Now, the Lord Jesus Christ has
commanded the believer to pray for them which despitefully use
you and persecute you, entreat for them, intercede for them.
It's hurtful to be despitefully used. It's hurtful to be insulted,
to be falsely accused. It's hurtful to be persecuted,
to be harassed and troubled for the sake of the gospel. It's
troubling to the believer. And yet the Lord tells the believer
to pray for them and entreat God on their behalf. And then
we have our own sin that's ever before us that troubles us, that
causes us great doubt and fears often, and causes us to feel
sometimes as though we can't even pray. Well, what's going
to constrain the believer to come to His throne of grace and
to pray for those who despitefully use you, who persecute you? What's
going to constrain you to come to His throne of grace even though
your sin is ever before you? We're going to take a look this
morning at how our great High Priest intercedes for His people. That's the constraint. The constraint
is the love of Christ for us and how He intercedes for us.
And we're going to see here this morning how that He intercedes
for sinners like we are. Like we are. And that's the constraint. Numbers chapter 16. Now let me
give you some background here. Numbers 16. Korah, Dathan, Abiram,
and on. persuaded 250 men of renown in
the assembly of Israel to rise up with them in rejection of
Moses and Aaron. Moses was the prophet and leader
that God provided for Israel. Aaron was the high priest God
chose and appointed to be high priest for Israel. He's a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God said, when Korah and
his men and these 250 princes did this, God told Moses and
Aaron, He said, separate yourself from them that I destroy this
whole congregation, the entire congregation of Israel. And Moses
and Aaron interceded. They hid their face and they
prayed to God that He would spare the congregation. Look at verse
19. Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord appeared
unto all the congregation. And the Lord spake unto Moses
and Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation,
that I may consume them in a moment. And they fell upon their faces,
and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one
man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? That's a picture of Christ interceding
on behalf of His people. Now, God commanded for Moses
and Aaron and the rest of the congregation to separate themselves
from Korah and those 250 men. And right there in front of their
eyes, God opened up the earth and He swallowed up Korah and
those other three men. And then God set fire and consumed
those 250 princes. and all that pertained to them,
their families and everything, was consumed. That's what it
is to be outside of Christ, to have no intercessor, to have
no one interceding for us. But the Lord didn't consume the
rest of the congregation because Aaron and Moses interceded for
them. Now we come to the lesson in
verse 40. He told them to gather up all
those incense burners that those men came with, bypassing the
priest, trying to come to God themselves and burn incense themselves.
And the Lord said, now you gather up those incense burners and
you melt them and you make plates of gold to put on the ark. And
he said, this is why. Verse 40, to be a memorial unto
the children of Israel. Be a reminder to them that no
stranger which is not of the seed of Aaron come near to offer
incense before the Lord that he be not as Korah and as his
company as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses. Now Paul
said there must need be heresies among you that they which are
approved might be manifest. Those which are approved might
be made manifest. And God tells us here how his
people are approved. It says, no stranger which is
not of the seed of God's high priest, Christ Jesus. No stranger,
that's not a born-again, blood-bought child of Christ Jesus can approach
this throne of grace. God chooses who may approach
Him, and He freely accepts those born-again sons of Christ Jesus,
our high priest, who are washed in His blood, who believe on
Him through faith. And it's God's grace that we're
given liberty to draw near to His throne of grace, to offer
up our prayers before the Lord. This is what God, He makes His
children priests unto God, sons of Christ Jesus, the everlasting
Father, the last Adam, our great high priest. Coming to God in
the name of Christ Jesus is far more than saying that phrase
as we pray. It's being washed in His blood.
