Discipline

Let us turn together, beloved, please, to the book of Exodus and chapter 12. I want to notice with you from the book of Exodus and one passage in Leviticus how the Lord is guiding his people with disciplines, seeking to teach them the value of disciplines in their life. And in each of these occasions he's going to say to them, don't leave any of it till the morning.

It's for today. And what he is going to give them, what he is going to teach them is intended to be appreciated as he appreciates it. And that is a discipline, because a discipline in our life, spiritually, teaches us a couple of things.

One thing it teaches us is that we don't know everything, because it's a teacher. Discipline is a teacher. So it will help to develop us in our appreciation, our intelligence in divine things, and God is going to want to see his people as they move through their pathway from redemption.

And for those who are newly saved, some are young, but some of you are in your teens, let me say to you, beloved, chapter 12 of Exodus is where you began. And God is wanting to teach you right from the beginning the disciplines in your life that will produce a likeness to the Lord Jesus. Because it is very, very interesting when we are reading in the things of the Old Testament, the types concerning the person of the Lord Jesus, God always adds one statement, a sweet savor unto God.

In the person of the Lord Jesus, what we speak of as moral graces, that is the characteristics and virtues of his holiness and his compassion and his understanding and his grace towards the people and his holiness, those features were in all that he did, be it a small item or whether it was a great problem, whether it was confronted unbelievers or whether he was with his dear disciples. Those graces were constantly rising to God as a sweet savor. And that's what these disciplines are going to do.

And to help us that we might bear resemblance to that blessed person of our Redeemer to be a savor of sweetness unto our God. So we'll read them please in chapter 12 of the book of Exodus and we will read at verse 7. And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts on the upper door post of the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Eat not of it raw, that's how the pagan world would do it, nor sodden it all with water, they maybe saw the Egyptians doing something like that. No, roast with fire, his head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof, and ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning. And that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

Now please in chapter 16. The first one is the roast lamb and it's the Lord Jesus in redemption and God is saying to them don't miss out any benefits of the lamb. Don't leave any of it until the morning.

Chapter 16 and we will read please commencing at verse 16. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, gather of the manna, every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons, take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so and gathered some more, some less, and when they did meet it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack.

They gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stank, and Moses was wrath with them.

So God wants us to realize the manna and can I say to you the picture of manna is interpreted for us in John chapter 6 by the Lord Jesus. It's Christ in incarnation. So we're looking at the person of the Lord Jesus in incarnation, in his humanity, and God says don't leave any of that till the morning.

The third one, please, is in chapter 23. Verse 14 of Exodus 23. Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

Verse 17. Three times in the year all the males shall appear before the Lord God. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

The first of the fruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. That has to do, as we will notice, the fat of the sacrifice, which was God's portion, and it is, of course, speaking of the Lord Jesus in sanctification, as we will notice following the passage. Now chapter 29, please, of Exodus.

And we will read in verse 31. This is a very, very lovely chapter. And even all of us should read this chapter thoughtfully.

It's a chapter concerning priesthood. And priesthood in God's eye is a very, very precious thing. It's a very intimate relationship between one who has been redeemed and his God.

He's ministering unto God. And, beloved, we do that every day. We are to minister unto God, to make him great, and to bring pleasure to his heart.

Read verse 31. And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration and seethe his flesh in the holy place, and Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket by the door of the tabernacle of congregation. And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them.

But a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. And if aught of the flesh of the consecrations or of the bread remain until the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee, seven days shalt thou consecrate them. Now one final reading, please, in the next book, Leviticus, and chapter 7. We'll commence our reading at verse 11. And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings.

In other words, these are the principles by which the priest and the Levites would function in relation to the offering of a worshiper's peace offering, 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 priests 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 it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until the morning.

