Albert Leckie emphasizes the significance of the peace offering in Leviticus, illustrating that it represents not just peace of conscience but peace of communion with God. He explains that the peace offering is a celebration of the enjoyment of peace and acceptance before God, highlighting the importance of understanding the portions designated for God, the priests, and the offerer. Leckie points out that the peace offering was offered on top of the burnt offering, symbolizing that true peace comes from recognizing our acceptance in Christ. He warns against treating holy things as common and stresses the need for purity and devotion in our relationship with God. Ultimately, the peace offering serves as a reminder of the fullness of communion we can have with God through Christ's sacrifice.

Leviticus chapter 3 verse 1. Leviticus chapter 3 verse 1. And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd, whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. The fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the call above the liver with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire. It is an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord be of the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering, an offering made by fire unto the Lord. The fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the call above the liver with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar. It is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord. And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about. And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. The fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the call above the liver with the kidneys, it shall he take away. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar. It is the food of the offering made by fire of a sweet savour. All the fat is the Lord's. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood. Now some verses in chapter 7. Leviticus chapter 7. And reading at verse 12. Leviticus chapter 7 verse 12. This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer unto the Lord. If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil of fine flour fried. Besides the cakes he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the Lord. And it shall be the priest that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that is offered. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice. And on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten. But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire. And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted. Neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it. It shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burnt with fire. And as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof. But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. Moreover, the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which pertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. Verse 28. The 28th verse. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord shall bring his oblation unto the Lord of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. His own hand shall bring the offerings of the Lord made by fire, the fat with the breast. It shall he bring, that the breast may be waived for a way of offering before the Lord. And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his son's. And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. He among the sons of Aaron offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat shall have the right shoulder for his part. For the waived breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest, and unto his sons by a statute forever from among the children of Israel. We have not only read this evening the account of the offering of the peace offering Leviticus chapter 3, but also the law of the peace offering in Leviticus chapter 7. To read both of these portions is absolutely necessary in order to arrive at a proper understanding of the significance of the peace offering. From Leviticus chapter 1 verse 1 up to chapter 6 and verse 7 we have the offerings themselves. And then from verse 8 of chapter 6 up to the end of chapter 7 we have the law pertaining to these offerings. And the difference between the presentation of the offerings from chapter 1 to chapter 6 and then the law of the offerings in chapter 6 and chapter 7 is just this. In the offerings themselves in the opening chapters we have God's portion and then with regard to the law of the offerings our hearts are directed to man's portion. Now when we come to consider the peace offering we discover that this is the offering where everyone concerned in the sacrifice itself had a portion. And that makes it so necessary that we not only read in chapter 3 the account of the offering itself but also the law of the offering in chapter 7 in order that we might see the portion that each person concerned had in the same sacrifice of peace offering. In fact I believe that that is why the peace offering hasn't been generally speaking properly understood because many haven't taken time to observe the different part of the sacrifice given to various individuals concerned in the offering of the sacrifice of the peace offering. But we will think of that in a few moments. I want to establish in our minds at the