Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn 125, tune is St Michael,
61. Not all the blood of beasts on
Jewish altars slain could give the guilty conscience peace or
wash away the stain. Hymn 125, tune Saint Michael, 61. The God of peace, the Jewish
holtest thing, Let him the guilty conscience meet, ? O wash away the sin ? ? And rise,
O heav'nly host ? ? Into the sins of men ? Oh, say
does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the
free O come ye, O come ye, O come
ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. I so long have to say, that when
the south is fair, when the people in the city ? And rose again from slumber ?
? Then did Mary rejoice ? ? To see the Cursed Rebirth ? We bless her now with sinful
voice, and sing this hymn in love. Let's read together from the
holy word of God in the book of Leviticus chapter 16. Leviticus chapter 16. We'll read down to verse 28. And the Lord spake unto Moses
after the death of the two sons of Aaron. when they offered before
the Lord and died. And the Lord said unto Moses,
speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times
into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which
is upon the ark, that he die not. For I will appear in the
cloud upon the mercy seat. Thus shall Aaron come, into the
holy place with a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram
for a burnt offering. He shall put on holy linen, the
holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon
his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with
the linen meters shall he be attired. These are holy garments,
therefore shall he wash his flesh in water and so put them on. And he shall take of the congregation
of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering,
and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bullock
of the sin offering that is for himself, and make an atonement
for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats
present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon
the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the
scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat
upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a sin offering.
But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall
be presented alive before the Lord to make an atonement with
him. and to let him go for a scapegoat
into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bullock
of the sin offering which is for himself, and shall make an
atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the
bullock of the sin offering which is for himself. And he shall
take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar
before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense, beaten
small, and bring it within the veil. And he shall put the incense
upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense
may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he
die not. And he shall take of the blood
of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy
seat eastward, and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle
of the blood with his finger seven times. Then shall he kill
the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring
his blood within the veil and do with that blood as he did
with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy
seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins.
And so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth
among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in
the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement
in the holy place until he come out and have made an atonement
for himself and for his household and for all the congregation
of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before
the Lord, and make an atonement for it. And shall take of the
blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put
it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle
of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse
it and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And
when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle
of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live
goat, and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the
live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all the transgressions in all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand
of a fit man into the wilderness. and the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited and he shall
let go of the goat into the wilderness and Aaron shall come into the
tabernacle of the congregation and shall put off the linen garments
which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall
leave them there and he shall wash his flesh with water in
the holy place and put on his garments and come forth and offer
his burnt offering and the burned offering of the people and make
an atonement for himself and for the people. And the fat of
the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar. And he that let
go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe
his flesh in water and afterward come into the camp. And the bullock
for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering whose
blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place,
shall one carry forth without the camp, and they shall burn
in the fire their skins and their flesh and their dung, and he
that burneth them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh
in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word, grant unto us a spirit of real prayer. Holy and most merciful Lord God, we have read, O Lord, of the
sin offering, and we've read of the defilement of sin, and
any that came into contact had to wash themselves Oh we do pray
most gracious Lord that we may be taught from thy holy word
of the great need and necessity there is for the atonement that
sin needed to be put away and to be taken into land never to
be seen again. Lord in this we see the wonderful
