Thank you. Let's go to Leviticus,
the second chapter. Leviticus chapter two. This is the second of the offerings. It is the meat offering. And as I said today, earlier
today in the morning message, the meat offering is the meal
offering or the food offering. And it was always offered in
connection with the burnt offering. This meal or food offering was
given to the Lord as a thank offering. It was from the heart
of a grateful Israelite. They brought this offering unto
the Lord as gratitude for the removal
of sins by way of the burnt offering. May we ever have grateful hearts, grateful for the substitutionary
death of our Lord Jesus. I know that when we talk about
the cross of our Savior, when we talk about blood redemption,
when we talk about the imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus
Christ, I know that these are subjects, these are themes that
we've heard for many years, but they still delight the soul. Oh, how I love to talk about
the grace of God to sinners in Christ Jesus. And oh, how thankful
we are that we're the sons of God. God has bestowed his loving
kindness upon us and that from all eternity. And it was because
of his love that the Savior came into the world and redeemed us. He reconciled us unto God. And we bring our thanksgiving
to him. We bring the offering of the
praise of our hearts From deep within us there goes up to our
God grateful praise. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord,
for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me thy great salvation so rich and full and free. Thank you. Thank you. and that we therefore commit
ourselves to the Lord. We all the time are consecrating
ourselves to Him. Lord, take my life, take my money,
take my possessions, take me and use me for your glory. Use
me in your service. But we always understand, and
this is what we learn from this meal offering, Going back to
the burnt offering, we understand this and we must always remember,
God doesn't receive us because of our thanksgiving, though we
are a thankful people. God doesn't receive us because
we do praise his name, though we do praise him. That's not
why God receives us. That's not why God accepts us.
God accepts us on the basis of the burnt offering. He receives
us in the Beloved. He receives us through the substitutionary
work of our blessed Savior. Now, in Leviticus, the second
chapter, we have these, the people of God, being thankful to the
Lord and bringing unto Him a thank offering, that is, a meat or
meal or food offering. After all, the Lord made provision
for them for the removal of their sins, and God made daily provision
for them as well. And as we read through this chapter
this morning, and if you weren't with us this morning, you need
to read this chapter, what we read in this chapter, and I want
to point this out to everybody because I didn't point it out
this morning, the wealthy, of the Israelites and the middle
class of the Israelites and the very poor folks. God made sure
that they could all bring to him a thank offering. The wealthy brought, and they're
the first ones mentioned, they brought fine flour mixed with
oil, and it had frankincense sprinkled over it. And according
to Numbers chapter 7 and verse 13, they brought it on a silver
charger. That is a silver platter. They
brought it on the best that they had. The wealthy, if they didn't
want to bring just the flour with the oil on it and the frankincense,
they could bake. They could bake cakes of this
fine flour with oil and the frankincense. And what they had, they had a
portable oven. The wealthy Israelites, they
had a portable oven. It was about three feet square
made of clay. They'd build a little fire in
it, and they'd make these cakes and put it on the side, and as
it got done, it began to peel away, and then they'd take it
and turn it over, stick it back to the side again, and then when
all the edges were brown around it, it would be done. But only
the wealthy had those ovens. Only the wealthy had the ovens.
And then those who didn't have a portable oven, they could bring
their meat offering baked in a large rectangular pan, usually
made of copper. But those who didn't have an
oven, and those who didn't have a large deep rectangular pan,
they brought up their offering a little fried cake. fried in a little thin, shallow
pan. But everybody could bring a thank
offering. It's just like the burnt offering.
Remember last week, or the week before last, we talked about
the burnt offering. God made provision where no matter
what your financial standing was, you could bring a burnt
offering. And if you had a lot of money, bring one of the herd
of the flock. Bring a bullock. And if you were
kind of middle class, bring a sheep or a goat. And if you were very
poor, bring pigeons or turtledoves. But God made it to where anybody
could worship Him, but they always worshipped Him on the basis of
an innocent victim dying in the stead of the guilty. That's always
the rule. And then when it came to a thank
offering, God made this provision, no matter who you are. You should
thank the Lord. Thank the Lord. What do you have
tonight? Think of all that you've got.
Well, you've got Christ Jesus. And in Him you have righteousness,
you have forgiveness, you have an everlasting home in heaven
awaiting you. You have God for your Father.
