In a world of constant turmoil, poverty, pain, sickness, war,
death, in such a world, how can anyone live in peace? In a world where we constantly
struggle with our own sinful hearts, depravity. How can anyone
live in peace? Where on earth can men and women
find peace? Let's look at Leviticus chapter
three and see what God teaches us. The gospel of Leviticus begins
with the description of five sacrifices. Sacrifices ordained
by God for the children of Israel to use in their worship of him.
The sacrifices, of course, are pictures of our Lord Jesus and
the redemption he accomplished for us at Calvary by the sacrifice
of himself. By the shedding of his blood,
he accomplished for us eternal redemption. He obtained for us
everlasting salvation. These sacrifices were ordinances
of divine worship, ordained and directed in all their detail
by God himself. The first chapter speaks of burnt
offerings, the second of meat offerings, then the peace offerings
and sin offerings and trespass offerings. the poor needy sinner
would come to God with a symbolic sacrifice, a symbolic sacrifice
that God himself specified, a sacrifice such as God required. And in
that sacrifice, he found symbolically both acceptance with God by blood
atonement and the assured blessing of God upon his life through
that sacrifice. Each of these sacrifices represented
God's provision for the needs of fallen men. God's provision
for the needs of our poor fallen souls. Each one displayed a distinct
aspect of our Savior's accomplishments for us. Remember what we saw
in chapter one. We all need atonement. Atonement,
by which we find acceptance with God. That's what's represented
in the burnt offerings. The burnt offering pictured the
acceptance of guilty sinners by God. Acceptance through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. Acceptance through his merits,
the merits of his obedience and his blood. God's acceptance of
his people. God's acceptance of you, my brother,
my sister. God's acceptance of me is complete. Now let that sink in. God accepts
us just as He accepts His Son in the totality of our beings. The Lord God Almighty, having
punished sin in His Son, to the full satisfaction of justice,
accepted his son and accepts his son now yonder in glory in
the totality of his being. Even so, God accepts us right
now in the totality of our beings. He accepts us all together with
his son, one with his son, because of his son, as his son. This
is our acceptance with God through the precious blood of Christ,
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, accepted from the
foundation of the world, in whom we are accepted in the beloved. That's the picture of atonement
by the burnt offering. In chapter two, there's another
need met. Fallen man being estranged from
God, being alienated from God by the fall of Adam and by his
own heart's nature and rebellion against God. Within his soul
has a desperate need, a need of consecration to God. Man by
nature has in him a need, a need of consecration to God. He knows
he ought to be devoted to God and walk with God. He can't do
it, but he has the desperate need. He needs to give himself
up to God and men strive to do so in different ways, but there's
no rest for his soul. until a man gives himself up
entirely to God by faith in and devotion to Christ. I shouldn't
say by faith in, which is devotion to Christ. Faith in Christ is
devotion to Him. Nothing short of devotion to
Him is faith in Him. That's what's portrayed in the
meat offerings described in the second chapter. Here man brings
back to God the very stuff of which we are made, our staple
food, bread. These meat offerings are meal
offerings, bread offerings. This portrays the believer's
response to the mercy, love and grace of God in Christ. Our response
to atonement and acceptance with God by the merits of Christ.
We bring him ourselves in devotion to him. Just as our savior gave
himself to God entirely as our sin atoning sacrifice, We who
believe God give ourselves entirely to God by faith in Christ. The meat offering is the believer
coming to God by faith in Christ, full of gratitude. And how do
we come to God by faith in Christ? Full of gratitude. We come to
God saying, Lord God, I'm yours. I'm yours. You chose me. You redeemed me. You've called me. Here, Lord,
I give myself to you. It is all that I can do. When God required the children
of Israel to tithe, that tithe of their income, that tithe of
their property was a representation that everything they had came
from God and belonged to God. We bring our gifts. And with
our gifts, I hope we declare with every gift, Lord God, I'm
yours. You bought me. All that I possess,
all that you put in my hands, the totality of my life is yours. And here, Lord, with this, I
symbolically give to you afresh my entire being. This Sunday
afternoon, After lunch, Brother Neil and Amy Hutchins called,
wondering if they'd come by, and they asked to confess the
Lord in baptism. And we will have the privilege
of seeing this Sunday morning, joining them with it, or joining
them in it. And as you do, remember what
you did in the waters of baptism. Remember what your baptism means. I'm crucified with Christ. Now
I live with him. I'm dead, but I'm alive and my
life is his. Still there's another universal
need that men have. Men need atonement. They need
devotion to the Lord God. And all fallen men crave peace. Oh, how we need peace, peace
within, peace with one another, peace with God. How can I have
peace in my heart, peace in my soul, peace within? so that I can indeed live with
my moderation in this world, peace in this world, ease of
character, ease of mind, ease of disposition, ease of heart
in the midst of turmoil and trouble. Peace we need. Peace man craves. But the fact is, no man can ever
have peace within Men cannot have peace with one another until
first we have peace with God And that's what's portrayed before
us here in Leviticus 3 The Lord God here describes for us the
ceremonial highly symbolical Typical peace offerings which
of course portray Christ who is our peace Here God answers
the question. How can I find peace? in order
To find peace with God, you've got to have this which God here
portrays. And notice the order of the sacrifices.
