I am sure you know how very dear
this assembly is to Shelby and I. That can't be expressed often
enough. Brother Gene keeps us aware of
various circumstances of your lives and we try to pray for
you. Thank God for making you part of our lives. Shelby and
I don't own a thing. We came to Danville 39 years
ago with some furniture and two cars and Now we got some furniture,
a car, and a truck. But we don't own any property. I don't have any pension. But
we're the richest people in the world. Not only is Christ ours,
we have friends like you literally all over the world. And thank
God for making you part of our lives. Difficult you've been
through, Phil. My friend brother Scott Richardson
one time said, he said, this is just a bump in the road, I'm
on my way home. And these difficulties are just
a bump in the road, we're on our way home. I ask you to pray
for us as God enables you. I saw Anna and Trevor walk in
back there and I thought, man, she has picked up the weight. I've known her a long time. The only time you can tell a
woman she's getting fat is when she's just about to have a baby,
and she'll smile at you and hug you. It's good to see you. Happy for you. I travel a good
bit, as you know, and I'm asked to go a lot of places, sometimes
places I've never been and circumstances I'm not real familiar with. Folks
ask me often, they said, are you going to be uncomfortable?
I said, no, not me. They might be, but I want to
be comfortable. A while back, I was asked by a fellow to come
preach for him up in the Northeast. He'd been asking me to come for
a long time. And I finally agreed to come and preach. And then
a few weeks later, I got a brochure. He had invited a bunch of fellows
to preach that they were sure enough going to be uncomfortable
if I showed up. And I made up my mind I would not go and be
identified with what I knew would be Preach that. But I got the
brochure and those blurbs that give little biographical blurbs
of things and tell about preachers. I want to read you what they
said. One of the fellows advertised himself as a man whose heart
beats for a church patterned after God's word. A second one
described himself as a man who has a passion to see believers
live a holy lives. And the third one told that he
possesses a genuine desire to lead his church in the purity
of the gospel, both from the pulpit and his life. Now those are very noble, laudable
goals. But when I read about them, I
immediately began to ask myself some questions. What is a church
patterned after the word of God? I, over the years, have met with,
as your pastor has, and as you have here, a lot of church shoppers.
Folks jump from one church to the other because they haven't
found quite one good enough for them yet. We want to be in a
true New Testament church. I wonder, do they mean a church
like the Church of Corinth, maybe? Or the Church of Galatia, perhaps?
Or maybe the church at Jerusalem, or the church at Colossae. Find
out something about those churches if you want to find out what
the church was like in the New Testament. I'll tell you what
it was like. Each of those local churches,
a heap site like Rescue Baptist Church in Rescue, California,
and Grace Baptist Church in Danville, Kentucky, plumb full of sinful
men and women saved by God's free grace. And I want to know by what means
can I persuade people to live holy lives? Is it possible for a person to
be a believer and not be holy? Is holiness something we do or
is it something God gives? Are believers created in righteousness
and true holiness? If we are, can we by some means
or another lose it? If we lose it, can we get it
back? How am I to lead you to live in the purity of the gospel,
both from the pulpit and in my life? What is gospel purity? Is it revealed purity or is it
purity that I perform? Is it doctrinal purity or is
it a duty purity? Is it a purity I proclaim or
a purity that I promote and push and pull out of folks? Being
ignorant of things such lofty goals as I am, I searched the
scriptures for answers and I found them. If you'll open your Bibles
to the Gospel of Exodus, the 29th chapter, I'll show you the
answer. The title of my message is a
question. I ask it of each of you, particularly
you who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm talking
to you specifically. What I have to say, if God will
bless it to your hearts, will be profitable to you who do not
yet know a Redeemer to the saving of your souls. But what I have
to say, I have to say particularly to you who are gods. Are you
a consecrated Christian? Are you a consecrated Christian? The last hymn we sang, we could
not have had a better hymn with which to introduce the message
I have for you this morning. I am sure that a hallowed Christian,
a consecrated Christian, is one whose life exemplifies the purity
of the gospel. It is a life of godliness and
true holiness. I believe a hallowed church,
a truly consecrated church, is a church reflecting the pattern
of instruction given in the word of God. And I am fully convinced
that every man and woman who is born of God, no matter how