You have the very Son of God for your elder brother, your
mediator, your intercessor. You have the Holy Spirit who
indwells you to lead you to Jesus Christ, to keep on teaching you. You are infinitely blessed in
the Lord. Thank Him. Thank Him. Oh, our
prayers ought to be saturated with thanksgiving to God. Somebody
said that, as you read through the Psalms of David, in his earlier
years, he had lots of petitions. Well, we are instructed to make
our petitions known to the Lord. But they said as he got older,
however, his Psalms were more filled with thanksgiving and
praise to the Lord, and less about petitions. And I would
advise you, examine your prayers. How much are your prayers spent
in asking? And how much is spent in praising?
And in thanking? Now, we are to ask, the Lord
says, ask for those things that you need, but He knows what you
have need of. Or that our prayers might be
more filled with thanksgiving and blessing to God. Just honoring
Him for who He is. I wonder if we could ever pray
a prayer that didn't have any petition in it at all, except
this petition, Thy name be glorified. I'm talking about no selfish
petition. Nothing about us, but everything about Him. Just blessing
the Lord for who He is and all that He's done for us and thanking
Him and honoring Him and exalting Him. That's the way I want my
prayers to be filled with. This thank offering is presented
to the Lord. Presented to the Lord. At least
most of it is. What was done with the offering?
Well, some of it was burned to the Lord. Look at verses 2, 9,
and 16. He shall bring it to Aaron's
sons, the priests. He shall take therefore his handful
of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, and all of the
frankincense thereof. and the priest shall burn the
memorial of it upon the altar to be an offering made by fire
of a sweet savor unto the Lord." All of the frankincense would
go to God. Because they didn't eat frankincense,
it was bitter. It was bitter. It was put on
the offering to the Lord and it made a sweet savor to the
Lord. It filled the house with a delightful,
it filled the tabernacle area with a delightful fragrance.
delightful fragrance. You'll notice that this is a
memorial, a memorial. Go down in verse 9. I read verse
2. Look at verse 9. The priest shall
take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon
the altar. It is an offering made by fire
of a sweet savor unto the Lord. Verse 16. And the priest shall
burn the memorial of it, part of it, to be beaten corn thereof,
part of the oil thereof, and all of the frankincense thereof.
It always emphasizes all of the frankincense goes to God. It's
an offering made by fire unto the Lord. And it's a memorial. That's what the Lord says, this
is a memorial. What does memorial mean? It's
a reminder. It's a reminder. This thank offering
is a reminder. Well, a reminder of what? And
a reminder to whom? Well first of all, and this might
surprise you, it was a reminder to the Lord. Though of course
he needs no reminding, but it's a reminder to the Lord of his
loving kindness to his people and of his covenant promises
made to them that based upon the burnt offering which pictured
Jesus Christ and him crucified, he would not remember their sins.
Go over to Isaiah chapter 43. Let me show you this. You've
read it before. Isaiah chapter 43. Look at verse 26. Isaiah 43 verse
26. This is the Lord speaking. He
says to Israel, put me in remembrance. Let us plead together God says,
declare thou that thou mayest be justified. Put me in remembrance
of what? What are we to put in remembrance
of? Well, look at verse 25. I, even I am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember
thy sins. It's what we put God in remembrance
of. Lord, remember the blood. Lord,
remember the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then receive
me. Accept me. Now we know God doesn't
need reminding, but He speaks after the manner of men. Our
strongest argument before God for mercy, and for grace, and
for forgiveness is to remind Him of what He has already done
for us in, through, and by the Lord Jesus Christ. We remind
God of what He's done. Lord, see the blood. Lord, look
on your Son. Lord, do you remember your covenant
mercies made with Jesus Christ on our behalf before the world
began? Well, therefore, Lord, let your
promises flow to us. Remember the covenant. Remember
the covenant. Go to Psalm 20. Psalm 20. Yes indeed, our strongest argument
before God for the forgiveness of sins, to receive us, to welcome
us, is what He's already done for
us in the Savior. Psalm 20, verse 1, The Lord hear
thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary. and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings, and
accept thy burnt sacrifice." And selah means stop and think
about that. That word accept in verse 3 means
reduce to ashes. The way in which it was known
that sacrifices were accepted by God, was that He reduced them
to ashes. Fire coming down from heaven,
devouring them. Remember all thy offerings and
accept the burnt sacrifice. Accept the burnt sacrifice, O
God, and show mercy to me. In the Old Testament, how was
it that God showed that He had respect to the offerings? He
sent fire down to consume the offerings. Look at a couple of
references here. Look back at Leviticus chapter
9. Leviticus chapter 9 verse 24. Leviticus chapter 9 and verse
24. 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." Look at 1 Chronicles
chapter 21. 1 Chronicles chapter 21. And
verse 26. 1 Chronicles 21-26. We studied
this in Bible class not too long ago. 1 Chronicles 21-26. And David built
there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and
peace offerings, and called upon the Lord, and he answered him
from heaven. How? By fire. By fire upon the
altar of burnt offering. That is, this is how God acknowledged
that he accepted the sacrifice. He sent down fire from heaven. Go to 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles
chapter 7, 2 Chronicles chapter 7, verse 1. 2 Chronicles 7 verse 1. Now when
Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven
and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices and the glory
of the Lord filled the house. One more, 1 Kings chapter 18.
