Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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And the breasts and the right shoulder Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded. And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering and the burnt offering and peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle of the congregation, and came out and blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people.
And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed.
Upon the altar, the burnt offering and the fat, which, when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces.
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire there in, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not, and there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.
And Aaron held his peace.
And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan the sons of Uzziah the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eliezer, and unto Ithamar his sons. And cover not your heads, neither rend your clothes, lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people. But let your.
Better in the whole House of Israel beware the burning which the Lord hath kindled.
And you shall not go out from the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine, nor strong drink thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die, shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy.
And between unclean and clean. And that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar his sons that were left. Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar. It is most holy.
And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy dew and thy Son's due.
Of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire. For so I am commanded. And the wave breast and heaved shoulders shall he eat in a clean place, thou thy sons, and thy daughters with thee. For they be thy dew, and thy sons dew, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace. Offerings of the children of Israel. And the huge shoulder and the wave brass shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord.
And it shall be thine, and thy sons with thee by a statute forever, as the Lord hath commanded.
And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burnt. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, which were left alive, saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.
Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place. He should indeed have eaten it in the holy place as I commanded.
And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, And such things have befallen me. And if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? And when Moses heard that, he was content.
Well, there's one principle that runs through the Scripture that is very precious to our souls when we get hold of it, and that is that God always shows His purpose before man is placed under responsibility, that his purpose is to bless, and his purpose is to bless in and through the work of Christ. And then when man fails under responsibility, God always comes in in blessing, because blessing is secured to us, not through our.
Works but through what Christ has done. So we find going back even before sin had entered, we find that God made a helpmeet for Adam, a beautiful picture of Christ taking a bride. And then after sin entered we see everything breaks down in the hands of man. But when we turn over to the end of the Bible, we see that God's purpose is fulfilled, and that the Lord Jesus, the second man and last Adam is seen there.
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With a bride associated with him, How could it be? Well, it's all through the work that was accomplished on the cross of Calvary.
And we see this principle continually. God brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, sheltered under the blood. They were delivered from judgment. They were brought through the Red Sea. They were given food in the wilderness. The manna came down, the water flowed from the smitten rock, and Moses held up his hand the picture of the priesthood and advocacy of Christ. All this is brought before us before the people asked.
For the law at all and then when they asked for the law we know what happened they'd no sooner received it than they brought the first commandment they made a golden calf and they worshipped the golden calf. Well how could God bless a people like that well he had shown beforehand that is purpose to bless them was not going to be through their law keeping but through the through the blood that.
Sprinkled on the door and.
And how that He had shown too now that not only would they be sheltered, but that there would be 1 living for them in spite of their failure. And all this was beautifully brought before us before they ever were put under the law at all. And so when they did fail, then God instituted the sacrifices and the priesthood so that He could go on with that people in spite of all their failure.
Oh, it's a wonderful thing, brethren, to get hold of this.
Because we see what a wonderful book the Bible is. I often say the proof of the truth of the Bible is not found through science. It's not found through our ecology and what man can discover, It's all found within the pages of this blessed book. There's no book to be compared with it so wonderfully does it bear the stamp of divine inspiration from cover to cover and the only reason that.
Unsaved men can't see any beauty in it is because they're blind until their eyes have been opened to see beauty in the Lord Jesus, to see him as their Savior. The little hymn says. Blind unbelief is sure to her and scan God's page in vain. God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain. And so he has given us his Holy Spirit, that we might know the things that are freely given.
To us of God. And so we find this order again brought before us in the book of Leviticus. We find the various sacrifices brought before us. In the early part of Leviticus. There was the burnt offering and the meat offering and the peace offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering. These five offerings were pictures of the various aspects of the work of Christ.
Also perfectly set before us in those various.
Sacrifices, and this was before the failure of the priesthood at all, because God saw in the work of his beloved Son a fullness that was going to meet all the people's needs and all. How good it is for us to see this too wonderful to know that the work of Christ has fully glorified God, has fully met our need as sinners, and has brought us into a place where we can have fellowship.
