Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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I'd like to turn tonight to the 19th chapter of Numbers. Might just say before, if you read it, that this chapter sets before us the provision that God made for his people, not so that they would be cleansed by the blood, but that they might walk in fellowship with Him because any uncleanness that was allowed in their lives was going to spoil the enjoyment of fellowship with God.
Because he said that the camps should be cleaned.
In the midst of which he dwelt and saw. This is a very practical chapter, and I hope we can look at it in a very simple way, this 19th chapter of Numbers. Let's read it together.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke.
And ye shall give for unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face.
And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the Tabernacle of the congregation 7 times. And one shall burn the heifer in his sight. Her skin and her flesh and her blood with her dung shall he burn. And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh.
In water. And afterward he shall come into the camp. And the priest shall be unclean until the evening. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until even.
And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, And it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of purification of separation. It is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until even. And it shall be unto the children of Israel none to the stranger that sidereneth among them for a statute forever.
He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean 7 days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the 7th he shall be clean. But if he purify not himself the third day, then the 7th day he shall not be clean.
Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the Tabernacle of the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from Israel, because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him. He shall be unclean. His uncleanness is yet upon him.
This is the law. When a man dieth in a tent, all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent shall be unclean 7 days. And every open vessel which hath no covering bound upon it is unclean. And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean 7 days.
And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification.
For sin and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel, and a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that toucheth the bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave.
And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the 7th day, and on the 7th day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean and even.
But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him. He is unclean, and it shall be a perpetual statue unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes. And he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean, and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean, until even.
Just one more passage in the first Epistle of John from the first chapter begin at the seventh verse.
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But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Well, as I said, I'd like to look at this passage in a very simple way. I'd just like to say first of all, in order to bring before you what I have upon my heart.
It sets before us the way that God's people could be maintained in a fellowship with Him that was pleasing to Him. You know, we could illustrate it like this. As far as our standing is concerned, it is perfect because when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, our standing before God is based upon the what Christ has done. And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin we have been brought.
To the family of God, we stand in an unchanging place of acceptance before God through what Christ has done. But every Christian doesn't walk in fellowship with God. And I like to look at this in a very positive way, not in a negative way, because the more you love a person, the more you want to be in their company and you don't want to allow something that would hinder the enjoyment of their company. I've often illustrated it like this.
Supposing I am going down the street.
And I want to take my little girl with me, but her face is dirty and her hands are dirty. And I say to her, would you like to come down the street with me? I'm going to go down the street. And she says, all right, daddy. And she's all set to come down with me with her dirty face and dirty claws. And I say, well, dear, I'd like you to first of all, get cleaned up. Because if we're going to walk together down the street, I'd like you to be clean.
Oh, she says, Daddy, don't you love me with a dirty face and hands and dirty clothes? Oh, I say, yes, I love you very much, and I love you just as much when your face is dirty as when it's clean. But I do say that if you want to have my company, I want you to be clean. And perhaps this helps to illustrate what we have before us here.
As to our standing before God, I say again, it is perfect because it's founded upon the work of Christ. But how much, brethren, do we desire to walk through this world in company with our Savior? And that's why in John 17, in the Lord Jesus High priestly prayer, he says, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are.
That is, we must remember that God our Father is a Holy Father, and He wants us to walk in oneness of communion with Him.
But it can only be in a practical way as we remember His Holiness. Now, as I say, I'd like to look at this chapter in a practical way. If my little girl cares for my company, she's going to go and get washed up. She's going to ask her mother to put on a clean dress so she can go down the street. And so if you and I care for the company of the Lord Jesus, don't we want to know how we can enjoy his company, how we can walk through life?
In the enjoyment of His company, because he wants ours. He's not going to be satisfied with anything less than the enjoyment of our company forever. And how much do we desire it down here in this world so full of defilement as it is, just as we see pictured to us in this chapter?
Now the reason I read in first John 1 is to show there are two things brought before us, that we are fitted for the light through the blood. It says, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin, That is, all the light of God's presence shining upon. The believer sees him perfectly cleansed, fitted for the light, fitted for fellowship with God.
