Good morning. Let's open up this
morning's service in the blue hymnal number 176, number 176,
Break Down the Bread of Life. And if you could please stand,
176. Break thou the bread of life,
dear Lord, to me. As thou didst break the loaves
beside me. Throughout the sacred page I
seek Thee, Lord. My spirit pangs for Thee, O Living
Word. Bless thou the truth, dear Lord,
to me, to me. As thou didst bless the bread
by Galilee, Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters thaw, and
I shall find my peace, my all in all. Thou art the bread of
life, O Lord, to me. Thy holy word, the truth that
saveth me. Give me to eat and live with
thee above. Teach me to love thy truth for
thou art love. O send the Spirit, Lord, now
unto me, that He may touch my eye and make me see. Show me the truth concealed within
Thy Word, ♪ And in thy book revealed I see the Lord ♪ You may be seated. Good morning. Singing that hymn, I was thinking
about the Lord and breaking bread with those disciples in Emmaus
And the scripture says, and in the breaking of the bread, their
eyes were opened. And that's when the Lord is pleased
to make himself known, when his word is broken open. And he gives
to his people a broken spirit, a contrite heart. I want to read
a couple of verses from Isaiah 66, if you'd like to turn with
me there. Isaiah 66, verse 1. We often speak of the truth that this is where
the Lord is pleased to make himself known. But it's not because of
the physical location. It's because this is where the
gospel is preached and God's people are gathered together.
Those are the two necessary elements for the Lord to bless. It's for
Christ to be lifted up and for His people to be needy. And so in Isaiah 66 verse 1,
thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is
my footstool. Where is the house that you build
unto me? And where is the place of my
rest? For all those things have my
hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look,
even to him that is poor, poverty-stricken, don't have anything. Lord, I
have no righteousness whatsoever before Thee, and of a contrite
spirit, and trembleth at my word. Might the Lord be pleased to
make us poor, contrite, and to give a trembling fear to his
word as he speaks to our hearts. We have a special blessing today.
Norm Wells and Nancy are here with us visiting grandchildren,
and I've asked Norm to bring the message the first hour, so
Norm, if you'll come, please. May we pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, it
is such a delight to come before you this morning in and through
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, that through
him you are approachable. We come boldly to the throne
of grace through the blood and righteousness of our Savior.
We pray your richest blessings upon us this morning, Lord. We
come desiring to be as was read to us. We desire, Lord, to come
with a contrite heart, a broken heart, a broken spirit, and a
dear reverence for your word. Bless us as your folks, your
people, your children, and we pray, oh, God, It'd be pleasing
unto you this day to call someone out of darkness to your marvelous
light, and it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. It is such a delight
to be with you this morning, and I would ask that you turn
with me to the gospel according to Leviticus. The book of Leviticus,
chapter 10, this morning, Leviticus chapter 10. A number of times I've left Oregon
and people says, oh, you're going to go down there and go to this
park or that park or this thing or that thing. And I says, I
go down there for two reasons, my family and my family. Those parks don't mean a thing
to me. I did go to Cape Canaveral one time and enjoyed that because
I witnessed some of that stuff. The book of Leviticus chapter
10, and I would like to read this morning the verses 16 through
20, make a few comments on that. Leviticus used to be a book I
would speed read through. Some of it is just difficult.
It's hard reading. And when I was doing my daily
Bible readings, I'd come to the book of Leviticus and I'd do
five or six or eight or 10 chapters at a time because then I got
through it. And several years ago, I read a book that said
Leviticus was written to sinners. And I wanted to know what that
meant. So we've been spending about two and a half years in
the book of Leviticus and the Dalles. And the folks said, I've
been blessed. So I hope this is a blessing
to you this morning as we look at an interesting passage of
scripture that oftentimes I skipped, I've passed over. But one day,
I stopped and read that and I said, there is something there. And
I'd like to look at it. I want us to remember that as
we read any of the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus said, particularly
with regard to the first five books of the Old Testament, Moses
wrote of me. That's what he shared with some
disciples. And he shared that with the Pharisees. And he shared
that with those who were around him. Moses wrote of me because
it was a common reading to them. And if you believe Moses and
the prophets, you'd believe me. So Moses and the prophets have
the gospel in them. And here we go this morning in
this passage of scripture. Moses is often looked at as a
picture of the law. We are used to looking at pictures,
types, and shadows as we read through the Old Testament. It's
filled with them, and the Lord used those. Some of the books
were written in verse, in poetry. And poetry has figurative language. And as we read through these
books of the Old Testament, much of it is figurative language
that points to some aspect with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ
and his great saviorship and what he does and how it was his
blood that was necessary to redeem his people from their sins. It
is his blood and righteousness that we depend on now for our
entrance into the presence of the Lord. So Moses shares with
us here in verse 16, and Moses diligently sought the goat of
the sin offering and behold, it was burnt and he was angry. That was the first thing in this
passage of scripture that struck me was Moses was angry and he's
angry with two sons of Aaron. He is angry with something that
they did not do. and he was angry with them with
something that they did do. Moses is angry. Now if you can
ever find a passage of scripture in the law that is comforting,
you're mistaken. The law is wrath. That's all
it is. And Moses represents that in
this passage of scripture. Now to you and I, there's little
significance about what he found problem with. And we may just
say it's just a trifle, but it was God's word that was broken. And God's word would stand whole. He would make it accountable.
