I want us this morning to go
back to Leviticus chapter 22 and verse 21. I tried two weeks ago to set
before you the glorious fact that all who are in Christ are
perfect in Him, expounding to the best of my ability the words
of our Lord in this 21st verse of Leviticus 22. It shall be
perfect to be accepted. Now, understand this very well. God Almighty cannot and will
not ever accept anything less than what he is, absolute perfection. Now, just get that fixed. It
shall be perfect. to be accepted. Get it fixed
in your mind. May God fix it in your heart.
God declares that in order for anything to be accepted of him,
it must be perfect. That means if you and I get to
heaven, we must be as good as God. That's a big statement. That's a big statement. We must
be as good as God, perfect in all things, entirely perfect
in heart, in thought, in word, in deed, from the first breath
to the last breath, no exception. Well, pastor, is there no hope
for us? Must we forever perish? Oh, no. Blessed be the Lord our
God. In Christ, he has found a way
to be both just and the justifier of the ungodly. He declares,
I am a just God and a Savior. He cannot be a Savior except
he be a Savior in a way that maintains his justice. I am a
just God and a Savior. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. Salvation arises and comes to
us from God's bountiful, infinite, matchless mercy, love, and grace. But salvation does not come to
us except on the ground of justice. This religious generation knows
nothing about this. Justice must be satisfied. And once justice is satisfied,
mercy must be given. You understand that? Mercy cannot
be given at the expense of justice. And justice cannot withhold mercy
once justice is satisfied. The Lord God has found a way
by Christ his son, our mediator, to make his people, people like
us, perfect, perfectly holy, and perfectly accepted. And that
perfection, I can't stress this sufficiently, is not in us. It is not through us. It is not
the result of anything we do or have done. It is not the result
of anything we feel, know, or experience. It is entirely the
work of God's free, sovereign grace in Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, Pastor, how on earth could
God be just and perfect and yet forgive us our sins and make
us accepted with Him and perfect before Him? The Lord God Almighty
took our sins, the sins of all His elect, the sins of all who
in all time believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He took our sins
and made them to be His sons. He made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin. And he did so in absolute justice,
imputing to him our transgressions, though he was holy, harmless,
undefiled, and separate from sinners. And when he made his
son to be sin for us, God drew forth the sword of his justice
and slaughtered his darling son because he justly deserved it. He was made to be sin. And in
exactly the same way, by the same marvelous transfer of grace,
the Lord God has taken the righteousness of Christ and imputed it to us,
though we are nothing but sin and could never even imagine
righteousness. And now we are made to be the
very righteousness of God in him. so that God, on grounds
of absolute justice, receives us as men and women who have
no sin, who have never committed sin, who have no crime against
them, but who are altogether perfectly righteous. For just
as Christ was made to be sin, we are made to be the righteousness
of God. Just as it was a righteous and
just thing for God Almighty to punish His Son on account of
the imputed guilt of our substitute, so it is a righteous and just
thing. for God Almighty to give us eternal
life on account of the imputed righteousness of Christ that
is ours. Now, let's go back to Leviticus
22. There are many things in this
passage I can't begin to expound. I don't intend to do so. That's
not my purpose. But I want us to milk this verse
and get all the sweet milk out of it we can. And I don't want
us to miss anything along the way. So let me remind you of
a few things. In verse 3, we're told that God
requires that the priest who offers sacrifice be a perfect
priest. You see that? No uncleanness
upon him. Christ is that priest. The ceremonial,
typical priest who must be clean represents and typifies the Lord
Jesus Christ. In verses 20 and 21, God requires
that the sacrifice also be perfect. There shall be no blemish therein. You see that in the last line
of verse 21? No blemish. Not a spot. Not a speck. No blemish. God would never accept
a defiled, a corrupt, or an imperfect sacrifice for atonement. He won't
do it. He can't do it. He must have
a perfect sacrifice. Only a perfect sacrifice can
stand before the Holy Lord God. Christ is that perfect sacrifice. We have in Christ both a perfect
priest and a perfect sacrifice. So perfect. and infinitely meritorious
as our great high priest and our great sacrifice, because
he is both God and man in one person, that he makes even our
imperfect gifts and our imperfect sacrifices acceptable to God
by his blood and by his righteousness. Then, in verse 25, The Lord demanded
that no sacrifice be offered upon his altar that was taken
from a stranger's hand. Why is that? Why is that? Because God will not accept the
sacrifice of anyone apart from Christ. God will not accept anything
offered to him, done by him, or done for him, or spoken to
him, except by a believer. Can't be done. Can't be done.
