It is indeed a privilege more so than I truly can express
to be here. I was thinking a moment ago, years ago, I asked Brother Paul
and Mindy, and you know, you always want to look in case something providentially
would happen, you ask someone to take care of your children.
And so I asked Paul and Mindy if anything ever happened to
me, my family, or would they take care of my kids. Graciously,
he said that he would. And of course, I, at the time,
thinking about kids, you know, little bitty, you know, of course,
always kids. I was just looking at this kid
that was standing here in front of me that I kind of look up
a little bit to. But what a joy it is to realize
that now, truly, all four of my children sitting
here, you know, and I could not think, I couldn't think of a
place that I'd rather be. I appreciate your pastor, his
family, and this is, I tell you, Central Baptist Church is very,
very special to me. Can you imagine, you know, you
think about that, all your kids, you'd think the same thing. Turn
with me to the book of Leviticus, the book of Leviticus chapter
8. I would like to look at the first five verses of Leviticus
chapter 8. Leviticus 8.1, And the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the
garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering,
and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread. And gather
thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. And Moses did as the Lord commanded
him, and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses said unto the congregation,
This is the thing which the Lord commanded to be done. Today we come to a portion of
scripture. it sets forth truly Aaron as the high priest
and his sons, but more so a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, our
high priest. Everything that was revealed
set forth the glory of Him who is the great High Priest. If we ever, by God's revelation
through His Holy Spirit, see, by faith see, Him who is the
High Priest, our heart is lost in the wonder
of the grace of Almighty God who preserves His people. Nothing was left to man's invention
or his imagination. Therefore, every word must be
looked at and considered with a heart that's been made thankful,
prayerful. As Brother Paul just said a moment
ago, I desire, I want God to speak to
me. Just coming together here and
having a group of folks get together that's just familiar to me is
not all that I need. I appreciate the fellowship that
I have with you, but I tell you, I need God to speak to me. I
want to hear something. I want to hear from Him who is
altogether lovely, more so than this little fickle mind can figure
out. I was thinking this morning during
the Bible study Speaking of Moses' apprehension, and I'm thinking
to myself while I stand here, who is sufficient for these things
to stand up and to want to say something? I want to be honorable
in what I say. But that first verse begins with
the foundation of our assurance, and the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Now, boy, we could stop right there and find some comfort. And the Lord spoke to Moses. Marvelous grace of Almighty God! God is not silent, not silent
to His people. David said in Psalm 28 Unto thee
will I cry, O Lord, my rock. Be not thou silent to me, lest,
if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the
pit." Lord, if you don't speak. If you're silent to me, I'm going
to be just like every man by nature. If you don't speak to
Me, if you don't speak to Me through your word, we have the
Word of Almighty God. This is God's Word. How respectful we ought to be
to what we read, what we hear, what we consider. This is God's
Word. The Lord said, He said, My sheep
hear My voice. I got to thinking about that
one day. My sheep hear my voice. How is it that you know when
you hear the voice of God? How do you know? There's a lot
of folks, a lot of men, and I hate to say it, but there's a lot
of women standing up, pulpits. I know they're going through
the motions. Saying, thus saith the Lord. I know they say that. How do
the sheep know? My sheep hear my voice. How do they know? When it's the
voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the voice of the shepherd. I
tell you this, the voice of the shepherd is consistent with his
word, his written word. And if it's not according to
these scriptures, if he speak not according to this It's not
God's voice. It's not the voice of the shepherd.
My sheep hear my voice. Believers hear. Your pastor stands up. He speaks
according to these scriptures right here. The Spirit of God
blesses these scriptures, blesses it to your heart. It's his voice.
Hear him. And they follow. Gives them a
heart. Follow after him. The Lord spake
unto Moses, and he said, Take Aaron and his sons with him,
and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullet for the sin
offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread. Take them."