old or how young, recognizes I belong to Jesus. lock, stock, and barrel. In the totality of my life, I'm
his. I have nothing. My God, either that's honest
or it's a lie. I have nothing. Not so much as
a breath that belongs to me. What I have here, I have as the
steward of God to use for God's glory, for the benefit of God's
people, for the furtherance of God's gospel. I belong to my Redeemer. He bought me. He conquered me. He arrested me. He gave me a
willing heart and made me glad to give myself to Him. I belong
to my Redeemer. In this 29th chapter of the Gospel
of Exodus, the Lord God told Moses how to consecrate Aaron
and his sons as God's priest to serve him in his house. If I am consecrated to God, if
you are consecrated to God, We must be consecrated to God just
exactly as Aaron and his sons were consecrated to God. The
first time we run across this word consecrate is back in chapter
28. If you want to turn back there
for just a moment. Consecrate. People talk a lot
about consecration. They talk a whole lot about sanctification. Folks talk a lot about devotion
and discipleship and devotion to God. Now, let's see what the
scriptures teach. Here in Exodus 28 verse 3, this
is the first time you see the word. Thou shalt speak unto all
that are wise hearted. whom I have filled with the spirit
of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments," now watch
this, garments, garments, garments, to consecrate him. Garments of consecration. Some
folks have the idea that, you know, if you're a Christian you
dress a certain way. Down where we live, or back where
we live, and down where we live, we always like to call it down.
Everywhere in the south, the furthest point north in the south,
that's south, that's down. That's down. We're proud southerners. Down where we live, just below
us is a whole slew of folks called Amish people. and German Baptists. And there's a group of them down
there that split churches, make two different denominations.
Because one of them believe you ought to wear buttons, and the
other one believe you ought to wear zippers. You think I'm joking. That's
exactly the reason they split. And they dress funny. They even
talk funny. They wear silly looking hats.
And they dress real plain and simple. So folks look at him
and say, he's a Christian. And lots of Baptists have the
same notion. Lots of folks have the same notion. Let me tell
you something. Consecration's got everything
to do with the way you're dressed. Everything. Everything. You've
got to dress right or you're not consecrated. But I'm not
talking about the clothes you're wearing. The first time the word
consecration is used is in the chapter before us this morning
in Exodus 29. Now, here is a pretty good rule. It's not hard and
steadfast, but it's a pretty good rule when you run across
something in scriptures. The first time something is mentioned,
the first time you find a word in scripture, however it's used
there, what it means there is what it means wherever you find
it in the book. The law of first mention, what
it means first time, that's what it means every time. Let's see
what the scriptures say about consecration. To consecrate something
is to hallow it, to sanctify it, to make it holy, to set it
as a gem in a piece of jewelry or as a gem in a crown. Now,
I have been reluctant to read this entire passage. I won't
read it all, but my text is chapter 29, verses 1 through 46. Let's
read the bulk of it together. And this is the thing that thou
shalt do unto them, to hallow them, to sanctify them, to minister
unto me in the priest office. Take one young bullock and two
rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered
with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil. Of wheat and
flour shalt thou make them, and thou shalt put them into one
basket, and bring them in the basket with the bullock and the
two rams. And Aaron and his sons, thou
shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
and shalt wash them with water. And thou shalt take the garments,
and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and
the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious
girdle of the ephod. And thou shalt put the mitre
upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre, Then shalt
thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and
anoint him. And thou shalt bring his sons,
and put coats upon them. And thou shalt gird them with
girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them.
And the priest office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. And thou shalt consecrate Aaron
and his sons. How is that? With these garments.
And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle
of the congregation. And Aaron and his sons shall
put their hands upon the head of the bullock. And thou shalt
kill the bullock before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. And thou shalt take the blood
of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy
finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.