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ who took our sins upon himself
who lived a holy life and offered a holy sacrifice and shed his
precious Sinatolian blood to cleanse us from all sin. And
we think of those wonderful words, when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Oh, we do pray that as we gather
together here this afternoon, that we may indeed have an application
of the precious blood of the Lamb upon our souls, upon our
hearts, that we might feel its cleansing power, that we might
feel our sins, which are many, are all forgiven. For Lord, there
is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. We pray
that thou wouldst bless us as a church and as a congregation,
and that thou wouldst work mightily, powerfully, and effectually among
us, and that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love
of God our Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit
may rest and abide upon us. We pray to be led of the Spirit
of God, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are
the sons of God. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that we may touch the hem of Jesus' garment, that we might
have that vital contact with thee. And as the dear apostle
says, that I may know him in the power of his resurrection,
in the fellowship of his sufferings. We pray, most gracious Lord,
most blessed Spirit, that thou wouldst lead us unto Jesus, that
thou wouldst take of the things of Jesus and reveal them unto
us. that we may behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the
sin of the world. We pray, most blessed Spirit,
convince us of our sin and lead to Jesus' blood and to our wandering
eyes reveal the secret love of God. Oh Lord, we come like we've
read together or sung together in the hymn. My faith would lay
her hand on that dear head of thine, while like a penitent
I stand and there confess my sin. Lord, help us to confess
our sins and graciously forgive our sins. Grant us real repentance
and godly sorrow for our sin. We pray to be drawn with those
holy drawings of our Heavenly Father, drawing us unto his Son,
Jesus Christ. For none come except the Father
draw. We pray that the Lord Jesus may
come and stand in our midst and we may behold his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. We pray that as we gather round
the table of the Lord, that we may see yon lovely man, that
we may behold that scene of matchless grace. Tis Jesus in the sinner's
place. Oh, do hear us, O Lord, we pray
thee, that for thy great name's sake we pray that thou in thy
great mercy would remember our brethren, the deacons, and bless
them and guide them and direct them. Remember, Lord, each one
of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. Remember us
with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people and visitors
with thy great salvation. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
graciously remember the little ones and the children and bless
them indeed. Remember the young friends in
all their concerns. Bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ, that they may become true followers of thee. and of
those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.
We pray for those, O Lord, that would seek a partner in life's
journey, and as Thou didst bring a Rebecca to Isaac and a Ruth
to Boaz, we pray that Thou wouldst so bless them and undertake for
them, help them to commit their way unto Thee, and trust also
in Thee, and Thou wilt bring it to pass. And oh Lord we do
pray for grace, the grace that thou didst give to thy servant
Abraham when he hoped against hope. Help us to wait upon the
Lord, help us to watch unto prayer. Lord we pray that thou in thy
precious mercy would remember all in the midst of the journey
of life and graciously undertake for
each one, give grace to parents to bring up their children in
the admonition of the Lord and the Word of God. Lord, we pray
that thou would remember the prodigals and cause them to return. Thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. Let us not be weary in
well-doing and let us watch unto prayer, O Lord, we do beseech
thee. We pray Thy blessing upon those
that are passing through affliction and trouble and trial and bereavement
and undertake for each one. Remember them, we do pray Thee
for Thy great namesake. And O Lord, we do pray that Thou
in Thy gracious mercy would hear us and remember Remember, Lord,
that those of us that are in the evening time of life's journey
and prepare us for that great change which must come. The young
may die, but the old will die, and we pray to be prepared. Lord,
we do thank thee for every mercy and every favour, for all thy
goodness that has passed before us in the way, We thank thee
for the glories of Christ and the wonders of redeeming love.
We thank thee for the fullness of that salvation that he has
wrought out for his people, bringing in everlasting righteousness
and offering that glorious atonement for sin. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever all them that are sanctified. Lord,
we do thank thee that it is so. We do thank thee that none are
beyond thy power and thy grace, that indeed thou art able to
save to the uttermost all that come unto God by thee. Oh, we
do thank thee for that fullness that resides in Jesus our head
and ever abides to answer our need. We thank thee that he has
swallowed up death in victory and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. Come and touch one's lips with
the live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus Christ's
sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 542. The tune is Paris, 486. Jesus is my great high priest,
bears my name upon his breast, and that we may never part, I
am sealed upon his heart. in 542 June Paris, 486. ? O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant ? ? O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem ? ? The way I see it, the glory of
His love. ? ? O come, let us adore Him ? ?
