Let us turn once more to God's
Word, and we turn to Leviticus chapter 6, directing your attention
in particular to verses 8 and 9. Leviticus chapter 6 and verses
8 and 9, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command Aaron
and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. It is the burnt offering because
of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and
the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. in particular
then the opening words that we have here in verse 9, command
Aaron and his son saying this is the law of the burnt offering. That is the theme that I want
to attempt to address with the Lord's help this morning, the
law of the burnt offering. They remember that with regards
to the Lord of Gods, by that we mean that law that is declared
in the Decalogue in the Ten Commandments. We see back in Exodus chapter
19 that there were some three days involved in the giving of
that law in chapter 19 of Exodus, of course, we have the setting
for what follows in the 20th chapter when the Lord God Himself
speaks the 10 words, the 10 commandments from heaven. But there in chapter
19 of Exodus, verse 10, the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the
people and sanctify them today and tomorrow and let them wash
their clothes. and be ready against the third
day for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the people upon Mount Sinai. And then verse 16, it came to
pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders
and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice
of the trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was
in the camp trembled. Preparation is there then before
the Lord God Himself descends in all His majesty upon the Mount
Sinai. And we see then indicated something
of what the ministry of the Law is. It is spoken of in the New
Testament, is it not, as that ministration of condemnation. It is a ministration of death
we know that what things so ever the law said it said to them
who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world become guilty before God therefore by the deeds of
the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. No wonder then that the people
were so terrified as God came And as God spoke those words,
they were made to feel what they are. They were made to feel something
of their sins. And we see that immediately after
God had given those commandments in chapter 20 of Exodus. And there at verse 18, all the
people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise
of the trumpet and the mountain shaking, and when the people
saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said unto
Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God
speak with us, lest we die." They want Moses to be a mediator.
They want Moses to come between them and God. They're so fearful
of God himself, descending in all His holiness, all His righteousness,
and all His justice. They feel what they are, they
feel their sins, and Moses is to be the mediator for them,
and to go up into the mounts. And this is what happens, of
course, there, again, in Exodus, in chapter 24, We see how it is Moses himself
who becomes the mediator. Verse 18 of Exodus 24, Moses
went into the midst of the clouds and got him up into the mount
and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights. And from that statement at the
end of that 24th chapter right through the remainder of the
book of Exodus we have Moses receiving all the instruction,
all the direction concerning the very form of the tabernacle
or the furnishings of the tabernacle, whilst Moses is there in the
mount for some 40 days. And of course, With all the instruction that
he is receiving there concerning the tabernacle, we see so much
of the gospel. Because the tabernacle is a wonderful
type. Just as the temple which follows
the tabernacle is a wonderful type. Types of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ is that tabernacle which
the Lord pitched and not man. and I've spoken before and I
do commend it to you again that little work of John Bunyan on
Solomon's temple spiritualized and he brings out the significance
of all the furnishings of the temple but also of course those
furnishings associated with the tabernacle is it not interesting
how it was three days that were involved in the giving of the
Ten Commandments, but there is Moses 40 days 40 days in the
mount receiving instruction concerning the the tabernacle and then the
tabernacle we see reared up as I said there at the end of the
Book of Exodus in chapter 40 the tabernacle is finished and
the The tenth of meeting is set up in verse 17 of that chapter. It
came to pass, we read, in the first month, in the second year,
on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared
up. the first month in the second
year on the first day of the month. And then we read Leviticus
chapter 1 but I sought to indicate there is a definite connection
with what has gone on before there at the end of Exodus. Because
as the tabernacle is raised so the Lord God descends in all
his glory and the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle and
then in the opening words of Leviticus the Lord calls on to
Moses out of the tabernacle of the congregation. So we know
that it was upon that particular day that he spoken of there at
verse 17 in chapter 14. the first month in the second
year on the first day of the month. And then, if we go right
through the book of Leviticus, and come to the opening words
of the book of Numbers, which follows, we read how the Lord
spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of
the congregation, on the first day of the second month. in the
second year after they would come out of the land of Egypt.
