Turn with me if you will tonight
to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23. I'm going
to read the first seven verses. Then spake Jesus to the multitude
and to his disciples saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not you after
their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens
and grievous to be born, and lay them on men's shoulders,
but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. but all their works they do for
to be seen of men. They make broad the phylacteries
and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost
rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues, and
greetings in the markets, and to be called of men rabbi, rabbi. The word rabbi, of course, means
master. I want to speak to us from one
of the charges that the Lord Jesus Christ brought against
these scribes and Pharisees in verse number five. They make
broad their phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their
garments. Now, he doesn't charge them with
having phylacteries and fringes or borders on their gardens because
this was part of the law of Moses. But it is, you see, that they
make broad their phylacteries and the fringes of their garden,
of their garments. They enlarge the borders of their
garments. In other words, the use of the
phylacteries and the fringes of their garments was commanded
in the law of Moses. They were to do that. They were
all to do that. But these religious hypocrites,
these religious self-righteous ones, they made lords there so
that everyone would see theirs and commend them and think of
them as being super pious, super religious. It wasn't having the phylacteries
or the fringes of their garments, but it was rather to make them
broad and to enlarge them, to stand out like they love to stand
out on the corners of the street, to pray rather than entering
into a closet and praying to their father in secret. They
love to pray where everyone would see them and they would be commended
and thought to be so religious. They would seek that and that
would be their reward. By the borders here, in the scripture
our Lord said, they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge
the borders of their garments. By borders, this was the fringes
of their robes which they wore and they were to have, of course,
a ribbon of blue. and the fringes of the borders
of their garments. And this was part of the law
that God gave to them. I want you to look back with
me to Numbers. Numbers chapter 15. And we see
this in this portion of the law. In Numbers chapter 15, beginning with verse 37. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that
they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout
their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders
a ribbon of blue. And it shall be unto you for
a fringe. Now here was the purpose. This was the reason God commanded
this. this ribbon of blue in the fringes
of their garments. And it shall be unto you that
you may look upon it and remember. When I was a young person, we
used to have a saying about tying a string around your finger to
help you remember something. Well, God gave this to the nation
of Israel to to adorn their robes with fringes and a ribbon of
blue around it to remind them of the law of God, to remind
them of the commandments of God. Look at verse 39. It shall be
unto you for a friends that you may look upon it and remember
all the commandments of the Lord and do them. Not just remember
them, but do them. and that you seek not after your
own heart and your own eyes, after which you used to go a
whoring, that you may remember and do all my commandments and
be holy unto your God. I am the Lord your God, which
brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the
Lord your God. So concerning the fringes, the
fringes that they enlarged, This was something which they were
to do. It was commanded in the law of
God. But this other term, phylacteries,
phylacteries, by this was meant the practice of taking a portion
of the law of God, the written law of God, and in the skin of
a clean animal, had to be a clean animal, of course, they would
roll that up, and it was to be tied on the hand and between
their eyes. I don't know if you've ever noticed
on the news, maybe in New York City, I believe, Orthodox Jews, sometimes you
will see, young men especially, and they will have something
tied, it looks like a little white Rolled up a roll tied onto their
hair but it comes from this command of God and These that were tied
between their eyes Are called frontlets in the scripture frontlets
and you can see why they would be called that because as they
look they would see these commandments and be reminded of them. Now, I have found three places
in the law, three places in the law, where this command concerning
these front lists is given. And in each place, each time,
it relates to a most important doctrine, a most important truth. The first time, and I want you
to turn back with me to Exodus chapter 13, the first time that we see this term
frontlets is in Exodus chapter 13 concerning the Passover. Beginning with verse one, and
the Lord spake unto Moses saying, sanctify unto me all the firstborn,
whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both
of man and of beast, it is mine. And Moses said unto the people,
remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the
house of bondage, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you
out from this place There shall no leavened bread be eaten. This
day came ye out in the month of Abed, and it shall be when
the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and
the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
which he swear unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing
with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this
month. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened
bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.
Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days, and there shall no
leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven
seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt show thy son in
that day saying, This is done because of that which the Lord
did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be
for a sign unto thee upon thine hand and for a memorial between
thine eyes that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth for with
a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt
therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year,
and it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land
of the Canaanites, as he swear unto thee and to thy fathers,
and shall give it thee, that thou shalt set apart unto the
Lord all that openeth the matrix, and every first one that cometh
of a beast which thou hast, the male shall be the Lord's. And
every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb. And
if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck. And
all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem. And it shall be when thy son
asketh thee in time to come, saying, what is this? That thou
shalt say unto him, by strength of hand, the Lord brought us
out from Egypt from the house of bondage. And it came to pass,
when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of
man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the
Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males, but all the firstborn
of my children I redeem. Now here's the verse. And it
shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between
thine eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth
out of Egypt. Now what is the important truth
that this frontlet that they were to have between their eyes
was to remind them and cause them to remember? It was the
Passover lamb, it was the blood atonement the blood of the Passover
lamb, and by that Israel was redeemed out of the hand of Pharaoh. In one place it's called the
iron furnace, a place of bondage. This is the most important truth
that God commanded his people to remember. Now it seems strange,
doesn't it, to tie something between your eyes to remind you
But this is something very important. Our Lord gave us this ordinance
of the Lord's Table, didn't he? When he said, this do in remembrance
of me. And what are we reminded of when
we observe the Lord's Table? Of his death, of the blood sacrifice,
of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what
they were to do, they were to put this This is a front that
between their eyes is most important truth. This foundational truth,
the atonement, the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
know that a blood atonement is not optional. It's not optional
if a person man or woman is to be forgiven if their sins are
to be put away, there must be a blood atonement. Let's think about the word atonement
for just a minute. What does the word itself mean,
atonement? You're familiar with that word.
You hear it here quite often. You read it in the scripture.
But what does the word atonement literally mean? Well, you know,
one of the rules of Bible interpretation is the rule of first mention.
You look at the word as it is used the first time in the scripture,
and you find the definition there. You find the meaning there. And
that's the way it should be understood all the way through the scripture. Now that alone shows the inspiration
of the word of God, doesn't it? That alone shows that the word
of God has one author. Oh, there are many human authors,
yes, that God used. But one author, really, God the
Holy Spirit. He's the one. who indicted those
scriptures that gave the word. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And the very fact that you could
take in a book here of 66 books, a collection of books, and look
at a word the very first time it's used and find the definition
there and see that it will be used the same way all the way
through. To me, that's amazing. That's
amazing. But this book is amazing. It's
a miracle book. It's a miracle book. The Word
of God. Well, let's look at the first
time that the word which is translated atonement is used in the Bible. And we find that in Genesis chapter
six. Genesis chapter 6 and verse 14. The very first time the word,
the Hebrew word, which is translated atonement, is used, we find it
here in its verb form and also in its noun form. In Genesis
chapter 6 and verse 14, when God gave commandment to Noah
concerning the building of the ark, Make thee an ark of gopher
wood, room shalt thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within
and without with pitch. You might say, well, Preacher,
I don't see atonement there. No, you don't see the English
word atonement, but the word which is translated atonement
is there two times, the Hebrew word. You say, where is it? Pitch. Pitch. Thou shalt pitch it within
and without. With pitch. What does that mean? Cover. Cover. I was remembering this afternoon
thinking about this passage of scripture when I was a young
lad. One of my uncles, lived across
the street from where we lived. And he built a cabin cruiser
in his garage. He started from scratch. He got
a kit, I believe it was. He got the helm. And I would
go. He'd come home from work at night
and work on that from time to time. And over months, I would
go over there. And I thought I was helping him.
I probably was getting in his way. But anyway, I remember when
we pitched it, he had some solvent, some solution there, and he said,
now David, and I remember this, because it was curved, you know,
my tendency was to start at the bottom and paint. Oh no, David,
start at the top. Start at the top. That way it
would run down, you know, as you were painting down. But what
did we do? We pitched it. We covered it.
