Chambers, Laurence T: The Tabernacle-13 ~ The Priesthood

Will you turn with me to the book of Exodus and chapter twenty eight. Twenty eight. Now we've come to the last two nights of our study, and I guess some of the weary folks will be glad to have a rest so that they can go to bed early. I know I've been trespassing on your patience, and we've had extended sessions, what we call starting in the South, protracted meetings. And I trust nobody has stayed away because we've had a couple of, or three more, three or more, uh, extra long sessions together. At least some have enjoyed it. At least that's what they told me, and I believe them. Now, isn't that naive? So anyway, uh, don't forget, uh, I'm I'm not interested in the money end of it, but it's the books and the pictures, photographs of the model, uh, in two shapes and sizes, and if you want them, we can, uh, let you have them while I'm here. I'm going to take them all along with me that are left, and, uh, appreciate the many, many ways in which you've all shown your love and hospitality. Sometimes I forget it the last night because so many other things are on my mind, and I appreciate the welcome and fellowship we've always enjoyed in Florence. The, uh... I'm going over to the Indians from here, and I'm going to certainly reduce my eating capacity there, so that I won't go home bloated and my wife throw me out of the house. I got acquainted with her over the phone tonight, however, to see if it's all right to go home. Like throwing your hat in, you know, somebody. Anyway, let's go on at the subject. Twenty eighth chapter of Exodus, please. Twenty eighth chapter of Exodus. And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him. I emphasize it that way to, uh, bring before your attention the fact that the sons are brought in because they were the sons of their father, not any other reason, as far as we know. That's how scripture leaves it. They are the sons of their father. Otherwise, I don't know how they could ever get in. And it's the only way we'll ever get in to the presence of God, is because we're the sons of our Father. It's our relationship to Christ and to God the Father that opens the way. As we said, mercy closes the gates of hell, and grace opens the gates of heaven for us. Always the one in the house that doesn't know this, that isn't in the assured possession of divine life. That's what we can see tonight as a marvelous picture of the call of the priest. You see, we've come to that junction na- now where there's nothing, nothing left, nothing. Apart from the priest, the other two vessels that we'll look at tomorrow night wouldn't be necessary. But what's all this for if it isn't for the priests to be brought in? What is heaven for? What is the great power of God for if it isn't to overcome the consequences of sin for us? I speak of the man, I speak of the, as a result of the re- revelation of the grace of God. Of course, God could have gotten along without us, but what I mean is, why all this preparation? I love the phrases that Mr. Spurgeon used. Pardon me if I just now, at the very beginning, refer to it. I put down some of the phrases of outstanding men, and uh, let me get my loose leaf affair to work here. Here it is, the C. H. Spurgeon said, the blessings of God are not merely to charm the ear and keep the soul. That's worth remembering. There's lots of folks think that, well, I know I love the promises of God, but I might lose them in the end. That's not God's way. He's not given us the b- the promises to our ears and then cheat the soul. Redemption really redeems. Salvation completely saves, and regenerate, and by regeneration we are eternally bo- born anew. And this is the phrase. He said, God came into manhood. Then it must mean that God has come with the most gracious thoughts and purposes toward us. That's obvious. God doesn't play at things. He doesn't play at being good. And if he sent the Lord Jesus Christ into this world, and he did, then he has purposes and plans of blessing for men and women, whoever will bow the need. And so it's important for us to realize this. All right, now we go on. Take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. They were taken out from the twelve tribes. If you see them gathered around there, you can have an imaginary idea as to the multiplied thousands of people. And out from that, uh, uh, congregation, God drew, drew these, this family of priests and their brethren, the uh, Levites. It's a picture, as all of this is a picture of the New Testament. In the, in the sixteenth, is it, I don't know, about twenty, twenty fifth chapter of the Acts, generate in the Acts of the Apostles, uh, the, the Apostle Peter, in a conference with other apostles, said that, uh, God is gathering out from the nations of the earth a people for his name. That's the same thing. It's the corresponding passage. This is the picture. That's the fulfillment. God is gathering out from the various nations of the earth, like he wants the tribes there, a people for his name, that we might be his priests and enter into his presence to minister to him. And that now, not just wait till we get to heaven, now we can minister to the heart of God. It's an amazing thought, and I'd like to emphasize it, that that is our subject tonight. So let's keep it before us. And notice what he tells them. He says, thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron, thy brother, for glory and for beauty. Now, garments, in the case of the priesthood, represent conduct in the part of the Christians of today. We are to wear holy acts, holy behavior, holy conduct, holy language, holy