God will only receive and accept us through Christ Jesus the Lord.
A stranger's hand cannot offer a sacrifice to God. Over in Proverbs
21, you don't need to turn there, but in Proverbs 21 verse 4, we're
told that even the plowing of the wicked is sin. Why is that? Because we're told here in verse
25, their corruption, not the sacrifice's corruption. Oh no,
no matter how perfect the sacrifice is, their corruption, the stranger's
corruption, the sinner's corruption, the unbeliever's corruption is
in them. And therefore God will not accept
what they do because corruption is in them. Christ is everywhere
in this chapter. Look at verse 24. It speaks of the sacrifice being
one that was not bruised or crushed or broken or cut, that is, castrated. Why is that? Why couldn't it
be even a castrated sacrifice? Why couldn't it even be one of
those steers? How come? Because Christ, our
surety, the sacrifice that God accepts, the sacrifice represented
in all these Old Testament sacrifices, was a man who suffered the wrath
of God in the full strength of his perfect manhood. In all things,
he was a man like us, only a perfect man. A man without sin. There
was nothing unmanly about him. In all his life, he behaved himself
as a man. Now look at verse 28. Here is something I've been chewing
on for a month. And whether it be a cow or a
ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day. Now some suggest that this was
meant to discourage cruelty to animals. Well, I suspect that
might have had some effect in that regard, but that wasn't
why it was written. It was written to teach us something
about our Redeemer. There must be a lowing of the
cattle and a bleating of the sheep. When Mr. Chester over here separates his
calves from their mothers, you can hardly sleep at night listening
to those cattle bawl. They bawl, bawl all night long. They bawl because they've been
separated from their young. Separate a ewe from her lamb,
and you hear the bleeding just continually. You see, God, our Father, was
to give up His darling Son. His only begotten Son, given
willingly by Him, and yet torn from the Father's care by the
hands of wicked men. And this could not be represented
if you sacrifice both the calf and its mother, both the lamb
and its mother at the same time. It is written and must never
be forgotten. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. I know that God is immutable,
God changes not, God is infinite, God doesn't have parts and passions
like we do. But theological correctness sometimes
causes folks to look at God as though we were a rock, a stone. The Word of God condescends to
reveal our God to us. in such a way that we can get
some grasp of the fact that he is indeed our father. And I recognize
that God, the infinite God, can never be touched by man. But don't ever imagine that the
father sacrificed his son and felt nothing. The lamb is slain and the ewe
balls. The ewe is slain and the lamb
balls in horrid, horrid desperation. The bleeding of the sheep on
that dark night, I can imagine that tender little lamb echoing through the air. I wonder if anybody heard the
cry that it made. It was but the prefiguring of
the cry of the Lamb of God, sacrificed in the room instead of His people,
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Now remember, These laws were
all applied to the domestic household things, the domestic household
arrangements of those who were to carry about the work of priest,
priest unto God. And thus a picture was hung in
the house of every Israelite priest with this grand truth
set constantly before their eyes. God spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Alright, now let's look at verse
21. I had a good bit of difficulty
trying to decide what properly to title this message. I thought
all week that I would call it The Other Side of Perfection.
But I think perhaps the message would better be titled, if you're
taking notes, Perfect Yet Vile. Perfect Yet Vile. Now, I want to show you four
or five things. Here's the first. Christ is a perfect priest. and a perfect sacrifice. And
whatsoever or whosoever offer the sacrifice of peace offerings
unto the Lord to accomplish his vow or a freewill offering in
beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted. There
shall be no blemish therein. We have both the perfect priest
and the perfect sacrifice in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.
He, having offered himself without spot to God, passed into the
heavens as our great high priest, having obtained eternal redemption
for us by his precious blood. And there he ever lives to make
intercession for us according to the will of God. Now, the
book of Hebrews. deals with this fact very distinctly
and in great detail. Jesus Christ is both the priest
that God accepts and the sacrifice that God accepts. And the whole
purpose of the book of Hebrews is to display plainly that that
which was spoken of here in Leviticus is fulfilled in Christ. The priest
here represents Christ. The sacrifice represents Christ.
