about the meeting this Friday
and Saturday at the Sovereign Grace Church in New Caney and
the men's prayer breakfast on Saturday. And men, if you plan
to go, if you could let me know, then I could let them know as
to how many to expect, more or less. Now, if you will, let's
open our Bibles this evening to the book of Leviticus. chapter
2, Leviticus chapter 2. Let me remind us of a few things
about the book of Leviticus. It literally, the word Leviticus
literally means the law of the priest. And it's part of the
law that God gave to Israel through Moses when they were in the wilderness
after they had come up out of Egypt. We sang that hymn just
a few minutes ago. When I see the blood, I will
pass over thee. We know that God passed through
Egypt that night looking for the blood. And in every house,
those who had the blood sprinkled and applied, they were safe. And then, of course, they came
into the wilderness and God gave them his law. The book of Exodus,
of course, it speaks of the exodus, doesn't it? Coming out of Egypt. But then a good deal of it deals
with the tabernacle, that is, the structure itself, how it
was to be built, everything that went into it. And now in this
third book, the book of Leviticus, we learn about the priest, their
sacrifices, the times of their sacrifices, and many other rites
and ceremonies that God required in his law. The book, Leviticus,
it begins with five great offerings. Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter
3, chapter 4, chapter 5. Each chapter contains the law
of a particular offering. The burn offering, the meat offering,
the peace offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering. And I
want to give us, first of all tonight, a verse of scripture
from the New Testament, which coincides with each one of these
offerings. For instance, the first offering
was the burn offering. And we read in Hebrews chapter
9 and verse 14, Christ, through the eternal spirit, offered himself
without spot to God. The meat offering in 1st Timothy
2 and verse 5, for there's one God and one mediator between
God and men, the man, the man Christ Jesus. The peace offering,
2nd Corinthians 5 and verse 18, God hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. The sin offering, behold, the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. And then
the trespass offering, if we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins. All of these offerings spoke
of Christ, of course, either of his person, especially of
his work. Now, four of these offerings
required blood to be shed. The one that didn't, was the
meat offering, and that's the one I want us to look at tonight,
the meat or the grain offering. It presents to us especially
the person, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the
Apostle in Hebrews tells us this about our Savior. He said this,
He's holy, that's what this meat offering shows us he's holy,
he's harmless, he's undefiled, and separate from sinners. How was he separate from sinners? Well, in Romans 8, Paul tells
us God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He
came in the likeness of sinful flesh, but he did not come in
sinful flesh. We know that he was separate
from sinners in the sense that he did not descend from Adam
in the way that all of us have. We have all descended from Adam
and Eve. They are our common parents and
we have all inherited a sinful nature from our parents. The Lord Jesus Christ, he was
separate from sinners. He did not partake of Adam's
sin, Adam's sinful nature. He came in the likeness of sinful
flesh, but he himself was sinless. We know how that was brought
about. We read about that in Luke chapter
2, don't we? How that the angel told Mary,
she asked that question. She asked that question when
she was told that she would have a son. And she had not known
a man. And the angel told her, the Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee. Therefore, or the power of the
high shall overshadow thee. Therefore, that holy thing or
holy one which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. Now, tonight in looking at this
meat offering, it should be meal. I remember for years I read that
meat, and when we think about meat, we think about flesh, do
we not? And all of these other offerings
were bloody offerings, but this one wasn't. It was a meat offering. That's the word that the King
James translators used, but it was meal or grain. And it pictures
to us especially the person of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I have seven things I want
to point out to us about the meat offering tonight. All of
them in this second chapter of Leviticus. First, the meat offering
was made of fine flour. Notice that in verse one. And
when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall
be a fine flour. Now, as I said, this pictured
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was no unevenness
in Him. He was the Lamb, Peter tells
us, without spot, without blemish. There was no coarseness in Him. When preparing this message and
