shoulders could have very well been this sardinic stone, where it's like a red onyx stone, okay? The agate that's on the breastplate is associated with the chalcedony, because agate, if you look up an agate, it's literally made up of chalcedony, okay? So those go together. The ligur and the chrysoprosus, this is probably the hardest one to match up, because a lot of people just don't know. It's like one of those words that's in the Bible that they're not really sure. But when you look up what a ligur, a ligur and a chrysoprosus, they have the same color. They're like greenish-yellow. So I'm going with those are the same, okay? So the other ones, though, like you can think of diamond and chrysolite, those go together. Carbuncle and adjacent actually go together as well. So I do believe that these stones that are in the breastplate are the same stones in the foundations, and that they correlate that way. And you say, well, what's the point? What are you trying to get across here? Like, why is this important that these things, that the same stones are there? Well, go to Ephesians chapter two, Ephesians chapter two. Because again, these stones are now associated with the apostles, right? Whereas in the Old Testament, they were associated with the 12 tribes. But you can definitely see how the four square breastplate and they were in four rows of three, how that is associated with the gates and how the city's four square and all that. But what I wanna get to here is that how the apostles are part of the foundation of our faith, they're the foundation of what we believe and practice, okay? And notice what it says here in Ephesians chapter two in verse 11. And specifically, when you're dealing with, Revelation chapter 21, with the foundations, what are you dealing with? You're dealing with new Jerusalem. You're dealing with all the saved. It says, as it's written, all Israel shall be saved. And it says, all the saved shall walk in it, right? Or it's basically like the saved are gonna walk in this new Jerusalem. So in verse 11 here, it says, wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcised, I'm sorry, called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now, commonwealth, what are we talking about? We're talking about basically being a citizen. Because think about Pennsylvania's called the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, okay? It's like a province, if you will, okay? So the idea here is that aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, meaning that they're not citizens, not aliens like big, you know, gray-headed beings that are coming down on a saucer, we're talking about like, if you think of the term, a legal alien, right? We're talking about someone that's not a citizen, okay? Someone's that, and that's why it says stranger. So aliens, strangers, it's dealing with, you're not a citizen, right? And then it goes on to say in verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God and one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you which are far off and to them which were nigh. So what are we talking about? We're talking about this wall of partition between the Jews and the Gentiles, okay? And it has to do with the ordinances. That's what was basically putting this wall up is that God had Israel doing these carnal ordinances, basically these meats and drinks and diverse washings and carnal ordinances that were imposed on them until the Reformation. And that's what it's basically stating here is that there's this wall that was set up where you weren't citizens, you weren't of the commonwealth of Israel because you were Gentiles, you were uncircumcised, right? That's not saying they weren't saved necessarily, but they weren't a part of that nation, okay? And a lot of Gentiles weren't saved, but a lot of Israelites weren't saved too. But keep reading there. It says, and came and preached peace to you which were far off and to them that were nigh. So that's basically saying afar off as the Gentiles, nigh are the Jews. Verse 18, for through him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore, you're no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and the household of God. So when it's talking about you were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, now you're fellow citizens. So you see the difference there? Like the commonwealth is talking about being a citizen. And so basically now we're citizens with the saints and with the household of God. What is that talking about? We're citizens of Israel, of the commonwealth of Israel because we're the Israel of God. Because they are not all Israel which are of Israel, okay? So when we're talking about Israel, we're talking about those that are saved. When Jesus came, there's no more just physical Israel and spiritual Israel, it's just spiritual Israel. The physical Israel is completely gone and done away with. That middle wall partition is broken down, all those cardinal ordinances are done away with, and now it's just the saved. It's that holy nation that's whether you're Jew or Gentile. The thing I want to get to here is in verse 20, it says, and are built upon the foundation of the what? Apostles and prophets, and Jesus Christ himself being chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord in whom ye also are building together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. So you can see how this links to that there's actually gonna be physical foundations with the names of the apostles on there, but it's stating that the apostles and the prophets, so you think about the Bible when you think about the Old Testament and New Testament, the prophets, it says in Hebrews, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the what? Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, and who he used to speak to us his words, the apostles. So all the New Testament is written by apostles, and so you have this foundation of the prophets and the apostles, and that fits in perfectly with the fact that you have these foundations, these 12 foundations, that would represent the 12 apostles, okay? So there's more than 12 apostles. Paul was an apostle, but he wasn't of the 12. But the 12 are who we're dealing with there. And when you're thinking about this, go to Matthew chapter 13 and verse 17. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 17. Say, well, wouldn't the prophets be basically above the apostles? Why isn't it like there's 12 prophets on there or something like that? Well, what you have to understand is that the apostles and the New Testament in general, okay, is more revealed. And that's what I really wanna get to when it comes to this sermon is the fact that what it really shows you is that the foundation to everything we believe is the New Testament, okay? Not that the Old Testament's not there as a foundation, it's just the fact that the New Testament is what we use as a guide to even understand the Old Testament, okay? And it's our flashlight to look at the Old Testament and figure out what the Old Testament was trying to say, okay, meaning that you don't go to the Old Testament and try to figure out the New. You go to the New Testament to figure out the Old, okay? Because we have this foundation of the apostles that's going to shine light on all the scriptures and open up our understanding of all those scriptures. And when it comes to studying the Bible, people get this backwards. And they're constantly in the Old Testament trying to figure out what's gonna happen in the New or trying to explain the New. No, you take the New and then you figure out what the Old meant, right? The New is what's revealed, that's your foundation, okay? So when it comes to reading the Bible, obviously I recommend reading the whole Bible. In all scripture, it's profitable. But when it comes to what I would recommend to you that you read more than anything else is the New Testament. Okay? If I was gonna say like put a priority of what to read more is the New Testament, okay? And again, don't misread me there. You still should be reading your Old Testament, okay? You know, I believe you should be getting through the whole Bible at least once a year. But listen, go through the New Testament more than once. Okay? So when it comes to this, I want you to know that one, I'm gonna read to you 2 Peter chapter three. It says, this second epistle, you're in Matthew 13. I want you to stay there in verse 17. But in 1 Peter chapter, or I'm sorry, 2 Peter chapter three and verse one, it says, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Now we have hindsight, obviously, we see the New Testament as being authoritative, but obviously when he's writing this, he's stating like, you have the holy prophets, but you also have the commandments of us, the apostles, and establishing the fact that they're authoritative. And even Paul, in that same chapter, states that others were, which are unlearned and rest in the scriptures, you know, basically in Paul's epistles, as they do with the other scriptures, which basically is stating that, Peter's stating that Paul's writings are scripture, okay, and he's putting them on par with the other scriptures. And now, go to Matthew chapter 13, and you say, why would you say that the New Testament is more, and I hate to say it's not like it's, but here's the thing, I'll say it, it's better. Because it's called the better testament, okay? The Old Testament is good, there's nothing wrong with the Old Testament, but the New Testament's better. So if you're gonna just look at, okay, that's the Old Testament, this is the New Testament, which one's better, the new, okay? Because the new, a lot of times, is talking about stuff in the old, but it gives you way more clarity, defines it, and there's just no, a lot of times, no shadow of a doubt what's being said when it comes to it. And so, notice what it says in Matthew chapter 13, in verse 17. I want you to notice what Jesus says to his apostles. In chapter 13's a famous chapter dealing with these parables, okay? The parable of the sower, the parable of the tares, the parable, it's just like, parable, parable, parable. But he's basically explaining why he's speaking to them in parables. But then he goes on to say that basically, it's being revealed unto them, okay? In verse 17 here, it says, "'Verily I say unto you, that