companionship, holy conversation. These are the garments that by which we are known. A priest walking down the street would be known by his garments, just like a policeman or a mailman or, or a sailor or a soldier. They are known by their garments. They can say, there's the mailman coming down the street now with a bag on his shoulder. There we know that that is a picture of a, of the New Testament Christian, that by our behavior, that which by which we are known by our neighbors is thus represented. And so thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron, thy brother, for glory and for beauty. And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, not only generous-hearted or free-hearted in giving, in the case of the twenty fifth chapter, in giving the material, whose heart maketh him willing to give, but here it's wisdom that's em- emphasized. We may not have much to give, but we can have wisdom. Wisdom by the Spirit of God and instructed by the scripture, wisdom from above. And so speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make garments, Aaron's garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. And these are the garments which they shall make. A breastplate that we see on the high priest here is the only one who wore the breastplate. It's, uh, an arrangement of gold, and and then encrusted in the gold or laid in, inlaid are twelve different, uh, jewels, three of three abreast and four deep. And so he says, and then a an ephod. This is the garment called the ephod. This beautiful decorated garment of gold, uh, thread, real, real gold thread, blue, purple, and scarlet. And then, uh, a robe called elsewhere the robe of the ephod. That's this blue one. Blue one with the, uh, golden bells and pomegranates. A clear and more detailed description is given for you in the, uh, rest of the chapter, and in, and the induction into office is presented in the twenty ninth chapter. So we'll just go over this just a little bit now, so we'll have these vessels cleared up before us as a start. Uh, then not only the ephod and a robe of the ephod, and a broidered coat. A broidered coat. That misleads as far as the broidering is concerned. According to the word, it really means woven. The pattern woven into it. Now, this isn't what we call a coat. We would call this a, an undergarment, and that's it. It's next to the skin, and it's the, uh, white, all white called coat, bro- embroidered coat, and then a mitre is on the top, his head wearing his mitre, and the girdle is the belt of office. I understand from other sources that, uh, when that belt was on, he was on duty, and when he took his belt off, he was off duty. Then his garments slacked, and he was relaxed. But when he was in his office officiating, he put his belt on, and, uh, that showed that he was ready to do his, the duties of the day. And then, uh, it says, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother and his son, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. In this way, we find the picture in the New Testament now. Let's turn, please, to the epistle of Peter. And Peter speaking to Hebrew Christians, scattered and persecuted, as the whole epistle, first and second, very clearly indicates, suffering from unreasonable and wicked men, because most of the Christians of Peter's day, Hebrew believers, were household slaves, and they were mocked and ridiculed and persecuted and kicked and cuffed by their ungodly idol-worshipping masters. And, uh, they endured terrible suffering. And the words of Peter's epistles are in- are calculated to give them strength and lift their, their hearts up and encourage them and make them to realize that even though they're enduring such suffering and difficulties, they are God's people nevertheless. However, he says in the eighteenth verse to these same people, because they're familiar with the Old Testament and the subject we've been considering of silver redemption and gold and so on. For as much as ye know, this is the first chapter of the first epistle and the eighteenth verse, for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but by the precious blood of Christ. Now he's talking to these people still in chapter two. So he says, wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile, and this hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking, that's, uh, defaming and slandering and so on, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, since ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. The word it is not a question of doubt, but the if of argument. Since this is so, to whom coming as unto a living stone, rejected or disapproved or disallowed indeed of men, that's the Lord Jesus, rejected by his people, the Israelites, but chosen of God, dear to God, held in high honor to God, and precious in the sight of God. Ye also as living stones, the same word as in the fourth verse, exactly same original word. Ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, that they may minister under me in the priest's office, that they may offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. So what we're looking at tonight in connection with the people of Israel under the law in the land of, I mean, in the wilderness, has its answering note and fulfillment, its completing completion in its, uh, picture in the New Testament for us today. I'd like to impress God's people with the fact that we, we in be- in salvation, by being born again, are now elevated into an office. Elevated to, to be functionaries, to be able to deliberately and acceptably minister to the heart of God, to make him glad. It's crystallized, of course, in corporate action, in the breaking of bread service on Sunday morning here at nine thirty, is it? forty five. It would be nice, if there are any visitors here, if you would just come at that hour and be willing to observe, not partake, but just observe. If you will, you can ask, if you're a Christian, the brethren in charge, and they gladly interview you before- beforehand if you wish to take part. That's up to them. It's an assembly. I'm not telling them what to do. But nevertheless, the question is, you could observe if you wish, and watch what it is to worship, to be able to minister to the heart of God, to gladden his heart with our joy and delight in Christ, and what, not merely what we've gotten out of the salvation God offers, but what God sees in his son, and what wonders and perfections Christ possesses, and how he has gladdened God's heart when he was here on earth, and still does, is in the bosom of the Father, and so on. Worship, it's occupation with, with God and his love and his grace and his mercy and his person, his son, and his great attributes and characters and so on. All that goes in review. Then we retrace the life of the Lord Jesus. His coming down from heaven to earth, to Bethlehem's manger, and on through his wonderful life of perfection here below. And then his behavior in Gethsemane's garden and on the cross of Calvary, and buried and risen and glorified at God's right hand. It's the employment of the soul, uh, with the person of Christ that delights the Father's heart. It's that that constitutes, uh, offering acceptable sacrifices. We are not occupied with ourselves as Christians in, in that service because we are not perfect. Everything is, we, we're conscious of it. The more we get into his presence, the more conscious we are of our imperfections. And that's right and proper as it should be. And so we nevertheless are able, because of what God has taught us, to bring perfection to him in the person of his son. And in that sense, in the language of the Old Testament, we're able to wave the wave offering before God, present the person of Christ to the Father. He never wearies of that. That's worship. You can do it, of course, in prayer, and I believe that the pattern prayer indicates a worship. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. There's a, a, a clause there, you see, that precedes the rest of the request, or rather the request, and it precedes with that, with occupation with God's things, delighting God's heart with employment with his interests. And so we find now, turn once more to a passage in the New Testament, to the last book in the Bible, first chapter of Revelation. John is about to write some letters, seven of them. The seven, picked assemblies of Christians of in his day. They don't exist now, but they did it, they did then. He says, grace be to you and peace in the first, in the fourth verse, from him which is and which was and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and so on. And from Jesus Christ, who is that the faithful witness, the first begotten from the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us. Here he bursts into a, a doxology. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings or kingdom and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. And hath made us a kingdom. He's called us to that kingdom of his, of which he's king. We're not going to be kings, but he's called us to his kingdom. We're component parts of that wondrous and eternal kingdom of glory, and we're priests in that kingdom in the future. We begin our priesthood here. There it'll be continued as we minister to God. Won't it be grand? God's not going to let us lay down on a beauty rest mattress and just, uh, lap and lull our time throughout eternity. He's going to give us employment. He's going to give us a happy engagement in his things, a com- a path that will contribute to the enlargement of his glories and his honor. We'll reflect his beauty, his perfection. Just what Adam and Eve should have done in the Garden of Eden, except for their failure, we will con- will carry out under God's wonderful grace and salvation. All right. Now let's go back to our Old Testament type again and picture for ourselves just what we have before us. Let's ask ourselves a question. Who are the people that are marked out, chosen from three million, we'll suggest as a fixed figure, from three million people, what one family and why is picked to to be separated, completely separated from the rest, to function as intermediaries between the people and the holy God. What a high office. What a glorious privilege and service. What dignity. And so this special choice is, is been made by God. He says, take unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel. Now. Now, to bring this into the picture of the New Testament, into the up-to-date position that we have now, and that's our object in having these talks, in what way does this picture for us what is occurring today, now? Why the preaching of the gospel, which is going forth in a, in an accentuated, uh, intensified form today, in your day and mine, by radio and television and shortwave and all the kinds of methods and means, great radio stations raising their towers in Africa, in Chi- in uh, in uh, uh, uh, Tokyo, I mean, uh, Japan, and in all parts of the earth, South America, in every part of the earth, Ecuador, great messages coming over through the air. We were sitting in New- New Jersey the other night till twelve o'clock, listening to the broadcast in English from HCJB and all other parts of the world, these great radio stations, and some