[0:00] As we mentioned earlier with the children, the theme I'd like us to think about today with the Lord is the covering that he provides or that he commands.
[0:11] And we've seen a number of covenings, obviously, both with the passage that we read, but also specifically the way in which that Moses sets up the tabernacle.
[0:24] We read seven times, just in the brief passage that we read, seven times that it was to be as the Lord commanded Moses. Everything was done in accordance with the Lord's command.
[0:36] Moses didn't invent the tabernacle. He didn't just decide, oh, let's do it this way. Oh, we can use this particular kind of furniture or this particular kind of covering or whatever. Everything is as the Lord commanded Moses.
[0:48] And there are three references also in the passage that we read, two particular covering. We see, for example, when he reared up the pillars, verse 19, then he spread abroad the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent above upon it as the Lord commanded Moses.
[1:06] Now, we look in previous chapters, we'll see that the layers of covering, there's several layers in the tabernacle in the different tents. The inmost one, then another layer of skins upon that, then another layer upon that.
[1:19] It's not just a single tear. It's not just a single layer. There are layers of covering which the Lord commands. And then in verse 21, he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the covering and covered the ark of the testimony as the Lord commanded Moses.
[1:39] And then a little further on where it's all set up, we read a different kind of covering. Verse 34, a cloud covered the tent of the congregation. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
[1:50] It filled it within and it covered it without. So that men could no longer see that which had been set up. They knew it was there because they'd seen it been set up. But now the Lord had covered it in the sense that he had sort of claimed it and owned it for his own.
[2:08] And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And in the last verse, for the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day and fire was on it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
[2:28] Different layers, different kinds of covering. And we read the different kinds of covering throughout Scripture, Old and New Testament. Whether it's, you know, when Sarah is rebuked by one of the ancient pagan kings, when Abram pretends that she's only his sister as opposed to being in truth his half-sister but also his wife.
[2:52] And thus he is a covering of the eyes to her, he says, of her husband of Abraham. There's different ways in which, apart from the tabernacle, other things are covered over.
[3:03] But the question in each case where the Old Testament are new is we've got so many different things we could ask. What is being covered? You know, who is it being covered by? What is it being covered with?
[3:15] Why is it being covered? And there's lots of different reasons why different things are covered. We mentioned with the children earlier about the badger skins that are used and how the Lord uses different kinds of creatures and their skins as covering.
[3:32] He's not ashamed to use the lesser beings of creation in his great work and his great witness. In chapter 25 of Exodus, for example, we read at verses 4 and 5.
[3:45] Blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen, goats hair, ramskins dyed red, and badgers. And a few chapters further on.
[4:07] In chapter 35, we see again at verses 6 and 7. Blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen, of course, which in those days certainly was from flax and was a sort of vegetable, kind of herb, kind of material, which was woven.
[4:23] Fine linen and goats hair, ramskins dyed red, badgers skins, and shit in wood. And again, likewise, verse 7 and verse 23. Every man with whom was found blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goats hair, red skins of rams and badgers skins, brought them.
[4:41] Everybody took what they had. They used the skins of creatures. They used the hair and the fur of creatures. It was twined. It was woven. It was used. It was sewn.
[4:51] It was made into that which would honour the Lord. How does it honour the Lord? Because it is done in obedience to his command. Men and women honour the Lord when they obey his commands.
[5:04] And most of them said, well, that's what God said. But I'd rather do the tabernacle differently. I think actually it could be improved upon. I think we could do it better if we do it this way. Don't use badgers skins and ramskins.
[5:16] Let's use silk. Let's use greens. And let's use yellows and all manner of things instead of red dyes skins or badgers skins. This is so earthbound. Let's use something else.
[5:28] Let's use something more glorious. Let's open it up instead of covering it over. He could have invented all different ways to do it. But rather we read again and again seven times over.
[5:39] Seven, of course, the divine number. It was all done as the Lord commanded Moses. Moses. We might say in this instance, what is being covered? Well, in this instance, at the end of Exodus here, of course, it is ultimately the Ark of the Testament.
[5:55] The Ark of the Covenant, the symbolic presence of God is being covered. Who is it being covered by? Ultimately, it's being covered by God. It's being covered by God who instructs Moses to do it a certain way.
