I'll ask you to open your Bibles
with me to the book of Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 8 verse 22
and 23 will be our text tonight. My subject is the ear, the thumb,
and the toe. The ear, the thumb, and the toe. And we're reading verses 22 and
23 of the 8th chapter of Leviticus. And he brought the other ram,
the ram of consecration. And Aaron and his sons laid their
hands upon the head of the ram, and he slew it. And Moses took
of the blood of it and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right
ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great
toe of his right foot." Now the realm of consecration here, by
which Aaron and his sons were consecrated and set apart for
God's service, Moses selected that realm. It was not Aaron,
it was not his sons, it was not the people of Israel, It was
Moses, Moses representing God, who chose the realm. Aaron acknowledged
the realm which Moses had chosen. Aaron acknowledged God's sacrifice. Aaron, representing the people,
put his hands on the head of the realm and confessed his and
the people's sin. Moses chose, Aaron accepted. Moses presented the ram and Aaron
in Israel's name acknowledged the ram. Moses slew the ram and
Aaron in Israel's name put his hand on the ram and confessed
sin and received forgiveness. Now you get what I'm saying?
Moses chooses, Aaron accepts. Moses presents the ram, and Aaron,
in Israel's name, acknowledges the ram. Now in one sense, God
lays our sins upon Christ. In one sense, God lays our sins
upon the chosen sacrifice. But in another sense, and you're
going to be helped tonight, When we talk about being justified
by faith, Christ said to some people in his day, Thy faith
hath made thee whole. Well, we know it was Christ who
made them whole. Christ said to others, Thy faith
hath saved thee. We know it was Christ who saved
them, but in some sense faith also saved them, for without
faith they could not be saved. Without faith a man cannot be
forgiven. Without faith, a man cannot be
justified. The Bible says we're justified
by God. It is God who justifies. The
Bible also says we're justified by faith. Thy faith hath justified
thee. So in one sense, God lays our
sins upon the chosen sacrifice, who is Christ our Lord. But in
another sense, and underscore this in your thoughts, it is
we who lay our sins on Christ Jesus." The Bible clearly says
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. We have
no problem there. The Bible says, "...he who knew
no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." We have no problem there. Our sins, by God's grace,
through God's mercy for our forgiveness and his glory, were laid on Christ. But also the Bible says, if we
confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. The Bible also says, he that
hideth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth his sins
shall find mercy. So the purpose of my message
tonight is to stress the importance to every one of us, the importance
of the sinner personally receiving Christ, the importance of the
sinner personally confessing Christ as his Savior, as his
Lord, and as his sacrifice. Moses chose the ram, and Moses
presented the ram, and Moses slew the lamb, but also Aaron,
the one to be consecrated, the one to be set apart, the one
to be made holy. put his hands on the head of
that ram, and he confessed his sins. He received God's sacrifice. He brought his sins to Christ. He acknowledged those sins, and
he left them on the head of the appointed substitute to be born
away and to be remembered no more. So let's look at about
three or four things from this text this evening. First of all,
the selection of the victim, the selection of the sacrifice.
Now Aaron is the one to be consecrated. Aaron is the one to be forgiven.
He's the one to be set apart, but he doesn't select the sacrifice. The sinner is not left by God
to pick out the way that he will be saved. Many people seem to
think that. Someone said, well, it doesn't
really matter what a man believes, just so he's sincere. That leaves
the sinner to pick his own sacrifice, to pick his own way to heaven,
to pick his own substitute, to pick his own way of salvation.
Aaron was the one to be consecrated, but Aaron was not the one who
picked the ram. Moses choosing for God picked
the ram. And the sinner does not tell
God how he will be forgiven, or how he will be saved, or how
he will be justified. He is forgiven, saved, and justified
God's way. Turn to Romans chapter 10. That's
what was wrong with Israel. That's what Paul said in Romans
10 concerning the nation Israel. He said, Brethren, Romans 10.1,
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. I don't want them just to be
religious. I want them to be saved. I don't want them just
to have a zeal for God. I want them to be saved. For
I acknowledge, I bear them record, I know this is true, they have
a zeal of God, they are a religious people, but it's an ignorant
religion, it's not according to knowledge, for they being
ignorant of God's way of righteousness, They being ignorant of God's
way of salvation, they being ignorant of the one who himself
is God's righteousness, are going about to establish their own
righteousness. This would be the same as if
Alan had went out and picked out his own ram and brought it.