And communion with God for the burnt offering brings before us what the work of Christ is to God, how he was glorified in it. And the meat offering or meal offering brings before us the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus, the one who came down and was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. And then there was the sin offering and the trespass offering, the sin offering bringing before us.
How God has met our need as to what we are in our natures and the trespass offering, what we are in our actions and these are brought before us in the trespass, the sin offering and the trespass offering. And then the one that comes between was the peace offering for seeing God has been glorified and our need has been met. God glorified in the first two and our need met in the last two.
Then God and the Sinner can be brought together and Saul.
There's peace. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and the peace offering is the one between. It could be called a communion offering because God was always seeking the blessing of man. God never needed to be reconciled, but man did. Man did. God needed to be glorified about the question of sin because He's holy. And our needs had to be met because God can't have sin in His presence. But they have been.
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That and how lovely that the Sinner who has learned the value of the work of Christ can now commune with God. He can. He can look up and call God his Father and have fellowship with God for the Word. Fellowship and communion are really the same in the original, and they mean common thoughts. Isn't it a grand thing that we who have gone so far from God can actually enter into?
His thoughts and have fellowship with him. Well, all this was fully outlined in the first part of Leviticus.
And how the priests were to sacrifice these things and feed upon them. And so you and I too can feed upon the work of Christ. And then in the 9th chapter, of which I read a few verses, we see the time brought before us when Israel as a nation will enter into the value of the work of Christ.
Because that's really what what is brought before us in the 9th chapter.
In the end of the 8th chapter.
Aaron and his sons were inside the Tabernacle, and in the 9th chapter we see them coming out and the glory of the Lord appearing to all the people. Well, our place now is inside the veil as worshippers. But there's a time coming when God is going to bring that guilty nation of Israel into rich blessing. They're going to learn the value of that work that was accomplished on the cross of Calvary.
And just as Moses went up and blessed the people, so blessing will come to the nation when they see the value of that sacrifice, that which they could never obtain through their own works, they're going to see is theirs through that sacrifice. What was it that was accomplished on the cross of Calvary? Well, all this is all beautifully brought before us in the opening part of the.
Book of Leviticus.
Here and then it tells us in the first verse of the 10th chapter. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put farther in, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord which he commanded them not. Now God had already shown that his purpose was to bless them in and through that which figured the work of Christ.
But oh, how?
Side it is to see that as soon as they act in their own possession of responsibility, there's complete breakdown, there's failure. And so it is, if we looked at ourselves, we'd say, oh, what failures we are. How can we ever claim any blessing? Well, everything that has ever been committed to man and responsibility, he has always failed.
But God purposes and will carry out those purposes of blessing.
Founded upon the work of Christ. And just think that after the Lord had outlined to his people all about these sacrifices, and the way that he intended to bless them, then to think that they would try to approach him in some other way than that which He had provided. What was this strange fire? Well, in the 16th of Leviticus we find out that.
The fire was to be taken from.
The altar where the sacrifice was made and any other kind of fire was not acceptable to God. It was strange fire. Now the incense might smell the same. It wouldn't matter what kind of a light you put under, some insensitive smell. The same to you or I. No matter where the fire came from, all but to God there was an immense difference. It was strange fire. It didn't come from the altar. It didn't come from the.
Place where the sacrifice was made. And we can speak of this in two different ways. That is, first of all, if a Sinner attempts to approach God in any other way than through the work of Christ, the judgment will fall upon Him. Oh, how solemn this is. The very same fire that in the end of the 9th chapter had consumed the sacrifices and been the ground of Israel's blessing went out.
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And slew those who approached God with strange fire, with strange fire. Now you know there are many people in Christendom and they can sing well, and they build fine buildings and they pretend to go through the rituals of Christianity. But there has never been any dealing with God about their sins. They have never seen themselves as guilty, and they have not received the Lord Jesus Christ.
