I think every preacher, as he
preaches, he ought to be running an errand to some measure anyhow. That
which he has to say, he ought to be driving to one place. And that's the
reason I say that if this rightly understood by the Spirit of God,
the end result will be that we'll be saved. It shall be perfect
to be accepted. It shall be. I'm hoping it might
be, but it shall be perfect to be accepted. If what I say this morning, relative
to this verse, is complied with by you and I that hear it, the
end result will be that we'll be saved. So let's not miss it. By way of introduction now to
this particular passage, I want you to kind of get the context here. Of course, I talked
to you a little bit about the 16th chapter of the book of Leviticus
last Wednesday night. So you know that what's being
taught here in the context is the Day of Atonement. The one
great day in the Jews' religion was the Day of Atonement. They
had other particular days, the Feast of the Tabernacles, the
Feast of Lights, Passover. But this was the Day of Days,
the Day of the Atonement, when the high priest Aaron, at this
particular time, the brother of Moses, shed his ordinary garments
and put on his holy and prepared himself to offer
the sacrifice for the sins of the people of Israel for one
year. He certainly was a type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And also, the victim that was
to be offered was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both the offer
and the victim must be perfect before God. And of course, the
antitype, or the substance of the shadow, which is realized
in the Lord Jesus Christ, he's the fulfillment of both of them. Not only is he the offerer, but
he's also the priest. So we can see in that type that
our Lord Jesus Christ is not only perfect as a priest, but
perfect as the offerer. Now, when the worshipers of God,
under the economy of Moses, or under that particular dispensation
or that particular time, when these worshipers came to worship
God or to draw nigh or to draw near unto Him, according to this
expression that I quoted to you, everything must be in order.
You see, it shall be perfect to be accepted, which is saying
this is the rule that binds us. Everything shall be perfect before
it will be accepted. It shall be perfect to be accepted. So, everything must be in order. This was the rule, and the rule
must be followed with the utmost exactness. There can be no variation
from this rule, no deviation from this rule, no lowering of
this rule. It must be followed to the utmost
exactness. Now, I've noticed, you know,
I've preached all over the country, various states, various churches. And I've noticed at various times
in our worship services, where I've preached, where I'm at,
that we're not always as thoughtful as we ought to be. Now keep in
mind, I'm trying to emphasize something here, trying to point
out something to us. I'm trying to emphasize that the rule here
in Leviticus 22, the rule was, it shall be perfect to be accepted,
and this rule must be submitted to. Now, I said in our worship we're not
always as thoughtful as we ought to be. When we come together,
whether it's here, or whether I'm in Texas, or whether I'm
in Florida, or whether I'm in Kentucky, or whether I'm in Tennessee,
or wherever it might be, when we come together to sing, it ought to be a form of worship. Our singing is part of our worship
service. That's the reason we come on
Sunday morning. is we come to worship. Now, if
singing is not part of the worship, let's rule it out. Let's rule
it out. Let's do away with the song books.
Let's do away with the piano. That would save us, well, I think
we paid six, seven hundred dollars for that several years ago and
probably would cost maybe double that right now. It would save
churches a whole lot of money, you know, if it's not part of
the worship. If singing is not a praise unto
God, let's do away with it. Because we ought not to add to
that which is revealed. You see what I'm driving at,
don't you? Now, do we join together in union of heart in praise unto
God in our singing, or do we just repeat the words? Or do
we just say, well, I can take it or leave it. Or are we just
going through the motion? I must appear to be religious.
What will others say if I don't join in? What will others think
of me if I sit with my head down, if I never open my hymn book?
If I never take part in this, what will others say? Well, I
must do it then in order to go through the motion. in order
that I might maintain a certain reputation among my fellow believers. Well, if that be the case, why,
we got problems. That's all I can say. We just
got a problem, if that be the case. Well, there's a whole lot
of people that consider singing as a form of entertainment. It
really doesn't have anything to do with our worship. form
of entertainment. It's something that has been
added on by someone by way of design or objective to kind of
get us in the mood or to kind of entertain us for 10 or 12
minutes prior to the main event. In other words, what I'm trying
to say is this. that many, many people, as a
matter of fact, you'd find out if you'd really take a poll,
if that could be done, among the religious people of the world.