Moses said, but Alan, here's the ram. Well, I don't like that
one. I've chosen one of my own, but
it won't do. This is the one of God's choosing.
And Israel picked out their own way of righteousness. They were
about to establish that, and did not, would not submit to
God's way of righteousness, which is Jesus Christ the Lord. So
Moses, representing God, selected the ram, chose the ram, and brought
it to Aaron. And so our great sacrifice, the
Lord Jesus Christ, was chosen to be our Redeemer by the Father.
Turn with me to Isaiah 42. Listen to this scripture, Isaiah
42, verse 1. God says, Behold my servant,
whom I uphold, mine elect. That's talking about Christ.
In whom my soul delighted, I put my spirit upon him. He shall
bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench, but
he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail. He shall not be discouraged until
he hath set judgment in the earth, and the owl shall wait for his
law." Turn to Isaiah 61. And this is the scripture which
our Lord chose to read at Nazareth when he preached his first sermon
upon his return visit to his home where he was brought up.
He turned to Isaiah 61 and he said, "...the Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me, because I am his chosen sacrifice, I am God's
selected ram. The Lord hath anointed me." to
do all that the Messiah will do, to preach good tidings to
the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
the opening of prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God
and to comfort all that mourn. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
Lamb. He's God's Lamb. And Moses went
out and chose a lamb, a ram, and brought it over here to Ava
and said, This is the sacrifice. This is the anointed, appointed,
designated sacrifice. And even so the Father said,
Behold mine elect, behold my servant, he shall not fail. Turn to John chapter 5. The Lord
Jesus Christ said in John the fifth chapter, beginning with
verse thirty-three, Listen to this, John 5 verse 33. Now he said, if I bear witness
of myself, that's verse 31, if I'm the only one, if I'm the
only one who acknowledges that I am the Messiah, if I'm the
only proof, my word is the only proof that I am the Savior, then
you don't have to listen to me. But there is another that beareth
witness of me. And I know that the witness which
he witnesseth of me is truth." And that's John the Baptist.
He bare witness unto the truth. He was the forerunner of Christ.
I receive not testimony from man, but these things I say that
you might be saved. I don't need a man to prove that
I'm the Messiah, he said. But I'm telling you that he was
a burning and shining light, and you were willing for a season
to rejoice in his light. And he came and he said, Behold
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Upon whom,
the Father said to John, you see the Spirit descending, that's
the Lamb of God, that's the chosen Lamb, that's the selected sacrifice. But I have greater witness than
that of John. Verse 36, "...the works that the Father hath given
me to finish, the same works that I do, they bear witness
of me, that the Father hath sent me." John the Baptist sent the
servants over there and said, ask him, is he the Messiah? And
he said, you go back and tell John that the blind receive their
sight, and the deaf hear, and the lame walk, and the dead are
raised, and only the Messiah can do these things. And verse
37, Christ said, "...the Father himself which hath sent me, he
hath borne witness of me, You've neither heard his voice nor seen
his shape, and you don't have his word abiding in you. For
him for whom he hath sent, him you believe not. But I have another
witness. Search the scriptures. In them
you think you have eternal life. there they would testify of me."