They had done something that was unacceptable and Moses was
able to point it out. He was angry. He was angry with
something they didn't do and he was angry with something that
they did do. He was angry with Eleazar and
Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive saying. Now it's
not long previous to this that we have the two brothers slain
by fire and it was interesting to find out that their clothes
were still intact. He consumed them inside of their
high priestly garments. Their clothes were intact. So
there's two brothers that are taken, two brothers that are
left, and Moses is angry with them. Now this is more than an
uncle's anger. This is the law's anger. It goes
on to share with us, wherefore have you not eaten the sin offering
of the holy place? seeing it as most holy. So they
had not eaten this offering as it was prescribed. They had burnt
this offering instead of eating. Now we'd say that's just a trifle,
my goodness. But there's much said in the
word of God with regard to even our sins of ignorance. The book
of Leviticus, if you would back up with me to chapter four for
just a moment, chapter four of the book of Leviticus, we have
here that there are a number of offerings that were made just
because of the sins of ignorance. One person wrote in someone's
bulletin recently, and I put it in my bulletin, I think it
was Augustus Toplady, that by breathing we are sinning. And
he went through, and I figured it out, when I'm almost 68 years
old, that means every second I've committed a sin against
God. That's 2,144,448,000 sins I've committed by breathing up
to this point in my life. And some people say if I have
good deeds outweigh my bad deeds. Well, we've got somewhere to
go. It's impossible. All right, Leviticus chapter
4, verse 2, the scriptures share with us there with regard to
this sin of ignorance. Leviticus chapter 4, verse 2,
speak unto the children of Israel, saying, if a soul shall sin through
ignorance. It's worse than we thought. Sin
of ignorance. Six times in chapter 4 and chapter
5 it brings up a sacrifice for just the sin of ignorance, not
alone those other sins that we commit. So we have a problem. Sins of ignorance. These two
boys did something I think probably in ignorance. Their brothers
have just been consumed in front of them. They've been taken aback
a little. And so they did something that
they shouldn't have done, but I don't think that they planned
to do it that way. It just happened. They did it
in ignorance, and yet the law was still angry with them. Moses,
their uncle, was still angry with them. He was angry with
them because of what they had done and what they had not done.
As we read there, wherefore have you not eaten? Verse 17 of chapter
10. Wherefore have you not eaten
the sin offering in the holy place, seen it is most holy.
And God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation,
to make atonement for them before the Lord. Behold, the blood of
it was not brought in within the holy place. Ye should indeed
have eaten it in the holy place as I commanded. Now again, I'd
say there's a whole lot about this I don't understand. I'm
thankful I don't live in that economy. I'm thankful I didn't
live back then. I'm thankful I can live now.
The most that we do is offer the Lord's Supper or baptism.
That's the ordinances that we have. Here was a daily process. It spoke of spiritual things
that we're to offer every day. the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
the sacrifices of praise, thanking God for His blood and righteousness.
We depend wholly on that. That's what that pointed to.
These things pointed to Christ. All these sacrifices, these offerings,
all of these things pointed to Christ in some manner or another.
But to us, to look at this, we'd say, I'm not familiar with that.
But we are familiar with Moses was angry, and we are familiar
with the law's command. We can pick that out and say,
I understand that part. Well, Moses said he sought out. He diligently sought. He looked. He, Moses diligently tried to
find. Moses searched carefully for
the goat. Moses inquired about the goat
and then we find out They were caught. Moses was angry. They had broken the commandment. And he's speaking to each and
every person that has ever been born on the face of this earth.
Someone wrote to me the other day, it's just too bad that We
don't have people's pants catch on fire when they tell a lie.
