Several years ago, traveling
back from a meeting down in Virginia, I stopped by to visit with a
friend who was dying. He knew he was dying. I did.
His family did. And we visited for a little while. While I was there, his wife,
Sadly didn't know any better, but she was talking about the
church they were attending. They were having a big campaign,
fussing about whether or not they ought to sell beer on Sundays,
and the church was involved in a work to keep that from happening,
and she just wouldn't let it go. She just kept yakking. And
finally, her husband, who didn't live but just a few days longer,
leaned up on one elbow and said, I've got other things that concern
me. And I said, me too. And she finally
got the hint and went away and we got to chat a little bit.
The fact is, when men and women are leaving this world, or anticipate
leaving this world, I have never known one, not a believer nor
an unbeliever, to be concerned about all the many things that
preachers and churches fuss and fight about. I've not known one
to ever raise the question about whether it's pre, post, or amillennial
view is correct. I've never known one to do so.
I've never visited someone on their deathbed and had them to
ask me a question about whether a Christian ought to do this
or do that. I've never had it happen, not
one time. At such times when men and women are aware that
eternity is immediately before them, they're concerned about
sin and grace and redemption and atonement and faith. Those are things that ought always
to occupy the pulpit and always to occupy our minds while we
live in this world. Yes, I have a responsibility
as your pastor to faithfully expound the scriptures and faithfully
teach you the things taught in this book. But the message of
the pulpit must always be Christ and Him crucified. It must always
be designed to turn our hearts away from ourselves to our Redeemer,
away from our work to His work, away from our passions to His
grace, His mercy, and His love. With that in mind, I want to
talk to you this morning about sacrifice, submission, steadfastness,
and sobriety. Our text will be in Leviticus
chapter 10, verses 1 through 11. While you're turning, listen.
We cannot and will not serve our families or the good of men's
souls. We cannot and will not be useful
to men and truly useful to society as a whole if we are not first
and foremost the servants of God. First and foremost the servants
of God. I am a citizen. I am a father,
I am a husband, I am a neighbor, but I cannot meet my responsibilities
in those areas of life if I'm not first and foremost the servant
of God. And the same is true of you.
If we would serve God as we make our pilgrimage through this world,
These four things are absolutely essential. They're essential
all the time. Sacrifice, submission, steadfastness,
and sobriety. As they journeyed through the
wilderness, whenever the children of Israel set up camp, whenever
they set up the tabernacle, there were three distinct circles in
the camp. At the center of the camp, the
innermost circle, the center of the camp of Israel was the
sanctuary where God established his worship and where God promised
to meet his people. That sanctuary and all that it
contained was a type and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
try to picture the camp of Israel. They journaled a journey and
they've come to a place where they're going to set up camp
now. The outer circle of the camp was made up of those men
of war appointed for the defense of the nation. And then there's
another circle inside them and made up of the Levites, those
men who were particularly appointed of God to maintain his worship
with his people. And then in the center, at the
very center of the camp of Israel, around which all of Israel was
encamped, was the heart of the camp. the core of the nation's
life. It was the sanctuary. And those
divinely appointed priests of God who continually served in
the holy place, making sacrifice to God, going about the holy
things of the Lord. Everyone according to his service
and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered and encamped
as they gathered as a nation in one place. this divinely required
order was not intended by any means to be a model for church
order. There are some who have the idea
that this is a place where there's a dividing of what's called clergy
and laity, as if there was some superiority to men who were priests
and those who were not, or some superiority between those who
are preachers and those who are not. There's no such division
in the kingdom of God. Rather, these things were given
to us to give us instruction. instruction regarding the spheres
of our lives as God's servants and God's priests in this world.