Starting with one another through the blood which cleanses from all sin. But then it goes on to say that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And if I stood in front of you tonight and said that because I've been cleansed in the blood of Christ, I don't have a sinful nature anymore, who would I be deceiving? Well, I certainly wouldn't be deceiving people that know me, but I might deceive myself.
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And so it says here if we say we have no.
We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. And then it says in the last verse of that chapter, if we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar. Because James says in many things we all offend. And so every one of us, if we're honest with ourselves and with God, we have to acknowledge that we have failed and at times dishonored our Lord even since He has saved us. But now the question is, has he made provision for this?
How is He in His word made a provision that we could be restored and belong in fellowship with Him? I say, He has, most definitely He has. And so he tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now I've heard Christians say, But when I fail, I ask the Lord to forgive me.
You don't need to. Your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. There is a difference.
Between conversing and asking forgiveness.
There is a difference, I say, supposing that I did something unkind to you, and then I came to you and said, will you forgive me?
I'm raising the question about whether you're going to say yes or no. But supposing you said to me, Gordon, I have forgiven you in my heart, but I would like you to say you're sorry. Now that's quite different, isn't it?
And so, you know, when we confess, we're really telling the Lord that we're sorry we grieved him, that the very thing we did was the cause of his suffering for us on Calvary's cross. And then in his government we have it says he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. He's faithful because he's doing that work as our advocate at the right hand of God. And he's just because he paid for that sin at the cross. Isn't that lovely present?
He's faithful because that's the work he's doing.
He's our advocate. We all know what it is to have an advocate to take up our cause in connection with law. But how much better to have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous? If I broke one of the laws of the land and I get an advocate to get me off, how can he do it righteously if I'm guilty? Oh, you say he can't. He's going to have to do something to get around the law. But here I have failed. I've dishonored my Lord, and I have a righteous advocate.
Oh, isn't it lovely? He paid for that sin at Calvary. He paid for it. He's there in the presence of God. And before I've even confessed it, He's maintaining my cause before the Father. He's maintaining my 'cause I say. And the thing that has happened is I have broken fellowship with God. I've robbed the Lord of the joy that He wants to have in fellowship with His people, and I've lost a great deal for my own soul.
Too, Because, I repeat, there's nothing sweeter in life than to walk in company with the Lord Jesus. Enoch walked with God. That's a wonderful thing. There's a little poem that says he walked with God. Could grander words be written? Not much of what he did or said is told, not where or what he wrought is even mentioned. He walked with God.
Brief words of faithless God. That's the grandest thing.
And so Enoch walked with God, and that's what God desires, that you and I should walk in his company.
And I might just say that forgiveness is spoken of in different ways in the Scripture. There is eternal forgiveness that's taken place once for all when we're saved. But then there's forgiveness in the family, forgiveness in the family. A disobedient child doesn't enjoy the forgiveness that's in his father's heart until he says he's sorry. When he says he's sorry, he finds his father's heart full of forgiveness. And God's laid a righteous basis for it at Calvary.
And that's why I say judicially, every believer is forgiven governmentally. It's not until we have confessed our sin and then he's faithful and just. And just one more thing, it tells us if any man sin, we have an advocate. And notice it doesn't say, brethren, if any man confess his sin, we have an advocate. Now to me that's very lovely because before you ever confess the sin.
The Lord Jesus maintains your cause before.
For the Father, as though the moment you sinned, the Lord Jesus said, I paid for that sin, but you haven't been restored yet, not until you confess it. But he's there all the time.
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Maintaining our cause? Well, what a wonderful savior we have. Well, I just like to look at this chapter in a typical way as it applies to us, and perhaps we can learn some practical lessons from this if we just look at it as a picture of what we have been talking about.
Notice here.
It tells us that the Lord told Moses and Aaron that they were to speak to the children of Israel, that they would bring a red heifer without blemish, without spot, wherein there is no blemish.
And upon which never came work. Doesn't that make you think of that lovely verse in first Peter chapter 1 and verse 18? For as much as ye know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot. That's the kind of a Savior that we have without blemish and without spot. He was pure and holy without, and He had no sinful nature.
Within He did not sin. In Him is no sin. He is the holy spotless Lamb of God. And so in this chapter, it doesn't have so much to do with the putting away of our sins, as I say, but rather restoration from to communion.
