What a wonderful opportunity is ours! What an important work we have been called upon to do. How should we prepare ourselves for the task before us? Our readings in Exodus seem to suggest some steps we should take. The first verse of the 29th chapter of Exodus brings this introduction, speaking of Aaron and his sons: “Now this is what you shall do to them, to consecrate (hallow) them, that they may serve me as priests.” In other words, there was a preparation that they had to undergo, certain steps had to be taken before Aaron and his sons could properly serve the Lord as priests.
Now the duties of the priests included teaching the people about God, about His laws and His promises. This is also our task isn’t it? And it’s significant that the followers of Christ are included in this priestly class. The Apostle Peter said of those in Christ: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1st Peter 2:5). If, then, we are a holy priesthood as Peter says we are, then surely his instruction of the past should have some meaning or significance to us today.
In the past the priests were to be washed with water and then clothed with garments of God’s appointment. It is not difficult to see in this the cleansing power of God’s Word in the Lord Jesus, and the washing away of one’s sins in the waters of baptism. But, thus cleansed, it was needful then to be clothed, but not with the old habits and attire. No, even the normal, everyday principles of personal hygiene would agree with this. We don’t take a shower or a bath and then put on our old, dirty clothes again, do we? No, we put on clean clothes. And so, when we’ve been cleansed in the waters of baptism we should not put back on the old habits and attire; no, these things in the past have been put off, buried in the waters of baptism, and the new man in Christ Jesus is clothed in garments of God’s appointment. “He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.”
Right from the beginning, Adam and Eve were clothed in the Garden of Eden with garments of God’s provision and appointment to cover sin. The principle continued to the present time. Today we are clothed by God’s grace, covered through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. Thus clothed, we are ready for further preparation, ready for the next step in preparing us for our witness for Christ.
Going back again to the preparation of priests under the law in Exodus 29, we find that they were required to be involved in three different sacrificial offerings: the first, a bullock for a sin offering; the second, a ram for a burnt offering; the third, a ram of consecration whose blood was put upon the right ear, the right thumb and the right toe of Aaron and his sons. Then part of the ram was waved before the Lord and offered as a burnt offering, and part was waved and then given to the priests to eat as a peace offering. We won’t go into all the details of meaning in these offerings and related rites this morning. Many of you have studied this in the law of Moses. But, briefly, we can see in these offerings the preparation of mind that must take place, the disposition, the attitude that we must develop, the mental outlook that we must have if we are going to serve the Lord acceptably, if we are going to be fellow workers with him in making our TV campaign or any other effort to promote the truth, a success.
The first offering, the sin offering, speaks of an open acknowledgment of sin, a recognition of the barrenness of human nature and a desire to seek forgiveness. Perhaps this is illustrated by the :confession of the Apostle: “0 wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24). This is the type of attitude that makes us receptive to the grace of God as we realize how completely dependent we are upon His mercy This realization, this frame of mind, brings us to recognize the need for the second offering, the burnt offering In this, the animal was completely consumed on the altar, teaching us the need for complete dedication of our entire lives to God, our total commitment to serve and obey Him
Again the Apostle speaks of this when he says (Romans 12 1) “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service ” In other words he says when you realize the barrenness of human nature and the folly of listening to the dictates of the flesh, then you will understand the wisdom of following the Lord and has mg your lives totally consumed in doing His will Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed (convert the energy that would be wasted on the world to a powerful life in Christ) by the renewing of your mind that ye may pros e what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God This leads us to the third offering, the ram of consecration, the peace offering The peace offering was eaten by the priests as they shared this meal with God, and it speaks to us of thankfulness to God and fellowship with Him And it was a fellowship of action, an active association with God in His service, because the blood of this ram of consecration was placed on the right ear, right thumb and right toe, indicating a readiness to hear the Word of God, a readiness to use your hands to work in the Master’s vineyard, a readiness to walk with God
And so, briefly, this preparation of priests under the law teaches us how we should prepare ourselves to take the Gospel message to all those who respond to its call Being baptized into the saving name of the Lord Jesus and being clothed noon with his righteousness, we can go forth realizing the deceitfulness of sin and thus the need to be completely dedicated to His service, thankful that we have been called to His kingdom and glory and to enjoy the peace and fellowship with Him that He has promised to those who love and obey Him Truly those things which were written afore-time were written for our learning