Now observe the connection you see with what we have at the
end of Exodus. There it was the first day of
the first month when they reared the tabernacle and the Lord God
descended and he speaks to Moses and all of what we read throughout
Leviticus is taking place throughout that first month of the second
year. And then on the first day of the second month the Lord
speaks again to Moses now and they are to move forward. So
we can see quite clearly that it was some 30 days, it was a
whole month that was involved in the giving of all these Levitical
laws. Ten times longer that was involved
in the giving of the Ten Commandments. Three days there in Exodus 19
and 20, 30 days in which God gives all these various laws
concerning the the sacrifices concerning the feasts that the
children of Israel are to observe in the tabernacle. And I'm sure
you're aware that Leviticus is really very much a gospel book. And do we not see then something
of the preeminence of the gospel, even in the Old Testament? ten
times longer giving these various laws concerning sacrifices and
so forth, ten times longer than was involved in the giving of
the Ten Commandments. It shows us the preeminence of
the Gospel. And what we have here, of course,
in all these things are types and shadows. of the Lord Jesus
Christ. As Paul says to the Colossians,
a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. Leviticus is a gospel book, I
say. And we see so much of the Lord
Jesus Christ here in all this remarkable detail. And if I might
commend another book to you, it's that commentary of Andrew
Boner on the book of Leviticus. How he brings out the spiritual
significance and the gospel meaning of all that is spoken of throughout
this book of Leviticus. Well, I want us to turn, as I
say, this morning to these words here in Leviticus chapter 6 and
verse 9. The Lord speaks unto Moses, saying,
Command Aaron and his son, saying, This is the law of the burnt
offering. And as we look at the law of
the burnt offering to observe two particular gospel truths,
what do we see here? We see the burning of the wrath
of God. But we also see so much of the
mercy of God at one and the same time. Mercy and truth are met
together, says the psalmist. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. I want then just to follow that
simple twofold division as we come to consider this law of
the burnt offering. First of all, to say something
with regards to how we see here the wrath of God. And in the
wrath of God, of course, we have a revelation of the truth of
God being so just and so holy that He can by no means clear
the guilty. He must punish sins. His justice
must be satisfied. The wrath of God then is the
first thing I want us to consider for a while and observe here
how we read of the continual burnt offering. The continual
burnt offering. Again, we go back to the book
of Leviticus to see this. There was that provision that
was to be made for every day, the morning and the evening sacrifice. in the 29th chapter there in
the book of Exodus and verses 38 and 39 now this is that which
thou shalt offer upon the altar two lambs of the first year day
by day continually the one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning
and the other lamb thou shalt offer at evening verse 42, "...this
shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord
where I will meet you to speak there unto them." Quite clear
then there in those verses in Exodus chapter 29. This morning, this evening sacrifice
and lamb to be offered each time continually throughout all their
generations. It is that that God himself appointed,
a daily sacrifice for sins. But then notice more particularly
what he said concerning the actual fire. here in this 9th verse
in Leviticus chapter 6. This is the Lord of the burnt
offering. It is the burnt offering because of the burning upon the
altar all night unto the morning. And the fire of the altar shall
be burning in it. Then again at verse 12 we read,
The fire upon the altar shall be burning in it, it shall not
be put out. and the priest shall burn wood
on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon
it, and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings,
the fire shall ever be burning upon the altar, it shall never
go out." Remarkable how there was to be
this constant burning, does it not remind them this fire of
God? It reminds them of the wrath
of God. Remember Moses' own experience
there in Exodus chapter 3 when God calls him, what does he witness?