That's why in Leviticus you have all the offerings that have to do with meeting God's holy claims. But here this is in the book of Numbers separated by a different book to show us that it is a different line of truth that is brought before us here in Numbers 19, not along with the other offerings that had to do with the putting away of sin before God. But I say again, the maintenance of communion, but it's the same blessed person.
The Lamb.
Without blemish and without spot. And so it tells us here. A red heifer, perhaps we could say, was a very attractive looking animal, without blemish and without spot, and upon which never came yolk. Oh, how true it is of us that we came under the yoke of sin. We were born in sin. We were born with fallen natures. Not this person. He never was under the yoke of sin. What a what a Savior we have.
Then this animal is brought to Eliezer the priest, and it says he brought her forth without the camp and I'm sure any who are acquainted with the scripture.
This brings to our mind that verse in Hebrews 13. Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate. And so here this red heifer was taken by the priest outside the camp, and it says, One shall slay her before his face.
Well, it tells us here what a thing for Eleazar the priest to watch this animal put to death. And you know we will never, never have a right estimate of sin until we see what it cost God to put it away at Calvary. I like the way a little hymn expresses that in his spotless soul's distress I have learned my guiltiness.
Oh how vile my lost estate since my ransom was.
So great, if we begin comparing ourselves with others, we might say, well, I don't think I'm too bad. I I don't think I'm as bad as some other people I know. But when I look to Calvary and see what it cost God to to settle the question of my sins and of all that I was as a child of fallen Adam, I get a true estimate of what sin is before God. And so as.
The priest watch the dying agonies of this animal put to death before.
Space. Some of us would particularly like to do that, but you and I need to realize if we would properly measure sin, we have to realize what took place at Calvary. And I say again, and I think it's important for us to see this, that two things were settled at Calvary, the question of my sins and the question of the nature that produced The Sims. Just the difference between the apples.
Grow on a tree and the apple tree itself.
The apples that grow on the tree are like my sins. The tree itself is the nature that produces those apples or those sins. And So what is it's telling us here is that the Lord Jesus, by His work His blood put away our sins, provided a way of access into the presence of God. But it tells us in Romans 6IN that He died, He died unto sin once.
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And that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Again our old man is crucified with him. Have you seen in the cross of Calvary not only the putting away of your sins, but the end of all that you were as a child of Adam before God, and that you not only are a forgiven Sinner, but brought into a new position? Well, how lovely this is. And that's what's brought before us here. The the animal was slain in the presence of the priest.
And then it says in the fourth verse, he was to take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the Tabernacle of the congregation 7 times. Well, I would connect this with that beautiful verse in Hebrews 10. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, the Tabernacle was in the place where God dwelt among his people.
And the blood sprinkles 7 times.
Shows that God has provided a perfect way of approach into His presence through the blood.
But we're not always in the enjoyment of our position. We allow things that break communion, and so that's what follows. God has provided a way of access. I say, of course, here it was only at the door. Thank God we can go further than the door. We have access into the holiest. This is Judaism, the door of the Tabernacle. Christianity is like we sing within.
The holiest of all?
Cleansed by His precious blood before the throne, we prostate fall, and worship thee, O God. So the blood is brought in just in the beginning of the chapter to show us that this is the groundwork. This is the way by which we can come into the presence of God at all. But then what follows in the chapter is that which might come in to produce defilement and hinder the enjoyment of what God had provided.
For his people and what God has provided for us through the blood of Christ may not be enjoyed. I say will not be enjoyed if we're out of fellowship with God. Just like the disobedient child. The Father's heart's full of love, but the child's not enjoying it. He's just stubborn and grumpy and he's not enjoying it. The Father's heart is full of love. He wants them to enjoy.
The happy family life, but the child is not.
Because there's something in him that's at work. And so this is what follows in the chapter. Here is the provision that was made so that they could be maintained in a way that was pleasing to God who was holy.
So it says here the fifth verse. And one shall burn the heifer in his sight. We think of the Lord Jesus bearing the judgment of God against sin.
And it says her skin and her flesh, and her blood with her dung, shall he burn.
I believe we could say that the death of Christ is the end of all that we were.
It was the end not only of what we could call bad self, but good self too.