Before we leave the examples in Exodus, there is an item in Exodus Chapter 28 we should note, because It seems to draw all the other thoughts together, it seems to be a focal point to embody all the characteristics we should develop in training ourselves for the Christian life and for proclaiming it to others Part of the attire of the high priest was a plate of pure gold and engraved on it the words, ‘ Holiness to the Lord ” We are instructed in verse 38 “And it shall be upon Aaron s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts, and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord
Now it would seem that the primary application of this is to our High Priest and Mediator, the Lord Jesus However, the principles insolved surely must apply to all those who are His A plate attached to the forehead, or impressed upon the mind and engraved there the words, Holiness to the Lord’ (the R V renders this, Holy to the Lord”) that might convey a little clearer meaning to us Both words, ‘holiness” and ‘holy” come from the same root meaning to be separate, a place or thing set apart And herein lies a very beautiful and challenging thought, that engraved upon our minds (by faith in what God has promised) is the realization that our minds, our intelligence, shall be a place set apart, holy to the Lord, not to be filled with attractions of the flesh If we allow this concept to be the prime mover of our lives, all the other things we have discussed vs ill fall into place as we grow into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ
Another thing, if we had a golden plate reading “holy to God” permanently attached to our forehead visible for all to see, think what that would do for our actions, our associations, our friends! Imagine that on the foreheads of every Christadelphian! It would be quite evident to everyone that we had decided that our course in life would be dedicated, set apart to those things which are above the mundane things of life, to those things which are of God. Now, we don’t have such a plate on our foreheads, but is the idea of it, the principle, engraved on our minds? Do we convey this impression of holiness to the Lord to our friends and associates? Should we? In the 4th chapter of Acts, it is said of Peter and John that the people marveled at the boldness of their witness for Christ, that the people recognized that they had been with Jesus. The impression that Jesus had made on their lives was so strong that it was evident to all those who came in contact with Him. What about us? We come into the presence of Christ each Sunday in the Word and in these emblems. What kind of an impression does it make on our lives? What kind of a witness do we make for Christ? The TV campaign will give you added opportunities. Volunteer for the work and wear the symbolic golden plate that shows that you are willing to devote your time to the service of the Lord.
I’d like to read an article I clipped from a newspaper because I thought it showed how practical is the advice that the Lord Jesus gave so many years ago.
A retired business executive was once asked the secret of his success. He replied that it could be summed up in three words—”and then some.”
“I discovered at an early age,” he declared, “that most of the difference between average people and top people could be explained in three words. The top people did what was expected of them—and then some.
“They were thoughtful of others; they were considerate and kind—and then some. They met their obligations and responsibilities fairly and squarely—and then some. They were good friends and helpful neighbors—and then some. They could be counted on in an emergency — and then some.”
I am thankful for people like that, for they make the world more livable, for their spirit of service is summed up in the three little words, “and then some.”
Jesus said the same thing, didn’t He when He talked about going the second mile; if you are compelled to go one mile go two miles, be willing to serve and then some, not by constraint, but eager to please. It’s the practical advice of divine wisdom, it’s the attitude that provides the springboard for service.
Now, I’d like to conclude with an incident that is recorded in Mark 14:3-9. Do you remember the wonderful commendation Jesus gave to this woman? “She hath wrought a good work on me, she hath done what she could!” What a testimony to this woman’s faith! Oh, that Jesus would say the same thing to everyone of us—”you have done what you could”! He won’t expect more than that from anyone. The question is, do we do what we can? Are we satisfied with our service to the Lord? Can we do more? If we feel we can, then the TV campaign will provide a fortunate opportunity for all of us to increase our service. There’s plenty of work for all, young and old alike. Contact the chairman in your ecclesia and tell him that you want to do what you can, to help in the campaign.
If everyone in each ecclesia would only do what they can do, what a tremendous success it would be, not only in terms of new members that would be added to the family of God, but also in the new life, energy, enthusiasm and unity it would bring to all. Let’s make this our goal in this campaign, so that when our Lord returns from heaven to make up his jewels, he will say to each one, “Well done, you have done what you could, enter thou into the Joy of your Lord.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One