But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, now this is a different character of offering, different reason of his communing with God. It's a vow or a promise or a voluntary offering, an appreciation 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 of the third day shall be burnt with fire. May the Lord very graciously bless our consideration of his word for a little this afternoon. First of all, as we have noticed that in each of these passages, it is God who is saying, there's something about what I'm wanting you to be occupied with that I do not want you to treat lightly or commonly.

It's something that relates to a very particular item in your worship and in your life, in your approaches unto God, and whatever you do, don't leave it till the next day, and he gives different reasons. And we want to try and notice those reasons because they are the disciplines that are going to teach us what God appreciates to see in our life that was seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. And dearly beloved, we cannot have a greater pleasure in our hearts than to remember the words that the beloved apostle wrote, twice he said it, to please God.

To me that is an awesome reality, that I am able to give a pleasure to God. And beloved saints, young or old, sisters and brethren, it is not a question of your experience now, it's a question of getting to realize what really is appreciated by God. I must strive to keep within these disciplines that they will, in my life, give God the pleasure that he sees in it as it relates to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first one that we're looking at is the roast lamb, which is our blessed Lord Jesus in redemption. It's interesting to notice when we were reading how they had the roast lamb, they weren't even sitting at a table. They were all dressed up ready to go.

Beloved, they've been under the blood. God has passed over them. They're leaving in the morning.

They're going out in order to go in. That's the great truth of redemption. That is why and how God has saved you, and for what purpose he has saved me.

He has brought me out, and he is going to bring me through and into the great land of the promise which is in Christ Jesus. We have that. Now, here at the very beginning, they have handled this lamb in three different ways, and God never wants them to lose the value of the lamb.

And dear brethren and dear sisters, the lamb of God, our beloved Lord, we need to learn how to handle that lamb. Let me note with you the first occasion that we have in this passage, which we did not read because of the length of reading, that I just wanted to notice this final character that we're looking at. But the very first thing is they had this lamb for five days.

And they're examining this lamb, not to see if there's fault in it. That was determined when the lamb was chosen. It satisfied God.

Now they're looking at that lamb. Do you know how God wants you to look at the Lord Jesus as the lamb of your redemption? He mentions different things in the Scriptures. When he's writing through the Proverbs, he says, Get to know the face of the sheep.

Get to look into the face of that lamb. And you know, when Peter looked into the face of the lamb, it made him weep. It softened his heart.

Brethren, we need a look into the face of the lamb who is the lamb of our redemption. When I think as well, in the offerings, God has said to them, He says, I want you to take the legs of the lamb and wash them. Wash those legs of the lamb.

He wants us to handle the person of our Lord Jesus in the beauty of his walk. You see, they weren't looking to see if it had a maggot or something sticking to it or whether it had a sore with a scar. No, they were looking at the testimony of the acceptableness of that lamb.

And that is what is to occupy my heart. That's the discipline God is getting at as we go through these passages. And another very interesting one that he brings the attention of the Lord's people to is the backbone of the lamb.

That's a very wonderful thing. And brethren, that's a good study. And those of you who are young, get to see how God is displaying for us where the backbone of the lamb... A lamb's not going to bear a burden.

It doesn't need a good, heavy backbone like a horse for riding. And it's not going to have the backbone of an ox for pulling. The backbone of a lamb.

Ah, thank God, brethren, the lamb of God had a backbone. And he wants us to be occupied with that which gave to him strength and stability in his life. And those things, as we're handling that lamb, we are giving to God the pleasure of appreciating that which was his choice for our salvation, our redemption.

And the next thing we notice that they are handling is the dead lamb. The blood of the lamb. And the lamb that has died.

And how good it is indeed, brethren. That is what is going to provoke, that's discipline in our life. But God is not finished now.

He doesn't say, that's it. Now you've gotten under the blood, so that's the end of it. No, he says, I want you to feed upon that lamb and don't leave any of it until the morning.

There are different reasons, of course, for that. You may think of it from the point of view of the testimony of Israel in relation to the Egyptians. Because they abhorred the fact that they would eat a lamb.