And that's what the word atonement means. Now put this between your
eyes to remember this, the blood atonement. Well, how do we understand
it if it means to cover? The ark was to be covered with
this pitch inside and out. To atone for sin is to cover
sin. To cover sin. And listen, to
cover sin in such a way that the justice of God can never
again accuse or condemn anyone for that sin which is covered. It's covered out of the sight
of God's holy justice. Search may be made for it, but
it cannot be found. I mentioned reading a book recently
in a message on the suffering Savior, and since then I came
to the place where he said, the Lord Jesus Christ, the author
did, upon the cross, his hands were stretched out, and he said,
one to the east and one to the west. And I thought, how could
he know that? How does he know how that cross
was put in the ground so that one hand would face the east
and one hand would face the west? And I still don't know how he
knew that. But I do know this. that he has
so covered our sins, the sins of his people, he has so atoned
for our sins that they are removed as far as the east is from the
west. In other words, they can never
be found. He has covered our sins. Keep this. This is a very, this
is a most important truth. Keep this before your eyes to
remember this, that there is no remission of sin without the
shedding of blood. The scriptures reveal that. Well, that's what the word atonement
means. It means to cover what one verse,
what one verse in the scripture embodies the truth concerning
the atonement. Well, it is in Leviticus chapter
17, if you want to turn there. Leviticus chapter 17 and verse
11. This one verse says it all. For
the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to
you upon the altar to make an atonement. for your souls, for
it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Modern day so-called religion,
they don't like to sing about the blood, they don't like to
read about the blood, they don't want to hear about the blood.
My friends, there is no true religion without the blood. the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. By the way, the book, one book
of the 66 books in the scripture that deals with atonement the
most and the most thorough, of course, is the book of Leviticus,
the book of the priest. Why? Because it was the priest
who made the atonement on the great day of atonement. It was
a high priest who went into the most holy place and sprinkled
the blood upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. We
have a great high priest. We have a great high priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it was with his own blood
he made an atonement. The New Testament equivalent
to the word atonement is the word propitiation. Propitiation. And that's found, of course,
in Romans 3 and verse 25. Being justified freely. Freely. Without a cost. That's what that
word freely means. You say, I don't know why God
would save me. You never will know unless God tells you. But you're sure not going to
know looking in the mirror. You're sure not going to learn
I wonder why God would have mercy on me? Why he would save me? You'll never find that answer
by looking inside. No, being justified freely, without
a cause on our part, by his free, unconditional, sovereign love
and grace. Being justified freely by His
grace, but notice, through, not apart. I've heard people say,
well, I'm just going to, when I stand before God, I'm just
going to throw myself on the mercy of God. God's mercy is
in Christ. His mercy is in Christ. Don't talk about saving mercy
apart from Christ. Don't talk about saving mercy
apart from the blood of Jesus Christ, apart from that one sacrifice
that has effectually put away his people. Propitiated God,
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood. Keep that as a frontlet between
your eyes. Now the second place, if you
will, look with me in Deuteronomy chapter six. I said three places
in the law we find this word frontlet. In Deuteronomy chapter six, beginning with verse four, And this is a phrase that I've
heard in every Jewish home who believe the law, believe in Moses,
that this phrase right here is sounded forth every day, every
day to the children. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart. and with all thy soul, and with
all thy might. These words which I command thee
this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently
unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest
in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind
them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets
between thine eyes. What is the truth here? It is
the unity, the unity of God and his requirements as well. The
Lord, the covenant God, that is Jehovah, The covenant God
of his people, Israel, is but one Lord, one Jehovah. He is Jehovah, the being of all
beings, the only self-existent being, eternal, immutable. He's but one in nature, in essence,
and this appears from the perfections of his nature, his eternity. If man would only stop and think,
there can only be one eternal being. There cannot be two eternal
beings. There can be only one omnipotent
being. There can be only one omnipresent
being. There can be only one omniscient
being, all-knowing being. There cannot be two. There cannot
be more. Oh Israel, the Lord, our God,
is one Lord. He's one. He's the only self-sufficient
one. He doesn't need anything. He
doesn't need anyone. How different, right? How different
from the God that is presented in so many places today, sadly
to say. The only hands He has is your
hands. The only feet He has are your
feet. Really? Really? That's God? The only hands He has are my
hands? He can't work without my hands? Really? Hear, O Israel! The Lord our
