The Incense of Righteousness

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Ephesians 5:2.
The showbread was kept ever before the Lord as a perpetual offering…. It was called showbread, or “bread of the presence,” because it was ever before the face of the Lord. It was an acknowledgment of man’s dependence upon God for both temporal and spiritual food, and that it is received only through the mediation of Christ…. Both the manna and the showbread pointed to Christ, the living bread, who is ever in the presence of God for us.
In the offering of incense the priest was brought more directly into the presence of God than in any other act of the daily ministration. As the inner veil of the sanctuary did not extend to the top of the building, the glory of God, which was manifested above the mercy seat, was partially visible from the first apartment. When the priest offered incense before the Lord, he looked toward the ark; and as the cloud of incense arose, the divine glory descended upon the mercy seat and filled the most holy place, and often so filled both apartments that the priest was obliged to retire to the door of the tabernacle. As in that typical service the priest looked by faith to the mercy seat which he could not see, so the people of God are now to direct their prayers to Christ, their great high priest, who, unseen by human vision, is pleading in their behalf in the sanctuary above.
The incense, ascending with the prayers of Israel, represents the merits and intercession of Christ, His perfect righteousness, which through faith is imputed to His people, and which can alone make the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God. Before the veil of the most holy place, was an altar of perpetual intercession, before the holy, an altar of continual atonement. By blood and by incense, God was to be approached—symbols pointing to the great Mediator, through whom sinners may approach Jehovah, and through whom alone mercy and salvation can be granted to the repentant, believing soul.
The Faith I Live By p. 197
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Prayer Requests
—-I have a job interview this afternoon. Please pray that I get hired if it is God’s will. JT
—-Please pray for Lou, Larry, and Mike today as the hospital will be explaining options. Eileen
—-Please say a Prayer for one of my Best friends and her Family. Laura
—-Your prayers would be appreciated for a memorial service, that God’s grace and power will enter into the hearts of those present as we remember Sister Kathy Farrow and look to Jesus. Pastor Rich
—-Please keep my granddaughter in your prayers, today is her first day of college, and being away from home, she is overwhelmed with anxiety. Praying for her roommates, all students, and the university. Dorothenia
—-Im requesting prayer for Daniel who was on an ATV when for God only knows why he hit an embankement was thrown off landed on his face. All of the bones of his face broken, crushed. His shoulder shatted. A few disks broken. He is internally bleeding. His ribs are fractured and his heart stops and starts with no rhyme or rhythm. He is finally stabilizing and he will be going into surgery tomorrow. I am feeling optimistic.- Maria
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Dear Friends,
In 1980, about a year after we lost everything in a fire, a certain lady started going to the church we attended. When she heard of our misfortune, she brought us a woolen blanket that had great sentimental value to her. Even though it was precious to her, she wanted us to have it. It had been woven from the wool of her brother’s own sheep. It was not dyed, but it was the strangest shade of black I’d ever seen. Her brother raised black sheep. Most wool feels prickly, but this blanket didn’t. It wasn’t soft, but it wasn’t irritating either. She loved that blanket, but she gave it to us because she knew we had need.
That blanket became very special to me because of the sacrifice that woman made. It became very special to Ronnie Jay too, because when he was old enough to sleep in a regular bed, that blanket became his. He loved that blanket and used it for many years. It was his comfort and warmth. Over the years, it began to unravel and got a few holes in it. I mended it and mended it, but in reality, it was too worn out. Still, we did not want to get rid of it because of Ronnie Jay’s attachment to it.
One day, while I was at work, Ron threw it away. Ronnie Jay was terribly upset and pleaded with his father to let him keep it. Eileen, knowing how much that wool blanket meant to her little brother rescued that blanket. She told her father of her plan. She would make him a quilt and use that blanket inside for warmth. He consented.
Eileen had never made a quilt before, but she had seen them, so she had a fairly good idea as to how they were made. She took our old clothes and cut them into pieces and sewed them together. She left pockets and zippers in the cut up pieces. Day after day she worked on that quilt whenever she had free time. This was no easy task with her vision problems, but hers was a labor of love.
Months later the quilt was completed. She gave it to Ronnie Jay for Christmas. He was thrilled when he found that he could unzip the zippers she had incorporated into the quilt and “visit” his well-loved wool blanket. He was delighted with the pockets that she had stuffed with candy and little toys. Each pocket brought a new discovery. It was truly a labor of love, and her little brother’s happiness was a great reward for all those many hours she had spent sewing it all by hand.
Our Loving Heavenly Father gives us gifts that have cost much more than that quilt ever did. He gave us His own dear Son. All Heaven was wrapped up in that Great Gift. He poured out all His Love, all His Care in His Great Sacrifice. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16,17 What wonderful love! It was the greatest sacrifice He could make! But Our Great Redeemer goes even beyond that Gift. He desires to dwell with us each moment of the day. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev 3:20 He wants to be our constant companion. He wants us to share our good times with Him as well as our times of trial and discouragement.
And if that isn’t enough, He promises, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:9-13
Beyond all these blessings, our Dear Saviour assures us, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3 Think of it! All Heaven is working toward our joining the great family above!
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Rev 21:1-7; 22:17, 20,21
Rose