Beholding us in a mirror, the glory of
the Lord, we are changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by
the Spirit of the Lord.
What a joy to approach the Word of
God this morning and look for the glory
of that blessed person who loved us and
gave himself for us, and whom we say
of him now we say whom having not
seen we love.
Shall we turn in our bible to the
Levitical chapter before us, the chapter 23 of
the book of Leviticus, and continue our study
in relation to the chart before us of
the seven feasts of Jehovah.
We would like to read in chapter 23
beginning at verse 9 and reading through verse
14.
Verse 9 of Leviticus chapter 23.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak
unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, When ye be come into the land
which I give unto you, and shall reap
the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a
sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto
the priest.
And he shall wave the sheaf before the
Lord to be accepted for you on the
morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave
it.
And ye shall offer that day when ye
wave the sheaf, and he lamb without blemish
of the first year for a burnt offering
unto the Lord.
And the meal offering thereof shall be two
tenths deals of fine flour mingled with oil,
an offering made by fire unto the Lord
for a sweet flavor.
And the drink offering thereof shall be of
wine, the fourth part of an hen.
And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched
corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day
that ye have brought an offering unto your
God.
It shall be a statute forever throughout your
generations in all your dwellings.
May God bless the reading of the hearing
of his word.
And as we continue on the chart, may
I briefly suggest for the blessing of those
and the help of those women who may
not have been gathered on the previous meeting,
we are looking at this chart and from
the scriptures studying the seven feasts of Jehovah.
We have three applications that we particularly desire
to be blessed by as we see them
in the word of God.
There is first of all the primary application,
these seven feasts, beginning with the feast of
Passover and going on through each year, terminating
with the feast of Tabernacles, were seven annual
feasts when God gathered his people together in
holy convocation to himself to enjoy his presence
and he to enjoy them.
These were seven annual occasions in which the
nation of Israel was privileged to gather together
around Jehovah.
They were called rightly in the word of
God, they were called rightly to be holy
convocations.
One can recognize they were to be gatherings
in which the enjoyment of God's presence and
God's enjoyment of his people should be mutually
enjoyed together.
One of the saddest commentary regarding those feasts
is to realize their deterioration in character.
As you read on in the history of
Israel, particularly you will find the New Testament
stating, in John's gospel particularly, that they became
not the feasts of Jehovah, but they came
to be called by God and the Spirit
of God in the word, the feasts of
the Jews.
Now beloved look, when you and I belong
to the Lord, what we are and what
we have is all his, and he is
the center as well as the circumference of
all our blessings.
But God helps us not to permit the
privileges that belong to us even in this
Christian age to deteriorate, that our gatherings are
just only for ourselves.
The feast of the Jews implies the Lord
did not have his place of honor and
centrality in the midst of his beloved people
as he should.
May you and I give him that place
constantly and faithfully.
A second application that we are seeing and
shall see particularly toward the end of the
chart is the dispensational application in relation to
Israel.
These seven feasts, beginning with the Passover feast
and continuing until we reach the Feast of
Tabernacles, present also an outline of God's redemptive
purposes for the nation of Israel.
Now may I repeat that with emphasis?
I do it for a specific reason.
There are some, even amongst our good Christian
companions and friends, who would relegate no place
in the future to the nation of Israel.
There are those who have laid aside any
application of God's promises and unconditional promises that
he made to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob, and to his people, and particularly the
Davidic covenant, that is the covenant he made
with David, that he would have seated upon
his throne a king who would reign in
righteousness, and they do away entirely with what
we believe the Feast of Tabernacles dispensationally represents,
and that is there will come a day
when Israel shall be in their land in
that millennial age, under the reign of their
glorious Messiah.
Now let me repeat that second application.
I want you to remember it.
These seven feasts, in their typology, also cover
the history of God's earthly people toward that
glory of the millennial reign.
And from beginning to the end, in the
feast, God's redemptive purposes can be seen in
relation to his earthly people.
Now as we mention the third application, let
me point out, God's redemptive purposes with his
people always begin with redemption by blood.
Now the third application we are seeing is
in the upper part of the chart, the
New Testament teaching concerning that which we find
revealed in these seven feasts of Jehovah.
Now it's not at all wrong to apply
the Old Testament to New Testament principle and
teaching, for the apostle wrote in Romans chapter
15 and verse 4, that these things were
written a time for our learning.