If you'd get them to be honest and ask you what part the hymn
singing plays in the service on Sunday morning, and nine times
out of ten, I believe that you'd get an answer something like
this. It's a preliminary to the main event. The main event is
the preaching of the Word of God. And to some degree, I think
that's right. To some degree, I go along with
that. But I do not think that singing
is merely a preliminary. I think singing is a part of
worship. Worship is what? It's the work
of the heart. That's what worship is, the work
of the heart. It's the heart going out in adoration
and in praise and blessing unto God. And we do so as we sing,
All for Jesus, all for Jesus, all for Jesus, all my doing and
all my being, all for Jesus, all for Him. That's worship,
I believe. Well, look at the way we pray
most of the time now. And I'm not consigning that to
this place. primarily, but I'm speaking in
general here, that I believe that I've noticed these things. In our worship, I've noticed
that we're not always as thoughtful as we ought to be. And that's
set forth in the area of singing. And it's also set forth in the
area of praying. Now, most of the time, we rush
into God's presence and we say the first words that come to
our mind. Now, if I'm wrong about this,
you tell me about it. In our praying, I say we, in
most, I'm talking about public praying, for the most part, in
our congregational services, whether it be here at this church
or whether it be some other church, for the most part, very few churches
and Christians have been that have discovered that they've
just been kind of playing around and they're not as thoughtful
as they ought to be in this matter of praise. I say most of the time we just
rush right into the presence of God. And we say the first
words that come to our mind. You see, we don't remember who
we are talking to. We've just been educated and
kind of got in a traditional rut into believing that prayer
is just a time in public prayer when we can, well, we're going
to take up a couple of minutes here, and it's expected and it's
required by the congregation that we do so, and we would certainly
be ostracized and ridiculed if we had service, public service,
and there was not one that would offer up prayer for the congregation. So it's an accepted thing, and
we just forget that who we're talking to. When we, in public
prayer as well as private prayer, when we pray, it's not that I
might be heard by my dearest brother, or my wife, or my children,
or my friends, to the extent that I'm trying to get a message
to them. I'm trying to say something. I'm pretending like I'm praying
to God, but really I want this fellow over here to hear it.
My prayer turns into preaching. You see what I'm talking about?
I'm trying to get a message across to somebody else. Now, that may
be alright. in its proper place. But when
we pray, we ought to remember who we are praying to. We are
talking to God, God Almighty, over all and above all, who is
not a man like you and I are men. This is God who is indefinable. I cannot even define Him. He's
so wonderful, He's so great, He's so marvelous, He's so good,
He's so powerful, He's so glorious that I haven't even got words
in my vocabulary of words. I can't even find words in books
that will define the glorious God of heaven. If we could remember,
when we come before Him, that we're coming before God. and
not rush into His presence. God's not interested in the weather
report. I've heard preachers, first thing
to do if it's a nice day on Sunday morning, or deacons or someone
else, first thing to do on Sunday morning if they're called on
to lead the parade and it's a nice summer day and the sun's shining,
they always thank God that it's such a nice day out there. Well,
I think that's alright. We ought to thank God for the
weather. We ought to thank God for everything. Primarily, primarily,
we ought not just to rush into the presence of God and give
God the weather report. He knows what the weather is.
He gives the weather. He's the first cause of all things. And I'm not saying that. Now, don't misunderstand. I hope
no one misunderstands me on this. They say, well, you're saying
that God knows everything. There's no need for me to tell
him anything. Well, I'm saying this, that prayer doesn't change
things. I'm saying that if you think that when you pray before
God that you're going to change God's mind, God is not a man
that He should repent. God doesn't change His mind. I'll tell you who changes it.
You'll change, not God. Prayer changes me. Prayer changes
my attitude. Prayer doesn't change God. Oh,
God's eternal. His decrees are fixed. It changes
me, I'll tell you that. It changes God. Well, alright. Remember who we're talking to.
Our prayers are intended for God's eye and God's ear alone. It is quality, not quantity,
that God wants. We're not heard for our much
speaking. That was the trait of the Pharisees
who fought. that they were heard for their
much speaking. So it's not quantity, it's quality. It's not length, it's truth.
It's truth. It doesn't necessarily have to
be three words or three sentences or three paragraphs. That will
be up to the individual. But I want us to understand,
brethren, that it's not the length, it's the truth. He said, when you pray, don't
use vain repetition. You know what that means? It
doesn't mean that we're not to repeat ourselves. He's not criticizing us because of repetition. Repetition is alright, it's vain
repetition that he's against. When we come to God, certainly
it's good. What we ought to do is to bless
God, to praise God every time we come. That's repetitious.
He's not against that. He's not against confessing our
sins unto Him. The Bible tells us and teaches
us throughout the Bible that when we come to Him, we ought
to confess our sins. And He's faithful and just to
forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So that's not the repetition that he's... It's vain repetition
that he's talking about. Vain repetition. When we're standing
up here preaching, when we ought to be praying, that's the way
he's talking about vain repetition. When I'm trying to cut somebody
down in my prayers. I'm trying to let someone else
know what I think of them in my prayers. That's vain repetition.
