The Feast of Weeks, also known as Pentecost, is explored as a significant Old Testament festival pointing to New Testament realities. The sermon details the Levitical requirements for this feast, including the offering of two leavened loaves, seven lambs, a young bull, and two rams, alongside a sin offering and peace offerings. These elements symbolize God's grace, acceptance through Christ's sacrifice, the joy of fellowship, and the provision for sin and peace. The New Testament fulfillment is seen in the descent of the Holy Spirit upon believers, forming the unified body of Christ composed of both Jews and Gentiles, emphasizing intimate fellowship with God and the responsibility to share His grace.
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We turn again tonight to the book of Leviticus chapter twenty-three. We read tonight for our scripture, beginning at verse fifteen through verse twenty-two. The words of the Spirit of God, through Moses, saying, And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheep of the wave-offering, Seventh Sabbath shall be complete. Even unto the morrow, after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days. And ye shall offer a new meal offering.
And may I suggest you have in your translation of the authorized version meat offering. And the word really improper translation has been made meal offering, for it was a food offering. And pertain to that which is referred to the consistency of fine flour and so on. So it is a meal offering. And the Spirit of God says, Ye shall offer a new meal offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitation two waved loaves of two tenth deals. They shall be a fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven.
They are the first fruits unto the Lord. and ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year and one young bullet and two ram. They shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meal offering and their drink offering, even an offering made by fire of sweet savor unto the Lord. Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goat for a sin offering, and two lands of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offering. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruit, for a wave offering before the Lord with the two lands.
They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And ye shall proclaim on the south same day that it may be an holy convocation unto you. Ye shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statue forever in all your dwellings throughout your generation. And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest. Neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest. Thou shalt lead them unto the poor and to the stranger. I am the Lord. your God.
Shall we turn in our New Testament to the book of the Acts, please? Acts chapter two, reading only the first four verses in the second chapter of the book of Acts, which is the New Testament complement, the great antichrist of the feast of Pentecost or the feast of weeks. And we read in verse one of Acts two, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, They were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. And it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues light as a fire. And it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues. as the Spirit gave them utterance. One more scripture, a verse in First Corinthians chapter twelve, the thirteen verse of First Corinthians chapter twelve, which very briefly but completely describes the formation of that blessed body, the body of Christ, which is the Church, and records in these words Chapter twelve, the first Corinthians, verse thirteen, saying, For by one spirit, or in one spirit are we, or were we all baptized into one body?
Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. May God bless the reading of his word. May the Holy Spirit illumine our hearts and our minds. for the edification of every believer, and if there be in our midst a friend who knows not Christ as his and her Savior, we pray that the Spirit will have a word in season to bring you to the knowledge of your sins forgiven through our Lord Jesus. We come to the feast of weeks tonight in the study of our church, and briefly for those who may be with us for the first occasion this week, The chart before you is called the Feast of Jehovah, or the Feast of the Lord.
Seven annual feasts that are recorded in the Book of Leviticus chapter twenty-three, given by God through his servant Moses, to be kept by his earthly people, Israel, annually, from the first month down through the seventh month, and these seven feasts were to be holy convocation. When a redeemed people who had been brought out of Egyptian bondage and from the tyranny of Pharaoh and delivered from all that was their portion in that bondage long ago by the blood of the Passion Lamb and by the power of God, they were redeemed to himself.
A redeemed people should always express their appreciation for their Redeemer. And these seven annual feasts were occasions that reminded them of what God had done for them. Not only of what God had done for them, but as they progress, they are reminded of what God was doing for them. And then they were also reminded by some of these feasts of what God would yet do for them. for the very past and present and future of Israel is also implied in these seven feet.
You note on the upper part of the chart the great antitap to these seven feet. If you would say it, the New Testament teaching, which these feet, same type, represent. These feet, like many other Old Testament scriptures, were written for our learnings. There were written aforetime that you and I in the present day might have the New Testament application. I'm sure that many of my believing friends are in absolute knowledge that the Old Testament, with all of its Levitical economy and shadows and types, pointed to the reality. That reality was focused upon Christ.