It's being born of His seed. It's being born and made to be
one in union with Him by a birth union by which Christ Jesus the
Lord births us. Only the sons of Aaron could
approach Him. They were the priests. And all those born of the Spirit
of Christ are priests unto God and they have liberty to approach
Him. liberty to approach him. Blessed
is the man whom the Lord chooseth and causeth to approach unto
thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. That's how we're made
to come. And when he does that, we shall
be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy
temple. All right, now we come to our
text. Surely, after seeing God pour out this wrath upon these
men who rejected God's way of approaching Him, surely now,
after all of this, the rest of the congregation would get it. They get it now. And they're
going to thank God for Moses and Aaron who stand as a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's see, verse 41. But on the
morrow, All the congregation of the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people
of the Lord. And it came to pass, when the
congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that
they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation, and behold,
the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. The
Lord came down over that tabernacle, and Moses and Aaron came before
the tabernacle of the congregation. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Get you up from among this congregation, that I may
consume them as in a moment. And what did they do again? They
fell upon their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take
a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on
incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an
atonement for them, for there is wrath gone out from the Lord.
The plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded
and ran into the midst of the congregation. And behold, the
plague was begun among the people. And he put on incense and made
an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead
and the living, and the plague was stayed. Now they that died
in the plague were 14,700. Beside them that died about the
matter of Korah. And Aaron returned unto Moses
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the
plague was stayed." Now, we're looking at the intercession and
the mediatory work of Christ the Lord, our High Priest, as
it's typified here in Aaron. The first thing we see is the
hard heart of unbelief. It says in verse 41, but on the
morrow, The very next day, the ground was still freshly scarred
from where the Lord opened up the earth and swallowed up Cora
and all his company. The smoke is still rising up
from where the fire came down and consumed those 250 princes.
All those incense burners have been gathered up to be beaten
out and melted down to be used as a memorial that none None
can come to God but through the intercession of Moses and Aaron. Picture of Christ. They can still
hear the screeches of the people in their ears from the day before. And on the morrow, all the congregation
of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron
saying, ye have killed the people of the Lord. Now when we look
at that, we look at these fellas, these men and these women that
did this, you look in a mirror. Look in a mirror. This is me
and you. This is us. This is exactly what
we'll do. This is why we need an intercessor. This is why we need someone to
intercede, to mediate between us and God. This is what the
Apostle said. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God. But exhort one another daily
while it's called today. lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin." Encourage each other to look to Christ. Don't murmur. Don't be critical.
Don't, oh, look to Christ. Look to Christ. Here's the second
thing we see, the unchangeable love of God in Christ. It says here in verse 43, Moses and Aaron came before the
tabernacle of the congregation. And then it says in verse 46,
Moses said unto Aaron, take a censer, put fire therein from off the
altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation. That's away from the tabernacle
to the congregation. And make an atonement for them,
for there is wrath gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun.
And Aaron took as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the
congregation. He left the tabernacle and went
into the midst of the congregation. And behold, the plague was begun
among the people. And he put on incense and made
atonement for the people. Incense was only to be offered
unto the Lord in the tabernacle. That's what the law stated. Only
in the tabernacle is the place where the incense was to be offered.
But here we see Aaron, a picture of Christ, going into the midst
of the congregation and offering incense and making atonement
for the people. What does that mean? Hebrews
9.11 says, Christ being come and high priest of good things
to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with
hands, that is to say, not of this building. Let me read what
Robert Hawker said on this. We see one of the most interesting
views of the Redeemer in his priestly office, putting on the
incense of his merits and running into this world from the tabernacle
of glory to do away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's
the picture here. Let me show you Romans 8, verse
3. I'll put it to you in some good, simple New Testament language
that we can all get a hold of. Romans 8, verse 3. For what the law could not do,
and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He came in
the tabernacle of that body prepared for Him. From the tabernacle
of glory in the tabernacle of that body that God made Him.
He came into the very midst of His people. Into the midst of
the congregation of His people. And He condemned sin in the flesh
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. The people,
you see, didn't love Aaron. They were murmuring against him
and accusing him and railing on him. Yet he came and he loved
the congregation of the children of Israel. Aaron made haste and
he ran. The Lord said, I must be about
my father's business. He came right into the midst
of this people and identified himself with this people. Look
over at Romans 5. Hold your place in Romans. We're
going to look a little bit there while we're here. Romans 5, 6. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet perventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. That's
love. God commended His love for us.
