In verses 13 to 27, we have the great altar and its service. We will not read the whole section, but just the first verses of that section.
And these are the measures of the altar by cubits (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): the bottom shall be a cubit, and the breadth a cubit, and the border thereof by the edge round about a span; and this shall be the base of the altar.
Then we are given more particulars about the measurement and the ministry.
We all understand that the altar in the Old Testament is always a type of the cross. This altar is the place of the whole burnt offering. In Hebrews 11, the Lord Jesus is likened to the whole burnt offering.
So we are going this morning to think about the centrality and the universality of the cross.
Now we have seen that the whole area of the temple was square. If we draw diagonal lines from each corner, at the place where those lines meet in the whole area was the altar.
You will recognize that this is different from the tabernacle in the wilderness. The court of the tabernacle was not square, and the altar of burnt offering was right at the gate. Now, in this temple, the altar is right in the centre of the square. It is important to realize that.
The central place in everything is the altar. This represents the temple, and I would like you to know that this is not drawn to scale. Probably my temple is bigger than the actual temple, and I only put it there to show you the position.
This is the whole temple area. The altar governs everything.
It governs everything as to the house. That is, all that was actually the temple was governed by the altar. If you had a plan of this whole house, with the different courts and the whole area, you would see that all the chambers and the places where the offerings were prepared were all around.
But everything in the house and in the whole area was governed by the altar. And then all the ministry of the house was governed by the altar. We could say that there was no ministry that was not related to the altar.
Well then, beyond the house and beyond the immediate area, right out to the whole land, everything was governed by the altar. We shall see that the river which came down through the whole land came by way of the altar.
Here we have a very important and vital truth. When the cross is in its place, with its full measure, everything else will be in order, and everything else will be given its meaning and its value.
I feel that I cannot say this too strongly. We are so often concerned about the outside things: about the order of the house of the Lord, about the ministry of the house of the Lord, and about the people who are related to the house of the Lord.
We are always beginning on the outside. We are trying to set up an order of the house of God. We are trying to put the people of the house right. We are very much concerned about the ministers and the ministries.
But if the cross were really in its place, with its full dimensions, all those things would see to themselves. The people would be right if the cross was in its place. The ministries would be living if the cross was in its place. The order of the house would be right if the cross was in its place.
It just does work that way. If the cross is right at the centre in full measure—and note that it is a large altar—everything else will come into its right place and into a living relationship.
Although it is not said so here, I think we are right in concluding that this altar was of brass. The altar in the tabernacle was of brass; the altar in Solomon’s temple was of brass; and I think we can assume that this altar was of brass.
We have already met brass in the man in the gate, and we have said that with his reed he measured everything according to what he was. Brass is the type of the righteous judgments of God.
This great altar represents the fullness of the righteous judgments of God. This altar of brass is measured by the man of brass, so that this altar represents God’s full judgment.
In this altar of whole burnt offering, the one unrighteous man is completely removed. The ashes were taken from this altar and emptied onto the ground at the side of the altar.
That is a picture of God’s mind about the unrighteous, or the natural, man. He is consumed in the power of God’s judgment. He is reduced to ashes, and he is poured out on the ground. That is God’s mind about the natural man.
On the other side, it is only the righteous man that can stand here in the presence of this altar. So those are the two sides of the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
On the one side, He was made sin for us. In that capacity, He was fully consumed and brought to ashes. When He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” it was the cry of the ashes. He had been brought to ashes and poured out on the ground.
But then there was the other side of the cross. He knew no sin. In Himself, there was no unrighteousness, and therefore He can go through the altar. He can live after the fire.
Thou wilt not suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption.
Because in Himself there was no sin, He could not be holden of death. His own nature could overcome all the righteous judgments of God.
This is the meaning of the great altar: one man is brought to an end, and another Man stands in His place. Everything has been judged at the altar. Everything is judged in the cross.
We have been judged in the cross of the Lord Jesus, and in our own selves we have been brought to an end. Everything of the natural has been judged and brought to an end in the cross of the Lord Jesus.
It is a very important thing to recognize that. That is why I have said that if the cross is in its place, everything else would be right.
The house will be right—that is, the church will be right. The ministry will be right. The order will be right. You will not have to go to work to try and bring about a right order. It spontaneously comes out of the work of the cross.
I do hope that you are writing that in your mind. You may meet disorders in the house of God. You may meet the natural man in the house of God. You may meet conditions which are all wrong in the house of God.
How are you going to deal with them? You can only deal with them by the principle of the cross. You cannot deal with the people themselves. You cannot deal with the things themselves. But if only you can bring the cross into that situation, you have solved the whole problem.
I remember many years ago, I was speaking in America. I was asked to go and speak to the teachers of a great Sunday school.
You may know that in America, Sunday school does not mean little children. Sunday school means adults just as much as little children. This was one of the biggest Sunday schools in America. It was in one of the most famous churches in America.
They had everything that you could think of. Right in the centre of the great Sunday school building, there was a pond, a fountain, and goldfish. Up at the back of the great building was a wonderful pipe organ. Then there was an echo organ, and there was a giant chime of bells attached to the organ.
I could go on describing this wonderful Sunday school. The superintendent of that Sunday school asked me to go out to lunch with him. This was before I was to speak to all the teachers.
At the lunch table, he told me a very terrible story. He said, “Mr. Sparks, I want your help. I have a great problem in this Sunday school.