And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and
the call that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the
fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. But the
flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou
burn with fire without the camp. It is a sin offering. Verse 15.
Thou shalt also take one ram, and Aaron and his son shall put
their hands upon the head of the ram. And thou shalt slay
the ram, and thou shalt take his blood and sprinkle it round
about upon the altar. And thou shalt cut the ram in
pieces and wash the inwards of him and his legs and put them
into his pieces and unto his head. And thou shalt burn the
whole ram upon the altar. It is a burnt offering unto the
Lord. It is a sweet savor, an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. Verse 19. And thou shalt take
the other ram, and Aaron and his son shall put their hands
upon the head of the ram. Then shalt thou kill the ram,
and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right
ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons,
and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe
of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round
about. And thou shalt take of the blood
that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle
it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the
garments of his sons with him. And he shall be hallowed, and
his garments, and his sons, and his son's garments with him.
Verse 31. And thou shalt take the ram of
the consecration and seethe his flesh in the holy place. And
Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the
bread that is in the basket by the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation. 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, verse 42. This shall be a continual
burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord, where I will
meet you and speak there unto thee. And there will I meet with
the children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified
by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle
of the congregation and the altar. And I will sanctify also both
Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest office. And
I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am
the Lord, their God, that brought them forth out of the land of
Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord, their God. Now during the Old Testament
era, during the days of the Mosaic law, only one family was allowed
to serve God in the priestly office, just Aaron's family. The great priesthood was taken
then and given to the house of Levi. But just one family could
serve as God's priest. In this gospel day, all God's
people All God's people are priests. The saints of God are called
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. In the Church of
God, there is no one group that is set apart to the priesthood
above the rest of the brethren. In this gospel day, God's covenant
promise is fulfilled in us. Ye shall be a kingdom of priest
unto me. God the Spirit tells us all to
present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. You're priest. You're priest. You're priests. All of God's
people are priests. It is the grand purpose of God
in all his works of grace, both for us and in us, to fit us for
the office of the spiritual priesthood. And it will be our crown of perfection
when with all our brethren we shall sing at last unto the Lord
Jesus, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in
his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God and
his Father. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. According to 1 Peter 2, this
honor belongs to every believer. It belongs even to newborn babes
in grace. As I prepared this message, as
I always do, I prepared it begging of God that he would be pleased
to give life and faith to sinners in this place this very hour. If God right now gives you life
and faith in Christ. If this moment you're born again
by God the Holy Ghost, you're a priest. This is not something that you
arrive at in time. This is not something you get
by varying degrees of growth and experience and knowledge.
If you're born of God, you're born into the priest family,
a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood. Every saved sinner
forms a part of this priesthood. A priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ our Lord and
our mediator. Now I've got to say this because
it needs saying. In the Church of God there is
no such thing as clergy and laity. There is no such thing as clergy
and laity. Back home There are special parking
places at all of the hospitals for clergy. But in order to park
in those places, I would have to put a sticker on my bumper
or in my windshield that says clergy. I'd just as soon have
a Playboy sticker in there. It ain't going to happen. In
the church of God, there's no such thing as clergy and laity. We are not somehow separated
by priestly garments from the people we preach to. We're just
sinners saved by grace, one gifted to preach, others gifted for
other things, but gifted to serve God as his priest. The Roman church has its priest.
The Episcopal Church has its priest, and the Mormon Church
has its priest. And in each of those societies
of wickedness, blind, ignorant, deluded men are kept in bondage
and taught that they cannot approach God except through the medium
of a priest, who is himself just a sinful man. Baptist preachers
are just as bad. You get folks to come up and
confess their sin. Do you know there's a whole,
since the mid-60s, there's been a constantly increasing work
preachers do. They call themselves preachers.
It's called counseling. I'm a professional counselor.
That means you come to me and I secure my nose in your business,
tell you how to live, and you tell me what's bad with you.