Here we behold again the display of Almighty God in His grace
to His people. Now, Aaron was set apart to be
the high priest. Take Aaron and his sons. The
Lord has chosen. He chose a priest. Aaron did not take that office
to himself. Turn with me to Psalm 65 verse
4. I know what men say, and you
do too, concerning Now, they talk about man's got a free will
and he's got a free choice and it's left up to you. Let me tell
you who God said is blessed. Psalm 65, verse 4, Blessed, blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causeth to approach unto
thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. we shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." Here
is a blessed man, here is a blessed woman, one that God has chosen
as a cause to approach unto Him. Those who are admitted into fellowship
with Almighty God are admitted by God's sovereign choice, His
grace. His purpose, His Word. Divine election. Oh, how that
exalts the glory of Almighty God. It's God Almighty that chose
you. The Lord told, while He walked,
told a group, He said, You didn't choose me. I chose you. Man says,
I decided. God said, I chose. I call. I give life. Salvation is of
the Lord. Take Aaron. Take him. Fetch him. Get him. Take Aaron
and his sons. I think about it when I say,
every time I say the word fetch, I can't help but think about
Bibbisheth. Is there any of the house of
Saul that I might show mercy to? For Jonathan's sake. Oh, what a picture. Is there
any that I can show mercy to for Christ's sake? Yeah, well,
there's Mephibosheth, the boy's lame on both his feet to picture
me and you by nature. Where is he? He's in Lodibar
out to pasture fetching. Go get him, bring him to me.
Take Aaron and his sons. Exodus 28-1 says, And take thou
unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among
the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the
priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and
Ithamar, Aaron's sons." Here we see Almighty God has provided
a chosen high priest. But secondly, in that second
verse, consider Moses, who was a type, a picture of the law. It says that in Ephesians, you
know, you think about what was said. Leviticus 8, 2 says, Take
Aaron and his sons, take him with him in the garments, in
the anointing oil, in the bull of the sin offering. two rams,
a basket of unleavened bread. Here's a picture of Moses, the
law. Aaron is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Consider Moses here as a type
of the law. Turn with me to Ephesians 3.19. I said Ephesians and meant Galatians,
I'm sorry, Galatians 3.19. Moses was to take Aaron, his sons, Moses being a picture of the
law, wherefore, Galatians 3.19, then serveth the law. it was added because of the transgressions,
till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and
it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." The
law was given to reveal the Messiah, the Redeemer, in types and pictures
until he came. Now, we have been going through
the book of Leviticus there at Katie. And all of these offerings,
this sin offering and meat offering and trespass offering, it appears
as though when you first read those offerings, you think those
are saying the same thing over and over. And they're not. Obviously,
they're not. They're setting forth the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our burnt offering, the one
who absolutely pleased God Almighty in His death. God was satisfied
with His death. And we look at the meat offering,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God's perfect, willing, living Redeemer. We see Him who is our peace offering,
reconciled us back to God in all of these offerings that we've
looked at, sin and trespass and And I think how all of these
pictures and types and how we consider Him and look at Him
in this light and this glorious picture of Him. And then I think
about the Lord Jesus Christ when He had with one offering completely,
absolutely, forever put away the guilt of His people in that
one encompassing sacrifice. Then I look and I see how these
beautiful pictures and types of him, and how the law, what
it was doing, showing, picturing, setting forth. Moses took Aaron,
brought him. I take Aaron and his sons and
bring them. Back in Galatians, verse 20,
now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. We need
a mediator. one to answer. A mediator reveals
that two parties are at odds. God is the offended party. God is offended. He gave this
law which revealed the offense. We have offended Him. God has
been offended. We are the offender. We are alienated. because of our transgressions. And the mediator, the law, is
going to show us the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the law, verse 21,
then, against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there
had been a law given which could have given life, verily, righteousness
should have been given by the law. The law is not opposed to
the promise of life in Christ. But it can't give life. The law
cannot give life. It reveals what we are. We're sinners. Verse 22, it says,
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise
by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up under
the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law
was our schoolmaster. Now listen to this. The law was
our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be
justified by faith. The law, what was it doing? It
was going to bring us as our schoolmaster unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, back in Leviticus, the Lord
spoke to Moses. Picture The law says, take Aaron
and his sons with him, his garments. And then the scripture says in
the third verse, gather all the congregation together under the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Now, there was
going to be a gathering here. I want you to take Aaron Take
his sons, bring them together. This tabernacle, this tabernacle,
there was an outer court. You know that. It had a wall
around it. On that outside wall there was
a curtain, the door. And right inside that door was
the brazen altar. There was going to be no approaching
God. without shedding of blood. Without shedding of blood, there
is no remission of sin. A sinner needs a sacrifice. I need one to put away my guilt. I need one to pay a debt that