And we looked at this briefly in our Bible class this morning.
1 Kings chapter 18. And you'll remember this is when
Elijah squared off against the false prophets. 1 Kings chapter
18 verse 38. After Elijah had prayed this
63 word prayer, verse 38. Then the fire of the Lord fell,
and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones,
and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. God accepted the sacrifices. even as our God accepted the
sacrifice of His Son. But here's the difference. These
sacrifices, they were all consumed, reduced to ashes. That's what
we read there in Psalm 20, verse 3. They were reduced to ashes. There's only been one sacrifice
that was not consumed by the wrath of God. There's only been
one sacrifice that rather than being consumed, consumed the
wrath of God, consumed the vengeance of God, consumed the anger of
God, consumed all of the hill that his elect would have had
suffered forever. And that sacrifice is the person
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Divine justice could not reduce
him to ashes. But rather he reduced divine
justice to ashes. And then he said, it is finished.
It is finished. And the work was done. So this,
this thank offering, this meal offering over here in Leviticus
chapter 2, it's a reminder to the Lord. It's a reminder to
the Lord. Lord, I have brought you the
sacrifice that you required. I bring you this sacrifice looking
by faith to your Son who will come into this world. That sacrifice
which this burnt offering merely pictures. And I bring this thank
offering in great appreciation for what you do for me in putting
away my sins. Lord, I put you in remembrance
of what you've done for me. Secondly, so it's a memorial
to the Lord. But secondly, it's a reminder
or a memorial to the worshipper. It's a memorial to the worshipper
that they themselves and their gifts were only accepted because
of the burnt offering. God saw the burnt offering. And
therefore, he accepted the Israelite. Oh, the Israelite was still a
sinner. He was still defiled. He was still a wretch in himself.
There was no goodness in him from the top of his head to the
bottom of his feet. He's still a sinner, but God
Almighty, in accepting the burnt offering, accepted him. Because we've learned this, our
acceptance is based upon the acceptance of the offering. And
since Jesus Christ has been accepted, we're accepted in Him. God has received what He did.
This memorial is to put the worshiper themselves into remembrance of
what God had done for them in putting away their sins. It was
a reminder to the worshiper of the goodness of God and the grace
of God and the forgiveness of God in removing their iniquities. Isn't the Lord's Supper a memorial
supper? Didn't the Lord say, this do
in remembrance of me? Remembrance of me? What do we
do when we take the Lord's Supper? When we take the bread? When
we take the wine? We're remembering. It's a memorial
supper. to stir up our minds and stir
up our hearts and remind us we were redeemed, not with corruptible
things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
the Lamb of God, without spot and without blemish. And if it
is a memorial service, and if the Lord says, this do in remembrance
of me, then we must be prone to forget. And our minds and
our hearts need to be stirred up every time we come together. We need to be reminded of who
the Lord Jesus is and what He's done for us. And the reason we
are accepted is because of Him and because of what He's done.
It's a reminder. And really, every time we gather
together, isn't it a memorial service? We're reminded every
time. That's why we gather together.
So this thank offering, a portion of it went to the Lord, and a
portion of it was for the priests. Look at verse 3 back in Leviticus
chapter 2. The remnant of the meat offering
shall be Aaron's and his son's. It is the thing most holy of
the offerings of the Lord made by fire. It was in this way that
the priesthood was provided for. Here's an Israelite, they bring
this fine flour. Let's say they make a cake. Make a cake, make some bread.