They abhorred the sacrilegious ways of these Jews with this lamb. And to take its death to be their salvation. Blasphemy.

But God says, God, I want you to feed on that very lamb that the world will never appreciate. And dear younger believer, that is a discipline that God wants for you and for me. He wants us to see the necessity of seeing the lamb that has been roasted with fire.

And to feed on it. Because that's going to be their nourishment for the next three days. God is going to take them in separation from their position and their condition in Egypt out unto himself in the wilderness.

And going to finally take them over the Red Sea and into the wilderness. So the lamb is intended to be appreciated by the redeemed people. Now, the way that we are going to do that, beloved, is how we see the Lord Jesus in the epistles.

Because in the epistles, our blessed Redeemer is presented to us as the triumphant one. He is the one who is glorified. And it's the feeding upon him.

Let me give you just a simple portion that I believe you would know well. But God wants you to be occupied with it. And what he is saying is, don't miss out any of the particulars.

Be a student of this person. Philippians chapter 2 and verses 5 to verse 9. Marvelous display of the person of your Redeemer as he now is. He is the sustainer.

Keeps us from the world of which we once formed apart. Keeps us as well from the activities that they would appreciate. And now they abhor because of our salvation.

We feed upon the Lord Jesus in his exaltation. And that separates us from the world. His precious blood has brought us into redemption in salvation from Egypt.

But it is that roast lamb that brings us into the appreciation of God's acceptance of the Lord Jesus. And this is the discipline. Don't leave any of it.

Don't miss out, dear younger brother. And dear younger sister in particular. May I say to you kindly, make it your discipline to study the lamb as he is before God.

In the book of the Revelation we have the authority for looking upon him thus. He is the lamb. 27 times, no it's more than that, times in the book of the Revelation, the lamb is brought into our view because he's in the appreciation of God.

And he's the center of all activity. And he is the crown of every praise. And he says, don't let any of that rest until the morning.

Don't miss appreciating what God's appreciating is in the Lord Jesus, the roast lamb. Now that's a beginning. So the first discipline is to be careful that we be students of what the Lord Jesus means to us in his redemptive work as well as in his nourishment for us as we move and step out in separation unto his name in obedience to his will.

But in the second one, now God's people are in the wilderness. And they have stepped out. And they have gone over the Red Sea.

And now God is going to supply for them. And he is bringing the manna from heaven. It's a picture of the Lord Jesus in incarnation.

In fact, it is a very beautiful study. Let me just leave this with my younger brethren who are studying. You will find five things God mentions about the manna.

And they're yours to look for, for I know you probably know them. But each of those five things are five distinct glories that are displayed in the Lord Jesus in incarnation. In his coming into our world, taking humanity.

And God says, that's what I want you to see. Now what is the value of that? Why does God say, now don't leave any of that till tomorrow. Whatever you do, don't miss out on your appetite for the manna.

Because each day it is required to be fresh. I'm going to give a suggestion to you, if you will, beloved. To see how the Lord Jesus is seen in the four gospels.

Just one word for each. And I'm doing it because I believe what God wants me to see is the value of the grace of Christ in his life. Because now they're out in the wilderness.

Just like you are on the job, at your school, in your home, in your neighborhood. And you are there as one who is fed upon the lamb. You're separate from what you were before.

And now this is the sustenance that is going to maintain you. And furthermore, it is going to give you the honor of causing a savor of sweetness to rise to God. That is what we're after.

That's what these disciplines are for. Even as it was seen in the bread which came down from heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew, can I point out to you that the stress upon the Lord Jesus in the testings of the person of Christ in Matthew is his holiness.

They could never, never put a dart into the holiness of the Lord Jesus. And that is a grace that gives great sweetness to God. The beloved apostle Peter says, Be ye holy, for I am holy.

That's a quotation from these very passages and in the book of Leviticus. That is God's word to his people. This is where I have brought you.

