Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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Right to turn denied to the Book of Leviticus, the 13th chapter.
With the Lord's help, we'll look at what the Scripture brings before us about leprosy as a picture of a Sinner in his condition. Before God. Leprosy was a very loathsome, horrible disease, and we see how the lemper was cleansed. Leprosy is nothing compared with the horrible disease of sin. It's 10,000 times worse than leprosy because a man might have leprosy and go to heaven.
Many lepers and lepers, colonies even today are on their way to glory. And so when they leave this world, they're going to be with the Savior. But if a person dies in his sins, it'll be forever to be shut out from the presence of God. And so as you look at this, we can look at it as a picture of what sin is before God and also see that this is God provided a way of cleansing from leprosy. He has provided a way of cleansing.
Then Yeah, well, just a few verses in the 13th chapter, the first verse.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab or bright spot, and at the end of the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of the sons, his sons the priest. And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh, and in the hair in the plague is turned white, And the plague insight be deeper than.
Skin of his flesh. It is a plague of leprosy, and the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean.
The 12TH verse.
Antholecracy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague, from his head even to his flirt. Wheresoever the priest looketh. Then the priest shall consider, and behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean. But hath the plague it all turned white.
He is clean.
Now the first the 14th chapter.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper. In the day of his cleansing he shall be brought unto the priest.
And the priest shall go forth out of the camp. The priest shall look, and behold at the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper. Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water.
As for the living bird, he shall take it and the cedar wood in the scarlet and the hyssop, and shall get them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy 7 times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
And neither is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean. And after that he shall come into the camp, and shall carry abroad out of his tent 7 days.
Who shall be on the 7th day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows. Even all his hair he shall shave off, and he shall wash his clothes. Also he shall wash his flesh in water and he shall be clean.
And on the 8th day he shall take two he lands without blemish, and one you lamb of the first year without blemish, and three temp deals of fine flour for a meat offering mingled with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things before the Lord, at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation.
And the priest shall take 1 he lands and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. And he shall slay the Lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering in the holy place. For as is the sin offering, as the sin offering is the priest, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
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And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and the.
Shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, pour it into the palm of his own left hand. The priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his fingers 7 times before the Lord.
And of the rest of the oil that is in the that is in his hand.
A priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be glad, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering.
And the running of the oil that is in the priest's hand shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord.
They shall offer the sin offering and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness, and afterward he shall kill a burnt offering. The priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar, and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean.
And if you be poor and cannot get so much.
Then he shall take one lamb for trespass offering to be waved to make an atonement for him. And 110th deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil, and two turtle doves, or two young pigeons such as he is able to get, And the one shall be a sin offering and the other a burned offering.
Oh, we may be sure that when God gives us as much detail as He has in connection with the cleansing of the leper, that He has some very important purpose in giving up such detail, because sin, as I say, is such a serious thing in the eyes of God. But the great wonder of Scripture is how God has provided so that one who is a Sinner can be fitted for His holy presence and be a worshiper, and can please Him.
Here in this world, and I believe this is vividly brought before us and what we have in connection with the cleansing of the leper.
I would read all the details of the 13th chapter, but you can see that leprosy could affect a man personally, he could affect his garments, it could affect his home. And truly, Sam has done all that. It's affected everything here in this world. We can see the stamp of sin everywhere, not only on ourselves personally, but every place that we look. We see, as the Scripture shows us, that the results of sin are.
Sent upon this.
Creation, it tells us the whole creation grown us and frivolous and pain together. Until now. Sometimes you try to look for a perfect leaf, even on a tree, and you look. It just seems that almost everyone's got some little spot or something on it. A constant reminder that sin has spoiled this world. But here we speak of The Tonight in connection with the way it applies to us personally.
For it's important that each one here in this room.
To be personally right before God, that's the beginning, so to speak, is to be right before God.
As the Scripture raises the question, how should man be just with God? And then when we come to Romans, we find the answer about how a man can be just before God. And is there anything more wonderful than to think now that a Sinner can be in the presence of God, in the perfect acceptance, so that the eye of God cannot see one spot upon him? And at the heart of God goes out with the love that He.