O come, let us adore Him ? ? O come, let us adore Him ? God rest ye merry, gentlemen, O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. ? The saints in glory ? ? The world
is full of joy and glory ? ? Alleluia, alleluia ? ? In the rooms of my cellar-makers
? ? In the rooms of my cellar-makers ? ? In the rooms of my cellar-makers
? you. Greatly feeling the need of the
Lord's gracious help, I direct your attention to Leviticus chapter
16 and verse 21 Leviticus 16 verse 21 and Aaron
shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and
confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and
all their transgressions in all their sins and put them upon
the head of the goat and shall send him away by the hand of
a fit man into the wilderness. It says in the next verse, the
goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land
not inhabited and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. This is a very significant chapter
in the law of God, very clearly revealing unto the godly Israelites. You know, it's the same with
the Israelites as it is with us today. There are those of
us that come to chapel and the Lord has met with us and revealed
things to us, experimentally. and so that you begin to understand
something of the truth of God having felt its living power
in your heart. You begin to understand something
of the sinfulness of your nature and of the need of salvation,
of redemption. And it was the same with the
children of Israel when they came with their sacrifices and
offerings. Some of them Not all of them. The apostle makes that very clear
in the Romans. Not all Israel is of Israel. They weren't all called by grace.
They weren't all brought to see the wonderful glory of the atonement
because that is what is found here in Leviticus 16. It is the
wonderful truth of the atonement. And that's what makes it a significant
chapter in the law of God. because it so beautifully sets
before us the person, power, work and grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I felt very much led to that
hymn that we, the first hymn that we sung. Not all the blood
of beasts on Jewish water slain could give the guilty conscience
peace or wash away the stain. But what drew me to the hymn
was my faith would lay her hand on that dear head of thine and
here you look at our text and Aaron shall lay both his hands
upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the
iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions
in all their sins putting them upon the head of the goat and
shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the Wilderness
that goat was left in the wilderness to wander in the wilderness Never
be seen again On it was the sin as it says
in that text this is of course in a ceremonial way The sin of the children of Israel
was transferred on to the goats But then that is merely teaching
us that the way that the Lord has put away sin. And as it says
in the Isaiah 53, he laid upon him the iniquity of us all, and
it's the same truth. Only this is in a typical way,
but in Isaiah 53, it says the father, he, the father, laid
upon him his son. Jesus Christ he laid upon him
the iniquity of us all and so this is what the godly Israelite
enlightened by the Holy Ghost would see this he would see the
transfer of sin from the high priest on to the goat the kid goat you see there's
so many things here in this chapter which speaks so beautifully of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And it says in verse 4 concerning
Aaron, the high priest, he shall put on the holy linen coat. Normally, the high priest wore
very great vestments and broided work. But when he came into the
holy place, he was to divest himself of those great priestly
robes and he was literally to wash himself with water and to
clothe himself with linen. He shall put on the holy linen
coat, he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh and should
be girded with linen girdle and with the linen meter shall he
be attired. These are holy garments therefore
shall he wash his flesh in water and so put them on. What is the
teaching? He was going into the holy place.
He was going to sacrifice and then take the blood into the
holy place. He's a type of Christ. And those
linen breeches and that linen coat that covered him, and he
had on him a linen meter on his head, it speaks of the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That pure, holy righteousness
of Christ, that's what it typified and represented. So when the
high priest took the blood of others and took them into the
holy place within the veil, he was typical of our Lord Jesus
Christ. the Apostle says in the Hebrews,
not in a worldly sanctuary, and by that he means not into the
literal tabernacle here upon earth, not in a worldly sanctuary,
but in heaven itself. Our great High Priest enters
into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Not with the blood of others
as the High Priest was, it was typical, he had the blood of
others, but Christ with his own blood entered into the holy place. Having shed his precious blood
on the cross of Calvary, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
son, cleanseth us from all sin. And he shall take of the congregation
of the children of Israel, two kids of the goats for a sin offering
and one ram for a burnt offering. You see, and then he had to offer
a bullet for his own sins. That's not something that Christ
had to do. The high priest had to do it
because he was a sinful man. Our Lord Jesus Christ, he did
no sin. Neither was any guile found in
his mouth. And he shall take the two goats
and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. and Aaron shall cast lots upon
the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the
scapegoat. One of those goats was to be
let go into the wilderness and the other one was to be sacrificed
on the altar and its blood was to be sprinkled seven times before
the golden mercy seat. Personally, some don't agree
but I feel the scapegoat in a sense represents the risen saviour. Of course the goat upon the lot
that fell for all the sins of the children of Israel, it was
sacrificed, it represents Christ. But so does the scapegoat represent
Christ. Christ when he bare our sins
in his own body on the tree, he took our sins and he nailed
them to his cross. Those sins and those iniquities
that Christ bore and made sacrifice for shall never be seen again. Just as this scapegoat was never
to be seen again, it was to be taken into a land not inhabited.