We must never forget, as believers, as those who are born of God
and adorned with the garments of God's salvation, we are first
and foremost priests of the Most High God. You and I. That's how Peter describes us
in 1 Peter 2. That's how we're described in
Revelation 1 and again in Revelation chapter 5. We are priests, offering
up spiritual sacrifices to God continually. As priests, we are
men and women who serve God and serve God where we are. It is
our privilege and our responsibility, no matter where we are, no matter
what sphere of life God has in his providence put us in, whether
you're a servant or a master, Whether you're a preacher or
a school teacher, whether you're a missionary or a mother, in
the sphere where God has put you, it is our privilege and
responsibility continually to worship and serve God as priest
of the Most High God. That's the thing that's set before
us in these various spheres of responsibility, and we have lessons
and instructions given us here concerning this blessed privilege
of worshiping serving God. The fact is we cannot function
properly. We cannot walk right in any sphere
of responsibility. We cannot carry any burden right
for the glory of God if we're not first and foremost serving
our God. Christianity does not involve
living in a cloister or a convent or a commune. Christianity doesn't
teach men to isolate themselves from the world. Some people have
the crazy idea that if you set yourself out in a distinct area,
so you're not influenced by other people, you don't have influence
by unbelievers, by infidels and so forth, then you will be more
holy and more righteous. I recall years ago, I met a fellow
who came down to hear me preach up in Michigan. and he'd driven
a long ways, way up in Canada, and brought his wife and daughters
down, and we visited a little bit, and just a little bit, he
told me he lived like a hermit. They didn't have running water,
they didn't have electricity, and they didn't have all the
conveniences of life, but they lived way up in the backwoods
in the mountains of Canada. I said, why on earth do you live
like that? He said, I don't want my daughters
to be corrupted by the world. I said, you what? I don't want
my daughter to be corrupted by the world. I said, don't you
understand the corruption's in them, it's not in the world?
You don't make yourself better by isolating yourself from others.
Rather, Christianity doesn't teach isolationism, but rather
Christianity is living for God where you are. Christianity is
living for Christ where you are. Christianity is serving God where
God has put you. And I want to talk to you this
morning about these four things that are absolutely essential
to the worship and service of God all the time. First, if we
would worship God, if we would come to God, if we would be accepted
of God, if we would serve God, We must have a sacrifice. Folks
wanna serve the Lord. Serving the Lord begins with
a sacrifice. Every man knows, he knows by
the law of God, he knows by the law of God stamped on his heart
and his conscience in creation, that he must have a sacrifice
if he comes to God. Men and women throughout history
have demonstrated they're aware of that fact. But it's not sufficient
just to bring a sacrifice. We must bring that sacrifice
which God has provided, which God requires, and which God has
accepted. A sacrifice of infinite merit
and worth. Not the work of our hands, not
something we have produced, but rather God's own Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the only true sacrifice. That's what's represented to
us here in verses 1 and 2. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein,
and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the
Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire
from the Lord, and it devoured them, and they died before the
Lord. These two men were in the tabernacle,
in the holy place. and they brought a sacrifice,
but the sacrifice they brought was strange fire. It was a mixture
of something of their own with the fire of God's altar, a mixture
of something they produced with the sacrifice of God, which symbolically
portrayed Jesus Christ our Lord. I know that I deal with this
all the time. I labor this all the time because,
Lindsey, we must constantly be reminded. You and I have a terrible,
natural inclination to mix something of our own with God's sacrifice,
and we must not do it. I spoke to a dear friend last
night. He called me just before we went to bed, and we chatted
for a little while, an old man. He said, Brother Don, I have
so much trouble. so much trouble with unbelief and so much trouble
of wanting to go back to my experiences. And looking at my experiences,
that causes me to have trouble with assurance and peace. He
said, I would to God, I could just believe God. He said, I've had experiences
and I know what it is to go through this and go through that. I know
the bitter feelings of sins, conviction, all that. But I tend
to want to look at those things. I want to look back. And I said
to him, it's a struggle you're going to have until you die because
it's appealing to the flesh. Man by nature is ignorant of
the righteousness of God. I repeat, not ignorant of the
fact that God is righteous. Everybody knows that. Man by
nature, like the Jews of old, is ignorant of the righteousness
of God established and brought in by the doing and dying of
the Lord Jesus Christ, God's one sacrifice. And being ignorant
of God's righteousness, they go about to establish their own
righteousness by their own works. So that, like the sons of Aaron,
Men forever come to God with a mixture of grace and works,
a mixture of law and gospel, a mixture of linen and wool.