And he wrote to the Corinthians that these
things were written for our admonition upon whom
the ends of the ages have come.
It is absolutely not wrong to look in
the Old Testament and find some of the
most precious types of New Testament truth.
And these seven feasts illustrate what the upper
chart, upper part of the chart, represents.
The redemptive purposes of God from the beginning
of his purposes in relation to the human
race, and to the end of those purposes,
which will be an eternity of glory.
One rightly stated that the Bible is the
redemption of the human race, and redemption is
the theme of the Bible from the beginning
to the end, without question of doubt.
Now that redemption, whether for Israel, whether for
Gentiles, that redemption is based upon precious blood.
For the Passover feast and the Passover lamb
represented to us the death of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
We also went on to see that the
Feast of Unleavened Bread, whether that feast, no
leaven was to be found in the houses
of the Israelites, and they were to partake
of the roast lamb with unleavened bread and
with bitter herds, reminding us that as they
communed upon that roast lamb and fed upon
it, we today as his saints have a
fellowship and a communion, not only with God,
but with one another, and we feed upon
Christ.
As they fed in those days of old
upon the roast lamb within their homes, sheltered
by the precious blood, so God's dear people
today, under the shelter of the blood of
Christ, we have not only faith defied his
blood, but thank God we have the joy
of partaking of that one who suffered for
us, and he is the food for his
people.
One well wrote these lovely words, nothing but
Christ is on retread, the gift on Christ,
God's living bread, with that in hand, and
feet well shined, nothing but Christ, the Christ
of God.
We come to the feast that is called
the third feast, the Feast of Firstfruits, and
we look at it in Leviticus chapter 23,
as God ordained it to be kept.
Now I would like you to note, first
of all, the primary meaning of these feasts,
and the purpose of these feasts in Israel.
I'm going to ask if you will turn
with me to the book of Deuteronomy chapter
26.
The book of Deuteronomy chapter 26.
I would like to read a few verses,
beginning at verse 1 through verse 4, and
then reading verse 10, for brevity's sake.
For here we have the same principle in
relation to the children of Israel and their
Jehovah when in the land.
May I read verse 1 of chapter 26
in the book of Deuteronomy?
And it shall be, when thou art come
in unto the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possesses
it, and dwelleth therein, that thou shalt take
of the first of all the fruit of
the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy
land, that the Lord thy God giveth thee,
and shalt put it in a basket, and
shalt go unto the place which the Lord
thy God shalt choose to place his name
there, and thou shalt go unto the priest
that shall be in those days, and say
unto him, I profess this day unto the
Lord thy God that I am come unto
the country which the Lord swear unto our
fathers for to give us, and the priest
shall take the basket out of thine hand,
and set it down before the altar of
the Lord thy God.
Verse 10.
And now behold, here is the language of
the one who brings his offering, now behold,
I have brought the first fruits of the
land which thou, O Lord, hast given me,
and thou shalt set it before the Lord
thy God and worship before the Lord thy
God.
May I read this last verse again?
And the last phrase of it, and thou
shalt set it before the Lord thy God
and worship before the Lord thy God.
May I remind you from this scripture that
one of the greatest privileges and holy privileges
given to the Israelites of old, and likewise
given to the saints of God in this
age, is the privilege of worshiping that blessed
one who redeemed us.
The worship of Jehovah was the indication of
bringing the first fruit and giving to him
that first fruit of their harvest before the
harvest was gathered in, and to set it
before the Lord his God in adoration, in
appreciation and worship before him who had thus
redeemed them.
Can I quote the words of Jehovah as
you find them in chapter 19, I believe,
of the book of Exodus?
When God said to his people through Moses,
in chapter 19 of Exodus in verse 4,
I bear you on eagle's wings and I
brought you unto myself.
I bear you on eagle's wings and I
brought you unto myself.
When God redeemed them out of the land
of Egypt, from the tyranny of Pharaoh, from
the bondage of the Egyptians, and he bore
them through that wilderness pathway, and he bore
them as it were on eagle's wings, wings
of eternal strength.
But he says, I brought you to myself.
My beloved believer, let you and I recognize
when God redeemed you and me, he brought
us to himself.
And the very fact that he brought us
to himself should find a responsive chord of
appreciation and of adoration and worship in the
hearts of those whom he has redeemed.
May I quote the words of the Lord
Jesus?
