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The Tabernacle When the storms come He is with us in the ship. When death enters the home 'He the Resurrection and the Life, ' ' . . is with us. Even as He said to Israel of old, He is saymg to us today, "Fear not: for I have redeemed thee.... Fear not: for I am with thee" (Isaiah 43: 1, 5), Dear troubled Christian, would you like to know what pr:yer He utters even now before "the throne of grace" for you? Then read the seventeenth chapter o! John. Hear Him ask the Father to keep you f~om the ev~l one, to cleanse you through His Word, to give you His own joy, to make you a soul-winner-"that _the wo~ld may believe" that the Father sent His Son t? die-to g~ve you the exalted position of union with Him, to. receive you unto Himself, to "behold" and to share His glory v.rhich He had with the Father "before the world was"! That is our Lord's High Priestly prayer; and that is the kind of prayer He ever prays on our behalf. When we go astray, He prays for us, and brings us near to Himself. When we need encouragement and strength, He gives it by His Holy Spirit. Let us spend more and more time w-ith Him and with His Word; and we shall become ever- increasingly conscious of His abiding Presence, and of His prevailing prayer for us before our Father in hea:en. What more could we want in respect to eternal security? "We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous!" (I John 2: 1). As another has expressed it, He may give us the de- sires of our hearts immediately. He may say, "No,'' to us, because He has something better to give. Or He may say, uWait a while-wait till you are strengthened and tested; -wait till the dross is consumed, even as gold is refined by
228 The Tabernacle for a fleeting moment in the hustle and bustle of the day, possibly for an hour alone with Him "in the secret place." We need no earthly priest to represent us before the golden altar in heaven; for the veil of the temple has been rent in twain, "the way into the holiest" forever opened through "his flesh," which was bruised for our sins. And because He suffered, He is our sympathetic Saviour! Because He is God, He is our all-powerful Lord! "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted" (Heb. 2:18). "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, sin apart (R. V.)" (Heb. 4:15). "And his name shall be called. . . . The mighty God" (Isaiah 9:6). On earth He was hungry and weary; despised and re- jected; betrayed and forsaken; mocked and crucified. He knows the agony of suffering such as we can never under- stand. And He knows when we are troubled and per- plexed and tested and tried. "He knows; He loves; He cares!" Not only so; but He is the Omnipotent God, "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever" (Heb. 13: 8). He is our ever-living, unchanging Priest before the golden altar which is in heaven! Then why do we worry? Why do we fear? We do not honor Him through worry and fear. Let us, rather, listen to His reassuring words, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). "Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?.... It is I myself" (Luke 24:38, 39).
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