Ex 30:7+8, And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. And when Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 
	When last we were together, we looked at the fact that the priests of the Old Testament were responsible for the continual burning of the incense as a means of representing the prayers of the people to God. They were lifted, so to speak, on the smoke of the fragrant incense unto the mercy seat of the Most High Lord God Almighty. 
	We also considered the truth that the people did not know how to pray to the Lord in the manner that would correlate to His Holiness and His Awesomeness and His Perfection. The detailed and prescribed way to approach His Holy Altar was set in place for the consecrated approach by the priests as they were performing their duties and obligations. This was only after intensive preparation including the washing and the sacrifices necessary to present themselves before God. 
	This was precluded from the vast number of the people because if they tried to enter the sanctified place before the altar, they would have been struck down in their sin and trespasses. Therefore, they brought their petitions and their offerings of praise and supplication and thanksgiving before God through the priestly order. It was incumbent upon the priests to teach the populace of the things of God as part of their priestly responsibilities. We also recognized that there were those who called upon God, who were not priests, but even these recognized that the vast majority of the prayers received by God were as stipulated through the incense offerings.
	We also spent time in the truth that we, too, need help and instruction in the manner of our prayers unto God. By the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are taught how to pray as we ought to pray in the will of God. As well, The Holy Spirit teaches us all things and guides us into all truth. In addition, He prays for us at those times when we just do not know how to pray. Sometimes it is during times of tremendous stress and strain and pain and sorrow and suffering, when we just cannot think of any manner of coming to the Lord God Almighty. At other times, it is when we are at a complete loss of adequate vocabulary to praise and worship God, when the Holy Spirit intercedes and fills our thoughts and hearts with His prayers springing forth unto the glory of God. In either case, and at a vast variety of other times, it is the Holy Spirit, through Whom our prayers are brought before the throne of the Most Holy and Righteous God.
All of this is in and by Jesus Christ, because He has made us priests and ministers by His very ordination of us through His own consecrated blood. We find this spelled out for us in Rev 1:4-6. Rev 1:4-6, John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 
In Him, we are free to offer prayer to God at all times without any fear of rejection or condemnation. This was not as prevalent in the days of the Levitical order. The people were more afraid of God and what He would do to them because He was Holy and they were not. They did not want to risk coming to God directly, so they chose to let the priests bring their concerns to God as their representatives before Him. 
	This has all completely changed for us in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul proclaims this full freedom that we now have from any fear of condemnation before God or man in Rom 8:33-39. Please turn to it and read along with me. 
Rom 8:33-39, Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
	Because we are covered forever by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His Holiness and His Righteousness, there is nothing that can condemn us any longer before either the Throne of God’s judgment seat or before the taunts and ridicules of this age. We are washed clean forever by the blood of the Lamb. We are no longer subject to anything that would try to separate us from the love of God. Therefore, we have ready and complete access to the throne of the Most High, in Jesus, and can bring before Him at all times, the prayers of our hearts and the prayers for those whom He puts upon our hearts. 
	This is such a wonderful truth of how we have free and unhindered access to the very heart of God since Jesus has made Him Our Heavenly Father. Every shred of anxiety and fear to come into the presence of The Holy Lord God Almighty is set aside because Jesus has done such an all-encompassing work through His death and resurrection. He has even taught us the manner in which our prayers are to be voiced unto the glory of God. 
	We have this prescribed for us so familiarly in Matt 6:5-13. This is not a prayer that is filled with dread and nervousness and apprehension that we might not be worthy to give voice to our hearts before the awesomeness of God. It is a prayer of intimacy and seeking after that which will bring both parties into a greater relationship with the other. It is a recognition that we need to honor Our Heavenly Father, not in fear of consequences, but in the manner in which we can give expression to our more increasing desire to please Him. It is a prayer filled with the fragrant incense of love. 
Matt 6:5-13, "And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you. "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. "Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him. "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 'Give us this day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.]' 
	The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonian Church, 1 Thess 5:16-18, details the manner in which we are to practice our offering of prayer unto God at all times, much like the perpetual offering of incense of the priestly order. 1 Thess 5:16-18, Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 
Because of the perfect access that we are given unto the Throne of God’s grace by the mighty work of Jesus, we are encouraged to constantly bring unto God our prayers with continual rejoicing and thanksgiving. This is to be a living characteristic of those who are so covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are to be men and women of rejoicing, constant prayer, and thankfulness unto Our Lord God, Our Savior. 
	The Writer to the Hebrews, in Heb 7:23-28, details, in very precise terminology, the fact that we have, in Jesus Christ, a perfect High Priest, through Whom our every prayer has been given access to the throne of God. As we are so freed to pray without ceasing, so does He intercede on our behalf at all times to bring our petitions before the Father with all assurance that God will act on those prayers. As He eternally intercedes on our behalf, we will have the perfect advocate to bear our requests, our praises, our thanksgiving, and our supplications with expedient and generous deliberation unto each perfect conclusion. 
	Heb 7:23-28, And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers, because they were prevented by death from continuing, but He, on the other hand, because He abides forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. 
	The Writer, in Chapter 9, verses 23+24, goes on to detail the fact that all the aspects of what God required in the specific building of the tabernacles, whether the tent of meeting or the temple itself, as well as the prescribed manner of the service required in the sacrifices and the offerings, including the offering of incense are all fulfilled by the perfect work of Jesus Christ. Those were all physical types, copies of what would be eternally in place in the heavenlies as instituted by Christ for each one of us before the presence of God. Heb 9:23+24, Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 
	We will draw this to a close with the reinforcement of our prayers being considered as the fragrant incense as we read in a couple of passages in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Please turn in your Bibles to Rev 5:6-10. Rev 5:6-10, And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came, and He took it out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. "And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." 
	Note how the prayers of the saints are an integral part of the scene set before us. Our prayers are an element of the response of God, in that we are communicating with Him in a relational aspect. True relationships require dialogue and communication in order to thrive and that is the fragrant aroma of our prayers before God. 
	And then in Rev 8:3+4, Rev 8:3+4, And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. 
The prayers of the saints are precious to God. He makes every provision for them in the course of the outcome of the Day of Judgment. They are never wasted nor are they ever ignored. This is why it is such a glorious reality that we are taught by the Holy Spirit how to pray according to the will of God. It is as the church submits herself to the preparation required for the full desire after only the will of God that we can pray together in accordance for that which will find complete correspondence to what will take place on earth as it is in heaven. So be it!
And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. And when Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 104:31. Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; Let the Lord be glad in His works; Amen.