This, brethren, we think there's something good in US. Naturally, you hear people use the expression. Well, I'm not all bad.
But in God's sight we are.
It says the flesh profiteth nothing in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. So that pretty red skin of the animal along with her tongue were all burned together. And it's important, brethren, that we see that the death of Christ is the end of good self, bad self, everything connected with the first man.
Because there's nothing in the first man that is acceptable to God.
All that is acceptable to him now is that which is the result of possessing a new life, and by the power of the Spirit of God, we can walk in that new life. Remember, it is the Spirit that quickeneth. The flesh profiteth nothing. And when Jesus said those words, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Why? Well, there's lots of Christians like that today, they say, I don't like that kind of talk.
No, those disciples didn't be there. They didn't like to be told that.
But Brandon, it's a lesson we have to learn. Good self, bad self. What do you mean good self? Anything that we have naturally that we think is acceptable to God, we have to learn that God has put an end to the first man. And what he is accepting in your life and mine is what is produced in us by the operation of the Spirit of God, those divine affections that flow out in praise and Thanksgiving to him. Now the life.
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That is, lived not before the eyes of man, but lived to please God. When I say not before the eyes of men, I mean not for man's approval. That is, a man might give money and say, Well, I like to be thought of as generous. Well, that was a good thing to give money. But you see the motive spring myself. He wanted everybody to think well of him. What you and I do to be pleasing to God must be done to please the Lord.
That must be the motive, Spring, if there's going to be a.
Anything for God in it.
And so the whole animal was burned up, and then cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet was cast in.
Well, we spoke a little bit about this at the meeting and I think perhaps we could repeat it again. These three things are brought before us in connection with the cleansing of the leper, and they're brought before us again here.
Because.
I believe they pictured to us certain things, that is.
The cedar wood, the cedar trees of Lebanon were the pride of the children of Israel.
When God spoke about judging them, He said that he would bring down their lofty Cedars, and it says his judgment would be on all the Cedars of Lebanon. I sometimes said I never realized what it meant till I went through the redwoods and when I saw those huge trees there, I said to a brother, Oh my, it must be an operation to bring down one of those trees. He said it sure is. And you know, some of us are pretty big in our own eyes and it's quite an operation to bring us down.
We really are like those redwoods. We really.
Think we're somebody pretty big and important?
God has to bring us down South. Here they took the cedar and they threw it into the burning of the heifer. Have you and I seen the end of all that self importance in the death of Christ? The cedar wood was burned up and we have to realize this. All ministers to our self importance God has to bring down. It says the lofty looks of man shall be brought down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
And then the scarlet, well, you know, scarlet's a very attractive color, very beautiful. And it pictures in the, in the scripture, human glory that is usually in countries where they want to put on some kind of a festival or something. There's a lot of scarlet in display because it's an attractive color. It makes people turn their eyes. And so in the Scripture, it brings before us.
That in which man glories, he does glory.
In his own accomplishments. So much so that man always wants to do. So much so that man always wants to do something to attract attention to himself.
Mr. Darby once said a man would rather be accounted the best thief in the country than to be accounted nobody. And I believe that's true. People just love to attract attention to themselves. And so that's all got to come to an end too. Scarlet had to be burned up. And then the hyssop, Well, the hyssop was just a weed that sprung out of the wall. It didn't seem very much. But as we were remarking the other day.
There can be saying, oh, I'm nothing. Well, perhaps.
I could illustrate at best like this. Perhaps some have heard this story before, but there was a brother one time and he was boasting to one of the Lord's servants. He said there's a lot of proud brethren in this meeting, But he said I'm not proud. And he pulled up his coat like this. He said, look, I'm not even ashamed to wear a coat with a sleeve worn out. And the brother said, I saw the pride sticking right through the sleeve in his coat. He was.
He was proud that he was humble. We can be proud about anything, brethren. And so the hyssop had to be burned up. We can be proud about our humility. It's, it's terrible how much of self there really is in US. And so all these things had to be burned up. And so in the ashes here was the heifer, our precious Savior, who put an end to all that we were. Our old man was crucified with him.
And then a man's greatness, man's glory.
Man's littleness.
All this false humility, this sort of thing, all coming to an end in the death of Christ. And now it tells us here. Then the priest shall wash his clothes and shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until even.