He sees the bush that burns with fire and the bush is not consumed
and the Lord God speaks out of the midst of that fire and declares
himself as the Great I Am. And here we have this constant
burning upon the altar there in the courts of the tabernacle,
and though that the priests are to be always dressing you, it
is to continue, it is not to go out. And this fire, this fire
comes in the first place directly from God himself. In chapter
Chapter 9, and there at the end of Chapter 9, we read, "...there
came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar
the burnt offering, and the fat, which when all the people saw,
they shouted and fell on their faces." It was, again, a revelation,
you see, of the holiness of God. descending and coming into the
midst of this sinful people. And how this fire is to continue
throughout all their generations, even it continues until the time
of the Babylonian captivity. And it was then, of course, that
the temple was destroyed, Jerusalem was left in ruins, and the people
are taken away into exile. but how there was to be there
in the midst, be it in the tabernacle, in the temple, this burning,
this continual burning. In Isaiah 31 and verse 9 we read
of the Lord whose fire is in Zion and His furnace in Jerusalem. Speaking of the wrath of God,
And when we come, of course, to the New Testament, what is
the key? So often to what we're reading here in the Old Testament,
the key is in the New Testament. Those familiar words of Augustine,
how he said concerning the Scriptures, the new, the New Testament is
in the old, concealed, and the old is in the new, revealed. And certainly with regard to
the book of Leviticus, we are to understand the book and to
interpret the book in terms of what we read in the episode of
the Hebrews. Hebrews is the explanation of
so much of what we read here in the book of Leviticus. And
what do we read there in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 29? Our God
is a consuming fire. All this burning, this continual
burning upon the altar. It is the burnt offering because
of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and
the fire of the altar shall be burning in it." When the Lord
Jesus Christ returns, when He comes a second time, He will
not come then, of course, as that one who is to be the Saviour
of sinners. He has saved His people. He will
come then as that one to whom the Father has committed all
judgment. He is that one who is to return in great power as
the judge of all, and we read of Him, do we not, in the opening
chapter of 2 Thessalonians, in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them who know not God and obey not the gospel. All this
continual burning, it reminds us of the wrath of God, that
wrath wherein we see God as one who is angry, angry with the
wicked every day. And how the Lord Jesus, even
when He comes as the Saviour, is so faithful in His ministry.
Remember how He speaks of hell? Strange words really, hard words
that the Lord Himself utters. where the worm dieth not. He
says, and the fire is not quenched. Look there at the end of Mark
chapter 9 from verse 43 following through to verse 48, five times,
five times in that small compass of verses the Lord Jesus utters
those words concerning hell, where the worm dieth not, there
is the conscience constantly gnawing, accusing, and the fire
is not quenched, speaks so much of the wrath of God, no unbelief
there, in hell, they all know that God is, and yet there is
that awful eternal separation from Him, because He's a just
God. He takes vengeance, you see, on those that know not God. that obey not the gospel, or
this burning, it speaks to us of the wrath of God. But then
furthermore with regards to this wrath, look at what he said concerning
some of the detail with regards to the burnt offering. In chapter 1 and verse 6 it says
that the priest shall fly the burnt offering and cut it into
his pieces. The burnt offering is to be flayed. Now what are we to understand
by that? Well, the word that's used here,
to fly, literally means to strip off. In other words, to remove
all the skin, to skin the animal. The victim is, as it were, uncovered. The victim is laid open, laid
bare. And this is how God is, you see.
He sees us as sinners and we're laid bare before him. That animal
is being sacrificed as a substitute in the room and in the stead
of the person who is making the offering. But that person who
is making the offering has got to understand that in God's sight
his soul is bare, his sin is uncovered. Neither is there any
creature that is not manifest in his sight, says Paul. All
things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we
have to do, says the Apostle. Hebrews 4.13. Again, it's Hebrews,
you see. Explaining what this flame is,
it's laying bare. The psalmy speaks of our secret
sins in the light of God's countenance. God sees our secret sins. He
sees those sins that are in our hearts that no one but ourselves
are ever aware of. That awful sin that dwells in
our very natures. The Lord God sees it all. It's
all exposed to Him. And now the flame, the uncovering
of the sacrifice, as it were, reminds us of that God, you see,
whose eyes are as a flame of fire. This is how John describes
the vision that he receives in the opening chapter of the book
of the Revelation, that vision of the glorified Christ. And
those eyes, all those eyes, they are so searching, how he sees
into the very depths of the souls of men. The Lord Jesus needed
not that any should testify of man. He knew what was in the
heart of men. There's an exposing. And when
the sinner is exposed before God, how he's made to realize
that he only deserves to suffer God's wrath. as a punishment
of his sin, not necessarily his actual sins, not the deeds that
he's done, but that great evil, that wickedness that lies so
deep in his heart. And then of course we are told
how the person bringing the sacrifice is to put his hand upon the head
of that burnt offering, going there in the description that we have in chapter 1 of Leviticus verse
4, "...he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering
and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him."