We read in another place in Holy Scripture, their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more. This is what these things
typify. You see, but the goat on which
the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before
the Lord to make an atonement with him and to let him go for
a scapegoat into the wilderness. Then the other thing here in
verse 12 he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire
from off the altar before the Lord and his hands full of sweet
incense beaten small and bring it within the veil. You might say what is the significance
of this? It was a golden censer as the
things in the tabernacle often were and the The incense had
been beaten small in the book of Exodus. We have a very clear
recipe that is given for the spices that were to be put into
it and all of equal amounts and it was to be crushed and beaten
small. And if anyone was to try and
make that special mixture of spices it said they shall die
because it's holy unto the Lord. So what does it represent? So
what the priest did, the high priest did, he had a golden censer
and he took a shovel of red hot coals from the altar and he put
them into the golden censer and then he had two hands full of
this incense, big and small, and he dropped it onto the red
hot coals then he took that into the holy place and the whole
of the tabernacle was full of the perfume that came from that
incense on the burning coals. So whereas with those slaughtered
animals and sacrifices there would have been quite a stench
but that incense would have filled the whole house with a beautiful
smell. It makes me think of that word
in Solomon's song, his name shall be as ointment poured forth. It represents Christ. That spices beaten small represent
Christ in his sufferings, in his agony, in his sorrow, in
his grief. You see, and he shall put the
incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the
incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony that
he dine on. You see, my beloved friends,
beautifully representing Christ. When they made that incense and
they mixed the spices together, they had a mortar and pestle
and crushed it and crushed it and crushed it until it was really
fine powder. And then that was the powder
that was dropped onto the red hot burning coals. Those red
hot burning coals represent the wrath of an offended God. And
the incense that was sprinkled on them represent the glorious
person of our Lord Jesus Christ and his merits. And the smell
of it filled the whole of the sanctuary. It's wonderful, my beloved friends,
when the Lord opens his word unto us. And then it says in verse 15,
then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for
the people and bring his blood within the veil and do with that
blood as he did with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it
upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat, just as he seven
times he sprinkled the bread, seven being the number of perfection. And there on the mercy seat,
the Lord, he said, when they set up the worship, there will
I meet with thee. There was a peculiar presence
of the Lord Jehovah above the mercy seat. It says in the Hebrews, not without
blood. high priest couldn't go into
the holy place without blood. What does that teach us? It teaches
us that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, is absolutely essential
to reconcile us unto God. We cannot be reconciled unto
God except that blood of atonement. The precious blood of Jesus Christ
that cleanses us from all sins. The precious blood of Jesus Christ
that satisfies all the demands of divine justice. The precious
blood of Jesus Christ that brings us into union and communion with
the eternal God. It's only through that precious
blood that we're brought to know our Heavenly Father. It is. And the love of our Heavenly
Father. And we see His love in that He took our sins and He
laid them on His Son, Jesus Christ. and Aaron shall lay both his
hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all
the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions
in all their sins put in them upon the head of the goat and
shall send him away by the hand of a fit man that goat is typical
of Christ my faith would lay her hand on that dear head of
thine, while like a penitent I stand and there confess my
sins. If ye confess your sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Oh, the precious sin-atoning
blood of Jesus Christ. What is that name? that speaks
for me in heaven's high courts above, and from the curse has
set me free, it is Jesus' precious blood. You know, the significant
thing in the blood of Christ, it's holy, it's pure, and therefore it atones for sin. You think of the word atonement,
And then you break it down, at one meant. That's what it means,
at one meant. It reconciles. It brings us into
union with the eternal God. It washes away all our sins.