[6:09] So you could say it's being covered over by God. So why does God want it to be covered? Why is it being covered? And what is it being covered with? Well, we've gone through some of the things it's being covered with. But why? Does it need protecting?
[6:21] Does God need protecting? Is it to conceal? Is it so that nobody can see how special, how good God is? Well, if you think about it, if something is precious, then you do conceal it.
[6:36] If you've got a special piece of jewelry or rings or whatever, do you leave them out on the kitchen table or on the windowsill so anybody can pass it, say, oh, look, there's a handyman jewelry thing. I'll just reach in and take that.
[6:48] Or it gets knocked off or fall down the signal. You put it away in a special drawer. You've probably got a special box. Maybe with sort of tissue paper or cotton wool round about it. Or maybe a special place you keep it in.
[7:00] A special box it goes in. You keep it well hidden away in a safe place. It's not just out there in open view. Why? Because you don't care about it? No, because it is precious.
[7:11] If somebody has something that is of great, great value, so they go to some Swiss bank around it and they go into a vault and then they open a safe and then there's another one inside it, you know, the thing that is inside is not there because it's some kind of prisoner, but because it is so precious and it is put within a safe inside a vault, inside a bank because it is so valuable, because it is so precious.
[7:38] Of course, the owner can get at it, but nobody else can. But if it was never taken out, it wouldn't be much use. It has to be available. It has to be accessible to the owner.
[7:49] But it is hidden. It is concealed because it is being kept safe because it is so precious. There is a sense in which concealment heightens the recognition that within the tabernacle is something sacred, something precious, something special, which God does not just want an open view of everybody all the time.
[8:14] It has to be recognized there is a certain sanctity. There is a certain mystery. There is something which is holy, being concealed in a sense, but not concealed so that it can never be approached.
[8:30] If somebody is perhaps behaving in a manner that is, let's say, viewed or inappropriate, we might say that they are dressed or behaving in an immodest manner.
[8:47] If we say they are not being very modest, it means that a whole lot of flesh is on display or something like that. Now, it is not that maybe the flesh is something that is shameful, but rather we do not put it on display.
[9:01] We do not let the world see it. We keep it covered with modesty. And it is that which is preserved for only one's husband or wife, ideally. And, of course, if that is the case, then it should be concealed, it should be protected, it should be recognized that it is something which is holy, something which is sacred, something which is special.
[9:22] It is not something dirty or unclean. But because it is so precious, it should be kept, it should be preserved, it should be covered.
[9:34] There are layers of covering with God in his tabernacle. There are layers of covering that conceal or protect in different ways. And we can see some of the ways in which covering is applied.
[9:48] It can be to conceal, and it might be to conceal shame of nakedness. Think of Adam and Eve, of course, in the garden when they first sued. And they sought to make aprons of fig leaves to cover over the shame of their nakedness.
[10:02] And God said to them, well, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the fruit that I told you not to? But he didn't just leave them in that state. He clothed them. He covered their shame, but at what cost?
[10:15] He clothed them with animal skins. Now, you can't just make animal skins out of that. God could even want to do. But it means that animals who had been living had to die.
[10:26] They had to die, and God clothed them with coats of animal skins. The animals that hadn't done anything died and shed their blood so that Adam and Eve's sin could be covered over.
[10:39] And, of course, this is the first instance in Scripture, the innocent dying to atone, as it were, or to point to the covering of the sin of the guilty. And all through Scripture, we have this idea of the sacrifice of the pure, the sacrifice of the innocent, who are dying in order to cover, as it were, with their blood, the sins of the guilty.
[11:03] Obviously, all of these sacrifices are pointing to the final and ultimate sacrifice in Christ. But it is that the sin, the shame, as in Adam and Eve, for example, is concealed.
[11:17] It is covered over. Our sin is covered over by the Lord and his work. It's not that he turns back the clock so that it's as though we never committed it in the first place.
[11:29] If that was the case, you could do that a thousand times in somebody's life, and they would still end up sinning again. It doesn't matter how many fresh starts we get. Even when we are born again of water and the spirit, there is still that within us of the old self, the old self which is warring against that new birth.
