I return again tonight to the book of
Leviticus chapter 23.
We read tonight for our scripture beginning at
verse 15 through verse 22.
The words of the Spirit of God through
Moses saying, And ye shall count unto you
from the morrow after this Sabbath, from the
day that ye brought the sheep of the
way of offering, seventh Sabbath shall be complete.
Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath
shall ye number fifty days.
And ye shall offer a new meal offering,
and may I suggest you have in your
translation of the authorized version meat offering, and
the word really in proper translation has been
made meal offering, for it was a food
offering.
And pertain to that which is referred to
the consistency of fine flour, and so on.
So it is a meal offering, and the
Spirit of God says ye shall offer a
new meal offering unto the Lord.
Ye shall bring out of your habitation two
wave loaves of two tenth deals.
They shall be of fine flour.
They shall be baken with leaven.
They are the first fruits unto the Lord.
And ye shall offer with the bread seven
lambs without blemish in the first year, and
one young bullock and two rams.
They shall be for a burnt offering unto
the Lord, with their meal offering and their
drink offering, even an offering made by fire
of sweet flavor unto the Lord.
Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the
goat for a sin offering, and two lambs
of the first year for a sacrifice of
sheep offering.
And the priest shall wave them with the
bread of the first fruit, for a wave
offering before the Lord, with the two lambs.
They shall be holy to the Lord for
the priest, and ye shall proclaim on the
South Spain day that it may be an
holy convocation unto you.
Ye shall do no servile work therein.
It shall be a statue forever in all
your dwellings throughout your generation, and when ye
reap the harvest of your land thou shalt
not make clean riddance of the corners of
thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou
gather any gleaning of thy harvest.
Thou shalt lead them unto the poor and
to the stranger.
I am the Lord your God."
Shall we turn in our New Testament to
the book of the Acts, please?
Acts chapter 2, reading only the first four
verses in the second chapter of the book
of Acts, which is the New Testament complement,
the great anticycle of the feast of Pentecost,
or the feast of weeks.
And we read in verse one of Acts
2, and when the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord
in one place, and suddenly there came a
sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongs light
of the fire, and it sat upon each
of them, and they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
One more scripture, a verse in 1 Corinthians
chapter 12, the 13th verse of 1 Corinthians
chapter 12, which very briefly but completely describes
the formation of that blessed body, the body
of Christ which is the church, and records
in these words, chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians
verse 13, saying, for by one Spirit, or
in one Spirit, are we, or were we
all baptized into one body, whether we be
Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or
free, and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit.
May God bless the reading of his word,
and may the Holy Spirit illumine our hearts
and our minds for the edification of every
believer, and if there be in our midst
a friend who knows not Christ as his
and her Saviour, we pray that the Spirit
will have a word in season to bring
you to the knowledge of your sins forgiven
through our Lord Jesus.
We come to the Feast of Weeks tonight
upon in the study of our chart, and
briefly for those who may be with us
for the first occasion this week, the chart
before you is called the Feast of Jehovah,
or the Feasts of the Lord.
Seven annual feasts that are recorded in the
book of Mebicus, chapter 23, given by God
through his servant Moses to be kept by
his earthly people Israel annually from the first
month down through the seventh month, and these
seven feasts were to be holy convocations when
a redeemed people who had been brought out
of Egyptian bondage, and from the tyranny of
Pharaoh, and delivered from all that was their
portion in that bondage long ago by the
blood of the passion lamp, and by the
power of God, they were redeemed to himself.
A redeemed people should always express their appreciation
for their Redeemer, and these seven annual feasts
were occasions that reminded them of what God
had done for them.
Not only of what God had done for
them, but as they progress they are reminded
of what God was doing for them, and
then they were also reminded by some of
these feasts of what God would yet do
for them.
For the very past, and present, and future
of Israel is also implied in these seven
feasts.
You note on the upper part of the
chart the great antitype to these seven feasts.
If you would say it, the New Testament
teaching which these feasts in type represent.
These feasts, like many other Old Testament scriptures,
were written for our learning.
