Blessed Father, hear our cry. Cast out sin, but draw us nigh. Not for merit we have nigh. For
your mercy, for your sight. Messages must make our plea. In your name to God we plead. For your blood we seek his faith. By your priesthood Blessed Spirit, read our name. In our silence enters healing. Times like those we cannot speak. You alone, God, help the weak. Try and God, please grant our
prayer as your glory we declare. May your promised kingdom come. Your will be done. Once again, it is so good to
be with you. This is one of the most selfish
things in my life, is to get to go to church. I'm a weak and
a needy creature. I'm a sinner by nature, a sinner
by practice, and even a sinner by choice. And I need to hear
about someone who can take care of that problem. Christ is the
issue. That's what a preacher told me
many years ago when I brought some profound religious questions
to him. And he answered all three of
my questions with, Norm, that's not the issue. And I'd say, what
is the issue? And he'd say, Christ is the issue.
It wasn't until after I knew what the gospel was about and
what Christ was about and what the new birth was about that
I could agree with that preacher. Christ is the issue. I appreciated
so much the bulletin note, do I preach the gospel? I don't
know how many times I've asked that question to myself on Monday
morning and Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning. Wednesday
night and then all through the week and then Sunday morning
and brother Gary kind of summed it up for me Because he said,
you know Most gospel preachers don't see a lot of activity We
just preach You don't see much happening and you wonder you
go home and wonder well, I appreciated that so much and there's there's
so much that we enjoy from the Word of God and We just realize this has to be
the gospel. No works are involved. Christ
is honored and glorified. He's the one that thought it
out. He's the one that produced it. He's the one that brought
it. He's the one that carries it. He's the one that will be
our worship. I had the privilege of writing a short note to Brother
Lance Heller down in New Guinea. And I said, you know, someday
all those folks down there that have heard the gospel and God
has brought to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, we're going to
sit around the same throne singing the same song in the same language.
May not understand a word we say now, but then we'll understand
it. I direct your attention this
morning once again to the book of Leviticus. The book of Leviticus. I appreciate so much your pastor. I've enjoyed so much just getting
to sit in the living room of Brother Rupert and Sister Betty
and just visit, talk. And I'm looking forward to the
time when your pastor can come out to the Dalles, Oregon and
preach for us. My people would love him. They
would dearly love him. He preaches the gospel. In the book of Leviticus, I'd
like to look at a few verses in chapter 10. In that bulletin
note about do I preach the gospel, thus we know that the Old Testament
scriptures were about Christ and what he would accomplish
in his coming, death, and resurrection. The scriptures from Genesis to
Malachi show by picture, type, and plain statements that Christ
died for a peculiar people, a particular people chosen and beloved of
God. In the 10th chapter of the book
of Leviticus, and we've been going through this book for some
time in the Dalles, and I've been blessed and I trust that
the people that hear it have been blessed to a degree of seeing
Christ in these Old Testament passages in the book of Leviticus.
I believe last time I was here and Brother Gary asked me to
speak, I had said at one time that the book of Leviticus was
for speed reading. When you went to your daily Bible
reading, you got to the book of Leviticus, you speed read
through it because, oh my goodness, it was labor. Then I read a book
by a man that said the book of Leviticus was for sinners. I
said, I got to go find out what that's about. Well, we're a little
further than this, but there's a passage in the 10th chapter
that struck me. If I'd have been reading for
speed reading, I'd have missed this. So we can't read the Bible
speed reading. We might read other books that
way, but the Bible, we might want to read it. And once in
a while, the word jumps off the page,
and we just say, thank you, Lord. Thank you. If he's given you
just a wee bit of what is in this book, it's by grace and
grace alone. It wasn't by our study. It was
by revelation. It's by the grace of God that
we got anything out of this book. And thank God that he shows us
a little bit about our Savior, the Lord Jesus. In this 10th
chapter, there has been an experience that has taken place to two of
Aaron's sons. They offered strange fire and
instantaneously they're taken out of this life by the judging
hand of Almighty God. They are consumed in their clothes
and their clothes are not consumed. This had to be a shock to Aaron
the father and the two other brothers and probably to Moses
and to the rest of the people that heard about it. It was a
shock. And I don't know how I would
handle a situation like that. But there was great fear came
upon the people. God had spoken in a very stern