[11:48] And that warfare will continue, although the old self gets beaten more and more and becomes weaker and weaker, it is still there. It is a defeated army which is nevertheless getting less and less and fighting still tooth and nail to the very last breath.
[12:05] But even when we are born again, the sin still rages in there, still tries to fight against it. No matter how many fresh starts we have given, we would never be able to sort it ourselves.
[12:16] God doesn't try to just turn the clock back. He is the one who is above and beyond all the clocks of time in the world. He is the eternal one.
[12:27] He causes us to be born again by his spirit. He causes us to be clothed in his righteousness and for our sin to be covered.
[12:39] This is something which, of course, Scripture speaks about both in the Old Testament and in the New. Psalm 32, verse 1 and 2. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
[12:52] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no ground. Notice the language that's being used there. It doesn't say the Lord pretends that he's ever sinned.
[13:03] It says he doesn't impute it to, he doesn't count it towards him. How can it not be counted? Because it's covered. It is covered over. The man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
[13:18] If I owe you 20 pounds and I've got nothing to pay, then you can either extract it from me painfully, penny by penny over a number of years, or else you might have the option of just saying, okay, well, we'll just expunge the debt and it'll just be forgiven.
[13:35] And that means that it's just as though I had never been guilty of the debt. And it's not that nobody pays the debt. It's rather that the cost of the debt is borne by the creditor.
[13:46] But if you owe me 20 pounds and I say, okay, if the debt's forgiven, then I'm 20 pounds down. I was to have been paid it back, but now, you know, I'm not.
[13:58] I'm just bearing the cost. Or you're bearing the cost if I owe you the 20 pounds or whatever. It's not that the 20 pounds vanishes. It's that the one who is owed it bears the cost themselves.
[14:10] Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not, doesn't count iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
[14:25] Again, Psalm 81, a different kind of poverty. Not so much to conceal us, to protect. We read, he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
[14:41] I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge, my fortress. My God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snail of the fowler and from the nighed soul pestilence.
[14:52] He shall cover thee with his feathers. And under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. You don't have to be afraid if you are protected by the covering of the Lord.
[15:08] A protection for danger and harm. A protection, like we talked about with a vault or a bank or whatever, because of something which is precious. How can those who sin against the Lord be precious?
[15:22] When they have violated his trust, when they have wounded, as it were, his heart, when they have trampled on their foot the holiness of his name.
[15:32] But the only way that we can even come close to that is to think in terms of a child of your own. If you had a child of your own and you loved it from infancy and before it was even born.
[15:47] And yes, it became wayward. And yes, it argued with you. Maybe it did terrible, hurtful things that broke your heart. But still then wanted at the last to be reconciled to you.
[16:00] You say, no, I'm not interested anymore. I don't care. Maybe my flesh and blood, but I couldn't care less. Off you go. Disappear. You just hurt me too many times. Or are you going to forgive?
[16:11] And are you going to bear the hurt and bear the cost and be reconciled? The likelihood is you will. Because if we who are sinful know how to give good gifts to our children, know how to be reconciled to those who may hurt or wound or trample our feelings on their foot, and we desire to be reconciled with them.
[16:34] Because they're part of us and we love them. How much more does God regard as precious, costly, those who are his children, though they may wound, as it were, if we can speak in those terms, though they may hurt, again, if we can speak in those terms, of the Lord certainly despise his love at times and then finally desire to be reconciled to him.
[17:04] How can sin, in a sense, be pretended that it's not there? How can it be covered over? Well, in the New Testament, of course, we've got instances of this.
[17:15] In James, in the last verse of the letter of James, chapter 5, verse 20, let him know that he which converted the sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.
[17:29] When you're converted, your sins don't miraculously disappear, but they are hidden. They are covered over from the sight of the righteous judge.
[17:42] Not that he becomes blind, but that he recognises the validity of the covering. It's not that anybody's trying to cheat. It's that the covering is legitimate.
[17:54] And he recognises the validity of the covering, which covers over the sin. Shall hide a multitude of sins. Peter, a couple of pages further on, uses a slightly different analogy.