He shall put his hand. Here we have mercy. Mercy in
the transference of the guilt from the sinner to his sacrifice. But also, also there, we see
again the wrath of God. The word they choose to put,
to put his hand upon the head, literally means to lean, as he
lays his hand upon the head of that animal, as he puts some
weight upon the head of the beast, Ghana's psalmist says, thy wrath
lies hard upon them and it is that wrath that is lying so hard
upon himself that he wants to, as it were, transfer to his sacrifice. A man feels God's wrath so heavy
upon his soul and here he comes now and he leans, as it were,
he leans his weight upon that sacrifice, put his hand upon
the head of that particular beast. And then, when he comes to the
actual ordering of the sacrifice upon the altar, we see that the
head is placed first. The very place where he had put
his hand, where he had lent the weight of his sin, is put first
on the altar. Verse 8 of chapter 1, The priests,
heir and sons, shall lay the parts of the head and the fat
in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the
altar. But his inwards and his legs
shall he wash in water. And the priest shall burn all
on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a
sweet savour unto the Lord. But there is an order, you see.
there is an order as we see there in verse 8 of chapter 1 all is
to be done in order upon the wood that is on the fire which
is upon the altar and the first part that is laid there is that
head because the man had felt that wrath of God lying so hard
upon his soul There is then that constant remembrance as they
come to make their sacrifice, that remembrance of their sin,
that remembrance of the wrath of God that is constantly burning
against all sin because God is holy and righteous and just. but I said that we see these
two things in the burnt offering not only the wrath of God we
also see here the mercy of God where all the divine attributes
all that God is wonderfully harmonizes in that great salvation that
God has provided for sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ we see
God as a just God and a Saviour. All the attributes, God's holiness,
God's righteousness, God's justice, all these harmonize with His
love and His mercy and His grace. All the attributes shine forth
in that great work that the Lord Jesus came to do. And so when
he comes to the forgiveness of sins, the sinner discovers that
he can not only plead God's mercy and God's grace, but he can also
plead God's righteousness and God's justice. What does John
say in the opening chapter of his first general epistle? If
we confess our sins, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just. to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Oh, He's not only merciful and
gracious to forgive us our sins, He's faithful. He's true to Himself. He's true to His own justice,
the God who is of eyes too pure to behold iniquity. God, you
see, is that one who in that provision that he has made in
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ has so revealed
himself that we see him as that just God and we see him as that
Saviour God. That's our comfort, is it not?