Why did God command that folks not wear garments of linen and
wool mixed together? Because one is human manufacture,
the other is divine manufacture. It's a mixture of plowing with
an ox and an ass. God forbade that because one's
clean, the other's unclean. It's a mixture of free will and
free grace. A mixture of our righteousness
with the righteousness of God. Flesh forever is full of unbelief. The old man Adam forever is full
of unbelief. The believer, that new man, that
man born of God, that man taught of God, comes to God bringing
nothing but Christ. I have no hope but Christ. I have no peace but Christ. I have no righteousness but Christ. I have no atonement but Christ. I offer God nothing, I plead
nothing before God except the blood and righteousness of his
son, the Lord Jesus. And coming to God with such a
sacrifice, I come before God with confidence. Every time I
start to look for evidences that will give me some hope, evidences
that will bolster my confidence before God and I look for my
love for my brethren or my love for my Redeemer or my knowledge
or my experience. Every time I look at those things,
but have I experienced enough? Do I know enough? Do I feel enough? Do I love enough? And the answer
is always no. No. My evidence of hope before
God is faith in Jesus Christ alone. Dost thou believe on the
Son of God? That's the question I press upon
you and press upon myself. Do you believe on the Son of
God? If you trust the Christ of God,
if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus, the man
of Nazareth, actually accomplished all that the prophet said the
Christ would accomplish, he put away sin. He brought in everlasting
righteousness. He made an end to transgression.
If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you're born of God. And that's the only test. That's the only test. That's the only test. Well, preacher,
everybody believes that Jesus is the Christ. Ask them. I ask
you, do you trust the Christ of God? That's the evidence of
salvation and eternal life. We cannot come to God but by
the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus. All right, here's
the second thing. The worship of God, faith in
Christ, being God's servants, At its very core involves submission. Not only a sacrifice, but submission. Submission, that is the surrender
of all things to Christ. That's what we're taught in verses
three through six, Leviticus 10. Then Moses said unto Aaron,
after God killed his two boys, this is that the Lord spake,
saying, I will be sanctified. hallowed, honored, glorified
in them that come nigh me. And before all the people, I
will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And
Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle
of Aaron, and said unto them, come near, carry your brethren
from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near
and carried them in their coats out of the camp. as Moses had
said. And Moses said unto Aaron, and
unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar his sons, uncover not your heads,
neither rend your clothes, lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon
all the people. But let your brethren, the whole
house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.
What an astonishing, instructive word we have at the end of verse
three. Aaron held his peace. I find that remarkable. What
a solemn picture. Aaron's two sons are struck dead
right beside him. These two sons who had been ordered
into the priesthood with Aaron who had been clothed as priests
with Aaron, who had ceremonially had the blood applied to their
ear, their thumb, and their toe, these two sons of Aaron, who
stood as ordained priests before God. Sons of Aaron, who had seen
God come down and consume the sacrifice, burn up the sacrifice,
who'd seen the fire of God come out from the altar and consume
that sacrifice offered, portraying the work of our Lord Jesus being
accepted of God. These sons of Aaron who were
washed, robed, and anointed, clothed as God's priest, nay,
they had been by you. They had been witnesses with
Aaron of everything Aaron had witnessed. They had experienced
everything Aaron had experienced, at least outwardly. And now they
lay at his feet dead because God, in a sudden stroke, a sudden
miraculous stroke, a sudden obvious warning stroke, had burned them,
consumed them in death. What does Aaron say? What does
he do? Nothing. He stands in dead silence before
God. Aaron held his peace. As David put it, I was dumb.