That's what preachers love to do. They'd like for you to treat
them like priests. You don't need to confess your
sin to me. Deal with God. Brother John, let me tell you
what I've done. I don't want to hear it. I just
don't want to hear it. I'm not interested. I'm not interested.
But you need to know this. No, I don't need to know this.
I don't need to know it. I'm not here to be a man who
intercedes for you as a priest. I'm a man who speaks to you as
one who intercedes for you as your brother, speaking to you
as one of your own flesh. God's servants recognize that. In the church of God, there's
no such thing as clergy and laity. I tell you upon the authority
of God's holy word that no man will ever draw near to God in
faith until he approaches God through the medium of one great
high priest, that's Jesus Christ our Lord, not that silly old
man in Rome or anybody like him. And all who come to God by faith
in Christ, coming to Him by faith, are made unto God priests. Priests. Let me remind you who
priests are. Priests are men and women in
a special family, ordained of God, who live at the tabernacle. Did you get that? They don't
visit the tabernacle, they live there. They live in the holy
things. They live upon the holy things. They feast upon the sacrifices. Their whole life is engaged in
the service of the tabernacle. That's what a priest is. Rick
Warder, that's what a believer is. That's what a believer is. Every true believer in Christ
Jesus is one who has perpetual access to God by faith through
the merits of Christ and lives perpetually coming to God. I repeat, we need no earthly
priest, for we are priest. You may not be able to read or
write, but if you're converted, you're a priest. You may never
stand behind the pulpit or even lead God's people in public prayer,
but if you believe on the Son of God, you're a priest. You
ladies are commanded of God to keep silent in the public assembly
of God's saints. Preacher, don't you think women
are equal to men? Well, not so. Depends on what you're talking
about. Any of you ladies, I'm getting older now, any of you
ladies want to arm wrestle me, no, we're not equal. No, we're
not equal. Now that lady over yonder, she
might beat me, but she's smarter than I am, she's prettier than
I am, she works harder than I do. In a lot of ways, much my superior,
but equal, no. No, nobody's equal. That man
and this one not equal, we're different human beings, whatever
you mean. But in the church of God, There's
no place for female preachers and officers and rulers, no place
for women to be speaking and teaching and preaching in the
house of God. They're to keep silent in the church. But you
ladies are priests unto God, if you're born of God. Oh, you're
sure out of step for the times. I plan to stay that way. You'd
be wise to get out of step. As in the Old Testament, there
was one sin atoning high priest. Yet all the sons of Aaron were
priests in the service of God. Even so, in this gospel day,
there is one sin-atoning high priest. His name is Jesus Christ
our Lord. And all God's people in his family,
the sons of God, are priests unto God. And let me show you
seven things briefly about this matter of the priesthood, about
this matter of consecration. Seven things that will determine
whether or not you are a consecrated Christian. Number one, This consecration,
this holiness, this hallowedness set before us in Exodus 29 and
throughout the book of God is that which begins with God's
election. That's where it begins. This
thing called salvation has a beginning and it began before you did.
It has a beginning, it began before time was. It has a beginning,
not with you, but with God. God hath from the beginning chosen
you. Salvation begins with God's election. We read in the scriptures here,
God said to Moses, take Aaron and his sons. The priesthood
was not something that a man could decide, I want to become
a priest. That wasn't his option. The priesthood
was not something that a man chose for himself. We're told
plainly in Hebrews 5 that this thing is not something a man
would take on himself. He was not allowed to do so.
But you, who are gods, are a royal priesthood, a chosen people,
a holy nation. You see, if you're part of God's
holy priesthood, if ever you become one of God's, if ever
you're consecrated to God, given life and faith in Christ, it
will be because God chose you to be his own. Well, if God didn't
choose me, that means I can't be saved. Isn't that amazing?
That's exactly what it means. That's exactly what it means.