They were written aforetime that you and I
in the present day might have the New
Testament application.
I'm sure that many of my believing friends
are in absolute knowledge that the Old Testament,
with all of its Levitical economy and shadows
and types, pointed to the reality.
That reality was focused upon Christ, and every
type, every shadow, everything pertaining to the Old
Testament economy, pointed to that day when the
fullness of divine revelation and divine truth would
be presented in the person and by the
person, and through the work of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
These feasts point to us some of the
most blessed New Testament teachings we can find.
Now, you note on the chart, as we
commence tonight, we'd like to repeat this.
Whether it be for Israel as a nation
delivered out of Egypt, or whether it be
for the whole race of mankind from the
beginning to the end, for you did know
your Bible realized that there was a there
was an occasion before time ever began, that
in the eternal council of the Godhead, before
the very creation existed, God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Spirit purposed the
redemptive calendar that would bring to pass the
purposes of God in redemptive glory, until that
eternal glory will be reached again.
May I say to my friends here tonight,
who may be unsane, you and I are
traveling to eternity.
We had a beginning.
God had no beginning, but between an eternity
past and an eternity that is yet to
come, we have pictures upon this chart the
course of time, and reminding us of the
calendar of God's redemption.
For the Bible is the history of the
redemption of the human race, and redemption for
the human race, whether for Israel, whether for
the Gentiles, is based upon redemption by blood,
which of course in its great antithesis was
the death of Christ.
As we sang tonight, we would say to
you, my friends, have you been to Jesus
for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in his grace this
hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
Tonight we look at the Feast of Pentecost,
sometimes called, and in the scriptures it is
called, the Feast of Weeks.
But, because of the lapse of time between
the Feast of First Fruit and the Feast
of Weeks, seven weeks of seven days, and
on the fiftieth day this feast began.
So, it derives its name as the Feast
of Weeks, or either as Pentecost, Pentecost meaning
fifty, and it is called the Feast of
Weeks, or the Feast of Pentecost.
Now, this feast, as you will note in
the reading that we have followed, is not
only named in the time name, but there's
a purpose for that feast.
Now, may I repeat, that every feast had
its purpose before God, and in the heart
and mind of God, to be an occasion,
an occasion when God and his people could
thus enjoy fellowship together.
The purpose of this feast was this.
At the Feast of First Fruits, as we
saw this morning, the priest, on the behalf
of the people, brought into the presence of
God a handful, or a wave sheaf of
barley.
But, the Feast of Pentecost, or the Feast
of Weeks, they brought into the presence of
God via the priest, was brought two loaves,
and these two loaves were waved in the
presence of God.
The barley signified the commencement of the fruit
coming, but the the Feast of Weeks, fifty
days later, represented the consummation of the harvest,
and the fruit of it being brought in
that basin, those two basin loaves, into the
presence of God, indicating the termination of the
harvest.
May I point out this, and you may
have noticed it, I trust, in your reading.
At the Feast of the Passover, closely linked
by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which followed
the same evening, they used unleavened bread in
the Feast of the Passover.
The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, they used
leavened bread, and there is a significance for
that.
They came out of Egypt in haste, and
unleavened bread was very quickly made, as we
know, could be very quickly made, and it
was their memorial as they hastily prepared to
leave Egypt that night.
But, when they came into the land of
Canaan, the two baked loaves represented their appreciation,
and worshipped the Jehovah for his provisions that
he had brought them into, which they now
enjoyed in the land of Canaan.
Now, will you follow with me in your
scripture, verse 16 and 17, and let us
look at the manner of the Feast, how
it was carried out.
We read, verse 16, even unto the morrow
after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty
days, and ye shall offer a new meal
offering unto the Lord.
Ye shall bring out of your habitation two
waved loaves of two-tenth deal.
They shall be of fine flour, they shall
be baked with leaven.
They are the first fruit unto the Lord.
Now, will you note the elements of these
two loaves?
There were two loaves.
They consisted of fine flour.
They were also baked with leaven, and this
was the evidence.
