Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Proverbs 17, verse 1. Proverbs 17, verse 1. The Scriptures say, Better is
a dry morsel, and quietness therewith. than a house full of sacrifices
with strife. Now, from the mouth of our Lord,
we know that He is the subject of all scriptures. We know that. Search the scriptures, He told
the Jews, for in them you think you have eternal life. and they
are they which testify of me. He told the two on the road to
Emmaus, O fools, and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?
And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets He expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures things concerning Himself. And from the words of our Lord,
we know that as we read His Word, look for Him. Look for His honor. Look for
His glory. Look for His praise. And we look
a right. The first thing, the last thing,
the middle thing. When you read a scripture, it
may be a scripture that just absolutely seems to make no sense
to you. And this, you can be sure of. That scripture spoke of the glory
of Christ. Well, with that truth, we look
at this one verse this morning, and the scriptures say, concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, better is a dry morsel and quietness
therewith than a house full of sacrifices Margin there says,
if you have a marginal reading, it says, good cheer. Good cheer. Better a dry piece of bread. Long dried. Better a dry morsel. Quietness. And a house full of sacrifices
with strife. Now, the first thing I want to
look at is let's look at that last portion. A house full of sacrifices with
strife. And that part of being good cheer,
I can tell you, based on what's better. It's better to have the
dry marshal than it is to have that sacrifices of what you think
is good cheer. What seems to satisfy you. These sacrifices with strife,
strife, and without a doubt, knowing that something's better
than what I'm about to talk about. It's strife against God. Something's better than having
a false sense of security than it is to possess what you
think is a settledness, good cheer to you. These sacrifices with strife. Holding a controversy with. And all controversy, based on
this scripture, all sin is against God. So if there's a controversy,
it's against God. You may find that people voice
it against God's preachers. But the controversy is with God.
I just read just a moment ago Romans chapter 9. That's one
of the most straightforward chapters you'll ever read in the Scriptures
concerning God's sovereignty and election, God's grace to
show mercy, God's good pleasure according to His will to leave
a man to himself. Someone may hear those Scriptures
read and their controversy is not with the reader. Their controversy
is with God. That's God's Word. So there is
something that is better, better, better, the best, better, dry
morsel and quietness than a house full of sacrifices.
Now, the sacrifices, back in the Old Testament, there were
some sacrifices that were given by the Lord to Moses. And these sacrifices were to
set forth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And His sacrifice,
His satisfaction, and His people's ability to be able to enter in,
in fellowship with Him who was the sacrifice. These sacrifices. Now, how many of these sacrifices
were given? There's always a counterfeit
for it. There's always a counterfeit. Anytime you find a false religion,
you're going to find that it's based on a resting. I say that before, turnover. Turnover. to the Scriptures, 2 Peter 3.
I quote this, but I want you to read this. 2 Peter 3, verse
14-16. 2 Peter 3, verse 14-16. The apostle speaking unto the
Spirit of God says, Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look
for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in
peace, without spot, and blameless, an account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation. Even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
these things in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do
also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. What the
unregenerate will do, they will take a passage of scripture out
of context and they'll twist it And they'll say, this is truly
the way to be saved. And every time the scripture
is rested, they do rest, twist, contortion, every time it always
comes out that it's something that I can do in order to be
saved. There's a resting of the Scriptures. Always ends up man's will, man's
thoughts, man's works. Resting of the Scriptures. Now
back in the Old Testament, there were some true sacrifices given
that spoke of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had the
sacrifice of the Passover. I won't mention all of them,
but the Passover. And what this Passover was, you
remember back in the nation of Egypt. The Lord was going to
take His people out. It sent these plagues. This Passover,
there was a lamb. And the people were commanded
to take that lamb. They were to kill it. They set
it apart. They were to kill it. Take the
blood. And take that blood and strike
it on the lentil in the side post of the door. Get behind
the door. Because the night that the Lord
was going to come through, the Lord said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. They would take that lamb, when
they killed it, put it on there, they were to roast it, they were
to eat it, And that picture of them taking that lamb and putting
it on the doorpost and eating it, and then that night going
behind, that was a picture of their oneness and association
with the lamb, the Lord Himself. They eat. We do eat. We drink
when we partake of the Lord's Supper. There's a symbol. We know that that's not the body. of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
know that. That's not truly His blood, and
it does not turn into actually His body and blood. That's a
resting of Scripture. A twisting of the Scriptures.