It's amazing how clearly folks understand something if they
just think about it. Well, that's not fair. Who said anything was
fair? Who said anything was fair? It's
just. You deserve to go to hell. If God leaves you alone, you'll
get exactly what you deserve. Oh, my soul, thank God for free
electing love. Tis not that I did choose thee,
for, Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, hadst thou not chosen me. Thank God for electing love. That means somebody's going to
be saved. That means somebody is going to live with God. Somebody
is going to spend eternity in the presence of God in the person
of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for electing love. Second, these priests all had
to be washed with water. We read in the fourth verse,
Aaron and his sons, thou shalt bring unto the door the tabernacle
of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. The pure
and holy God cannot be served by men of unclean hands and impure
hearts. He would not embrace the unclean
under the law, and he will not tolerate the unclean in this
gospel day. He declares, be ye clean that
bear the vessels of the Lord. He says, be ye holy, for I am
holy. Those are unbending precepts. God will not accept that which
is unclean. Therefore, the psalmist said,
I will wash mine hands in innocence, said. So will I encompass or
compass thine altar, O Lord. I'll come to you, God, when I've
washed my hands. Now listen. Innocency. Completely innocent. Isn't that
wonderful? Completely. Look at that innocent
child. Inoffensive, without fault, without
crime, without offense. Innocent. Washed by God. His people are innocent, righteous,
and holy. Now notice that it was Moses,
the law, who had to wash the priest. And you and I must be
washed before God in a manner utterly compatible with the law. God saves sinners without the
law, altogether by the law. He saves sinners without your
obedience to the law, without you doing anything, all together
by the fulfilling of the law, as your pastor just so well described,
by the doing and dying of God's dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And we must be washed, washed
in blood redemption. washed by the blood of Christ. This was done at Calvary, this
was done before the world began, but it is something that must
be experienced in time as the believer is born of God and he
plunges into the fountain drawn from Emmanuel's veins and washes
away his guilty stains. In that day when God calls the
sinner by his grace, there shall be a fountain opened to the house
of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. Come now. Come and wash. But this is something done one
time. No, no, no, no, hang on, hang
on. Every time a priest came to the
house, he had to wash. You and I come continually and bathe
our souls in that fountain opened to us by God the Holy Ghost and
plunge ourselves anew in the fountain of his blood. Now turn
to Titus chapter three, Titus chapter three. We must be washed in redemption
and we must be washed in regeneration. Throughout the scriptures, water
and anointing oil have reference to God the Holy Ghost. Titus
chapter three, verse three. For we ourselves also were sometime
foolish. disobedient, deceived, serving
divers lust and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and
hating one another. But after that, the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of
righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy,
he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost. which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Lord, that being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
The believer, the heaven-born soul, is one who God, the Holy
Ghost, opens the fountain. He opens the fountain and you
wash in the blood. And being washed in the blood,
you're washed and made new by God the Holy Ghost, given a new
life, made new creatures in Christ Jesus the Lord. And thus, both
by the blood of our Savior and by the sanctifying operations
of God the Holy Ghost, we are cleansed from all filthiness
of the flesh and of the spirit. from all filthiness of the flesh
and of the Spirit. Here I come again now, and dive into the fountain of
His blood, and have His Spirit again in
the teeth of all I know I am, and declare to me, you're holy. You've washed your hands in innocence,
and now you come to God. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that
flood, lose all their guilty stains. And now, are you washed in the blood?
Are you washed in the blood? Listen to me now. You may meet
for the master's use. Make meat for the masters. God
can use you now. And you're worthy to be used
by God now. You're his priest. Washed, made
clean, righteous, innocent in the blood of Christ and by the
sanctifying power of his grace. Cleansed from all sin. Oh, do you know by the sweet
experience of his grace, the blessedness of that man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin? If so, being made free from sin,
you became the servants of righteousness. That means you serve God in his
house. Number three, after they were
washed by Moses, the priest were wondrously clothed by him. You
have this in verses five through nine. Now listen carefully. Those priests were not allowed,
they were not allowed to wear one garment which belonged to
them beforehand. Even their underwear was provided. Within and without, their clothing
was new, appropriate, divinely provided, and put upon them. They wore what they were given. Nothing more and nothing less.