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Perhaps you were struck as I read this chapter, to notice how often it mentioned about bathing themselves and washing their clothes, when I think this is a very important thing.
Perhaps it would help us to understand that by quoting a verse in Jude, it says, and if some have compassion making a difference, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. The point is that any contact with evil, even though necessary, defiles us, and unless we get before the Lord about it.
We're going to carry some of the defilement with us.
And that's a very important thing for us to realize.
We know it very well in a practical way. Sometimes your child may fall into the mud and get all dirty, and you, you undertake to clean up the child. And you know very well you get dirty yourself doing it, but you want to do it for the child's sake. But it gets you dirty too. And what do you do? You have to go and wash your hands afterwards, and perhaps some of it get on your clothes. And so you have to wash your clothes too.
Now sometimes we have to try and help others.
Sometimes we have to have contacts with what is wrong, but if we're not careful, we can carry the defilement ourselves. And supposing the mother who had washed up the child who was all covered in mud, then she goes around with this mud on her clothes, why she has just carried that defilement with her. She's not going to do that, No. And so you and I.
Whatever contact we have with sin, we.
Always remember that it defiles. Have you tried to help someone that has perhaps fallen into careless, sinful ways? Remember that I have, and you have a heart in us that if we don't apply the Word of God to ourselves, we're going to carry about some of that defilement with us.
And what is more, we're going to carry the defilement and affect others. Let's put it this way. A man who's a farmer may have a very necessary job to do in the stable looking after his cattle. But I would presume when he came in, he doesn't wear those clothes around the house because they might smell up the house, you know, And yet it was quite necessary for him to carry on that job in the barn. But he takes those clothes off and he.
Doesn't wear them. And brethren, let's say this, if you ever try to help somebody who has fallen into sin or careless ways, be sure to wash your clothes, bathe your flesh in water. It may affect you and it may affect others. You may become a gossip. Start talking about it and you defile everybody that listens to it. I've heard people say, well, you might as well say it as think it. The Bible doesn't say that.
The Bible says a fool.
All his mind and remember this. Remember this. If you think it, you defile yourself.
If you say it, you defile others, and so it tells us here that the person who did this service for the people of God.
He had to bathe his flesh and water.
And wash his clothes. The clothes in Scripture are a figure of the associations of life. And if we desire to associate with others, let's not carry defilement. Isn't it lovely to see a brother or a sister who can go and try to help somebody? Like it says in Galatians 6, here's a brother overtaken in a fault. The spiritual person goes and tries to help him.
But when he comes away, he seeks to apply the word to himself.
It says he considers himself lest he also be tempted. In other words, he says, I could do the same thing as that brother. He's humble. He applies the word to himself lest he should fall into the same sin. And then he doesn't go around spreading it any more than the farmer goes around spreading the smell of the stable. He sets those clothes aside. Well, this is, this is very practical. It's very instructive for us, brethren, because.
God has provided a way.
That we should be, that we should be given the privilege of having fellowship with God and He brings it before us in the type here in a very practical way.
And it says the priest shall be unclean until even that is, the contact with him with this thing sobers his own thoughts. And like Ezekiel, when he went down to speak to those of the captivity who had rebelled against the Lord, and because of their failure had been carried down captive, and they were down by the river Chebar, it tells us that when.
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Ezekiel went down.
It says he went there and sat where they sat and remained astonished 7 days. He didn't say a word, didn't say a word. Well, any contact with evil I say we'll find it does defund us. And this is an exceedingly practical thing for us. Then it says here in the eighth verse, And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water.
And bathe him his flesh in water, and shall be unclean.
Until even and a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place. Isn't this beautiful? Lay them up without the camp in a clean place. Doesn't this make you think again of Hebrews 13? Our Lord Jesus was crucified outside the camp. And now it says, Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp.
So there was a place outside.
The clamp in a clean place, and these ashes were laid up so that anyone who was defiled could have this sprinkled upon him and be cleansed. And it's important that sin should not be allowed in God's assembly. Our place is outside the camp, gathered to a person. What it's important too, that we realize the character of that person, the Lord Jesus, the one who is holy.
And true, so it was.