of us as the Lord's people have helped to put them up and helped to sustain them by our contributions. And so this marvelous accentuation or increase of the going out of the word of God certainly augurs the f- the coming of the Lord. It certainly indicates that the great climax is about to take place, and the door of mercy closed forever. And so, if that's the case, it's gathering people from all parts of the earth to fill his heaven and to be engaged in priestly worship and service. All right? Now then, I'm going to ask your attention to a little bit of the history behind this. Look at the forty ninth chapter of Genesis. What I want to do is now present to you the story in the Old Testament between the covers of Genesis and Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, the story as to these people called Levites, because it's the tribe of Levi that is involved. Now, it's interesting to note at the start the meaning of the language, the word, I mean, the Levi. What does Levi mean? Levi means united, and upon that word, our subject, shall we say, turns. You see, the fact is that they were united to the wrong man to start with, and the corresponding fact is that by nature we have been united to a failing man, and therefore a wrong man as far as results are concerned, in our union with Adam in the Garden of Eden. He broke down under tests, and consequently sin and disobedience has brought in death and all its contributing factors. As a result, we see a correspondence in the history we're going to trace between the history of these people called priesthoods and Levites and ourselves. So, in the forty ninth chapter of Genesis, the scene is in the bedroom of their father Jacob. Jacob is about to die. First verse indicates. He says, call, Jacob called unto his sons and said, gather yourselves together that I may tell you which, that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father. Now we won't read about Reuben and others, but we'll read in the fifth verse, and for the first and only time in his, in his, uh, disposition on his deathbed with his last dying breath, he uses two names, brings two names together to show them as united. Simeon, says he, and Levi are brethren. Instruments of cruelty are in their habitation. He seems to shudder. Oh my soul, come not thou into their secret, unto their assembly or company, mine honor, be not thou united. There's the word Levi, united. Be not thou joined with them, for in their anger they slew, revised version, they slew men, and in their wantonness they held oxen. It's a little different for the authorized, but that's more correct, that they, they, they slew not only a man, but men, a whole city full. And if you're writing down notes, please mark down, read Genesis thirty four in your private reading, and there will be give you the account of what is spoken of here. And poor old Jacob then said, you've made my name distinct among the nations, among the neighbors. And so it was a terrible, terrible, cruel thing that they did, and they murdered all the men, and then they howled the oxen. That means they cut the hamstrings and the back of the knees of their beasts of burden. They stole all the cattle, they took the women captive, and they treated cruelly the whole picture. It's a shocking, blood-curdling picture. But God doesn't hide facts. He brings them to the front in order that we may see in matchless relief his own gold- golden story of grace in dealing with such men of such character as these. And so he says, cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. Now I'm going to ask you, ladies and gentlemen, a question again. Would you have chosen a person or people like this to fill the office of priests, would you? Would you have come to listen to a man if you'd heard about me and my terrible history in the back and said that he was a murderer and that he was a every kind of a thing that is filthy and awful, and that my mother in a dying breath said that I was under a curse and I was this and I was that of terrible character. Would you come out here to listen? Now, you don't know whether it's true of me or not, you see, you've just taken that chance. But what I mean is, naturally speaking, we wouldn't choose to listen to a person whose history is so black. Why wouldn't we? Well, that's a big, big, great, big good question. You see, the fact is, God sees us all just as bad as this. By nature, we are capable of just what these men did. If we really and fully take in the facts of our potentiality as sinners, you wouldn't be surprised a bit about me either at all, not at all. And so, you see, here's a picture of grace. So we've left out purposely just what he finished with. He says in verse seven, last clause, I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. Divide what? Divide Simeon and Levi. Divide Levi from Simeon. And after what we're going to look at, in fact, during what we're going to look at, you'll find the division, the dividing moment when they were separated permanently, never, never were they, their names linked together again. Isn't it a, isn't it a fact, folks, just think of it again in the New Testament picture for you and me, that when God saves our souls, oftentimes it brings in separation, separation from even families, separation, I mean the dividing line between that which is of God and that which is not, even in the home. Oh, I know from bitter experience what it is to have to say to my own sister, here's where we must part, Edie. You go on your way, and I must go mine. I can't go on with you and your terrible doctrine, terrible, wicked, sinful belief. I can't go on