many prophets "'and righteous men have desired "'to see those things which ye see, "'and have not seen them, and to hear those things "'which ye hear, and have not heard them.'" Now, I'll say this, be careful to think that what's written in the Old Testament is the only thing they knew, okay? Because just because it's not written there doesn't mean they didn't know about it, okay? Because there's a lot of things that are spoken of the prophets that's written in the New Testament that's not written in the Old, right? The fact that Jesus is gonna be a Nazarene, it says it was spoken by the prophets, but it's not written in the prophets. Other places where Jeremiah said things that's not written in Jeremiah, but he spoke it, okay? So be careful to think that, well, just what they wrote is all they knew, okay? But also know this, there are things in the New Testament they didn't know, okay? And so Jesus is pointing that out, that he's stating here that there's many prophets and righteous men that would like to have seen the things you've seen but haven't seen them, right? I mean, think about what Jesus, he's opening his mouth in parables, and what it states with that is that he's gonna make known that which was hidden from the foundation of the world. And so these things are being revealed in the apostles, and they're understanding way more than the prophets. And you think, well, in the prophets, they were seeing through, we're seeing through a glass darkly even now, but they were even more so looking through a glass darkly, okay? And not to say that they didn't understand salvation, didn't understand how to get saved or anything like that, because obviously salvation was preached and people knew how to get saved, but there's the New Testament is basically just this clearing up of a lot of information, okay? And when we get to heaven, it's gonna be even more, you know, it's gonna be crystal clear, okay? But when it comes to reading the Bible, New Testament, number one. Okay? If you're gonna spend more time in any place in the Bible, you need to spend it in the New Testament. You know, and again, read the Old Testament. I, you know, I obviously, you know, as a pastor, I'm at least trying to get through the Bible four times a year, okay? But I'll say this, I read the New Testament more. Facts, I read the New Testament more. And I believe it's biblical to do that, okay? Now, let me tie this in because obviously the fact that the apostles, there was things that they saw and knew that prophets wished they could have. Okay, so that should be enough right there to tell you, okay, what they're saying in the New Testament is obviously clear information, okay? But look what it says here. Go to Exodus chapter 28, Exodus chapter 28, dealing with the breastplate. What is the breastplate for, what's it called, okay? Exodus chapter 28, I should have had you keep your finger there in Matthew. We're gonna be going back there. Exodus chapter 28 verse 15, it says this, and thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment, okay? So this breastplate obviously has the 12 tribes of Israel on it, you know, as far as these stones, these signets and all that, but what's it for? Well, remember the Urim and the Thummim, you know, which I'm not getting into tonight, but what that is exactly, but it was used for judgment, for discerning judgment. And if you remember, there was a lot of times where people would bring, you know, the waters of jealousy, for example, because, you know, Miss Paula loves to like pick out hard questions for Pictionary. But the waters of jealousy, for example, is where if a man thinks that his wife cheated on him, and basically they don't know that she's supposed to drink this water, and if she didn't cheat on him, everything's fine, and if she did, then basically her belly's gonna swell and her thigh's gonna rot, but the priest, they bring it up to the priest, and there's like this judgment that's given there, and the priest will judge between like whether someone's clean or unclean with leprosy, okay? So you can see how the priest, you know, they're wearing this breastplate that's for, basically discerning of judgment. Now, what's interesting about this is the breastplate of judgment has the 12 tribes on them, right, or on it. Go to Matthew chapter 19, Matthew chapter 19 and verse 27. What's the correlation between the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes, okay? Well, we see that these stones are, right? Because I think that's very clear, right, that the 12 stones in this breastplate are linked with the 12 stones that are gonna be on the foundation that are associated with the 12 apostles. Well, Matthew chapter 19, I believe this is what it's dealing with, and this is the correlation, and also it's called the breastplate of judgment, okay? So just keep that in mind. And Matthew chapter 19 and verse 27 says, Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee. What shall we have therefore? So basically Peter's just asking, we've forsaken everything, you know, what are we gonna have for forsaking everything, okay? And Jesus says you're gonna be saved and go to heaven. No, I'm just