The Ram of Consecration

Turn back to Exodus 29, the title of this message, The Ram of Consecration or The Peace Offering. It was known as The Peace Offering. Now so far we have looked at two of the three sacrifices THAT WERE OFFERED IN THIS CHAPTER THAT MOSES OFFERED. AND THEY WERE INVOLVED IN THE ORDINATION OF AARON AND HIS SONS.

FIRST WE LOOKED AT THE SIN OFFERING. IT WAS THE FIRST ONE BECAUSE OUR SINS HAVE TO BE DEALT WITH. FIRST. FIRST. OUR SINS HAVE TO BE DEALT WITH. God cannot wink at our sins, He cannot overlook them. Before God can have anything to do with us, our sins have to be dealt with and put away.

And that's what happened with the sin offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of that sacrifice, identifying with it as they confessed their sins. And then it was slain, it was killed, Its blood was placed on the horns of the altar, and then it was poured out at the base of the altar. And the fat portions were burned on the altar, but the hide, the flesh, and the dung were taken outside the camp and burned, as our Lord was crucified outside of Jerusalem. This offering shows the need of atonement and the removal of our sins before God can have anything to do with us. We must have a SIN OFFERING. And then we have the BURN OFFERING.

I call this the OFFERING OF ACCEPTANCE. We are accepted in the Beloved. Christ is our acceptance. And again with this offering Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of that ram. identifying with it. This offering speaks of our acceptance before God, as I just quoted from Ephesians 1, it tells us that He, that is God, hath made us accepted in the Beloved. I had no part in that. By faith I received Christ. By faith we do receive Christ.

But God made Him the burnt offering. God made Him the burnt offering. Now this ram was cut in pieces, it was washed, and then the whole ram, this whole ram was completely burned on the altar. It ascended as a burnt offering made by fire, a sweet savor unto the Lord. And what we see in this is the perfect life and complete devotion of the Lord Jesus Christ. ACCEPTED BY THE FATHER. ACCEPTED BY THE FATHER.

And now we come to the third sacrifice, the RAM OF CONSECRATION or the PEACE OFFERING. And once again, all three times they had to lay their hands on the head of the animal, that ram, the two rams and the bullock, showing their identification with this animal, identifying themselves with it. But this sacrifice here is different. We had the burnt offering, part of it was burnt, I mean the sin offering, part of it was burnt on the altar and the rest of it had to be taken outside the camp. The other was burnt offering, the whole animal was consumed. Christ accepted.

Here, in this offering, instead of the blood being APPLIED ONLY TO THE ALTAR, IT IS APPLIED DIRECTLY TO AARON AND HIS SONS AND THE ALTAR." You see, the bloodshed must be applied. It must be applied. And you'll notice here, it is applied to the right ear, as we read, I'm not reading to you right now, but as it was read, it was applied to the right ear the right thumb, and the right big toe.

And this marked their consecration, setting them apart for God's service. I'll deal with this a little bit later, but it set them apart for God's service as showing that every part of their life, as they lived on this earth, belonged to God. belong to God every bit. Lock, stock, and barrel belongs to Him. I see in this that salvation is more than missing hell and going to heaven, it is a total consecration, it is a total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am His and He is mine.

That's what it is. Now in all three offerings the animal was killed, and the blood applied in all three offerings. The blood must not only be shed, but it must be applied. It was applied to the altar, horned to the altar, and then it's applied to Aaron and his sons.

And here we come to this ram of consecration, this peace offering. And it's called a peace offering because Christ is our peace. It is through Him, His offering, His sacrifice that we have peace with God. I didn't make peace with God, Christ did. Christ reconciled me to God. He is my peace, He is our peace before God.

Now the purpose of this sacrifice was to consecrate and set apart the priest as God's servants. You're mine. The very thing that separates us from the whole human race is the sacrifice and the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's what sets us apart from this whole human race.

And that burn offering, as I said, it shows Christ's acceptance and our acceptance in the Lord Jesus Christ. But this offering here, it also brought comfort and fellowship with God. See, this is the peace offering. This offering brings fellowship because we're going to see here in a little while that this offering God partook of and Aaron and his sons partook of.