In a clean place and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation is the purification for sin. No, there are a great many places that don't feel this responsibility. They say, well, you're not responsible. The individual is responsible, but Scripture shows us it says, do not ye judge them that are within, but them that are without God judges.
It's not that we're any better.
The people here who had to do with this water of separation and these ashes isn't a question of them being better, but it was a question of maintaining God's order. And we are responsible to maintain God's order in God's assembly. And so here we see that it was kept for a water of separation because it's often been said that.
Separation from evil is God's principle of unity and holiness.
And so anyone who had anything to do with this, you'll notice that he was unclean and he had to wash his clothes and so on.
I think we have another lovely example of it in the book of the Acts. There was a difficulty that arose in the assembly of Antioch, and some of the brethren went from Antioch up to Jerusalem so that this matter might be cleared up.
But they washed their clothes before they went.
And as they journeyed up, they didn't spread the trouble in every assembly that they visited. It says as they went along from place to place, they declared the conversion of the Gentiles and caused great joy to all the brazen Wasn't that lovely here? They visited these places and they told what was happy and fruitful, and then they went up to Jerusalem to settle a very serious question that could have divided the early church.
But they didn't spread it well. May the Lord help us to learn from these things for His glory.
Now we see some of the things that cause defilement. The 11TH verse says He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean 7 days. Well, we know very well that.
Death in scripture is often spoken of in a spiritual way the unbeliever is looked upon as dead in trespasses and sins. The careless Christian, it says she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. So we can see how the thought of death if you live after the flesh, ye shall die. It's associated with that which is.
Spoken of his death in the scripture. Now a believer is truly alive in Christ.
But it is quite possible for him to act like an unbeliever. Another verse says, Awake thou that sleepeth, and arise from among the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
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So when it speaks about touching the dead body of any man, it speaks of anything that comes in that is defilement, that which is associated with death, that which is the fruit of the old nature, which is looked upon as being dead before God. And so the man who was who had touched the dead body, it says in the 12TH verse, He shall purify himself with this.
That's the water of separation on the third day, and on the 7th day he shall be clean, but if he purified not himself the third day, then the 7th day he shall not be cleaned.
Now, you know, I think everyone of us when we read the third day, there are thoughts come into our mind. We can't help but think about the Lord Jesus. It says Christ died for our sins and he was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. And so when it brings in the thought of the third day, it brings in the thought of what it cost God to put away sin.
And you know, sometimes we're very careless in the way we confess Samuel. That is, we confess sin with sort of the thought in our mind. Well, I know I did wrong, but I'm not the only one that has failed. And I know other Christians failed too. We don't get to the cross. We don't see the Lord Jesus having to put that sin away. We don't have before us the thought of the third day that in order to put away that sin, the Lord Jesus.
Wrath and judgment, he died, he was buried, and he rose the third day. And if Christ be not risen, your faith is vain. You're yet in your sins. So if the man wasn't purified on the third day, he was not clean on the 7th. Did you ever hear the expression? Well, that brother said he's sorry, but I'm not sure that he's restored now. That's what is meant. That's what's meant if he didn't get to the third day.
Then he isn't clean on the 7th.
That is, there is not a real restoration. He has perhaps said that he's sorry, just like King Saul said. I'm sorry, he said. I have sinned yet. Honor me now, I pray thee, in the presence of the elders of my people, he said. I know I've done wrong, but I don't want to lose any prestige about this. Do I have to lose a position of importance because I failed? He didn't have any sense of what sin is before.
God. But David said against thee The only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. He took his true place in repentance before God. He didn't see Connors before man Mr. Darby once said, the greatest proof of restoration before God is humility before man. And so here we find that the man is sprinkled on the third day, that if he doesn't.
Submit to that sprinkling on the third day, then He's not going to be clean on the 7th. And so if you and I would, that's the force, perhaps I should say, of that verse in first John one and seven, in first John 1 and 9. Rather, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, that's the third day. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that's the 7th day.
That is coming to the realization of what that sin is before God. Then we truly judge it in its root. We see that God has not only judged the action, but He has judged the root of that at the cross. And I say again, you can usually trace your sin down to one of those three things, cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop. We usually fail because.
We're occupied with our own importance.