Savior, if you or I were listening to them sing, we might say, well, one can sing just as well as the other, but all there's an immense difference to God. Unless what we sing comes from our hearts and is the fruit of the fact that we have received Christ as our Savior and that we enjoy the knowledge of salvation through Him. It's strange fire before the Lord. It's not acceptable to Him.
Because only that worship.
That comes from the knowledge of Christ as Savior is acceptable worship. The Lord Jesus said when he was here. This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Truly in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of man. And we find much of this, but isn't it something for us to carefully consider?
That the fire and the end of the 9th chapter consumed the sacrifice, but when they tried to approach God apart from the sacrifice, the fire consumed them. And I want to say if there's anyone here who's unsaved, unless you are resting upon the sacrifice of Christ, unless you see the judgment of God falling upon Christ as your substitute.
Then it will have to fall upon you. It will have to come upon you.
Because God is holy and God must punish sin, He never passes over sin. It tells us every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward. And the reason that we can rejoice in the forgiveness of sins is not because God has passed over our sins, it's because the fire that those sins deserved fell upon the sacrifice, the Lord Jesus.
Yes, the one.
Who was sacrificed for us, our blessed Savior, who it tells us in the 53rd of Isaiah was wounded for our transgressions, was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. And so 1 is often said, judgment is either ahead of you or behind you. If you can say, well, the Lord Jesus bore the judgment for me.
Then there's no.
Judgment left because he exhausted it. Indeed, he was the only one who could exhaust it. He was the only one who could say it is finished. Never will an unsaved man in all eternity be able to say it's finished. And all the judgment that the Lord Jesus bore, he exhausted. But that which will fall upon the lost, they can't exhaust it. Only the Lord could do that. And what a solemn thing. That's why judgment is eternal, because the Lord Jesus is the only.
One who could exhaust the judgment, and he has for the believer. And we can sing in those lovely words. Death and judgment are behind us. Grace and glory are before all the billows roll. Lord Jesus, there they spent their utmost power. Well, it tells us here the Lord had commanded them not. That is, they ought to have known better.
But I say again, man breaks down under his responsibility.
And now is God going to bless this guilty people, their priesthood, the ones who were to approach to God? How could there be any blessing? Oh, how wonderful that God could now still bless the people in spite of their failure because he looked upon the sacrifice. He looked upon the sacrifice. And so I believe we learn a second lesson here, and that is.
In connection with God's governmental ways when man breaks.
Down and man has always broken down. The church has failed. Everything committed to man has failed. Yet God can go on in blessing because of the work of Christ. No blessing, of course, to those who refuse the work of Christ, but those who remained and who still went on with the sacrifices, why there was a way of blessing in spite of the fact that they had.
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Failed in connection with the priesthood.
And so in the third verse it says, Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. Well, I say, this is a this is a lesson for us who are the Lords too, and that is, that we should never.
Attempt to come before God with anything of ourselves. The only way that even we as Christians can offer acceptable sacrifice is to approach God on the ground of the work of Christ. And I think this is a little lesson for us too. We might get occupied with how well we could express ourselves. Perhaps a brother might say, well, I don't like to get on my feet and pray because I I don't think I can.
Express myself as well as some others. Well, it's what comes from the heart. It was where the fire came from that caused the savor to be sweet to God. And it says that it would be better to speak 5 words with one's understanding, and it would be better just to rise up and say a few words of Thanksgiving from the heart than to try.
And make everything sound well to everyone else. The important thing is.
Because that it comes from the heart, is produced in the heart by the Spirit of God. And so even in connection with those of us who know the Lord as our Savior, I believe this is a very important consideration for us, that our worship ought to be the overflow of our hearts in praise and Thanksgiving to the Lord for what He has done for us.
And so when we come into the Lord's.
Presence to thank him. Remember the words of the little hymn put it nicely. O Lord, we know it matters not how sweet the song may be, No heart, but of the spirit taught makes melody to Thee. And so isn't it lovely that we can. And this is true of even the youngest, even a boy or a girl who kneels down by his bedside.
And just thanks the Lord from his or her heart.