with it. We must part. The things of God are too precious to me to have you insult my savior like you do. Separation. It breaks one's heart, but nevertheless, it's necessary. In a little while, we'll be hearing the bells ring, and we'll h- have cards telling that Jesus said peace on earth and goodwill among men and all that sort of thing, but listen, Jesus did not say that. He came, he says, you think I came to bring peace upon the earth? I say you nay, I came and brought a sword. Father separated from son, mother separated from daughters, daughter-in-laws from father-in-laws and mother-in-laws, and separation, separation, separation. You accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, if your sa- your family is unsaved, at once there's a dividing line. And unless they too come to know Christ, that dividing line will broaden, broaden into a great gulf, and there won't be any real freedom and liberty and joy in their company. Yes, my friend, that's what is in view, separation. God has been dividing ever since he started creation. He divided the waters above from the waters beneath. He divided the dry land from the ocean. He divided among the nations and set the bounds of their habitation, and it's the same way now he divides and separates. It could be, I hope it isn't, but it could be that right in this room there are those on one side of the fence and o- and others on the other side of the fence, and this great gulf is between of life and death. May God help us to see the reality of this thing. So, Dave, uh, Jacob, before he breathes, breathes his last, promises that they must be divided. It's important to realize this. There must be a complete new birth, not reformation, not regeneration, not patching up our condition as sinners. There's no such thing in God's economy. God expects a Christian, oh, pardon me, uh, the jailer in the Acts, Acts sixteen says, what must I do to be saved? Did he tell the jailer, that is Paul, did he tell him in answer to this to give up his bad habit, to quit his means and be decent? No, that is nothing but reformation. It is like whitewashing a dirty house or tying artificial flowers on a rose bush. Did he tell him to change his environment? No. If your automobile won't run, you can't make it go by taking it into the living room. You can't change the condition of the automobile by changing its environment. Neither can you save a soul by bringing him into church. And so he says, as a result of that, it is not a new town or new surroundings that changes a man, it's a new life from God. Did Paul tell the jailer to go and join the church? No. Joining the church doesn't save a man any more than going to an insane asylum makes you a lunatic. You may go into an institution for lunatics, but that doesn't make you a lunatic. It's a tremendous thing to realize that this thing called salvation is a birth out from a birth that was linked up with sin and suffering and judgment, eternal punishment, and into a, a new birth, a, a birth from God, which makes God our Father. And if somebody says the Bible is our mother, for it's the seed of the Word of God, the incorruptible seed of the scriptures. And by the conjoining of God the Father and the scriptures through into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we are born from he- from above, born anew. Now, let's turn to see how this took place in the case of the people we're studying about in the thirty second chapter of Exodus. That's our next stop as we go on towards Malachi. Exodus 32, the scene is at the base of Mount Sinai, or shall we say on Mount Sinai, for in the fifteenth verse it says Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of stone of testimony, the law, were in his hand. The tables were written on both their sides. This is Exodus thirty two verse fifteen, page one fourteen if you've got a scope here. The tables were written on both their sides, on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God graven upon the tables. Then we'll jump down to the nineteenth verse. And it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp that he saw the golden calf. It's an i- a, a replica of the sacred cow of Egypt, of Egypt. They never killed anything to eat in Egypt. They believed that, uh, they wouldn't kill, and we are told in Timothy that all such religious dogmas, that they won't kill anything, uh, and shed blood is of Satan. And here they are carrying out what they've been brought up to believe in their back with history in the land of Egypt, and they're actually reproducing it. And they've said that, uh, in the previous verse, you'll read it, that these be thy gods, O Israel, that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. It's absolute apostasy. Anyway, it says he, he came near the camp and he saw the calf, nineteenth verse, and the dancing, and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hand and break them beneath the mount. Didn't take them into the camp. They said repeatedly, as you could find out if you were to read backwards, that Israel had said unto God, all that the Lord commands us to do, that's what we're going to do. We'll do it. We'll be obedient. We hear the same story today. I'm doing the best I can. I'm keeping the c- commandments. I'm doing, I'm honest, I'm fair, I'm as good as anybody else. All that sort of thing is I, I, I, I, I. And watch out, that's the middle name word, the middle letter of the word sin. I. And lots of us have I troubles. It's I what's before us, and I'm competent, I'm able, I'm abili- got all that's necessary to satisfy a thrice holy God. Oh, let's wake up. Let's discover our nothingness. Let's