commencement of our consideration of the peace offering that in this peace offering the thought is not that of peace of conscience. This was not an offering that was offered in order to obtain peace. This in fact was an offering that was offered out of an enjoyment of peace. And if you have a Newberry Bible you would observe that the word for peace here is in the plural and that makes this most significant. For here we have an offering that was offered to the Lord out of an enjoyment of peace in all its fullness. Out of an enjoyment of peace in all its plenitude. When we think of the peace offering of Leviticus chapter 3 we must remember this that the subject matter is not peace of conscience. It is rather the peace of communion. An offering offered to the Lord out of an enjoyment of communion with God. Out of an enjoyment of peace in all its fullness, in all its plenitude. It is to be observed in connection with the peace offering that the peace offering was offered upon the burnt offering. That we learn in verse 5. And Aaron's son shall burn it, the peace offering, on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice. Now you must underline that in your mind in your study of the peace offering. That the peace offering was actually burned on top of the burnt offering. Now we saw in our consideration of the burnt offering that the thought in connection with the burnt offering is that of our acceptance before God. It shall be accepted for thee to make an atonement for me. And as the Israelite stood beside the altar and saw the burnt offering that he had brought to the altar ascend as a sweet savor into the nostrils of God. He knew that he was accepted before God in all the sweet savor of his burnt offering. It had been accepted for him. We observe that by way of contrast in connection with the sin offering. It's not what went up in the sin offering as a sweet savor, but what was put away from before the face of God, the author's sin. Now that's important to observe. The peace offering was not burned on the sin offering. The peace offering was burned on top of the burnt offering. And what is the significance? My brother, my sister, the significance is just this. We shall never know peace in all its fullness. Peace in all its plenitude. If we never get any farther than this, my sins have all been forgiven. Anyone who never gets farther than the fact that their sins have been forgiven never enjoy that fullness of peace that God intends they should enjoy. When is it that I arrive at that fullness of peace that God wants me to enjoy? When I appreciate my acceptance before God. When I appreciate that I'm accepted in the beloved. I want to repeat, if we never get beyond the fact that my sins have been forgiven, I'll never know the peace in all its fullness that God wants me to enjoy. But when I arrive at this, that in virtue of the sacrifice of Christ I'm accepted before God, then an enjoyment of my acceptance before God enables me to enter into that peace in all its fullness that God intends that I should enjoy. Now is it not the case with so many of us? We have not got beyond this fact, blessed though it is, that our sins have been forgiven and we fail to enter into this, that we have a place of actual acceptance in the sight of the God of heaven. When I'm in the enjoyment of that, then I enter into that peace in all its plenitude that God intends that I should enjoy. I remember in Eastbourne some years ago, there was a young lady and she was rather disturbed, wondering whether or not she were saved. I read to her some verses from the gospel according to John, where the Savior said, then shall they know, that is the world, that thou hast loved them, the believers in Christ, as thou hast loved me, the Son of God. She'd never entered into the enjoyment of this, but the sacrifice of Christ on her behalf was not merely that she might be forgiven and saved from hell and at last brought to heaven, but the sacrifice of Christ on her behalf was of such sort that the Father loved her as he loved his Son. I wonder, my brother, my sister, if you've entered into the enjoyment of that, your place of acceptance before God, so dear, so very dear to God, more dear I cannot be, for in the person of his Son I am as dear as he, and when I'm enjoying that as God would have me enjoy it, then I enter into this peace in all its fullness that is brought before us in the peace offering. Thus the peace offering was burned on top of the burnt offering that speaks of our acceptance before God. Another important point to observe is this, that twice over in this chapter we are told that the peace offering was in fact the food of the burnt offering. Verse 11, and the priests shall burn it upon the altar, it is, that is the peace offering, is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord. That again is repeated in verse 16, and the priests shall burn them upon the altar, it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savor. And thus the peace offering was actually the food of the burnt offering. Now how is that explained? From a literal standpoint the significance is just this, God gave this command that all the internal fat, that all the suet of the peace offering had to be burned on the altar on top of the burnt offering. And as the flame melted the suet of the peace offering, that suet would flow over the burnt