Let's take our Bibles. And I
want you to turn with me to the book of Numbers, chapter 19.
Numbers, chapter 19. I would like this morning, I
want to preach two messages. I've entitled this first message,
Christ, Our Red Heifer. And I'm Lord willing, I want
to preach part one. And in the second message, Christ,
our Red Heifer concluded. I don't know if I have ever been
more blessed with a passage of Scripture than I have with this
one. I pray that the Lord might be
pleased to bless this chapter. I want to look at the entire
19th chapter of the book of Numbers. I pray that when we leave this
morning, that truly we will say, I don't know if I've ever been
more enlightened, informed, blessed by anything that I've ever heard
than this. It has just absolutely thrilled
my heart to see what's set forth in this sacrifice of this red
heifer. So before we begin, let's ask
our Lord's blessing and then we'll begin. Our Father, as we come before
you this morning, we're thankful that Lord, as for being still
in this world and still walking around in this body of flesh. Lord, thank you for reminding
us again of your grace and mercy that you've shown us in Christ. Lord, we know that this life
is but a vapor. Just a moment, and it could be
over. Help us. Help us to worship.
Help us to hear. Lord, bless this word, I pray,
in our hearts. Would you call back to my memory
as these messages are set forth concerning the glory of our Lord?
Would you call back to my memory by your Spirit those things that
you've taught? Lord, I pray that it be a comfort
to your people. Pray for Bob and Margaret. Lord,
have mercy. Pray for Betty. Lord, keep us. Thank you. Thank you for allowing
us the privilege to talk to you. Thank you for hearing. Thank
you for your love. Thank you for your everlasting
covenant of grace to show mercy to us. For Christ's sake, amen. In this blessed chapter, Numbers
19, the Lord has set forth in the type of a slain red heifer
His provision for the daily cleansing of the sins and the failings
of His people. Now, let this truth be absolutely
set forth. Let this truth be clear. The regenerated sinner called
out of darkness by God Almighty, by His Spirit under the preaching
of the gospel, the gospel of free grace, the message that
every sinner must hear absolutely must hear the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Every regenerated sinner is absolutely
clean, pure before God Himself, totally by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, His imputed righteousness that robes us. Our guilt has
been paid. Our debt has been settled before
God. There is, the Scripture sets
forth in Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. We know, we are convinced by
the revelation of the Holy Ghost that the Lord Himself shed His
blood one time by one sacrifice. He hath perfected forever them
that are set apart, sanctified. That is good news. guilt before God. Our iniquities, the Scripture
says, He will remember no more. But there is a need that we have
right now. We know, according to God's Word,
according to God's inspired Word, we know that we are cleansed
before Him. We know we are. But there is
a need that we have, and this need is concerning the evil that
we see inside and outward. There is a need that we have
concerning sin that is still within us. You
said, I thought you said that we're cleansed before God. We
are. We are. The debt of what we are as being
born in Adam, the guilt, the debt of what we owe before God's
law has been paid by the blood of Christ. But we still have
the presence of sin in us. It does not reign anymore. Sin
does not have dominion over us anymore. That throne, that stony
heart, Almighty God has beheaded it. I will remove the stony heart,
the throne that rules and reigns in the unregenerate. There is
a nature in every man born in Adam, a nature that rules that
carnal nature. But in regenerating grace, God
does something. Sin doesn't have the dominion
over you anymore. What we need, we're walking in
this earth knowing and convinced that we are absolutely cleansed
before God. But I have a desperate need,
and here's what my need is. I need to be reminded every day, every moment, every
hour, I need to be reminded of what the Lord has done for me.
I need to be taught that afresh. I need for my conscience to be
purged from dead works. I'm going to deal with what that
means in a second. I need for the Lord to teach
me again. Lord, tell me one more time what
You've done for me. You see, we're not yet delivered
from the presence of sin. Here we are in this world, and
we see the effects of it daily. We see what's going on. I need
the continual assurance of His love, of His atonement, of His
mercy, of His presence. I need for Him to remind me again
and again and again what He's done for me. That's what this
red heifer is all about. I need my heart. to be blessed
afresh concerning the sprinkling of His blood before God and being
satisfied with me. For Christ's sake, I need my
conscience to be purged. I want to come boldly into the
throne of His presence, into the throne of grace. I want to
be able to come with some assurance that I may be able to obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And my friends,
we don't have that ability to assure ourselves. I need to be
assuring. That is the promise that is given
by the Lord in the sacrifice and the sprinkling of the ashes
of the red heifer. I know that I continually find
myself failing. I know that I sin. If we say
we have no sin, we make God a liar. My friend, we're sinners. We're
sinners. Thanks be unto God. He's paid
the debt of it and that there's no condemnation for them that
are in Christ Jesus. But when I see myself missing
the mark I want to know what does God
have to say about that. When I see myself, and when I
see what I'm thinking, and when I see when I'm not doing what
I ought to be doing, sins of commission and omission, what
does the Lord have to say about that? I need some comfort. I need some help. Our Lord set
forth this very truth right here, over in the book of John 13.
