October 23, 2005
Scripture:
Scripture:
Can we look at a brief thought in connection with what our brother read in Leviticus 16:12: “And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail.” Can we picture Aaron holding the censer of burning coals and in the other hand, sweet incense. As our brother said, it is a picture of Christ. The incense is a picture of His perfect life down here; he lived a life that was sweet to the Father. It says the incense was beaten small; this shows that no matter how closely you inspect the Lord’s life, you will find no flaws at all. As Aaron put the incense on the fire, the heat would affect it and it would go up in a sweet-smelling cloud and surround him. It reminds us of the cross. A holy God of judgement poured out His wrath on His one beloved Son; the result? When men looked at Him hanging there, they saw a tattered and torn human being. But as God looked down, he saw a perfect sacrifice and he smelled a sweet savour. What a difference! As we remember the perfect, complete work of the Lord on the cross, it is a sweet-smelling savour to us as well. That sacrifice has given us the privilege to gather this morning to remember what he did. May we sense the sweet savour of it. May God have sensed a sweet savour from us this morning because of his Son. He is precious.
EG Hymn 186–One day when Heaven was filled with His praises, Prayer • Ephesians 4:32—What is a tender heart? One way to find out is to look at the opposite, a hard heart. • Exodus 8:8–16—Pharaoh was a hard-hearted man. He persecuted and tortured the Israelites. God wants us to be tenderhearted. A tenderhearted person will be kind and listen to the Word of God. He will act like the Lord Jesus, who also had a tender heart. God says that if we confess our sins, he will forgive us (I John 1:9). Aren’t you glad God has a tender heart!
Hebrews 7:14–28 • We’ve been noticing the marvelous way that Melchisedec appeared in Genesis and came on and off the scene with a special purpose. He shows the Hebrew Christians the type of Christ’s priesthood. There is another Old Testament reference to Melchisedec in the last half of this chapter. It is Psalm 110:4: “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” God made an oath here. This verse is quoted in v. 17. This shows us that this priesthood was in God’s mind even before the time of the law. There is something else, too. “Thou art a priest forever …” No Aaronic priest was a priest forever. The Lord was superior to any other priest. The Aaronic priesthood was part of the “carnal commandment”, or the law; the law could be broken. But the Melchisedec priesthood was made with an unbreakable oath. “Carnal” means fleshly; the law was given for man in the flesh, or in his weakness. • The Lord took up His priesthood after He rose from the dead and had conquered death. That is how he could have the “power of an endless life.” • V. 19—We read pages and pages and pages of law in the Old Testament. But all that made nothing perfect. It was perfect in itself, but it uncovered the imperfectness of everything else and condemned it. That is what makes what we have so precious. The bringing in of a “better hope [Christianity]” did make everything perfect. It says that it was by the bringing in of our Christian position that we can draw nigh to God. On the Great Day of Atonement, who drew nigh to God? It was the high priest. He made atonement for all the Israelites. They could not go into the Holiest for themselves. But with our better hope, we ourselves can draw nigh, individually or collectively. On that Day on Atonement, Aaron went into the tabernacle while the whole congregation of Israel waited outside for him to come out. When he came out, they knew they were reconciled for the past year. The present day Jews reject Jesus as their Messiah and are still looking for the ‘real’ messiah. But He has gone up into the holiest. As the High Priest of our better hope, he has gone into the holiest, but that holiest has a rent veil and he invites us to come in with boldness right behind Him. • Ephesians 2:18—“Both” means Jew and Gentile. This verse has the whole trinity in it. Through the Lord Jesus Christ and His work and by the Holy Spirit, we can come into the presence of the Father. EG Hymn 215– Happy they who trust in Jesus, Prayer