It's not accidental. First, you must have atonement.
You cannot give yourself to God apart from atonement. And you
must come to God believing on his son. You cannot believe on
his son except by devoting yourself to him. That's what faith is.
And then as you come to God through the blood of Christ, trusting
him, you have peace. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God. Atonement first, then faith,
and with the faith comes peace. Without question, God's elect
in this world, though redeemed by the precious blood of Christ,
though devoted to the will of God and the glory of God, still
live in a world full of pain. We live in a world full of pain. If you expect to escape pain,
you'll first have to die and hopefully die in Christ or pain
will be forever. As long as you live in this world,
you will experience pain and hurt and heartache, trouble,
temptation and trial. That's the lot of man. The portion
of our cup while we live in this world is always mixed with bitterness. There's no such thing as life
without it. There's no such thing as life
without turmoil. No such thing as life without
pain. No such thing as life without
tears being shed. That's part of life. Yet the
Apostle Paul tells us in the eighth chapter of Romans, as
we face and deal with trouble and persecution, famine and nakedness,
peril and sword in the midst of it all, God's peace is still
ours. The Savior still says, my peace
I give unto you. My peace I give unto you. Now let's look at this third
chapter of Leviticus and see what God teaches us here. I pray
that the Spirit of God who wrote the passage will cause the message
of the passage to be sealed to your heart. I'll just call your
attention to some highlights. As with the burnt offerings,
the peace offerings could either be a calf or a lamb or a goat. And the worshiper who came must
come identifying himself with the sacrifice, laying his hands
upon the head of the sacrifice. As you read the Old Testament,
particularly you read Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. As you read these instructive
chapters about the worship of God in the tabernacle, in the
temple, during the days of the Mosaic economy, over and over
and over again, men and women bring sacrifices. They bring
sacrifices to be slain and the blood sprinkled upon God's altar.
And with each sacrifice, the worshiper comes and lays his
hands on the head of the sacrifice. And the priest lays his hands
upon the head of the sacrifice. There is a symbolic picture repeated
constantly that the Lord God would have the children of Israel
always to bear in mind. A picture. the Lord God would
have you and I always to bear in mind. First, the transfer
of sin. Man cannot transfer sin to man. Man cannot transfer guilt to
man, but God can and God did. He transferred our sins from
us to his son when he made his son sin for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. And when that sin
was transferred to our substitute, the Lord God Almighty punished
his son to the full satisfaction of divine justice in our stead
and thereby reconciled us to God. that transfer when a sinner
came and laid his hands on the head of that sacrifice. He not
only remembers that which God promised to do in the sacrifice
of his son, but he expresses faith in that one upon whom sin
had been transferred. Faith in the coming Redeemer. Faith in the Lamb who would come,
for whom the Lord God would upon whom the Lord God would pour
out his wrath for his people. And the sinner, bringing a sacrifice,
remembering his sins. Every sacrifice reminding him
of a sin. He remembers the sacrifice of
Christ. He expresses faith in the sacrifice
of Christ. And oh, how the believing sinner,
as he killed that innocent victim, and saw the priest offer its
blood at God's altar, how he must have rejoiced and given
thanks to God for the sacrifice. Oh God, teach me through every
day and every hour of my life to believe that which you have
revealed in your Son. rest my soul upon Christ my sacrifice
and ever give thanks for him. The innocent victim had to be
slain, slain by the worshipper. The blood had to be sprinkled,
sprinkled upon God's altar by God's priest. In other words,
there's only one way to God. And that one way is the blood
of Christ. Not the blood of Christ and what
you do. Not the blood of Christ and what
you experience. Not the blood of Christ and what
you know. Not the blood of Christ and what you feel. The blood
of Christ alone is our way of access to God. Look at chapter
three, verse 12. We'll read just a portion of
