Leviticus chapter 22, verses 1-13. We're going to look
at laws and ordinances concerning the priests. But before I read
that, turn with me to Leviticus chapter 6. Leviticus chapter 6 and verses
14 through 17. These are various laws in the Old Covenant. If you ever wondered how the
priests, those of the tribe of Aaron, how they survived, well,
they ate from off the altar. They got their portion. Look
at this in Leviticus 6. And this is the law, Leviticus
6 verse 14, and this is the law of the meat offering. The sons
of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord before the altar. And he shall take of it his handful
of flour of the meat offering and of the oil thereof and all
the frankincense which is upon the meat offering and shall burn
it upon the altar for a sweet savor, even the memorial of it
unto the Lord. and the remainder thereof shall
Aaron and his sons eat." So it's kind of like, you know, the preacher
preaches and you pay him. Well, back in old times, the
preacher preached and they gave him turkeys and chickens and
eggs. This is how that was handled
in the Old Testament. So, take of his handful of flour,
Verse 16, And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat,
with unleavened bread shall be eaten in the holy place, in the
court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.
It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it unto them for
their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy
as it is the sin offering as the trespass offerings. And there
was meat offerings, trespass offerings, wave offerings, there
was all these different offerings. Now turn to Leviticus chapter
22. Same lineage, Aaron, same priesthood,
they had rules and regulations. And let's look at verse 22, verse
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and
his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things
of the children of Israel, and that they profane not My holy
name in those things which they hallow unto Me. I am the Lord.
Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations,
that goeth unto the holy things which the children of Israel
hallow unto the Lord, having His uncleanness upon Him, that
soul shall be cut off from My presence. I am the Lord." Now
he's talking about Aaron and the priests here. What man, verse
4, soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running
issue, he shall not eat of the holy things until he be clean.
and whoso touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a
man whose seed goeth from him, or whosoever touches any creeping
thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he
may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath, the soul
which hath touched any such shall be unclean unto even, and shall
not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water. And when the sun is down, he
shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things, because
it is his food. That which dieth of itself, or
is torn with beasts, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith. I am the Lord. They shall therefore
keep mine ordinances, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore
if they profane it. I, the Lord, do sanctify them."
We'll stop there. So, not only did you have to
be the tribe of Aaron, or the lineage of Aaron, or the Levites,
the priests, but if you did something that you were not supposed to
do, you couldn't eat. You couldn't eat. You had to
wash, and you had to wait till evening, or all these different
rules and regulations. So we're talking about eating
of the holy things, their portion. So in verses 1-9 we have various
reasons given why the priest could not eat or partake of the
holy things. And this is from off the altar.
They would burn incense, it was cooked, fire. You're not going
to eat it raw, that was unclean. But I think this shows us at
least one thing for this introductory thought. It shows how holy the
Lord our God is. If you do this, you're unclean. If you do this and eat, you're
going to die. I am the Lord. It shows His character. None could eat of the holy things
that were either unclean by various issues or problems noted. or
if they touched a creeping thing, or that thing that died of itself,
or a torn beast, etc., etc. This just shows how holy the
Lord God is. Now, people say, well, that's
the Old Testament God. No. I think, even amongst believers,
I think we don't fully understand how holy and how righteous and
how pure and how perfect God is. He says, in one place, He
is a consuming fire, perfectly holy, perfectly pure. Turn to
Habakkuk chapter 1. Habakkuk 1. Habakkuk 1 and verse 13. Speaking of God, the latter part
of verse 12, Almighty God, Thou hast established them for correction.