That's sinful. Sinful needs to be confessed
and repented of. It's the wrong attitude. Well,
you see, I've said all these things, brethren, to emphasize
something. In our worship, we're not always
as thoughtful as we ought to be. No, sir. We give sometimes
more consideration to men than we do God. For instance, if a
man's praying, everybody stops. If a man's praying. If a man's
praying. and anyone enters the area where
the man is praying, immediately, the NFL will stop by his head. I'm not against that, that's
alright. But I want to point out to you that while a man is
reading the Word of God, the same individual might walk in
and just keep on walking. You see what I'm talking about?
You see the point I'm trying to make? We give more Honor to man
and we will to God. This is the Word of God right
here. When the Word of God is being
read, well, stop right now and listen! Listen! This is as much
the Word of God right here as if God would speak audibly from
heaven right now. Right here, this book. God is
not going to write anymore. This is all that God is ever
going to write right here. That is the reason our Lord said
to these scribes and Pharisees and some religious people, He
said, you are an adulterous people. This is an adulterous generation.
And why did He draw that conclusion? Because He said, you require
signs and wonders and no signs shall be given. It has already
been given. You got to see something? Well,
nothing's going to be added to the Bible here. There's not going
to be another chapter to it. It's all here. This is the Word
of God. And so, instead of like a bull in a china shop,
when someone's reading the Word of God, we ought to stop right
there. Proceed no further until the man gets through reading.
Then find our place. But the thing that would break
up all that would be is this, and I'm not saying this to anybody
in particular, just saying it. Just saying it, I can't tell
you the truth if I don't tell you the truth, is that unless
we are hindered by the providence of God, when the church time
starts, be here and then avoid all that. Don't wait until ten
minutes after ten and then say, well, I think I'll go to church.
Don't do that. Don't do that. If you wait until
ten minutes after ten, stay at home. Come back tonight. Don't
interrupt the worship service. You see what I'm talking about?
This is worship. Worship. We come together to
worship. If we didn't come to worship,
well, let's stay at home. You see the importance of that? I'm leading up to something here.
I'm not trying to be picky. I'm not trying to offend anyone. That's not my point, to be offensive.
I don't want to offend anybody. If anybody's offended, I'm more
offended than you are. I'm more offended because I'm
preaching to myself. I'm preaching to myself. When
I preach like this, I'd rather be out there, sitting on the
bench, than I would be up here. I remember, well, down through
the years, driving along in the cars, and here comes a funeral.
What does people do? For the most part. What's the
custom? Here comes a funeral. Here comes a dead man. Here comes
a dead man in the mourners. Coming down the road. And here
comes a car towards you. What is the custom? Ordinarily,
for the car coming in this direction towards the funeral service,
what's the custom of that driver of that car to do? Stop. Stop! And kind of reverence. There's
a dead man going by. There's a dead man going by.
We're going to honor that dead man. Honor of the mourners and
the grieving. We're going to stop. Someone's
standing up and reading the Bible, why this come a bull in the end
like a bull in a china shop and the kids are hollering, they're
running, one pulling this way and one pulling that way, maybe
one a crying and one a holding their legs all kicked out and
their arms are jerking up at their mother. See what I'm talking
about? Huh? I heard of a little story one time
of an old preacher down in Alabama. Two preachers was talking to
another fellow here, and the other fellow, they thought maybe
he was wrong in what he was doing, or maybe he was unconverted.
I don't know. I don't remember the story that
well, but I do remember the prayer. So one of the preachers turned
to the other and said, well, why don't you pray for him? And this is the
prayer. It says, If he knew better, he'd
do better, and if he'd do better, he'd know better. He said, Amen.
That's long enough. That's long enough. Oh, do we preach? Do I preach
without giving any thought as to what I'm going to say? No,
sir. You come by here about any day
in the week, and you'll see my little truck sitting right out
there. And you'll see me in here because I'm going to give some
thought to what I'm about to say on a Sunday morning and a
Wednesday night, and if I go someplace else, I'm going to
give some thought. But we rush into the presence
of God, and we don't give any thought as to what we're going
to say. First words come to our mind,
that's what we say. Lord, we thank You that it's
a good day, and we thank You for this and so forth and all,
and never give a damn. Well, you see what I'm driving
about. I'm talking about this particular
portion of Scripture here in 22 and 21. It says, It shall
be perfect to be accepted. And I'm saying that I've observed
in vast worship services that I've been in, and I've been a
part of, and I've been as guilty of it as those that I was with. that we don't pay too much attention
to what we're doing and we've been pretty careless down through
the years in what we're doing. What about our preaching? Do
we preach in order that someone will say something good about
us? That's been my... I'll be frank
with you. There's been times that I've
preached hoping that someone would recognize my ability. Someone would say, That fellow's
a good preacher. He's a good preacher. He's got
something to say, and he's got a good delivery, and I'm impressed
with him, see. I've been guilty of it, I know
that. But do we preach in order that
someone will say something good about us? Well, if that's so,
that's all that's going to happen. See, you'll get your reward.