way. The law has no room. And it tells us here in verse
12, and Moses spake unto Aaron, and to Eleazar, and unto Ithamar
his sons that were left. Take the meat offering that remaineth
of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without
leaven besides the altar, for it is most holy. Now I'm gonna
jump over to verse 16. Keep that in mind and let's look
at verse 16 and the rest of this chapter. My message this morning
I'd like to entitle, The Father Steps In. In verse 16, Moses,
and so often through these passages of scripture, Moses is a representation
of the law. Moses was the one that was given
the law in Mount Sinai, and he's the one, he's the mouthpiece,
the spokesman here. So often Moses diligently sought
the goat of the sin offering and behold, it was burnt and
he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, which
were left alive, sane. Now Moses, he, as some others
have said, Moses diligently tried to find. Moses searched carefully
for the goat. Moses inquired about the goat. He had spent some time looking
about this goat that we read about in verse 12, and he comes
and he notices that it's not here. And he speaks to the two
sons of Aaron that are left, Eleazar and Ithamar, and he is
very angry with them. Now, he's their uncle. but he's
still very angry with them. He is upset. There's a problem. Something has happened that shouldn't
have happened. Even in all the confusion that
had gone on that day among the men, there was a problem. And
Moses was pointing out this problem to these two priests. And he
said in a tone that they understood, their uncle was very upset with
them. Now we find in the book of Romans
that the law worketh wrath and Moses was certainly doing that
this day as he knew exactly what must happen to that goat. It
must be eaten and not burned. Now there's no latitude in the
law. There's no latitude with the word of God. There's no,
in fact, it says, don't turn to the right hand or to the left
hand, keep going straight towards Christ. And as we look through
here, it says in verse 17, wherefore have you not eaten the sin offering
in the holy place, seeing it as most holy and God hath given
it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation to make atonement
for them before the Lord. Behold, the blood of it was not
brought in within the holy place. Ye should indeed have eaten it
in the holy place as I commanded." Can you see these two young men? I just might say they're shivering
in their boots. Fear is on them. Moses, their
uncle, is very upset with what they have not done and what they
have done. You know, the scriptures, particularly
here in the book of Leviticus, there's five or six verses of
scripture earlier in this book that share with us, if you've
sinned, a sin of ignorance. And my goodness, brother Gary.
A sin of ignorance. Just sinned a sin of ignorance.
You didn't even know you did it. And yet it is a sin against
Almighty God in our heart, or in our actions, or in our ways,
or in our voice, or somewhere else. We sinned in ignorance.
Thank God, once in a while, by His restraining power, we get
to stop words before they leave our mouth. But sometimes they
leave our mouth. God said, here is the sacrifice
for the sin of ignorance, and that's found in Leviticus chapter
four and chapter five. If a king sinned in ignorance,
if a priest sinned in ignorance, if the congregation sinned in
ignorance, if you sinned in ignorance, here's what the prescribed thing
is to do. And here two sons of Aaron, in
all of their finery, have done something very poorly. And Moses catches them at it,
and is angry with them, and points out the problem. Oh my goodness. Fear. Here. Here. Here. What is Moses going
to do? He's very upset with them. They've
done something really foolish. They've disobeyed God. They've
disobeyed the law. They've disobeyed. And here they
are priests. My goodness, these that are dedicated
and set aside that are sinners. And then we find out that book,
this book, the whole book is for sinners. for people that
have sinned against Almighty God. Now I have come to this
conclusion that only people that know grace in Christ Jesus really
know what sinners are. That's who Christ died for. Now let's look here. This is
what I would have missed if I'd have been speed reading. Verse
19. The father steps in. There's a problem, but the father
steps in. Now the father is related to
these two boys by blood. That's good. Father steps in. He's related to them. Do you
know he knew them before they were born? I believe he named
them before they were born. I believe he was prepared to
provide for them before they were born. My dad had a house
before I was born. My dad had a pantry full of food
before I was born. My dad had a job before I was
born. My dad had money to pay for. It didn't cost near as much
back then. But he had money to pay the doctor
before I was born. He took care of all that before
I was born. He had a name picked out before
I was born. So as we look at this dad, we
find here a wonderful picture of the heavenly father in what
he did to step in and take care of us even though we were guilty
sinners before the law and had our mouths shut up. I don't hear a word out of Ithamar