It's a picture. A symbol. This do in remembrance
of me. And every time we eat and drink,
we do remember Him. We remember His body and blood.
There was a peace offering. spoken of in Leviticus 7. And
it set forth the Lord Jesus Christ, our reconciliation to Almighty
God, having made peace through His blood. The peace offering. Now that offering was brought
by the Israelite. An Israelite would take the lamb,
the sacrifice. He would come and he would lay
his hands on that sacrifice and kill it, then the priest would
take the blood and sprinkle the blood on the peace offering round
about. Then that animal was cut up,
and then the portion that was the Lord's was the fat and the
kidneys. That was God's portion. And that
portion of that sacrifice was placed on top of the already
burning, burnt offering. The burnt offering was called
a sweet-smelling offering. There was no part of the burnt
offering that was for the priest or anybody else. The burnt offering
was only for the Lord. It was presented on the brazen
altar that was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and God's satisfaction
for His Son. This is my beloved Son. I'm well
pleased with Him. That was the burnt offering.
But that peace offering, when it was brought, killed, cut up,
a portion of it was placed on top of that burnt offering. The kidneys and the fat was the
Lord's. We cut it up. The priest got the breast and
the right shoulder for himself and for his children. And then
the rest of it, the one that brought the peace offering, he
got the rest of it to eat it in one day. And these sacrifices
in which the people could enter in, they could partake of, Setting
forth our oneness with Christ. And these sacrifices truly did
set forth that intimate union that we have. I mean, we listen
to God's Word right here. Here is the bread of heaven set
forth. And God's people eat spiritually. They eat of it. They drink of
Him, the living water, the fountain of life Himself. God's people
hear the gospel, they hear that truth set forth, and they rest,
R-E-S-T, in Him who is their life. You hear the gospel plainly
preached. If there is an inconsistent sound,
In what I'm preaching, it just doesn't sit right. That didn't
sound right. But when you hear Him clearly
set forth, you eat that and you say, you know what? That's good. All the honor, all the glory,
all the praise to Him. These sacrifices had set forth
Him who had our Mediator, our Advocate, our Priest. But those sacrifices that were
made then could be done in such a way as men do today. They could be offered and truly
There'd be no heart for what was truly being set forth. I
don't doubt for one second that there were many that came forth
in the Old Testament and brought that offering, that sacrifice,
and truly by faith saw. The Scriptures spoke of Abraham. Abraham saw my day. Moses knew
God. Moses knew. They knew. There were some that knew that
God revealed who was being set forth by that sacrifice. But
how many came and just went through the rituals and brought the offering? How many? Just like they do today. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. There was just an emptiness just
going through, the motions just... 2 Timothy 3, verses 1-5. This know also, 2 Timothy 3,
that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
truth-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, those that know
control sexually is what that means, incontinent, fierce, despisers
of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness
but denying the power thereof. From such, turn away." Going through the motions, then and now, nothing ever changes. Having no more than an external
show of religion, pretending great zeal Pretending to have
a love for the salvation of men. Pretending to love the truth. Pretending that God's honor is
the only thing that I'm concerned about. Believers struggle and
admit, oh, that I would. Those that pretend say they do. A believer will say, oh, that
I would. Pretenders. But in reality, the
Scripture says it's just a form. Denying in heart the power of
God. Denying God's sovereignty to
save His people. Denying the Scriptures. Have
no heart for the truth that's set forth in the Holy Word of
God. They speak and sing of the Lord
Jesus Christ, but they cherish nothing of Him. They sing these
beautiful songs of Zion. Unaffected. They rest. R-E-S-T. Since I've been talking
about W-R-E-S-T, I better spell the word. They truly rest. R-E-S-T. In a false security. having performed the outward
show of religion, and say within their heart is that harlot. Flip
back to Proverbs 7. Listen to this right here. If
this is not truly, at least in heart, what the false Religion,
it says, verse 14, Proverbs 7, 14. Here she is, that harlot,
picture of false religion, took this unwary man on the side corner
there, drew him in, caught him, verse 13, kissed him, impudent
face, and said unto him, I have peace offerings with me this
day. Have I paid my vows? You know what that means? I fulfilled
all my promise to God. Everything that I owe God, I've
done. I've performed. I have peace
offerings with me. God's peace is upon me. Why? I've paid my vows. I'm right. I've done my duty. You're safe
with me. If you want to know where you're
safe, you're safe with me. Because God is pleased here.