Into a position where you are able to manifest to the world, even as my beloved son, that you are separate. Because of holiness in your thinking, as we were hearing, in our words, in our action, indeed that we may bring them into the sanctuary of God. And there we find the holiness of God is able both to cleanse and to search that which is unbecoming of our behavior and of our appetite.

So the first thing that he's going to say about the manna is, Remember, it's holy. And don't let that go stale. Don't be slothful with that.

Don't leave of it until the morning. If you take a chance and compromise with holiness, the next day it'll breed worms and have an awful odor. And brethren, that is a principle and a statement of truth that we need to remember in a godless world.

Holiness we cannot trifle with. It blasts lives, minds, testimonies, and assemblies of God. It's solemn.

Therefore, the manna feeding upon the Lord Jesus, as we see him in his testings, are what is going to provoke within us that which will seek to be as he was in holiness before the world and before God. In Mark's gospel, it's humility. I love the first chapter of Mark's gospel.

To me, it's such a noble reading concerning the Lord Jesus. It starts right out with the gospel of the Son of God. Isn't that a lovely statement? That's the blessed person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And as we see the gospel of the Son of God in all the greatness of his eternity of being, the next thing we read about him is he's Jehovah's servant. He has humbled himself to take unto himself the form of the servant. And humility gave to God a savor of sweetness because humility, brethren, is one of the fruits of meekness.

Meekness in your life and my life as it is displayed in the Lord Jesus. Every feature of his person, he never compromised one of them and don't ever think he left them in heaven. They were eternally his, but he brought them all.

Into subjection to the place and the work and the timetable of his father. And that is what brought sweetness, a savor of joy unto his God. So with us, brethren, we strive too much according to the manners of the world.

Elbow your way in, try to rise to a top, try to gain a standing humbug, brethren. It is not of our God. What is of our God is to be like our blessed Savior.

May we seek to realize that discipline. And God says, don't you dare compromise with that. You compromise with humility and you will become proud.

And you will have to be laid aside. As far as that which is going to be of a savor of sweetness to God. God hates pride.

That's what he says. We're all tarred with that stick. It's in our nature because of the fall.

And we love to make room for ourself. Oh, to be like our beloved. That's feeding on the manna.

And don't let any of it compromise the moral. We must indeed and bring it into the experience of day by day feeding upon the manna. In Luke's gospel, it's the healing nature of the Lord Jesus.

He's continually healing. He heals broken hearts. We read of him healing broken hearts.

We read of him healing broken bodies. Now, we can't heal broken bodies. I know some people get the idea that they can do what the doctor can't do, but they can try it if they like.

I'll stick to a doctor. But anyway, the point of healing that I want to notice with you is the idea of having a healing ministry. There are hearts that are sore.

And for you just to pray, or for you to send them a card, or for you to just pay that little visit, it's healing. That's one of the features that was sweet to God because this is what the Lord Jesus said, The Spirit of God has sent me to heal the broken heart. There is a healing ministry that is needed, beloved.

And feeding upon the Lord Jesus, as we see him in Luke's gospel, it put a discipline into our life. And God says, don't let that fail now. You meant to do it today, do it today, not tomorrow.

Don't miss out. He says, and don't lose the fact of your appetite for the manna, and don't lose the character of that first love. The first love is really a very beautiful subject, but I want just to notice it and make an application of it here relative to how it is seen in the Lord Jesus.

The first love of the Lord Jesus in Luke's gospel was to convey the heart of the feelings of God for his people. He wept, he groaned, he mourned our Lord Jesus with others. And as you move in Luke's gospel, you see him taking compassion on the widow so often.

And upon the young, he had a care for them, healing. Don't let that fail. Don't leave that till the morning.

Don't compromise the healing spirit that God requires and desires that it may be a savor of likeness to the Lord Jesus. And then, of course, in John's gospel, it is the heavenly mind, that is, the heavenly communion that you have in John. In every chapter but two, the Lord Jesus is talking about his Father, and he's speaking with his Father on different occasions.