And every type, every shadow, Everything pertaining to the Old Testament economy pointed to that day when the fullness of divine revelation and divine truth would be presented in the person and by the person and through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. These feet point to us some of the most blessed New Testament teachings we can find. Now, you know that on the chart as we commence tonight, we'd like to repeat this. Whether it be for Israel, as a nation delivered out of Egypt, or whether it be for the whole race of mankind from the beginning to the end, for you did know your Bible, realized that there was an occasion before time ever began.
that in the eternal counsel of the Godhead before the very creation existed. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit purpose, the redemptive calendar that would bring to pass the purposes of God in redemptive glory until that eternal glory will be reached again. May I say to my friends here tonight who may be unsaved, You and I are traveling to eternity. We had a beginning. God had no beginning. But between an eternity past and an eternity that is yet to come, we have pictured upon this chart the course of time.
And reminding us of the calendar of God's redemption. For the Bible is the history of the redemption of the human race. And redemption for the human race. Whether for Israel. Whether for the Gentiles is based upon redemption by blood, which of course, in its great antitite was the death of Christ. As we find tonight, we would say to you, my friend, have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the land? Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the land? Tonight we look at the feast of Pentecost. sometimes called, and in the scriptures it is called, the feast of weeks.
But because of the lapse of time between the feast of first group and the feast of weeks, seven weeks of seven days, and on the fiftieth day, this feast began. So it derives its name as the feast of weeks, or either as Pentecost, Pentecost meaning fifty. And it is called the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Pentacles. Now this feast, as you will know in the reading that we have followed, is not only named in the time's name, but there's a purpose for that feast. Now may I repeat, that every feast and its purpose before God and in the heart and mind of God to be an occasion, an occasion when God and his people could thus enjoy fellowship together.
The purpose of this feast was this. At the feast of first fruits, as we saw this morning, the priest, on the behalf of the people, brought into the presence of God a handful or a wave sheep of barley. But the feast of Pentecost, or the feast of wheat, they brought into the presence of God via the priest, was brought two loaves. And these two loaves were waved in the presence of God. The barley signified the commencement of the fruit coming. But the feast of wheat fifty days later represented the consolation of the harvest and the fruit of it being brought in that bacon, those two bacon loaves, into the presence of God, indicating the termination of the harvest.
May I point out this, and you may have noticed it, I trust, in your reading. At the feast of the Passover... closely linked by the feast of unleavened bread, which followed the same evening. They used unleavened bread in the feast of the Passover. The feast of weeks or Pentecost, they used leavened bread. And there was a significance for that. They came out of Egypt in haste. And unleavened bread was very quickly made, as we know, could be very quickly made. And it was their memorial, as they hastily prepared, to leave Egypt that night.
But when they came into the land of Canaan, the two great loaves represented their appreciation and worshiped the Jehovah for his provisions that he had brought them into, which they now enjoyed in the land of Canaan. Now, will you follow with me in your scripture, verse sixteen and seventeen? And let us look at the manner of the thief. How it was carried out. We read verse sixteen. Even unto the model after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days. And ye shall offer a new meal offering unto the Lord. Ye shall bring out of your habitation two-way loaves a two-tenth deal.
They shall be a fine flower. They shall be bacon with leaven. They are the first fruit. unto the Lord. Now will you note the elements of these two loaves? There were two loaves. They consisted of fine flour. They were also bacon with leaven. And this was the evidence. The baked loaves were the evidence and the witness to their heart of God's grace and His faithfulness to them. in the blessing he had brought them into in the land of Canaan. The evidences of his blessing.
The harvest was gathered, but these two loaves were the witness in the presence of God of his blessings to them. Then follow in verse eighteen. Note that along with this which was called the oblation or meal offering, there were burnt offerings. And may we say again, as we did this morning, All ways in association with these feasts were the suitable offerings as required by God. I'd like to commend to you, if you desire to, I'd like to commend you the reading of number twenty-eight as well as number twenty-nine. You have the feasts enumerated there, and you have particularly the offerings that were associated with each feast mentioned.