Here's the fine flour, the best flour, nothing rough in it. It's fine flour, which means
it's ground fine, but it also means it's the best. And then
olive oil is mixed in with it. And then that which goes to the
Lord has the frankincense on it. And that's offered on the
fire. And it's all consumed ashes. Then the rest of the cake is
given to the priest. And he takes it home and that's
what he eats. That's his supper. That's his
food. This is how God provided for
the priesthood. And it's by the offerings of
God's people that those who serve us in the Word are provided for. See, that still carries over
today. We give our financial offerings to the Lord in order
to provide for the needs of those who minister to us in the Gospel. Look at verses 9 and 10. of chapter
2. The priest shall take from the
meat offering a memorial thereof, shall burn it upon the altar.
It's an offering made of fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.
And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron's
and his son's. It's the thing most holy of the
offerings of the Lord made by fire. This is, in other words,
this is serious. This is serious. Here's the priesthood. Now the other men of the tribes
of Israel, they are laboring and working, they are planting
their gardens and they are hunting and doing all the things that
they are doing. Well, what about Aaron and his
sons? Well, they are laboring in the tabernacle. They are laboring
regarding spiritual things. They're studying the Word. They
were teachers of the Word of God. They were offering sacrifices
to the people. Every morning they're offering
sacrifices. Every evening they're offering
sacrifices. They're laboring in the things
of God. They're not out there working.
So the Lord says, in order for my servants to be provided for,
when you bring a thank offering, you give a portion of it to the
priest to be offered up as an offering to be burned for me.
A thank offering. The rest of it goes to the priesthood
to provide for their needs. Go with me over to Philippians
chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. And remember
the Lord said, this is a sweet savor to me. It's a sweet savor. This is the way God has ordained
it. Philippians chapter 4. One of the reasons the Apostle
Paul wrote this epistle was to thank the Philippian people for
their generosity to him. And the Philippian congregation,
it was actually one of the churches that was kind of poor. They're
the poorest of the churches. And yet they gave the most to
the Apostle Paul to provide for him. They gave abundantly to
supply his needs. Look at Philippians chapter 4
verse 14. He says, notwithstanding ye have
well done that ye did communicate with my affliction. In other
words, you've been generous to me. Now, you Philippians know
also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving
and receiving but you only. In other words, the other churches,
they forgot that I have needs. But even in Thessalonica, you
send once and again under my necessity. You send a special
offering to me, in other words. Not that I desire a gift, but
I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all
and abound. He says earlier in this chapter,
I've learned to be content in whatsoever things I have. He
says, but I have all and abound, I am full, having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you. Now watch
this. An odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable, well pleasing to God. That's just what we read
essentially the same thing over here in Leviticus chapter 2.
This is well pleasing unto God. That they which preach the gospel,
They who minister in these spiritual manners be provided for by the
offerings of the Lord's people. So the meat offering included
a provision for the priesthood. Go back to Leviticus chapter
2. Now, in addition to all that
I've said, the meat offering presents in a very distinct manner
the man Christ Jesus. And I want to give you some things
here real quick. Because as the burnt offering
typifies Christ in His death, the meat offering typifies Christ
in His life. In the burnt offering we see
redemption accomplished. In the meat offering we see His
life of perfection and commitment. The burnt offering represented
the value of Christ's work in the Father's estimation as our
sin-atoning substitute, giving himself for us and offering in
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. The meat offering, the
meal offering, sets forth our Lord's absolutely perfect human
character and conduct. And the two are clearly linked
together. Because his sacrifice was of
no value unless he's the perfect sacrifice, unless he's the perfect
man. Fine flour. Notice the language
of this. Fine flour. Jesus Christ is the
offering of fine flour unto God. It's said that bread's the staff
of life. And in order for us to have bread, seed has to be
planted, has to grow to maturity, has to be cut down, has to be
ground to flour, then heated for food. Isn't that a picture
of our Savior? He's the seed that was planted
in Mary by the power of the Holy Ghost. He grew to maturity and
He was cut down in judgment. He is the fine flower, no ups
or downs, no coarseness about Him. He's perfect in every way. Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in His mouth. It's what our brother read to
us. Who His own self bare our sins in His own body that we
being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes
you were healed. He's the fine flower. He's the
excellent one. And He's the fine flour in that
He was ground between the stones of God's anger and God's justice. It ground Him to fine powder. He had to endure then the heat
of God's wrath and God's vengeance on the cross. And in that way,
He became the bread of life for us. And we eat of Him. We feast on Him. He's the corn
of wheat. John 12, 24 says, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. And by his death this corn of
wheat brought forth much fruit to God because he redeemed his
people from the curse of the law." Watch this, secondly, he's
anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Just like this fine
flower had oil poured on it, Christ Jesus is anointed with
the oil. He had the Spirit of God without
measure. He had the spirit of wisdom.