offering and increase the flame that was burning the burnt offering and cause the sweet savor to ascend all the more. And thus as the suet of the peace offering melted over the burnt offering it increased the flame of the burnt offering and made to increase commensurately the sweet savor of the burnt offering before God. What an interesting point then is this, that the peace offering was in fact the food of the burnt offering. Now we shall see in a few moments that one of the great differences between the burnt offering and the peace offering is this, in the peace offering we have the dedication of God's son to the will of God. That's the thought in the internal fat, the inward excellency, the dedication of God's son to the will of God. Whereas in the burnt offering, we shall see in a few moments, the main thought in connection with Christ is his vigor in service, as he would carry out the will of God. Now notice this distinction, in the peace offering it's his inward excellency, it's his utter devotion to God's will, whereas in the burnt offering it's the vigor with which God's son carried out the will of God. Now then apply this to the fact that the peace offering was the food of the burnt offering and what do we find? My brethren, this is most delightful, that the utter devotion and dedication of God's son to the will of God was food and refreshing to his being and gave him strength and vigor to carry out the will of God. Now let me explain what I mean. In John chapter 4, the disciples had gone to obtain food. While they were absent, Jesus was speaking with that woman of Samaria and when the disciples returned, they marveled that he spake with this woman and when she departed, they said unto the Savior, Master eat. He said, I have meat to eat, that ye know not of. And as you read that incident, it would almost appear that the disciples took another look at Jesus and as they looked at him again, it appeared as if Jesus had been refreshed and they said, hath any given him anything to eat? Asked the Lord Jesus, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. His meat was to do the will of God. His dedication to God's will was food and refreshing to his whole being. I remember in the days when my father worked in the iron and steel works, many a time he came home utterly exhausted. I've many a time as a boy had to pull his flannel shirt off, sticking to his back with perspiration and he hadn't the strength to pull it off. Many an evening I've taken off his boots and poured the perspiration literally down the sink. He would have a wash and then a meal. Then eventually he would say, Albert it's time we went to the prayer meeting. And we would have a 20 minute walk uphill to the prayer meeting. I remember many a time as a boy walking alongside father, scarcely able to draw, he was scarcely able to draw one foot past the other. And after we'd been to the Bible reading of the prayer meeting, on the way home he would invariably say, I feel refreshed. I feel the better for that. Now that's the principle here. My brother, my sister, this is something we're needing increasingly to learn today. That our dedication to the will of God can be food and refreshing to a whole being. That's what it was to the Savior. You come in so utterly tired and weary. After a busy day, and it's the prayer meeting, it's the Bible reading, you decide you're too tired to go out. My brother, my sister, you go out and you discover that this dedication to God's will, it will be food and refreshing to your whole being. Thus it was with the Savior. Thus it was with the Son of God. And that's the thought here I've no doubt in Leviticus chapter three, that the peace offering was the food of the burnt offering. The inward excellency of the peace offering was actually food to the burnt offering that spoke of his vigor in the service for God. Now then I repeat that in order to understand the significance of the peace offering, we have to observe how the animal was apportioned. And each individual concerned in its offering had their particular portion. In Leviticus chapter three, we have God's portion. Then in chapter seven, we have the portion of the officiating priest, we have the portion of the priestly family, and we have the portion of the Israelite together with his family. That's the Israelite who brought the peace offering. Now we'll think of this. What was God's portion? We'll learn in chapter three, verse three, that God claimed the thought that was upon the inwards. I've no doubt the margin of your Bible makes that expression, the thought that's upon the inwards, to read the suet. It was the suet of the animal that God claimed in the matter of the peace offering. Then verse four, God claimed the kidneys of the animal. And again in the same verse, God claimed the call above the liver. Now we shall try and learn what this means. God says, this is what I want. This is what has to be placed on the altar of me, the suet, the internal thought of the animal and its kidneys and the call above the liver. Now what is the thought in the suet, the internal thought? You notice that the thought was offered in connection with the burnt offering and the thought is also offered in connection with the peace offering. But have you observed that the word for thought is different in connection with both of these offerings? The thought of the burnt