And it is a very interesting account. But there was no feast without the appreciation of the required offering. Here were the burnt offering. As you read in verse eighteen, there were seven lambs without blemish of the first year. One young bullet, two rambs. These were the burnt offering unto the Lord with their meal offering. And thus they were associated with the burnt offering Shall we not say briefly, for the sake of time, these burn offerings were the basis of divine acceptance before Jehovah. And the basis of their acceptance before Jehovah must always be recognized by the value of those offerings in the sight of God.
Now, beloved, let me give a New Testament application to that for you and for me. Any time a believer comes into the presence of God, there is only one ground of acceptance. May I quote the words of Hebrews ten, verse nineteen. Having therefore brethren's boldness or liberty to enter the holiest, how? By the blood of Jesus. By that new and living way which he has consecrated for us. Through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And beloved, we emphasize, as these types point out, Christ in his sacrificial work is the only basis for a sinner and a saint to come into the presence of God.
Ye who sometimes were far off have been made nigh by the blood of Christ. And the offering emphasized the ground of acceptance was only through the value of those sacrificial victims that were given upon the altar. But there was not only burn offering, which speak of the perfect acceptance of the believer in Christ, but you know at the end of verse seventeen, eighteen rather, there was their drink offering, even an offering made by fire, a sweet savor unto the Lord. And the drink offerings were always typical. of the expression of the people's joy, the joy of the people of God, of being in covenant relationship with Jehovah and in his presence accepted.
And the dream offering was the expression of their joy. As we saw this morning in mention today, that Jacob, when he returned to Bethel and rebuilt the altar at Bethel and called upon the God of the house of God, the God of Bethel, he poured not only oil upon that altar, not only oil upon that pillar, but he poured also a drink offering of wine. This was the expression of his joy to be back in relationship with God. And, O beloved, how precious it is for you and for me to realize that when we come into the presence of God on the ground of our acceptance through Christ, there certainly is an occasion for joy and gratitude and praise to be expressed.
Note verse nineteen, and this is unusual, different from the offerings we've had before in the other piece, as we saw. But in verse nineteen, then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goat for a sin offering. Associated with this feast was a sin offering. Now let me point out why. You recall that we spoke of the feast of unleavened bread, and the contrast that this feast had two loaves which were made of leavened bread. These loaves had the presence of leavened within them. You that were with us, Monday night I believe, a Sunday night raw, Monday night, And we saw the feast of unleavened bread represented the absence of sin.
That God requires the separation from evil upon the part of his feast. But you know, beloved, though God requires a path of separation from evil, you know and I know we have sin in dwelling these mortal bodies until the great change comes. Likewise the children of Israel. So they were brought to God with divine acceptance. Through the burnt offerings, they were brought into acceptance with Jehovah. Yet on the other hand, they must bring a sin offering. For that leaven within alone reminded them that they were a people that certainly had the presence of sin within them.
And that sin offering, oh, beloved, may I suggest for you and for me As a believer today, you know what he speaks of. Let me quote the words of John. First John chapter two, one and two. John writes, my little children, these things lie down to you that you sin not. But if any man sinned, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the whole world. Yes, beloved, how typical of that which you and I need today, the constant reminder, thank God our blessed Savior is our sin offering still speaks in possession of the right hand of God on the behalf of even the sins of a believer.
Then you note something else at the end of verse nineteen. And this is important. There was also two lands of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offering. They must also have peace established between them and Jehovah in order to enjoy communion with him. As you may read in chapter three, the wonderful recital of the peace offering, that peace offering was the basis In which God and the one who approached him could thus commune together. And at the table they could feed. For that peace offering, the offerer, as well as the priest, could partake of that peace offering.
And part of it was for Jehovah. Part of it was for the offerer. Or even for the priest. Or even for his family. Or his friends. And they could mutually share it. And beloved, you and I cannot enjoy peace, fellowship with God, unless the ground of peace has been established. And he hath made peace through the blood of his cross for you and for me. Oh, as you think of the words of Paul in Romans five one, therefore being justified by faith, we can peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look verse twenty, please. The opening of verse twenty tells us that the priest must also officiate as the mediator.