kidding. That's what people think though, right? You know, you gotta forsake everything and go to heaven. No, actually there is something that's actually extremely honoring of what they're going to get for these 12. Obviously Judas is gonna be the traitor, he's not gonna be a part of that. But in verse 28 here it says, And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. So when you're dealing with this, they give this special honor, but also all the Sade will get a special honor if they forsake basically the things of this life, you know, to serve the Lord. And you're saying, well, we need to forsake all our wives and our kids. If your wives and your kids are stopping you from serving the Lord, then yes. But we're not talking about like toddlers here. You know, like forsake your toddler, because it's stopping you from serving the Lord. You gotta change those diapers. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about like grown adults, you know, that would cause you to like stay out of the things of God, okay? But notice that the many shall be first shall be last, or first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Let me ask you a question, who came first? The 12 sons of Israel, or the 12 apostles? Who's judging who though? Isn't that interesting? The fact that you're, and you think about the Old Testament to New Testament, what comes first though? You know, what's premier over the other, okay? Which one's better, okay? It's obviously the last, right, the second. You know, you had the first covenant, and you had the second covenant, but, and which one's, also it's the last covenant, by the way. But that last covenant, you know, the second covenant, the new covenant, that is preferred. You know, obviously it, the old covenant, you know, was just a law that condemns. The new covenant is what gives you life. But they get this honor of sitting upon these thrones. Luke 22 says the same thing, as far as how they get this honor of sitting on thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So you can see how, okay, these stones are associated with the 12 tribes in the Old Testament, and they're associated with the apostles in the New Testament. The breastplate's literally called the breastplate of judgment, okay? And the fact is that 12 apostles are gonna judge the 12 tribes of Israel. So that's quite an honor. Now, I do believe that we're gonna, you know, those that serve the Lord will also judge, it says we're gonna judge angels, right? The Bible talks about know ye not that ye shall judge angels and that we shall judge angels. So I think every believer, you know, I think that there's gonna be people that are gonna be over 50s, over hundreds, over thousands, and they're gonna rule over that. They're saying, well, you know, if I'm, what about the thief on the cross? Who's he gonna judge and rule over? Angels, I mean, they're always down, they're gonna be down there, because right now we're a little lower than the angels, but that's not gonna be the case in the resurrection, okay? In the resurrection, now we're heirs with Christ, but you could be joint heirs with Christ if you suffer with him. So there is an extra honor if you live for the Lord and you suffer and you forsake things of this life to serve him. And the 12 apostles obviously get this great honor. Now, let me just say this good Acts, chapter one, that who are the 12 that are on the foundations, okay? And this is something that's disputed even among pastor friends of mine, as far as who's gonna be the 12 apostles listed on here. And some people believe that Paul's gonna be one of those. I don't believe that, okay? And the reasoning is is that they think Matthias isn't actually supposed to be the 12th, okay? So let me read Acts, chapter one, because basically someone's picked to take Judas' spot, okay? And in verse 21 here, Acts, chapter one, verse 21, it says, wherefore are these men, which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. So here's the stipulation. They had to be there from when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, okay? We're talking Matthew, chapter three, right? We're talking Mark, chapter one, right? We're talking the very beginning of his ministry, okay? That's when he started his ministry, and they're stating that you had to be there from the very beginning to be numbered with the 12. That's what they're stating. Paul isn't even saved yet at this point, okay? Paul hasn't even started wreaking havoc on the church, let alone being saved, you know, getting saved. So they pick two people. They appoint two people to be up. It's basically like, all right, we have these two candidates for the job, okay? And they pick, they appoint two. Joseph, called Varsibis, whose surname is Justice. So is that Joseph Varsibis Justice, I guess? Is that like his middle name, Varsibis? Anyway, and then Matthias. They picked Matthias because it's just easier to say. They're like, you got too many names, no. But there's two guys, okay? You have basically Joseph and Matthias, okay? And it says, and they prayed and said, "'Thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, "'show whether of these two thou