this text again. If his offering be a goat, then
he shall offer it before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand
upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the
congregation. And the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood
thereof upon the altar round about. And he shall offer thereof
his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. The
fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon
the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them,
which is by the flanks and the call above the liver with the
kidneys, it shall he take away. And the priest shall burn them
upon the altar. It is the food of the offering
made by fire for a sweet savor. All the fat is the Lord's. It
shall be a perpetual statute for your generation. throughout
all your dwellings, that you eat neither fat nor blood." Obviously,
this prohibition of eating fat or blood given to Israel under
the law was a prohibition given because the life of the flesh
is in the blood. That's not talking just about
our life and our blood, but the life of our Savior in his humanity
is in the blood poured out upon the cursed tree. And we must
ever hold that in reverence. In studying for this message,
I found it remarkable. I actually had read it, knew
it, but things slip out of your mind, you forget them when you're
not reminded of them, that pagans throughout history, throughout
history in their religious festivities, along with other abominable things,
commonly feasted upon fat and drank blood. Commonly so. Herod spoke of mixing blood with
the sacrifices. These things are prohibited to
those who worship God, for the blood speaks of our Redeemer,
the fat being the very best of things, speaks of our Redeemer.
Now let me show you four things about these peace offerings.
Four things that distinguish them really from other offerings.
First, let's look at the fat itself. If you look at verse
16, at the last part of the verse, there seems to be this unusual
requirement. All the fat is the Lord's. What's the significance of that?
In the burnt offerings, the entire animal was consumed. by the fire
burned up at God's altar. In the peace offerings, God provides
detailed instruction concerning the parts of the body. You notice
detail, not only about the parts, but how they were to be sacrificed. And then he gives this command,
all the fat is the Lord's. How come? Why that command? Well,
I know a little bit about fat. In our culture, fat always has
negative connotations. In our culture, the ideal male
or female form is very thin, if not muscular. No one wants
to be called fat, nobody, nobody. But in most cultures, and in
most times in history, that's not been the case, because most
people in world history have lived in poverty. and in places
where poverty is rampant. Fat is not something to be ashamed
of. In fact, in previous days, in
other cultures, and in our day, in New Guinea and in the various
countries in Africa, if a person had a wife that looked like a
supermodel, he would be pitied. Because it would be obvious the
man had no wealth at all. The fatter his wife and children,
the more the man is looked upon with respect. Is that fairly
accurate? They're just looked upon with greater respect, plus
the poor folks can't afford to eat. They can't afford that.
As soon as a man gets a little wealth, his belly begins to swell
a little bit. Not swelling as one starved,
but swelling with fat. Because it shows prosperity. In the Old Testament, the Jews
had a similar attitude toward fat. In fact, the word fat is
commonly used in our Bibles in a positive way. Remember when
Joseph was called by Pharaoh and he called into his palace
and he said, now, your family, your family, they will have the
fat of the land and they will eat of the fat of the land. What's that talking about? I'm
going to give them the best of the land. And they will eat the
best of the fruit of the land. God commanded in numbers that
the children of Israel give to Aaron and his sons the fat, the
best of the oil, and the best of the wine, and the best of
the wheat, and the best of the first fruits. But that word best
is the very same word that is elsewhere translated fat. The
word means that which is the very best. Now hear me. When
God says the fat shall be the Lord's. Only the best. Only the best. Only the best. Commonly in churches, folks give
stuff that can't be used for anything else. I have preached
in a number of church buildings around the world. And when I
drive up to the building, I can tell you which ones were donated.