And the priest shall wave then with the bread of the first fruit for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lands they shall be holy for the Lord, to the Lord for the priest. And as indicated on the picture we have on the chart, it was the priest who as mediator for the people presented the two loaves in the presence of Jehovah. And Joe wanted joy as we said this morning. How precious to know, as Israel of all could not be represented in the presence of God without a mediator. Neither can you and I be represented in the presence of God without our great high priest above, even our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now as a result of this, there was to be an holy congregation. Note verse twenty-one. Ye shall proclaim on the south same day that it may be an holy convocation unto you. Ye shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generation. And oh, beloved, the joy of knowing. This is time of holy enjoyment. Holy enjoyment. What an expression. Holy enjoyment. To have joy in God. To rejoice in the presence of God.
To enjoy the Redeemer who has borders with his blood. To enjoy the relationship that God has brought his redeemed people into with himself. May I ask a question. I'd like to interject this thought. My beloved believer, may I ask, do you and I enjoy that intimate relationship and fellowship with our God as we should? And may I suggest it in this way. That intimate relationship of the believer today is far greater than it ever was in the days of Israel. You may name the blessed occasion that even with joy may have been experienced in Israel on occasion.
But the occasions of holy joy and privilege in the Old Testament cannot be equal to the great privilege of the New Testament. You ask, what do you mean? May I quote the words of the Lord Jesus. May I remind you of his words in John chapter twenty, saying as he spoke to Mary, Go to my brethren, tell them that I ascend unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God, and follow his death, his burial, his resurrection. The Lord Jesus stated what he had never been able to say before.
I have sang unto my father, but my father is now your father. Beloved believer, I'd like to emphasize the intimacy that God has brought his redeemed people into with himself today. You and I know him, you and I acknowledge him, our father. Now let me repeat. You'll not find such an expression of relationship and intimacy in the Old Testament. Now I know that the word father is found by the six occasions in the Old Testament. And wherever you find it, it's not meaning the intimacy of relationship, but it's usually on a cretorial basis.
He's the father of us all by creation. And the mention of it, even with the creation of Israel as a nation, is not with the intimacy that you have in the New Testament. Said the Lord Jesus, you recall, when he told his disciples he was going away, in my father's house and many mansions. And when he revealed it someday, he would bring them there. You remember Thomas said, Lord, or Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the father. And it suffices us. And Jesus must have so with, filled with tackles, and filled with disappointment, must have said, Philip, have I been so long time with you, yet saith thou to me, show us the Father.
She that hath seen me, hath seen the Father. My fellow believer, if there's one thought I'd like to lead with you, if you forget everything else, I'd like to force upon your heart and conscience, you and I have an intimacy of relationship with God that we call Him our Father. My Father. For God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart whereby ye cry out of Father. Oh, beloved, they had their holy convocations. You don't mind me saying this, I hope, but you know I'm grateful to God that I live in this dispensation.
I am grateful to God that of all the periods of time in which men and women have lived, you and I live in a time which our lesson tonight indicates, the present age, the age of the formation of the church. And I repeat with emphasis, you and I have a relationship of intimacy with God that is far beyond what was the intimacy in the days of Israel to call in God. May I point out something else?
It's already been suggested in our study. No one but the priest could enter the presence of the divine sanctuary upon the earth, whether the tabernacle or whether the temple. You may recall in the book of Kings there was one by the name of King Uzziah, who when God blessed him so richly, when he was thus so greatly blessed and prospering, his heart was lifted up with pride. And Uzziah entered into the sanctuary and attempted to offer incense upon the altar. And the priest withstood him to the saints, and all the priests, saying, You liar, it's none of your business.
It appertaineth none unto thee. It was not his office to officiate in the temple. No king, none but the sons of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, and the high priest alone could come into the sanctuary of the holiest of all. Once a year, which we shall see when we study the day of atonement. My fellow believer, listen carefully. Every other Israelite was outside the sanctuary. But today it's not so. Every one of us are believers. We are priests who can enter into the presence of God.
What an honor. But to God we valued it as we should. And I say it reverently and I say it to my conscience and my heart. Oh, what an answer. And if God could have a holy convocation long ago with his people on this basis as they brought the wave-offing of the two loaves, what should it be the day in the New Testament character of truth that we have? Now you know on the upper part of the chart that the feast of weeks or Pentateuch in its great anti-type Bring before is a New Testament teaching, the descent of the Holy Spirit.