For what the Lord Jesus has done, that's acceptable to him. It may be more acceptable than an older person like myself, say, because when we get older, perhaps our minds wander into a lot of other things. But isn't it nice to know that the Lord sees where the fire came from, That is, if there is in our hearts an appreciation of the work of Christ and of what he has done.
All how sweet and acceptable it is to him.
Did it ever strike you that the person whom the Lord taught about worship was the poor sinful woman in the 4th of John? I have sometimes said that for him interviewing Nicodemus and the woman in the 4th chapter of John, the Woman of Samaria. I'm afraid that I would have been talking to Nicodemus about worship and talking to the woman about the necessity of new birth. But isn't striking that it's the.
The opposite. If there was a man who thought he was very good, he was a master of Israel. He needed to learn that he must be born again, because all lists that gave him position before men didn't make him acceptable before God. He needed a new life. But this woman who had learned to see in Christ that which met her need, that dear woman who saw that she was a Sinner in the presence of that blessed Savior, and received him, then she could.
Worship, and not because she knew so much, but because she knew Him, and her heart would overflow in Thanksgiving. And so the Lord Jesus said, the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. So it shows us that a person doesn't need to be saved very long to be able to offer.
Acceptable sacrifice to the Lord because this.
Was taught to that poor sinful woman who had just, if one might speak in this way, had just received a drink of the water of life, and now it could well up in her, because she had learned that blessed One who had met her need.
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So it tells us here the Lord will be sanctified in those that come near to him. And this explains for the sake of the young, why we don't arrange to have an orchestra and a choir, because the only acceptable sacrifices, that which comes from the heart. And that's what the Lord values in Judaism. Why God did provide those things because man was being tested would find music.
What a nice building. What good singing.
Change the heart. God tested man in that way, but it didn't it doesn't change the heart. So now in Christianity, why what comes from the heart is acceptable, but I say in the types of the Old Testament we can see this point brought out because it's brought out here that the only incense that had an acceptable.
Reception before the Lord was that that came from the altar of burnt.
Offering. And so here it says, I will be sanctified in all them that come nigh, and before all the people will I be glorified. Well, I believe this should be a great lesson to each one of our hearts as to what acceptable worship is before the Lord.
And now we see on Aaron's part submission, it says an Aaron held his peace. I think this is a very important thing. You know, we're not allowed to have our own thoughts when God expresses his, because it says my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. And so when God has expressed his mind about a thing, it's our part to set aside our own reasoning.
In that connection it says.
Casting down reasonings and every high thought, but exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now it may be all right to figure out the way you should do your job at the office. God has given U.S. intelligence and connection with these things, but we should never use our minds against divine revelation. We should never allow any in submission in our hearts. Did you ever notice?
First, Peter chapter 5, that it says, Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. But the verse before says, Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, and is part of the same sentence that goes on casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. How can we cast our care upon the Lord?
Only as there is complete submission.
To His will. That's the only way that it's possible to cast our care upon the Lord. Many of us have cares. We're carrying those cares. We want to leave them with the Lord. But I think we often discover that it's because there isn't really submission. And here, what a sad thing for dear Aaron. He lost two of his boys so suddenly, and he didn't answer back to the Lord. There was perfect submission to the will of God.
Perfect submission. He recognized that As for God, his way is perfect. Well, brethren, we need to cultivate this habit. We're living in days when people let their minds go to work against God. We're living in days when children are taught from the very time they start school that you're to think everything out. Well, this may be fine in some things, but when God speaks.
Where to bow? Where to listen to what he says?
And were to bow to his will even the gospel. It says that the gospel is made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. What does that expression mean? That God requires the submission of my mind to His revelation, and of the way to the way of salvation He has provided?
So Aaron held his peace.
And it tells us here that the relatives.
It says these sons of Ozioli, uncle of Aaron, they came near and carried them out.
Very. This is a very searching thing too. So often you know there's trouble because.
We and perhaps relatives don't submit to the dealing hand of God, but it's important here to notice that Aaron submitted. He held his peace and his uncle and his sons, they had to bow to, They had to submit. Well, it's a great thing for us to learn this many troubles would be spared among God's people.