I can tell you what property was donated. I used to preach
at a church in West Virginia fairly often, and right along
the bed of the river, right where it bends, back yonder, right
there, where the railroad track runs right by the river, in a
hollow, stayed so wet you couldn't possibly raise anything there,
right there, a farmer gave an acre of land for a church to
build a building. Every Sunday morning, you'd have to stop and
wait for the train to go by. Every Sunday night, you'd have
to stop and wait for the train to go by because the land was
worthless. God won't accept anything but
the best. He gave and accepted his son. And God will not accept from
you and me anything but the best. Not what's left over, not what
we can't do without, the best, that which cost us. James says,
every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the father
of lights with whom is no variableness, no shadow of turning. If we would
enjoy peace in this world, we must recognize that the singular
source of all that is good is God, our good God. Every good
and perfect gift is his salvation. The good and perfect gift of
his grace. The good and perfect gift of
his providence. The good and perfect gift of
life everlasting. The good and perfect gift of
heavenly glory. And we must realize that having
all things from God, all that we receive from him belongs to
him. Everything. everything We have nothing he didn't give
us We have not received any gift by what we deserve But it is
that which God has freely given us by which he has distinguished
us from other people as his own This is a basic requirement for
peace We've got to recognize that We've got to recognize that
Whatever I have with what I have in the bank, or what I have on
a piece of property outside town, or what I have in that woman.
Last night we went over and had dinner with our children, grandchildren,
and them too. Whatever I have, whatever I have,
it's God's. It's God's. Now, we must hold that which is God's
with a loose hand. Or whenever you call for it,
here it is. Here it is. If you try to hang on to it,
holdin' on's gonna cause you to fray. Holdin' on's gonna destroy
your peace. Whatever we have is God's. And when you can understand it's
his, for him to do with as he will, when he will, you can just
kind of hold it with loose fingers. Lord, this is yours. And as you
hold that which you have with a loose hand, you hold it with
peace. Second, look at verses 15 through
18, in chapter seven. Here, Moses picks up on these
offerings, peace offerings. The sacrifice of peace offerings
had to be eaten. This is the only one of the sacrifices
that was to be eaten by the man who offered it. In the 16th verse
of chapter 3, we're told that it's a food offering. And look
at verse 15 of chapter 7. And the flesh of the sacrifice
of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that
it is offered. He shall not leave any of it
until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering
be a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day
that he offereth his sacrifice. And on the morning also, on the
morrow also, the remainder of it shall be eaten. But the remainder
of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt
with fire. And if any flesh of the sacrifice
of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall
not be accepted. Neither shall it be imputed to
him that offereth it, it shall be an abomination. And the soul
that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. Why did God require
this sacrifice to be eaten? Why did he require this sacrifice
to be eaten on the day that it was offered? Remember, the fat
was given to God. That's burned on the altar. The
breast and the right shoulder, we'll see in a minute, were given
to the priest. The rest was to be eaten by the worshiper. It
could be shared with anyone in the camp of Israel who was himself
ceremonially clean. but it was to be eaten on the
day that it was offered, eaten by those who were cleansed by
the sacrifices. Here, the Lord God again gives
us a picture of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, and his redeemed
together, feeding upon his sacrifice. You see, God feeds upon the same
sacrifice we feed upon. And God is satisfied with the
same sacrifice by which our consciences are satisfied. The Lord God himself
finds satisfaction in his son. The Lord Jesus finds satisfaction
in his sacrifice. And we who believe, feasting
on him, find satisfaction in him. Believing sinners are portrayed
in scripture as eating his flesh and drinking his blood. That's
what faith is. We take him as our own. Believing Him, we eat His flesh
and drink His blood, take His life and His sacrifice, and that
becomes ours. And our Savior said, as He did
to the woman at the well, said, any man drinks of this water,
he's gonna thirst again. But if you drink from the water
that I give you, it shall be in you a well of living water,
springing up unto everlasting life. Our Savior said, he that
eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, he has eternal life. Believers, living by faith, live
continually, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the
crucified Redeemer. All who are clean before God
feed upon this sacrifice. Now watch this. The peace offering
had to be eaten in two days. The day it was offered, and the
next day. Third day, you can't eat any
of it. Why that specific command? Now,
as Brother Hawker would say, I won't speak with absolute authority
about this, but I think I know, I think I know. I suspect it's
because the sinner, as soon as he believes, as soon as he believes,
soon as he believes he has peace with God. Tell me, you who are
gods, have you ever again enjoyed such delightful, so thrilling
peace as when you first believed? Hmm. Thank God the peace was
made by the blood of Christ. The sacrifice made effectual
long before we believed. The sacrifice was effectual when
the sacrifice was made. But we cannot and do not know
anything about the peace that comes by the sacrifice until
we believe. And just like when a thirsty
man takes a drink of water, that quenches the thirst. He
may want a little bit more, but that quenches the thirst. Just
take a drink, that's all. And if he's real thirsty, he takes
a little drink. And oh, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. And the believer,
as he walks in this world, believe in He feasts upon the sacrifice. He eats the sacrifice by faith
and walks in peace. But why did the Lord God prohibit
eating any of the sacrifice on the third day? Again, I think,
I know. Throughout the Old Testament
scriptures, the third day spoke of resurrection. The third day
was always spoken of in terms of resurrection. And while we
live in this world, throughout our pilgrimage in this world,
throughout our troubled days in this world, we feast upon
the sacrifice. We eat the sacrifice by faith. And then when the resurrection
has come. when the Lord God has made all
things new and the slime of the serpent is eliminated from his
creation and we dwell in his presence. We no longer live by
faith. We feast upon the sacrifice and
find peace as we do, walking through this world of woe. Here's
the third thing, look at chapter seven again. Only those who stood
clean before the Lord to eat the sacrifice. Look at verse
20, Leviticus 7, But the soul that eateth of the
flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that pertain unto the
Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall
be cut off from the people. Moreover, the soul that shall
touch any unclean thing shall be as the uncleanness of a man,
or uncleanness of a beast, or any abominable unclean thing,
and eat the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offerings which
pertain to the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his
people." If a person had any uncleanness upon him, he wasn't
allowed to feast upon the sacrifice. Well, the preacher, Isn't Christ
a fountain open for cleansing for sinners and for the unclean?