For his own Son, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. What a place for sinners say by grace, so that when all of us who are saved here tonight can only say, by the grace of God, I am what I am.
You know the reason I read these few verses in the 13th chapter is because if you didn't understand the grace of God, it would surely be a great puzzle to us to understand how that a man who was brought to the leper is brought to the priest with just one spot was pronounced unclean, and a man who was covered from head to foot was pronounced clean.
Now, if we didn't understand the grace of God, I would never understand that, because here is this man brought, he just has one spot. Maybe he thinks I'll get by all right, I've just got one spot. But the priest looks at that one spot and he pronounces him unclean.
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Another man. He's covered all over. You think, Well, if that other man didn't have a chance, surely this man won't have any. But here he is. He's covered all over. And wherever the priest looks, he's covered with leprosy. And the amazement of all this man is pronounced clean.
Well, it brings before us perhaps what we see in the picture of a man who went up into the temple to pray and he bursted about what a good man he was. I don't doubt that that man would be willing to acknowledge that he had sinned at least once.
But the way he talked, he was thinking about how clean he was and not looking at that one Brad spot. And it's always said, I thank God that I'm not as other men are extortioners, unjust or even as this public and I'm not covered with leprosy. In other words, I might have one spot, but I'm not too bad and so.
Decided to the man who had nothing good to say about himself, he couldn't find a clean spot on himself. And so instead of talking about what he might have said about his own righteousness, he acknowledged that he had none and he just looked down. He didn't even look up. It says there wasn't so much as lift up his eyes to have on the smoke on his breath and said.
God be merciful.
To me, a Sinner.
And the Lord Jesus said this, that man went down to his house justified rather than the other. What's applied as in a very practical way, every one of us have met people who would say, well, I know I'm not perfect, but I don't think I'm as bad as the Bible says I am and you say I am. I always tried to do what's right. I think I've got quite a few clean spots on me. I know that I've seen some, but.
Not too bad. And those kind of people go on and often live and die in their sins. They don't feel their need of Jesus. They feel quite content with themselves. They don't feel that they need cleansing. Just like the man who had the warm spot, he suppose. I expect that he would. The priest would let that one spot go, but he didn't. He didn't.
It says about Heaven, there shall in no wise enter into it anything that befile us, neither whatsoever worketh the fulmination, or maketh a lie, but they that are written in the Lamb's look of life. One sin brought ruin and misery into this world. Adam did what the world would call a little sin. He reached out to take something that was forbidden.
And as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
So death passed upon all men, whether all have seen.
But then on the other hand, we find those who are willing to say there's nothing good in me. I'm nothing but a lost Sinner. I take my true place before God.
As the prophet Isaiah said, from the crown of the heads of the sole of the foot there is no soundness but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores. Many of us to the Lord has had the bridge to that point where we just took our place before.
And said, Lord, I'm nothing but a lost, guilty Sinner. I need thee, I need thy salvation. And that's the one whom the Lord can bless.
There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner that gets saved. Now the verse doesn't say that. It says there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner that repentance.
That is when a Sinner takes his true place before God acknowledges that from top to bottom, he's nothing but guilt before God. That's the point where God can meet the Sinner. That's the point of benefit. And tonight, what a wonderful thing it would be if there's someone who's never, never taken your true place before God. And tonight you would just bow your head in God's presence and say, I have nothing to offer but.
I am looking that like this leper. I am covered from head to foot from the left. When the priest saw this man and realized that that was the place that he had taken by then he pronounces in clean. Now we had to have a righteous basis to do that and what we read in the 14th chapter set before us in type the righteous basis by which God can cleanse the violence Sinner the righteous basis by.
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God could pick up the apostle who called himself the chief of sinners and make that man accepted in the presence of God. And so I feel it is important because sometimes when we're brought up in a Christian home or perhaps in good surroundings, you don't realize, but our hearts really are. We think we're a little better than others because the bad of our hearts.
Has not come out.
