FOUR CHARACTERISTIC OFFERINGS.—LEVITICUS 1-4
Now, the order in which we find the sacrifices here is not the order in which you and I apprehend them, not the order of our progress in and understanding of the things of Christ, but the order in which they are given from God. The first aspect of the cross we see is that He bears our sins on the tree. God commences with the highest, that is, the burnt offering. All understand the sacrifices in some way to refer to Christ, but fail to see their distinction. There are different aspects of Christ's work. No soul ever has perfect peace unless he has some understanding of the different aspects of the work of Christ.
The Burnt Offering.-It Was Called Such Because It Was All Burned up. This Is Not the Sin Offering, but an Offering of Sweet Savor Unto God, Though the Value of All Applies to Us. the Man " Shall Put His Hand on the Head of the Burnt Offering and It Shall Be Accepted for Him to Make Atonement for Him." It Is a Picture of Christ As a Burnt Offering, As One Entirely and Thoroughly Given up on the Cross. Heb. 10 Says, " Lo, I Come to Do Thy Will, O God; " Then We Have, " by the Which Will We Are Sanctified Through the Offering of the Body of Jesus Christ Once." It Is a Picture of Christ's Sacrifice so Often Overlooked. He Has Given Himself up As a Sweet Savor Unto God. in Gen. 6 We Read, " It Repented the Lord That He Had Made Man, and It Grieved Him at His Heart." a Chapter or Two Farther on We Read That Noah Offered a Burnt Sacrifice, and It Ascended to Heaven, and the Lord Smelt It, and Said in His Heart, That Same Heart That Was Grieved, " I Will No More Curse the Ground for Man's Sake." and He Gave the Rainbow As a Pledge. God Has Nothing in His Heart for the Believer but Grace and Peace, and All This by the Sacrifice of Christ.
Verse 5. The priest did not kill the bullock, but he sprinkled the blood; his work commenced after the blood was shed. Christ is a priest; when did His work commence? It never commenced until He had shed His blood. He is now before God as a priest, but not to make atonement for my sins, but to watch over me, shepherd me, cleanse me, and look after my interest up there, so that I may bring all my wants to the throne of grace, but as to my sins, they were all borne by Him on the cross. Verses 6-9. Why was the offering cut into pieces and washed in water? Just for this reason: the word of God cuts; " it is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit." You can take up any part of Christ's life and test it, as the Son of man or Son of God. Test any part of Christ's life, and you will see it will stand the test of the word of God. Not so with us. And then his inwards and his legs were washed in water-a picture of Christ. Not that He had anything to be cleansed from, but you can wash a clean thing as well as an unclean thing. Take a clean thing and a foul thing: I put the clean thing in the water and I prove it by washing it in the water that it had no need of washing at all.
Christ was down here thirty-three years, and it is proved that He knew no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. He was tried, tempted, put to the test, and all that, and yet without sin, because there was no sin there to be tempted. There were three forms of the sacrifice: first, the bullock; then the sacrifice of the flock; and then the sacrifice of the two birds. This is a three-fold aspect of Christ as the burnt offering-it signifies Christ doing His Father's will, Christ laying down His life of His own will, and through the Eternal Spirit offering Himself without spot to God. These are all a type of Christ as a sweet savor unto God. Every soul who trusts in the blood of Christ is a sanctified soul, the blood of Christ sanctifies him. Every soul whose con science has been reached by the blood of Christ is sanctified, set apart to. God. Now, a word or two from the law of the burnt offering.
Read Lev. 6:8, etc. We see in this chapter that the fire of the burnt offering never went out. Now, the fire of the sin offering went out, and it is a grand thing for us that it did. The sin offering was taken outside and all burnt up. Any one that came along could see that only the ashes remained, the fire had gone out, there was nothing more left to burn. There is no more fire, no more judgment left for any sinner that trusts in Christ; it has all gone out and been burned up for him; Christ suffered on Calvary and bore all the judgment of the sinner. The blessed thing here is that the fire did not go out. It was renewed every morning and evening. It shall be burning upon the altar all night. All Israel have gone to their tents and are fast asleep, not thinking of Him, or serving Him, but lying in repose. But His eye is cast down there and He sees that offering burning all night long. That burnt offering burning all the time for them secured God's grace towards them at all times. Applying that to ourselves and the work of Christ, we can see that it is a picture of its perpetual sweetness to God for us. Heb. 10:14: " By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Do you believe the written word of God? There is perpetual perfection for every soul who trusts in Christ. God has Christ always before Him. I may be fast asleep or my mind occupied with other things, but if I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I am perpetually perfected before God. It is a perfection that does not hinge on our feelings or walk, but it hinges upon his perfect offering. Believe what God says. It is not my opinion but what He says. "By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Every Christian is perfected forever by that wonderfully perfect sacrifice of Christ. I was glad when I saw that text in the Bible. I would like to put it around this room in big letters. God puts over to my credit all that Christ has done. Thus we are sanctified to God, in all the perfectness of the work of Christ.