or Eliezer's mouth. They're shut up. They knew they'd
done wrong. The law pointed out, Moses pointed
it out, but now someone else is gonna take over for us. Now
before I read what happens in verse 19, let's read verse 20,
because this is so good. And when Moses heard that, he
was content. Oh my goodness. That's a hallelujah
moment. That's when Ithamar and Eleazar
says, oh, thank you, dad. Oh, can you just imagine what
happened when Aaron stepped between them and Moses? When Aaron said,
I'm going to take over from this point. I'm going to get involved
at this point. I'm going to do something at
this point. And that's when God shares with
us, I've been taking care of my children from eternity. I have loved them with an everlasting
love from eternity. Boy, you know, I haven't got
a hold of that yet. I'm working on it, but I haven't
got a hold of it yet. The Lord God Almighty wrote my
name down in the Lamb's Book of Life before the world ever
began. Well, let's look here in verse
19. Eleazar, Ithamar, and great straits. The law commanded, the law found
out, and the law found them guilty. To most people, that would just
be a trifle what they did. They're under such emotional
strain. They just saw their brothers
consumed in their clothes. They're doing the best they can,
Under the circumstances, all the excuses that are given. But Moses was angry. And now
in verse 19, and Aaron said unto Moses, now I'm gonna read this,
but I'll be honest with you, I don't understand all that's
said in this verse, but I can understand verse 20. I can understand when Moses heard
that he was content. There's a lot about the gospel
of God's free grace I don't understand. But I can understand that God
is not angry with his children any longer. I can understand
that. I can be thankful that I understand
that God has loved his people with an everlasting love. I can
understand a little bit that he elected a people before the
foundation of the world, and that used to make me mad. But
now it makes me glad because I know full well my own nature
was unable of itself of ever turning to God. I couldn't do
it. My free will, you talk about
free will, my free will was to do wrong. That's all I could
do. There was no ability in myself to ever do good. So I'm thankful
that the father got involved before the foundation of the
world and it's illustrated in this point by Aaron stepping
in between Moses and his two sons and giving them hope. It says here, Aaron said unto
Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering
and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have
befallen me. And if I had eaten the sin offering
today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? Question
mark. I'll be the first one to admit,
I don't understand all that took place in that verse of scripture,
but I can understand the next verse of scripture. Moses was
satisfied. All right. Now, would you turn
with me to the book of John, John chapter 5, for just a few
moments, as I think about the Father and what the Father has
done. The Lord Jesus, in His time on
this earth, had a great deal to say about His Father. And
I'd just like to read a few verses that the Lord Jesus said about
and shared about His Father. His father, the father of God's
people, the father of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in birth rank. We can call him father because
of birth rank. He calls him father because of
his position in the covenant of grace. He's not a created
being. He's God almighty. But in this, he said in verse
21, Now this is important to the
church, to know that the Father has the great almighty power
to raise the dead. Because that's where we are by
nature. We are dead in trespasses and
sin. I might have said this last time
I was here, I don't know. But as an old friend of mine
used to say, I don't know how much you've forgotten. There's
only one place that there's ever discussion about dead, and that's
in religion. I didn't meet that dear sister
that these flowers represent. Plan to sometime. There's no
question when her spirit left her body. But in religion, there's
always an argument how dead is dead. And the Bible said, dead
is grave, yard, dead, spiritual. There's not an ounce, there's
not a stitch, there's not a thought towards God and his holiness. We're so repulsed. In fact, it
is called, we're enmity. Not at enmity, we're enmity.
against God, and only the church ever understands any about that. We have no comprehension until
we're born again how enmity we were. All right. For as the father
raises up the dead, I'm thankful the father got involved. He's
the only one that has the ability of raising the dead. raising
us to newness of life, finding us where we are, finding us in
our deadness and God blessing us with the seed of the gospel
and in a miracle of his grace, regenerating us, placing the
spirit within us and raising us from that position. And one
time and that time is the first time we were ever able to breathe
a spiritual breath and thank God almighty that he got involved
in our salvation. Without Him, we do nothing. We
can do nothing. The flesh profiteth nothing.
But in him, he's able to raise the dead. And it goes on to say,
and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will.