offering was the muscular thought of the animal. Whereas the thought of the peace offering was the internal thought, the suet of the animal. Now that's important. You'll notice in connection with the burnt offering that was offered the head and the legs and the thought, the muscular thought, the legs and the head. But in connection with the peace offering, no mention is made of the legs at all, only the internal thought. Now why do I direct your attention to that just for this reason? In the burnt offering, it's the muscular thought. It speaks of his vigor in service. As we saw in connection with the book, he was God's workman. Hence the legs are brought before us, the one who walked and labored for God. But in the peace offering, it's the internal thought, not the muscular thought. And no mention is made of the legs. The idea is this, that here in the peace offering, our attention is directed to his inward excellency. The sacred springs of the heart, utterly devoted to the will of God. My dear brethren, how precious, love to think of God's son. In this God find infinite pleasure. He was a man and this characterized the sacred springs of his heart, utter dedication and devotion to the will of God. Little wonder God claimed this. As we shall see in a few moments, only God could see this and therefore only God could appreciate it. Thus God claimed that, that speak of his inward excellency. And then the kidneys. If you have a Mr. Newbery's Bible, and I trust you have, you notice that Mr. Newbery gives in the margin of the Bible, the root meaning of the Hebrew word for kidneys to be perfect or complete. The root meaning in the Hebrew of the word kidneys is perfect or complete. I wonder what this refers to. My dear brethren, this refers to this important principle, that when we think of the son of God, we think of one who completed every work to which he put his hand. He never left an unfinished work. He never left a task incomplete. When we were together on Monday evening, I was directing your attention to the fact that Luke's gospel is the gospel that presents to us the Lord Jesus Christ in the aspect of the peace offering. I wonder if you've noticed in your reading of Luke's gospel that this is something that Luke emphasizes, that God's son finished every work to which he put his hand. He completed everything that he commenced to do. You remember in chapter 7, or perhaps I should direct your attention to this, in chapter 14 we have that parable uttered by the Lord. Peculiar to Luke's gospel when he says, which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, lest haply after you've laid the foundation and is not able to finish it, all the behold begin to mock. Ask of the Lord Jesus, if you're going to build a tower, sit down and count the cost, for it's important that you finish it. And right throughout Luke's gospel we see the Son of God finishing every work to which he put his hand to do. In chapter 7, we see him raising to life the son of the widow of Nain. He finished that work, for says Luke, he delivered the young man to his mother. Ah yes, he took account of the widow's tears, and having raised the young man to life, he completed what he did by delivering the young man to his mother again. In chapter 8, he raises to life the daughter of Jairus. He didn't stop by raising her to life, he said, give her mate. How delightful. See how he rounds everything off. See how he finishes his work, give her to eight. In chapter 9, we have the account of how the Lord Jesus dispossessed the young man at the foot of the mount of transfiguration of the demon. Matthew, Mark and Luke all give us an account of this. But you'll notice that only Luke tells us that having dispossessed the young man of the demon, he delivered the young man to his father. Only Luke tells you that. He delivered the young man to his mother in chapter 7, and now he delivers the young man to his father in chapter 9. Then we all remember the delightful parable of chapter 10, the parable of the Samaritan. Notice how he finished that work there. He met the man half dead by the wayside, bound up his wounds, he poured in the oil and the wine, put him in his beast and took him to an inn. See him completing his work, gloriously finishing that to which he'd put his hand. Then you remember the parable in chapter 15, the parable of the shepherd and the lost sheep, the parable of the woman and the lost piece of silver. The Savior is careful to point out that the shepherd went after the sheep until he found it. The woman searched diligently for the silver until she found it. Neither of them left their task incomplete or unfinished. In Luke chapter 22, we have Luke's account of Peter's betrayal of the Lord Jesus. I love to think that Luke is the only one who tells us that after Peter had betrayed Jesus, the Lord turned and looked on Peter. Ah, says Luke, not only did the Lord Jesus tell Peter that he would betray him, he didn't forget the fact of it. But when Peter in fact did betray him, our Savior turned and looked on Peter and Peter went out and wept bitterly. I wonder too if you've noticed this, that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all tell us how that Peter cut off the servant's ear in the garden. I wonder if you've observed. Only Luke tells us how the Lord touched the servant's ear and healed it. We should never have known