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If there would be submission to the will of God on our part and on the part of our relatives when God speaks. So here we find that these relatives of Aaron came and carried these ones out. There was submission to what God had done.
Now on the 6th verse. And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his sons, uncover not your heads neither.
We're not your heads, neither ran your claws, lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people. And let your brethren, the whole House of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.
And they did, according to the word of Moses.
And here we find another thing brought before us. We see the brain together of two things. Here we find that there was a morning in connection with what had taken place. But we also see that there was a continuance in the service to which God had called Aaron and his sons. Well, I believe this is an important lesson for us too, because when God speaks.
It's very easy for us to let our hands hang down, isn't it? And say, well, I'm not going to do anything more.
And what's the use? And it's very easy for us to adopt that attitude. Indeed, it tells us in Hebrews chapter 12 where it speaks about chastisement and God's dealing ways. It says, lift up the hands that hang down on the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet. And so I'd like to say to myself and to anyone here, if the Lord has brought any trial upon us or upon our families.
Let us not and give up.
Going on for the Lord, serving him and following him, the Lord gives us a responsibility as well as a privilege to go on in faith and faithfulness. And so Aaron at this time might have been so discouraged. He might have said, well, I can't continue with this work. I've lost my two boys. But now the Lord said, go on, Aaron, go on and let your other two sons continue.
It was all right that they should mourn over what had taken.
Place in the camp of Israel and sympathy has its right place and is owned of God it isn't natural. It isn't it isn't scriptural to be without natural affection. We should feel things tears have their place. The Lord Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus. But here we find that this is a solemn little word to Aaron and his sons to go on with their priestly service because.
It says here.
Lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people. That is, if they gave up their priestly service, the Lord might take them away.
Paul said, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. He had been given a work to do, he was responsible to do it. And then too he would fail to be the blessing that God intended him to be to the others, for he was chosen and his sons to be the priest.
To approach to God all had a loss is often felt in some assemblies because someone gives up being a useful brother in the meeting. Well, I believe there's a little word here for us to continue. The Lord does allow trials to come into our assemblies, into our homes sometimes. May the Lord give us grace to go on in faith and faithfulness and seek to be a blessing.
To his people. And so this I believe is a very.
Sweet, lasting, and yet I saw one in connection with Aaron and the two sons that were left.
Then we find another thing here the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine, nor strong drink thou, nor thy sons with thee, when you go into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die, and shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.
Well, I believe the bringing in of this thought here is.
One strong drink would be that which would excite nature. It would be the thing that would mar their keenness of judgment if they drank wine or strong drink. And you know, I believe there's a spiritual lesson for us too, and that is that when spiritual life declines, we like to bring in things that nature enjoys.
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Where there's.
Where there is spiritual power, the ministry is such that the hearts of the Saints are warmed and encouraged. Where that is lacking, then we want entertainment, we want something else. And so here we're told here that even though this failure had come, they were to continue in their priestly service and they were not to resort to something that was only a substitute. I believe we see this very solemnly all about us in Christendom.
We find that more and more music and entertainment is having a place in the Christian world. And why is it? Well, because the truth of God is gradually being lost. The power of the Holy Spirit is being lost, and it's being replaced with something else. It's being replaced with that which appeals to nature, which excites nature by all. May the Lord keep us, as gathered to his precious name, from bringing in those kind of things.
That only make an appeal to nature.
Here I say again, that which God values is the worship that comes from the heart. And if we see weakness and failure, and we do, and we're part of it as Aaron was, let us seek to go on. Let each one be exercised. And instead of saying, well, we'll have to introduce some other things to keep our young people together, let us each be exercised to act and live in such a way that Christ would be ministered, that souls would be.
To the Lord Jesus, and that each one of us would fulfill our place in the body of Christ as a helper, like joints and bands in the body, that there might be nourishment ministered to the members of the body as we have in Ephesians 4. The joints and the bands all had their part, not only the gifts in connection with the ministering of the nourishment to the body. And may the Lord give us each.