The baked loaves were the evidence and the
witness to their heart of God's grace and
his faithfulness to them in the blessing he
had brought them into in the land of
Canaan, the evidences of his blessings.
The harvest was gathered, but these two loaves
were the witness in the presence of God
of his blessings to them.
Then, following verse 18, note that along with
this which was called the oblation or meal
offering, there were burnt offerings, and may we
say again, as we did this morning, always
in association with these feasts were the suitable
offerings as required by God.
I'd like to commend to you, if your
desire to, I'd like to commend you the
reading of number 28 as well as number
29.
You have the feasts enumerated there, and you
have particularly the offerings that were associated with
each feast mentioned, and it is a very
interesting account, but there was no feast without
the association of the required offerings.
Here were the burnt offerings, as you'll read
in verse 18.
There were seven lambs without blemish of the
first year, one young bullock, two lambs.
These were the burnt offerings unto the Lord
with their meal offerings, and thus they were
associated with the burnt offerings for, shall we
not say briefly, for the sake of time.
These burnt offerings were the basis of divine
acceptance before Jehovah, and the basis of their
acceptance before Jehovah must always be recognized by
the value of those offerings in the sight
of God.
Now, beloved, let me give a New Testament
application to that for you and for me.
Any time a believer comes into the presence
of God, there is only one ground of
acceptance.
May I quote the words of Hebrews 10
verse 19?
Having therefore brethren boldness of liberty to enter
the holiest house by the blood of Jesus,
by that new and living way which he
has consecrated for us through the veil, that
is to say his flesh.
And, beloved, we emphasize, as I point out,
Christ and his sacrificial works is the only
basis for a sinner and a saint to
come into the presence of God.
Ye who sometimes were far off have been
made nigh by the blood of Christ, and
the offerings emphasize the ground of acceptance was
only through the value of those sacrificial victims
that were given upon the offering.
But, there was not only burnt offerings which
speak of the perfect acceptance of the believer
in Christ, but you know the end of
verse 17, 18 rather, there was their drink
offering, even an offering made by fire, a
sweet savor unto the Lord.
And the drink offerings were always typical of
the expression of the people's joy, the joy
of the people of God, of being in
covenant relationship with Jehovah, and in his presence
accepted, and the drink offering was the expression
of their joy.
As we saw this morning, and mentioned today,
that Jacob, when he returned to Bethel and
rebuilt the altar at Bethel, and called upon
the God of the house of God, the
God of Bethel, he poured not only oil
upon that altar, not only oil upon that
pillar, but he poured also a drink offering
of wine.
This was the expression of his joy to
be back in relationship with God.
And, oh beloved, how precious it is for
you and for me to realize that when
we come into the presence of God on
the ground of our acceptance through Christ, there
certainly is an occasion for joy and gratitude
and praise to be expressed.
Look at verse 19, and this is unusual,
different from the offerings we've had before in
the other piece, as we saw.
But, in verse 19, then ye shall sacrifice
one kid of the goat for a sin
offering.
Associated with this feast was a sin offering.
Now, let me point out why.
You recall that we spoke of the feast
of unleavened bread, and the contrast that this
feast had two loaves which were made of
leavened bread.
These loaves had the presence of leaven within
them.
You that were with us Monday night, I
believe a Sunday night rather, Monday night, and
we saw the feast of unleavened bread represented
the absence of sin.
That God requires the separation from evil upon
the part of his people.
But, you know beloved, though God requires a
path of separation from evil, you know and
I know we have sin in dwelling these
mortal bodies until the great change comes.
Likewise, the children of Israel, though they were
brought to God with divine acceptance through the
burnt offerings, they were brought into acceptance with
Jehovah.
Yet, on the other hand, they must bring
a sin offering for that leaven within the
loaves Reminder them that they were a people
that certainly had the presence of sin within
them, and that sin offering.
Oh beloved, may I suggest to you and
for me, as a believer today, you know
what he speaks of.
Let me quote the words of John.
First John chapter two, one and two.
John writes, my little children, these things write
I unto you that you sin not, but
if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the father.