If your reward, if your desire is that someone might pat you
on the back and say, You sure, you sure did something there
today. Well, that's the only thing you're going to get out
of it. That's the only thing I'm going to get out of it, see.
There's a whole lot of preachers, you see, they work all week just
to addle your brains on Sunday morning. Just to confuse you. They spend all day Sunday confusing
the hearers. There's a great Puritan preacher
whose name was Dr. Manton. And one time Dr. Manton preached at St. Paul's
Cathedral in London. And a great crowd went out to
hear him. Great crowd. There's a lot of
people in that congregation that Sunday morning because it had
been announced several days prior to that Sunday that Dr. Manton would fill the pulpit
at the St. Paul's Cathedral this Sunday
morning. So there's a lot of people there.
But there was one fellow in that congregation who was a poor farmer,
and he lived 50 miles from St. Paul's Cathedral. Now, the story
that I read doesn't tell how long that it took him to get
from where I live to St. Paul's Cathedral, but it took
him a long time because he had to walk. He'd heard about Dr. Mann. And he heard what a wonderful
preacher he was, and he heard how he could exalt the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. So he walked those fifty miles
to be in the audience on Sunday morning to hear the good Dr.
Manton. Alright. Dr. Manton preached. And when he
got through, there was a collection of people that surrounded him
congratulating him, I suppose, on his discourse. I may be wanting
to ask him some questions and so forth. I don't know why they
was around him, but there was a great crowd of people around
him. But this poor farmer, finally, he tried to get to him. He tried
to talk to him. And because of the crowd, he
couldn't get to him. But finally, he stuck his hand
in between the bodies and got a hold of Dr. Manton's coat sleeve,
and he jerked it two or three times, and finally he got the
attention of this good doctor. And the good doctor looked over
at him and said to him, and what can I do for you? And you know
what this poor farmer said who walked fifty miles to hear the
good doctor on a Sunday morning? He said, good doctor, there was
nothing for me this morning. Nothing for me this morning.
Now you know what he meant by it? You see, the sermon that
the good doctor preached was full of Hebrew and Latin and
Greek quotations. And it was a very learned sermon. And this poor fellow, who had
walked fifty miles, could not rise to the occasion by way of
intelligence to grasp or to get anything the good doctor had
to say. And he told the good doctor,
he said, and there was nothing for me this morning. What did
you say? I said, good doctor, there was
nothing for me this morning. What about our singing? What
about our praying? And what about our preaching?
Is there anything in my preaching or in the preaching of your preacher
at your church, anything whatsoever that is profitable to your heart? Or has it been camouflaged with
words and quotations and expressions that have no meaning. There should always be something,
every time we preach, there always should be something for poor
Ruth. You remember who Ruth was? She was Boaz's, finally became
Boaz's wife. But she was the daughter-in-law
of Naomi. And they finally got back into
the land. Boaz's fighter. Boaz was a type of the Lord Jesus.
And he said to some of his field hands, he said, you see that
woman out there, that striking, beautiful, lovely woman out there? They said, yes, we noticed her
there. We didn't know who she was. He said, well, I'll tell
you what I want you to do from now on. He said, I want you to,
when you come around at the corners of the field, he said, I want
you to cut them. I want you to just cut them off.
Leave the grain in the corners of the field. So poor Ruth can
have some grain when she comes through. And he said, and another
thing I want you to do, he said, as you're gathering up the grain
in the middle of the field, he said, I want you to drop some,
some handfuls on purpose. Who for? For poor Ruth. So you
see, in our preaching, we too ought to always have something
for poor Ruth. You see, the text says, it shall
be perfect to be accepted. Well, I've said all that to say
this, brethren, those who draw nigh to God, particularly
the individuals that are involved in this 22nd chapter of the book
of Leviticus, these worshipers, now they must have a great respect
for the holiness of God. And we too, if we ever draw nigh
unto God in Christ, we too must have a great respect for the
holiness, the awe, the righteousness, the absolute perfection of our
God. You see, when these people drew
nigh to worship Him. They could not help seeing that
God required everything in His service to be of the very best. That was the rule. God required
everything in His service to be of the very best. This is
the rule. It shall be perfect to be accepted. Now, notice, Now, when the priest
here stood for them before God, he must be in himself, or in
his bodily presence, the perfection of manhood. When Aaron, who was
the high priest, and he was their representative, the people, He
stood for them. And this high priest, whoever
he was, when he stood for them in the presence of God, before
God, even in his bodily manhood, there must be the essence of
perfection in that man. That is, he's a type now. He's
a type. Aaron's a type. We know Aaron's
a sinner like you and I are a sinner. But the type here, what's demanded
of God, is going to give forth a clarity as to the high priest's
cleanliness and holiness before God. So, even to the extent that
when the high priest, when age took its toll upon him, We don't
all remain at 35 years old and 45 and 55. We just keep getting
older and older and older and older. Now, when old age creeps
in and the rot of corruption and decay takes its toll upon
the high priest, then that high priest has got to give away to
a younger man. He's got to give away to someone
else, you see. Well, he must be washed. This
fellow must be washed, this high priest. As he stands for them
before God, first thing he's got to do, he's got to be washed.