THE MEAT OFFERING, Lev. 2—We Have in This Offering a Type of Christ As a Perfect Man. If Was Made of Fine Flour. It Was a Food Offering-It Was God's Food. We Talk About Our Souls Being Fed. God Too, Must Have Something to Feed His Soul Upon, Speaking in Human Language. He Says in the 28th Chapter of Numbers, " My Offering, My Bread for My Sacrifices Made by Fire for a Sweet Savor Unto It Is Blessed to See That Christ Is God's Food. Not Only Does He Make Atonement for Our Sins, but He Satisfies All the Wants of God's Heart. When We See All That Christ Has Done for Us, Then We Enjoy This and Appreciate It. Now Observe What Were the Component Parts of This Offering. It Was Made of Fine Flour Mingled With Oil, and Also Anointed With Oil. We Obtain Fine Flour by Wheat Being Ground, so Was Christ Put Through Suffering, and the Wheat Pressed Out. Fine Flour Is That Which Had No Uneven Grains in It. If I Should Take Flour With Lumps or Grits in It, That Will Not Do. but I Take up a Handful Without Any Lumps or Grains and I See It Is Fine Flour, and That Is a Type of Christ's Humanity (John 12:24). You Cannot Say That of Any Other Character in the Bible. Take Paul-He Was a Blessed Man of God, but He Had Need of a Thorn in the Flesh. He Had to Call Back His Words at One Time Before Agrippa, and at Another Time Had to Change His Mind. Christ Never Changed His Mind. Paul Was Told Not to Go to Jerusalem, but He Did Go. Christ Never Did a Thing of His Own Will, but Always by His Father's Will. Take Peter and His Wonderful Zeal. His Very Zeal Made Him Uneven. One Moment He Said He Never Would Deny Christ, and Drew His Sword to Defend Him; but Afterward He Denied Him and Blasphemed.
Take up John, he wanted fire to come down from heaven and devour those who were not with him. Take Moses, the meekest man on the face of the earth, and he lost his temper when he smote the rock and said, " Ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? " Christ was not characterized by anything special, but not so with us. One man is very righteous, but needs more grace; another man is gracious, but he is lacking in righteousness. There are lumps and unevenness in us, but in Christ there was no unevenness. Then the fine flour was to be mingled with oil. Oil is a type of the Holy Ghost. In all that Christ did, He did it by the Holy Spirit. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and all His works were done by Him. Many things we do in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit. The oil was also poured upon this-Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost. There was frankincense added to it also.
The priest could not feed on this. It was offered up wholly to God, and is a type of worship; it is a type of that in Christ's life which we could not appreciate. After having been made of these different materials it was subjected to the action of fire-a picture of Christ, the perfect, spotless man, going to the cross and enduring the judgment for us and yet bearing it all perfectly.
Verse 11. There was no leaven to be allowed in it. Leaven is always typical of evil; that is Christ's word, not my opinion. He says, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the evil doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Leaven is evil doctrine. Again, Paul says, in the 5th chapter of Corinthians, "Purge out the old leaven." So we are plainly told that leaven is a type of evil. Wherever it is mentioned it means evil.
Now we see in this sacrifice which strongly typifies Christ, no leaven must be allowed. In some things they were expressly told to put leaven, because it was from themselves; every thanksgiving offering had to have leaven in it. Whatever comes from our hearts has evil in it. While in Christ we are perfect, as perfect as God can make us, yet in ourselves there is leaven still. Neither was there to be honey in the meat offering. Honey is nature's sweetness, and that is to be kept out of worship to God. It is grieving to the Holy Ghost to have people coming to God, and talking about " Dear Jesus, and sweet Jesus." You never find any adjective to the name of Jesus in the Scriptures. You cannot make it any sweeter. Introducing that into God's worship is honey-sentimentalism.