To feel and exercise our part in this, and notice what it says, that ye may put difference between holy and unholy.
As soon as we introduce these other things, discernment begins to go and we see the truth of God being given up. You ask people, well, why? Why do you go to such and such a a group of Christians? Well, you know, there's a nice group there and they're very active and there's all kinds of things that we enjoy. We've got a nice choir there and so on. All these things are brought in.
And you say, well, is the truth of God held there?
Can you take your Bible and this does what is given out measure up with the word of God. Oh well, they're an active group and they're doing a good work. All you see, they've lost the discernment between holly and unholy God would have us to hold the truth. It says hold fast that which thou hast. Let no man take thy crown, rather than it may mean that our numbers are small, but better to stand for the truth of God.
God with fewer numbers than to have large numbers who are only brought together by those things that appeal to nature instead of minister Christ to the heart. So here we find that the purpose for this was that they might but difference between unholy and holy and between unclean and clean and one feels it very much how we find the truth of God being given up and even groups that were once considered sound in the faith little.
A little. The truth of God is slipping through their fingers, but there's more entertainment than ever before. There's plenty going on, but the truth is slipping away. Oh, may the Lord give us to value it. It's precious to the Lord. The little remnant that came back from the captivity. They had golden and silver vessels to bring back, and they were weighed into their hands and they were weighed in again when they reached Jerusalem. May the Lord give us to walk in His truth and to.
Evaluate that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. Not some we hear it said all the well, they have the truth of the gospel.
Yes, but it says all the statutes, not some, and God holds us responsible to maintain the whole truth of God. The Church of God, it tells us in First Timothy 3 is to be the pillar and ground of the truth. That is the Assembly of God is responsible to hold the whole deposit of truth that has been committed to us, not just some of it, but all of it. So they were to teach the children of Israel all.
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Which the Lord has spoken.
Now the 12TH verse. And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and Ithamar his sons that were left. Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, for it is most holy, and you shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy dew, and thy sons do of the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire.
For so I am commanded.
Well, I mentioned a few moments ago that they.
The meat offering is a figure to us of the Lord Jesus, perfect humanity. It's a picture to us of the Lord and His humanity and in His blessed pathway here through this world, even to the cross. Well, I believe the thought here in this brethren, is that they were to feed upon Christ, that is, they were to make Him.
In his blessed pathway, their example, and they were to eat it, it says without leaven beside the altar in the holy place, for it is most holy. I believe the point is that no matter how much failure comes in, God never lowers the standard God bears with failure.
We see that he had a purpose, but when man began to act.
Failure came in, weakness came in. Did God then lower the standard? Oh, not at all. When they came and asked the Lord about marriage when He was here, He took them right back to the very first marriage. He said, what was it? In the beginning He shows them that God made a certain plan, and that was the plan that He intended. Now he he may bear with many things because of human failure, but He does not lower the standard.
In the beginning of the church's history, Adam and Eve, I mean Ananias and Sapphira, they told a lie and they were smitten dead. God showed his mind as to what was becoming to his presence. And the first person that made a public sin was smitten dead. And now God bears with many, many failures in his people since that. But has his standard changed? Has he lowered the standard because.
Because we're living in 1966, not at all. Now all his standard remains the same. And it's a great thing not to make one another the example. Don't say, well, it must be all right because brother Psalm, so does it. And he's a godly person. Must be all right because that girl does it and she's a godly girl. Oh no, Christ is the example. Christ is the example. Let us make him our example. And so they were told.
To feed upon the meat offering without leaven, and they were to eat it in the holy place beside the altar. Well, may the Lord help us in these days. I believe if He leaves us here, we may see more breakdown, we may see more failure. But let us not lower the standard. God's standard is the same. We may have to bear with things, may have to bear with more things.
But let us remember where to feed upon Christ.
As the example, He is the 1. He is the true meat offering. In Him. Everything was in perfect evenness, that's why it was fine flour. Everything in Him was in perfect evenness, and then it was anointed with oil and mingled with oil. Everything the Lord Jesus did was by the power of the Spirit. Everything that He did was according to the mind of God.