discover our sinfulness. Let's discover our, our exposure to the judgment of God. Then there's hope for us, not otherwise. And so it says, twenty fifth verse, for brevity, and when Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked under their shame among their enemies, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. Now here we see the picture that God always presents in the word of God. It doesn't speak about the women's hope, but it shows the men taking the lead, and the men act upon the call. That's how it should be today. The men folk of our homes, our households, and of our company, there should be that act, that realization of our, uh, masculine, shall we say, responsibility to be leaders along the right path, leaders under the dictates of the Spirit of God and the Word of God. Then the rest f- follow, There's no question. That's not written down here for obvious reasons, but nevertheless, we know they did come because later on it speaks of the whole twelve tribes going on through their course through the wilderness. Nevertheless, the picture is brought to us intentionally to indicate that these men who were called into this office did so or were because God used them because they obeyed God's call. Now that is the crux of the matter. There's where the dividing point comes, and so they were divided from Simeon. It says the sons of Levi, not and Simeon, but the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. They didn't gather themselves together to the law. They didn't gather themselves together to, uh, the mountain. They gathered themselves together to a person. And that's what that picture in the middle represents. I can tell you factually that I bought, bought that chart for that picture in the middle's sake. That's worth thousands of dollars. I'd only paid fifty for it. But there it is, God gathering his people around himself. And folks, it's not to a creed. It isn't to, uh, some name or title or viewpoint. It's to the person whom these vessels have been representing to us through these two weeks of meetings. It's the person of the Lord Jesus in our day, now. Gathered to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. No labels, no titles, no claims. All these high-sounding claims don't mean a thing, but gathered to Christ. Isn't that the sweetest way to gather? He the magnet, we the steel filing by the God, great of God, drawn to him, and then we find ourselves together. That's the way scripture deals. They gathered themselves together unto him. How important that principle is all through the word of God. Now, let's turn to the next stage. We'll go over to Deuteronomy and listen to Moses. Moses is about to die now. He's come to his hundred and twentieth year, and he's about to pass on. Moses for hundred and twenty years are divided by God's spirit and the word of God into three forty s. The first forty years in the, in Egypt, he was being trained to be somebody, a big person, to be heir to the throne of Egypt and his title, the son of Pharaoh's daughter. The second forty years, he lived at the backside of the desert keeping sheep. There he found out that he was nobody, nobody. At the burning bush, he had to take his shoes off his feet in the presence of Jehovah. He was nobody. He learned that in forty years, the second forty. When he got to the eighty years of age, he was given another, uh, lesson, and there, for the last forty years of his life from the age of eighty he found out that God was everything, that God was all sufficient, that God could supply and anticipate and meet every need before it was there. God is the same, as we've heard from our lovely solo tonight. God is the same in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament God is ours. And how good it is to see in this passage that Moses so beautifully writes, it's almost a poem. He writes about the various tribes too, but in verse eight is the one we're interested in. He says of Levi, let thy thumb in and thy urine be with thy holy one. That, of course, to those who know the story, indicates that he was referring to the high priestly equipment. This high priest here will show us this, this, uh, breastplate was made twice as long as you see it, the same width, but twice as long. And then the bottom half was doubled back, according to the instructions given, and a pocket was made right in here behind the breastplate. And in that pocket, evidently, it is supposed, we're not given much information about it, the Urim and Pumim was kept. The translation in English of these two, uh, words is, uh, lights and perfection, lights and perfection, but that doesn't help us too much. But we do know by the indication from scripture that they were means by which God, uh, indicated. It's a means of communication, God's radio, if you like, of communication as to what his answer was to any given, uh, question of doubt or difficulty or problem that came up in the history of Israel. They would go to the high priest and say, ask this of God, and God would answer through the lights and perfection. It's an indication of the word of God now. We want to know what we're to do in a certain condition or a situation. Well, the Bible doesn't give us chapter and verse for everything that happens, but we can gather from it, uh, the indication, the atmosphere of any given subject, and the answer that would be forthcoming by a, a careful study of the word of God as a whole. In instances, of course, there are specific statements as to what to do, but not always. God leaves much to faith and to the scriptures. I mean, the, the study of the Word, in intelligent understanding of the