He had the spirit of understanding. He had the spirit of judgment.
When he was baptized, the Spirit of God came upon him and bodily
formed like a dove. And the things that he did, he
did by the power of the Holy Spirit. Though he himself was
still God over all, blessed forever as the man Christ Jesus, the
things that he did, he did by the power of the Spirit of God
who led him and who directed him in all of his steps. He had
the spirit without measure. In Isaiah 61.1 it says, The Spirit
of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach the good tidings to the meek. He sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives in the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. And our Lord quoted that
exact same passage in Nazareth in Luke chapter 4 when He spoke
in the synagogue. He said, Today those words are
fulfilled in your ears. He was anointed with the Spirit.
Thirdly, Christ is the frankincense. Had a bitter taste, but a sweet
smell. Our Lord tasted the bitter dregs
of the judgment and wrath of God. He drank the cup of God's
indignation dry, but his sacrifice was a sweet savor to God. And it's sweet to us as well.
Then Christ Jesus, like the meat offering, was offered to God,
and yet the priesthood feasted on a portion of it. We feast
on the Lord Jesus Christ today. Whenever we come together, we
gather together to feast on the bread of life, to feast on Him
who is our very life. Our very life. What bread is to the hungry beggar,
that's what Jesus Christ is to us, and infinitely more. And
then He's the offering that has absolutely no leaven. That was
a requirement of this meat offering. No leaven! No pride, no selfishness,
no hypocrisy, no sin. Leaven is always a symbol of
evil. Our Lord Jesus had no evil in
Him. If He had had evil in Him, He couldn't redeem sinners that
are evil. If He was Himself impure, He
couldn't save those who are impure. No leaven, that's what God says.
And God said also, no honey. You can't add any honey to this.
There's no sweetness that we bring to the gospel. All that's
in us is defiled. Life's in Jesus Christ alone. Redemption is in His work alone. And watch this. He's the salt
of the covenant. Do you remember reading this
morning? Look at verse 13. Look at verse 13. And every oblation of thy meat
offering shalt thou season with salt. Neither shalt thou suffer
the salt of the covenant, the salt of the covenant of thy God
to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine offerings thou
shalt offer salt. He's the salt. He's the salt
that preserves. He's the salt that preserves
and keeps the covenant. After all, the covenant was made
between the Trinity and Jesus Christ was our representative
in the Trinity and He keeps all the provisions, all the conditions
of the covenant. Every stipulation for our salvation
is met by Jesus Christ. He's the salt of the covenant.
He preserves it. He preserves it. Everything's
to be seasoned with salt. And then he's the offering of
first fruits. The offering of first fruits.
Verse 14, if thou shalt offer a meat offering of thy first
fruits unto the Lord, thou shalt offer them for the meat offering
of thy first fruits, green ears of corn dried by the fire, every
corn beaten out of full ears. He's the first fruits. He's said
to be the first fruits of them that sleep. And one last thing, who is it
in this passage of scripture, who is it that would feast on
the bread? The priesthood. And who is it
that feasts on the Lord Jesus Christ? The priesthood. We're kings and priests together
unto our God. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul, therefore will I hope in Him. He's our portion. I'm always trying to watch my
waistline and weight and all that kind of stuff, and they
say, watch your portions. Right? Portion control. But when
it comes to feeding on the Lord Jesus Christ, All of the Savior,
He's our portion. And you feast on Him, you eat
of Him again and again and again. And He can't eat too much. He
can't eat too much. He said, I'm the bread of life.
Here's the bread here. He said, I'm the bread of life.
He that eateth of me shall live forever. So I say, if you're
hungry, come and eat the bread. Come and eat the bread of Christ
Jesus and live forever. No wonder that Isaiah wrote about
the feast of fat things in Isaiah chapter 25 and verse 6. He says,
And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people
a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the leaves, of fat
things full of marrow, of wines on the leaves well refined. Whenever
we hear the gospel, We're sitting at a buffet table that's full
of delicacies provided by God Himself. And He says, come and
dine. Come and dine. If you're hungry,
you got an appetite, come and dine. He's the bread of life. The bread of life. Well, let's
sing a closing song to end the day. What is it? Number 323. Is that more love to thee? Okay,
320.