When to the woman of Samaria, at Sychah's
well, the Lord Jesus as she brought up
the subject of worship, the Lord told her
as she said, we worship in this mountain.
You Jews tell us that Jerusalem is the
place where men ought to worship.
And she pointed to the temple of Mount
Gerizim that was standing there, possibly built 400
years before.
And then the Lord Jesus said, ye know
not what ye worship.
We know what we worship, but salvation is
of the Jews.
But he added, the hour cometh, and now
is when they that worship the father must
worship in his spirit and in truth.
Oh beloved, may I suggest the great privilege
when one has been redeemed and when the
believer realizes, as we saw in the message
of unleavened bread, that sin, the leaven of
Herod, the leaven of the Sadducees, the leaven
of the Pharisees, the leaven of worldliness, the
leaven of doctrinal evil, the leaven of moral
evil, should be put out of our life.
What for?
For the enjoyment of communion with God and
the fellowship that we can have with him
and with one another to bring the first
fruit of that which he has wrought within
us to himself in adoration and worship.
Now look with me in Leviticus chapter 23.
Let's follow in detail what God writes to
us through Moses in this chapter as we
commence in verse 9 and read on.
Reading verse 9 and 10.
The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, and say unto them,
When ye be come into the land which
I shall give unto you, and shall reap
the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a
sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto
the priest.
Now let us see how this piece was
carried out.
Before the harvest could ever be gleaned, the
very firstfruits of the harvest, and usually I
believe from what commentators have declared, Jewish commentators,
the first grain that was ripe, the first
harvest that could be brought, was the harvest
of barley.
And as you note, illustrated on the chart
in the picture, you have the illustration of
the priest bringing the first wave sheaf of
the barley harvest and presenting it in the
presence of the Lord as being the firstfruits
of the land which he had given to
his people, but the firstfruits belonged to him
and were given to him.
And they bring what God had given them,
and the firstfruits were to be given in
worship to him.
Now beloved, what could be the firstfruits that
we can bring to God?
Will you keep your place and turn with
me to Exodus chapter 12, where we were
last night?
And I would like to note something, particularly
in verse 8, when we touched upon the
feast of unleavened bread that was so vitally
connected with the Passover feast of that time
long ago.
Now I want you to note what we
have in verse 8.
They shall eat the flesh in that night,
that is the flesh of the roasted lamb.
They shall eat the flesh in that night,
roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with
bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Beloved, typically we feed not upon a literal
roasted lamb, but knowing the typology of this
lesson, that it represents the person and the
blessed sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ, we
today feed upon the person of Christ.
Christ is the food for his people, the
one who suffered the judgments of fire, the
judgments of a holy God, the judgments and
penalty for sin in his own body upon
the tree, we feed upon Christ.
And as you and I feed upon Christ
through the pages of his word, as in
the ministry of that word, as in the
fellowship with him in prayer, we feed upon
him.
May I suggest to you, what we feed
upon is produced in our lives, and the
production of our testimony hinges upon what we
feed on.
Now if we feed upon the world, then
we'll produce the characteristics of the world.
If we feed upon the things that satisfy
the flesh, then we have nothing but to
produce the things that are of the flesh.
Beloved, may I please bring it to a
point that you and I as his people,
we feed upon Christ.
And as we feed upon Christ, assimilating to
the soul, and in the heart, and in
the life, the glories and the excellences of
our blessed Lord, Christ is reproduced in us.
And when we come into the presence of
God, what do we bring?
Beloved, we can only bring to the Father
the glories and the excellences of his Son.
And when you and I gather to worship
in the beauty of God's presence, may God
grant that out of the fruit of a
life that's feeding upon Christ, glorifying Christ, we
may thus bring into the presence of God
the first fruit, the wave-sheet, thus before
him to acknowledge Christ has been reproduced in
us, and is being reproduced.
What we gather each day, what we gather
in walking in fellowship with God and with
Christ, will give us what we bring in
worship.
Now you'll notice in chapter 26 of Deuteronomy,
the Israelite was to bring his basket, and
in that basket was to be the fruit
of the land.
Now it's not a literal land that we
walk in.
We do not gather the grain of corn,
the grain of wheat, the grain of parley,
or literally the fruits that grow around.
But you and I know that the fruit
for the believer to produce is Christ in
his life and in her life.
And beloved, listen.
When you and I gather to worship, God
grant that the baskets will be filled.