I cannot pay. But let me tell you what, believer,
you also need. that the Lord graciously has
given, provided. You need a priest. You need a
high priest. A believer needs a priest, that
is, one to approach God, one who speaks to God on his behalf,
one who introduces and represents his people in a settled relationship
with God. You don't approach God on your
merit. You don't approach God of yourself. Now, I know what man says. He
thinks that he can, and he can't. You cannot. As to our sin and
our guilt, Christ brought us nigh to God Almighty by the blood
of His cross. He put away the guilt of His
elect. put away our sins, and the Scripture
says in Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. But while we are on this earth,
we are poor, feeble creatures exposed manifold temptations
because of the weakness of our flesh, here we are. We could not stand for a moment
if He were not living for us now, ever living to make intercession
for us. John 14.9 says, Because I live,
ye shall live also. Romans 5.10 says, 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 by His life right
now. To those that believe, believers,
sheep, God's people, His Church, His Bride, we have the assurance
of knowing. He has put away our guilt. Put it away. Put away our sin. Bore our guilt, our sin. He was made to be sin. Imputed. That's an amazing word. Amazing. I looked up that word. Imputed. Charged to. And here's the way that we can say it. He was made to be sinned. How
was he made to be sinned? How? I thought about that, Brother
Paul. How? How was he made? I read that and I hear that and
I look at that. He was made to be sinned. How is that? charged him legally, charged
him with it, imputed, charged him with my guilt. It would be to say, if Almighty
God, just in our little minds, were to say, here is the record. Look at that record of Marvin
Stoniker. concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
and saw my guilt and my sin as my record, and said, That's his. That's his. Legally made him
to be sin. Legally. Made to be sin. He who knew no sin, personally
innocent, charged him with it. imputed it to him. And then in
terms that are higher than I can grasp, in understanding that's
deeper and higher and more glorious than I can comprehend, imputed to me the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can that be? One way. For by grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourself. It's the gift
of God. Was he innocent? Yes, he was.
Am I guilty? Yes, I am. How then could God
be just and justify this stinking sinner? He charged what I am to him. and who He is to me, and made
me, by an act of imputation, be made legally the righteousness
of God in Him. So one says, I can't explain
that. I can't explain it either. But
I can tell you this, you that believe that's your only hope. Gather thou all the congregation
together back in Leviticus 8.3. Gather thou all the congregation
together under the door of the tabernacle. Here we behold again,
oh, the display of God's amazing grace. The Lord told Moses, I
want you to take Aaron and his sons. Gather them. It's going to be a display. A marvelous display. You're going
to see. You're going to look at all your
congregation. You're going to see. You're going
to look upon Aaron and his sons. You're going to see. You're going
to actually look and behold who I have provided. You're going
to see that. Moses take Aaron and bring them,
and God allowed the people of the congregation to behold it. The high priest, back in that
passage that Brother Paul read in Revelation 7, we behold the
fulfillment of what Leviticus 8 is setting forth in type. I want you to take Aaron and
his sons, you bring them to the tabernacle of the congregation. And I want everyone to behold.
I want everyone to look upon the gathering together of the
congregation. And back in Revelation 7, just
looking at a few verses that he read a few moments ago, behold
how this Scripture in Leviticus 8 speaks of a true gathering
of all of God's people. Three things that I behold in
the gathering of God's people. Take Aaron, the picture of the
high priest, and his sons. They were his sons by natural
birth. We are the sons of God by grace,
chosen, adopted into his family. Aaron and his sons. The Lord
Jesus Christ and His bride, a chosen bride, chosen in Him before the
foundation of the world. God predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. But all this
great gathering, things that are happening right now, this
scripture speaks of. In the first three verses of
Revelation 7, it speaks and sets forth that God preserves the
world in order that His elect might be saved. He said, John
said, I saw these things, verse 1, four angels standing on the
four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or
on any tree. The people are going to be saved. I don't know who God's elect
are. I don't know. But who knows? Peradventure, Almighty God has
got one of His own. They've never heard the gospel.
But in due season, when it pleases God, when God is pleased, call
them out. I'll tell you what's going to
happen. If he's pleased to call them out under the preaching
of this preacher right here or some other preacher, some other
preacher of God's grace and mercy setting forth the Lord Jesus
Christ, he'll do so. My sheep will hear my voice.
They will follow. But I tell you this, until Almighty
God has called all of his people out, this earth is still going
to be here. Why did we get up today? Because
Almighty God has not finished that which He has purposed to
do. Gather them together. You gather.
That's what Moses was to do. You take Aaron and his sons and
you gather them together. I know this out of Revelation.
Almighty God has purposed this earth is going to be here until
God has His people. Secondly, all God's elect shall
be saved. I know that. Brother Paul was
reading those verses in 12,000 from this tribe and 12,000 from
this and in 12,000 and 12,000 and 12,000 and 12,000. You know
what that says? I know it is symbolic. I realize
this. Let me tell you what the Lord
was saying. There is a specific number. God Almighty out of every
nation kindred, tribe, and tongue. God has a people. God Almighty
knows. Now, I don't know the number.