Or because we're trying to attract the attention of others, a young person said, oh, well, you don't like to be called chicken. And so this young person didn't want to do something, but didn't like everybody to call them chicken. So did something wrong that that was the Scarlet wanted to appear kind of quite important before others. And so it was careless about what was pleasing to the Lord.
Well, unless you get to the root of it, you're not really restored. So in.
Water was the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop. And usually I say, if we trace our failures back, like Peter failed because he thought he was better than the rest of the disciples, and so often there's something like that. Jacob failed because he thought I can scheme my way through anything. I know how to work things out.
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Yeah, that's the that was the scarlet. And he tried and tried to work things out for 20 years. He tried to work things out at last. He wrestled with the Angel. He had it out with the Lord. And so, you know, we've got to get to that point as the water of separation is not sprinkled on the third day. There isn't a perfect seven pictures, the perfect number. There isn't a real restoration.
And then it goes on to tell us here.
And if it's if the person isn't?
Purified, then, his uncleanness is yet upon him. That's why it says, if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
And now this 14th and 15th verse is very interesting. This is the law. When a man dieth in a tent, all that come into the tent and all that is in the tent shall be unclean. 7 days. And every open vessel which hath no covering bound upon it is unclean. Because we might say, well, I couldn't help but I have to work in an office where I'm surrounded with this kind of thing all the time, and I can't help it.
But here was an attempt where there was death, just like the Office where there's death, where there's all kinds of nasty stories and things going on that aren't as they should be. But can you keep clean? Yes. Here's a vessel inside this tent, and it has a covering bound upon it.
And with all this defilement around it, Still Clean had still claimed that. Isn't it nice that we can live in a world like this? And if there's that energy to keep the covering bound?
How old, dear old brother Dunlop, he once said, he said in a place where he was at one time, and there was all kinds of evil around him. And he said I had to learn to sit in my place with the covering bound upon me. And he said I'd sing a little hymn to myself about the Lord Jesus and about his love, and I kept the covering bound with all that was going on.
Well, I believe we can do this, brethren. I think it's lovely.
When it tells us here that in the midst of death in the tent, things that you can't help because you can't help what goes on around about you sometimes. But the covering bound upon it, not just loose on it so it can be knocked off, bound upon it, it's kept clean.
Every people say, well, well, I have an open mind. I want to be careful. Open mind to what? To all the defilements? I hope not.
All the little hymns as take thou our hearts, and let them be forever closed to all but Thee.
Thy willing servants let us wear the seal of love forever. There don't have an open mind to evil.
And then there's an interesting thing in this 16th verse.
It says a body.
Slain with the sword in an open field, a dead body, a bone of a man, or a grave.
I think this is very interesting because as a person slain in the open field, he just died.
Then the dead body, well, a person might have been dead a few days, the bone, while he's been dead a lot longer. When you're touching the bone of a dead man and then you say, well, I didn't do any of that. I didn't touch the body and I didn't touch the bone. But what about the grave? The grave is the place where the person was buried. And so people say, well, we're not responsible for the past.
Oh, anything. And God requires that which is past. God requires that which is past.
And we should always remember that any contact with evil, whether it's something that happened sometime back or something that's just happened, why? Unless we have been cleansed and according to God's provision, it isn't a question of how long ago it was. It's a question of whether the thing has ever been cleared up for the glory of God or not. Mr. Darby made a good remark too, when he said you are still in the sin until.
It has been judged properly before God and so it doesn't matter how long ago it was. People say, well, I'm not responsible for what happened 100 years ago. The Lord Jesus said the people in his day was were responsible for what Cain did to Abel. Why? Because they were doing the same thing in their day that Cain did to Abel. They were rejecting God's servant. And so it doesn't matter how long ago it is.
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God requires that which is past. The question is.
Of having the thing owned and judged according to the mind of God.
And then it tells us here the 18th verse, A clean person shall take hyssop, and dip in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tin, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched the bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave, who was on the vessels, and all the people that were in the tent. Oh, you say, I could understand the individual, but why everybody that was there?
Well, it shows us in the Scripture a little leaven leaveneth the whole lung, and if we become associated with unjudged evil, we actually become defiled by it. I just tell a very simple little thing. One time there was a brother in the Lord, and I have no doubt he was a real brother in the Lord. He desired to remember the Lord, but he was associated with a group where evil was held.