There was the perfect one for us.
And now we find another very precious thing here in the 14th and 15th verses. And the wave breast and heave shoulders shall he eat in a clean place thou and thy sons, and thy daughters, for they be thy dew, and thy sons due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace, offerings of the children of Israel.
And the heaved shoulder and the wave breast shall lay.
Bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord. Well, I think this is very touching and precious, at least to my own heart. And that is that although failure had come in, although there was this sad instance, the smiting dead of Nadab and Abihu, isn't it nice that the Lord said to?
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Aaron, and to his sons and to his.
His daughters, that they could still feed upon the wave breast and the heaved shoulder. Well, the breast would speak to us of the affections of Christ. That's the heart, you know. And then the shoulders would speak of His strength.
And isn't it precious for us, even when weakness and failure comes in, that we can still feed upon Christ and not only themselves, but with their sons and their daughters? Oh, I think this is sweet. We're living in the last days, brethren. Everywhere we see the breakdown of all that's been committed to man. Breakdown of everything. Family, life, morals, everything. All is going to pieces.
How do we feed?
On Oh, it's easy to bring things into our homes that will feed us upon the breakdown of things. Always say we have to be acquainted with what's going on. And so we find ourselves feeding on this kind of thing. But isn't it lovely here? After all this, the Lord says, well, you can still feed on the wave breast and the heaved shoulder in a clean place. In a clean place.
All how needful is is I feel it for my own.
Heart. It's so easy in days like this to get occupied with evil. Everything you pick up, every newspaper, every magazine, everything you listen to, you see more and more of it. What are we feeding on? What are we feeding on? Are we feeding on the affections of Christ and the strength of Christ?
Is His love sufficient for an evil day? Is his strength enough to carry us through an evil day? Oh, how lovely this was.
And it was for the whole family, thy sons. And he even says, And thy daughters, thy daughters. Yes, it was sufficient for the whole family. Oh, may the Lord encourage the hearts of those who are parents to see here that there is that which can fill the heart and give the strength to go on for the Lord in these days. And then to the second.
Thing it says they were to wave them before the Lord.
They were to weigh these things before the Lord. Well, that that was what was done in the end of the 9th chapter before the failure came in. And now after the failure came in, it says you can wave it before the Lord. Well, in the end of the 9th chapter, as I remarked before, it's a little picture of what the Lord will do for His people in the coming day. Will His love and His strength carry the people through and bring them into blessing in the land?
Oh yes it will.
We can be sure that God's purposes are going to be fulfilled, and that the the affections of Christ and the love of Christ and the strength of Christ is going to carry His people into the blessing that He has purposed for them. Well, and after failure comes in, why, we can still turn to the Lord with confidence, as though we should say, well, Lord, we failed, but we know that thou art able to accomplish thy.
To carry thy people through. And how lovely this is. And so not only in the enjoyment that which we feed upon, but in speak, in bearing up his people before him. Isn't it lovely to have the confidence of this in our souls?
Saul, he says, they be thy dew and thy son's due. That is, Failure hadn't altered that, and failure doesn't alter his faithfulness.
He is, He is faithful, He's going to carry his people through and nothing will ever, ever alter those purposes of love on behalf of his people. And all what a day it will be when he has his own with him, and he shall see of the travail of his soul and.
Shall be satisfied. It says in Hebrews 2 That he is a captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory. Yes, he's going to bring his own through. He's going to bring them home.
Now just in the and in the end of the 15th verse. Notice.
Thy sons worthy by a statute forever, because more failure might come in after this and did you only have to read about the House of Eli to see what failure did come in. Well, it's as though the Lord said and there's nothing that's going to happen after that's going to change my heart of love and my power to carry my people through all had an encouragement.
To face the future with his confidence.
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Latter part here.
Tells us about how even Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons that were left alive, they hadn't fulfilled their responsibility and privilege in connection with heeding the sin offering in the holy place. This is quite instructive for us too, because here is our remarked we see.