You that have read the New Testament carefully, I'm sure that I can state this to be a fact that we all would confess. When you read your New Testament, you have three great lines of truth. There's many other truths, many other doctrines, but above all others, there are three that are the greatest in my mind and heart. First of all, the New Testament teaches in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that the Son of God came into this world. He lived in it. He died upon it. And then he went back to the Father's house above. That is the teaching of the Gospel, together with the opening of the Book of Acts.
The Son of God came into this world. He lived in it. He died upon it. And when he had heard our things by the flat revise of himself, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Then there's another great teaching the New Testament brings before us. The great doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Now may I say, and it's a personal conviction with me, the greatest doctrine in the Bible I believe is the doctrine of Christ. The next greatest doctrine is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. And it is the greatest doctrine of the New Testament as you begin in the book of the Acts.
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Teaching us that the Holy Spirit came to the earth. As we have read in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost. The third great teaching of your New Testament is this. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is coming back again. And I think you will agree if the New Testament is one that you accept. These are the three outstanding teachings of this blessed New Testament book. The Son of God has come, lives, died upon the earth, gone back to heaven, having completed redemption for the human race to the satisfaction of God. The Holy Spirit has come and He is still on the earth.
May I give you this thought? What you do about these two facts will decide your eternal destiny. You either accept the Son of God as your Savior, or you reject him. You either accept the pleading of the Holy Spirit who seeks in conviction to bring you to Christ, or you reject him. And it defies your eternal destiny. The destiny of every man and woman is decided by what they do with Christ, by what they do with the pleading of the Spirit of God. But when you think of the coming again of the Son of God, It will not be a question. God today says, what have you done with my son?
God today says, what have you done with my spirit? But when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, the question might be reversed. You might say, what will he do with me? Oh, my beloved friend, if you are here, I'm saying, I plead with you to realize You must do something with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You must do something with the Spirit of God, who in his unseen person, the present, convict the mind, the heart, and the conscience of sin, and seek to woo you to the Lord Jesus. And what you do with the Son of God and the pleadings of the Spirit of God will decide your eternal death.
I trust that if you never have, you'll receive Christ as your Savior tonight. For all the joy of seeing as we read in Acts two, the day of Pentecost, that great doctrine of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit came to the earth. It was in fulfillment of the promise of the Lord Jesus. It was in fulfillment of the promise of the Father. He had told them ye shall be baptized. with the Holy Ghost, not many days in. And that came into realization. Now you know that on the chart, I want to point it out just at this point, you know that when we come to the feast of weeks of Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit, there is a break between these feet.
And it seems to be true that in the literal carrying on of these feet, These first four, or first three particularly, were very close together. The fourth was fifty days after the feast of first fruit. But there was a long interval between the fifth and the sixth, or rather the fourth and the fifth feast, the feast of trumpet. And it was not until the seventh month the last three feasts came into reality. And between was that interval. And our sinning, the interval suggests. The intervals do since the descent of the Spirit and the resurrection and glorification of Christ, there is the formation of the Church, which is the body of Christ during the present age, while Israel as a nation has been scattered.
Now let me repeat. And I know as we go on in our study, we shall certainly prove the fact of this statement. And I say it as a personal confession. I am grateful I belong to the age of the church. May I point out to you that the formation of the church is of a heavenly character? May I also point out, as the latter part of the chart suggests so clearly, as we shall touch beginning tomorrow on the last three feet, there is a heavenly counterpart to these we shall touch upon things that shall be seen in the heavens and shall take place in the heavens in relation to God's redeem people that he is taking out of the world during this present age.
And we shall also touch upon the things that are earthly in relation to the nation of Israel. And I repeat, it is with great praise to God that I acknowledge that during this present age the formation of the bride, the formation of the churches taking place. For that was the purpose of the Holy Spirit in coming. We read in First Corinthians twelve, but let me repeat the word. Chapter twelve verse thirteen. For by one spirit we have all been baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether bond men or three, and have all been given the drink of that one spirit.