mind of God. Let thy sonim and thy urine be with thy holy one, verse eight, whom thou didst prove at Massah, with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meriba. Now notice this comment as to the thirty second of Exodus and the instance we read of there at the base of Mount Sinai. Who said, when he called, who is on the Lord's side, who said unto his father and to his mother, I haven't seen him. Neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children, for they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant. Now, my folks, this is an important point in our study. It doesn't mean that they disregarded their relationship with their father and mother and wife and children. Doesn't mean that at all. There's no scripture that will can, that can be put in opposition to any other scripture. I'm told to love my wife, therefore no other scripture would indicate that I'm to reject her, even when it says if a man hates not his father and mother and wife and children for my sake, and so on. It doesn't indicate that I'm to reject them, but it means by comparative statement that I am to put God's claims upon me as a man first, that my wife is not first in my affection, that she is second. God is. That's hard for us to take, but it's true. My human relationships will be better, better fulfilled, much better if I put God's word and God's person and God's claims on me first. My family circumstances will be much, much more according to his will. Oftentimes we put our fa- our family first and our children first, and therefore they don't get saved. Many of them go on down the road to destruction because parents do not give God the first place. My mother, I say with all love and rever- reverence for her name, she said to me many a time, son, I'm sorry I've got to lick you tonight, whip you, but you see, I'm in God's place. I stand in God's stead before you. I represent his claim, his holiness, his truth, and I've got to deal with you according as God would deal to his children, and punishment must be yours. She may have promised me this two weeks before, and she didn't want to beat me when she was in a state of anger, but prayerfully and thoughtfully we'd get down on our knees before the licking, and she'd pray to God to open my eyes to this, this solemn thing that isn't a question of mere disobedience and a, and a punishment in anger. No, my friend, oftentimes we do not depict a picture of the, of the grace of God when we beat, if we did do beat, there's not much beating done in this day and age, but there's a need for never, I don't say beating in the sense of cruelty, but I say let them feel the disciplinary hand of God over them and make them bow in obedience to the command of parents who are representing God and his truth to those children. I was brought up in the atmosphere of the Bible from the first day I breathe, even before my birth. And so that is the way we find the, the will of God, the mind of God, and parents stand as intermediaries, as communicants of the truth of God, communicating the mind of God to the child in his infancy. The trouble is we think they're too young to know. They're not too young. I had it out with my first child when he was only about three and a half months old, and that child's whole disposition changed from that fir- that one time. And they're all born again, married born again companions, and their children, all but three of the eight are saved already. As a direct result of this kind of teaching down through the course of the family, into the children's mind, and from the children to their children. I'm not boasting, only in the Lord. It's his truth that must permeate our households, otherwise we're acting in ignorance and blindness, and we don't know where we're at because we do not recognize that we stand in the presence of God and for God to our children. They are to recognize God's authority through their parents. It's a solemn obligation. And I'm afraid in America, it's anything but that. The children are the boss, and the parents are the little ones running around mentally. Well, I'm not here on children's training, but nevertheless it comes into this picture here. Who said unto his father and his mother, I've not seen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor knew his own children, for they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant. Consequently, they are eligible now to become teachers. Consequently, because they've paid the price and recognized God's supreme authority, his prior rights over their talent, their ability, their per- their strength, their health, their lives, their minds, their conduct, recognizing God's prior right, having the priority over them, they shall teach Jacob thy judgment. This is the seminary. This is God's school. There are no, there's no diplomas, no titles, no gifts, no, no, uh, uh, prefixes and suffixes to the name. And yet, I'm reminding myself, yes, there is, and we'll see it in a little while. And so he says, uh, is- teaches Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law, that's their teachers, their rights and titles. Then they shall put incense before thee and hold burnt sacrifices on thine altar. That is, they qualify for worshippers. Then as to their maintenance, how about it? What, what, what salary they're going to get? How much? Bless Lord his substance. Accept the work of his hand. Is that enough? Is that enough, folks? The preacher is not to be ministered unto, but he's the minister. He's the servant of the assembly. I'm not to dictate to these brethren in this place here what they shall do. They're to dictate to me. I'm