I opened not my mouth because thou didst it. Like Eli, Aaron
said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. In silent awe, in reverent acquiescence,
Aaron bowed his head in the house of God and worshiped. The pillars
of his own house were shaken. His heart was broken. His life
crushed. His sons were dead. Those are
the things a man feels in such times. But Aaron knew that there
was something more important than his house, his heart, and
his sons. That which is more important
is God, his glory, his will, his people, his gospel, and his
cause. Aaron then stands before us as
a deeply impressive example, a commentary upon the words that
the psalmist gave, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly
of the saints. God is to be had in reverence
of all them that are about him. Who would not fear thee, O King
of Nations? Aaron's sons had despised God's
sacrifice. They had trampled his Savior's
blood under their feet. For that, they were killed in
the fury of God's wrath. Aaron didn't rebel. He didn't
complain. Rather, he bowed. He said by
his silence, God has done that which is right. In the last verses
of the chapter, verses 16 through 20, we're told that he refused
on that day to eat the burnt offering that Nadab and Abihu
had brought into the holy place. And he said to Moses, this is
the essence of it, if I eat their sacrifice, I would by that act
approve of their sacrilege. and their sin against God, and
Moses was content. Faith in Christ comes to God
only by the merits of Christ, only by the sacrifice God requires,
and faith in Christ bows, bows in submission to God, humbling
itself under the hand of the Almighty. I do not suggest that
it does so perfectly, I don't even suggest that it does so
immediately, but I'm here to tell you if I have faith in Christ
my Redeemer, I will bow to him. He'll see to it. He'll see to
it. If you have faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, whatever he brings into your life, you will bow
to him. He'll see to it. Not just in
word, but in heart, we'll bow. Here's the third thing, verses
six and seven. The worship of God requires steadfastness. And Moses said unto Aaron, and
unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar his sons, uncover not your heads,
neither rend your clothes, lest you die. And lest wrath come
upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole
house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.
And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation, lest ye die. For the anointing oil of the
Lord is upon you. In other words, Aaron, Eleazar,
Ithemar, you belong to God. You belong to God. Act like it. You belong to God. Behave as men who belong to God. Abide where you are as men who
belong to God. Lest the nation perish. That
is, lest you lead the nation in rebellion against God. And
they did according to the word of Moses. The Lord God spoke
plainly to Aaron and his remaining sons. But let us be sure we hear
what God said, for this is God's word to us. As God's priest,
as servants of the most high God, we must not bewail the burning
which the Lord has kindled, whatever it is. Those who are outside,
those who are not priests, might mourn, they might weep, they
might bewail the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, but not those who
served in the house of God. They were to worship God, giving
glory to God. They belonged to God. As I pen those words for you,
I wrote this prayer for me and for you. Oh Spirit of God, give
me that steadfastness of grace that will never let me forget
for a moment that I belong to God. The blood of Christ is upon
me. The blood of Christ is upon my
ear, the thumb of my hand, and the great toe of my foot. The
anointing of God is upon me. What does this picture before
us here in Leviticus 10? What does it tell us? Just this. If we are God's people, God's
priest, God's servants, we are to live above the world. I'm not talking about live above
the honky-tonk. I'm not talking about live above
the fornicator and adulterer and drunkard. That's all I'm
talking about. I'm talking about living above this time existence,
above the world. By the blood of Christ, by the
anointing of the Spirit, we've been brought into another world,
another kingdom, another sphere of life. We who are gods are
citizens of the New Jerusalem, not of any city here. being God's people. That does not mean we don't feel
things that others feel we do. Anything that hurts your neighbor
will hurt you. It'll hurt you just as painfully
as it will your neighbor. In fact, as believers, we feel
pain the unbeliever knows nothing about. We recognize the things
that we experience in this world come to us by the hand of our
Heavenly Father. And we recognize the distinction
of temporal things and eternal things. Of material things and
spiritual things. Of things of time and things
of eternity. We feel things. They renew. that
his boys had died, but he knew what few people will ever acknowledge.
He knew his two sons had died under the wrath of God. He knew his two sons perished
before the Lord. He felt it. Oh, my soul, how
he must have felt it. Children of God, we are not stoics. We are not stones. And God doesn't
expect us to be stoics or to behave as stones. We're children
of the Most High God. As such, while we feel all that
others feel in this world, all the pain, all the heartache,
all the sorrow, all the grief, We're to live above the world,
even above the range of nature's influence. Hold your hands here
in Leviticus and turn to Colossians 3, Colossians chapter 3. I want
you to look at this. Verse 1, if ye then be risen with Christ,
that word if, Circle that or underline it, write this word,
since. Since. Since ye then be risen
with Christ. Bill Raleigh, you believe God?
You've been risen with Christ. Since ye then be risen with Christ. Seek those things which are above.
Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your heart there. Set your affection on things
above. Not on things on the earth. for
you're dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. For the glory of God, for the
gospel sake, for Christ's sake, for the sake of men's souls,
we must rise above the claims of the world, the passions of
the world, and the passions of our own heart. The influence
of nature, we must ever abide in the house of God in his sanctuary. Shelby and I have been privileged
in God's providence to go through some experiences from the beginning
of our days as a couple that have taught us some things and
continue to teach us. We had been married just a few
months, four months, And I got a call
early one morning, her brother next to her had just been murdered.
And it's tough. It's tough. But this is God's
doings. Some years ago, I was diagnosed,
as you know, what's been now 40, 45, 46 years, I can't remember.
I was diagnosed with cancer, the doctor didn't expect me to
survive. And one of the first things the doctor said when he
started arranging the schedule for Cobalt treatments, he said,
now I'm gonna ask you to take a leave of absence while you
do this. And I said to him, Doctor, no,
whatever it is I need to do, I'll do it, but taking a leave
of absence, I can't do that. No, I can't do that. I'm not
gonna not preach during this time. And he said, Whatever you
want to do, but that's what I recommend. Kids, God's servant. Got some things to do for God's
people. But your health, God's servant. Got some things to do for God's
people. Some time ago, Shelby and I both buried our parents,
different times. Buried them with no confidence
of either of them knowing God. but every reason to know they
don't. At my dad's funeral, one of the
idiotic preachers who was in church where they were, had something
to say. I couldn't shut him up, but he
had something to say, and folks yacking, just talking the stupid
nonsense. People talking at such times,
and I just turned and turned with a broken heart, because
I knew everything he was saying was a lie, and wept. And then I preached his funeral.
I just buried my sister a year ago. Those things we feel. We feel them like few people
feel them. We feel them with greater pain
because we know the realities of things. We know the truth
of things. And yet, we're God's servants. Let us be steadfast in the place
where God's put us, worshiping him. Robert Hawker, commenting
on this third verse, wrote this, it is sweet in our afflictions
to eye the Lord's appointments and to depend upon it. As long
as we are able to keep in view divine wisdom, we shall never
despond by human suffering. Most everybody gives thanks to
God, worships and praises God, and sends special notes concerning
worshiping, praising God whenever they recover from a sickness,
or whenever they've come to some great boon, or they've had some
great, great gift bestowed upon them. Whenever someone is raised
up from the deathbed, it looks like, most everybody gives some
praise to God. Believers, like Job of old, worship
and praise God our Savior when He gives and when He takes away. God is just as good when He takes
the life of a child who knows Him as when He gives the life
of the child. He's just as good when He takes
the life of Nadab or Abihu who know Him not. as he is when he
gives the life. Our God is good and always does
good. Having said all that, let me
say this too. Sorrow commonly accompanies submission and steadfastness. This is a hard thing for folks
to grasp. You go to somebody and they're
going through difficulty He said to him, you've got to be strong.
Who says so? Who says so? Where does the sign
of sorrow and pain imply strength or imply weakness? Where does
a stoic hardness, I'm just not going to, I'm not going to let
anybody see me cry. How does that imply strength and faith? Those things are just not consistent.
I hope Susan won't mind me using an example. I recall when her
dad died, I have an idea how close you and your dad were.
I have an idea. And went to the funeral. I'm
almost learning, I'm almost learning not to ask stupid questions and
make stupid comments. I didn't do anything except greet
her and Jim and I put my arms around her and she hugged me
and I said, we hurt for you. That's all, that's all. What
more can you say? What more can you say? You need
to do this, you know. I don't know what you need to
do. I was at one of my regular checkups with a doctor the other
day, and I asked a lady, I said, we greeted, and I said, how are
you? I said, that's kind of dumb, isn't it? Why do we ask people
in doctor's office, how are you? If you were doing good, you wouldn't
be here. But we ask dumb questions and make dumb statements when
we ought to simply be of help by caring. Believers weep like
other people. They don't rebel. They're not
like the unbeliever. They don't take things in unbelief,
but they weep. Living men and women have hearts,
and broken hearts weep. Aaron and his sons were commanded
to stay right where they were in the holy place as God's priests,
and show no indication of pain, sorrow, or grief there in that
spot. But the very next word I find
interesting in verse 6. Moses specifically said, let
your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the morning. or the burning which the Lord
hath kindled. I find that instructive and helpful.