I'm thankful that Aaron stepped in between those two sons when
his brother was very angry at them as a type and a shadow and
a picture of what our father does for us before the world
began and does for us in time. He is in the business of resurrecting
spiritually dead people that they might have life and life
more abundant. Oh my goodness, the life that
we have in Christ is far beyond our comprehension. In chapter
6 and verse 37, we find again the father stepped in. This used to be one of those
verses I'd pass over. John 6, 37. all that the Father
giveth me. My goodness, the Father got involved
before the world was ever created, before He ever created Adam,
before He ever created Eve, before He created the worlds, before
Genesis 1-1. The scriptures tell us the Father
was involved in what He was going to do on the behalf of His people. When Adam fell, God was not caught
off guard. I got a plan. It's working out. I have a lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. And as it tells us here, the
father says, all that the father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. I was in
a religious paraphernalia store one time. That's where they sell
all that stuff. They used to have a used book
section in there, and one little shelf was old time stuff. John Bunyan, John Calvin, John
Gill, Charles Spurgeon. Just a little shelf and once
in a while I'd find a nugget in there. But one day I was passing
through there and here's a plate. And on that plate it said, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And I went
and I said, I think there's more to that verse. And went home
and discovered the rest of it. All that the Father giveth me. Thank God that our Father got
involved, stepped in face of the law. Would you look at verse
44 of the same chapter? No man. cometh no man can come
to me except the father which has sent me draw him one more
time we're at the very we're at the will of God in this we're
at the will of God Eliezer and Ithamar at the will
of their father They're stopped. They can't go any farther. Their
uncle is after them. He's very angry at them. They
have to wait on their father. And he said, I ain't that. All, no man can come to me except
the father which has sent me draw him and I'll raise him up
at the last day. And only the church understands
what that drawing is. We think in religion we can come
on our own. But we find out if it isn't for
the drawing power of the Father, we're stuck where we are. There is no hope. This message,
well if we look at the book of Leviticus, that book of Leviticus
was not to any other group of people except Israel. And that
high priest, Aaron, the father of these two sons, he is only
the high priest for Israel. What a wonderful picture we have
here. And the Lord Jesus Christ is only the high priest for Israel,
spiritual Israel. He is the only one. and he has
a people and they're called spiritual Israel and they're the only ones
that are ever going to hear and ever going to be saved because
they're the ones that were given by the Father to the Son before
the foundation of the world and they're the ones whose names
are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation
of the world and they're the ones that the Father calls. draws
in verse 45 it says it is written in the prophets they shall be
all taught of god every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned
of the father cometh to me it's no wonder that some of my
own children haven't come to him they haven't been taught
of the father Many people that I've spoken
to over my ministry haven't come. They've not been taught of the
Father. It's not been revealed to them. If He is pleased to
ever do that, they will respect the Son. They will have the highest
honor and highest regard for the Son. In fact, we find out
if we have no regard for the Son, we have no regard for the
Father. We're not called on to worship
the Father and the Holy Spirit. We worship them through the Son
if we honor Him. We've honored them. That's what
we find. And then if you look at verse
65 of that same chapter, and he said, Therefore saith I unto
you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto
him of my father. Oh, thank God the father steps
in. He gives us. He plans us. He loved us. He serves us. He brings us. He raises us. And we not ourselves. It tells
us there, he saith unto you, no man can come unto me except
it were given unto him of my father. What a gift it is. to
be brought out of the desperate situation we're in and to be
brought to Christ, lifted to Christ, brought out of the horrible
pit, set on the solid rock, get to sing a new song. It isn't
the song I used to sing in church, will work till Jesus comes. All
that trashy stuff. Oh my goodness. You can just
mark the decline of religion by seeing what's sung today.
Yeah. We don't have those songs to
sing. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch
like me. And we sang one of John Newton
songs I'd never sang, but he had a hold of this. He had a
hold of the gospel. So often these old poets catch
what theologians so miss. as they speak about the glories
of God and what we depend on every day. Just a little bit
further there in the book of John, would you look with me
to the verse 65. No, chapter 8 and verse 42. I pray that I love Christ. And it says right here in John
chapter 8 in verse 42, Jesus said unto them, if God were your
father, you would love me. There's a whole bunch of Christ
haters. But if God were your father,
you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me." Oh, that wonderful,
gracious plan of mercy that God had before the foundation of
the world, that he in his purpose, purpose to save a people. And that the Son, purpose, to
come to this sin-cursed earth and be the ransom for many, to
go the way of the cross on purpose, and die on purpose, and apply
His blood on purpose, and redeem His people on purpose, so that
He could save them on purpose in time. and that we'd join him
on purpose in that day. And then, if you'd look with
me in John 17 and verse 11, the Lord Jesus again brings up this
subject of the Father. He says, and there are many others. My goodness, there are many others.