They ate it. It became a meal for them. But I want you to notice here in Exodus 29, 20-21 how the blood was applied. The blood was applied to Aaron and his sons, their bodies, and their garments. And the blood sprinkled on the altar. And why all this blood? Why all this blood?

Because it's the blood that unites us to God. It's the sacrifice and the blood that unites us to God. Christ, our sacrifice, His blood, His righteousness, unites us to God. The blood sanctified their entire persons. for God's service. That's what sanctifies us. That which makes us fit for service is the blood. That makes us fit for service. Now, the blood was placed on the right ear, the right thumb, and the right great toe. And here's what it symbolized. Complete dedication. Absolute, complete dedication.

Listen to Romans 12.1, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. It's just a reasonable service. Think of what He saved us from. Think of the wrath that He saved us from. THE WRATH IS COMING ON THIS WORLD, THE WRATH IS ON THOSE WHO PERISH. HE SAVED US FROM THAT, AND HE SAYS YOU PRESENT YOUR BODIES AS A LIVING SACRIFICE, IT'S JUST YOUR REASONABLE SERVICE.

Listen to 1 Corinthians 6.20, I'm going to give you a double application of this blood that was placed on the right ear, the right thumb, and the right great toe. in 1 Corinthians 6 20 for ye are bought with a price and it's not silver and gold it's the blood of the Son of God therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's which are God you know the our body is called the temple of the Holy Spirit he dwells in us And here's the other application in 1 Corinthians 7, 23. You are bought with the price, be not ye the servants of men. As we live out our life on this earth, those of us who believe, we live out our life serving God. We are His servants. We're not the servants of men.

NOW HE PUTS BLOOD ON THE EAR! You can see this goes from the head to the toe, where he is from top to bottom. He puts blood on the ear. Now look over in John chapter 10. John chapter 10. We use our ears for a lot of things, don't we? We listen to a lot of things we probably ought not to listen to. But listen here, in John 10, in verse 24, Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt, if thou be the Christ?

Tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, I told you, and you believe not. THE WORKS THAT I DO IN MY FATHER'S NAME, THEY BEAR WITNESS OF ME. BUT YOU BELIEVE NOT, YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME. YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT OF MY SHEEP. AS I SAID UNTO YOU, MY SHEEP DO WHAT? THEY HEAR MY VOICE.

YOU HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE GOSPEL AND YOU KNOW WHEN THE GOSPEL IS BEING PREACHED, YOU KNOW IT. When I'm listening to someone preach, I can listen and I know if Christ is being preached or not. I know that because I can hear. He's giving me ears to hear. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Over in Revelations, when the Lord was speaking to John and He told him to write to the churches, He said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches. Let him hear.

MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE, AND I KNOW THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW ME, AND I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE, AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH, NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND." THEY HEAR! THEY HEAR THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE! THEY KNOW THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE! YOU KNOW THAT'S ONE OF THE UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT SHEEP. A SHEEP KNOWS THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE.

YOU KNOW THEY USED TO PUT Back in that day, they used to put all the sheep into one sheep cot. All the shepherds would, and they'd go do whatever they're gonna do. And they'd come back, and they'd call their sheep, and their sheep would come out to that shepherd's voice. They knew the shepherd's voice. My sheep hear my voice.

I put blood on their ears. I bought their ear. I bought your ear, it's mine. Your ear is mine. and then they put, well let me read something else to you, turn over to John 8, verse 47 He that is of God heareth God's Word He that is of God heareth God's Word ye therefore hear them not And here's why, because you're not of God. That's the truth. That's the truth.

Your ear is tuned to God's voice, to the Shepherd's voice. He has your ear. He has your ear. Just like so many times when I sat and listened to my pastor preaching, I felt like I was on the edge of my seat. God had my ear. It wasn't just Henry. Henry had my ear, but God had my ear. And there's so many of those things I remember from all those years listening. The Lord gave me an ear to hear. And then he put blood on the right thumb. On the right thumb. OUR HANDS ARE TO BE APPLIED IN HIS SERVICE.