Martin said, I have two eggs here to rotten eggs and I brought one on the floor. All the bad comes out, there's a horrible smell in the room and no one enjoys the smell of a rotten egg. And so I picked up the other one and put it to my nose and smell it. So not so bad, it's just as bad.
It's just as bad. The difference is that all the bad of one came out and the other one, why it hasn't come out, but it's all there. We had an egg that someone had painted for us in our living room and you know, it looked very pretty, but it got pretty rough inside. But it didn't bother at all until somehow or other, it's a little cracking.
Just a little tiny crap. We didn't know where the horrible smell was coming from. And at last we realized that this egg that was rotten all the time, the bad smell was starting to come up now. You know, dear friends, God looks under the shell and he says this as in water. Face answers to face.
Over the heart of man to man, my heart is no better than a violent Sinner on earth. And so every one of us need cleansing. And God has granted before us in picture in this portion to show us that the Sinner to be blessed must take His true place. He must say, as Isaiah 63 says, all our righteousnesses, none of our sins, but all our righteousnesses the best that we can.
That we can present to God is only filthy rags in his presence.
For this man, in order to have this pronouncement made, he is brought to the priest. And so when we get into the presence of the Lord, that's the pronouncement that he brings. He shows us what we are from head to foot. And Isaiah was a prophet. He was a man that was normally better, I suppose, than most of the people, but how different when he got into the presence of God.
He said woe is me, for I am.
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of the people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
So this man is born to the priest who looks him over from head to foot and sees his real condition. And that's what the Lord did to me. But here we find that in the 14th chapter he's brought to the praise to show that God had provided a way that this person could be cleansed in a way that was according to the mind and character of a holy God.
And God never acts inconsistently with his own holy character.
Whenever He acts, you must act consistent with His Holiness. God is light and God is love.
Don't enjoy and can't have sin in His presence. He loves the Sinner, but he hates our sins. And in love He has provided, I say, a righteous basis, that we could be blessed.
So the 14th chapter says the second verse. This shall be the law of the leper. In the day of his cleansing, he shall be brought unto the priest, and the priest shall go forth out of the camp.
Or what does this make you think about? Well, I'll tell you what it makes me think about the 13th chapter of Hebrews. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood. Let us go forth there suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the camp, bearing his reproach. So here this man.
He is taken in company with the priest outside.
The camp and so I trust that each one of us here who have found our true condition before God have gone, as it were, out to Calvary and seeing what God has done to meet our need. For it was there that God took up the question of sin. All the issues that had to do with God's holiness and God's love all came to a focus there on Calvin's Hill.
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All the holiness of God that required punishment of sin, and all the love of God that wanted to bless the Sinner, they all came to an issue outside the gate of Jerusalem, outside the camp where our precious Savior was crucified. And so there is the priest going out with the leper, and they go outside the camp and the priest looks and it says that the plague of leprosy be healed in the.
Now it sits before us that God must have a righteous basis on which to cleanse us. He, as I say, can't pass over sin.
Many people hope that somehow, someway, God will pass over their sins. God does not pass over sin, He punishes sin.
And so it tells us in Hebrews chapter 2 That every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of the Lord. Every sin must be punished.
When the Lord passed over the houses in Egypt, it wasn't that He passed over sin. Now He passed over the people who were there in the places where the blood was sprinkled on the limb of the two cycles. In other words, the judgments of sin had fallen upon the victim, the Lamb that was slain. And so God passed over the individual. And God can pass over me, but He didn't pass over my sins. He punished my sins.
And he punished them upon the head of my substitute. The Lord Jesus is the one who came to be our substitute, to take our place, to bear the judgment that we deserved. And so for the believer, we can say that the judgment of sins for us is past.
I often have mentioned about a dear Christian man that I knew very well back in Canada.
And he?
The second hospital, for a long time I used to visit him quite frequently, but I can still remember the last time I went to see him and he was a true believer in the Lord Jesus and he knew where he was going and his voice got very, very feeble as he neared the end of the journey. This last time I went to see him, I can still remember him looking up with a smile on his face and he said Gordon.