Verse 10. Part of the meat offering was burnt up and went to God, and part of it went to the priests. God brings us through belief in Christ to feed upon the very thing that is satisfying to His own heart. We are brought into fellowship with God. God is satisfied with Christ, and He feeds upon Him. He says, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." If we are dissatisfied with ourselves I am glad of it. I am sorry to find any one satisfied with himself There is nothing but evil in us, but in Christ there is enough, and our hearts can be satisfied with Him. God rests in Him, and there we may rest. Christ is what God wants us to see. Communion is having things in common, and that is the reason we call the Lord's supper the communion, because you drink of the same cup, and I drink of the same cup, and that is communion. When God and I are thinking of the same object, that is communion with God. " Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
Verse 13. While honey and leaven were not to be in it, salt was. Do not let the grace turn into mere sentimentalism, but let there be holiness there. Salt is that which preserves from corruption. There was this then put in the offering to preserve it from corruption, We have that in Christ which can never fail.
THE PEACE OFFERING, Lev. had a threefold character too. This is a type of Christ as the One who made peace for us. Many people have the idea that they have to make their peace with God. I cannot make my peace with God; God might keep His part, but I would not keep my part. Christ made peace by the blood of the cross; it is folly for us to talk about our making peace, for Christ has made it already; it is signed and sealed with the blood of Christ. Another text says, He is our peace. Have you the peace that Christ made in the blood of the cross? There is a thought of communion brought forth in this sacrifice. While the burnt offering was all burnt up to God, and the meat offering was partly fed on by the priests, the peace offering was eaten by the one that offered it. Every soul that trusts Christ has peace with God. God did not allow a single drop of blood to be shed in the camp of Israel, without being shed at the brazen altar; nor any fat to be eaten. Thus, in a typical way, the Israelite was brought into fellowship with God. It is we having fellowship with God, in Christ. He has made peace, and God accepts it, and I accept it, and I have peace in my own conscience; I am brought into fellowship with God-that is the portion of every believer. If I have peace with God what a wondrous thing it is!
THE LAW OF THE PEACE OFFERING, chap. 7:15.-This had to be eaten on the same day that the fat was burnt up: worship must be in communion with God. Suppose in a meeting a man is led to pray by the Holy Spirit twenty words that will be in communion with God; but that won't do, he wants to pray fifty words; he does, and the rest he has all to himself. All that is called worship in any church that is not done by the Holy Ghost is not only no use, but it is an abomination to God. Verse 18. All this fingering on the organ and the cultivating of man's voice which is paid for, is an abomination to God. Everything that is not led by the Holy Ghost is an abomination. Think of these things in God's presence. Verse 31. Now you find three parties shared in this peace offering; a part went to God, a part to the priest, and the rest went to the man who offered it. Aaron is a type of Christ. Thus we have God, Christ the Redeemer, and the sinner. To think that God brings you and me into fellowship with Himself and His Son! Through Christ's death God is happy to have any sinner come to Him. You can do nothing to give God joy, except to accept His grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 2 we read of the angels appearing praising God and saying, " Peace on earth, good will towards men." " Peace on earth?" When Christ was born He came to bring peace on earth, but Herod drew forth his sword to try and kill Him. So peace on earth was a failure. Christ, when He discovered the enmity in man's heart, said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth." Now, mark this well, peace on earth was a failure, and so when Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be crucified, the multitude sang, Peace in heaven. By and by, the time will come, when the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together; that is future. Now God leads poor sinners to rejoice in peace in heaven. You will find no peace on the earth. Christ says, " In the world ye shall have tribulation." But we have heaven's peace and joy.
SIN AND TRESPASS OFFERING, Lev. 4-6-There are some things here that I cannot go into very much in detail to-night, but I will mention the different characteristics of them. Sin is a thing I have; trespass is a thing I do. The Christian is troubled about the sin that is inside of him, but he gets deliverance by and by, by seeing that Christ died for him. Christ has died in my stead. So you see that it is impossible for a soul that believes in Christ to be lost. While a man liveth he is under the law, but when he is dead he is free from law.
One word or so I must add regarding the difference of the offering for the whole congregation, or the priest (who represented the whole congregation), and the individual. In the former case the blood was brought into the holy place, and the horns of the altar of incense touched with it, and the body burned outside the camp; in the latter, the blood was not taken in, nor the golden altar touched with it, nor the body burned outside the camp; the horns of the altar of the burnt offering were touched with the blood and the body fed upon by the priest who offered it.
I would call especial attention to the point of contrast regarding the golden altar of incense (worship). If the whole assembly be defiled, of course worship has been stopped; but individual sin does not interrupt the worship of the assembly; if it did, when should we ever worship? It may, does, prevent power; and, should the assembly, after knowledge of it, allow it, worship. But while it remains individual, it becomes a cause of our priestly intercession, taking it to God and pleading to Him on behalf of my brother just as the priest ate the sin offering in the holy place.