Jesus Christ the righteous, he is the propitiation
for our sin, and not for ours only,
but for the whole world.
Yes beloved, how typical of that which you
and I need today.
The constant reminder, thank God our blessed savior
is our sin offering, still speaks in perfection
of the right hand of God on the
behalf of even the sin of a believer.
Then you note something else at the end
of verse 19, and this is important.
There was also two lands of the first
year for a sacrifice of peace offering.
They must also have peace established between them
and Jehovah in order to enjoy communion with
him.
As you may read in chapter three, the
wonderful recital of the peace offering, that peace
offering was the basis in which God and
the one who approached him could thus commune
together, and at the table they could feed.
For that peace offering, the offerer as well
as the priest could partake of that peace
offering, and part of it was for Jehovah,
part of it was for the offerer, or
even for the priest, or even for his
family, or his friends, and they could mutually
share it.
And beloved, you and I cannot enjoy peace
fellowship with God unless the ground of peace
has been established, and he has made peace
through the blood of his cross for you
and for me.
Or as you think of the words of
Paul in Romans 5.1, therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now note verse 20, please.
The opening of verse 20 tells us that
the priest must also officiate as the mediator,
and the priest shall wave then with the
bread of the first fruit for a wave
offering before the Lord, with the two lambs
they shall be holy for the Lord, to
the Lord for the priest.
And, as indicated on the picture we have
on the chart, it was the priest who,
as mediator for the people, presented the two
loaves in the presence of Jehovah.
And, oh what a joy, as we said
this morning, how precious a note as this
meal of all could not be represented in
the presence of God without a mediator.
Neither can you and I be represented in
the presence of God without our great high
priest above, even our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, as a result of this, there was
to be an holy convocation.
Note verse 21.
You shall proclaim on the south saying day
that it may be an holy convocation unto
you.
Ye shall do no servile work therein.
It shall be a statute forever in all
your dwellings throughout your generation.
And, oh beloved, the joy of knowing this
is time of holy enjoyment.
Holy enjoyment!
What an expression!
Holy enjoyment!
To have joy in God, to rejoice in
the presence of God, to enjoy the Redeemer
who is born as with his blood, to
enjoy the relationship that God has brought his
redeemed people into with himself.
May I ask a question?
I'd like to interject this thought.
My beloved believer, may I ask, do you
and I enjoy that intimate relationship and fellowship
with our God as we should?
And, may I suggest it in this way?
That intimate relationship of the believer today is
far greater than it ever was in the
days of Israel.
You may name the blessed occasions that even
with joy may have been experienced in Israel
on occasion, but the occasions of holy joy
and privilege in the old testament are cannot
be equal to the great privilege of the
new testament.
You ask, what do you mean?
May I quote the words of the Lord
Jesus?
May I remind you of his words in
John chapter 20, saying as he spoke to
Mary, go to my brethren, tell them that
I ascend unto my father and your father,
to my God and your God.
And, following his death, his burial, his resurrection,
the Lord Jesus stated what he had never
been able to say before.
I ascend unto my father, but my father
is now your father.
Beloved believer, I'd like to emphasize the intimacy
that God has brought his redeemed people into
with himself today.
You and I knowing, you and I acknowledging
our father.
Now, let me repeat, you'll not find such
an expression of relationship and intimacy in the
old testament.
Now, I know that the word father is
found five or six occasions in the old
testament, and wherever you find it it's not
meaning the intimacy of relationship, but it's usually
on a creatorial basis.
He's the father of us all by creation,
and the mention of it, even with the
creation of Israel as a nation, is not
with the intimacy that you have in the
new testament.
Said the Lord Jesus, you recall, when he
told his disciples he was going away, in
my father's house are many mansions, and when
he revealed it someday he would bring them
there.
You remember, Thomas said, Lord, or Philip said
unto him, Lord, show us the father, and
it sufficed for us.
And Jesus must have, so with, still with
tackles, and still with disappointment, must have said,
Philip, have I been so long time with
you?