Isn't it lovely to know?
The judgments behind you and not ahead of you.
Isn't that well? Isn't that something wonderful to know? Judgment behind you and not ahead of you? How could he say that? What did he mean? Well, he knew that the judgment of his sins took place at Calvary. It wasn't a head for him because it was passed. The Lord Jesus had borne his judgment. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. And so you and I can go free, because the Lord Jesus took the judgment.
This is exactly what I said before us in the picture here, that this leper was to be cleansed. A bird musta, A sacrifice must take place, blood must be shed, because the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
I cannot put away sin except through the dance of the substitute, and the blood is the sign of death. And so the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.
So we have a beautiful picture of the work of Christ brought before us in these two birds.
You say, well, why were there two birds?
Well, we had in our meetings in Glendale recently the gospel, and this is the gospel. We're told in First Corinthians 15 Christ died for our sins and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And so you have a bird that was killed, and then you have another bird that carries the blood of the dead bird up into the sky.
Isn't that a lovely picture to us of death?
And resurrection, the blood of the bird that hath died, and then the living bird carrying the blood of the bird that had died up into the sky. Also the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary shed His precious blood, not even risen Savior now. And in all the value of that finished work He has entered heaven in virtue of His own blood.
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Having obtained eternal redemption for us and.
This is what is brought before us. These two birds represent the death of Christ and His resurrection. Romans 4 says He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.
So he paid the debt and now he's gone back and he's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. His resurrection is the proof of God's acceptance of the Word. And Christ at the right hand of God is the proof to me that God is satisfied with the payment. The Lord Jesus name, he came here to make a payment for sin. He came to give his life a ransom for many. He did that work and now there he is and.
John's epistle says as he is, so are we in this world. He's there with judgment behind him. And I'm here in this world, the judgment behind me.
He came down to accomplish that work and He shed His blood and then all the value of that work that he accomplished. I stand before God in the place where He is at the right hand of God. What a beautiful picture. I say I'll be worth of Christ. So it tells us here. One of the birds must be killed.
There's a vessel over running water.
Well, the Lord Jesus, when he came into this world, He took, if one can speak in that way on earth and vessel.
Sometimes in the Bible the body is compared to an earthen vessel. Speaking of ourselves, it says we have this treasure in earthen vessels. That is when the Lord Jesus came into this world. He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came in a body, He said, a body. Hast thou prepared me? Prepared in order that he might go to Calvary. It says in another place He was made a little lower.
Angels for the suffering of death, but He now crowned with glory and honor. So this bird was killed in an earthen vessel. The Lord Jesus took a body capable of death, not subject to it like your body and mine, but capable of death. And he was put to death there. And it says this vessel was this.
Bird was killed in American vessel over running water. Perhaps it suggests to us.
There was in fulfillment of all those wonderful scriptures.
That had spoken of his coming.
Back in the Garden of Eden it was a promise of the seed of the woman destroying the bruising the serpents head.
And a little longer in Genesis we read in thy seed to all the families of the earthy bless.
And we come to Isaiah, and we read. He was despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, but he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our increase. So we have all those Old Testament scriptures that point on and speak of the coming into this world of the Son of God.
So he came, and he was put to death there at Calvary. And then in the sixth verse it says, As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop will speak of that in a moment. But we'll speak of the two birds 1St, and shall dip them, and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water, and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed.
From the leprosy 7 times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
So here with the other bird and it was taken and it says he was to get the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slain. I'm going to quote that verse again in Hebrews. It says that the Lord Jesus.
Heaven into heaven by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us, having shed His precious blood, He went back and all the value of that work that He has finished, and seated himself at the right hand of the majesty on high.
He has completed the work. He is there now. And isn't it very lovely to see that that same blood was sprinkled on this man who was to be cleansed from leprosy. And so this leper had to look at that blood that was sprinkled upon him. So this leper had to look at that blood that was sprinkled upon him.
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And say, well, that's the blood of that, the victim's shed.