May I point out something very precious?
I commend it to you if you read
the eighth chapter of Leviticus sometimes.
You have the institution of the priesthood in
Leviticus 8, and you have Aaron and his
sons being brought into the priestly office, and
you find that Moses does something.
As they are thus consecrated, they are anointed
with oil, they are marked with blood, and
then Moses takes the burnt offering and he
puts it, the shoulder of it, the heave
shoulder, on the hands of Aaron and of
his sons.
He fills the hands of Aaron with the
offering, and he takes away from the basket
of unleavened bread and an oil cake, and
he places it all in the hands of
Aaron.
And when you note, Aaron and his sons
wave those offerings in the presence of the
Lord.
Now there were two things that happened when
the priest went into the sanctuary with his
offering.
He even waved it in the presence of
the Lord.
When he waved it, he waved it from
side to side, waved it in the presence
of the Lord.
And when he waved it on that occasion,
God saw what was in his hands spoke
to God's heart of Christ.
The Lamb of sacrifice, the one who indeed
was the oil bread by the Spirit of
God having lived here upon the earth of
the glory of God, and the fragrance of
it reached the heart of God.
But the priest could never come into God's
presence with empty hands.
Beloved Christian, you and I must bring into
the presence of God hands that are filled.
Then sometimes there was what was called the
heave offering, and the heave offering was lifted
up and down in the presence of God,
the wave offering from side to side.
And oh beloved, we do not have the
outward tabernacle such as long ago, but do
we not enter into a more glorious tabernacle
when we worship?
We enter into heaven itself by faith.
And what do we bring in the presence
of God?
The firstfruits, and the firstfruits can only be
Christ.
Now will you read down the chapter with
me please?
I want you to notice at the end
of verse 10 what the writer declares by
the Spirit, then ye shall bring a sheep
of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the
priest.
And then note the next word, and he
shall wave the sheep before the Lord.
Now it was the responsibility of the Israelite
to bring this wave offering to the priest.
The Israelite could not wave it in the
presence of the Lord himself.
You did know your scriptures well.
Remember, as you find in the old, as
well as you find in the book of
Hebrews, that no Israelite could enter the presence
of God but the priest.
And it was the priest who only could
wave on the behalf of God's earthly people
the wave sheep in the presence of God
in the sanctuary there.
Now beloved, that gives us suggestion.
We do know, thank God, that even we
as priests can enter the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, by that new and living
way which he hath consecrated for us, through
the veil that is to save his flesh.
But let me quote the next verse that
follows in Hebrews 10.
And having a high priest over the house
of God, let us draw near with a
true heart and so on.
Beloved, we do have a priest.
We have one who in God's presence represents
us, and who in perfect representation in his
presence takes what we bring, and he offers
it through his own blessed sacrificial value.
And the value of his person, he presents
it in acceptance before the Father above.
Have you never noticed in Revelation chapter 8,
you have an occasion where John, in that
great vision of the apocalypse, describes the altar
of incense in heaven above, and one who
thus offers incense, adding that incense to the
prayers of his earthly people, and presenting them
before the throne through the value of his
own person and way.
My beloved believer, may I state to you,
your worship and mine rises into the presence
of the Father and to the Father's heart
through the one who is our great high
priest, and through the value of his person
and word, what we bring is accepted before
the Father in him and through him.
Oh thank God we have a great high
priest.
And he officiates in the presence of God
to bring the worship of his people in
acceptance before the throne.
But go further, will you, down the chapter,
once you know something very precious.
Verse 11.
You have not only the manner in which
it was to be given, but you have
also the time this wave sheaf was to
be brought, to be accepted for you on
the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall
wave in.
It was not to be brought on the
Sabbath day, it was to be waved in
the presence of God the day after the
Sabbath.
And the day after the Sabbath was the
first day of the week.
Now beloved, I'm not a Sunday Adventist, for
which I gratefully acknowledge that God has certainly
saved me from that.
For as I look at the New Testament
truth, I see that the first day of
the week is the outstanding day of the
Christian age in relation to God's people and
their responsibilities to him.
Now you may note on the chart, well
may I point out for just a moment,
the upper part of the chart, this wave
sheaf, the feast of first fruits represents Christ
in resurrection.
He arose the first day of the week.
And that first day of the week is
the resurrection day.
It's the commemoration day of that new creation
to which you and I belong.