It prepares us to stand in the presence of the eternal God. You know, in that beautiful passage
in the book of the Revelation, chapter 7, our Lord Jesus Christ,
he sets before us the fullness and preciousness of his blood
and righteousness. Revelation 7, verse 13, and one
of the elders answers saying unto me, what are these which
are arrayed in white robes? And whence came that? And I said
unto him, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are
they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
that connected word, therefore, how essential then is the blood
of Christ. Therefore, because of that precious
blood, therefore, they are before the throne of God. If ever my poor soul be saved,
to his Christ must be the way. Therefore are they before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.
And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat for the lamb." Oh, the glory
of the lamb. for the lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto
living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. And we read in the fifth chapter
of the revelation, and they sung a new song saying thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was
slain. and has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation
and has made us unto our God kings and priests and we shall
reign on the earth for thou was slain. The whole root, the foundation
of our salvation is in Jesus Christ. As Christ himself said, upon
this rock I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. If there's no blood of Christ,
there's no salvation. If there's no blood of Christ,
there's no way into the holy place. But it's that precious
sinatoning blood. And Aaron shall lay both his
hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all
the iniquities of the children of Israel, transfer in their
sin and their iniquity, and all their transgressions, in all
their sins. It reminds me again, I'll quote
it again, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us
from all sin, from all sin. It's not a partial salvation.
It's not a partial cleansing. It's a complete cleansing. It's
like we mentioned this morning, and he will present you holy,
unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. Why? Because of the
blood of Jesus Christ. I had an experience, it was right
at the time when I was brought into gospel liberty, and so wonderfully
blessed. Christ made so precious. And
the devil tempted me. He said, Bob, you've never had
the blood applied. You've never had the blood applied.
I said, you know, friends, that really troubled me. He said,
all this experience you're having of the love and goodness of God,
he said, there's nothing in it. because you've never had the
blood applied. Therefore, your experience is not right. This is what the devil was telling
me. And as I wrestled with the Lord
on this very point, it was the words of a hymn that just dropped
into my heart and completely broke that snare of Satan. Every
blessing, every favour freely flows through Jesus' precious
blood and it completely broke the snare. I saw, I looked back
and I saw in all the experience I'd had of the love, goodness,
mercy and grace of God, it all came because of the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's son that cleanseth us from all sin. Now here in the Levitical dispensation
it was not the literal putting away
of sin, it was showing the children of Israel how sin would be put
away. And as Isaac Watts says in the
hymn we opened with, not all the blood of beasts on Jewish
altar slain could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away
the stain, but Christ the heavenly lamb bears all our sins away,
a sacrifice of Nobler name and richer blood than they You know The Spirit of God has left on
record Very beautifully the Apostle Paul writes in Hebrews chapter
10 It speaks of the law having a shadow You know a shadow it
looks as though there's something there, but when you get there,
there's nothing there and And that is the meaning of a shadow.
And like you say, the law was a shadow. It was a type. But
it wasn't the very thing. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never, with those sacrifices which are offered year by year
continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would
they not have ceased to have offered. because that the worshippers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins, but
in those sacrifices there is remembrance again made of sins
every year. Now this is what should sink
into our hearts, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and of goats should take away sins. And then it goes on to
speak of the coming of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ. It says, verse 11, and every
priest and his daily minister, and oftentimes the same sacrifice,
which can never take away sins. But this man, what man? The man
Christ Jesus. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. You see, perfected forever. We are complete in him. We are accepted in the beloved,
in the glorious person, in the precious blood, in the glorious
sacrifice, of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary,
when the Father in the garden of Gethsemane lay our sins upon
his Son, Jesus Christ, and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon
the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities
of the children of Israel and all their transgressions in all
their sins put in them the head of the goat and shall send him
away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness and the goat
shall bear upon him all the iniquities unto a land not inhabited and
shall he and and he shall let go the goat into the wilderness. You see Christ has redeemed us
his sin atoning sacrifice has reconciled us unto God and we
are complete in him, we are accepted in the beloved. May the Lord
add his blessing.