And I stand before God, and all the value of that blood that is now been carried into the sky. And so if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus, you stand before God and all the value of that finished work by which the Lord Jesus has entered into heaven. And it doesn't say to obtain, but having obtained that is his work finished at Calvary.
Satisfied the claims of God.
And so he has entered into heaven in virtue of all that the work has been completed. He is there and all the value of that work that he finished at the cross of Calvert. And that rapper could say that's the blood that has been sprinkled upon me. And I heard that priest say that I'm.
And what is the word of God say for us?
Blood of Jesus Christ, his Son.
Cleansed us from all sin.
And you have the assurance for your own soul that because of the value of that blood, you are.
From Paul's sin. It's nothing that this man did. He had nothing to do with the slaying of this bird. He had nothing to do with giving it or anything like that. It was just a work that was done for him, and he entered into the good of it just by being one to let the priest do that for him.
And that's the way with the protocol, when he came home, all he needed to do was to be willing to let his father provide the best role. Even the father didn't say that. You can go to the house and get the best role. Oh, no. The boy might have found it hard to find it, but he said to the servant, bring forth a pass through all. Well, here it is. Put it on now. He didn't say that.
Bringing forth the best world and put it on it's all.
The work of God accomplished at the cross, and you and I are accepted. We are acceptors of our praises, and we have no part in that work that puts away sin and that glorifies God, except to take it for ourselves. To each one here accepted that. Just stand before God in the value of that.
Word well, how simple and how blessed it is just to receive what God.
God has said it has nothing to do with feelings, it has to do with ways God is satisfied with the work of His.
We know, as Little Hymn says, God is satisfied with Jesus.
I am satisfied as well.
So we just rest as this man did. All this was done for him.
That tells us also here about the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop.
Well, these were also dipped in the blood and I think this just suggests to us that there are many things that hinder people from coming to Christ.
The cedar wood represents to us man greatness, as I mentioned this afternoon. I always think of this when I go through the redwoods and see those mighty trees there. I think of it being a picture of how man is so great. I must say the first time I went through, I just felt awed as I went through those tremendous trees. Some of them sold and sold.
Mighty. And I said to a Christian man, that must be a tremendous opportunity operation.
Bring down one of those trees.
Enormous operation and, you know, the more position we have in this world, the harder it is, it seems, for us to come down. If we think we're somebody important, we don't like them on ourselves.
And then the scarlet, well, it speaks, I believe, of human glory where some people are have very attractive personalities. They have a lot that the world says, Oh, that person said a lot going for. There are a lot of people like that. And so they think, well, once I've got all this going for me, I don't want to humble myself and come to Christ. My friend would laugh at me. And so that hinders them.
So the Peter was man's greatness has to be dipped, as it were, in the blood. God has one way of salvation, whether it's for the king on his throne or for the president or for the poorest person in the country, there's no difference. They all have to come in the same way. Neither is there salvation in any other.
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There is no other name under heaven given among men were abiding us be saved. Person might be the best sportsman in the United States. You might be the best.
You might be the best entertainer. A person might be the best looking person. There's only one way, nice looking or otherwise, you all have to come down. The blood is the only ground. Or on the other hand, there might be some person who says I got nothing or you're welcome too. The cripple, the person who has.
Perhaps even a little less than normal intelligence. It says a wayfaring man nor a fool need not hurt her. And there's going to be people in heaven with low average intelligence. There's going to be people there that had all kinds of physical and mental deficiencies but had enough simple faith to say I accept Jesus.
There's just one way. The cedar wood and the scarlet and the Hezbollah all had to be dipped in the blue. There's just one savior and one way.
So you can see this picture to us here in connection with the cleansing of the leopard.
God has made it so simple and yet so blessed that it's all through what Christ has done. And if there's anyone here that is concerned about your feelings, remember it's not a question of your feelings, it's a question of the value of the work of Christ.
Sometimes like to tell 1 little incident of a dear brother that I know back in Canada and he said that I always had a problem about that word believe.
And he said, I found so much unbelief in my heart that sometimes I wondered if I believe. He said, I don't have all kinds of doubts because every time I read believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I see myself, Do you really believe? And he had a lot of problems about that. And he said.