Yet sayest thou to me, show us the
father?
He that hath seen me hath seen the
father.
My fellow believer, if there's one thought I'd
like to leave with you, if you forget
everything else, I'd like to force upon your
heart and conscience you and I have an
intimacy of relationship with God, that we call
him our father, my father.
For God has sent forth the spirit of
his son into your heart, whereby ye cry,
our father.
O beloved, they have their holy convocation.
You don't mind me saying this, I hope,
but you know I'm grateful to God that
I live in this dispensation.
I am grateful to God that of all
the periods of time in which men and
women have lived, you and I live in
a time which I'll let them tonight indicate,
the present age, the age of the formation
of the church.
And I repeat with emphasis, you and I
have a relationship of intimacy with God that
is far beyond what was the intimacy in
the days of Israel.
So, call him father.
May I point out something else?
It's already been suggested in our study, no
one but the priest could enter the presence
of the divine sanctuary upon the earth, whether
the tabernacle or whether the temple.
You may recall in the book of Kings
there was one by the name of King
Uzziah, who, when God blessed him so richly,
when he was thus so greatly blessed and
prospering, his heart was lifted up with pride,
and Uzziah entered into the sanctuary and attempted
to offer incense upon the altar, and the
priest withstood him to the pain, and all
the priests saying, Uzziah, it's none of your
business.
It appertaineth none unto thee.
It was not his office to officiate in
the temple.
No king, none but the sons of Aaron
of the tribe of Levi, and the high
priest alone, could come into the sanctuary of
the holiest of all once a year, which
we shall see when we study the day
of atonement.
My fellow believer, listen carefully.
Every other Israelite was outside the sanctuary, but
today it's not so.
Every one of us are believers.
We are priests who can enter into the
presence of God.
What an honor!
But, to God, we valued it as we
should, and I say it reverently, and I
say it to my conscience and my heart.
Oh, what an honor!
And, if God could have a holy convocation,
long ago, with his people on this basis,
as they brought the wave-offing of the
two loaves, what should it be today in
the New Testament character of truth that we
have?
Now, you know on the upper part of
the chart that the Feast of Weeks, or
Pentecost, in its great anti-type, springs before,
as in New Testament teaching, the descent of
the Holy Spirit.
You that have read the New Testament carefully,
I'm sure that I can state this to
be a fact that we all would consent.
When you read your New Testament, you have
three great lines of truth.
There's many other truths, many other doctrines, but,
above all others, there are three that are
greatest in my mind and heart.
First of all, the New Testament teaches in
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that the Son
of God came into this world.
He lived in it, he died upon it,
and then he went back to the Father's
house above.
That is the teaching of the gospel, together
with the opening of the book of Acts.
The Son of God came into this world,
he lived in it, he died upon it,
and when he had purged our sins by
the last revival itself, he sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high.
Then there's another great teaching the New Testament
brings before us, the great doctrine of the
Holy Spirit.
Now, may I state, and it's a personal
conviction with me, the greatest doctrine in the
Bible, I believe, is the doctrine of Christ.
The next greatest doctrine is the doctrine of
the Holy Spirit, and it is the greatest
doctrine of the New Testament, as you begin
in the book of Acts.
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit teaching us
that the Holy Spirit came to the earth,
as we have read in Acts chapter two
on the day of Pentecost.
The third great teaching of your New Testament
is this.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is coming
back again, and I think you will agree,
if the New Testament is one that you
accept, these are the three outstanding teachings of
this blessed New Testament book.
The Son of God has come, lived, died
upon the earth, gone back to heaven, having
completed redemption for the human race, to the
satisfaction of God.
The Holy Spirit has come, and He is
still on the earth.
May I give you this thought?
What you do about these two facts will
decide your eternal destiny.
You either accept the Son of God as
your Savior, or you reject Him.
You either accept the pleading of the Holy
Spirit, who seeks in conviction to bring you
to Christ, or you reject Him, and it
defines your eternal destiny.
The destiny of every man and woman is
decided by what they do with Christ, by
what they do with the pleading of the
Spirit of God.