Turn with me there. John 13. This is what our Lord
was talking about. John 13, starting in verse 4. John 13, 4. What we're about
to read right here is absolutely the practical application of
what our Lord was setting forth concerning what this red heifer
is all about. John 13, verse 4. He rises from
supper, laid aside his garments. He took a towel and girded himself.
After that, he poureth water into a basin and began to wash
the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith
he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter,
and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus
answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but
thou shalt know it hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt
never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him,
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith
unto him, He that is washed, needeth not save to wash his
feet, but is clean every whit. And ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray
him. Therefore saith he, Ye are not all clean." Here our Lord
would leave His disciples with this blessed memory of His continual
washing of their walls. of their conscience by the Holy
Spirit's application back to their memory, to that new mind
of His redemptive work at Calvary that He had put away their guilt
and had cleansed them from all sin. We know it so. Lord, just tell me again. Make that effectual to me. Lord,
when I see that my walk, when I know it, I'm not ignorant of
what I see in myself. I know that my walk daily needs
to be cleansed, needs to be purged, and for the assurance of that
cleansing to be accomplished by the blood of Christ. The Lord
told them, He said, He that is washed is clean every wit, But
I see that filth in me that which I deal with. Paul said, O wretched
man that I am, I see in me that is in my flesh there dwells no
good thing. I know it. I know it's there. I know that He's put away my
guilt. I know that there's no condemnation. But Lord, I need
to be assured afresh of Your work. of grace in me. I need to be taught again, Lord,
what You've done. I need that. In this message,
this message and the one to follow, dealing with all of the Scriptures
in chapter 19 of Numbers, I'd like to consider that. Turning
back in Numbers chapter 19, there's three points that I'm going to
deal with. in two messages. I'm going to deal with the first
point in this message right here. It's going to be in verses 1
and 2. And here's the first point of these two messages put together. Number one, I want us to consider
the one by whom we're cleansed. Numbers chapter 19, verses 1
and 2, And the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron, This is
the ordinance of the law, which the Lord hath commanded, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer
without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came a yoke."
Now, here's the one by whom we're cleansed, and when I say cleansed,
Let me just clarify. I want you to make sure that
you understand. Those that are regenerated by
the grace of God, whose sin has been charged to the Lord Himself,
He being made sin for them, He who put away the guilt of all
of God's elect, He who died for all that the Father had given
Him, In that everlasting covenant of grace, you're clean everwit. Now, the reason I know that is
because the Lord said it. He said you're clean everwit.
You're clean. But this washing, this red heifer,
let me tell you what this is. This sprinkling of the ashes
of the red heifer that we'll get to. What that is, it's the
Spirit of God reminding you of it. Teaching you of it. Telling
you again. Cleansing, purging your conscience
again. That's what this is all about.
Here's the one by whom we're continually cleansed. The Lord
Jesus Himself. The children of Israel. The whole
congregation. I want you to look in verse 2.
This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring a red
heifer without spot, wearing no blemish, which never came
yoke." The children of Israel, the whole congregation, was to
bring a red heifer for the sacrifice. Therein we see that they all
were admitting, we all have need of this continual purging. Remember, this is a type We're
looking at a type. And I do understand that there
were probably thousands that never saw the truth of what was
really going on. But some of them did. Some of
them drank from that spiritual rock. Some of them saw. Just
like today. Not all men hear truly with ears
given by God's Spirit or eyes that are given by God's Spirit.
Some do, though. But this type right here set
forth that all of the true Israel, they have enough knowledge. We
know all the children of Israel would bring admitting their continual
need that their consciences might be purged by the benefit of that
slain red heifer. We've all got a part in this.
All that know Him in regenerating grace, I'm telling you, you know
exactly what I'm talking about. You know exactly. You know the
walk that you have every day. You know the guilt that you're
under every day. You know the pressure that you're
under every day. You know the feelings of the
inadequacies that you have every day. A believer walks around
in this world every day realizing, but for the grace of God, I'd
have no hope. You say you walk around like
that all the time? Yes, you do. Yes, you do. God's people do. They know. They know. No one was exempt from having
part in the bringing of that red heifer. You tell the children
of Israel that they bring a red heifer without spot. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. I know what I am. I know what I am as being born
in Adam. In thanks being to God, I know
what I am as being born in Christ. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. That heifer was red. The red heifer. Red, I kind of
looked up to find out what's the significance of this. Red,
I found out, is actually what the word, the name Adam means. Look up the word atom. You know
what it means? Red. Red. Red is the natural color
of Earth. Earth in its natural state. Red. Red. I'm in Louisiana and you
go down and you look where the Mississippi River has come down
and all the way down and all of the minerals and things like
that get down in Louisiana. And the color of the dirt is
red. It's red. It's red. I mean, just as red
as a river comes through that Red River. It's just as red.