We didn't love Him, He loved us. And He sent His Son to be
the satisfaction for the sins of those that He chose and put
in Christ from before the world began. And Christ came and He
loved His own even though we were like these children of Israel
murmuring against Him, rebelling against Him. And He came. Now
that's our constraining love. If He loved us that way, freely,
that's how we ought to love one another. Alright, here's the
third thing. Keep your place in Romans, we'll
likely be back there. The third thing is we see that
the intercession of Christ is Christ offering Himself to God. Look back there now in verse
46 and 47. He went in there to make atonement. He said, take a censer, put fire
therein from off the altar, put on incense, go quickly unto the
congregation and make an atonement for them. Then in verse 47, he
did it and it says at the end there, he put on incense and
made an atonement for the people. Now, the Scriptures tell us that
almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sin. And we see here that he took
an incense and fire and put incense on the fire and made atonement
thereby. What are we learning from that?
What are we learning from that? Burning incense is a type of
intercession. It's a type of Christ interceding,
of pleading on behalf of his people. Let prayer be set forth,
the psalmist said, before thee as incense, and the lifting up
of my hands as the evening sacrifice. That's what the psalmist wrote.
The picture here is that the intercession that Christ makes
for his people is more than an empty-handed prayer. It's more
than a plea for compassion. It's his plea in offering up
himself, his own work, his own blood, his own righteousness
to God. That's the blood. That's the
offering. And His intercessory work is
just that. It's Him offering Himself unto
God. Atonement's been made by Christ.
Satisfaction's been made by Christ offering Himself. And he doesn't
plead the works of the people. Aaron didn't come pleading the
works of the people. He didn't come pleading that,
oh, they'll get it right tomorrow. Give them one more chance. They'll
do something more. He came pleading his own works. It was the work
of Aaron that made atonement for them. that satisfied God.
And so it is, Christ doesn't come pleading my works or your
works. He holds up His work before God, Himself before God. He is the intercessor and He
Himself is that which makes atonement, intercedes and pleases God. Now,
we see here the fourth thing, Christ the Mediator. This is
the whole work. He's standing. Look at verse
48. He stood between the dead and the living. and the plague
was stayed. That's a mediatorial work. That's what Christ did. Ceremonially
here, as a shadow of what Christ would do, because of the atonement
made through the intercession of Christ, standing between the
dead and the living, the justice of God demanded that the plague
go no further. It couldn't go any further. You
ever see somebody when you get two friends that are at odds
with one another? Perhaps one of the parties is
your son. And you step in between the two
and you say, if you're going to get to him, you're going to
have to go through me first. Christ Jesus stood between the living
God and those who in themselves are just dead, dying, needy sinners. And he stood between the living
God and His people. And because of the atonement
that he made, he says to the justice of God, you're going
to have to be unjust to punish them. You're going to have to
be unjust to punish them. God won't demand payment twice.
First at the bleeding shirt of His hand, and then again at mine.
