My Forsyth_March 2021

The Country Preacher
By Rev. David Hill
The Bible encourages us to take a
“selfie”. With this past year still fresh in our
memory, how do you look? It has been amusing
to watch as my grandchildren use their cell
phones as a camera hoping to capture unique
moments. Who could have envisioned using
a phone to take a picture? In the old days we
went into a booth, put in a quarter, and pulled
the curtain to get a picture with a friend.
Public figures, especially preachers and
politicians, are tempted to use older pictures
from their school, college, or marriage
when they looked slimmer and younger.
Often it is difficult to know who the person
in the picture is. The scripture in James 1:
22 – 25 reminds us that what people see us
do should reflect what we have read in the
Bible. “Be doers of the word and not hearers
only, deceiving your own selves”. To hear
and not do “. . . is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass . . . straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was”.
The Old Testament in Exodus 30:18 and
38:8 gives instructions for the priest to offer
sacrifice in the Tabernacle for daily sins
picturing Christian prayers for forgiveness and
one-time forgiveness symbolizing a new birth.
The Tabernacle was in three parts reflecting
the Trinity. It was in the midst of the tribes of
Israel. Jesus is identified as the true tabernacle
(Hebrews 9:11). To enter the tabernacle the
priest must visit a laver of brass where the basin
was lined with the women’s looking glasses and
filled with water for washing. On behalf of the
people, the priest must be cleansed before he
can approach the door of the Holy Place. At the
laver of brass, the priest would see himself while
washing before taking in the sacrifice for sins.
These symbols (Hebrews 8:1-6) are part of the
Old Testament teaching that God is too holy to
be approached without cleansing. Revelation
4:6 describes the Laver of Brass as a Sea of Glass
(looking glasses) before the entrance to the Holy
Place along with the Ark of the Covenant. The
pattern shown in the Old Testament tabernacle
is seen in some of the description of Heaven
found in Hebrews and Revelation.
The Old Testament emphasis on the
Ten Commandments and the holiness of
the tabernacle give us a glimpse of God the
Father that human effort cannot cleanse us
enough to wipe away our sins and live in
the presence of God. We must have a sinless
sacrifice to do what we cannot do ourselves.
The New Testament Gospels (the life of Jesus
in the flesh) gives us the Lord Jesus Christ as
the sinless sacrifice doing what we can’t do. II
Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him”.
The New Testament from Acts to Revelation
shows us the power of God in redemption by
the Holy Spirit. How is your selfie?
56 MYFORSYTHMAG.COM VOLUME XI | ISSUE 1