[18:06] 1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 8, Above all things, affirm in charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. It's similar words in English, but the sense here of covering the multitude of sins, it's in the sense of how a bandage covers a wound.
[18:24] When a bandage covers a wound, it's not just to take away the unsightly blood and the unsightly, you know, injury, but rather it is in order to facilitate the healing process.
[18:37] When a bandage covers a wound, it is to help the skin or the wound close up again. It is to enable the healing to take place, to keep out the infection, to protect the wound from further damage or knock or attack or any dirt getting into it or whatever, but it is covering over the wound.
[18:59] The bandage is designed to facilitate the healing. Of course, as, you know, medical people will tell you, it's not the bandage that does any of the healing, it's the body that does the healing.
[19:11] In the sense of you've got a broken arm and the doctor or the surgeon puts your arm in a plaster cast. It's not the plaster cast that knits your bones together. It doesn't do the healing, it just keeps it fixed in place so that the body itself can do the fusing back together of all the bits of bone and all the ligaments and so on.
[19:32] It can do the joining back just as the skin will close up again in your wound when the bandage is over it. It's the body doing the healing, the bandage just sort of helps to facilitate that.
[19:44] It is not the fellow sinner who forgives or who is used in conversion who does the converting or who covers, as it were, the sins themselves.
[19:55] Have fervent charity among yourselves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Yes, but it doesn't take the sins away. Your love, your charity does not do the healing.
[20:10] That is something only God can do. That is the taking away of those sins is something only God can do. You cover the multitude of sins, yes.
[20:21] You forgive the wrong done to you. And that's what we're meant to be doing. You know, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. But you cover in order to help to heal.
[20:32] You cover in order, as it were, to hide that which is wrong so that the judge sees only the legitimacy of the covering. Of course, there's another sense in which we might cover something over.
[20:48] And this is partly what the Lord does with us as well. In the book of Ruth, you may remember that when she goes to the threshing floor where Boaz is on the advice of Naomi, we read in Ruth chapter 3, verse 8, It came to pass at midnight.
[21:04] The man who was afraid returned himself, and behold, a woman lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth, thine handmaid. Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman.
[21:21] Cover me over with your cloak, because in doing so, not only do you indicate protection, but you also, in a sense, lay claim.
[21:32] You lay claim to the near kinswoman for whom you take on responsibility. Spread thy skirt. Therefore, therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid, for thou art a near kinsman.
[21:46] kinsman. You are laying a claim, as well as seeking to protect. Just as if you were going out to take part in some sporting event, you might put on the strip or the team colours or whatever of the one that you were playing for.
[22:03] You are sort of acknowledging that you belong to them. You're acknowledging where your loyalty is. You pull on these colours, and you're saying, this is where I belong. That covering claims, as it were, ownership.
[22:16] It doesn't get any protection. But when Boaz spreads his skirt over Ruth, his cloak over Ruth, he is both protecting and claiming, as it were.
[22:29] And she is doing this in willingness, obedience to her mother-in-law, because she trusts her mother-in-law as a woman of God, and she has come to trust under the protection of the Lord.
[22:42] And she believes in chapter 2, verse 12 of Ruth, the Lord recompensed thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
[22:54] He that sheltereth under the shadow of the Almighty is protected under the shadow of his wings. His feathers shall be hide. Under whose wings thou art come to trust.
[23:06] There is a claim. And God has this claim on his children. And by covering over them, he covers not only their sins, but he lays claim also.
[23:17] Just as with the tabernacle, when the cloud settles on the tabernacle, it's not like God is trying to blot out what Moses has done in obedience to his command. When the cloud settles, the Lord is claiming ownership of the tabernacle.
[23:32] He is laying claim to it. He is saying, I'll dwell here. And this is also what he does for his children. When he lays claim, as it were, to even their sins.
[23:45] Remember on the cross, he takes our sins upon himself. And as he dies, the sin dies with him. He lays claim to it. He claims ownership of his children.
[23:58] He claims, as it were, ownership, even of their sins, if we can say that reverently. He takes them upon himself. We receive his righteousness, and he takes our sin, and it dies with him.
[24:11] In Isaiah chapter 44, the Lord says, I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins.
