18 Thou shalt also make a laver of
brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it
between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put
water therein. 19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash
their hands and their feet thereat: 20 When
they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water,
that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn
offering made by fire unto the LORD: 21 So
they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be
a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their
generations. 22 Moreover the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, 23 Take thou also unto thee
principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon
half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two
hundred and fifty shekels, 24 And of cassia five hundred
shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an
ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy
anointing oil. (Ex
30:18-25)
The traditional worship of the Reformation Church of England follows closely
those patterns of worship revealed in God’s Word. It is reverent – a necessity
laid down by God “. . . we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto
the Father of spirits, and live?” – (Heb 12:9) – and Holy. It conforms, at
many points, to the Tabernacle worship practices that foreshadowed the High
Priest of God – the Lord Jesus Christ.
During every Holy Communion Service, worshippers repeat (with the priest) the
Prayer of Humble Access just prior to reception of the Communion. This
establishes our credentials of faith and sincerity in coming to the Table of
the Lord. The Prayer of Humble Access is NEVER omitted for this prayer stands
in the stead of the Brazen Laver – a type and shadow of Christ. The Brazen
Laver was a washbasin made of the brass mirrors donated by the women of Israel.
It stood between the Tabernacle ‘Holy Place’ and the Bronze Altar. The Bronze
Altar represents the sacrifice Christ made for us at Calvary. The priests could
not approach the Bronze Altar before washing themselves in the Brazen Laver.
All who come to Christ and His Communion must be washed by the Blood of Christ
prior to coming; else their reception of the Communion is not valid. The Laver
stood between the Altar and the Holy Place because we could not have been
washed from our sins had the Altar of Sacrifice of the Lord not preceded our coming:
|
W
|
E do
not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own
righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much
as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose
property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat
the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful
bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most
precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen[1]
This prayer, sincerely uttered from the heart, establishes our acceptance at
the Table of the Lord. Our worship and faith must not be of the silver-plated
variety, but sterling in quality and earnestness.
The water of the laver, and its refined and polished surface, enabled the
priests to see their own dirt bedecked faces before washing to our worthiness
to receive the Communion. Insofar as the Brazen Laver is concerned, we all come
as priests before God in worship for the officiating priest does not take
precedent over the whole congregation of the Church of God. “Unto him
that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:5-6) The veil of separation before
the Holy of Holies was torn from “top to bottom” at the death of our Lord
revealing that we need no human intermediary for our sins but the Lord who died
for us. We have equal access to the Throne of Mercy and Grace which is the
Throne of God. It is no longer the shadow of washing with water that suffices
to justify each of us as worshippers of God, but the Blood of Christ shed once
and for all for us. The Brazen Laver has been realized in the sacrifice of
Christ. Christ is our Brazen Laver – the Word in which we see our reflected
depravity, as well as justification, as if gazing into the mirror. We are
changed and perfected by that reflected perfection of Christ whose face we
behold in the mirror of His Word. “But we all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2
Cor 3:18)
After the priests of the Tabernacle had washed both hand and foot at the Brazen
Laver, had arrayed themselves with the proper attire of worship, they then
entered the Holy Place. So it is imperative that the Christian be washed both
inwardly and outwardly by the Blood of Christ before entering in worship of
Him. Let us not forget, either, the proper attire of worship – clean, modest,
and decent apparel worthy of that robe of righteousness conveyed by Christ. We
may then enter into the Communion of Christ. In our modern churches, men and
women enter the Church as if entering a movie theater – loud speech, gossip,
and irreverence. We should enter the worship place with quiet reverence. Even
the minister should not remain without to chatter with the communicants. This is
reserved for the fellowship hour following. As the above passage from Exodus
asserts, that prior to entering into the Holy Place, “. . . So they shall
wash their hands and their feet, that they die not.” This conforms
completely to the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he
that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark
16:16)
The Brazen Laver was an anointed instrument of worship. It was made Holy by the
anointing of God. So is every worshipper who washes at the ever-flowing
Fountain of Living Waters (the Lord Jesus Christ). The Fountain is Holy and
anointed by the Father. We must be cleansed at that fountain ere our worship
can be of any worth. Whoever touched, and was washed in the Brazen Laver was
considered Holy in the same sense that whatsoever touched or was placed on the
Bronze Altar was Holy to God. We have the Brazen Laver as our means of
cleansing since Christ has endured the Altar for us and in our stead. He came
to the altar of Sacrifice before so that we might be admitted later to the
presence of God.
Have you discovered your utter lack of righteousness by your looking into the
Mirror of God’s Word as did the priest in viewing their faces in the Brazen
Laver? Have you discovered your need to be washed, through and through, by His
Blood. The Lord Jesus Christ is our Brazen Laver that admits us into the Holy
Place. Have you been washed at that fountain?