And some of us were talking to him about what he was associated with because not only the person but all that were in the tent were defiled. Some of us were talking about about it and he said.
He said, well, don't ask me what's held in the group. Ask me what I hold myself.
He was saying I can be associated with evil as long as I don't hold it myself. I'm not defiled. But is that what it says here? No, it says everybody that was in the tent was defiled by it. So let us not forget, brethren, this principle is clearly established here, that association with evil defiles.
I'm sure I could use a simple illustration. Supposing I told you that I belong to a communist club, but I didn't believe in communism at all.
But I belong to the club only I didn't believe in it.
What would you say to me? Well, you'd say, Gordon, I don't understand. You're talking like that. Why don't you leave it? If you don't believe in it, why do you stay there?
Would you say, well, it doesn't matter what the group or the club believes, It's only a question of what you believe. People don't talk that way in ordinary things, and God doesn't talk that way in spiritual things. He shows us here that association with evil defiles. Notice the 21St verse.
The.
The 21St verse It shall be a perpetual statue unto them, that he that sprinkles the water of separation shall wash his clothes, and he the touch of the water of a separation shall be unclean until even. 22nd And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean, and the soul toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
So unless the person washed his clothes, bade himself.
In water he remained associated with the evil. So it's a very solemn thing that is brought before us. And just one more thing to notice here.
In the 19th verse. And a clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the 7th day, and on the 7th day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even notice a clean person is the one who sprinkles the water on the unclean person.
And so it is, you know, if you and I would seek to go on to please the Lord and walk in a way that's pleased to.
Him then, but not till then can we really be a help to others. If you and I are seeking to walk to please Him, then we can help others We want, we ought to help them. And I'm sure every true hearted Christian does want to help others, that perhaps you're getting mixed up in defilement. You see some other young person and maybe they're getting careless, getting into wrong company. You can help them.
For you say, I don't like to talk to them about it, but the clean.
Person was to sprinkle the water of separation on the unclean person on the third day and on the 7th day. That is, he's not to be satisfied with anything less than seeing the person really restored to the Lord. And isn't it a joy when and perhaps there's someone been getting away and the Lord might use you to be a help to that person. I remember hearing about a case where he brother had to be dealt with because he had gone.
With sin in an assembly and when his name was read out because of the sin that had taken place in his life, an older brother stood up and said, I think I have failed brethren. I saw that brother getting away and I didn't try to help him. Well, I thought that was lovely that he he took that place. He acknowledged that he was a clean person, but he hadn't sprinkled the water.
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A separation on the unclean person so that he would be clamped.
And so we've been talking about how it affects ourselves. We can also help others. But be careful, brethren, if you ever do that, if you ever do it, don't go around and spread the uncleanness. Help the person if you can, but have it between yourself and the Lord. Pray for them. But the man who sprinkled the water of separation, it was to be a statue that he was to wash his clothes, bathe himself in water, wash his clothes, that he didn't carry it.
And say to himself, I could do the same thing if the Lord doesn't keep me and get down humbly like Israel after they won that great victory at Jericho, they thought now we can handle any city in the in the country. We're such a mighty army. And they went down to defeat an AI. They went down to defeat of AI. They didn't sprinkle the water of separation on themselves. And if you and I think that we've done something that's pretty wonderful in helping another and we don't ourselves.
Humbly bow before the Lord and say, Lord, keep me, or I could be the next, we may be the next, we may be the next, and so may the Lord keep us then. Well, I hope that we can look at this chapter in a practical way, in a helpful way, as it would affect our own lives. I say again, brethren, there's nothing sweeter in life than to walk in communion with the Lord. May we be like Enoch who walked with God.
And for almost 300 years.
You know what, it says he didn't walk with God until after he begat his first son and after he had his first son, then it says he walked with God. And you know, sometimes the problems of family life cast us upon the Lord. It's good if they do because we do need the Lord's help. We want to help our children. We want to help our brethren. Well, may the Lord grant that it will be so and that in some little measure we can profit by this chapter. It's, it's for a type.
But it's a type of a very wonderful reality that it can be a blessing in your life and mine for ourselves, for others, to the glory of God.