Liar, liar, pants on fire. I said, we better be glad because
the whole world will be aflame. That's just the way we are. Well,
there is a solution here though. And this is so glorious that
the solution is brought up in verse 19. The law commanded, the law found
out, the law found guilty. And here we have verse 19, and
Aaron said unto Moses. Now what relationship did Aaron
have with those two boys? These are daddy. I titled this,
the father got involved. The father got involved. The
father steps in. I am so thankful that Aaron,
as he overheard what was going on, as he heard Moses, his brother,
get angry with his sons. Now, I don't know how that affects
you. Does it affect you when someone gets after your kids? Aaron stood by, overheard, and
then he said, it shares with us, he got involved. Now a great
blessing that we find out in the word of God is that the Father
stepped in on our behalf. The law is angry. The law has
commanded and we've broken it. And justice, if it was served
completely to us, we would face the eternal penalty for that.
But the Father stepped in. Aaron, it says, and Aaron said
unto Moses, Now, I don't understand all that transpired in this.
I've read this passage of scripture in several translations, and
I walk away and say, I really don't understand what happened. Because the word says, and Aaron
said unto Moses, behold, this day have they offered their sin
offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things
have befallen me. And if I had eaten the sin offering
today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? I'm
thankful I don't have to understand everything. I'm thankful I don't
have to understand all the word of God. In fact, people who say
they know everything about it are in a terrible straight. I
saw the advertisement for a book, Know Your Bible in 30 Days. I
says, my goodness. What a preposterous statement.
We'll spend all our life reading this and studying this and still
have eternity for the Lord to teach us about it. But there
are some things that we can understand. And one of them is found in the
last verse of this passage of scripture. And when Moses heard
that he was content. Now, I like that statement. Moses was content with whatever
Aaron brought up and he had the fortitude to step in between
the law, Moses, his own brother, and his sons who were brought
under the very eye of the law and found guilty before the law
even if they had done it in ignorance. They were guilty before God because
of doing this act and not doing part of this act. So the blessing
to us is that it is always the father that steps in The father
stepped in for his children and he does this before eternity
began Would you join me in a book of John chapter 6 verse 2 or
3 verses of scripture? That have to do with the father
and him stepping in the glories of the father as we find the
Lord Jesus Christ shares with us a The very blessed things. Aaron stepped in between his
two sons and the law in between his two sons and Moses in between
what the condemnation that Moses was angry and he had made a commandment
and they hadn't followed it and their mouths are shut. They're
stopped before him. There's not one plea, not one
thought, not one idea that's recorded about what they thought
about this whole thing because Their dad stepped in for them. Aaron stepped in between them
and the law. Aaron, their father, stepped
in between those guilty ones and the law that had found them
guilty. And now in John 6, verse 37,
a glorious, glorious passage that we find with regard to what
the father did on behalf of his children before time began. He
stepped in for them before they were born. In this passage of
scripture, we find Aaron stepping in after his sons are of age
and they even have this priestly garments on them. But our father
stepped in for us before the world began. And it tells us
here in verse 37, all that the father giveth me. Now, what a
blessing God has in that very statement for his children. Bulletin article, if you say
you believe the Bible and don't believe in election, you don't
believe the Bible. If God hadn't stepped in on our
behalf before the creation, if he had not made this very good
statement on our behalf, we would have never come to him. If he
hadn't taken an interest in us before the world began, we would
have never turned in to see him, to view him, to talk to him,
to be at friends with him. We would have been eternally
lost. People have the idea that they
would turn in and yet the scriptures tell us that we're by nature
enmity against God. We don't have the capabilities.
We don't have the desire. We think we'll turn in, but we're
turning into another God. We're not turning into this god.
We're in john chapter 6 and verse 17 All that the father giveth
me shall come to me and him that cometh to me. I will in no wise
cast out So the father had a dear blessed interest in a people
before the world ever began And we find that as aaron stood between
The law and his children and spoke up for them in such a capacity. In fact that moses was content To have the law content, we have
to have it fulfilled. We have to have it taken care
of. We have to have somebody fulfill it on our behalf. We
have to have someone take care of it because we can't. We're
sinning by breathing. Every second we're sinning against
God. Our very nature is that way.
We need someone to take care of that great pile. Of sin and
that's exactly what the lord jesus christ did when he came
He laid down his life a ransom for many paid their complete
and total sin debt. There will be no charge against
us Who shall lay anything against? Who shall lay a charge against
god's elect? It is god that justifies so as
we read here all that the father giveth me Thank god god the father
had an interest in a people before the world began because that
means Sometime in our life, that interest will be revealed to
us. He will call us out of darkness to his marvelous light. We will
be put in a position to hear the glorious gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that he is savior that saves. and not makes us
savable. Somehow, someone's gonna travel
to our community and we're gonna hear him or we're gonna travel
to someplace where there's somebody that knows something that preaches
the gospel and we'll hear it. God has assured that. All right,
in John chapter six and verse 44, no man can come to me except
the father. One more time, the father makes
us accepted. No man can come to me except
the father which has sent me draw him. Now Aaron stood between
two boys. They're dumbstruck. Their uncle
is mad at them. I don't know if you've ever had
that happen to you. Their uncle is mad at them. But
more than that, the law is mad at them. And Aaron overhearing
what's going on with his two boys said, it's time to get involved. And he went over and got involved.