You're looking at it, it's kind of a sienna color, brownish red. It's red. It's red dirt. In fact,
there's a community that's called Red Dirt. Go around and dig around
in there. I'm telling you, you get that
stuff on your shoes or on your pants, stuff like that. Well,
it's there. It's red. The natural color,
Adam, red. So from the color of that heifer,
I know that concerning that sacrifice, it's set forth. Adam was taken
from the earth, from the dirt. God took and made a man. Here's
what I know about that red heifer. It's set forth that God's provision
for the cleansing of His people, for the reminding of His people,
is going to be by man. Amen. Our Lord is set forth to
be the last Adam, speaking of His humiliation and the one as
man who perfectly satisfied God Almighty and honored His law.
Honored the law. A man honored the law of God. Obeyed it in every jot, every
tittle. The last Adam. First Adam. Last
Adam. You know what else I noticed?
You ever heard anybody talk about the second Adam? Second Adam? It's not in there. Second Adam
is not last Adam. Last Adam. Nobody, Carl, after
this. Nobody. This is God's provision. This is God's provision. You
get a red heifer. Hebrews 2.14 says, For as much
then as the children are protectors of flesh and blood, He also Himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. The hope
of our daily cleansing must come from Him who is a man, the Man,
Christ Jesus. The Bride in Psalm 510 says,
My beloved is white and ruddy, the chieftess among ten thousand. I looked up that word white.
My beloved is white. It means pure. I looked up the
word ruddy. It means red. He is suitable. The suitable sacrifice. God Almighty. Human flesh. The Word made flesh. But I want you to notice this
was amazing to me. It was a red heifer. It was a
female. A red heifer. Our Lord by the
inspiration of God's Spirit, sets forth His character in a
red heifer. A heifer. A female. One that is never born. A young
calf. There we consider the beauty
of the Holy Spirit's revelation of our Lord. I found something. There was a reference made to
this and I thought, I can see that. Exodus chapter 3 verse
20 says this, And Adam called his wife's name
Eve, the living, because she was the
mother of all living. He called her Eve. because she
was the mother, the bearer of life. She who bore the life. The Spirit of God was pleased
to cause a heifer to be the type of our blessed bearer of life. Somebody may say, I can't see
how it could be a female. Cow, young cow. The Spirit of
God was pleased to set it forth. The bearer of life. You take
a red heifer, and when you bring this red heifer, you make sure
that that red heifer has no blemish, wherein there is no blemish,
none whatsoever. Boy, I tell you what, we don't
have to go far on this one, do we? What a characteristic. What characteristic could more
beautifully set forth and describe Him who offered Himself to God
without spite, without blemish? The Spirit of God conceived the
Lord Jesus Christ, conceived of the Holy Ghost. The blood
of Adam did not flow in His veins. He is holy, harmless, undefiled
and separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens."
That's what Hebrews 7.26 says. You make sure you bring a red
heifer, one that sets forth his humanity, one that sets forth
he is the bearer of life, one that has absolutely no spot,
no blemish. I read where when the people would be looking for this red
heifer. They would examine that red heifer, and if they found
one hair that was a different color, one hair, one, if they
found one, they would examine that. If they found one blemish,
disqualified. Can't use that one. 1 Peter 1.18.19
says, Forasmuch as you know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by the tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as a lamb without blemish, without spot, not one hair, not
one spot, not one blemish, Almighty God looked upon him and said,
Well-pleased. No blemish before God. No spot
before God. So the one by whom we're daily
cleansed, our red heifer, is one that's without blemish. But
then lastly, in this first message this morning, one upon which
never came yoke. That's what it says. Upon which
never came bondage of sin. concerning our Lord, there was
never any bondage in Him. No bondage of sin. He came into this world freely
to do the will of Him that sent Him. It was the Father's will
that of all that He had given the Lord Jesus Christ in electing
grace, that He absolutely should redeem and save and raise up
at the last day all that the Father had given Him. Who shall
be saved? I'll tell you who it is. Based
on the words of our Lord. Not my opinion. Not anybody else's
opinion. Here's the opinion. This is the
Father's will. That of all which He has given
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last
day. My sheep, they hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life. And they shall never perish." No yoke, no yoke of sin upon
this one right here. When he said, take my yoke, Matthew
11, 29, upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, that yoke that he spoke of was the yoke of his absolute
subjection and obedience to the Father's will. The yoke or the
bondage of sin he never wore. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. This is the description of our
red heifer. Christ, our blessed red heifer. And after we consider this blessed
red heifer, the one by whom we are cleansed, In this next message,
I want to consider these two points, the reason that we must
be cleansed, and secondly, how that cleansing is applied. May
the Lord take these words of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ
as the Holy Ghost has set forth Him to be the Red Heifer, and
prepare our hearts and teach our hearts and cause us to muse
upon these blessed things concerning Him for His honor and our good. Amen.