their, their servant. I came to do their work, do a little work among them, but they are in the saddle. They're in the authority, not the preacher. The trouble today is we've got all kinds of things twisted around the wrong way. Even Jesus Christ himself, the Son of God, says, I came not to be to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give my life a ransom for many. All that we might realize this. John Baptist, who are you? What does Peter, what does Paul say? Why, we are your servants for Christ's sake. We're your servants for Christ's sake. That's it. That's the putting of the things according to the word of God in their order. And so he says, uh, bless Lord their substance. The Lord will sustain. I've been thirty years depending upon the Lord entirely. No salary, no, no human org- organization to supply me with daily needs, and yet thirty five years, raised a family, no, don't owe a penny, don't owe a penny. Have my own home, automobile, every comfort, everything that one could wish. Why? Because God made them houses. God rewards a hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold. I've got hundreds of houses, hundreds, hundreds of automobiles, and chauffeurs in the automobile. Jimmy's one of them today. What I mean is, the saints of God open their homes, open their hearts, or even the Gasquet Hotel. Help yourself, best room in the house. That's because God does it in the hearts of his own. I say this as a testimony of you, dear Christian people, your hospitality almost breaks this one down. We just got to go on a diet for the rest of the year. But that's how God does things, the same yesterday, today, forever. Forty years in the wilderness, not a green thing, no water, natural water. And yet God supplied their meals every morning, the water out of a filthy rock. No doctors, no hospitals, no nurses, no medicine, no storehouse of supply. They were delivered out of their thraldom and the- and their slavery by my miracle. They were sustained every day by miracle. Our God is a miracle working God. Don't be afraid, Christian. Just step out on the promises, launch out into the deep, and he'll care for you. And so that's the picture here. Now let's go to the last one. The book of Malachi, the last book in the Bible, in the Old Testament, just before Matthew. Second chapter, page nine hundred and eighty one of Scofield Bible. Fourth verse of the second chapter of Malachi. And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, the same man, the same family, says Jehovah of hosts. And watch this, and then when you get at home, just sort of write down what's said here and compare it with the forty ninth chapter where we read in from the lips of the dying father in his scarlet description, rather, feast of the people. Now he says, my covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared or reverenced me, put me in the first place, and was afraid before my name, afraid to dishonor God. He recognized God's claims in the thirty second of Exodus. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips. Mark it. He walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. That is, by his example, others followed his example. Then comment, for the priest's lips should store up, keep, store up, investigate, search knowledge, and they should seek, the people should seek the Lord his mouth. Here's the title, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Now, isn't that a tremendous capstone to the whole picture? God has changed this, these people's whole character from cursed be their wrath, for it was fierce, and their, their, their language and everything else was wicked and awful, and their conduct was murderous. And then, when they took sides with God and judged themselves at the base of Mount Sinai in Exodus thirty two, they were born again. They were divided, separated from their former companion, Simeon. Now they tell us that Simeon, out of the tribe of Simeon came Judas Iscariot. There we see the downward course of things. I don't say that it's correct, I can't prove it, but others give us that information. And so we find that these two, like the butler and the baker in the, in the prison in Egypt with Joseph in, in charge, there we see one was put to death and the other was restored to his office. The Christian is the one that's being lis- lifted out of the terrible maelstrom of sin and judgment that is to follow here in this world. He's calling his people out from the nation. Is there a man or woman in the house that wants to be called? God is calling you that will respond to that call and accept Christ as their savior and join with the rest of us who are going heavenward. The rest will go downward to judgment. May God in his mercy open your eyes to the fact that we are either priests, priests to God, or else we're going to be put with the devil and his angels in the lake of fire. There's no third position, no neutral, no middle ground. Our Father, we thank thee for thy word, and we pray now that thou will abundantly bless it to our hearts in enlightenment and stimulation and guidance. And if there's one in the house that is not saved, that they may bow as a helpless sinner in the feet of the Lord Jesus and accept him as their savior tonight. Here at the, in this very room, maybe tonight before they leave. We long to see some dear hearts say, what must I do to be saved, to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior? Oh God, bless, we pray, the thy precious word to each saint, and give us to realize the high calling by which we've been called. For thy name's sake, we ask it. Amen. Meeting is over, but you're welcome.