But when you think of the coming again
of the Son of God, it will not
be a question.
God today says, what have you done with
my son?
God today says, what have you done with
my spirit?
But when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back,
the question might be reversed.
You might say, what will He do with
me?
Oh, my beloved friend, if you are here,
I'm saying, I plead with you to realize
that you must do something with Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
You must do something with the Spirit of
God, who in His unseen person, the present,
can victimize the heart and the conscience of
sin, and seek to woo you to the
Lord Jesus.
And what you do with the Son of
God and the pleadings of the Spirit of
God will define your eternal destiny.
I trust that if you never have, you'll
receive Christ as your Savior.
For all the joy of seeing, as we
read in Acts 2, the day of Pentecost,
that great doctrine of the New Testament, the
Holy Spirit came to the earth.
It was in fulfillment of the promise of
the Lord Jesus.
It was in fulfillment of the promise of
the Father.
He had told them, ye shall be baptized
with the Holy Ghost not many days in.
And that came into realization.
Now, you note on the chart, I want
to point it out just at this point,
you note that when we come to the
Feast of Weeks of Pentecost, the descent of
the Holy Spirit, there is a break in
between these feasts.
And it seems to be true that in
the literal carrying on of these feasts, these
first four, or first three particularly, were very
close together.
The fourth was 50 days after the Feast
of Firstfruits, but there was a long interval
between the fifth and the sixth, or rather
the fourth and the fifth feast, the Feast
of Trumpets.
And it was not until the seventh month
the last three feasts came into reality, and
between was that interval.
And now, fitting, the interval suggests the interval
just since the descent of the Spirit and
the resurrection and glorification of Christ, there is
the formation of the church which is the
body of Christ during this present age, while
Israel as a nation has been scattered.
Now, let me repeat, and I know as
we go on in our study we shall
incertainly prove the fact of this statement, and
I say this as a personal confession.
I am grateful I belong to the age
of the church.
May I point out to you that the
formation of the church is of a heavenly
character?
May I also point out, as the latter
part of the chart suggests so clearly, as
we shall touch beginning tomorrow on the last
three feasts, there is a heavenly counterpart to
these feasts.
We shall touch upon things that shall be
seen in the heavens, and shall take place
in the heavens in relation to God's redeemed
people that he is taking down to the
world during this present age, and we shall
also touch upon the things that are earthly
in relation to the nation of Israel.
And, I repeat, it is with great praise
to God that I acknowledge that during this
present age the formation of the bride, the
formation of the church, is taking place, for
that was the purpose of the Holy Spirit
in coming.
We read in 1 Corinthians 12, but let
me repeat the words.
Chapter 12, verse 13, for by one spirit
we have all been baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether bondmen
or free, and have all been given to
drink of that one spirit.
The one body, oh beloved, you know the
chart says it.
Please note those words.
The formation of the church.
My beloved, you cannot start a church.
The Spirit began it when he came at
Pentecost.
He formed it.
It is not an ecclesiastical organization.
This is not a man-made system.
This is an organic people who, by God's
Spirit, have been placed into one body, whether
they be believing Jews or whether they be
believing Gentiles.
May I quote the words of Ephesians, chapter
4, verse 3, where the beloved apostle speaks
of it as being this, the unity, the
oneness of the Spirit, the unity of the
Spirit.
There's only one body.
Oh beloved, one of the great truths of
the new testament, and especially the epistle to
the Ephesians, is the truth of the one
body, the one body, the one body.
Christ made head over all things to the
church, which is his body.
And what a joy to realize the formation
of the church is the work of the
Holy Spirit.
He formed it.
You and I can't form it.
You and I are encouraged and admonished and
exhorted to keep what he formed, to acknowledge
and keep that unity, and to give diligence
to keep the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace.
For there is one body, and that one
Spirit formed the body.
You know, I want to say frankly, it
is a joy in my heart to acknowledge
every born-again believer in this age belongs
with me in the same body, the body
of Christ which is the church.
Now, I know there are many organizations.