Now listen to me. No man can serve God in the filthy
rags of his own righteousness. You must be clothed in the fine
linen of Christ's righteousness, imparted within for the glory
and beauty that he gives, and of his imputed righteousness
as God our Savior. Moses brought Aaron and his sons,
we're told in chapter eight of Leviticus, and put coats upon
them, and girded them with girdles, and put bonnets upon them as
the Lord commanded Moses. Every priest had to have a coat
put on him. These priestly coats were like
the coat worn by our Lord Jesus. All of one piece, woven in one
piece from top to bottom, hanging on the shoulders, draping the
body, covering everything. You know what that represents,
don't you? That's the righteousness of Christ. The fine linen that's
called in the book of Revelation, the righteousness of the saints. Well, it can't be both. Oh, yes,
it can. Oh, yes, it can. If I'm one with Christ, it can. What belongs to this head belongs
to this body. I'm one with Christ. It's fine
linen woven by God himself, not by me. You remember when the
prodigal son came home, the father said, break, break, break the
best robe and put it on him. OK. Y'all think I'm dressed pretty
good? Think I'm dressed pretty good? I've got this robe. Used
to be 58 and extra long. Now it's 50 regular. But it just
fits perfect. Just fits like it was made for
me. Just like it was made for me.
I am clothed in the white linen garments of Christ's perfect
righteousness. My righteousness made just for
me the best of a man could have. You, my brother, my sister, are
clothed in that same white linen garment made just for you, the
righteousness of Christ, which is your righteousness, because
his obedience unto death was and is our obedience unto death. Until God puts this robe on you,
you can't serve him. But as soon as you come to God
by Christ, he puts the robe on you. Every priest was then girded
with a girdle. We're told the Lord Jesus, our
great high priest, is girded about the paps with a golden
girdle, the girdle of his faithfulness, truth, and love. And the Lord
Jesus gives his people this golden girdle of his faithfulness, truth,
and love. And the girdle, men in those
days wore long robes and they'd go about their labor, the priest
would go about his work, they'd pull up the long robes and tie
them with a girdle, and it would both strengthen them and hold
up their long robes, and also strengthen men for battle. Our
Lord Jesus gives us the girdle of his righteousness, faithfulness,
and truth to make us strong. But that's not all. That's not
all. It's a golden girdle. It's a golden girdle. Who ever
heard of one of those things? A golden girdle. magnificent
girdle, wonderful girdle, is called my beauty, which I put
on you. I've made you comely, beautiful,
through my beauty that I put on you, Ezekiel chapter 16. The
Lord Jesus says to every sinner, saved by his grace, listen, Thou
art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. Let
me tell you what it says at the
end of that. Psalm of Solomon chapter 4 verse 9. Thou art all
fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. Thou hast ravished my heart. Thou hast ravished my heart. Thou hast ravished my heart. You ever believe you folks believe
in love at first sight? Well, sort of. Sort of. I remember the first time I saw
that pretty blonde man. First time I laid eyes on her,
she was standing in a store full of people, but she's the only
one I saw. And she had on a beautiful yellow A-line dress. And man
alive, I was smitten. And I said to myself, as soon
as I get my license back, I'm going to ask her out. How come? One look just ravished my heart. Oh, but He, the God of glory, my Savior,
put all His beauty on me and made it mine. And He sees Himself
in me and says, you've ravished my heart. The heart ravished is the heart
utterly overcome. The heart ravished is the heart
completely devoted. The heart ravished is the heart
held firm and cannot be moved. He has his heart ravished by
us, by the beauty of his grace and his righteousness he's put
upon us. Now this dress was absolutely necessary to be worn. And it was addressed that was
altogether provided freely. The priest was to offer no sacrifice
without the appointed garments. We read in verse 43 of chapter
28, they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons when they come
in unto the tabernacle of the congregation. or when they come
near unto the altar to minister in the holy place, that they
bear not iniquity and die. Number four, chapter 29, verse
7. The priests of God were divinely
anointed. Abram was anointed with the holy
oil poured upon his head. Then all his sons were anointed
with the same holy oil poured on their heads. The psalmist
speaks of it like this. He says, the Lord anointed Abram
and the oil ran down his head and over his beard, all the way
down over his head. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our great
high priest, was anointed with the spirit without measure, the
head, and the holy anointing oil runs down over his beard
and over all his body. So that the next time some Pentecostal
charismatic idiot asks you, are you anointed in the Spirit, you
say, yes sir. Yes sir. God's saints are all
anointed people. They're all anointed people.