that that servant's ear had been healed if it were left to Matthew and Mark and John. It's only Luke that tells us that our blessed Savior touched the servant's ear and healed it. My dear brethren, that's the kidney. He perfected, he completed every work to which he put his heart. But not only the kidney, the call above the liver. You will discover in your Newbery margin again that Mr. Newbery gives you here the Hebrew root for the expression, the call above the liver. What is the Hebrew root? It means the superabundance of the glory. Ah, that's precious. Ah, we cannot take time to go through Luke's gospel observing the superabundance of the glory. Chapter four, he's led of the spirit into the wilderness. He's tempted of the devil and this was the result. He returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee. Led by the spirit into the wilderness. Tempted of the devil in the wilderness and see the superabundance of the glory when he returns in the power of the spirit into Galilee. In chapter nine, he feeds the 5,000. What was the result of feeding the 5,000? They were left with more food than they commenced. After he had fed the multitude, they gathered up of the fragments 12 baskets. It's the superabundance of the glory. Chapter 23, they're nailing our savior to the cross and he's heard to say, father forgive them for they know not what they do. This all bespeaks the thought of the superabundance of the glory. God says, place that on the altar for me. This is what I want. Now there was a portion given to the officiating priest and when I speak of the officiating priest, I'm thinking of the priest who dealt with the sacrifice itself, who dealt with the blood of the sacrifice, who dealt with the fat as distinct from the other priests. I want to point out here this evening that when you study the tabernacle of the offerings and you see the officiating priest viewed as distinct from the priestly family, that officiating priest speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ and the priestly family speaks of the church. Now let me establish that in our minds. On the occasion of the consecration of the priesthood, you remember when Aaron was consecrated by himself, oil was poured upon him without the need of blood being sprinkled. Why? He speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ. No need for his being sprinkled by blood if he speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Aaron was anointed together with the family, the oil was sprinkled on them, but when Aaron was anointed by himself without blood, the oil was poured on him in rich profusion. That's Psalm 133, the oil upon his head, upon his beard, that ran down to the skirts of his garment. That's Aaron the high priest, anointed by himself in his consecration, speaking of Christ. But when he's anointed with the family, the oil isn't poured on him, the oil is just sprinkled on him. I wonder what it means. As John concerning the Savior, God gave not the Spirit unto him by measure, the oil was poured on him. Interesting, my dear brethren, to observe that when he was anointed with the Spirit, Luke tells us the Spirit of God descended in bodily form as of a dove. I wonder why Luke says in bodily form. The thought in a body is that of completeness. The thing's complete in bodily form. But when the Spirit of God came down on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, he didn't descend in bodily form. He descended as cloven tongues of fire. The tongue is just a member of a body. That gives us to appreciate the distinction between Christ and his people, the high priest and the priestly family. Now what was the portion that was given to the officiating priest in connection with the priest's offering? This we find in chapter 7 verses 32 and 33. The Lord says, give to him the right shoulder. What does the right shoulder speak of? The right shoulder speaks of strength for service. Why was this given to the officiating priest who speaks of Christ? My dear brethren, the answer is very simple. None knew, as did the Son of God, the strength that was required to complete the service of God. None knew like him the strength that was necessary to complete the work that God gave him to do. None of the ransomed ever knew. How deep were the waters crossed, or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through, ere he found the sheep that was lost. Thus give to the officiating priest the right shoulder, for he speaks of my Son, and only my Son knows the strength that's required to complete the work that I've given him to do. Then to the priestly family we'll learn in chapter 7 verse 31, that was given the breast of the animal. Now what's the thought of the breast? Throughout God's word, the breast always speaks of love and affection. And the priestly family is symbolic of the church. What is it that the church feeds upon? Ah, the church feeds upon the breast of the sacrifice. Why, says Paul in Ephesians chapter 5, Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. And the church feasts upon this, the love of Christ for it, that enabled him to give himself for the church. And thus the priestly family, they feed upon the breast, they feast upon the love that led Christ to give himself for it. Then in chapter 7 verse 15 to 18, we learn what was given to the Israelite who brought the peace offering, that he might