Let us turn to the third book, Leviticus, chapter 1. We will read the first nine verses.
And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man of you bringeth an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock.
If his oblation be a burnt offering of the herd, he shall offer it a male without blemish: he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.
And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into its pieces.
And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay wood in order upon the fire:
and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
but the inwards thereof, and the legs thereof, shall he wash with water: and the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.
The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings. It shows us the purpose of God. Now, what is the purpose of God? What is it that God is interested in?
The purpose of God is in man. He desires to have man—not just any kind of man, but a peculiar kind of man: God-for-man, interested in God. And not only individuals, but a corporate man. So this is God’s purpose, as we see in the book of Genesis.
The second book, the book of Exodus, is a book of redemption. Because it is a book on redemption, it shows us the work of God. God has a purpose, and now He is working toward that purpose. The work that comes forth to accomplish that purpose is called redemption.
Therefore, you find that redemption is not merely to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt and then leave them there. Redemption is to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt and to bring them unto God—not merely to come out of Egypt, but to come into God.
Toward the latter part of Exodus, you have the tabernacle. That is to say, God dwells among His people, and His people dwell in God. Now that is the purpose of redemption.
Applying it to us today, we know that redemption not only redeems us out of sin, out of the curse of the law, out of death, out of the world, out of self, and out of Satan; He redeems us into God. God may dwell in us, and we may dwell in God.
The third book of the Bible is the book of Leviticus. Of course, Leviticus is a book on priesthood.
God redeems us to be a spiritual house for the mutual dwelling of God and man. But at the same time, we are made holy. We are saved to serve God. And that is the third book.
You remember Peter, in his first letter, chapter 2. He says that Christ is the living Stone. He was rejected by men, but He was chosen and precious before God. And we also, as we come to Christ, are living stones, because we receive His life and bear His nature.
Being built up into a spiritual house—now, that is something. As we come to our Lord Jesus, we become living stones: no longer dead, no longer merely ourselves, but living. Then we become materials for the spiritual house of God, in which God dwells in the Spirit.
But, dear brothers and sisters, it is not enough merely to be living stones. A lot of Christians are happy that they are living; they are no longer dead. Thank God for that. Yet God’s purpose is not merely to have living stones.
Redemption does not bring us only to the point of making us living stones. Redemption is to build these living stones together to be a spiritual house. That is the purpose of redemption.
It is the work of God not only to save us, give us new life, and make us living stones; it is the work of God today to build us together. You may have a pile of stones, but you cannot live in a pile of stones. You may have stones all around, but only when these stones are built together do they become something useful.
In building, it is not merely a matter of having stones. There may be some chipping to do, some sawing to do, some smoothing to do, and some adjusting to do—putting one stone with another, one stone upon another, every stone fitted in its proper place.
This is what the Lord is doing. He is building us today.
Even though we are all living stones, there is much in us that refuses to be built up with another. Because of that, there is much work that needs to be done. The work of Christ, by the Holy Spirit, must work in us until we are fitted together and properly joined.
As we are properly related to one another and built together into a spiritual house, God can dwell in that house. That will be God’s home. He will find rest in the house, and we will find rest also.
How important it is to see that the work of redemption does not stop with personal salvation. The work of redemption goes on into the tabernacle.
Toward the end of Exodus, you see the tabernacle. In Exodus 40, when the tabernacle was erected and all the furniture was put in its rightful place, the glory of God filled the tabernacle. Even Moses had to retreat; no one could enter into the presence of God.
This is the spiritual reality. As Peter says, we as living stones are being built up a spiritual house. Thank God for that. But he does not stop there: “a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
It is not merely grammatical wording. If you say that we are being built together as a spiritual house, then you might expect a conjunction before “a holy priesthood.” But Scripture simply says, “a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.” These two things go together as one.
On the one hand, we are being built up as a spiritual house; but as we are built up as a spiritual house, we are also being built up as a holy priesthood.
If you have a spiritual house and there is no priesthood, what will happen? It will be dead. Everything may be in order, but there is no service going on. It will be an empty house.
But as soon as the house is built and the priests begin to enter into the house to function, then you find the whole house is living and the work of God is going on.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not only living stones, built together as a spiritual house for God to inhabit; at the same time, we are a holy priesthood.
Every living stone is a priest. Now, can you believe that?
In Revelation 1:5-6, the apostle John pours out his heart in praise to God. As he praises God, he says:
Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood;
and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father;
to Him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The apostle John thinks of what Christ has done for us, and he cannot help but thank God. He says, “Unto Him that loveth us.” Truly, He loves us.
He has done something for us: He has washed us with His blood. He has washed all our sins away. They are all gone. Thank God for that.
Is that all His love has done? To wash away our sins with His blood—that is love, and that is tremendous. Think of that. We were sinners; we were dirty. Yet He was willing to die for us and wash us clean. What love that must be!
You may be satisfied with that, but He is not satisfied. He not only has washed us with His blood; He has made us a kingdom of priests.
Do you know that when you believe in the Lord Jesus, do you know what He has done to you? He has not only washed away your sins; He has made you kings and priests. You who were rebels before, useless to God, are now counted by Him as priests.
The same thing is found in Revelation 5. In the song of redemption, they praise the Lord because He has redeemed people out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and has made them a kingdom and priests unto God.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are all priests. You may not have that title, but you are a priest—a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The book of Leviticus is a book on priesthood. We call it the book of worship, and the family of God is called to worship.
Remember, now we are saved. Now we are being built up as a spiritual house. Now we are going to serve God. But how do we serve? How do we worship? In what way are we to serve God?
All these principles are given in the book of Leviticus. With the children of Israel, you find all the typical institutions, all the sacrifices, rules, regulations, and things concerning the priesthood. But with us, you find the spiritual principles concerning the priesthood.