It's a number that no man can number. I don't know the number,
but God knows. And then thirdly, they shall
all be saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 13 of Revelation 7, And
one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these that
are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. He said to me, These are they
which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his
temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them. Back in Leviticus, the Lord told
Moses to take Aaron and his sons with him in garments. Verse 3,
Gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the
tabernacle of the throne. And the Scripture says that Moses,
verse 4, did as the Lord commanded him. Obedience is never separated
from the blessing of our Lord. The thanks be to God there was
one who obeyed for me when I couldn't. Verse Samuel 15, 22 says, Samuel
said, Hath the Lord his great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to
obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of
rams. I need a high priest. an obedient,
faithful high priest who is the Lord Jesus Christ. John 8, 29,
the Lord said, ìAnd he that sent me is with me. The Father hath
not left me alone, for I do always those things that please Him.î
Believer, here is your comfort. I think about Jeremiah. The Lord
told him, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Let me tell you
what gives comfort to the people of God. My sin has been put away,
paid for, by the blood of the Lamb. And the Lamb Himself has
entered in with His own blood. That priest back in the Old Testament
take that blood and he would slay that lamb, that animal,
that bull, and he would take that blood and he would go in
and take that blood and sprinkle it on that mercy seat. But the
blood of bulls and goats will never put away sin. But he who is my high priest,
the great high priest, who entered into that tabernacle not made
with hands, He entered into that holy place with His own blood. And He ever liveth to make intercession. And Almighty God, for His sake, accepts me. I can't take that in. But by
faith, I rejoice in it. I see through a glass darkly.
Oh, but in that day, to see Him as He is, to behold Him, the
great High Priest, who Almighty God has set forth to intercede
for His people, the Scripture says, Moses did as the Lord commanded
him, and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses, verse 5, said unto
the congregation, This is the thing which the Lord commanded
to be done. I think to myself, He didn't
leave it to me. He didn't leave it to my will.
He didn't leave it to my ability. He provided a high priest. You take Aaron and you bring
him before the door of the tabernacle. Aaron and his sons. And you gather
together this congregation. Gather them there. And Moses
did. as the Lord commanded him to do, and he said, This is the
thing that God Almighty commanded to be done. This should arrest
every man and woman and should bring our ear to hear that which
Almighty God has said. This is the thing that the Lord
commanded. This is what God commanded. And you can rest assured what
Almighty God commanded shall be done. God's word is sure. Isaiah 40, verse 8, ìThe grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall
stand forever.î Let me ask you something. If God has purposed
to gather together his great congregation in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you think it shall be done?
This is the thing that the Lord commanded. Concerning salvation
of God's elect, 12,000 from this tribe, 12,000 from this one,
every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue, this is the thing
that the Lord commanded to be done. Do you think Almighty God
will save His sheep? Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ
being glorified in His high priestly prayer in John 17, Father, glorify
Thou me with the glory that I had with Thee before the world was.
Do you think Christ shall be glorified in the redeeming of
His sheep? Do you think the Father shall
be glorified in having chosen his sheep and gave this bride
to his people, to his son, that in the ages to come the exceeding
riches of his grace might be beheld. Do you think that that
shall be? This is the thing that God the
Lord commanded to be done. I will have mercy. on whom I will have mercy. The counsel of the Lord shall
stand when the Father spoke out of
heaven and said concerning the Lord Jesus Christ at his baptism,
This is my beloved Son. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. He told Moses, I want you to
take Aaron and his sons, gather them together before the door
of the tabernacle. I want you to bring them and
I want everyone to behold. I want everyone to look upon
Aaron, that high priest and his sons in that glorious picture
and type. I'm telling you, the Lord Jesus
Christ, before everybody, everything, in that day, He is going to be
set forth, the glorious Redeemer, High Priest, and all those in
Him. And He shall be magnified. Gather them together. You gather
them before the door of the congregation, the tabernacle, and you cause
the congregation to look upon Him. And Moses said, This is
the thing that the Lord commanded to be done. And I tell you, it
shall be to His honor and to His glory and to His praise and
to you that believe for your good. Turn to him number two ninety
seven and stand please. Number two ninety seven. Be not dismayed, but every time
God will take care of you. Beam in His wings of love of
eyes, God will take care of you. God will take care of you. Through every day, for all the
way, He will take care of you. God will take care of you. Last verse. No matter what may
be the test, God will take care of you. Keep bearing on upon
His breast, God will take care of you. God will take care of
you. through every day for all the
way. He will take care of you. God will take care of you.