We don't belong to the old creation, neither
do we belong to the Levitical economy.
But as our Lord Jesus rose from the
dead that first day of the week, have
you not noted that resurrection day?
On his resurrection he gathered in the midst
of his disciples that first day of the
week.
Have you not also noticed in chapter 20
of the book of the Acts and verse
7, that Paul, as he came to the
city of Troas with his companions, carried there
until the first day of the week, that
he might break bread with the disciples.
And the first day of the week, in
New Testament truth, has become the first day
of worship, of recognition, when the saints gather
around their Lord to worship him in the
beauty of holiness.
How significant that the wave sheaf could only
be brought after the day after the Sabbath.
That was the time that it was to
be offered, the first day of the week.
Now will you notice we read on, verse
12 and 13.
And here is what I want you to
know.
That there were certain offerings accompanying the wave
sheaf.
Verse 12.
And ye shall offer that day when ye
weighed the sheaf, and ye lamb, without blemish
of the first year for a burnt offering
unto the Lord.
Now I want you to dwell with me
very briefly, but thoroughly as possible, upon the
offerings that accompanied the wave sheaf.
For these offerings contributed their value of the
wave sheaf that the offerer brought to the
heart and to the mind of God.
Now you that have read and studied the
word of God, and particularly the book of
Leviticus, we mentioned in our opening message that
in the first section of Leviticus, the first
seven chapters, you have the offerings, and the
law of offering.
In the first five chapters you have each
chapter covering the specific offering.
In chapter one you have the burnt offering.
In chapter two, the meal offering.
In chapter three, the peace offering.
In chapter four, you have the sin offering.
In chapter five, you have the trespass offering.
And each of these offerings of some special
aspect of the person and the death of
our Lord Jesus Christ to bring us into
the presence of God.
Chapters six and seven are given, stating the
law, how these offerings should be carried out.
But those offerings, every one of them spoke
to God's heart of Christ, and you will
always find, may I remind you, we'll see
as we go along through the study, whether
it was the Passover and the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast
of Weeks, Pentecost, the Trumpets, the Day of
Atonement, and even the Feast of Tabernacles.
Not one of these feasts were participated in
without, first of all, the required offerings according
to the law of Moses being manifested.
Likewise, the Feast of Firstfruits.
And will you note the first offering that's
mentioned?
It is a burned offering, the burned offering
unto the Lord.
Beloved, may I just briefly suggest three facts
about the burned offering.
The burned offering aspect of the death of
Christ is the highest to the glory of
God and the satisfaction of His heart, wherein
that burned offering Christ is seen in complete
devotion to do the will of God, giving
Himself without blemish and without spot, wholly upon
the altar.
The burned offering was all for God.
Now the meal offering, the peace offering, the
offerer, the priest, and others were privileged to
participate in, not the burned offering.
The burned offering was all for God.
And that burned offering is so blessedly symbolical
of all the value of that devotion of
our Lord to do the will of His
Father, by the which will you and I
have been sanctified forever.
Through the value of that burned offering, you
and I have been accepted to God.
May I point out something of value?
When you read the burned offering, the meal
offering, and the peace offering, and you read
of them being burned on the altar, burned
on the altar, burned on the altar, the
Hebrew word for burned means, and it was
called in the Hebrew, it was called the
olah, O-L-A-H, the olah offering,
and it meant that it was the ascending
offering, and all of those three offerings, the
burned offering, the meal offering, the peace offering,
those three offerings were called sweet-savor offerings,
and they ascended in their fragrance to the
heart of God.
Now, dear mother, may I suggest, who of
us could ever fathom the fragrance to the
heart of God of that Son of Islam,
who delighted to do His will, and coming
into this world did that will in perfection
from the manger to the crop, and in
the sacrifice of Himself, that life and death
ascended as a sweet favor to the heart
of God, O our precious.
Now let me give you another thought about
the burned offering.
You find it in Leviticus chapter seven and
verse eight, the only place I find it.
A most unusual fact.
It was possible, God said, if the priest
so desired, he could take the skin of
the burned offering and take it for himself.
The skin of the burned offering he could
have for himself.
Now what would he do with the skin
of the burned offering?
What would the thoughts of the priest be
when he would take the skin of the
offering?
Beloved, his thoughts could go back only to
the garden of Eden, where in that garden,
to clothe the guilty couple, Adam and Eve,
God sacrificed the victim.