The one body. Oh, beloved, you know the chart says it. Please note those words. The formation of the church. My beloved, you cannot start a church. The spirit began it. When he came at Pentecost, he formed it. It is not an ecclesiastical organization. It is not a man-made system. It is a organic people who by God's spirit had been placed into one body, whether they be believing Jews or whether they be believing Gentiles.
May I quote the words of Ephesians chapter four, three? where the beloved Apostle speaks of it, as being this, the unity, the oneness of the Spirit, the unity of the Spirit, there's only one body. Oh, beloved, one of the great truths of the New Testament, and especially the epistle to the Ephesians, is the truth of the one body, the one body, the one body. Christ made head over all things to the church, which is his body. And what a joy to realize the formation of the church is the work of the Holy Spirit. He formed it.
You and I can't form it. You and I are encouraged and admonished and exhorted to keep what he formed. To acknowledge and keep that unity. And to give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one body. And then one spirit formed the body. You know I want to say frankly, it is a joy in my heart to acknowledge every born again believer in this age belongs with me in the same body, the body of Christ which is the church. Now I know there are many organizations. I know there are earthly ecclesiastical movements.
But beloved, you can only be in this blessed unity by the spirit power. And what joy to realize the truth of that one body. Linked eternally with one who's the head in heaven. And we the members upon the earth. What a formation. Now let me repeat. Something in relation to these sacrifices a long ago. We saw the basis of Israel's unity. May I point out. As we said at the beginning. That all these feet. had this purpose in mind to keep God's people together, in fellowship with himself.
It was not only an outward togetherness, but it had to be, God wanted it to be an inward togetherness, an inward moral unity. Go, beloved, the basis all the way through, when every seat was set, it was on the basis of the value of the sacrifices. Beloved, you know as well as I do that the basis of unity for the church, as we often think, the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ the Lord. And Paul said, no other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid.
Jesus Christ. My beloved, I'm not asking you what church you belong to. I would rather ask you, you belong to Christ. Do you belong to Christ? Do you belong to that one body? How important. And the basis of the unity in Israel was the basis of those offerings that spoke to God of Christ and His coming, finished work. And thus there was a burnt offering, telling of the perfect acceptance of His people in His presence. And beloved, may I say, look, you and I who belong to God, saved by His grace, redeemed by the blood of the Savior, and born again by the Spirit, we all accept that then the beloved, ye are complete in Him.
I am no complete perfection in myself, but there in the person of Christ, ye are complete in Him. write the beloved apostle Paul, so suggestive or pitified by the burned offerings of long ago. Then you remember there was a sin offering on this occasion. And as we already quoted from First John chapter two, one and two, God knows that we're a people who have indwelling sins. But God also has made provision that at the right hand of His majesty we have an advocate with the Father. He not only has brought us into relationship with God, he has also, he maintains that relationship with the Father.
Praise God. I don't know how you feel about it, but I'm very empathic in my soul to know and to believe that Christ has not only brought me into relationship with the Father, but he maintains that relationship, even if I sin. For the blood of Jesus Christ still speaks in its efficacy and power. If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins. And for the whole world, which is on they haven't. But I'm sure glad it's mine. I hope you are too. And then you may remember, there was a peace offering here.
And oh, beloved, He hath made peace by the blood of his cross for you and for me. Peace has been established that you and I might enjoy God and that God might enjoy us. Bless your heart while they join to sit at the peace table. This is a lot better than what they have in Paris. This is a real peace table where a poor sinner has been brought into fellowship with God. Oh, beloved, you and I ought to be jumping for joy. to realize, oh, the peace my Savior gives, peace I never knew before. And thank God for that peace that you and I can enjoy in fellowship with God.
You know, I'm glad I'm saved. I feel as if I could convert myself tonight if I wasn't. But the joy of knowing I peace with God. Now, look, brother. Look, sister. This great unity of the church has been formed. But how is it to be expressed? Now we have in the type the expression of this wonderful unity that the Spirit of God has formed. There were two loaves at the Feast of Pentatech. And raise the question, why two loaves? Would you look with me in Ephesians chapter two, please? I'd like to read very quickly down the second chapter of Ephesians.