The selection of the victim, Moses chose a ram, brought it
to Aaron. This is typical of God choosing
his son, Jesus Christ, and bringing him to us as our Redeemer, as
the appointed sacrifice. And all of these witnesses we
have. John the Baptist came and said
he is the Lamb. The works that he did bore witness
that he is the Lamb, the one God chose. The Father himself
spoke from heaven and said this is my Son in whom I'm well pleased,
hear ye him. The scriptures to him give all
the prophets witness. So we have the chosen sacrifice
the Lord Jesus. Now the second thing. Turn back
to Leviticus chapter 8. In the 8th chapter of Leviticus
we have the transfer of the sinner's sins to the sacrifice. Now this
is very important here and I want you to think with me a little
bit. It says that Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the
head of the ram. Moses chose a ram and he brought
it to Aaron. Now Aaron was full of sin and
so were his sons and so were the people. And Aaron came. Moses, choosing for God, chose
a ram and brought him. And Aaron put his hands on the
head of that ram and confessed his sins. The transfer of the
sinner's sins to the designated sacrifice. And then that sacrifice
was slain. Now God Almighty chose Christ
to be our Savior. And there is a sense in which,
now listen to me, the transfer of our sins to Christ, all our
sins, in one sense of the word, is done by God through that same
eternal purpose by which the sacrifice was selected. Way back
yonder before the world began, when Jesus Christ was the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, when he was, as the
Word of God says, the surety of the everlasting covenant. When he was, as the Bible said,
his blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant. There is
a sense, turn to Isaiah 46, there is a sense in which our sins,
all of them, all the sins of every believer of all ages, of
all generations, of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue unto
heaven, There is a sense in which all our sins were transferred
to Christ when he was made our Redeemer in the counsel and purpose
and program of God Almighty. For the Bible says in Isaiah
46, 9, Remember the former things of old, I am God. There is none
else. I am God and there is none like
me. I declare the end from the beginning. and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure." Turn to Romans 8. God says, I
declare the end from the beginning. I declare it is done. From the
time that it is designed, it is done. From the time that it
is purposed, it is perfected. From the time that it is taught,
it is thorough and complete. And from the time back in eternity
that God set his love upon us and chose us and put us in Christ,
at that very time we were even glorified. Now you read Romans
8 verse 29, "...for whom he did foreknow He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." And those words
are all in the past tense. They are done. So the transfer
of our sins to Christ looking at it from the standpoint of
God's doing, where all of our sins were transferred to Christ
by that same eternal purpose that Christ became our substitute. Christ has always stood for us.
But secondly, the transfer of our sins to Christ in another
sense was complete when He died on the cross. For the Bible says,
He bore our sins in his body on the tree. The Bible says in
2 Corinthians 5, turn there, there's the gospel in one verse
of scripture, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, For he hath made him to be
sin. Actually, Christ became sin. He was numbered with the transgressors. Actually, our sins were laid
on him. It was no makeup. It was no farce. It was an actual transfer of
guilt to the substitute. Christ bore our sins in his body
on the tree. The wrath of God was against
him because he who knew no sin was made sin for us. Hebrews
chapter 9. Turn over there with me. Hebrews
chapter 9. It says here in the ninth chapter
of Hebrews, verse 11 and 12, Christ being come, and high priest
of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place. having obtained eternal
redemption for the people who lived before
he died. No. For the people who lived
up to the time he died. No. He obtained eternal redemption
for us, every believer. So back yonder, many, many, many,
many, many years before this world was ever made, Christ Jesus
was the Lamb, the surety of the everlasting covenant. He was
the sacrifice for sin before Adam was ever created. and all
our sins were transferred to him. Then he was our surety.
He stood for us in the purpose and program and providence of
God back in eternity. When he came down here to this
earth, actually as a man in the flesh, our sins were laid on
him and he paid for them and he went to the right hand of
God where he obtained eternal redemption for us. It was done,
the great transaction's done. I am my Lord's and he is mine. And if my great, great, great
grandson, who will be born into this world probably 50, 60, 70
years from now, if he becomes a Christian, his sins are already
laid on Christ. Already. He's not even born yet. But that's what the Bible says,
Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And he didn't put away phantom sins, he put away real sins.
He bore real sins. He didn't bear fictitious sins. He bore real sins, our sins. That's so whether you believe
it or not. And then the third sense. Now listen to me, this
is so too. And no use getting confused because
you don't understand God. If you understood God, he wouldn't
be God. The finite cannot understand
the infinite. The finite cannot understand
or comprehend the infinite. We cannot put God in our brains
any more than a little boy can put an ocean in his pail. But
the transfer of our sins to Christ is still in another sense. It becomes a fact. It becomes
a fact in time, when I consciously, intelligently, realistically,
receive Christ as my Lord and Savior. When I by faith actually
lay my hands on Christ, when I by faith actually come to Christ
in repentance and faith, when I leave my sins with him to bear
away, that's when I transfer my sins to Christ. And up until
that moment I'm asking you to believe it, not so much to understand
it. It's so. Up until that moment,
my sins are still on me. There's a sense in which my sins
were laid on Christ in the purpose and mind of God who declares
the end from the beginning. There's a sense in which my sins
were laid on Christ when he died on the cross realistically and
actually and literally. He bore our sin. But there's
a sense in which if there's somebody out here tonight who's not saved,
But who will be saved? Your sins are still on your head.
Until you by faith, until you in genuine repentance, until
you in genuine confession of sins come like Avan and lay your
hands on the sacrifice and say, Lord Jesus, bear my sins away. Bear my sins away. It is upon
our receiving Christ that we are made holy, not before. It
is upon our receiving Christ that we're forgiven, not before.