One night I came to the gospel meeting and he said the preacher took up a different verse that time. He didn't turn to Acts 1631. He turned to that verse in the 10th chapter of Romans that says Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He said, I know I may wonder sometimes if I really believe, but I do know that I've called upon the name.
The Lord for my salvation.
Said it says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He's an old brother. He's retired now, but he's still rejoicing in his simplicity of trust and just resting upon God's word. So I say again, don't think about your feelings. Think about the person that you've turned to. Think of the value of his work. Rest upon that. That's the only thing that will give peace.
Now we can see here that after this, in the eighth verse, you find the man is starting to do something.
You say I thought celebration was not a worse.
Yes that's true. It says in Ephesians chapter 2 by grace he saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works. Thus any man should also. But what's the next verse?
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus under good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in after God has done all the work of savings.
And put us in his presence, clean and perfectly fit to be in His presence. Then there's a practical side.
What does this mean about washing your clothes?
Well, it means that there's a change of associations. This man had lived a good part of his life, I suppose, among lepers. That was the kind of people that he associated with. He probably lived in a kind of a leopard colony. But he was really saying, I'm through with that leper. Call me, I'm not going to live with those lepers anymore. I'm a cleansed man. And so it is. There's a friend.
Result that takes place in our lives.
It says the early Christians.
It says and then let go. They went to their own company.
They started their new friendships and the cleansing when it says washing your clothes here is a change of the associations of life.
The person, perhaps is to be saved. He usually finds that the work is real. They seek out the company of others who have been cleansed.
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They want to be in different kinds of companies.
There is a change in their association with life.
And they go down to the earth of Sunday here. Next morning, somebody blasphemes the name of the savior that they just trusted the night before. They don't feel at home. They were once quite used to that kind of thing. But now that's what I say here.
To see that they're talking about and their greed, their hurts, and they want to be in company of those who love the city. That we know that we have passed from death under light because we love the brethren. So he washes his clothes, he bathes himself in water. He says I'm a new creature in Christ Jesus. I've been washed all over. And so he takes a new position entirely.
And then it says.
He'll shave off all his hair. Perhaps you might wonder why this is, but I just suggest this little thought that our hair grows from within and he begins to recognize what he never recognized before, that it's from within all these bad things come. You're people saying, oh, so look at the world and they start blaming the government and blaming everything, but they don't blame themselves. But after you're saved, you know, you begin to realize that the bad inside.
And we need to be constantly.
Applying the knife to soap, because we find that those things within and out of a hard man, you see evil thoughts. And that's why it says in the Scripture always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be seen. So this man applies the knife to what comes from within. And I say this to those of us who are Christians. Are we applying the knife to those things?
Apollo. Nature.
But we need to constantly be watching that we don't let those things that come from the fallen nature be seen in our lives we shaded out there.
And then this was repeated 7 days later. Why was it repeated 7 days later? You notice it says in the end of the eighth verse he tied a buron out of his camp 7 days.
And Zola Tarsus was first saved that people wouldn't believe that it was real.
It says he believed, not that he was a disciple.
Not as they watched his life, they said.
He's a different man. He's a new creature in Christ Jesus.
And so sometimes it takes a little time for others to see that the work is leaving, but if it's real, it continues, it abides.
Seven days later, he's doing it all over again.
He's washing himself. Oh, he says, this wasn't just, you know, they say a flash in the pan wasn't just something that I did. All of a sudden, you know, it's something that becomes part of his life. It's a new way of life altogether. He's a new creature in Christ Jesus, and a Christian has a new way of life.
He belongs to the Lord. He acknowledges his claims.
He finds that he has to constantly be practicing self judgment and so we see this taking place again on the 7th day in the ninth verse and then the 10th verse on the 8th day. What is he doing? Well, he comes now and he's brought it tells us.
The 11TH verse.
Grief that make it thy and clean shall present the man this to be made clean, and those things before the door.