hast chosen.'" So doesn't it sound like they're really picking? Now, they chose two guys out of the group, but they're basically saying, we've narrowed it down to two, but you have to pick which one of these, okay? It says in verse 25, it says that, "'That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, "'from which Judas by transgression fell, "'that he might go to his own place.'" Hell, okay? Verse 26, "'And they gave forth their lots, "'and the lot fell upon Matthias, "'and he was numbered with the 12 apostles.'" And so they say, well, they're casting lots, and they're just, it's like when you get to the short end of the straw, it's like, oh, it was just chance that Matthias got picked there, right? Well, I want you to think about this. Proverbs chapter 16 says this in verse 33. Proverbs 16, 33 says, "'The lot is cast into the lap, "'but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.'" Okay? I mean, think about when Jonah was, they cast lots to see who's the reason why this storm is hitting them when Jonah was on the ship, right? Before he gets thrown into the sea and gets swallowed by the whale. "'And the lot fell upon Jonah.'" Now, that could have been just chance, or that could have been the Lord that actually disposed that. In other places, you'll see casting of lots and disposing of it. Now, I'm not saying here that if we go start casting lots in here, that the Lord is gonna be disposing all those lots, but I think in this case, he actually did dispose it. Okay, meaning this is that Matthias is the 12th. And you're like, well, I think it should be Paul, because he was born out of due time. But here's the thing, Paul wasn't the only other apostle, okay? It's not like, well, Matthias wasn't really supposed to be an apostle, they just kind of made him an apostle, and then Paul was supposed to be the 12th. No, Barnabas was an apostle. By the way, Barnabas was an apostle before Paul was. Barnabas is the one that took Paul under his wing. But then there's others, like James, the Lord's brother. You know, Jesus' half-brother was an apostle. I believe there were many other apostles, by the way. I believe Luke was an apostle, I believe Mark was an apostle. And all, you know, Jesus' brother, you know, think about James, obviously the Lord's brother, but then he had a brother named Judas, which I believe you're dealing with Jude, okay? Anyway, all I have to say is that I believe Matthias' name is going to be, maybe it's the last one on that foundation, maybe it's the first, who knows, right? But either way, I believe that Matthias' name is going to be on one of those foundations, okay? And I don't believe Paul gets that honor, okay? He's not one of the 12. And you may ask yourself, what's the difference between the 12 and the rest of the apostles, right? They're judging the 12 tribes. They were there from the beginning, okay? Maybe Matthias, you know, Matthias, he was there from the very beginning, was with them all the way through, except for there's sometimes, obviously, where it's just the 12 and where it was just the three, but in some cases, it was just Peter, James, and John, where he's doing certain things, okay? It wasn't even all the 12. But there was other disciples that were there. I believe Mark is Peter's son, and I believe Mark was there when Peter was doing a lot of these different things. And Luke, I believe, you know, when you get into the beginning of Luke, he talks about how he was eyewitness of these accounts, okay? So I don't believe he's just getting it secondhand and all that, okay? So last thing I wanna state here is that when it comes to, go to 2 Corinthians chapter three, 2 Corinthians chapter three. The point I'm trying to get across here with this breastplate compared to the foundations is the fact that the apostles are gonna judge the 12 tribes of Israel. And if you're gonna look at that as far as, okay, what does the 12 tribes and apostles represent, I believe you're dealing with Old Testament, Israel, right? You're dealing with literally the Old Testament, which is the children of Israel, and you're dealing with the apostles, which would represent the New Testament, okay? And the New Testament judges the Old Testament, okay? Meaning this is that you use the New Testament to discern and understand the Old. And I believe this will help you with your Bible study, meaning this is that, where you're like, I wanna know end times prophecy. Well, Revelation, you take Revelation to understand Daniel, but you don't take Daniel to understand Revelation, okay? You take 1 and 2 Thessalonians to understand Daniel and those passages and Joel, you don't do it the other way around, okay? When it comes to, you know, as far as what Jesus had to do to pay for our sins, or, you know, like where was he when he died, use the New Testament to judge the Old. The Bible says in the New Testament that his soul was not left in hell, not as much as you see corruption. Actually, it does say that in the Old Testament too, because in Psalm 16, it says, that will not leave my soul in hell. Maybe that's not the best example, okay? Because it says in it both. But there are some cases where the New Testament is like very clear what this is stating. The Old Testament's a little more ambiguous. The New Testament's the flashlight. You use the New Testament as a flashlight. So look at 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 12. 