Sacrifices with strife. A distortion of truth. A form of godliness and denying
the power thereof. Men can go through the motions.
They can be baptized. They can partake of the Lord's
Supper. They can go through the outward form of things with no
heart. for Christ, not discerning the
Lord's body. They can eat of that bread and
drink of that cup and never see, drink unworthily, never knowing
in heart the truth of God's redemption, counting That own person's obedience
to eating a piece of bread and drinking a cup of wine to be
that which is my righteousness before God. I was here. Unworthily. That is to eat and drink and
to think that the ordinance that you partook of is actually salvation
before God. Now let me tell you what's better
than that. Better is a dry morsel at quietness than a house full of sacrifices
and how many there are with strife and tension. Better is a dry
morsel, better is the bread himself that made Himself dry. A root out of dry ground. Parched. That dry morsel, it
means parched, broken, humbled. The bread of heaven Himself that
grew up, the Scripture says, before Him. For God Almighty,
the triune God, Father, Son and Spirit, the triune God who in
Christ was the fullness of the Godhead bodily. I'm telling you, I'm lost too
when I say it. I say that and I'm lost for understanding. Who can explain this? There are
things that the more you try to explain, the worse it gets.
To say that He is the fullness of the Godhead, Father, Son,
and Spirit. Lord, as You say You are, You
are. Better is that dry morsel with
quietness. He that hath no form, nor comeliness,
and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire
Him. Dry marshal. He that was cut off, the Scripture
says, the land of the living. Why? For the transgression of
God's people was He stricken. He that humbled himself as the
servant of Jehovah. The one that it pleased the Lord
to bruise. The one that the Lord, for the
sake of His people, according to His everlasting covenant of
grace, put to grief. But the one that the pleasure
of the Lord prospered in His hand. Oh, that dry morsel. I read these Scriptures right
here. I would have never called him
a dry morsel. But the Spirit of God did. The
Spirit of God did. You read that right there and
you say, Lord, how have you humbled yourself? I'll never understand
in this life. Lord, what You were made. He
spoke of Himself as a worm. The Scripture says He was made
sin. I think to myself, Lord, that
You would reveal something of Your humility. Something of what
You made Yourself to be. In my redemption, that carnal
heart loathes this one that a believer looks at and says, that dry morsel. According to the words of our
Lord, He said, you search the Scriptures and in them you think
you have life. And they are they that testify of Me. Well, if
there's something better than a house full of sacrifices with
strife and contention and controversy against God and arresting of
the Scriptures, tell me what's better. Here's what the Scriptures
say. Better is that fruit out of dry
ground. Better is he that made himself
of absolute no reputation. To you that believe, He's precious. I'll tell you who this dry morsel
is. He's the Exalted Lord of Glory. He is the One who has
been given a name above every name. The One that every knee
is going to bow to. He came into this world and humbled
Himself. He came into this world as God's
servant. He came into this world and was
made sin. I'm telling you who He is. He's
Almighty God. He's God. God Himself. The glorious Lord and Savior
of His people. Better. Better is a dry morsel. The one that this world looked
at and said, I'll not have that dry morsel to rule over me. I'll make up my own way, thank
you. To believe by faith in Him, He
couldn't even save Himself. If God's just Father called on
Him, maybe God would save Him. Wag their tails, their heads,
Probably tails too. Spit on him. Stuck a crown on
him. Hit him with a stick. Who hit
you? Better is a dry morsel with quietness. Security. Security. Abundance, peace, and safety. That's what quietness means. is a dry morsel with security
according to God's Word. God's Word. It's why we believe
this. Because God said it. All of these
false securities are dumb. Oh, that I may say, Lord, that
I might win You. be found in Him. Not having mine
own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." You
want to know what's better than having a house full of sacrifice
with strife and controversy against God? You look to Him who humbled
Himself, who gave Himself to save, to redeem His people from
their sins. It's better. Better. May the
Lord give us hope, faith, peace in Christ alone.