Isn't Christ the friend of publicans and sinners? Indeed he is. Indeed
he is. But the sinner who comes to God
with his burnt offering, the blood of Christ, his meat offering,
the righteousness of Christ, and his peace offering, the Lamb
of God, is clean before the Lord. He has no uncleanness upon him. Christ Jesus, by His blood, by
His righteousness, makes sinners perfectly clean. He makes us
holiness. He makes us righteousness. He makes us pure. He makes us
perfect. He declares us to be so. And
He is the one who is our worthiness, our fitness before God. So we
come to God and we feast upon the sacrifice, being accepted
of God through Christ Jesus. So we can come and live continually,
feeding in God's house as the royal priesthood chosen of God,
made priest under God forever, living upon Christ Jesus. One
more thing. Look at chapter seven again,
verse 29. The breast and the right shoulder were given here
as the priest portion. Speak unto the children of Israel,
saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings
unto the Lord shall bring his oblation unto the Lord of the
sacrifice of his peace offerings. His own hands shall bring the
offerings of the Lord made by fire. The fat with the breast,
it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering
before the Lord. And the priest shall burn the
fat upon the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his son's. And the right shoulder shall
you give unto the priest for a heave offering of the sacrifices
of your peace offerings. He among the sons of Aaron that
offereth the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have
the right shoulder for his part. For the way breast and the heave
shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the
sacrifices of their peace offerings and have given them unto Aaron
the priest and unto his sons by statute forever from among
the children of Israel. The breast. That's the piece
of meat closest to the heart. I can't help but to think there's
something said here about the love of God for us in Christ
Jesus manifest in that sacrifice. He made it Calvary. And the right
shoulder. Might, strength, power. Speaking of omnipotence in God
our Savior. We come to God believing on the
Son of God and we feast forever upon the Lamb of God. Sacrifice
for us, resting our souls in the love of God revealed in our
crucified Savior and in his might to save. Oh, how peaceful to
walk in this world with God in the midst of trouble, heartache,
bitterness, even in the teeth of my sin, my corruptions, my
unbelief. How peaceful to walk with God
in the conscious knowledge of his everlasting love. His infinite
goodness flowing from a heart of everlasting love from God
who is good and sovereign. God mighty to save. That's our Savior. He loves us
with an everlasting love and will never be turned from us
to do us good. and he's mighty to accomplish
all that he's promised, mighty to save. Now, believe this and
walk in the world in peace. Without this confidence in God,
in God our Savior, without this confidence, we're easily overwhelmed
by our circumstances because we live in a world that seems
to be out of control. How often men and women are brought
into such straits they think, I just can't take it anymore. Talked to a man yesterday, one
who just committed suicide, troubled. I get calls from folks frequently
who just think they just can't take it anymore. How sad. How very, very sad. Believe on
the Son of God. Believing Him. Do you believe
Him? Do you believe Him? Answer for yourself. Do you believe
Him? If you do, walk in this world
in darkness and trouble with peace. For He whom you trust
is God who loves you with an infinite, everlasting love. and He's God, mighty to save,
worthy of your faith, sweet, sweet faith that obtains peace
from the throne of God. Amen.