In Christ, we have divine perfection and human perfection. Whether
we look at him as the victim or as the priest, we have all
that God could give, all that God could require, and all that
our souls could need. His precious blood, once shed,
has put away sin. has put away sin. Not made possible
the putting away of sin. Put away sin. Not made away for
sin to be put away. Put away sin. With His own blood,
the Lord Jesus Christ forever put away all the sin that was
imputed to Him. All the sins of His people laid
on Him, punished in Him, were put away by Him. And His all-prevailing
intercession ever maintains for us and maintains us in the absolute
perfection that he has accomplished. Now, you might ask, well, Pastor,
why do we need an intercessor? Why do we need a continual priest
before God if Christ has already put away our sins and made us
righteous? I'm glad you asked. This is the
second thing. Believers are a paradox. I mean
a paradox. I know some folks act like paradoxes. Believers are paradox. The world
knoweth us not because it knew him not. Paul said with regard
to God's people, he that is spiritual judgeth, that is, discerns all
things. The spiritual man, he discerns
all things. He sees things as they really
are. Yet he himself is discerned of no man. No one understands
what makes the believer tick. No one understands what motivates
him. No one understands devotion,
consecration. No one understands the life of
the believer. And the believer has difficulty
understanding himself. But we discern all things by
the gift of God's grace as He enlightens us in His Word. You
see, the believer is at the same time a man mourning over his
sin. and happy because of God's grace.
When he is at his weakest, he is most strong. When he knows
himself most empty, then he's most full. When he is poorest,
he is most rich. When the believer is most abased,
he is most highly exalted. When the believer is perfectly,
completely, utterly horrid in himself, he's perfect, perfectly,
utterly holy before God Almighty. Yes, we are perfect in Christ,
complete in Him. Yet in ourselves, we are so utterly
feeble, so faltering, so full of failure, so full of infirmity,
so sinful, so prone to every evil that we could not stand
for a moment except He ever lived to make intercession for us. You see, the believer is a man
or a woman with a constant warfare in his soul. Do you know anything
about what I'm talking about? A warfare. I'm not talking about
just a little struggle. I'm talking about a warfare.
A warfare in which there's no truce this side of the grave. These two things are constantly
set before us and must constantly be remembered by us. The believer
is a person who must, as long as he lives in this body of flesh,
endure an internal warfare and conflict between flesh and spirit
that cannot be understood, except it is experienced, and cannot
be understood until these two things are clearly established
in our hearts. In Christ, we're perfect. In
ourselves, we are utterly vile. Utterly vile. Well, what about
2 Corinthians 5, 17? If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Let me ask you. Let me ask you.
An honest, an honest answer. An honest answer. Is there anybody
here? Anybody? If there is, you stand
up. I'll sit down and let you do
the preaching. Is there anybody here, honestly? who can stand here and say, all
my lust, all my ambition, all my sin, all my greed, all my
passion, all my pride, all my lasciviousness, all my covetousness,
all my wrath, all my anger, all my envy, it's all past. Those things aren't in me anymore. Anybody? Anybody? Oh, pastor, no. They're worse
than ever. Well, what on earth is that talking
about? That's talking about our perfection in Christ. You understand
that, Dave? When a man may be a new creature
in Christ, God's, by the blood of His Son, put away our sins
and given us a brand new record before Him so that we're perfect
in Him. But in ourselves? Utterly vile. Now let's see if I can show you
this from the scriptures. You know the passages relating
to our perfection in Christ. Before God and His Son, we are
all together without sin, perfect, complete, fully worthy of God's
approval, holy, unblameable, unreprovable in His sight, without
spot, without wrinkle, without anything like sin on us. Totally
perfect. John says, as he is, so are we
in this world. Isn't that remarkable? As Jesus Christ, God's darling
son is, so are we right now in this world. God looks on us as
his son. But in ourselves, we're just
the opposite. We're utterly vile. God said Job was a perfect man. Is that what it said? A perfect
man. A man who feared God, eschewed
evil, and sinned not. A perfect man. That's what God
said about Job. Listen to what Job said about
himself. Behold, I am file. I abhor myself. God said David was a man after
his own heart. Is that what God said about him?
A man after God's own heart. Oh, what a word from God. A man after God's own heart.