Before the Lord, at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, first thing, this man who was once born in a Tony of lepers, now he's been cleansed. And here he comes to the place of worship. For that was what the Tabernacle of the Lord was. It was a place where they could come as worshippers. And he brings his basket full of things that represent the person and the work of Christ.
And in that room a few of us here this morning had the privilege of gathering, but poor for we were cleansed lepers, we were cleansed sinners. That's what we are. And we came, and we brought, as it were, our basket to present to the Lord, to thank Him for what He has done for us.
And so this are very practical thing for us. And perhaps the thought of the 8th day brings before us an entirely new beginning. There's seven days in the week, but the 8th day is the beginning of a new week.
And so the new beginning takes place all together.
And this thing is the same person who has run so far outside, he now coming there in his basket, and he is there as a worshiper. Well, you know, he was at the door of the Tabernacle. I just mentioned this. That was as close as they could get under the Judaistic order of things. But now, isn't it wonderful? The veil has been rampant. It says having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into.
00:45:27
Loneliness. I would love Jesus.
As believers, we have a place of nearness that they never enjoy in the Old Testament.
And they won't deal with all the details of these things that you brought except to show that they, he, he now can come into the presence of God as a worshiper who sees something else that I believe we can apply practically in the 14th verse down to the end of the 17th verse.
Here it tells us in the 14 verse that the priest takes some of the blood of the trespass offering, and he puts it on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the form of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot.
I believe this represents to us with redemptions claim over us now that we have been saved.
The more than he was here said, Take heed, watch ye here.
And speaking about the Lord Jesus, it says He opened my ear morning by morning.
That here as the learner was the instructed 1.
We need to be careful about being here.
There's a lot of things that we can listen to in this world that we better not hear.
We need to have the blood on our ears.
Now that is if someone saw this leper and he saw this blood on his ear, you might easily say, well what is that on your ear? Oh, he would say, I was once a leper and I have been cleansed. Now I have this will in my ear as a sign that I have to be careful what I listen to.
And, you know, we do need to be careful, probably listen to all kinds of things. And we need to be warned. Some people listen to all kinds of things, get these things into their mind, and they're awful hard to get out, you know?
I I find sometimes when I'm sitting in the Lord's presence on Lord's Day morning that there are things that come into my mind that I wish I'd never heard.
They improved because if we don't have the blood on here, we just have our ears open to listen to everything that's going on and all the horrible things that we can hear.
Why it's going to affect us. We need to take heed what we hear. We need to always have an ear that's open to hear the Shepherd's voice.
Because we belong to him.
So the blood on the ear speaks to the fact that we should take him and what you hear. And then it was also on the thumb of his right hand. I believe the right hand and the right ear and so on speak of the right hand of power. The the right hand always speaks of a certain dignity.
Person shakes hand me hold on his right hand. It's always the thought that on my right hand it's the hand of power and dignity. And so this man put out his hand to do something. What's that on your finger? Your fingers red.
And he said when there was a clean leopard, and this is the blood of the trespass offering, it caused a great deal that my trespasses might be put away. Blood had to be shed. Do we realize this? When I put up my hand to do something, do I realize that I'm busy a redeemed person, that I actually belong to the Lord?
For the presenter parties a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God. The children sing. Be careful, O hands, what you do.
Be careful the little feet where you go, be careful little ears, what you hear. And that's why I believe what is brought before us, the blood on the ears, careful of what we hear. The blood on the finger is careful about what we do. And then the blood was put on the great toe on his right foot. Remind me to take a step to go someplace. He looked down and saw that blood and is as if he said, I better be careful.
Where I go, I can't go anyplace.
I can't bring the blood.
And so you and I ought to go into place where we can act as those who recognize that we are our redeemed people.
00:50:05
On his ear, what he heard and some what he did. On his toes, the places he went.
Then next the priest had some oil, and he put the oil on top of the blood. He put the oil on top of the blood on his finger and on his toe.
What we're told in Ephesians chapter 1.
After you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
So the Lord is not only cleansed me in His blood, but He's given me a new power for my life.