It is upon our receiving Christ that we're cleansed, not before. We're justified by faith. That
explains these scriptures. Turn to Acts chapter 2, verse
38. Listen to this. The people at
Pentecost said, when they were pricked in their hearts and they
heard Peter preach, they said, what are we going to do? And
Peter said, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. Repent and be baptized
for the remission of sins. Come and lay thy hand upon the
head of the scapegoat. Come and lay thy hand upon the
head of God's land, come and lay thy hand by faith, thy personal
confession upon the head of Christ the Lord, and go away clean. Thy faith hath made thee whole,
thy faith hath saved thee." Turn to Acts 22, verse 16. Acts 22,
verse 16. Listen to what the Scripture
says, "'Arise, and now why tarryest thou? Arise and be baptized.'
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." Calling
on the name of the Lord. Now brethren, anybody with half-sense
knows that water can't put away sin. Anybody with half-sense
knows that a person can't be washed from his sins in a creek
of water. That water may wash his body,
but it can't wash his heart. It takes the blood of Christ
to do that. And Christ is God's selected
Lamb, and Christ is God's designated Lamb, even as this realm was
selected by Moses. But Aaron came, and Moses chose,
and Aaron accepted, Moses chose, and Aaron acknowledged. Moses
chose and brought the Lamb, and Aaron put his hand on the head
of the Lamb and confessed his sin. And they went out there
and turned that ram loose and it wandered in the wilderness.
He said, What if Moes, what if Avon hadn't of put his hands
on the head of that lamb, Avon that died in his sins? What if
Avon had never confessed his sins, Avon that died in his sins? And if you don't come to Christ,
you'll die in your sins. If you don't come to God's Lamb,
God's selected realm, and God's selected substitute, and consciously
and intelligently acknowledge God's choice and say, Lord Jesus,
take away my sins. Turn to 1 John, chapter 1. 1
John, chapter 1, verse 9. Verse 8 says, If we say we don't
have any sins, The truth's not in us. That's worse than being
a liar. He says the truth's not even
in you. But if we confess our sins, if he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us, and to cleanse us
in the purpose of God, I'm holy and without blame. In the blood
of Christ, I'm holy and without blame. Through the mediatorial
work of Christ, I'm holy and without blame. But brethren,
I tell you this, if a person wants to really be holy and without
blame, he's got to come and acknowledge Christ. He's got to confess him. He's got to trust him. Now then,
turn back to Leviticus 8. So Moses chose the ram, even
as God chose Christ, and sent him down to be the substitute.
Aaron said, Avon said, I acknowledge it. Avon says, I believe it.
Avon laid his hands on the head of the ram, and Moses took it
out and slew it. Now, my friends, on whomsoever
the guilt is found, on him must the penalty lie. That's the whole
story. If you die in your sins, Christ
said, you can't come where I am, because the penalty is on you,
you're still in your sins. On whom the guilt is found, on
him the penalty lies. That's all there is to it. Avon
took his hands and put on the head of that ram, and confessed
his sins, and the transfer of his sins from him to the ram
took place. And then they slew the ram. For
on whomsoever the guilt is found, on him must the penalty lie,
and from him, the one on whom the guilt is found, from him
must that penalty be exacted to the uttermost. The soul that
sinneth, it must die. So my sins were laid on Christ. My sins were transferred from
me to Christ my substitute, and incarnation's not enough. The
Word was made flesh, but that's the beginning and not the end.
Power is not enough. Our Lord said, I have all power,
but love and mercy armed with power is faced with righteousness,
and righteousness is stronger than power. And as God cannot lie, omnipotence
cannot conquer the law. Jesus Christ is love armed with
power, but even love armed with power cannot overcome righteousness. God is holy. God is holy. And suffering's not enough either.