I've thought about this, I guess, every time I've read through
Leviticus. When we lived in Mexico, it's
been over 40 years ago when we lived in Medellin, Yucatan. But
believe it or not, you could not buy cornmeal. You could buy
corn, but not cornmeal. And I like cornbread. And you
need cornmeal to make cornbread. So one time, Walter Groover and
I, we got the idea of buying one of these grinders. It was
a hand grinder. And we was going to grind corn
and make meal. Well, that's not as easy as it
sounds. And so, Brother Groover, as always,
figuring out some way to make it easier, hooked up a motor. to this grinder, electric motor. And it worked. I mean, that thing
was really spinning and we was throwing corn in and it was throwing
corn out. And what did come through was
coarse. It was no good. It didn't serve
at all for what we wanted it for. But the Lord Jesus Christ,
he is represented here by fine flour, There was no coarseness. There was no unevenness in him. There was no lumps, if you please,
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything he did, there was
a completeness, a evenness about it. You know, most of us, most
people, it seems like we run hot or cold, don't we? The pendulum
swings like this and we're either over here Or we're over here. Very seldom are we where we should
be. The Lord Jesus Christ was always
where He should be. Always. You know, our Lord one
time, and this is recorded in Mark chapter 7, He opened the
ears of a man who was deaf. And because he was deaf, I assume
he could not speak. And our Lord opened his ears
so he could hear and unloosed his tongue, and he immediately
was able to speak plainly, clearly. And the people who witnessed
that, this is what they said. He hath done all things well. Now you can take that, about
that particular miracle, But you can take that about everything
the Lord Jesus Christ did. He hath done all things well. There was no unevenness, perfect
balance. Everything he did was well done. Think about this. He never had
to recall a word. How many times? And we had to recall a word. We spoke, we misspoke, and then
we were convicted and we had to recall a word. He never had
to recall a word. He never had to retrace one of
his steps. He always walked in the will
and in the way of the Lord. Fine flour. Now the second thing
about this offering, the meat offering had oil added to the
fine flour. Notice that also in verse 1 of
chapter 2. And when any will offer a meat
offering unto the Lord, his offering will be a fine flour, and he
shall pour oil upon it. Now this meat offering could
be offered in any of these three ways. It could be just a handful
of fine flour. The priest would just reach in
and, I mean, the person who brought the offering, he brought the
fine flour, and the priest would just reach in and grab a handful
of fine flour. Or it could be baked. The fine
flour could be baked, I suppose, in an oven. Or it could be fried
in a pan. Notice that, if you will, in
verses 5 and 7. It was fine flour, always fine
flour, but if it was baked or if it was put into a pan to fry,
then the oil was not poured on it. The Scripture here tells
us it was mingled. Notice that in verse 5. And if
thou blest be a meat offering, bacon in a pan, it shall be a
fine flour, unleavened, mingled with oil. And then also in verse
7, oh that was verse, no verse 7. And if thy oblation be a meat
offering, bacon, in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine
flour with oil. When we think about the Lord
Jesus Christ, and oil of course represents God the Holy Spirit.
mingled, when we think about the all mingled with the meat
offering, we think about how the Holy Spirit did come upon
Mary. So that that being, the Son of
God, the Holy Spirit, from her womb produced our Lord and Savior. Mingled. And then the oil poured
upon the offering reminds us that at his baptism, and we saw
this just recently on Sunday, on a Sunday morning, when he
was baptized, the scriptures tell us that the heavens opened
up and God the Father spoke and the Spirit of God descended upon
him in the form of a dove. Now, we looked at Matthew's account,
but listen to what John tells us in his gospel about the Holy
Spirit descending, being poured upon him. For he whom God has
sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit
by measure unto him. The Holy Spirit was poured, if
we can use that terminology, with a person, he was poured
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like this meat offering.
If the priest took a handful of meal, the oil was poured upon
the meal. And if it was to be bacon or
to be fried, then the oil was mingled with the meal. Now the
third thing, the meat offering had frankincense placed upon
the flower and upon the oil. Again in verse 1, And when any
will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall
be a fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense
thereon. Now frankincense is a resinous
gum. You're familiar with turpentine.