And as we read in Colossians chapter 3, Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth, on the right hand of God. Let your mind be on those things. That is the character of savor of sweetness.

So, dear brethren, it isn't a question that we can't forget, because we do forget. But make it the discipline of your life and of mine that I experience what it means to be exercised and sensitive to the reading of God's word concerning the person of the Lord Jesus in these graces which gave such pleasure to God. A cranky spirit he never had.

A sarcastic word he never had. Amazing Savior. Oh, to be like him increasingly, brethren.

God graciously help us to see again, even as we were hearing this morning, the absolute necessity of disciplining that which is in our life, that which belongs to the Lord Jesus in character as well as nature, which is his in fullness. May it be ours in part, but not compromised. Don't leave any of that till tomorrow.

Just for a moment or two more, about five minutes, I will be finished. We have the next one, the flesh and the bread of the consecration of priesthood. I love this passage, as I've mentioned to you, because it's so beautiful to see the different parts of the offerings, the sacrifices which God put into the hands of a priest.

Now, every believer here today is a priest. We were born into a priestly family the day of our salvation. And, of course, we have to learn the ways of priesthood according to the principles of the New Testament, and you have them typified for us in the Old Testament.

And in this passage is the consecration of the priest. Here is a priest, and he's being taught how he will publicly minister for his God. And God is saying to him, now there are disciplines about this that I want you to get a hold of, because priesthood means so much to me.

When his sacrifices are brought, that's when God says, a sweet savor laid upon the altar, put upon the fire. And it's the hands of the priest who is bringing those offerings. Let me notice three things in this passage.

If you were to read the complete chapter, you will find God is asking the priest to do three things. One thing is to heave, to heave an offering before God. Now, the idea of the heaving was literal.

That is to say, they would take that passage and it was heaved. No, it doesn't mean it went away up in the air. They heaved it in its sense.

They're giving it all for Jesus. All for Jesus. All my being's ransomed powers.

Don't compromise that. Heaving it unto God. That's what our Lord Jesus did.

He gave himself a sweet smelling savor unto God. God says, don't compromise that. I want to see that in you.

I'm giving you the opportunity just to give yourself back to me. And let us never remember this, dear young believer, from the day of your conversion, your divine property, mind, body, and spirit, soul. Your divine property, soul, my.

Now, says God, through that medium, your mind, your person, your very spirit, you can give to me a savor of sweetness like my beloved son. Heave it. Heave it.

Wonderful experience when a young believer has dealings with his God and alone in his bedroom, down upon his knees, with a Bible open before him. God has been speaking to him. He's been tugging at his heart strings.

And finally, that dear young believer bows his head and bows his heart. And he says, thy will be done. Oh, what sweetness rises to God.

Dear young brother, have you had that experience? Younger sister, have you known the touch of your beloved Lord bringing you to the bedside alone with his word? There are young men, no doubt. And there are young men and young women that are needed today, needed to give up their lives for the Lord Jesus. You're not giving up anything, brethren.

You know what you're doing? You're adorning your life with the blessed privilege of seeking to serve the Lord of glory and to give to God a savor of sweetness. Heave it. The next thing he gave them to do, he speaks of it concerning the ram.

He says to take the breast and the shoulder of the ram and to take it home to their family. It's a marvelous thing to think that God gave the very best of those animals to his priests to enjoy and to take home to their families. Because the breast of the lamb and of the ram speaks of the devotions of the Lord Jesus to his Father, his love.

I love the Father. Do those words not melt your heart when the Son of God could say from the bottom of his being, I love the Father. He saw in God the Father, the fullness of all that his holy heart could appreciate.

He says, I love him. Do you love him, brother? He is so faithful. He is so full of goodness.