Perhaps I hear somebody say, well, it's all right for you, brother, to talk that way, but you don't know how hard it is to work in the office where I work and hear the things and they're always asking you to do things and go places and everything. You don't know how hard it is.
Well, we're not left to our own strength in these things.
The oil stakes are the power that God has given to us as believers. I worked in an office for a good many years and perhaps in some measure I understand and I know that I couldn't have been faithful to the Lord in my own strength. But I know that the Lord can give you strength. And over and over again we have to look up and say, Lord, help me to act as long who is I redeem child.
Then by his spirit, he supplies that power.
So on top of the blood were the oil, and they were too. This was on the leopard.
Here and thumb and toe saw that all these things were to be consistent with his position as one who had been once so far off and now rock so near. And then a priest at the remnant the only poured it over his head.
And this morning we read a beautiful passage in Revelation chapter 1 and says he's lost us from our sins in his own blood and has made us kings and priests under God and his Father. The king in Israel was anointed. The priest was anointed. The cleansed leopard was anointed.
And you and I should never forget, there is what we might call the dignity of being a Christian in the world. There is a dignity, not pride, I don't mean, but a certain dignity of the position that we're in. We are really king. We're going to reign with Christ another day. And we are already kings and priests. We have a position in this world of being represented, those of our heavenly Kingdom here in this world.
We have.
Delivered us in the power of darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love. And then here we have access in His presence as courage worshippers.
So the blood was poured on his hand, representing the fact that he was now in a position of, I can say, of loyalty.
And so this was the place that he was brought into. And I just read those other few verses. The show it says in the 21St verse.
And if he be poor and cannot get so much?
I think it's very gracious that God made this provision because there might be someone here who says, well, when I come into the Lord's presence, I don't seem to enter into and enjoy things like some others do. I just seem as if I only lay hold of a very little bit. Isn't it nice to think that if this man was poor and he couldn't get a lamb?
Then he could bring turtle dogs a young pigeons.
And perhaps as we come into the Lord's presence, we might say, well, if I could pray as well as such and such a brother, then I'd stand up and purge it. If I could be sure I always selected a nice in, then I I would choose one. But I'm just a little afraid that I might be able to pray as nicely as another person or I just might ensures as acceptable him. And so you don't do anything.
But the man that was poor wasn't told were your example together because you're poor now, such as he was able to get, but he didn't have surely something. And he could bring in gratitude for what had happened when he had been clams from his leprosy. And cannot our hearts go out in gratitude? I don't think any of us would say that we praise him as much as he should.
I don't think any of us would say how that when we even stand up and.
Thank Him and that our prayers are without anything of self. Next to us. There's all kinds of things. You get mixed in with the best things we do for the Lord. The Bible speaks of the iniquity of our holy thing, but let us not be discouraged. He says peaceful praise.
00:55:13
Glorify me and it's whereas the Old Testament to the children of Israel, man.
Appeared before me.
Men shall appear before Nancy. So no one should come to the presence of the Lord without some feelings of gratitude and thanks and praise in our hearts. And if the Spirit leads, our hearts should be in response to His, His leading, whether it being Him or praise and Thanksgiving.
So in that chapter, in these two chapters, what a picture we have brought before us, a rapper far off.
Totally covered from hand to place.
And now we see him brought from that great position of distance and.
Misery and now perfectly cleanse.
New creatures, a worshiper owning the Lord's claims over his life and able to recognize the dignity of his position, that he was a king or a place he was brought into. And if there's anyone here that's not saved, that's where God lives in me. It will only take the Lord as your Savior. He'll bring you into all the blessing that flows through us as a result of the work of Christ.
And for those of us who know Him as our Savior hates sins, lay hold of our hearts.
We were planned. We have been cleansed from our sins. Are we acknowledging His claims? Are we showing out in some way our gratitude to Him and the Lord? Clean the 10 lepers. When He was here upon earth, there was only one that came back.
And the Lord said, Were there not ten planes? But where are they?
There has not returned. If you have, glory to God, save this stranger. May there be more gratitude in our hearts as believers for what the Lord has done for us.