This is what David had said about himself. In sin did my mother
conceive me. Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity. Against Thee and Thee only have
I done evil in Thy sight, O God. I was as a beast before Thee. See, this warfare, this struggle
is what Paul writes about in Romans chapter 7. Turn there
if you will. Romans chapter 7. Actually, this is what he writes
about in Romans chapter 7, but it continues right over into
chapter 8. This passage is difficult, impossible
for most folks to get hold of because they can't understand
how on earth a saved man could talk like this. That's because
they don't know anything about God's salvation. That's exactly
why. The apostle Paul now was a believer. He had been converted for a long
time. He had been an instrument in
God's hands by which the gospel had gone to multitudes. And now
he's writing this masterpiece of theology here in Romans chapter
7. It gets to verse 14, it says, after describing our justification
by Christ, after describing how that we are free from the law
in Christ, how that we are dead to the law in Christ. It gets
to chapter 7, verse 14, it says, we know, we know, there's no
question about this, the law is spiritual, but I was carnal. Anybody got a Bible that reads
like that? I am carnal. I was sold unto sin. Oh no, I
am sold unto sin. Never, never, not one time, not
one time, not one time in this book do believers refer to themselves
and say, I was a sinner. I was vile. I was corrupt. Not
one time, not one time. They refer to acts that they
used to do, but never do they refer to themselves as being
sinners in the past. You see, believers know better,
Ron. They know better. Grace makes men a little bit
honest. Paul says, I am sold under sin. Now, this is what
I mean by that. For that which I allow not. That
which I allow not. What are you talking about, Paul? I would set a watch before my
mouth and a door before my lips. I'd never say a word to a fiend. I'd ask God to keep the door
of my heart. I'd never let the corruption
within bust out. I wouldn't have it. Lens either that's the truth
before God or I'm an utterly lost man in utter darkness. I would see not. What's he saying? That which I do is exactly what
I allow not. For what I would, that I do not. But what I hate. Oh, my soul, that's what I do. Verse 17, now I know there's
no more I than doeth. Wait a minute, Paul, you're double
talking. No, he's talking honest. He's talking honest. Peter stands
and says, I don't know the man. I don't know him. I don't know
that man. And when that man, risen from
the dead, comes to him, he said, Lord, you know all things. You
know that I love you. Now, when you get down to the
heart of the man, when you get down to the heart of the man,
I read a story years ago about one of Napoleon's soldiers had
been wounded. Had a bullet lodged in his chest,
and the surgeon was cutting on him. He said, be careful. You're
getting close to the emperor. And what he was saying is, the
emperor's in my heart. The believer in the core of his
being, in the essence of what he is, he says, it's not me doing it. That's
not me. That's not me. That's sin dwelling
in me. That's Father Adam. That's old
Don Fortner. That's not me. For I am one with
Christ. And Christ is in me. And that
new man that's in me is Christ Jesus. It is no more I that do
it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, Well,
what are you talking about, Paul? That is to say, in this flesh.
In this body of flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is
present with man. God, you know I want God and
everything. But how to perform that which
is good? I find not. For the good that I would, I
do not. but the evil which I would not
that I do. For if I do that I would not,
there is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law. This is something I can't escape
from. Folks talk about laws of nature. Folks talk about laws
of economics. Here's the law of grace. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. That's just fact and it rings.
It's always there. I pray, my prayers are filthy. I sing God's praise, my songs
are vile. I think of spiritual things and
my thoughts are carnal. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. That's what I really am, but
I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Now, Bobby, this is the very
same man who said, I know whom I have believed. Isn't the same
fellow that said, I'm ready to depart? I fought a good fight. I've kept the faith. I finished
my course. Same fellow. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death, from this dead,
rotting carcass called humanity? I thank God. through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. There
is therefore, now notice the connection, there is therefore,
there is therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Now watch this, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now that's not talking
about there's no condemnation if you're in Christ and you really
live good. There's no condemnation if you're
in Christ and you're all read up and prayed up and given up
and you've tithed up and you've attended church enough. There's
no condemnation now. No, no. That's talking about
a no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. This is
what I mean. They walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. They live not after the carnal
passions, but after the spiritual. They live in Christ by faith. Are you sure that's what that
means, preacher? Let's read on and see. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin condemns sin in the flesh. That, that is for this
purpose, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us. How on this earth? Who walked
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Oh! Now what that
means is that you fulfilled the law yourself by living right
in the Spirit. Oh no, that's not what that means.
That means, Bob Duff, you walk before God offering Him that
which is perfect, His Son, who fulfilled the law. And only thus
do we fulfill the law. We walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Now watch verse 5. For they that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Remember Paul said,
I with the mind serve God. They that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit,
the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded, to
live carnally, to live after the carnal mind is death. Death. Now that doesn't mean
if you have carnal thoughts, you're dead. If it does, we're
all dead. That's not what it means. The man who lives by the carnal
mind is dead. But to be spiritually minded,
The man who believes on Christ, the man whose heart is set on
Christ is life and peace. Because the carnal mind, the
natural mind is enmity against God. The natural mind hates God,
everything about Him. For it's not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. The flesh can't serve God. So
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Can't be done. Now watch this. Hang on till
you see. But you are not in the flesh. but in the Spirit. Now wait a minute, Brother Dodd,
I'm sitting here in flesh and blood. Yeah, but we no longer
live in the flesh. That was death. Believers live
in the Spirit. When God Almighty comes in saving
grace, He opens the dead tomb of the human heart and gives
life! And that life, by His Spirit,
is Christ Jesus the Lord. Don't live in flesh anymore.