It's interesting how God made the body. The eyes, the ears, the hands, the feet. All of these have spiritual implications. They all have spiritual implications of the spiritual body. But He put blood on the right thumb. OUR HANDS ARE TO BE APPLIED IN HIS SERVICE. One of the ways that's so is by serving one another. That's how we serve Christ, by serving one another, looking after one another, taking care of one another. You know, when you look, take a man's hands, you think of that's his skill. You know, he's able to do things with his hands.

Our skill, our talent, whatever it is, All our resources, your bank account, your home, it all belongs to him. Everything belongs to him. He's put blood on your thumb. He said, your ear belongs to me. Sometimes I, be careful what you listen to. Be careful who you listen to. And the blood on the thumb, and then blood applied to the right big toe. Our walk, this is what He's saying, I've consecrated you, you're mine. Your ear is mine. Your talent, all your talent is mine. Everything you have is mine. And your walk is mine.

Our walk is to be one of godliness, isn't it? Let it be one of godliness. Walking with God like Enoch. That scripture, that particular scripture just rings in my ear all the time. Enoch walked with God. I want to walk with God here. Not after I die because after I die if I don't do it here I'm not doing a thing. That ain't going to happen. I want to walk with God here.

Where I go, where I am seen matters. It absolutely matters because I represent Christ. I'm an ambassador of Christ and what I do, where I go has bearing upon my Heavenly Father. It's a reflection upon my Heavenly Father. IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE WHO I WALK WITH! IT'S MY WALK! IT'S WHERE I GO, IT'S WHO I WALK WITH! WHO YOU WALK WITH IS YOUR COMPANION! IT'S YOUR COMPANION!

1 John 1.7 BUT WE WALK IN THE LIGHT! as He is in the light. We have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. We walk in the light. We don't walk in darkness no more. God saved us from darkness. We walk in the light as He is in the light. Now turn over to the first Psalm, Psalm chapter 1. I'm going to show you the walk of a believer in Psalm 1. You got it?

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. I don't get my counsel from the ungodly. I don't seek counsel from the ungodly. First of all, I seek counsel from the Lord Jesus Christ. I seek it from Him first. And He's given us elders you know, in a church that someone can come to and talk to. But first we seek it from the Lord.

But we walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth, and we don't stand with sinners. Ungodly, sinners that do not believe God, we don't stand with them. Or be a mob on the street, you know, having a protest about something. Go ahead. I'm not standing in the way of centrism. I know there's good protests. Don't turn to violence, but I know there's good protests, but I also know that it's all for human benefit. It has nothing to do with Christ. It has nothing to do with Jesus Christ at all. Not at all. Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. I don't sit with them. They're not my companions. You're my companions.

Lord willing, Thursday night, I'm gonna deal with the Lord's family. You know, Mark, they said, your mother and your brothers are out here looking for you. He said, who are my mother and my brothers? Those that do the will of God. They are my mother, my brother, my sister. That's who they are.

So the ear, God has our ear, He has our talents, and He has our walk as we walk in this life. He has us. He's saying this, you're mine. You're mine. All the sons of Aaron represent all the sons of God. He has made us kings and priests unto God. And He's saying, you're mine.

There there isn't there isn't there's not this This is part of my life, and this is part of my life. No Christ is my life He is my life or he's not he doesn't it's no middle ground And then after this let me move on after this the blood and the oil verse 21 the blood and the oil is Sprinkled on our garments See it's on the ear, the thumb, and the right big toe, and now it's sprinkled on their garments. This shows that the blood of Christ is applied not only to God's people, but the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The oil represents the Holy Spirit in Scripture. You're sealed with the Spirit of God. If God has saved you, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. He's in you. God the Holy Spirit, you're sealed with Him.

And I thought this speaks also of the beauty of holiness, their holiness. Listen in Revelation 7, 14. And I said to him, Sir, thou knowest, and he said to me, these are they which came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. speaks of their holiness and then this sacrifice this sacrifice unlike the other two sacrifices became a meal it was to be eaten God had his portion which was put on the altar and burned that's God's portion it's the sweet smell of Christ In verses 26-27, the priests were to eat this portion of this ram and the bread and the wafers. But before they ate the portion of the ram, you know what they did? They WAVED it before the Lord! They HEAVED it up and WAVED it before the Lord!