You have an unction from the Holy One. That's what distinguishes
you from the unbeliever. It is this unction from the Holy
One, this seal to the Spirit by which all the blessings of
the covenant are sealed to you. You have an unction from the
Holy One. You know everything you need to know. You have an
unction from the Holy One because you've been taught of God. God's
people are all anointed ones. The word Christ comes from the
word anointed. That's the idea. He is God's
anointed one. God's holy one. And you who are
Christians are God's anointed ones. God's holy ones. So that you're not in the flesh. Again, you're a pastor of Reddit
and Romans 8. But in the spirit, what does that mean? We have
our lifelong existence in the spirit. We live not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. We live in God, and God lives
in us. This people of God are his anointed
ones. All right, here's the fifth thing.
These priests, Aaron and his sons, came to God and were accepted
by God as his priest by one common offering. Verses 11 through 14. They had an offering. Since that first beginning, bring
an offering, bring an offering. And by this offering, Aaron and
his sons are accepted of God. You know the offering, don't
you? You know the offering. Christ is God, our Savior. The God, man, our mediator, our
sin offering. For he who knew no sin. God Almighty has made sin for
us that we who are nothing but sin might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He was cursed for us that we
might be blessed in Him. Denise, I suspect you wrote that
healing thing for us, didn't you? Did you not? Man is great,
is great. Jesus Christ God's Son made sin. Everywhere in the Old Testament
you read those words, sin offering. Get your concordance, look it
up. You don't have to take my word for it. There's no such
word in the Hebrew language, in the Old Testament scriptures.
No such word. Every single place the word is
sin. every single place. Isaiah 53,
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. When God the Holy Ghost
gives it to us again in 2 Corinthians 5 21, he gives it exactly as
Isaiah wrote it. He hath made him sin for us. That's what's portrayed in the
transfer of sin ceremonially from the one bringing the offering
to the sacrifice that's offered. As Aaron laid his hands upon
the head of the offering, there is a symbolic transfer of sin
so that Aaron takes the sins of the sinner and lays them on
the sacrifice and they become the sins of the sacrifice and
the sacrifice is slain ceremonially. But all Aaron could do was by
ceremony, God Almighty took our sin and made them the sins of
his son, and made him sin for us, and slew his sin in the fury
of his justice for the satisfaction of sin, and put away our sins
by the sacrifice of his son. Here's the sixth thing. These priests were consecrated
to God by blood. specifically by the blood of
that burnt offering. They had the blood, Aaron took
it and after he sacrificed the animal and poured the blood out
around the altar, there must have been pools of blood by that
altar. He would get some blood and he
would come to the priest and he'd say to Aaron, come here,
Abiathar come here, Abiathar come here, and he'd put some
right there on the tip of his right ear. And right there, on
the thumb of his right hand. And right there, on the great
toe of his right foot. Symbolically, it is not always
the case. You who are left-handed, your
strength is in your left hand. But symbolically and generally,
the right hand is the strength of might and power. And the Lord
God said, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thy bones thy
footstool. It is the place of honor and
majesty. The right hand, the right hand.
The Lord God says to his people, your ear has been dipped in blood. Hear my
word. Your hand has been dipped in
blood. Use it for me. Your feet have
been dipped in blood. Walk with me. Thus it is with
God's priest. There are men and women utterly
and altogether consecrated to God by the ram of consecration
consecrated to him. Now let's read a little bit more
about that consecration. in the ram of consecration, beginning
at verse 19. Thou shalt take the other ram,
and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head
of this ram. The word doesn't mean like this. That's not it. That's not it.