I know there are earthly ecclesiastical movements, but
beloved, you can only be in this blessed
unity by the Spirit's power, and what joy
to realize the truth of that one body,
linked eternally with one who's the head in
heaven, and we the members upon the earth.
What a formation!
Now, let me repeat something in relation to
these sacrifices of long ago.
We saw the basis of Israel's unity.
May I point out, as we said at
the beginning, that all these feats had this
purpose in mind, to keep God's people together
in fellowship with himself.
It was not only an outward togetherness, but
it had to be, God wanted it to
be an inward togetherness, an inward moral unity.
So, beloved, the basis all the way through
when every feat was set, it was on
the basis of the value of the sacrifices.
Beloved, you know as well as I do
that the basis of unity for the church
as we often think, the church's one foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord.
And Paul said, no other foundation can any
man lay than that which is laid, Jesus
Christ.
My beloved, I'm not asking you what church
you belong to.
I would rather ask, do you belong to
Christ?
Do you belong to Christ?
Do you belong to that one body?
How important!
And the basis of the unity in Israel
was the basis of those offerings that spoke
to God of Christ and his coming finished
work.
And thus there was a burn offering, telling
of the perfect acceptance of his people in
his presence.
And beloved, may I say, look, you and
I who belong to God, saved by his
grace, redeemed by the blood of the Savior,
and born again by the Spirit, we are
accepted in the beloved.
Ye are complete in him.
I am no complete perfection in myself, but
there in the person of Christ ye are
complete in him, writes the beloved apostle Paul,
so suggestive of, typified by, the burned offerings
of long ago.
Then you remember there was a sin offering
on this occasion, and as we already quoted
from 1 John chapter 2, 1 and 2,
God knows that we're a people who have
indwelling sin, but God also has made provision
that at the right hand of his majesty
we have an advocate with the Father.
He not only has brought us into relationship
with God, he has also, he maintains that
relationship with the Father.
Praise God!
I don't know how you feel about it,
but I'm very empathic in my soul to
know and to believe that Christ has not
only brought me into relationship with the Father,
but he maintains that relationship even if I
sin.
For the blood of Jesus Christ still speaks
in its advocacy and power.
If any man sins, we have an advocate
with the Father.
Jesus Christ the righteous, he is the propitiation
for our sins, and for the whole world,
were it to God they hadn't, but I'm
sure glad he's mine.
I hope you are too.
And then you may remember there was a
peace offering here, and oh beloved, he hath
made peace by the blood of his cross
for you and for me.
Peace has been established that you and I
might enjoy God, and that God might enjoy
us.
Bless your heart!
What a joy to sit at the peace
table, huh?
This is a lot better than what they
have in Paris.
This is a real peace table, where a
poor sinner has been brought into fellowship with
God.
Oh beloved, you and I ought to be
jumping for joy to realize, oh the peace
my Savior gives!
Peace I never knew before, and thank God
for that peace that you and I can
enjoy in fellowship with God.
You know I'm glad I'm saved.
I feel as if I could convert myself
tonight if I wasn't, but the joy of
knowing I have peace with God.
Now look brother, look sister, this great unity
of the church has been formed, but how
is it to be expressed?
Now we have in the text the expression
of this wonderful unity that the Spirit of
God is formed.
There were two loaves at the Feast of
Pentecost, and raised the question, why two loaves?
Would you look with me in Ephesians chapter
2 please?
I'd like to read very quickly down to
the second chapter of Ephesians.
Why two loaves?
Beloved believer, may I state, our most precious
fact is revealed that not only the Jews,
but the leading Gentiles, are represented by these
two loaves as the body of Christ is
formed.
It consists of believing Jews and of believing
Gentiles that make up the body of Christ.
May I read please from verse 11?
I read quickly down to verse 18.
Wherefore remember that ye being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, who were called on
circumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh, made by hand, that at
that time ye Gentiles were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope,
and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off, are made nigh by the
blood of Christ."
There's the Gentiles.
For he is our peace who has made
both.
Believing Jew, believing Gentile, he has made both
one.