Failure. Even after the failure of Nadav and Abihu, we have.
Failure here perhaps of a lesser sort, of a different kind. I believe it's a it was a lack of spiritual energy. It's something that is tremendously lacking in these days and that is eating the sin offering in the holy place was the fact that the priest identified himself with the sin of the people.
And acknowledged it as his own.
Before the Lord. Well, this is what is so lacking in these days. We look at the other person, all that person failed. That person is getting away from the Lord and how often we fail to identify ourselves with it. We don't, we don't, as it were, acknowledge our part in the breakdown and the failure that's come in.
We find a beautiful spirit with Daniel.
When he realized the condition of the people, he confessed their condition as though it were his own. And if you read in the book of Daniel, you find him weeping before the Lord, and he says we have sinned, we failed, we haven't responded. He acknowledged that as though it were his own. He identified himself with the people. Brethren, this is a spirit that we tend to lack. This is something.
That is.
So easy for us to forget that is to identify ourselves with the weakness and the failure as though we were part of it. And we are. I believe that if there was more of that spirit, there would be more blessing thought. It's so easy for us to look at others and to condemn them, and not to acknowledge our own part in it.
It just makes me think of a little incident I heard of a brother back in the east some years ago.
And someone had got away from the Lord and they had to deal with him, and he was put away from the Lord's table. And when he was an older brother got up and he said, brethren, I'd like to acknowledge my failure in this. He said, perhaps if I had been more considerate and visited this young man and tried to help him, this would never have happened. Well, I believe that was eating.
Offering in the holy place, it was identifying himself with this person in his failure. How often when we see another going astray, we we don't like to take the humble place and go and try and help that person. It's much easier to just say, well, they're getting away from the Lord. It's much easier than to go and try and help them identify ourselves, get on our knees and pray for them.
Well, here we find that Eleazar Nissan mar the two sons.
That were left. They failed to do this.
And so it tells us here that.
Moses spoke to them about it. It says he was angry with Eliezer and Itamar, the sons of Aaron, which were left.
And so in the 19th verse. And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. And such things have befallen me. And if I had eaten a sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? And when Moses heard that, he was content.
Well, as I said, we see here the failure in connection with the part of Eleazar and SMR and not identifying themselves with this failure, but Aaron speaks up on their behalf. Aaron in this case is a picture to us of the Lord. And isn't it precious to know that in spite of the fact that we do fail, that we have one who is living for us?
If the priesthood fails and may dab and abihu or smitten.
Said if the two sons that remained failed, there's one who's faithful, there's one who's faithful. And so it's beautiful to see here that Aaron speaks up and he identifies himself with this failure. He said they hadn't eaten it. But notice what Aaron says. As such things have befallen me. And if I had eaten a sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? How beautiful this is.
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And all, brethren, isn't it lovely?
We might get occupied with our failure, we might get down completely under it, but we have one who never fails. We have one who's living up on high for us. And in all our weakness and in all our shortcomings, we can come to Him. We can come to Him. For He not only bore our sins on the cross, but He's our advocate before the Father. And it tells us any man's sin. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And so it says when.
Moses heard that he was content, and so isn't it lovely to know not that Moses was pleased. The Lord is never pleased with any failure in your life and mine, but He goes on with us in spite of it all, because there's one up there who never fails. There's one whose arms are always steady, who's up there before the Father on our behalf. And so in spite of all that we are, we can look to Him, we can count upon Him. But I believe that there are many precious.
In this chapter that we can lay the heart. But to my own heart at least, it's exceedingly precious to see that when when failure comes in, to find that we still have our portion in Christ. And that when we have to acknowledge, and we all do, how much we fail, that we can look away from every failing instrument to the one who is ever the same, the One.
Whose love remains? Whose strengths remains?
And who's up there on our behalf, and will be all through the journey? May our hearts, may our eyes be turned to Him. But may we be given grace, brethren, in these last days, to go on and not allow ourselves to be discouraged and turned aside by failure, but rather to each be exercised to occupy with Him and for Him.
Till he comes.