Thou art, He is of pure eyes, than to behold evil and cannot
look on iniquity." Now, from what I understand, I remember
Henry preached this years and years and years ago. He said,
he thought, if I'm getting this correctly, in the original, the
Hebrew, it's God cannot look upon iniquity without doing something
about it. And we thank God He did something
about sin. He did something about this wretched,
terrible attitude, conduct, nature that we are, and He sent His
only begotten Son. But this just tells us how He
is of pure eyes. And we notice in the generations
of this country, how generations will say, well, boy, I wouldn't
have done that. By age, you talk about teenagers,
well, I wouldn't have done that. And then when they get older,
they're going to say, well, I wouldn't have done that. So it's getting worse. It's not getting better. But
God is not in anybody's thoughts. Especially the holiness of God. And I can't preach Him holy enough. I can't preach us sinful enough. And I can't preach Christ righteous
enough. But all these three things are
true. That's why we It used to be, from what I remember, not
when I was growing up, but I was told this in the generation before
me, Jonathan Edwards, sinners in the hand of an angry God,
used to be required reading. Now, this generation and the
generation before, etc., they're more worried about you know,
getting out in front of everybody around a circle in the flag to
pray and stuff. God's thoughts are not our thoughts,
and His ways are not our ways, and the holiness of God is not
spoken of. But I will say this, again, He
is a consuming fire. If you are not found in Christ,
you will be consumed. And that is not, you're just
destroyed, you'll be cast into hell, for eternity. So we see this in verses 1-9
in Leviticus, but let's look at these next couple of verses,
verses 10-13. Read them with me here. There shall no stranger eat of
the holy things, a sojourner of the priest, or a hired servant
in the priest's house shall not eat of the holy things. Verse
11, Ah, there's that word, that conjunction. But, it's about
to get good. If the priest buy any soul with
his money, that soul shall eat of the holy things. And, he that
is born in the priest's house, they shall eat of his meat. If
the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she
shall not eat of the offering of the holy things. But if the
priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child,
and is returned unto her father's house as in her youth, she shall
eat of her father's meat. But there shall no stranger eat
thereof." So even in the law, it's strict. and right and correct
as that was, even in the law, we see glimpses of mercy. Let's
look at these. Thanks be to our God that there
are those who can partake, or as Hebrew says, and we'll turn
there in a minute, have the right to eat of the holy things. That's
from off the altar. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
13. When I looked at this, I immediately thought of this passage. And
I know we've studied Hebrews, but this just blessed me once
again. Hebrews 13. Let's start with verse 9. Hebrews 13.9. Be not carried
about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is good that
the heart be established with grace, not with meats which have
not profited them that have occupied themselves therein." So he's
saying if you're, he's warning the Hebrews, be established with
grace. It's always been grace. From
Genesis to Revelation, it's always been grace. He's always been
the God of grace. Don't, like the Galatians are trying to bring
back the law, the Hebrews were struggling with something similar,
They were trying to bring it in themselves, whereas in Galatians
there were people coming in and teaching it. Don't go back to
ceremony, religious ceremony, do's and don'ts, which is meats
and washing of hands and all these things. Don't go back to
that. Be established with grace. Look at verse 10. This is what
I want to get at. We, the brethren, the believers, those who have
trusted, who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, we have
an altar. Okay? Now you're in your mind's
eye, go back to Leviticus 22. He's talking about the priest
and sacrificing off the altar. We have an altar. That's Christ. Whereof, they, that is those
who do not believe in the grace of God, do not believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, those who are trusting ceremony, what mom
did, what daddy did, walking an aisle, doing anything, merit. Free will. They, have no right
to eat which serve the tabernacle. We, the scripture says, we have
tasted that he is gracious. We eat his flesh, Christ says,
drink his blood, that's what he's talking about. They don't
have any right and that word right means privilege and isn't
that what grace is? We can't earn it, we can't merit
it, we can't work for it, we can't abstain from it. Grace
is a privilege. Those who trust in themselves,
those who trust in their own worth, those who are trusting
in someone else to get them through, to pray them through, or to absolve
them with any kind of genuflection or any of these things, they
have no right. They have no right to partake
of this. We eat of Christ spiritually, of His flesh, drink of His blood.
This we, by His enabling, we believe all that Christ has done
for us. What He has done for us, even
though we do not deserve the least of His mercies. We see,
as the brethren did back in the Old Testament, times Christ represented
upon that altar of sacrifice. For in 1 Corinthians 10, you
don't have to turn there, he says, for they, speaking of the
Old Testament saints, ate of the same spiritual meat and drank
of the same spiritual drink as we do now. There's no salvation
for Old Testament saints and salvation for New Testament saints.
We're all saved by the grace of God. But anytime somebody
says, you know, they're talking works and this and that, trying
to mix them together, just think in your mind, or you could say
it, you have no right. You have no right. You have no
right to come and worship. They think they're worshiping,
but they are not. They are not at all. Well, unbelievers that are caught up
with ceremony and works, they have no right or privilege. to
partake. But, according back to our text
in Leviticus 22, there are those who have been graced, or blessed,
or privileged ones. Remember, we are not so in ourselves,
or even worthy, as the scripture says in John 1, we're not even
worthy to unloose Christ's shoe latchet. We're not even worthy
to do that, John 1, 27. But these who have the right, free and freely allowed at this
sacred table. These are undisputable proofs
of a right to the holy things. Here mentioned in Leviticus 22,
there's three groups out of this text. Bought, born, and family. Bought, born, and family. Look at the first one, Leviticus
22 verse 11, the first part. But if the priest buy any soul
with his money, that person shall eat of it, shall partake of the
sacred things, the holy things, which we before discussed it.