[24:26] Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. With the settling, as it were, of the cloud, we have the blotting out, the covering over, of the sins of the Lord's people.
[24:38] Return to me, because I have redeemed thee. That's what the blotting out of sin is doing. Sing ye, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout ye lower parts of the earth.
[24:49] Break forth into singing, ye mountains, or forests, and every tree therein, for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob. And then we have the clue, as to why does he bother, to redeem sinners, even though they may be his children.
[25:03] Why does he bother, to make them his children? Because we're not his children, by nature, as the Lord Jesus Christ is, we're his children by adoption. Why does he go to the trouble of making us his children?
[25:16] Because the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel. God is glorified in the redemption of sinners.
[25:28] Because God is glorified in the doing of that which would be impossible for anyone else. For with God all things are possible.
[25:40] And God is glorified in doing the impossible. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins.
[25:52] Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. So as he puts his cloud, as it were, over his children, he not only blots out the sight of their sins, but he claims ownership, just as he does of the tabernacle.
[26:10] And this ownership, this desiring to be clothed over with his, not so much skirt or cloak, but with the whole righteousness of the Lord, this is what Paul makes reference to in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5.
[26:26] For in this we groan earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked.
[26:38] For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened, not for that we will be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
[26:50] Death doesn't go away, but it becomes swallowed up by what comes over the top of it. It's like if you were going for a job interview and you needed a lot of qualifications.
[27:03] You just happen to be a doctor of philosophy, you've got your PhD and you've got your previous degree from your university and they said, now your qualifications, Mr. So-and-so, you don't say, oh come on, look at the standard grades I've got here, look at these, and look at my 11 plus and so on.
[27:18] You've got your PhD and your degrees and all your other things that they're not interested in these school qualifications. Why would you bring these out? It's not that they have become invalid, it's not that you have been struck off from the results that you got in fourth year or in primary school or whatever, but these things have been swallowed up with what has come in.
[27:37] You've since got a degree, you've since got a doctorate, you've swallowed up these things with greater achievement that has come on top of that. nobody who is perhaps, let's say, celebrating a 20 years marriage or something like that is going to say, oh yeah, but you know, I've been 22 years engaged.
[27:57] And they don't make a big deal of the betrothal when the marriage has come. Nobody weeps at a wedding for the end of the engagement. They may weep with emotion at the beginning of the marriage, but it's because the one is swallowed up of the other.
[28:13] It's not that they're breaking off the engagement when they take their marriage vows. It's that the one swallows up the other. The one continues to be valid, but it is clothed upon with something superior.
[28:28] And so likewise here, Paul talks about, you know, we don't want to be unclothed. It's not that we're so desperate to die, but we want the fullness of life in Christ to clothe over our life that we have so far.
[28:42] That being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we are there on this time on Apple de Groene being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
[28:56] A person with a doctrine and a degree doesn't say, oh, well, I wish I didn't have them so that my standard grades would stand out more and people see what hands I've got. You've got these things, they swallow it up.
[29:08] Nobody who is yearning to be with his bride said, oh, I wish this engagement was finished. I wish it was broken off. What he means is, I wish we were married.
[29:19] I wish we were together. I wish the one that is good and that we delighted to enter into is swallowed up of the greater. So likewise, when we turn back a couple of pages to 1 Corinthians in chapter 15, this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.
[29:44] So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that is written again from Isaiah, death is swallowed up in victory.
[29:56] Oh, death, where does thy sting? Oh, grave, where does thy victory? Yes, we do physically die. Yes, we do pass through death. death, but it's just like you pass through as it were engagement before marriage, you pass through standard grades or old grades as it was in my day before you do high, before you do degrees, before you do any doctorates or anything that clever people might do after that.
[30:20] The one who leads to the other, the one is swallowed up of the other. Death is not the end in itself, it's the gateway to the fullness of life. Death is swallowed up in victory because it is clothed upon, because the covering that goes over doesn't take away the first to make us naked, it clothes us with that which is even better.
[30:49] One of the final ways in which we might think in terms of covering over is in order to enhance the beauty or honour. When the Lord talks about the coverings that would go over the ark and over the tabernacle, he talks not just about badger skins or ramskins dyed red but a fine twine linen of hangings of blue and purple and scarlet and so on and the fine twine linen.