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you. Thank you. I like what Robert Hawker said about this. He said, "...the heave offering probably was lifted or thrown up into the air and caught again with the hand to show that it was devoted to the Lord and when caught again it was received as a gift from God." You know what God's greatest gift is? His Son. The gift of God is eternal life. Eternal life is a person. Eternal life as a person. Christ is the greatest gift that God has given us. And we hold Him up. And when we sing praises, we are holding Him up in our songs. We hold Him up in our prayer. In Thy name, in Christ's name we pray. We hold His name up in prayer.

It's offered up and then God, here's what happened. Here's what happened. Moses, which actually represents God here in this portion of scripture, he takes all these, this ram, he takes the parts, he takes the breast and the shoulder and the bread, and he puts it into the hands of Aaron.

God gave us Christ. Christ is a gift of God. And Aaron lifted him up in thanksgiving, gratitude, recognizing this Christ is my salvation. Christ is my all in all. Christ is. Now God's portion was burned on the altar as the sweet-smelling Savior But Aaron and his sons, they ate of it. They ate of it. You see, Christ is our SIN OFFERING, Christ is our BURN OFFERING, and Christ is our PEACE OFFERING. Christ is our ALL-IN-ALL. He is our ALL-IN-ALL. And I tell you this, Christ is ALL-IN-ALL to the Father, He is ALL-IN-ALL in Heaven, Christ is ALL-IN-ALL to His He's all in all.

And then in Exodus 31 and 33, and I'll wind this down. Aaron and his sons ate the remaining meat and bread. Let me show you something over in John chapter 6. They were to eat it. This is the one they were allowed to eat of. over in John chapter 6. In verse 53, Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whosoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. And I'll raise him up again at the last day, for my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." By faith, by faith, we receive Christ, we feed on Christ. He's our bread, He's our drink, He's our life, the Lord Jesus Christ is.

And this meal was eaten at the entrance of the tabernacle there in verse 42, which shows acceptance of the atonement. You see the tabernacle represented God's presence. The tabernacle is a picture of Christ, but it's a picture of Christ and this is where God met sinners at that mercy seat. But here they were to do this in front of that tabernacle, which shows the acceptance of the atonement and it expressed joy. and fellowship and communion with God. That's what it shows.

Then a final instruction they were given was if any of it was left over, they were to eat of it. And there were a lot of sons of Aaron. I forget how many thousands they were. But if any of it was left over, they were to burn it the next day. Just like the manna, you didn't carry it over to the next day.

We feast on Christ every day. And this shows here they were to burn it to prevent decay because Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But it also emphasizes the sacred nature of this offering. I think of what our Lord said, don't cast your pearls before swine. If somebody starts to argue with me over the gospel, if I'm talking about the gospel, and I'm talking about Christ, and they want to start arguing, I stop.

I'm not going to cast my pearls before swine. If they're not going to listen, this is not a debate. I'm not trying to convince somebody to come to my side. I'm just telling the truth. And if God doesn't shut their mouth and give them an ear to hear, I shut up. I'm not arguing with them.

I told that to a man one time, I said, you and I have nothing else to talk about. Let's just forget it. I told this to a man on the phone, called me a few years ago. He got upset with me about it. And I said, look, you and I don't believe the same gospel and this conversation's over. Because I wasn't going to argue with him.

In Exodus 29-33, And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made. Oh, the blood, the sacrifice, everything that has to do with Christ, we feast on, don't we? We feast on. And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them.

BUT A STRANGER SHALL NOT EAT THEREOF, BECAUSE THEY ARE HOLY. That�s what I�m saying, don�t catch your poor swine. If God opens a door for you to speak to one of His lost sheep, they�ll listen, they�ll listen. But this is not for common use, we don�t just throw this around. I tell you, when we speak of Christ, when we speak of Him, when we use His name, when we use the name of God, it ought to be with great reverence. I mean great reverence. Let us be careful how we use the name of Christ.

The Ram of Consecration

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The Ram of Consecration

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