Old John Trapp makes very short comments, but he had this comment
I thought was outstanding. He said, it is fit enough ordinarily
that the body when sown in corruption be watered by the tears of those
who plant it in the earth. It is fit enough that the body,
when sown in corruption, be watered by the tears of those who plant
it in the earth. It is absurd hypocrisy for hurting
people to pretend they don't hurt. Pain and sorrow, weeping
and tears, mourning and grief are not an indication of weakness,
rebellion, or unbelief. We sorrow not as others which
have no hope, but sorrow we do. Israel was commanded to bewail
the judgment, the fire of God upon Nadab and Abihu. To bewail
God's judgment upon those wicked men. To bewail the cause of his
judgment, their rebellion. And to bewail Aaron, Eliezer,
Edith and Mars' painful loss. Moses said, Let the children
of Israel, the whole camp of Israel, bewail the pain these
three men are enduring. Our Lord Jesus stood at the tomb
of Lazarus and wept. And the Jews who didn't know
him and didn't know God, didn't know anything about God, they
said, behold how he loved him. They didn't understand. He wasn't
weeping because of Lazarus. He knew what he was about to
do. He knew what he had done. He was weeping simply because
of Martha and Mary. Their hearts were broken and
that broke his. What an instruction. What an
instruction. God's servants, I repeat, feel things deeply. We remain steadfast in the worship
of God. That doesn't mean we don't cry
like babies when our hearts are broken. Don't ever, ever, ever
suggest to someone they shouldn't. And don't try to act like you
have no pain when your heart's full of pain. Don't do it. Don't do it. I have a very dear
friend who, when his daughter was dying, for weeks and weeks
and weeks, just couldn't bring himself to go out in public.
He didn't preach for weeks, didn't even go to church, didn't even
go to church for weeks and weeks and weeks. And people in the
congregation and his family called me and came to visit me wanting
to know what's happening, what's happening. I said, he's like
David, he knows his daughter's dying. And while his daughter's
dying, he's fasting and praying, maybe God will spare her. When
this is over, when God takes her, he'll be all right. And
he has been. He has been. David washed his
face and said, get me something to eat. I'm gonna go worship
God. When he found out the boy was dead. God's people hurt. Our business is to weep with
those who weep. You understand that? Sometimes
that's the best thing you can do. I told you a story I read
years ago, a little boy's next door neighbor, an older man,
his wife had died, and this little boy, five or six years old, went
over to visit with him, and his mother saw him coming back and
started to scold him. She said, I told you to leave him alone.
What were you doing over there? He said, Mama, I was just helping
him cry. Oh God, give me grace to help you cry when your heart's
broken, to weep with those who weep. Look at verse seven. Aaron
gives Eliezer, Ithamar, and Aaron, or the Lord gives Aaron and Eliezer
and Ithamar a sweet word of assurance. Ye shall not go out from the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die. For
the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. And they did according
to the word of Moses. First he warned them not to leave
their place. Don't go out of the tabernacle.
Don't forsake the altar. Don't forsake the worship of
God. Don't go out, don't go out. He says, Aaron, Eliezer, Ithamar,
you've got to persevere. You've got to stand fast. And
it's not just a commandment, it's an assurance. Yes, we must
persevere. And blessed be God, we shall
persevere if we're His. He'll see to it. Next, He assured
them, they're still God's priests. The anointing of the Lord is
upon you. God is faithful. In verses 12 through 15, he reassures
them that all the rights and privileges of the priest were
still theirs. All the blessings of the sanctuary
were still theirs. Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar were
chosen, redeemed, called, and accepted in, with, and by Christ
the anointed one. And then we read, and they did
according to the word of Moses. Nothing is sweeter I can tell
you with a little experience, nothing is sweeter to the heaven
born soul in time of trouble than the sweet assurance of God's
free saving grace in Christ Jesus. The assurance of God's character
in his sovereignty as God. the assurance of God's good providence,
the assurance of acceptance in, with, and by Christ Jesus, the
assurance of God's constant care. Nothing is more difficult, nothing
more contrary to nature than this steadfastness of faith.