And I ask you this, has not Christ, our high priest, bought us with
his own precious blood? Now, he's talking money here,
and then we can spiritualize. Christ has laid down His life
for His sheep. He bought His sheep, lock, stock,
and barrel, as one man has said, with His own blood. And now we
shall eat. We are privileged to gather together. We're going to take the Lord's
Supper. And that's just an emblem, a symbol of the blood and the
body of Christ. That's just a symbol. We have
the real thing. Christ laid down His life and
shed His blood. Through the purchased redemptive
work of the spotless Lamb of God, we now can freely partake
of all Christ bought for us. Whether that's faith, whether
that's repentance, whether that's love, whether that's good deeds,
prayer, kindness, tenderness, all manner of fruit. We do because
Christ did. We enjoy because Christ died.
We shall raise up because He already has. We are His absolute
property and possession. We're bought with a price. Never
for what we are in ourselves, but what He has completed, accomplished,
and satisfied on our behalf. What Christ enjoys, we enjoy. What He loves, we love. What
He honors, we honor. We no longer look to ourselves
or this evil world for hope or peace. But Christ Himself is
our hope and our peace. Because if the priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ, by any soul, with His money, with His own soul,
with His own body and blood, He, that is us, shall eat of
it." Second thing, those who are born. And when we get done
with these three, I want to just make a comment I hadn't written
down, but I hope it will remind me if I forget. Born, look at
the second part, 11B verse 11, and he that is born in the priest's
house. He shall eat of his meat. He'll partake. He'll be a partaker.
He that is born. And I say, once we are born again,
we take our place at this holy table. John chapter 1. John chapter 1. And verse 13. But as many as received Christ,
to them He gave power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name, which were born, not of blood, nor
the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God." Born
of God. And you all know that passage
in John 3. In verse 3, Jesus answered Nicodemus, And He said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see
the Kingdom of God. Born again, that word means born
from above. Outside of us. So you've got
those who could partake, backed in our text in Leviticus, of
the most holy things. And again, what a privilege.
We gather together, the rest of the world's got their own
routines, even on Sunday. Sunday, Wednesday, you know,
Bruce and I talked years ago, Wednesday, they used to not have
soccer and this and that because there's, you know, a lot of Baptists
that meet on Wednesday. Now, who cares? We're going to
do it Monday through Sunday. Who cares? I say, woe unto them. And they're accountable every
time they, they, this, because the gospel is being preached
here. Every time they're out there doing their own thing,
that they're accountable. But what a privilege. Few are
many. Years we went without a building. It's small. It's a nice facility. Oh, what a privilege. What an
oasis to gather together. Matt said it when we were back
there. We've been gone for a while. I've been gone for a while. You've
been gone for a while. How we rejoice we gather together and
see one another. See that you're doing well. Concern
for one another. Born, but we must be born from
above. Regeneration makes us fellow
heirs, as Bruce said, of the same body with Christ. This blessed
union that we now have through the Holy Spirit of grace and
mercy, it can never be removed or we can never be separated.
Who can separate us from the love of God? Nobody. What a privilege. I wish we had the mind of a Jewish
person and a priest because it meant very much to them to eat
of the holy things. It was more than a privilege.
It would be like us not going for food for a week and then
somebody puts that food up there. It's going to be fantastic. We
just don't understand the mind of the Israelite, of this Jewish
son of Aaron, to be able to be allowed to partake of the holy
things. We have a feast. We come and
feast. All who have been born from above, void of our stench
of merit, without money, without price, we've come. and partake. We do have the right to feast
with the Great High Priest, not made with hands. The Lord of
Glory is His name. But lastly, in Leviticus 22,
verse 12, if the priest's daughter also be married into a stranger,
she shall not eat of the offering of the holy things. But if the
priest's daughter be a widow, divorced, and have no child and
is returned unto her father's house as in her youth, she shall
eat of her father's meat." Isn't that what we do every time we
gather together? We partake. We open this book. We break the
bread of life. We sing of the bread of life.