Can you see the two loaves represented?
The believing Jew, the believing Gentile, made one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandment, contained
in ordinances which are making himself a slave
of both of them, one new man.
So making peace, and that he might reconcile
both Jew and Gentile unto God in one
body by the cross, having claimed the enmity
thereby, and came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that
were nigh.
Note verse 17 again, preached peace to you
Gentiles who were afar off, and then to
them that were nigh, the Jews, and for
through him we both have access by one
spirit unto the father.
Beloved, bring the truth in.
We both, Jew and Gentile, that believe unto
Lord Jesus, have access into the presence of
the Father in the formation of this one
church.
What a joy to see the great work
of the Spirit in the present age forming
the church.
Now, let me add one more thought.
These two loaves, in which was the presence
of leaven, those two loaves were baked.
They went through the baking of the oven,
and the heat of the fire was upon
them.
As you know, of course, the fire took
care of the leaven, and brought the loaves
in the consistency that they were when presented
in the presence of God.
Beloved, listen.
The bread being baked with fire should ever
remind you and me of God's judgment upon
the flesh, the leaven, so that in self
-judgment you and I should discipline ourselves to
keep sin out of the testimony.
We saw in the Feast of Unleavened Bread
the responsibility.
Beware of leaven!
Beware of doctrinal leaven!
Beware of moral leaven!
Beware of evil!
Keep it out of your testimony!
Keep it out of your life!
Oh, beloved, as believers in the Lord Jesus
would, to God that his people, in the
body of Christ, his redeemed ones, in self
-judgment, would discipline the flesh.
There's no room for the flesh in the
church, not according to God's requirements, not according
to God's teaching.
The flesh provideth nothing.
The flesh is to be crucified.
The flesh is to be kept down, and
it is all spiritual.
And then you may remember, in Israel, when
God so blessed them, they were then told
that they should make provision for the poor.
The field which they had harvested should never
be fully gleaned.
The corners of the field were to be
left for the poor and the needy, and
they were to give to the poor and
the needy, because God is so blessed them.
Now, beloved, in closing, may I say, over
to God our consciences and our hearts would
take it in with deep exercise.
When you and I, who are believers, realize
what God has done for us, may God
help us, by his grace, to reach out
to the world around us, and let them
know that we have riches of grace and
love to distribute and present to them, that
we too may seek to dispense the riches
of his grace to those around, and bring
the great blessings of the gospel to others.
Oh, beloved, what a responsibility!
May God help us all, by his Spirit,
to recognize if we are members of that
one body, and brought into such blessings, what
responsibility we have to show the world these
are our blessings, not earthly, heavenly, not temporal,
spiritual, and they're all in Christ, what he's
done for us to redeem ourselves.
Shall we pray?
Blessed Father, what a picture book thy word
is in the Old Testament teaching!
We thank thee for its revelation, the pictural
truth of New Testament doctrine, and we pray
tonight we shall, out of thy scriptures, learn
much that we can carry away to dispense
in blessings to those around us who are
in darkness, and need a savior.
Oh Father, would to God we were indeed
like the early church, and thus manifesting and
spreading abroad the gospel of thy grace, and
the exaltation of that risen man who's yonder
in the glory, the head of the church
which is his body.
Lord, we've got nothing to be ashamed of.
Grant that every Christian will acknowledge in life,
as well as in words, I belong to
Christ, a member of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones, and grant we
may show them the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that they too may drink of
the river of his salvation, and live.
Now Lord, if there's one here on stage,
please Lord, speak to them of the need
of thy precious blood, and may they come
under that cleansing flow this very moment.
Be washed white as snow, for we ask
it as we give thanks that the basis
of all this was laid at Calvary, in
the death of thy dear son, and the
shedding of his blood.
May some sinners say tonight, I need no
other argument, I need no other plea.
It is enough that Jesus died, and that
he died for me.
We ask it in our Savior's precious and
holy name, as we commend ourselves to thee,
and thy word to thy glory in every
heart and life.
For Jesus' sake, Amen.