From the cradle to the cross, he was a man of solace. From
the cradle to the cross, he was acquainted with grief, and yet
his tears and his groans could not put away sin. Holiness is
not enough. He that would save us must be
a substitute. He that would save us must be
not only an example, but a substitute, and he must undergo the law's
last sentence. He must die. He must die. So Moses brought the ram, Aaron
confessed his sins, and on whom the guilt is laid, the penalty
must lie. He's got to die. So Christ bore
our sins and took them away and paid for them on the cross. And
then the last thing, look. And Moses took the blood, the
blood of the slain ram, And he put it on the tip of Avon's right
ear. And he put it on the thumb of
Avon's right hand. And he put it on the great toe
of Avon's right foot. Now the body of Avon was not
plunged into the blood. For the quantity of the blood
is of no consequence. The quantity of the blood is
of no consequence. It's not how long Christ suffered,
it's not how much blood he shared, it's who suffered and whose blood
was shared. The blood was merely applied to three places of Aaron's
body, and by this application And by this act of consecration,
the whole man was consecrated to God. First of all, Moses took
the blood, and he put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron. And that denotes that Aaron's
hearing was tuned to God. That's the first thing that happens
when God saves a man. That's the first thing that happens
when God calls one of his sheep. He hears his voice. He hears
his voice. Turn to John chapter 10. This
is mighty important right here, John chapter 10. Our Lord Jesus
said in the tenth chapter of John, verse 23, He walked in
the temple in Solomon's porch and the Jews came round about
him and they said, How long dost thou make us doubt If thou be
the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you.
But you didn't believe me. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. I said unto you, my sheep, hear
my voice. My sheep hear my voice. My friends,
when we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the substitute,
when we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
those who are God's sheep will hear God's voice. They will hear
the gospel and they will believe it and they will receive it.
Their ears have been consecrated by God. Their ears have been
touched with the blood Their ears are tuned to hear the voice
of God, and another voice they will not follow, another shepherd
they will not follow. Turn to John 8, verse 47. Listen to this. John 8, 47. He
that is of God heareth God's word. I'm satisfied about that. I'm convinced of it with all
my heart. He that is of God, John 8, 47,
will hear God's word. He won't buck it, he won't fight
it, he won't resist it, he'll hear it. You therefore hear them
not because you are not of God, Christ said. You say, Purchase, I take the
word of God and I try to read it to my friends and they just
won't receive it. Your friends don't know God.
If your friends knew God, they'd hear God's word. No sheep of
Christ is going to turn his ear away from God's Word. The blood
has been applied to the air. And my sheep hear my voice, Christ
said. Turn with me to John 12. John
12, 48. He that is of God will hear God's
Word. You don't hear His Word because
you're not of God. Look at John 12, 48. Listen to
this. He that rejecteth me, John 12,
48, He that rejecteth me, and receiveth
not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day." The very words that
you will not hear are going to judge you. The very word of God
that you will not receive and to which you will not submit
is going to be your judge in the day of judgment. And then the blood was applied
to the thumb. Now I want you to listen to me.
I want to be as tender here as I can possibly be. When Aaron was consecrated, when
Aaron was set apart, when Aaron was made God's own, when he confessed
his sin over the ram and his ram was slain, the blood was
then applied to his ear. And God said, Aaron, listen to
me now. Aaron's ear will be tuned to my voice, and Aaron will hear
me when I speak. And Aaron will not rebel against
my word. He will not reject my word. He
will not reject my will. His ear will be tuned to God
and nobody else. And then I want you to put the
blood on his right thumb. And that indicates that his skill
and his talent and his resources are dedicated to God. That's
what the right hand indicates, the cunning of the right hand,
the skill. by which a man makes his living, by which a man supports
his family, by which a man exercises his skill, by which a man goes
about his vocation, touch that with the blood. Now I always
tremble when I get on this subject, for I'm going to confess to you
that I have a great advantage living in and about the temple. My vocation is the Bible, is
the gospel. My vocation is prayer, my vocation
is study. Everything that I have and am
belongs to God because I'm right here in the very circle of God's
hand, from the pulpit to the study and back to the pulpit.
And I don't know what I'd do, I don't know what I'd be if I
were in your place. If I earned my living out in
a steel mill, if I had to fight for every nickel and dime and
be concerned about being fired or laid off or somebody taking
my job or recessions and depressions and all these things, I don't
know. I don't know. But I can say what is true, whether
I would do it or not. I know you have the most difficult
situation, but I know this is true. Whether we work in the
temple or on the outside, whatever we are and whatever we have and
whatever we can do, it belongs to God. Now that's so of me,
but I'm here in the house of God all the time. You're out
there in the mill, you're out there on the job, you're out
there in the stores and the factories, and things are a lot tougher,
I know that. But still, if the old thumb's been touched with
the blood, whatever you have belongs to God. Your family,
your home, your car, your bank account, your living, your children,
everything that your skill has brought to you belongs to God.