We just dwell in this body of flesh. You're not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. And if Christ be in you,
if Christ be in you, then you talk this morning about the believer,
one who has Christ for his friend, one who's experienced God's grace
and mercy in Christ. It has an effect on his life
if Christ be in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. A little Sunday school boy asked
his daddy one time, he said, Daddy, how big is Jesus? He said,
well, son, I don't know. Why? He said, I guess he was
about my size, maybe six feet tall, maybe a couple hundred
pounds. Why do you ask? He scratched
his chin. He said, well, the teacher said
Jesus was in me. He said, if he was in me, wouldn't
he stick out? And his daddy said, I expect
he would, son. If Christ is in you, he'll stick
out. But the hope of glory is not him sticking out. The hope
of glory is Christ in you. Christ in you. If Christ be in
you, the body is dead because of sin. But the spirit is life
because of righteousness. We're complete in him. who is
the head of all principality and power. And yet, we are in
constant need of his powerful advocacy as our advocate and
our all-sufficient high priest. We no longer live in the flesh
but in the spirit. Yet, so long as we live in this
body of flesh, we live here. amid infirmities and enemies
within and without. Constantly fighting with the
world, the flesh, and the devil. And we need him to intercede
for us. Paul says concerning all believers, you're washed,
you're sanctified, you're justified in Christ, accepted in the beloved. You can never come into condemnation.
Death and judgment are behind us because Christ endured death
and judgment for us. All these things are true of
all who are in Christ. The youngest believer and the
oldest believer. The weakest believer and the
most well-established believer. If right now, if right now God Almighty has
done for you what I can't do for you and you can't do for
yourself, if God Almighty has opened up the windows of heaven
and stretched out the long arm of His mercy and dropped the
pale of His grace in your soul and you now for the first time
look away from yourself to Christ, all that I have said is true
of you. Perfect in Christ. Perfect in
Christ. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified. And yet, we carry about this
body of death. We live in this tabernacle of
clay. So incorrigibly bad is our nature. so irremediably ruined
that no discipline can correct it, no medicine can cure it.
We live here in this body of death, surrounded on all sides
with horrid influences. And we could never keep our ground,
much less make progress in faith, were it not for Him who died
for us. who also intercedes for us and
is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. I
realize for many of these are things difficult to understand.
And believers sometimes struggle with them because we sometimes
have bad instruction, because of the horrid influence of false
religion. But in Christ, we can sing and ought to sing
the deep, base, mournful words of Newton, I would disclose my
whole complaint, but where shall I begin? No words of mine can
fully paint that worst distemper of sin. It lies not in a single
part, but through my frame is spread a burning fever in my
heart, a palsy in my head. and yet without even pausing. We sing with triumphant glee,
Jesus, thy blood and righteousness. My beauty are my glorious dress,
midst flaming worlds in these arrayed. With joy shall I lift
up my head, when from the dust of death I rise to take my mansion
in the skies. Even then shall this be all my
plea, that Jesus lived and died for me. Bold shall I stand in
that great day, for who ought to my charge shall lay. while
through thy blood absolved I am from sin's tremendous curse and
blame. John Kent said, shout, believer,
to thy God. He hath once the wine-pressed
trod, peace procured by blood divine, counseled all thy sins
and mine. In thy surety thou art free.
His dear hands were pierced for thee with his spotless vesture
on. Holy. as the Holy One. Oh, the heights and depths of
grace, shining with meridian blaze, here the sacred record
shows, sinners black, but comely too. Well, Pastor, what's the reason
for pressing this issue? Why do we Why do we need to be reminded
constantly of our corruption and of Christ's fullness? That
we're perfect in Christ, yet utterly vile in ourselves. Because we are compelled in the
realization of these two things, to look out of ourselves, always,
to Christ alone. Oh, sinner, look away to Him. He's our only acceptance with
God. He's our only assurance before God. He's our only anchor
for our souls. Knowing our own corruption, being
forced to face what we are in ourselves by nature, we ought
to be kind and patient, long-suffering with one another. Being ourselves in constant need
of forgiveness, we ought to be gracious and forgiving. And being
constant recipients of grace, the constant recipients of God's
salvation, the constant recipients of mercy, we have good news for
poor needy sinners like ourselves. With the Lord, there is mercy. With Him is plenteous redemption. O Lord, there is forgiveness
with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.