2 Corinthians 3 is literally, the whole chapter is dealing with the New Testament and Old Testament. Talk about how we're ministers of the New Testament. This is actually like one of the only chapters where you'll see like Old Test, you know, like New Testament, Old Testament, like that terminology's not used that often actually in the Bible. But you'll see Old Covenant. But here, it literally talks about not only the Old Testament, but reading the Old Testament, okay? So it's not a wrong thing to say, like I'm reading the Old Testament. But in verse 12 here, it says, seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. They're ministers of the New Testament. And the idea here is that the New Testament is very plain to understand. It's very revealed. You know this from reading the Old Testament. When you get to the New Testament, you're like, it feels like I just got done eating a steak and I'm going into dessert, okay? It's just so much easier to understand. It's easier to follow. It's just so much more revealed, okay? So we use great plainness of speech. Not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. So what is it stating here? Well, obviously as a saint, you know, when you get saved, it'll be revealed, right? You know, it's kind of like all the scripture would open up to you when you get saved because the natural man would receive not the things of the Spirit of God. But how about this? When you're thinking about this idea of reading the Old Testament, what will help you understand the Old Testament to take away that veil? The new. Guess what? The New Testament. What started the New Testament? The veil of the temple was rent and twain. Obviously, this is a different veil. This is the veil that's on Moses' face, okay? But the idea here is that there's no more veil. And basically, if you look at the Old Testament as like being like there's a veil in front of it, right? It's there and you kind of see kind of darkly through it. But the New Testament, there's no veil and you're just seeing completely clearly what it is. And then you take that and now I understand these things that are a little harder to understand. They're a little more cryptic, right? And so I believe, you're like, man, you really, you're really stretching stuff to get that out of there. I don't think it's a stretch. I think that honestly, the correlation between the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles is very clear to me, those 12 stones. And the fact that they're gonna be judging the 12 tribes, and I'm just spiritualizing this a little bit, the fact that if the first shall be last and the last shall be first, then basically I'm taking, that which is last is made first. Meaning this is that I'm taking that Second Covenant, that New Testament, and I'm taking that to understand and judge the Old, okay? Or discern, you can think of, instead of saying judge, I'm discerning the Old with the New, okay? And that's how I recommend you understand the Bible. That's how I recommend you read the Bible is that the New Testament is primary in your reading. It's primary when it comes to doctrine. Always use that as your flashlight, and that's how you're gonna have sound, good doctrine. And let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the book of Exodus, and thank you for these passages, and just seeing all these things fit together when it comes to just the fact that there's these same 12 stones in New Jerusalem, and that there's a purpose behind everything that you put in the Bible, and Lord, we just pray that you'd be with us throughout the rest of this week. I pray that you'd be with those that aren't feeling well. I think of Clara. I think of others that may be not feeling well. Just pray that you heal them, and just keep us healthy, and Lord, we love you, and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name, amen. So Brother Dave will come and sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song 110. Song 110 in your songbooks. We'll sing All the Way My Savior Leads Me. If you would stand, we'll sing song 110. All the way my Savior leads me, what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, hereby faith in Him to dwell, for I know what e'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. For I know what e'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me, cheers each winding path I tread, gives me grace for every trial, feeds me with the living bread. Through my weary steps may falter, and my soul a thirst may be. Gushing from the rock before me, lo, a spring of joy I see. Gushing from the rock before me, lo, a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me, oh, the fullness of His love, perfect rest to me is promised in my Father's house above. When my spirit clothed immortal wings its flight to realms of day, this my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way. This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way.