He's got to be washed from the bottom of his feet to the top
of his head. He's got to be washed all over. And then he's got to put these
garments on. He takes his golden garments
off, his everyday garments that he wears during the day, and
then he puts his vest on. He puts these linen garments
on. I always liked this habit. I
grew up with it when I was a boy. It didn't help me much, but it
instilled something in me as to the purity and holiness of
God when I was a boy. You had any good clothes, your
good clothes was always saved for Sunday. And I think that
that's part of a tradition and custom, you know, down through
the years, that men somehow had some reverence for the Lord's
Day. And the first thing you'd done
when I was just a boy, and I remember the lady that I stayed with wanted
me to go to Sunday school. I didn't want to go very bad,
but I went. I went. I'll tell you this, when
we get up on Sunday morning, the first thing we had to do
was polish our shoes. Polish our shoes. And you put
the best clothes you had on. Put them on to go to church.
Save the very best. That's not a bad practice. I'm
not criticizing anybody because maybe you don't wear your best
clothes. That's alright. That's alright. I'm not being
critical about that. I'm just trying to make a point here.
Trying to make a point that when this high priest When he was
to offer up a sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, when he stood
before God as a representative person for these people, then
he must stand in all holiness and clemency before God. Which certainly denotes that
what I've said, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It says up here,
or it says back over here in that 16th chapter that I read
to you the other night, it says then, or in the 4th verse, it
says, "...he shall put on the holy linen coat." That's what
he had to put on. "...he shall have the linen breeches
upon his fledge, and shall be girded with the linen girdle,
and with the linen mitre shall he be attired." These are holy
garments, therefore shall he wash his flesh and water, and
so put them on." Huh? Well, that's the high priest. That's Aram. Now, the victims,
the victims that Aram, who's a high priest, offered unto God
as a sacrifice, these victims must be as holy as He who offers
them. Why? Because it shall be perfect
to be accepted. It cannot be accepted if it is
not perfect. If the high priest had one arm
off, he could not be a high priest. If he had one finger off, he
could not be a high priest. If he just had that much of his
finger cut off, he couldn't be a high priest. If he was born
without any fingers on this hand, he couldn't be a high priest.
If he was born with a cleft in his lip here, he couldn't be
a high priest. If he was born with warts on him, he couldn't
be a high priest. If he was born with a discolored
eye, he couldn't be a high priest. He couldn't be a high priest.
If he had one leg shorter than the other, he couldn't be a high
priest. You see, it must! You see what I'm driving at?
It must be perfect to be accepted. He couldn't be the high priest.
You say, well, preacher, he couldn't help it. That doesn't alter the
matter. That doesn't alter the matter whether he could help
it or not. I know he couldn't help it. I know he was born deformed. He couldn't help it. But God
said, and God says here, He says that if a man has a scab, or
if he's bruised, or if he's cut, or if he has a wound, or if he
has any deformity, he can't be a high priest. In his person's
got to be manifested a bodily perfection in order for him to
offer the victim unto God. Now, as the high priest, the
offerer, must be perfect, so must the victim be perfect. You
couldn't offer a sheep or a goat or a bullock that was not outwardly,
externally without blemish. If a goat had a blemish, if a
goat had a blemish, he couldn't be used as a as a sacrifice,
if the bullock had a blemish. If there's any blemishes whatsoever,
they could not be accepted as a sacrifice. You see, it got
to be perfect. You remember the Passover, it
says that the lamb that blood was to be shed, or the goat's
blood that was to be shed in the Passover sacrifice, which
is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, that animal must be kept
up in the back of the house in a pen for, I forget, nine or
twelve days. It's got to be kept up. Why? So every day, the individual
who was going to offer that sacrifice, he would go out and observe with
the keenest of eyes and see if he could detect a flaw in the
sacrifice itself. And if there was any flaw in
that sacrifice, it could not be used as an offering unto God. You see, not only the offerer,
But the offering must be perfect. It shall be perfect, Jack, to
be accepted. It shall be! Do you hear that?
It shall be! Not maybe, not might, it shall
be! That's the rule. That's the rule. It must be adhered to, to its
exactness, if it's going to be accepted. Under the law of Moses,
the guilt of sin and the need of atonement were always brought
before the mind of the worshiping Israelites. God help those that
are meeting today in most places, because it is not brought to
their attention. The preacher gets up and preaches a little
old five-cent sermon for twenty-five minutes or fifteen minutes, and
the worshipers have not had it impressed upon them the guilt,
the guilt and the need of a sacrifice to cleanse them from the guilt.