The turpentine, it's a gum, and this frankincense is a gum, and
when it's placed upon fire, then it turns to vapor, and that vapor
is, or has rather, a very pleasing aroma, a very pleasing fragrance. The meat offering was a sweet,
Savor unto the Lord. Now we read that about other
offerings. Remember in Ephesians, I believe
it's chapter 5. Let's look over here just a moment. Yes, chapter 5 and verses 1 and
2, the apostle said, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children
and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given
himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling
savor." Now, this frankincense that was placed upon the meat
offering, it pictures to us the truth that all of our Lord's
life was pleasing unto the Father. You know, He said that at his
baptism and at the Mount of Transfiguration, but all of his life, every day,
every hour, every year of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ
and everything that he did, it was always pleasing unto the
Lord. And he said that. He said, I
do always those things that please Him. And to his disciples, When
they went to buy something to eat and came back, he had been
speaking to that woman at the well in John chapter 4. Remember,
he told them, my meat, my meat, that which pleases me, my work,
my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish
His work. This frankincense, it produced
a sweet savor, a sweet aroma. And so the life of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the Song of Solomon, we read
His name. Now, when we read of His name
as God's name or Christ's name, it speaks of His person. It's
just not talking about Jehovah or Jesus. It's talking about
Him. His name. And in the Song of
Solomon, we read this. His name is as ointment poured
forth. His name means Himself and it
is an expression of all that He is. Everything about Christ
is lovely. I think about that verse, it
says, we sat under His name, His name as ointment poured forth. When you meditate and think about
the Lord Jesus Christ, every thought that we have of Him,
It's sweet. It's pleasant. Whether we think
of him as being lowly, he said, I am poor, or I'm, yes, poor
and lowly. Whether we think about his grace,
his purity, his excellency, his power, his perfection, no matter
what it is, when we think about Christ, it's sweet. His name
is as ointment poured forth. Here's the fourth thing about
the meat offering. The meat offering could not contain
leaven or honey. Notice that in verse 11. The
meat offering could not contain leaven or honey. It was fine
flour, oil poured upon it, frankincense placed upon the flour and the
oil, But it could not contain leaven or honey. Verse 11 tells
us this. No meat offering which you shall
bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall
burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering of the Lord made
by fire. Leaven is in itself sour. It is sour. It is corrupt. There could be no leaven in the
meat offering, so there could be no corruption in Christ. No corruption in Christ. Think
of these three statements that are made in the New Testament
concerning the Lord in relation to sin. First of all, we are
told, He knew no sin. Now that word knew It doesn't
mean that he was not cognizant of sin. He's omniscient. He knows everything as God, but
he knew no sin. Same word that's used concerning
Joseph and Mary. That Joseph did not know Mary
until after the Lord Jesus Christ was born. Did not know her in
that intimate relationship that exists between husband and wife. The Lord Jesus Christ, He knew
no sin. And then we are told also, in
Him was no sin. Not only did He know no sin,
but in Him. There could be no leaven in this
meat offering because it pictures the Lord Jesus Christ. And in
Him, there is no sin. There is no sin. And then a third
verse tells us he did no sin. All of these scriptures emphasizing
the truth of the sinlessness, the holiness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that he was separate from sinners. In Revelation, or in Leviticus
chapter 22, rather in verse 21, concerning an offering, God said
this, it shall be perfect to be accepted. Whatever kind of
offering. No matter what kind of offering,
burnt offering, meat offering, peace offering, sin offering,
trespass offering, whatever was used in the offering, whether
it was meal as in this offering or animals in these other offerings,
it shall be perfect to be accepted. In other words, you examine that
animal. You don't go out and you pick
out an animal of your flock to bring and offer as an offering
an animal that's maimed or lame or in some way it's not perfect. As far as you can tell, you make
sure it's perfect. And God said it must be perfect
to be accepted. There shall be no blemish in
it. animal that was offered. It could
have no blemish in it. The flyer could have no lumps
in it. It had to be fine fly. It could
have no leaven in it, which is, of course, a picture of sin. And then honey. What about honey? Leaven, as I said, in itself,
it's sour and it's corrupting. But honey, what about that? Well, honey is nature's sweetness. And it is a symbol of that which
is attractive and appealing in nature. Honey represents the
pleasures in sin. You say, well, I didn't know
sin had any pleasure in it. Well, the Bible says it does.
Yes, there's an appeal, right, to the flesh. Sin has an appeal. That was the thing about Moses.
He chose rather to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,
to cast his lot in with God's people. Honey represents that pleasure
that is in sin. Sin would not have any temptation
if it didn't promise some pleasure to the flesh. In our Lord's case, the examples
that I've read is like when he told his disciples, Matthew chapter
16. The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed and he's going to be crucified. We're going up to
Jerusalem. This is what's going to happen.
You remember what Peter said? He took him aside and he said,
actually what he was saying is spare yourself. Spare yourself. Take the honey. Take the honey. And our Lord immediately said
to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savest not the
things that be of God. It is the honey of applause.