[31:17] He talks about the beauty of that which is designed to draw forth admiration. We talked a minute a while ago about, you know, modesty or immodesty and flesh being on display or not on display.
[31:31] Even two people know each other completely, totally as husband and wife and they know everything about each other and so, you know, whether they're whatever clothes they're wearing, they don't love each other any less or more but at the same time, somebody, if they're attending a special event, let's say, a woman's going somewhere with her husband and she comes down and she comes down the stairs in this fantastic, beautiful ball gown he's never seen before and the colours and the beauty and the material he thinks, wow, you look beautiful tonight, darling, you might say.
[32:02] And it's not that she's not beautiful to him other times, but the clothes she's wearing, the covering she's put on enhances the beauty in his eyes and likewise, let's say somebody was a military person, a soldier or something, he could wear his fatigues or his camouflage or whatever he liked but on a special occasion he might wear his dress uniform with all his medals and resplendent in the beauty of his uniform and his wife might say, oh, you look wonderful tonight, darling, look so handsome in your uniform.
[32:35] Now, whatever he wears, she will love him still but there are occasions when that which is our covering, that which it clothes over us may enhance the beauty in the eyes of the beholder.
[32:50] It may enhance the beauty or all the medals that he's got from all his military achievements might point and highlight his bravery or courage or faithfulness of service.
[33:00] It might draw the eye, it might enhance the honour or the beauty just as the the ball gown and all that. The wedding lets me enhance the beauty of one who is already beloved and already dear in the eyes of the one who has their heart.
[33:19] So likewise, when the Lord clothes over his children with his holy righteousness, it's not that he doesn't love them unless they look good, but it's rather because he loves them and because he has paid the price of their sin, because they have been washed in his precious blood, he desires to enhance the beauty and the honour of his children and so they are clothed in his perfect righteousness.
[33:57] The coverings that we find throughout the Bible can have many different purposes. They may be to conceal, they may be to protect, they may be to claim ownership, they may be to enhance with beauty or honour, they may be any number of different ways depending on who is doing the covering, what's being covered with, why are they covering nowhere?
[34:23] but if you think even in colloquial terms, if somebody says something, you know, don't worry about this, I've got it covered. Let's say you were going for a meal somewhere with somebody and you went for your checkbook or your cousin and said, it's okay, I'll get this, I've got it covered.
[34:41] Somebody says they've got it covered, it means that even though they may have not done it yet, it's already in hand, it's already covered. Now, even if you say, oh, thank you very much, it's very kind of you are, you shouldn't really, oh, it's already through trouble.
[34:55] You don't then go up with them to the cash deck and look over their shoulders as they take out their credit cards and say, I just want to make sure you're doing it, it's okay, I do trust it, thank you for the good, I just want to make sure you're doing it, I just want to see you doing it.
[35:08] You don't go with them every step of the way, if they say I've got it covered, you relax, you let go, you trust, you believe that they will do as they said.
[35:18] And when the Lord says to us, put your trust in me, let go of the burden of your sin because it's covered, I've got it covered.
[35:31] You don't then say, oh, well, that's all very well, Lord, but I just want to come and make sure that you've done it because I don't feel it yet, I'm not really sure, I'd like to do a bit myself as well, I just want to go with it, look over your shoulder and see that you're doing it right, because I can't be relaxed right up to the last minute.
[35:46] You trust, you believe it is the height of this courtesy even to a fellow human being, to a fellow colleague, if they say, I've got it covered, you say, well, thanks very much, you go, and walk them with it every step of the way, look over their shoulders, say, I just want to see you do it, just want to make sure it's done, you let go, and you let God deal with what he has promised.
[36:09] When the Lord covers over his tabernacle, when the Lord clothes over his children, when the Lord deals with the sin and he loves, when the Lord says it is covered, then you have to let go, and you have to believe, and you have to recognize that he has the power that we don't have, and that we who would be lost, and poor, and blind, and naked without him are covered, clothed, claimed by the love and the power of Christ.
[36:47] Amen.