We read of the bread of life. Family members, that's the third
group, family members. enjoy dining or banqueting at
our Redeemer's table of grace. Now, when I read this, actually
Spurgeon stopped with born and bought. And then I thought, I've
got to keep going, this is too good. I'm like, okay, so we see
this. But this story, she's married,
she's left her house, she's divorced or a widow, and she returns to
her father's house. Does that kind of sound familiar?
Does that sound like a parable? Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15, the parable
of the prodigal son. Doesn't this sound familiar? Luke 15, verse 11, Christ said,
This man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father,
Father, give me the portion of goods that follow to me. And
he divided them unto his living. And not many days after, the
younger son gathered all together, took his journey to a far country,
And they're wasted as substance with rites as living. This daughter
of the priest, she married a stranger. Don't marry a stranger. Don't
be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. But, we're sinners. We are so sinful. And God will
often take that which is to our harm, knowingly, and turn it
around to our blessing. He spent all They had that his
father gave him. Mighty famine arose in that land.
He began to be in want. He went and joined himself to
the citizen of that country. Well, this will help. And he
sent him into his fields to feed swine. This young boy would have
feigned, have filled his belly with the husk of the swine to
eat, and no man gave him. That's just, that's, you kids,
you get in the world, you'll see it's dog eat dog for the
most part. And then by Holy Spirit conviction,
verse 17, when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants
my father did have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with
hunger. So the woman left, married a stranger, widowed, came back
as her youth, and our merciful, gracious Lord
says, you can have. of my meat from off the altar."
Now, I have to say this, every time I preach this, Scott Richardson
preached a message on this 25, 30 years ago. It was called Much Kissing. And
he spoke about the holiness of God like I've never heard. And
he talked about the sin like I've never heard. And he talked
about the reunion. He just kept on talking about
kissing and hugging. If it's on CD, if it's on tape,
I don't have any idea. I would listen to it. But the
Son confesses His sins, verse 21, Father, I've sinned against
Heaven and before You, and I'm no more worthy to be called by
Son. Isn't that what we say? But the Father said to his servants,
bring forth the best robe, put it on him, put a ring on his
finger and shoes on his feet and kill the fatted calf and
let's eat and be merry. Verse 20, and his father arose
and saw the son afar off. His father saw him and had compassion
on him, ran, fell on his neck and kissed him. Absolutely free,
sovereign grace. Amazing. How sweet, how sovereign
and precious is God's grace in the beloved. It says in Leviticus, she shall
eat. She shall eat of her father's
meat. I guess the truth of the matter
is, once a daughter, always a daughter. Once a son, always a son. Your
children, our daughter, they go off and get married, have
families that will do what they do, but they're still your children. He knew us long before we knew
Him in electing love. Then, and for reasons found only
in God Himself and the Son and the Spirit and the fullness of
time, He sought, He bought, and He physically laid down His sinless
body for His bride. The church are also called the
remnant, the sheep, the elect, his children, his family. And
we as family have access to the throne. We have an audience with
the Father through the Son and facilitated by the Holy Spirit. We have it better than as the
story goes. I still don't know whether this
is true or not. Henry tells it as it's true and
I've read up on it and it seems to be true. But we have it even
better than this. The story is told of a Confederate
soldier. He was trying to gain access
to President Lincoln. Every time he would go in there,
the soldiers would, nope, you can't. This was after the Civil
War. He was trying to reclaim some of his property that had
been taken. Couldn't get in, had no audience. Couldn't do
it, barred from the White House. He was outside, and he was very
distraught. And a little child noticed the
sorrow of the soldier. He took the soldier's hand. He
passed right through the guards, the guards snapped back at attention,
right through the guards, right into the library, straight to
President Lincoln himself. Well, the boy was Tad Lincoln
and he gained access. But not only do we gain access
to the throne room, we have the right in Christ to be there as
one united with the Son. O blessed truth, may we believe
the record, whether it's Genesis or Revelation, may we believe
the record for ourselves. Cast yourself upon Him to be
bought with His precious blood, or the alternative is perish
everlastingly. Who could eat? Who has the right,
the privilege, grace, blessed, bought, born? our family. Lord, make us so hunger that
we prove ourselves, that we show ourselves to be his children,
his children indeed. Bruce, would you close us?