The wonder of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, that great
atoning sacrifice. Our God is satisfied. The top
lady tells us, does he not, payment God cannot twice demand, first
that my bleeding short his hand and then again of mine. If the
Lord Jesus Christ has really paid the price, how unjust it
would be of God to demand second payment. Impossible. Christ has made the payment,
he has paid the price, the ransom price for all the sins of all
his people. He has accomplished a wonderful
salvation for them. There is then, friends, this
wonderful harmonizing of all that God is in His holy attributes
when He comes to the great work of salvation. And so, besides
seeing the wrath of God, His justice, we also see here something
of His mercy. And I want us to observe the
number of facts. First of all, here we have a
sacrifice that is so suitable and it's suitable in this sense
that it's so easily obtained. Again, back in chapter 1 of Leviticus,
verse 2, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them if
any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord ye shall bring
your offering of the cattle. In other words, bring the offering
of those domesticated animals, even of the herd or of the flock. Easy to obtain, you see. These
were animals that were of use to them. They were domesticated
animals. They didn't have to go and hunt
and find the sacrifice. No, the provision is there, it
can be of the herd, it may be a bullock, or it can be of the
flocks, it may be a sheep, or it may be a goat. Easily obtained. And there's mercy in that, is
there not? And nothing great is required of them, they're
not going to go out and hunt some prey. No, the provision
is there. and also there is a provision
made for every condition of man. There is that that is required
of those who have the wealth and the wherewithal, but there
is also that that the poor of the people are permitted to bring. Now in Numbers we see how the
princes the wealthy amongst them were to bring oxen in Numbers
chapter 7 Numbers chapter 7 verse 2 the
princes of Israel heads of the house of their fathers who were
the princes of the tribes and were over them that were numbered
offered and they brought their offering before the Lord, six
covered wagons, and twelve oxen, a wagon for two of the princes,
and for each one an ox, and they brought them before the tabernacle. And then we read subsequently
in the detail, verse 15, one young bullock, one ram, one lamb
of the first year for a burnt offering. and so on throughout the following
verses. The wealthy amongst them then
would bring an appropriate sacrifice, even an ox. But what of those
in their tribes who were not wealthy, those who were poor?
Well, they were permitted even to bring of the fowl, as we see
there in that opening chapter, verse 4, verse 14 in Leviticus
1, If the burnt offering for his offering to the Lord be of
the fowls, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or
of young pigeons. What mercy is to be seen here? There is that that might quite
easily be obtained even by those who were poor amongst them. How
suitable is the sacrifice? God does not demand any great
thing of them, really. Here is the mercy of God, the
goodness of God. And then furthermore, of course,
the sacrifice is a substitute. its substitutionary sacrifice
that we seek so clearly set before us. And we see that, as we've
already said, in the way in which the hand is to be placed upon
the head of that particular beast. He shall put his hand upon the
head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him,
to make an atonement for him. It's accepted as an atoning sacrifice. And you know the significance
of that great word atonement that we find in the scriptures. It's one of those words that
was coined and formed by William Tyndale himself. It's straight
out of Tyndale's version. And it literally means, at one
meant. It speaks of reconciliation. And by means of the sacrifice,
you see, there is this idea of that sinner who has offended
God, whose sin has separated between him and his God, that
the sinner now is restored, he's reconciled, as he brings his
sacrifice. He places his hand upon the head
of that particular beast, and there's that transference of
his guilt. will sing that lovely hymn of
what's present. My faith will lay a hand on that
dear head of thine while like a penitent I stand and there
confess my sin. It's all pointed to the Lord
Jesus Christ as that one who has made the great substitutionary
sacrifice. The great doctrine that we have
unfolded to us here in Holy Scripture is that of substitutionary atonement. And it's fulfilled, as I say,
ultimately in Him who is the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God
who taketh away the sin of the world. What does Peter say? Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust. to bring us to God. Oh, He has
made that great reconciliation, He has brought the sinner back
to God. He who is the just one, dying for the unjust. He who
is the holy and righteous one, dying for that guilty sinner. The great truth of substitutionary
atonement. Now, the animal also we see therefore,
is to have no imperfection. It is to be a creature without
any blemish at all. Again there in the opening chapter, verse 3, if his offering be a
burnt offering of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. Without blemish. And then again, In verse 10, He shall bring a male without
blemish. It speaks, does it not, of the
perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the great antitype
of what we see here in the type of the burnt offering. The Lord
Jesus Christ is that one who is clean, that one who is holy. Interestingly, even when the
animal, the sacrifice has been flayed, the animal is to be washed there
in verse 9. His inwards and his legs. Shall
he wash with water? Oh, this is that one, you said
then, who is representing to us all that is pure and clean,
which we see in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
that one who is holy. Such an High Priest became us
who is holy, says the Apostle. He is our Passover, is he not?