Watch me now. Aaron and his sons shall. leaned a whole of their lives
over him. He who is God's sacrifice, my
sin atonement, here I acknowledge my sin made his, he put away,
and now I belong to Jesus. Consecrated to him. It is to
lay your life on him, and put their hands on the head of the
ram. Read on. Then shalt thou kill the ram,
and take his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear
of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and
upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe
of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round
about. And thou shalt take of the blood
that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle
it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the
garments of his sons with him. And he shall be hallowed, sanctified,
devoted, consecrated, and his garments, and his sons, and his
sons' garments with him. Also thou shalt take of the ram
of the fat, and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards,
and the call above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the
fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder, for it is the
ram of consecration." Take this and offer it all to God. It is
a sweet smelling savor to God. We're told in Ephesians 5 that
our Lord Jesus Christ is a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savor to
God. And you who are God's priest
coming to God by the sacrifice of his darling son in the person
of his son are sweet smelling savor to God. And if God gives
you grace this day to believe on His Son and thus consecrate
yourself to Him, you will be and you are in the
totality of your life a sweet smelling savor A sweet smelling savor to God. Imagine that. Imagine that. A sweet smelling savor to God. So, let me wrap this up with
a text I've been trying my best to communicate to folks for the
last several years in Ecclesiastes chapter 9. If you trust Christ, You are
as a priest unto God. You are in the totality of your
being accepted always at God's altar in the beloved. We're getting closer to the end
of this thing than the beginning. And soon, you and I will end
our days. We'll finish our race. And the whole thing. And the
whole thing. I couldn't think this, let alone
say it, John, if I didn't read the book of God. In the whole
of your life, honoring to God. In spite of all you are, in spite
of all you do, in spite of all the evils in you, accepted of
God in the beloved. Ecclesiastes 9 verse 7. Go thy
way. Eat thy bread with joy and drink
thy wine with a merry heart. Most good Baptists choke to death
on that verse of Scripture. What does that mean? It means when you go home tonight
and you fix that ribeye steak and you want to have a glass
of red wine with it and have some potatoes and butter and
sour cream and onions and a big piece of toast buttered all over
it, go ahead and do that and smile while you do it. How come? For God now accepteth thy works. What? God accepts me sitting
down at my table and eating the meal my wife gives me, have a
glass of wine with it. Is that what he talked about? That's all in the same sentence.
God now accepteth thy works. Read on. Let thy garments be
always white, these priestly garments. And let thy head like
no ointment, this holy anointing oil. That means while you walk
in this world believing on Christ, live joyfully with the wife whom
thou lovest, all the days of the life of thy vanity, which
he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity,
for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor, which
thou takest under the sun. After you get done with your
steak, and your potatoes, and your wine, and your toast, and
your big piece of pecan pie, and ice cream, and you go over
and sit down in your easy chair, and you light your cigar, and
you get you another glass of wine, and you say to your wife, here,
honey, sit right here. And you hug her, and you pat
her on the thigh, and you kiss her, and you say, now do this
with joy. God now accepts your works. God
now accepts your works. Read them. Read them. Let's see
if I got this right. whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, do it with all your might, for there is no work, nor device,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest. You who are God's priests, when you get up in the morning,
and you have your coffee, and you go out to the factory, Go
out to the field, or you go to the office, and you do your work. Do it with all your might. If you're an electrician, you
ought to be the best electrician your boss can find. If you're a ditch
digger, you ought to dig ditches better than anybody in the world.
Do it with all your might! You're serving God. If you're
a husband, you ought to be the best husband in the world. If
you're a wife, you ought to be the best wife in the world. You're
serving God. You're serving God. If you're
a pastor, you ought to be the best you can possibly be. Do it with all your might. Put
some blood on your ear, and on your hand, and on your foot.
And you're covered with a holy anointing. In the head, Christ
Jesus the Lord. And God now accepts you.