Some people, that's what they live for, is applause and the
approval of others, even though They're not concerned about God's
approval. They are concerned about the
approval of other people, of being well-spoken of. That tempts
many a preacher, many a preacher, to deny the truth or just to
kind of shave off the corners of the truth. Our Lord, He had
no honey in Him. He always spoke the truth. He condemned sin, and yet He
showed mercy to sinners. No leaven, no sin, no honey,
nothing of the flesh. Now the fifth thing about this
meat offering, it had to be seasoned with salt. Look at that in verse
13. And every oblation of thy meat
offering shalt thou season with salt. Neither shalt thou suffer
the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat
offering. With all thine offerings thou
shalt offer salt. Now salt is just the opposite
of leaven. Where leaven corrupts, salt preserves. And in ancient times, Even before
Leviticus, in ancient times, we know that when two parties,
two individuals, would make a covenant, a contract, an agreement, they
would ratify the contract by meal. They would eat a meal. And at every meal, there would
be salt. So salt is a picture of the covenant. Let me show you this back in
Genesis chapter 26. This is Isaac and Himelech, chapter
26 of Genesis, and verses 29 and 30. And this is Abimelech here speaking in
verse 29. He said, Thou, that Thou would
do us no hurt, as we have not touched Thee. Isaac had been
sojourning in their land. And God had blessed Isaac so
greatly. I mean, he was reaping a hundredfold. And Abimelech, he was afraid
that Isaac would just take over. And Abimelech reminds him that
thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, even though
you're living in our area, our country, we've not touched thee,
and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent
thee away in peace, thou art now the blessed of the Lord,
we can't deny that.' And he made them a feast, and they did eat
and drink. And with the eating and drinking,
this covenant, that they would not fight one another, was ratified
or sealed. This would include salt. Every
meal would include salt. And salt then came to be the
symbol of the contract or covenant. And we read that God's covenant
is a covenant of salt. And if you look in Numbers, I
read this this morning, Numbers chapter 18. In verse 19, we read, "...all the heave offerings
of the holy things which the children of Israel offer unto
the Lord have I given thee and thy son," speaking to the priest,
"...and thy daughters with thee by statute for ever. It is a covenant of salt for
ever." In other words, as long as this tabernacle stood, the
priest were to receive the offerings for the priest and for their
families. And God told them that this was
a statute forever. It is a covenant of salt forever
before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee. Now here's
the sixth thing. Let me hurry up. The sixth thing, the meat offering
was made by fire. Notice that back in chapter 2
of Leviticus and verse 2. and he shall bring it to Aaron's
son, the priest, and he shall take there out his handful of
the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense
thereof, and the priest shall burn it, burn the memorial of
it upon the altar to be an offering made by fire of a sweet savor
unto the Lord. This was symbolic of this truth. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
perfect man He was a perfect man, and some people say, well
I believe He should be our example. We look at Christ, we look at
what is recorded of Him in the Word of God, and He's our example,
and we follow Him, and as we follow Him, we will merit eternal
life. No, no! No, no. He was a perfect man, but this
offering was a burnt offering. It was burnt. His sacrifice,
His work in this world. Yes, He is our example, but if
men just try to follow His example to earn, to merit eternal life,
they cannot do that. We cannot do that. His offering
was a sacrifice. in the stead of, in the place
of His people. He's a substitute. So this offering
was a burnt offering. He came to be the perfect sacrifice
in offering up Himself without spot to God. And here's the last
thing, the seventh thing, the remnant of the meat offering.
A man brings, let's say, a big pan of fine flour. The priest
puts his hand down in it, gets a handful, pulls it out, pours
oil on it, puts frankincense on it, puts it on the altar,
burned with fire. What's left? That pan that's
left. It's the priest. It's his. Notice
that in verse 3. And the remnant of the meat offering,
what's left over there, shall be Aaron's and his son's. It
is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. I would just say this about the
fact that the remnant of the meat offering was to be eaten
by the priest. He has made us. Remember the
scripture says who loved us. and washed us from our sins in
his own blood, and has made us kings and what? Priests unto
God. As the priests of old were to
eat that fine linen. So we, as God's priests, we are
to feast upon the offering, upon Christ. We are to be contemplating
him thanking upon Him, feasting upon Him. And that's what we
do when we come to worship the Lord, isn't it? We come to hear
about Christ, to feast upon Him, His holy person and His perfect
work in our stead and in our place. I pray that the Lord would
bless these words to each of us here tonight.