They don't want to talk about the blood. They don't want to
talk about Jesus Christ dying, suffering, giving Himself the
bloody gore that run from His head and run from His side. They
don't want to talk about that. They don't want to talk about
the propitiation. They don't want to talk about God being
just. and justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. He doesn't
talk about that. Talk about, you're a bunch of nice people,
you're all nice and you're all good and you're so kind to me
and all that, and let's live by the golden rule and let's
love one another and let's be good to the Jews and good to
the Negroes and good to this and I'm all for all that and
I'm not trying to be picky. I'm just trying to say that they
preach a social gospel. But under the law of Moses, that's
what I want to say, under the law of Moses, The guilt of sin
and the need of atonement were always, always, always on all
occasions brought before the mind of the worshiping Israelite. He is reminded of it. He is reminded
of it. He is reminded of it by the high
priest. He was reminded of it by the victim, the sacrifice
itself. Now listen, back then they had
a tabernacle. It wasn't a temple. The temple
hadn't been built. Solomon built the temple. tabernacle. It was a temporary abode, the
temporary dwelling place of God. God gave Moses the directions
and the orders for building the tabernacle. Is that right, Carl?
Do you remember that? He said, see that you make this
tabernacle after And according to all and exact specifications
that I've given to you, do it just exactly like I told you.
So they built a tabernacle, rough looking thing on the outside,
covered with beaver skins, dyed in some sort of a color. But
inside it was beautiful, but the outside was ugly. Hard to look upon. Old beaver
skins and all that draped down. But inside that tabernacle, you
couldn't believe the beauty and the glory inside that tabernacle. Inside that tabernacle is where
the high priest went once a year to make atonement for the people's
sins. And after he was qualified, after
he washed himself, and all of that, and after they got the
victim. And if you stepped into that holy place, into that tabernacle,
into the holies of holies that were separated by those curtains,
if you happened to step into that holy place, everywhere you
looked, you'd see the marks of blood. There's blood everywhere
in that tabernacle. Some say, well, I just can't
even stand to hear someone talk about blood. I can't even stand
the sight of blood. Have you heard people talk that
way? I've talked that way. I've said that. I can't stand
the sight of blood. But I'll tell you this. Listen,
everywhere, everywhere you looked when you went into that tabernacle,
you seen blood. The walls were stained with blood. There was bowls full of blood
poured out on the floor. The walls were stained, the floors
were stained, the curtains were stained, everything was stained
with blood. And if you got a problem, if
I got a problem with the sight of blood, I'd have had a problem
back in these days if I went into the tabernacle because there
was blood everywhere, blood everywhere. Floor that was stained with blood,
curtains that were stained with blood, every article in that
tabernacle was stained with blood. Everything sprinkled with it,
sprinkled with it. Sprinkle it seven times in this
direction. So many times in this direction. Put it on your big
toe. Put it on your big finger. Sprinkle the blood. Sprinkle
the blood. All this is saying what to that worshiping Israelite? What's it saying? It's saying
this, that without the shedding of blood, there can be no cleansing
of sin. There cannot be no remission
of sin. There cannot be no remittance of sin without the cleansing
or without the shedding of the blood. So as the Israelite looked
upon the blood of the victim, he was reminded of what? Of the
sacred rule. It shall be perfect to be accepted. He saw the necessity of a perfect
sacrifice and that a life must be given and blood must be shed
before sin is removed. And brethren, If I don't get
any farther than that this morning, let me say that that's still
in effect. That's still in effect. There can be no man forgiven
apart from the shedding of the blood. Now, I may be dumb in
most areas, and I admit to that, but that's one thing I know.
That's one thing I know. That's one thing I'd never give
that up. You could cut my tongue out, I couldn't give that up.
You could banish me off from the Isle of Patmos. I couldn't
give that up. You could put me in the car and send me down and
push me. I wouldn't give that up. I'm holding on to that. You
can't take that from me right there. Without the shedding of
the blood, there's no remission of sin. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no acceptance by God and for God. Without the
shedding of the blood, it shall be perfect to be accepted. Oh, there must not be any strange
fire before the Lord. There can't be any strange fire.
A lot of strange fire going on now. Well, Mark and I listened
to a fellow about six o'clock this morning on the television.