But in John chapter 17 and verse 11, and now I am no more in the
world, but these, but these are in the world. And
I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name. Are you kept? Only the Father can keep. Brother Gary and I were visiting
yesterday and the subject came up of God's restraining grace,
restraining power. If it wasn't for the restraining
power of God, we'd be in jail just like that man and that little
girl. One for the restraining hand
of God. There's nothing we wouldn't do if it wasn't for the restraining
hand of God. We couldn't love him without
it. We can't honor him without it. were weak and feeble. Thank God he's almighty and what
he promised he can carry out. And he promised to carry out
this, I shall lose none of them. Wasn't for that promise, He says there, and I come to
thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou
hast given me that they may be one as we. The R is supplied,
as we. So Aaron, oh what a task, what
a task. He heard the chiding. He heard
the law. He heard what was being said.
His sons were being spoken to by Moses in an angry voice. He was angry with them. You know,
it's very hard to hide an angry voice. And Moses didn't. He didn't hide
his angry voice because he was really upset with those boys
on what they had done. And lo and behold, by the mercy
of God, Aaron steps in. And did you notice that verse
20? Moses said it's okay. Back there in Leviticus chapter
10 and verse 20, and when Moses heard that, he was content. When Christ gave himself a ransom
for his people, the law was stifled. It was satisfied. Christ fulfilled
it completely for all his people. And it has no longer any voice
against us. Christ's blood has taken care
of that. So Moses heard it and he was
content. We find in the book of Job, behold,
I found a ransom. I found a ransom. Someone would
ransom them. And in the book of Luke, there's
another father. His son came to him and says,
you know, dad, I want all my inheritance and I'm leaving.
I want my inheritance. And the Bible very plainly says
he went off to a far country and spent all his inheritance.
And then he was hungry. and when he came to himself. Now that can only happen when
God's grace is brought to us. We don't have a civil thought
in our head until that day. And we have to give him credit
for coming to us and turning us. Turn me and I shall be turned. That son said, ''My father's
servants are better off than I am. I'm no longer worthy to
be called a son. I'll go and just be a servant.''
As he's drawn back home, guess where dad is? He saw him a long
ways off. I like that. It was no surprise
to Dad when that son, that lost son, came home. He was prepared
for it. He knew it. God's not surprised. He has purposed it. So, whatever
was given to that son to cause him to go home, is the grace
of God that he puts in every one of his elect children to
say, you know, I think today I'll turn into that church and
find out what they have to say. Preachers coming from Ashland,
Kentucky to Central Point, Oregon, I think I'll turn in and see
what he has to say. And when he said it, I was so
mad at him, I told my wife I hate him. You know how the Lord works
is to get us where we need to be to hear what we need to hear
and destroy everything we have depended on up to that point
for our acceptance with God. He's going to take care of it.
And we'll only see Jesus. They saw Jesus only and they
heard a voice. This is my beloved son. The father
spoke. This is my beloved son, in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye him." Guess what? Peter didn't want to build any
more little thatch huts. That was enough. Hear ye him. So, as Aaron said unto Moses,
Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their
burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen
me, and I If I had eaten the sin offering today, should it
have been accepted in the sight of the Lord? Verse 20. And when Moses heard that, he
was content. My God is content. When his son
came back by his invitation to sit down at the right hand of
the father, he was satisfied. Brother Gary. Thank you, Brother Norm. And
such is the sovereign grace of God to his people in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We thank him. I read those verses that I call
sometimes divine interruptions. where it says what we were and
then it says, but God, but God, who is rich in mercy and grace,
we thank him for his word, for his son, for his gift of righteousness
he bestows upon his people. Let's be dismissed. Andrew, we're
glad to have you back in this morning and would you pray for
us, please?