They not only bowed to God's will, his obvious judgment upon
Nadab and Abihu, but they continued steadfast in the worship and
service of God. What is it that's required in
the worship of God and serving Christ? What's involved in this
thing we call faith in Christ? Sacrifice, submission, steadfastness. And fourth, verses eight through
11, if we would worship and serve our God, we must live before
him soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Verse 8. The Lord spake unto
Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou nor thy
sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation,
lest ye die. It shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations, and that ye may put difference
between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean. and that you
may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord
hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. Now while this
word of God is a literal prohibition to Aaron and to all like him
against the use of wine or strong drink when they were involved
in the work of the priesthood, it is not a prohibition against
the use of alcoholic beverages among God's people. Now I say
that because it needs saying. The Word of God nowhere teaches
that believers are not to use wine or alcoholic beverages.
The Word of God teaches moderation. It prohibits drunkenness. It
prohibits intemperance. But nowhere does it teach total
abstinence. Now, I'm not suggesting that
you who do not enjoy such go out and start to have wine or
a beer or whatever with your meals. I am saying for you who
wish to, The only thing the scriptures prohibit is drunkenness, a lack
of moderation, exercise temperance in all things. But what then
is the significance of these words to us? What do they teach
us? Just this. Wine and strong drink
are things that excite and exhilarate nature. They commonly cause men
and women to act according to their basest passion. that cause
people to lose moderation and reason. They prohibit that calm,
well-balanced condition of heart that's essential to walking with
God, worshiping God, and serving God. Now this is the doctrine
of the passage. You and I who are gods must not
allow our judgment or our behavior in spiritual matters to be clouded
by our carnal passions. If we do, we won't be able to
distinguish between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, in
doctrine, in worship, in behavior, in service, in anything. We must
not allow our base carnal passions to rule us. Rather, we're to
live in sobriety with God. being filled with the spirit,
not with the carnal passions of our flesh. Happens to be last
night, after I got done with my work, I flipped the television
on, just as, in the middle of one of the old gun smoke programs,
some drunk came out and challenged Matt Dillon, wanted to call him
out for a gun fight. And he was obviously drunk as
a skunk, and the fellow standing behind him said, do you reckon
he's fool enough to try it? And Mr. Dillon said the whiskey
might, he wouldn't. Because he was drunk. His carnal
passions were not controlled. He wasn't thinking reasonably. He wasn't behaving as he normally
would. Let us not allow our carnal passions
to control us in any trial, heartache, difficulty, or delight and happiness. If we're going to honor God,
if we're going to serve Christ and his people in this world,
if we would worship God, we must be able to make a distinction.
between the holy and the unholy, the clean and the unclean, that
that's right and that that's evil. And we can do that only
as we walk in the Spirit, being filled with the Spirit. Turn
to Titus 2, and I'll wrap this up. Titus 2. Verse 11. The grace of God that bring us
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, teaching us. The word is educating us. There
are teachers and then there are teachers. There are teachers
who give out the lessons and then there are teachers who are
gifted of God and see to it the students get the lessons. There's
a difference. The grace of God doesn't just
give out the lesson. When the grace of God comes to
a center, it teaches us. It sees to it that we get the
lesson, educating us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust,
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Soberly, that is live with our
passions in control. Live as one who thinks soberly,
one who is moderate, controlling himself, righteously and godly
in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the
glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. In all circumstances, looking
for him. who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from
all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous
of good works. This is what it is to call upon
the name of the Lord. This is what it is to believe
God. This is what it is to worship God. It is coming to God by faith
in the sacrifice of his Son. continually coming to God by
Christ. It is bowing to the Lord God
in humble surrender, submitting all things to Him, His will,
His dominion, His glory. Faith in Christ is steadfast
adherence to Christ. Just holding on to Him. Faith in Christ. is living here
by the teaching of grace as the priest of the Most High God soberly,
soberly. Viewing all things right, judging
things right. seeing things in their true colors,
seeing things for what they are, believing God. Oh, God give us
grace then to live with him every day, trusting his sacrifice,
submitting ourselves to him, steadfastly clinging to him. soberly, righteously, and godly,
ever keeping ourselves in the love of Christ, ever looking
for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.