feast upon it with his family. What was given to the Israelite and his family? Verses 15 to 18 tell us that was given to him the flesh of the sin, the flesh of the peace offering. Now notice this division, God got the inwards, the fishing priest the right shoulder, the priestly family the breast, the Israelite and his family the flesh. Now if the priestly family speaks of the church, of what does the Israelite and his family speak? I suggest that they speak of Israel, the priestly family the church. The Israelite and his family speak of the nation of Israel. And I want to remind you my dear brethren this evening that the nation of Israel is going to share in the blessings of Calvary. To me it's a tremendous tragedy that there is that line of teaching being perpetrated today that would indicate there's no future for Israel. My brother, my sister, let's be assured of this, that Israel as a nation will yet share in the fruits of the sacrifice of Calvary, they will. But why is it that they feed on the flesh? If the church feeds on the love of Christ, Israel feeds on the mercy of God, Israel will not yet be restored by reason of Christ's love for her. On what ground will Israel be restored? Romans chapter 11, on the ground of sovereign mercy. I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. Mercy is an issue of love. God is merciful because he is a God of love. Ephesians chapter 2 says this, but God who was rich in mercy for his great love with love does. God is merciful because he's a God of love. And if the church feeds upon the love of Christ for her, Israel realizes that in the sovereign mercy of God, because of Calvary, she is restored to God though her restoration is yet future. Now we cannot stay to speak on that. Now very briefly within our thoughts, God says, I want the inwards. I want the suet. I want the kidneys. I want the call above the liver. That that the human eye could not see, God says, place it upon the altar for me. My brother, my sister, this is most important. What the heart of God alone could see in Christ, or rather what the eye of God alone could see in Christ, the heart of God alone could appreciate. You remember his words from the open heavens. Thou art my beloved son in whom, not with whom, but in whom I am well pleased. God's looking in and he says, in whom I am well pleased. That's the inwards. Then Christ's portion as the officiating priest was the right shoulder, strength for service. We shall never know what it meant to our savior to say in the garden of Gethsemane, not as I will, but thy will be done. My dear brother and I would suggest this evening that it was in the garden of Gethsemane Christ was feeding on the right shoulder, taking account of the strength that was necessary to carry out the will of God and feeding upon it his heart to say, not as I will, but thy will be done. The cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? And then we have the breast of the animal. It's called the wave breast in chapter 7 because the breast of the animal was waved to and fro before the Lord. My dear brother and I want to speak to our hearts tonight. The breast of God's son could be waved to and fro before the Lord for the Lord's pleasure and acceptance because there was nothing within his breast that would grieve his God. How different to you and me, each one of us would have to take our stand alongside the publican in chapter 18, smite ourselves on the breast and not as much as to look up into heaven and say, God be merciful to me, the sinner. But with regard to God's son, his breast typically is waved before the Lord because there was nothing in it to grieve him. Then the flesh, the flesh was offered, the flesh was given to the Israelite and his family that he might take it home and their feet upon it in his home. Now here's an important point that I must mention before I conclude. There were three occasions in which a peace offering might be offered. Chapter 7 verse 15, it may be offered on an occasion of thanksgiving. God had shown to the Israelite some particular favor and mercy and he wanted to be thankful and he expressed his thankfulness by bringing a peace offering. In chapter 16, in chapter 7 verse 16, it could be offered on the occasion of making a vow or it could be offered voluntarily in other words, an Israelite felt he might make a vow. He desired to make a vow to do something for God. Now says God, you can give expression to the desire of your heart to make this vow by bringing a peace offering or he could bring a peace offering voluntarily without any particular mercy for which he wants to be thankful, without the occasion of making a vow. He might just bring it out of a heart and tune with God and thus it could be offered on three occasions, thanksgiving, vow or voluntary, but notice God says when you offer a peace offering for thanksgiving, I'll allow you the Israelite to take the flesh of the peace offering to your home, feed upon it in your home with your family on the day that you've been to the altar, but not the second day, but if you bring your peace offering on the occasion of making a vow or voluntarily, I'll allow you to take the flesh into your home that there in your home with your family, you might feed upon the flesh, not only on the day that you've been to the altar, but on the second day, but not on the third day and thus when it