God is one Lord. Self-sufficient? Eternal? In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. We know he is one Lord who exists
in three persons. One God who exists in three persons. The scripture says in 1 John
5, 7, For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And that's stated here, understand,
in that phrase. Here, O Israel, the Lord, our
God, is one Lord. The triune being. Sometimes we
sing, the hymn that has words which say, immortal, invisible,
God only wise, and light, inaccessible, hid from our eyes, most blessed,
most glorious, the ancient of days, almighty, victorious, thy
great name we praise. I like to sing those hymns that
praise and lift up the Lord, don't you? This is the most important truth
that we must always remember. Israel put this between your
eyes as frontlets, never let it slip. And what does he require? He
requires that we must love him with all our heart and with all
our soul and with all our might. And we all come short for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And God Almighty
sent his only begotten son into this world as a man to perfectly
obey that command, to love God with all his heart, soul, and
being, and to do that for us in our stead. This frontlet,
this truth, keep before your eyes. One more, if you look over
in chapter 11 of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 11 and beginning
with verse 1. Therefore thou shalt love the
Lord thy God and keep his charge and his statutes and his judgments
and his commandments always. And know you this day, for I
speak not with your children which have not known and which
have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness,
his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm. Moses was speaking to
the children who were now adults, right, who had come out of Israel. All their parents had died in
the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua. And they'd all died because
of their unbelief. Now Moses said, or God said through
Moses, you know what I'm talking about. You've seen these things.
You saw his miracles. You were children, yes, under
20 years of age, but you saw his miracles, his acts, which
he did in the midst of Egypt under favor of the king of Egypt
and under all his land. What he did under the army of
Egypt, you saw that. You crossed through the Red Sea
on dry land and you saw that great host of army, that army
of Egypt coming and a saint across also. and God causing the Red Sea to
come back and cover them and drown them. All their enemies
drowned on the shore. You saw that. What he did unto
you in the wilderness until you came unto this place. And what
he did unto Dathan and Bira, the sons of Eliab. You say, what
did he do to them? He killed them. He killed him. That's what he
did. Why? Because they did not receive God's order. There was
one high priest. I said, well, we're all holy.
We don't need a special priest to do this work for us. We're
all holy. We can all take care of ourselves.
Oh, no. God had chosen Aaron. and Aaron's
children. But your eyes have seen all the
great acts of the Lord which he did. Therefore shall you keep
all the commandments which I command you this day that you may be
strong and go in and possess the land whether you go to possess
it and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord
swear unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed a
land that floweth with milk and honey For the land whither thou
goest in to possess it is not as the land of Egypt from whence
you came out, where thou sowest thy seed and watered it with
thy foot as a garden of herbs, but the land whither you go to
possess it is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh water
of the rain of heaven, a land which the Lord thy God careth
for. For the eyes of the Lord thy
God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year, even
unto the end of the year. And it shall come to pass, if
you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments, which I
command you this day, to love the Lord your God, to serve him
with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give
you the reign of your land in his due season, the first rain,
and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and
thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in the
fields for the cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take
heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you
turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. And then the
Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens. that there be no rain and that
the land yield not her fruit unless you perish quickly from
off the good land which the Lord giveth you. Then shall you lay
up these words in your heart and in your soul and bind them
for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between
your eyes. What is the truth that they must
not let slip, that they must remember? That disobedience brings
judgment. Disobedience brings judgment. If you go after other gods, God
said, I'm going to withhold the rain. This land that is a land
flowing with milk and honey will turn into a desert land without
my Provision, the early rain and the latter rain every year. You're to enter the land of Canaan,
but you are to obey. Disobedience will bring its repercussions. This is the most important truth,
isn't it? Keep this before your eyes. Blood
atonement, the unity of God, and the need to be obedient unto
God. These service frontlets before
the children of Israel, and they are truths that certainly you
and I must always guard and keep. We sang that hymn at the end
of the service this morning. When we walk with the Lord and do his will, what a joy. he sheds on our way. And the
only way, as the hymn writer said, is to trust and obey. That's what this last frontlet
was, trust and obey. I pray the Lord bless these thoughts
to you and I.