And it was such an involvement that when it was over, the law
was content. Moses was content. Now I know what that means. He's
not angry anymore. He's been pacified. He's willing
to go on. Forget it. These two boys wrong. They did a wrong. They did two
wrongs. They committed a crime and then
they didn't commit a crime. They didn't eat it, and they
offered it as a sacrifice. Looks good to us, looks good
to them, looks good to everybody else. But when the law's involved,
God's word must be fulfilled exactly. And there's only one
that has the capabilities of doing that, and that's the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6, 45, it says, it is written
in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. God is the best teacher because
his instructions are always correct. I taught school for a number
of years and once in a while when I was teaching, I'd find
out that I left some bad information with these students. I read it
again, and I said, oh my goodness, I made a mistake. That's not
the problem with God. He never makes a mistake when
He's teaching. He always points to His Son. There is one issue,
and Christ is the issue. There's one issue, and that's
the main issue, and that's Christ. And God the Father always points
us to the Son. As it says there, as it is written
in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God, every man therefore
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father. cometh to me." If you've been taught of the
Father, you're going to come to Christ. He's gonna draw you
to Christ. He's the only Savior. There's
none other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. There's
only one that has the ability because of his perfection, because
he's the Son of God, God the Son, that could have sin imputed
to him in such a way that he could take it as far as the East
is from the West, pay for it incomplete. No one's gonna bill
us again for that. John 6, 65. And he said, therefore said I
unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given
of him of my father. You know what? The father is
glad to give this to those he has given to the son before the
foundation of the world. What a delight it is for the
Father to give us this desire to come. What a delight it is
to give us a new heart. What a delight it is to come
and be able to be taught of God and come to Christ and not lose
our way, to be brought to Him in such a complete manner that
we rest in God. I love what it said about Solomon's
kingdom. It was so peaceful that every
man sat under his own vine. I built a little addition on
the back of my garage, because I like to go out there and read.
And my daughter built me a sign that says, The Vine. I sit under
my vine and I read. What a delight it is to sit peacefully
under the vine of God Almighty and rest in Christ and know that
the father took care of all the business that was necessary to
make me accepted in the beloved that he in the covenant of grace
along with the son and along with the Holy Spirit has fixed
it so that all of his children will be brought in And they will
rejoice and be thankful that God has taken care of the challenge
that was made against them by the law, which is wrath and does
not bring life. It only brings death. But Christ
does not bring death. He brings life. It's the opposite.
He takes what happened in the fall in the garden of Eden and
completely turns it around and gives us life. There we had darkness.
Now we have light. There we have a fall. Now we
have a rising. He brings this forth out of the tomb. So God is so good to do this and
then finally in John chapter 17 and verse 11 John chapter
17 father again. He says not only will I do this
and this and this and this but I'll do this John 17 and there
in verse 11 and Now I am come no more in the world. I Excuse
me. And now I am no more in the world. John chapter 17 and verse 11.
But these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that
they may be one as we are. Those sons never quit being Aaron's
sons. These children never quit being
the father's children. They are kept by his power. They
are made sons by grace. They are delivered by the penalty
that Christ paid on the cross. They are raised from the spiritual
dead and made to be children of God. And he said, and besides
all of that, I will keep them to the end. Jesus said, I'll
lose none. God, the father says, I'll take
care of them. They are my children. And as Job said, I have found
a ransom. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
ransom. How is the law silenced? It must
be obeyed. We find that Jesus Christ did
that in his own work and ministry on the cross. He became sin for
us in such a capacity that he put away all sin of all of his
children. And we can read them. And when Moses heard that, he
was content. There's no better feeling for
a believer than to know the law has no more hang on me. It's
all been paid for. If the law has been paid for,
it can't have a charge against us anymore. It's been paid for
by Christ. And Moses could walk away and
say, okay. That's enough. That's fine with
me. I'm happy. Whatever they did,
whatever you find there, whatever they did, we can look at the
end and say, Moses was content. And when Moses was content, you
know what? God is content. He's content with his children.
He's content with the proceedings. He's content with all that's
gone on. He's at peace. And when he's
at peace, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Moses heard that. He was content.