One old man, somebody asked him one time, said, What's your occupation?
He said, My occupation is to be like Christ. That's my ambition
and that's my occupation, but I make my living doing carpenter
work. My occupation is to be like Christ,
but I make my living doing carpenter work. And that's supposed to
be true of every Christian. If God's touched the ear with
the blood, you'll hear his voice. And I'm not worried about that.
I don't plan to preach anything from this pulpit but the truth,
if I know it's the truth, if God reveals it to me. Because
I know His sheep will hear His voice. There may be ten of them,
there may be ten thousand of them, but they're going to hear
His voice, and the rest of the people are not going to hear it. And
we're not going to try to please the rest of the people. If I
please the rest of the people, I'm not God's servant. God sent
me to deliver a message to His people, and they're the only
ones I've got anything for. And they're going to hear it,
and they're going to recognize it, and they're going to receive
it. And we don't have to get up here and beg for money, sign
pledge cards, and send out duns, because God's people have had
their thumb touched with the blood, and everything they've
got belongs to him anyhow. It's his. Their job's his, and
their home's his, and their family's his, and everything they've got
belongs to him. And God doesn't have to squeeze it out of them.
Here they'll give it. All God's got to do is show them
where he wants them to give it. And then the great toe of the
right foot. Moses took the blood and he touched
the toe of the right foot. And that signifies that my walk
is to be in paths of righteousness. Now where I go, it does make
a difference. It makes a difference. Where
I'm seen, there's the 13th Street Baptist Church. Where I go, there's
the 13th Street Baptist Church. Where I go, there's the Lord
Jesus Christ, because I'm his son. I'm his son. I'm his child. And it makes a
difference where these feet go. It makes a difference who they
go with. That's right. It makes a whole lot of difference,
because I'm his child. I belong to the Lord. He's touched
my toe with his blood. How I conduct myself ought to
be determined by my relationship with my Lord. My desire ought
to be to point others to Christ. That's the reason the blood's
put on the toe, because I walk with the Lord. My feet have been
consecrated to paths of righteousness and holiness. That's where it's
supposed to be. If we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another. and the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And blessed is the man,
blessed is that man that does not walk in the counsel of the
ungodly." His companions are not wicked men. He doesn't walk
in their counsel. He doesn't walk in their planning.
He doesn't walk in their committee meetings. He doesn't walk in
their fellowship. He does not stand in the way
of sinners, that is, in the way that sinners stand. He does not
stand in the way of sinners. He does not sit in the seat of
the mocking and the scornful and those who put a question
mark on God's word, he does not number them as his companions. He does not. He does not walk
in the way of the ungodly, he does not stand in the path where
sinners stand, and he does not sit around with those who are
scornful and mocking of the word of God. His delight is in the
law of the Lord. His delight is in those who love
God's word. His delight is in those who talk
about God's word. His delight is in the path where
God's word is spoken. His tree shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water that will bring forth his fruit
in his season. Master, let me walk with thee."
In lowly paths of service free, tell me thy secret, and, Lord,
help me bear the strain of toil and the threat of care. Teach
me thy patience still with thee in closer, sweeter company, in
love that keeps faith sweet and strong, in trust that triumphs
over wrong. in hope that sends a shining
ray far down the future's broadening way, in peace that only Christ
can give. With thee, O Master, let me live. O Master, let me walk with thee. The blood, I hear God's word. And I receive it. And I'm not
going to listen to a strange voice. I'm not going to be driven
about with every wind of doctrine. God's touched the thumb with
the right hand. My cunning, my skill, my ambition,
my vocation is touched by the blood. It's affected by the blood. And my toe has been touched with
the blood, and my walk has been consecrated to him who bought
me. I'm not my own, I'm his. I need
to learn that. It's not what I want to do, it's
what he wants me to do. It's not where I want to go,
it's where he wants me to go. It's not with whom I want to
go, it's with whom he wants me to go. For his glory, for his
good, for the testimony of his grace, and for witness of his
power. to belong to him. Master, let
me walk with thee. Our Father, bless the word now
to our hearts. We thank thee for the scripture,
thank thee for the presence of thy Holy Spirit. Make the message
to be real and vital and personal. May every one of us, individually,
willingly, acknowledge the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. And by the blood,
though we are dead with Christ, live consecrated to him. In his name we pray. Amen.