was a vow or voluntarily, God gave to the Israelite an extra day in which you could eat the flesh of his peace offering in his home. I wonder why? Ah, this is important. In this, God is taking into account the degree of devotion of the Israelite and well did God know that if he had granted to an Israelite some particular mercy and the desire to be thankful, that didn't call for any great degree of devotion. My dear brethren, let me say this this evening, the least that God can expect from any one of us and I say the least is that we'll be thankful and it doesn't demand any degree, great degree of spirituality to be thankful, thus God took this into account with Israelite. If you brought it just because you're thankful, I'll allow you to take the flesh home and eat it that day, but not the second day, but if you want to make a vow to do something for me or you bring it out of a heart in tune with me voluntarily, I'll allow you that day and the next day but not the third day. But why did God stipulate this? And the answer is just this, God did not want the Israelite to make the flesh of the peace offering a common meal to partake of it in his home, divorced from his visit to the altar. In other words, God did not desire with the Israelite that holy things should become common. You see if he brought it just for thanksgiving, he could eat it that day and remember he'd been to the altar, but if the next day he may eat of that flesh divorced from his visit to the altar and it become a common meal, but taking account of the increased degree of devotion when it was of our voluntary, God says I'll allow you another day because of your greater degree of devotion, I'll accept that you eat it in your home, not as a common meal but still connected with your visit to the altar. My dear brethren, I want to say here the same thing. I'm finding it very necessary to say this up and down the country. I'm terribly afraid that with many of us as God's people today, holy things are becoming common. How often we hear unbecoming jocularity about texts in God's word, people joking about the inspired word of God. Holy things common. Oh yes, we read the scriptures before we go to bed, but we don't do because we enjoy it, we do it as a duty. We give thanks for a meal. Don't turn off the radio, we ramble through it as if it meant very little. Holy things are becoming common. We come to the breaking of bread and we're more interested in the fashions that are there than in the purpose of the gathering. Well, oftentimes the cup is going round. After an individual has partaken of the cup, you hear the rattle of money indicating. Even that cup has become a common thing. They've partaken of it and all too soon forgotten its deep significance. And scarcely has the meeting closed, but there's an unbecoming din of laughter and conversation and showing of photographs. It seems that God's people can tumble out of the holiest in a few seconds. What's it mean, dear brethren? I speak to my heart. May God speak to all of our heart. The serious possibility of holy things becoming common. You see, my dear brethren, what God is guarding against here is that the children of Israel move externally without an internal experience. And when that is true, holy things become common. Now I say this and then finish. God laid restrictions on the eating of the flesh of the peace offering. Chapter seven, verse 19. All that be clean had to eat of it. Verse 20. No Israelite having his uncleanness upon him must eat of it. Verse 21. No Israelite who touched any unclean thing, whether it be the uncleanness of man, beast, or abominable unclean thing must eat of the flesh of the peace offering. Now this is all significant. All that be clean must eat of this flesh and no one else. Indicating this, only those who have been sanctified through faith in Christ Jesus must hand on holy things. You know, there's an idea that there should be nobody at the door on the Lord's morning. My dear brethren, if ever there's a need for that kind of thing it is today, it's a serious thing for a person unsanctified through faith in Christ to handle holy things. Secondly, no Israelite having his uncleanness upon him must eat of the flesh of a peace offering. In other words, I must never handle holy things if there be unjudged sin, unconfessed sin in my life. Thirdly, if an Israelite had touched an unclean thing, whether it be of man or beast or an abominable unclean thing, he must not eat of the flesh of the peace offering. In other words, if I'm tampering with evil and with sin, I must not handle holy things. If I do, I can incur the judgment, the chastisement of God. Did not Paul say, if we would judge ourselves, then we should not be judged. Let us pray. We bow in thy presence, our God, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. We thank thee once more for thy word and these delightful pictures of our Lord Jesus. We thank thee for the wonder of thy word, its divine inspiration, and remind our hearts of thy word concerning our risen Lord that he expounded to his disciples in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. We thank thee that we find in all the scriptures things that relate to our blessed Lord Jesus. We just ask of thee now to sanctify and bless to us this consideration together of thy holy word in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.