Why two loaves, beloved believer, may I state, our most precious fact is revealed that not only the Jews but believing Gentiles are represented by these two loaves as the body of Christ is formed. It consists of believing Jews and of believing Gentiles that make up the body of Christ. May I read please from verse eleven. I read quickly down through verse eighteen. Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who were called on circumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh, made by hand, that at that time ye Gentiles were without Christ being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. There's the Gentile. For he is our peace, who hath made both. Believing Jew, believing Gentile, is made both one. Then you see the two loaves represented. The believing Jew, the believing Gentile, made one and have broken down the middle wall of petition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments. contained in ordinances, for to make in himself a plain of both of them, one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both, Jew and Gentile, unto God, in one body, by the cross, having claimed the enmity thereby, and chained and preached peace, to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Note verse seventeen again. Preach peace to you Gentiles who were afar off, and then to them that were nigh, the Jews. And for through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Beloved, drink the truth in. We both, you and Gentiles that believe under Lord Jesus, have access into the presence of the Father in the formation of this one church. What a joy. to see the great work of the Spirit in the present age forming the church. Let me add one more thought. These two loaves, in which was the presence of leaven, those two loaves were baked.
They went through the baking of the oven, and the heat of the fire was upon them. And you know, of course, the fire took care of the leaven. and brought the loaves in the consistency that they were when presented in the presence of God. Beloved listen, the bread being baked with fire should ever remind you and me of God's judgment upon the flesh, the leaven, so that in self-judgment you and I should discipline ourselves to keep sin out of the testimony. We saw in the Feast of Unleavened Bread the responsibility Beware of leaven.
Beware of doctrine of leaven. Beware of moral leaven. Beware of evil. Keep it out of your testimony. Keep it out of your life. No, beloved, as believers in the Lord Jesus would, to God, that his people, in the body of Christ, his redeemed ones, in self-judgment, were disciplined the flesh. There's no room for the flesh in the church, not according to God's requirements, not according to God's teachings. The flesh profiteth nothing. The flesh is to be crucified. The flesh is to be kept down. And it is all spiritual. And then you may remember, in Israel, when God so blessed them, they were then told that they should make provision for the poor.
The fields which they had harvested should never be fully gleaned. The corners of the field were to be left for the poor and the needy. And they were to give to the poor and the needy because God is so blessed then. Now, beloved, in closing, may I say, oh, we're to God, our consciences and our hearts would take it in with deep exercise. When you and I, who are believers, realize what God has done for us, may God help us by His grace to reach out to the world around us. and let them know that we have riches of grace and love to distribute and present to them that we too may seek to dispense the riches of His grace to those around and bring the great blessings of the gospel to others.
Oh, beloved, what a responsibility. May God help us all by His Spirit to recognize if we are members of that one body. and brought into such blessings what responsibility we have to show the world these are our blessings, not earthly, heavenly, not temporal, spiritual. And they're all in Christ, what is done for us to redeem ourselves. Shall we pray? Bless us, Father, what a picture book thy word is. in the Old Testament teaching.
We thank thee for this revelation, the pictorial truth of New Testament doctrine. And we pray tonight we shall, out of thy scriptures, learn much that we can carry away to dispense in blessing to those around us who are in darkness and need a savior. Oh, Father, would have gone, we were indeed like the early church, and thus manifesting and spreading abroad the gospel of thy grace and the exaltation of that risen man, whose yonder in the glory, the head of the church, which is his body.
Lord, we've done nothing to be ashamed of. Grant that every Christian will acknowledge in life as well as in words I belong to Christ, a member of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. And grant, we may show them the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they too may drink of the river of his salvation, and live. Now, Lord, if there's one here unsaved, please, Lord, speak to them of the need of thy precious blood, and may they come under that cleansing flow, This very moment.
See, wash wide as snow. For we ask it as we give thanks. That the basis of all this was laid at Calvary. In the death of thy dear son. And the shedding of his blood. May some sinners say tonight. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died. And that he died for me. We ask it in our Saviour's precious and holy name as we commend ourselves to thee and thy word to thy glory in every heart and life for Jesus' sake.