He stands there, Himself, And God's justice is satisfied. God
is satisfied. And He says, my wrath will go
no further. It's been swallowed up by Christ
the Lord and put away forever. And it will go no further. That's
how it is with Christ. Now, that's what a mediator is. And the Spirit of God is going
to testify in the hearts of all those for whom Christ died that
they shall all live and not die because of this good news of
our Mediator. Let me show you that real quick
in 1 Timothy 2 verse 4. Our God will have all men to
be saved. He will. He'll have all men to be saved. Everyone He determined
to be saved is going to be saved. And they are going to come into
the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one
Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
Himself a ransom for all. Everyone he represented, he gave
himself a ransom for them. And because he stands between
the dead and the living, God's justice demands that every one
of them be born of the spirit of Christ, be made kings and
priests unto him so they can come boldly to the throne of
grace and God will receive them. Everyone, and they shall, all
of them shall be. All of them shall be. All right,
I'll give you a few things to think about. Now, you sit there and you think
about your sin. And you think sometimes about
how, oh, sometimes we just see our sins before us and we think,
how in the world can we come to it? You think of this. Before
His incarnation, right here in Aaron and Moses' day, before
Christ ever came and went to the cross, as the surety of his
people, he was still as of yet the intercessor and the mediator
before he had ever come and laid down his life. And he pleaded
the same way he does now, then, based on what he would accomplish,
the sure accomplishment that he would accomplish. It was done
since the foundation of the world and it's had efficacy since before
the world began because of this everlasting unbreakable covenant
of God. But now He has come. and He has
performed the work, and He has arisen to the Father, and now
He intercedes in God's presence. This mediator and this intercessor
is in God's presence, interceding for all those for whom He died,
and laid down His life, and shed His blood, and interceded for
our own Calvary's tree, and made atonement for. He's now in God's
presence, and He continues to do one thing. He lifts up His
pierced hands as the evening sacrifice. In this evening that we're in
right now, in the end of the world, He's lifting up. He is the sacrifice, lifting
up His pierced hands. And God's wrath says, I'll go
no further. I'll go no further. The plague has stayed. Now, when
you were in your rebellion, just like before Christ came to the
cross, even when you were in your rebellion, before you ever
knew Him, When you were murmuring against God and going your way
in your rebellion, you know who was interceding for you and mediating
for you then? You know Him. You've been called
by His grace. Christ was doing that then. Now, He's come to you and He's
given you an understanding. He's divinely regenerated and
revealed in you the mystery that's been hidden since the foundation
of the world. The mystery of this inaccessory,
mediatorial work of Christ Jesus whereby His people are complete
and the plague has stayed. Now, if He did that for you when
you were dead in sins and had no idea who He was, What do you
think now? What do you think He's doing
now? Hmm? You that believe, what do you
think He's doing for you now? Look back there at Romans 5 again.
Romans 5, 9. Here's what I'm saying. Romans 5, 9. Much more than. being now justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved, how? By His life. You see that? And not only so,
but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom
we have now received the atonement. It can't be broken. It can't
be broken. Even when we start acting like
these children of Israel and murmuring and murmuring and complaining,
this faithful high priest, even when we don't love him, he still
loves us. He's faithful. He won't deny
himself. Well, you who believe, your sins are covered, and this
is what John tells you. My little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. When you hear this interceding
word from Christ, doesn't it constrain you to make you not
want to sin? Doesn't it make you say, this
is what makes me not want to continue in sin? And yet I know
what I am, and I see it continually. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous, and
He is the propitiator. He is the satisfaction for our
sins. Past, present, and future. And not for ours only, John said,
being a Jew, but also for the sins of the whole world. He has
an elect among Jew and Gentile that he's done this work for.
Now, and you who are yet without faith in Christ, you be turning
to Romans Romans, I mean, Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7. You who are yet
without faith in Christ, cease your murmuring and prove by fleeing
to this mighty intercessor, this mediator with whom God is well
pleased, that you're one whom He's created anew and drawn to
His throne of grace. That's the only way it's going
to be proven. Can you come to Him? Can you drop everything
else and come to Him? That's the only way it's going
to be proven that He chose you, redeemed you, interceded for
you, mediates for you, and draws you to His throne of grace. That's
the only way it's going to be manifest. You're going to say,
I've got to have Him and nothing else. That's right. Let me show
you something here. Let me read this to you. Back
there in our text, it says, Aaron returned unto Moses in the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation. After he did all this work in
the midst of the congregation, he went back to the tabernacle
of the congregation and the plague was stayed. This is what Romans
8.33 says. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again. He's come into the midst of the
congregation, now He's gone back to the tabernacle. And what does
He do? He's even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh. I like the ETH on the end of
that word, maketh. It means He don't ever stop doing
it. He maketh intercession for us. And this is what He says
to you who don't know Him, who haven't yet cashed all your care
on Him. He says in Hebrews 7.25, Wherefore,
because He has risen, and He is at the right hand of the Father,
and He ever lives to make intercession, it says this to us, wherefore
He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to
God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. Can you come to Him? I pray this
day you can. If you can, it's because He's
living to make intercession for you. And the plague has stayed. Amen.