God took the skin of that victim.
God made a covering for the first sinners,
and He covered them with the skin of
the animal which He had slain.
And beloved, may I say, please apply it
to your heart and soul with joy.
When you and I are saved, God closes
in the righteousness of Christ.
And what a joy to know.
May I just tell the story of the
prodigal son?
You remember when he came home and the
father received him?
And before he went into the father's house
to keep, the father said, bring forth a
bedcloth, put it on him.
And what joy to realize that you and
I, when we come into the presence of
God, we're clothed with the value of that
righteousness which is ours in Christ.
Dressed in righteousness, not our own.
Faultless to stand before the throne.
And the first thing about the burn offering
was, it shall be accepted for him, said
Jehovah, when he brings it.
And you and I are accepted in the
beloved.
Oh beloved, the value of Christ.
Accepted before the presence of a holy God
in him.
Then notice the second thing, verse thirteen.
There was a meal offering.
You can read Leviticus two and see the
value of the meal offering.
And it was to be two tenths deals
of fine flour mingled with oil.
An offering made by fire unto the Lord
for a sweet savor.
And the meal offering, as you read it,
oh the joy it suggests to the heart
of a believer.
It suggests the unblemished character of the person
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The meal offering.
It consisted of fine flour.
Did you ever put your hands in fine
flour?
I haven't done it very often.
But one thing that amazed me was to
feel the smooth texture.
The velvety feeling.
The smoothness.
Nothing rugged.
Nothing indeed jagged.
But completely and perfectly smooth.
And when you look at that life of
the Son of God upon the earth.
This is what gives value to the burnt
offering and to the other offering.
The life of unblemished sinlessness.
There was nothing rough about his character.
There was nothing indeed but the texture of
sinless humanity in him.
And that fine flour was to be mingled
with oil.
And oil poured upon it.
And the oil so typical as we know
of the Holy Spirit.
And that blessed one in his incarnation was
conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Was anointed by the Holy Spirit.
And justified by the Spirit from the beginning
to the end.
Oh beloved, it suggests to us what we
must never forget.
In whatever way we come to God.
Whatever way we come into his presence.
We can only come through the value of
our Savior.
In so many ways as pictured in these
offerings of long ago.
And then there was a third thing if
you note in verse thirteen.
There was a drink offering that shall be
of wine, the fourth part of an end,
the measurement.
A drink offering?
Do you know what the drink offering suggests?
Let me give you an illustration of it.
Sometime read the thirty-fifth chapter of the
book of Genesis.
When Jacob came back to Bethel.
And he came back to the place where
he had erected an altar to God when
God met him.
When he pillowed his head on the stones
that night long ago.
And when ultimately after an absence of twenty
years or more he came back.
And he called upon the God of Bethel.
The God of the house of God.
And he built a pillar again.
And there as he raised the altar and
pillar.
He poured oil upon that pillar.
And he not only poured oil, when he
returned he poured wine upon it.
And what was the wine symbolical of?
The wine was symbolical of his joy to
be there.
To be back into the presence of God.
You know beloved, may I say this, the
happiest experience you and I can have is
to be in the presence of God.
Let me quote Psalm sixteen verse eleven.
In thy presence is fullness of joy, and
at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
And oh beloved, how precious.
I can bring my little bit, I can
bring my first fruits to him, and I
can bring it with joy.
I bring it through the value of that
dear son of his love.
Though I marvel as we sang, why should
he love me so?
But through the value of his son, and
through my acceptance in him, and with joy,
I can come to the altar of God
as David did long ago.
Now will you look at verse fourteen.
Now I want you to notice very carefully.
And this is the lesson of the first
fruit particularly.
Ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn,
nor green ears, until the same day that
ye have brought an offering unto your God.
It shall be a statute forever throughout your
generation, in all your dwellings.
Now I want you to know something.
And this is very important.
It is the principle of self-denial.
Says God, before you even touch the fruit
of the land, before you even partake of
the fruit that I've given you, the fruit
of your harvest, me first.
Bring me my portion first.
Now beloved, that is a divine principle, and
a Christian principle that we can take to
our hearts, and deal with our own consciences
with.
Do I put God first?
It's quite unique when you get to Joshua
chapter five, verses eleven and twelve.
The children of Israel come into the land,
and when they get in the land of
Canaan, the manatees, and from that day on
they ate the fruit of the land.