His holiness is so sweet. There really is a remarkable experience when you're alone with God and you're sanctuary with him and allow that holiness of his gaze to pierce to the very depth of your heart. It doesn't make you feel small.

It fills your little cup with joy and you'll cry out from the bottom of your heart, Hallelujah, what a Savior. You can't say anything less, beloved. That's the sweet savor.

The breast of the ram and the shoulder of the ram, that's the strength, the ability to walk and the ability of the ox to carry the burden, the strength of our blessed Redeemer, his ability to preserve, his ability to defend, his ability to give to us strength to walk even as he walked. But the third thing, he says, I want you to eat. I want you to eat of the very particles, the ram or the bullock and the bread that you had on the day of atonement.

You're going back to the day of salvation now. And those very things that we appreciated about the Lord Jesus in salvation should be developed now. It was a lamb then, now it's a ram, now it's a bullock, and now it's bread.

It's a development of appreciation of the Lord Jesus. And he said that's the day that the priest stands up for the first time in company with his high priest, with dear Aaron at his side, and he's going to offer these things. You know, I find that so touching.

I would like, and I do pray, and I ask you, brethren, to put it into the discipline of your life. Every time you stand up to pray, your high priest is beside you. He evaluates your motive.

He evaluates my thoughts. He knows exactly the reason I have stood up. And I trust it will be as a savor of sweetness, even as it was with him.

Now, he says, don't you let any of that. Don't you compromise the privileges of your priesthood. No, it's for today.

Don't, whatever you do, lose the blessing and the privileges of your priesthood. Don't leave of it until the morning. Now, as I sit down, let me know with you the peace offering.

And this is an offering of appreciation. And it really is the offering of thanksgiving. When we look at the three different offerings, God is going to make a distinction here.

He says, when it's appreciation, make sure that it's fresh every day. Your appreciation offering be fresh every day. But when it comes to a vow, and you've gotten down before God, and you've asking Him for help to cut out something, or to add something to your life, it's not going to happen all in one day.

So God says, I'll give you two or three days with that. But whatever you do, get down to business with it. It's not going to be there forever.

But the appreciation offering is to be fresh every day. Not to forget, communing with God is part of worship. And not to be compromised and left over until the morning.

Now, let me just put these together as I sit down, beloved. We are redeemed. And I have in my hand the roast lamb.

The lamb that has known the fire. And you know, that fire represents two things. God's acceptance and appropriate... making it appropriate to be appreciated by the human.

That's what God says. That's the way I want you to have it. The way I appreciate it is the way I want you to enjoy it.

And we have that lamb. Oh, to learn the value of the parts of the lamb. To take it in and make it our own as the strength of our separation.

And then as we're moving in our pathway, it's the manna, the blessed person of the Lord Jesus, seen in the Gospels, in those spirits, and those graces that rose as a sweet savor. I trust from this conference, beloved, as we listen to the ministry of God's Word further, that there will be that which will provoke within us praise unto our blessed Lord that will be a permanent value in our life and not be left until the morning. Don't compromise it.

God give us grace and help with that. And then the fat of sacrifice, which speaks of the Lord Jesus in his sanctification and appreciation. Don't lose your first love.

And the next one is don't compromise the function of priesthood. It's the heaving and it's the holding. It's the sharing and the eating.

Oh, to get a good piece of the breast of the lamb, brethren, and melt our hearts with the affections of our beloved Lord for his God. May they indeed be in our own hearts and we may grow to give pleasure unto our God in heaven. And don't forget, communion with God should be fresh every day.

May that be our portion. Just a little time. Take it, brother.

Take it. Take that little time, dear sister, just to be alone with your God. Tell him how you love him and let him tell you how he loves you.

Communing with God, whether it be with burdens upon your heart or whether it be appreciation of his person, commune with him and don't let it get stale. May God preserve us from allowing any of these things to be left till tomorrow. Keep them fresh.

Don't compromise them for the Lord Jesus' sake.