Even Christ our Passover, His sacrifice for us, and remember
with regards to the Paschal Lamb, back in Exodus chapter 12, it
was also to be without any blemish. It speaks to us so clearly then
of Christ, does this burnt offering. It speaks of Christ as that one
who is the sinner's substitute, who dies in his room and in his
stead. and he can do such because in
him there was no imperfection, in him there was no sin he doesn't
die for any sin that he has committed he could never die because he
was the sinless man but he takes to himself all the sins of his
people and he bears that punishment that was there just dessert. The great doctrine of substitutionary
atonement is so clearly set before us. A suitable sacrifice. A substitutionary
sacrifice. And then also here we have the
sprinkling of the blood. The sprinkling of the blood.
Again we turn back to the opening chapter where we have the detail.
verse 5, "...he shall kill the bullock before the Lord and the
priest Aaron's son shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood
round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation." Here is the blood then, it is taken and
sprinkled by the priest round about the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. The altar is clearly by that
door. Now what does the tabernacle
represent? Well, the tabernacle clearly speaks of God, and it
speaks of God there in the midst of Israel, when the tabernacle
is erected. Remember what we're told. We
read those words at the end of Exodus 40. Then a cloud covered
the tent of the congregation and the glory of the Lord. The
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not
able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the
cloud abode thereon and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And here is the blood is taken
and it's sprinkled at the door of the tabernacle. It shows quite
clearly that the only way of entrance and access into God's
presence is by the way of blood, by the way of sacrifice. Joseph
Hart says a bleeding Jesus is the way and blood tracks all
the path. The only way of access and entrance
into God's presence is by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. As I said at the outset, the
key to so much of what we're reading here in Leviticus is
found in Hebrews, in the New Testament. Paul speaks there time and again
of the Lord Jesus Christ as that one who is clearly the fulfillment
of all of these things. Look at the language that we
have there in Hebrews 9 verse 23, it was therefore necessary
that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified
with these but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices
than these. He's been speaking of the mosaic
dispensation in the previous verses here in chapter 9. These were the patterns of things
in the heavens, but the heavenly things themselves they are to
be sanctified by better sacrifices. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us." If those Hebrews must go by the door of the tabernacle
where the blood was sprinkled, we must come to God. only by
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ." Again, in chapter 10 of Hebrews, and verse 19, Paul says, "...having
therefore, brethren, boldness." "...having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the
vial, that is to say, His flesh, and having an high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near, with a true heart in full assurance, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed in pure
water." Christ is the wife, you see. the only way of entrance
and access into God's presence. And how are we to draw near?
Oh, we are to come, you see, by Christ. And we need that blessed
application, do we not, of all that Christ has done? That's
what the blood of sprinkling speaks of, application. Having
hearts sprinkled sprinkled with the blood of Christ. That's what
it says there in that 10th chapter, is it not? Let us draw near with
a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled,
sprinkled from an evil conscience. The application of the blood
of Christ, the cleansing of the sinner, this is that fountain.
that Christ is open for sin and uncleanness, or how much more
shall the blood of Christ purge your consciences from dead work?"
says Paul. We need to see something more
than these things unfolded to us here on the page of Holy Scripture. We need to know that blessed
application, that gracious work of the Holy Spirit as He comes
and makes these things real in our soul's experience. When we're
made to understand something of the character of God, when
we see something of those attributes that belong to God, how He is
a holy God, a righteous God, a just God, how His wrath must
ever burn against all sin. What are we as poor sinners to
do? We're to fly to Christ, all we must look to Him who is the
great antitype of all that we have here in the law of the burnt
offering. Oh God help them that we might
be those who are looking onto this Jesus, looking onto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross bearing the shame, and he sat
down on the right hand of God, and there in heaven. Why? He's
there for sinners, is he not? He ever pleads. Ever pleads. His very presence is a constant
plea on their behalf. He pleads for all that come unto
God by him. May the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us, for his name's sake. Amen. 12. Not all the blood of beasts on
Jewish altars slain could give the guilty conscience peace or
wash away the stain, but Christ, the heavenly Lamb, takes all
our sins away, a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood
than they. In number 125.