But before they ate the fruit of the
land, they kept for the first time the
feast of first fruits.
They brought into God's presence the first fruits.
God first.
Beloved, let me just apply it for just
a moment.
You and I who belong to him in
this Christian age, may God help us each
day to put him first.
God first.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God.
These things shall be added unto you.
There is a divine principle of self-denial.
God first.
God help us to do it daily, and
God help us to do it continually, till
we see him face to face.
Now there's one more thought.
Will you turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter fifteen?
For I would like to mention the dispensational
application in relation to the resurrection, and read
it very briefly, and comment very briefly upon
it.
1 Corinthians chapter fifteen.
This is the great resurrection chapter, and I'd
like to begin reading, if I may, at
verse sixteen.
And read through verse twenty-four.
For if the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised?
And if Christ be not raised, your faith
is vain, ye are yet in your sin.
Then they also which are fallen asleep in
Christ are perished.
If in this life only we have hope
in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and note the next word, and become the
firstfruits of them that slept.
May I pause for just a moment before
reading further?
O beloved to real life, and this is
the wonder of your Old Testament, the picture
book of the New Testament, that here in
the time of the first feast of firstfruits,
we have brought before us the representation of
Christ in resurrection, being the firstfruits from among
the dead.
I'm certainly glad that he arose.
Up from the grave he arose, with a
mighty triumph all his foes.
He arose the victor over dark domain, and
he lived forever with his saints to reign.
Hallelujah!
Christ arose.
And oh beloved, I want you to go
even beyond what was the literal and the
primary application of this feast in the nation
of Israel, pointing to the resurrection from among
the dead of our Lord Jesus Christ, Christ
the firstfruits.
And then read on with me as we
go on reading, reading if I may, beginning
in verse 17 and 18, then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
If in this life only we have hope
in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable.
You know I tell you, if there was
no resurrection, we'd be the most miserable kind
of people.
You know, it's a joy to realize, brother
and sister, though death may take you and
me, don't you worry about, don't worry a
bit about it.
There's nothing to be miserable about.
If there were no resurrection, we'd have a
right to be miserable.
But praise the Lord, we can look death
right in the face.
We can say, oh death, where is thy
sting?
Oh grace, where is thy victory?
For as we read in verse 20, now
is Christ risen from the dead and become
the firstfruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man
came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all dying, even so
in Christ shall be made, all be made
alive.
Now note the order, verse 23 and 24.
But every man in his own order.
First, Christ the firstfruits.
Second, afterwards, they that are Christ that is
coming.
Oh beloved, the joy of knowing, because he
lives, we shall live also.
And if death comes to you and me,
and death has come for many a thing,
but some day they're coming out of the
grave when he returns.
Christ the firstfruits, then they that are Christ
that is coming, then come at the end.
And that end is unquestionably when you come
to the end of the purposes of God,
the resurrection of the unsaved dead at the
judgment of the great white throne.
When he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall
have put down all rule and all authority
and power.
So beloved, as we have looked today at
this wonderful feast of firstfruits, may you and
I carry with us these particular thoughts.
As one who has been redeemed by blood,
as one who is to be separated from
sin and evil, whether doctrinally or morally, may
you and I, out of the fruit of
our daily life, produce Christ for the worship
and honor and glory of our God and
Father above.
And then, may we look forward to that
great day, when out of the grave his
own shall rise, and we shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds to
meet the Lord in the air.
For Christ is the firstfruits from among the
dead, shall we pray.
Father we thank thee, we thank thee for
these wonderful tithes in thy precious word, that
are so replete and filled with the person
and the work of Christ.
Wonderful book.
We thank thee for the Holy Spirit, who
is the revealer, and brings out of these
pages of divine truth, the excellences of our
Savior.
Now Lord we have a special prayer, as
we commend each other in separating.
We would pray the result of seeing the
glory of the Lord will be fulfilled in
us.
We've been looking into the mirror of thy
word.
We've seen the glory of the Lord.
Now may it change us into his likeness,
that we may be daily, momentarily, more and
more conformed to the glory of our Savior
in our walk.
We commend ourselves and pray thee, the fragrance
of Christ will go with us as we
separate from one another, and in thy will
bring us again together once more around thy
word later in our Savior's name giving thanks.
Amen.
Thank you for coming.
I trust you can come tonight in the
will of God.
7.30.