I just turned it on there a little bit and listened to that fellow
a little bit. He said, you're not supposed to die. He said,
you're not supposed to die. He said that there was never
a man, woman, boy or girl living upon the face of the earth. who
had cancer, would die of cancer if they said to that cancer,
cancer, leave me, you've got no control over me. Cancer, take
your leave of this body. He said there's never been one
on record that's ever died of cancer that would say those words,
cancer, leave me. Well, I don't know about all
that, but I do know this, it's appointed. unto man wants to
die. Whether it's cancer, whether
it's an automobile wreck, whether it's old age, or what it is,
it's appointed unto man wants to die. And if he dies, and if
he dies without, without a sacrifice, without a perfect sacrifice,
he'll be lost forever. strange fire. Oh, how this rule
here, it shall be perfect to be accepted. How this condemns
self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. The world
is full of it. The world is full of it. Look
what God demands of you and demands of me if we are to be accepted
on our own merits. If we're foolish enough to believe
that I can make it, preacher, on myself, I don't cuss, I don't
drink, I don't do this, I don't do all that business, and I'm
okay. I'm okay. I'll be alright. I'll
be alright. I've got enough goodness here.
I've built up enough goodness in my 20 years or 30 years or
40 years, and it'll be alright. I don't know how before God.
It'll be alright. You know what you are? You're
self-righteous. Now, I don't mean that you're trying to lord
it over somebody. Not in that form of self-righteous, but you're
self-righteous in the sense that you believe that your righteousness,
your right, you don't do this and you don't do that, and you
do this and you do that, that you've got a built platform of
righteousness of your own works, of your own deeds, and you're
standing on them, and you're trusting in them, and you're
depending upon them to satisfy God. That God's going to see
your works, your righteousness, and He's going to say, well,
it's all right. It's all right. You've done enough. This rule
here, this rule banishes, condemns, sweeps away forever the thought
that a man could enter into God's heaven, into the presence of
a thrice holy God on the basis of his own good works. It shall
be perfect to be accepted. This rule condemns it because
of what it demands of you. What does it demand? It demands
That if you're going to work out your salvation through your
own righteousness, then you've got to be a perfect sacrifice.
You can't have no blemish. No blemish. No blemish. You say,
well, I haven't got any. Well, I've kept them from my
youth up. I've never chased after anybody's
wife. I've never stole anything. I've never played the pinball
machine. I've never drank a bottle of beer. I've never done this.
I've never done that. Well, listen. That's outwardly. What about inwardly? God requires,
He requires perfection absolutely, outwardly, and inwardly. That
is, brethren, your thoughts, your words, your ways, and your
deeds must be absolutely perfect. Absolutely. You see, listen to
me now, if you don't get anything, anything other than what I'm
going to say right now, this will help you. Now listen, God will not accept
anything less than what He is. He won't do it. God's perfect
and He will not accept anything less than perfection. It shall be perfect. It shall
be if it's to be accepted. It shall be. Your motives must
be perfect. A lady told me, you know, she
said, well, I don't care. I just don't care what my motives were.
He said, well, I don't care if they weren't. He said, my motives
weren't right. I don't care. Well, you better care. You better care.
Listen, this rule in our text here makes a clean sweep of all
kinds of human confidence. Some say, well, I don't trust
in my works. Now, preacher, I want you to
know that. And you know me long enough to know that I'm not trusting
in my works. I'm very religious. I never miss
a service. I go to church all the time.
I'm a religious person. And I carry my Bible, and I read
my Bible, and I pray. Preacher, I want you to know,
I have faith in Jesus Christ and myself. That's right. I have faith. I believe in Jesus
Christ. But I also believe in myself
too. Well, here's what you're saying. Here's what you're saying.
If you trust Him, if you trust Him and Him alone, that'll be perfect. If you're
trusting in Christ Jesus the Lord as your Savior and your
Savior and your sacrifice alone, that'll be perfect. But if we
trust Him, if we're trusting Jesus Christ up to 15 ounces
to the pound, and yourself for the last ounce of the sixteen,
then you're lost. Let me say it again now. If you're
trusting Christ up to fifteen ounces to the pound, and to the
last ounce you're trusting yourself, then you're a lost man. Now I'll
tell you why. Because the last ounce is an
ounce of imperfection. It shall be perfect to be accepted. See that? It shall be. It shall
be. Not maybe, Bob. It shall be.
It's got to be. It's got to be perfect if it's
to be accepted. I've said all this to say this.
My time's gone. I've got a long ways to go. But listen, I've said all this
to say this. All of it, thus far, leads up right now. Don't
miss this. You're going to miss everything.
This is the important part of what I'm My discourse here this
morning is this right here. I said all this to say this.