“I cannot get my teachers to study the Bible and teach the Bible. They bring anything along to the Sunday school and read it to the classes. Any book that has anything of religion in it, they bring that and read that as their lesson to the class.
“They are worldly people. They will not come to a prayer meeting, and I cannot do anything with them. What am I to do? Will you please give me the solution to my problem?”
I said, “Yes, I think I have got the solution.” So I took my Bible and opened it at Romans 6. Now, everybody here knows Romans 6, and I went through Romans 6 with him.
I said, “What you need to do is to speak to these teachers about their identification with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection.”
In other words, you must make them see the meaning of the cross. I spoke to him about the meaning of union with Christ. That is the real meaning of the cross.
As I spoke to him about that, I saw the light coming into his face. He said, “This is it. You have solved my problem. You have put your finger on the key to the whole situation.
“I myself have never seen that before. Therefore, in my teacher-training classes, I have never said anything like that. I believe if I go back to my teacher-training classes with that message, it may solve my problem.”
I went to the teachers that afternoon. You can be sure that I felt the Lord had given me my message, and I spoke to them about the cross.
I was very surprised to see how attentive they were. They all opened their eyes and followed every word that I said. They had never seen it before.
I do not know what permanent effect it had upon them. I never heard of what happened afterwards; I had to go away. But there is no doubt about it: the cross made an impression that day.
At least one man saw that it would solve all the problems if only they realized it. If only the cross had its place, all the other problems would be solved.
It is like that. We do not start from the outside. We do not start with the people. We do not start with the order of the Lord’s house. We do not start with the ministry. We start with the cross, and if only people see the cross, everything else will put itself right.
Everything is judged by the cross.
Now, I am going to indicate something to you that I shall not be able to follow through. I think this is what the Lord is saying to me for Hong Kong next week. So, if you want to hear it all, you must all come to Hong Kong next week. But I will just give you the outline.
The letter to the Romans is the message of the cross in its full measure. In that letter to the Romans, you see the great measurement of the cross. The cross comprehends all things. It brings the whole race in Adam to an end, and it begins an entirely new race in Christ.
It is very impressive that the first of these letters should put the cross there in its full measurement. You all know that the letter to the Romans was not the first letter written by Paul, but the Holy Spirit has put it first in the arrangement.
I think the Holy Spirit had something to do with the arrangement of the books in the New Testament. In His sovereign arrangement of this Book, He has put the altar in its fullness right at the beginning.
In 1 Corinthians, the cross is applied to the natural and the carnal man inside the church. The natural and the carnal man has come in where he has no right to be. This unrighteous man has slipped in through the gate.
So the apostle brings Christ crucified over against the natural and the carnal man. The cross in 1 Corinthians has to do with that man, not outside the church, as in Romans, but inside the church.
The second letter to the Corinthians sets the cross in relation to ministry. That letter shows us that ministry flows out of a broken and a humble vessel.
The letter to the Galatians: in that letter, the cross is brought down upon making Christianity into another legal system and bringing Christians into bondage.
How strong the apostle is in that letter. But see how he uses the cross. He uses the cross tremendously against that effort to make Christianity into a legal system and to bring believers into bondage again.
In the letter to the Ephesians, the work of the cross is to put the church on heavenly ground. The cross in Ephesians completely cuts the church out from all earthly ground. It puts the church outside of time. It puts the church outside of the world.
The cross in Philippians is applied to that which is spoiling the harmony of the Lord’s people. There is a painful dislocation inside the church. There is a spot where things are unhappy.
That is because of personal interest and pride. Some people will not let go of their personal interest. Some people will not let go of their pride. They have been offended, and they are not going to forgive.
So the apostle brings the cross there over against this discord and dislocation. He points out that if only the cross were in those lives, everything would be put right.
This letter shows that the cross delivers from all false spirituality. The cross sets aside all that is mere mysticism, and everything that would make Christ less than He is.
The letters to the Thessalonians: here the cross is the strength for suffering and inspiration unto the coming of the Lord.
There may not be much said about the cross, actually, but the principle of these letters is the principle of the cross. The people were suffering for Christ’s sake. They were suffering the loss of all things, and they had thought that the Lord would have come to deliver them. The Lord was delaying His coming.
So the apostle tells them that their sufferings will issue in the coming of the Lord in glory. Their sufferings are sufferings with Christ. They are sufferings for Christ’s sake. It is fellowship in the cross.
But the sufferings issue in glory. The Lord is coming, and then it will be all right. The cross has a very real message for suffering believers.
And then we just conclude this survey with the letter to the Hebrews. In the letter to the Hebrews, the cross shows how everything is brought to fullness and to finality.
Now all this relates to the house on its inside. It touches character. It touches order. It touches ministry. If the cross is in its place, everything will be affected.
Now, I have not just given you some Bible teaching. I know that this is true. I could tell you a story out of personal experience. I have seen all these problems solved just by preaching the cross.
I have seen a revolution in a church just by preaching the cross. I have seen the Lord producing His new order just by preaching the cross. The cross is the key to everything.
Then what is true on the inside is also true on the outside. It is the cross which affects the whole range of the church’s influence. The river comes by way of the cross.
That is the influence that goes out from the sanctuary to the whole land. It is the cross which gives effectiveness to the ministry to the whole world. The apostles preached everywhere Christ crucified.
And then we know another thing: the altar was the great defence against the enemy.
If you look in Ezra 3:3, you have this:
They set the altar in its place; for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands.
Because fear of the peoples of the land was upon them, they put the altar in its place. The cross is a great defence.