If we are ever saved, we must be shut up to the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He who offered himself to God
was without spot or blemish. He was absolutely perfect. There was no blemish in him. Listen, no stain defiled his
birth. No pollution touched his body
or his soul. The prince of this world, the
devil, came to him with the key of Stevias and searched him out
and said, I found nothing in him. Nothing in him. He was without sin, that was
the testimony, even of his enemies. You see, He was in all points
tempted like we are tempted, yet without sin. There was not
the possibility of sinning about our Savior. No tendency, no desire
in that direction. Nothing could be construed into
evil ever came upon His character. You see, He was perfect in His
nature. Now, not only perfect in His
nature, He was perfect in his motive. He was perfect in his
motive. And that's where that rich young
ruler got messed up. See, I kept all these from my
youth up, he said. I kept them all. Rich man, wealthy
man. You know what our Lord said to
him? He said, well, take what you've got and give to the poor
and then follow me. Oh, no. He said, I'm not changing
my lifestyle. Oh, no. I'll never change my
lifestyle for that. Oh, no. Why? Because he loved
that money. He loved that. That was security
to him. Boy, I'll have that. I'll have
that. I'll take that right into eternity
with me. That money. Listen, our Lord
Jesus Christ, in His motives were perfect. Who brought him
from above? What brought him from above?
I'll tell you what. Love to God and love to poor
sinners. That's what brought him down.
Now, let me point out something there to you. Love to God. That is, he loved God with all
of his heart, all of his mind, all of his spirit, and all of
his soul. That's the first and great commandment, isn't it?
You've got to love God completely, entirely, absolutely, with every
fiber of your being. That's what he requires. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, when He came down here, that was the motive.
That was the motive that constrained Him to come. Love to God. And
I said, love the poor sinners. What does that mean? Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. Does not the Bible say that those
two commandments right there, loving God with all your heart
and loving your neighbor as yourself, is the embodied corporation of
the whole. Right there. Love. I'm telling you, He is perfect.
Perfect in His nature. Perfect in His birth. Perfect
in every respect. In His young life. In His time when He came to die. Perfect. Perfect. No flaw in
His character. No blemish. No blemish. No spot.
Flat out. No wrinkle in Him. Perfect. Perfect. Also in His motive. You can't
find the first trace of ambition in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Him, there is no part of Himself. No thought of Himself. Always
thinking of God and thinking of others. Never thought of Himself.
No ambition in Him to be somebody. I've got to make a name. I've
got to make a name for myself. I've got to be a big preacher.
I've got to have a big... I've got to have a thousand people
out there to hear me. If I can't get them here, I'm
going to leave and go somewhere else. I've got to climb this
ladder to get on the pinnacle of success and to be recognized. I've got an ambition to be recognized. I want people to look at me and
say, well, none of that in the Lord Jesus Christ. No thought
of self in Him. No sinister motive ever lingered
in the breast. or ever crossed his pure mind. Now as his nature was perfect,
as his motive was perfect, so was his spirit. He was never
sinfully angry. He was never untrue. He was never
idle or lazy. The air of his soul, the atmosphere
of the air of the soul and the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ
was none but what? Heavenly, heavenly, heavenly. Oh, listen to me. He said to
those people, one time as they talked to Him and He talked to
them, they made some remarks to Him. Here's what He said to
them. He said, listen, I came from above. I came from above. That's where I come from. He
said, I'm heavenly. I'm heavenly. But you know what
He said to them? You know what He said to me?
He said, you're earthing. You're earthing. That's where
you come from. You come from the earth. Where did you come
from? I'll tell you where I come from.
I come from Adam. I come from Adam. The poison of Adam's rebellion
and of Adam's sin entered into my bloodstream. I sin because
it's my nature. Where did you get that nature?
I got it from Adam. I got it from Adam. I got it
from my father and my mother in the Garden of Eden, who plunged
this human race into destruction. That's where I got it. I got
it from them. You're from Adam. You're from
the earth. That's what he said. He said,
I'm from heaven. I'm heavenly! You're earthy. You're earthy.
Ah, look at his life of obedience. Look at that. See how perfect
he was. You ever read in the Bible any
commandment that the Lord Jesus Christ ever broke? Huh? He honored
the law of God. He magnified the law of God.
Every jot and every tittle of the law of God he honored and
he magnified. He kept it and he fulfilled it. Every one of
them. All of them. Never staggered at them. He did
it cheerfully. He did it Gladly? You can see what God is as you
see what Christ is. You want to know what God is?
Look into the face of the Lord Jesus Christ and you can see
exactly what God is. That's where the glory of God
is to be found. Where? In the face of Christ.
I said at the outset here, I said all of that previously, to show
you and I that if we ever get to God's heaven, we must be shut
up to the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, or we'll
never make it. It shall be perfect. It shall
be perfect to be accepted. You see, He is perfect even as
His Father in heaven is perfect. He never came up short on any
point. A fellow asked me the other day,
He said something to me, I said, well that's the story of my life.
A dollar short and a day late. That's the story of it right
there. A dollar short and a day late. Our Lord Jesus Christ never
came up short on any point.