Therefore, we who are the Lord’s need to know the book of Leviticus, because it tells us how we can function as priests and how we can serve God.
What is a priest? A priest is one who is set apart for the service of God. Then what is a priesthood? A priesthood is a number of priests serving God together under the great High Priest. That is a priesthood.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are all priests. We who are believers are all priests. It is not that some people are set apart to serve God while other people are set apart for the world.
When God first called the children of Israel, He brought them to Mount Sinai. In Exodus 19, God said, “I have brought you unto Myself as on eagles’ wings. Now if you will hearken unto My voice and keep My covenant, I will make you My peculiar possession out of all the nations, and I will make you a kingdom of priests.”
God’s original desire for the children of Israel was that the whole nation should be a nation of priests. In other words, every Israelite, every child of Israel, was to be a priest.
Whether male or female, old or young, all those who came out of Egypt and were brought to Mount Sinai—every one of them was a priest.
But unfortunately, they did not keep His covenant. They did not hear His voice. Before Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, what did they do on the plain? They asked Aaron to make a god for them, and he made a golden calf. Then they began to worship the golden calf.
They broke the law even before the law was given. Moses came down from the mountain, broke the two tablets because they had already broken the law, ground the golden calf into powder, spread it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink it.
Even though God forgave them through Moses’ intercession, God said that the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron were to serve at the altar. In other words, the children of Israel had disqualified themselves from being priests.
Therefore, as an emergency measure, God chose the family of Aaron to serve Him. All the other children of Israel could not offer sacrifices themselves; they had to go through the hands of the priests.
But, praise God, in the redemption of our Lord Jesus, He restored everything back to the original design of God. Therefore, we who are redeemed by the Lord Jesus have been made a kingdom of priests.
When you are born again, you are born again into the family of priests. You are a priest. All believers are priests. That is to say, God has separated us unto Himself that we may serve Him.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is our vocation. No matter what your earthly profession may be—you may be a housewife, a professor, a scientist, a student, an engineer, a doctor, a teacher, or anything else—remember that these are our avocations. Our vocation as priests is specific.
Our avocations are sidelines. We have to maintain our earthly responsibilities, and even in doing these things we are serving God. These are opportunities, the various areas in which God has placed us, that we may serve God in our homes, offices, schools, and hospitals. No matter where we are, we are priests.
Do not forget that you are a priest. The problem is that we forget we are priests. Then we become so involved in our avocation that it becomes almost our vocation.
A housewife may make the family her vocation, serving only her family and forgetting her service to God. Or in your work, you may serve only your work and forget that you are serving God. Daniel, even when he was serving as a prime minister, was not merely serving a government; he was serving God.
So, brothers and sisters, remember: we who are the Lord’s are priests. No matter where the Lord puts us, we may be engaged in many different things, and yet one thing is sure: we are priests. Our life is given to God. We are set apart to serve Him always.
Christianity has drifted away from God’s original desire. Gradually, Christianity has taken up Judaism. Instead of all believers being priests, a special class has been made priests, and the rest are called laity.
Then people say, “It is not our duty to serve God; it is your duty to serve God. You serve God, and we will support you.” But that is not God’s thought.
So, dear brothers and sisters, God is beginning to arouse His people to see that it is not merely a few who serve God, but the whole family of God is to serve God. Yes, we are priests.
But priests do not serve God individually, independently, isolatedly, and unrelatedly. In other words, I cannot say, “I am a priest, so I will serve God in my own way,” while another says, “I am a priest, so I will serve God in my own way.” Everybody serving God in an independent way is not a priesthood.
What is a priesthood? A priesthood is a number of priests. Yes, but they do not serve independently of each other. They serve coordinately under the headship of the High Priest.
The sons of Aaron served under Aaron. This means that we who are priests are to serve God in many ways, but not independently and not unrelatedly. We serve the Lord together under the headship of Christ, our great High Priest.
Only when we serve in that manner are we a holy priesthood. It is just like a spiritual house. As living stones, if each of us goes our own way and every living stone stands by itself, we may make good monuments, but not a house. God cannot dwell in that.
Some people are very careful about their spirituality. Their whole ambition is to be spiritual. So they seek the Lord, search the Bible, and try to make themselves spiritually impressive. But that is not God’s purpose. We are to be built up together as a spiritual house.
In the same way, we are priests, but it is not God’s thought that, because we are priests, we should go out to serve God merely to show what we can do: “This is my work, and that is my work.” We are to serve God together, related to one another and under the headship of Christ.
Then we are a holy priesthood. Brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us that we may serve together, each in his rightful place, related to one another, and under the headship of Christ.
God is not served today as He should be served. God is not worshipped today as He should be worshipped. The reason is that we are too individualistic in the priesthood.
But of course, the function of a priesthood is to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So we need to have something to offer. We need to have something with which to serve.
What are the spiritual sacrifices? That is why the book of Leviticus begins with sacrifices. The first seven chapters of Leviticus deal with sacrifices.
The tabernacle was erected, and the glory of God filled it. Then God called, as we find in the first verse: “And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tent of meeting.”
After the tabernacle was erected and God took possession of it by filling it with His glory, God began to speak. God called to Moses out of the tent of meeting.
Many Jewish writers do not call the book of Leviticus merely “Leviticus.” They call it “And He Called,” using the first few words of the book: “And the Lord called.” That is true. Out of the tent of meeting, the Lord began to call.
The book of Genesis is the book of purpose—the purpose of God. The book of Exodus is the book of redemption—the work of God. And the book of Leviticus is the book of calling. Dear brothers and sisters, God calls.
What is our calling? God calls us out of the tent of meeting. What does He call us to do? He calls us to come near, to come to Him, and to present sacrifices.
Most probably, the book of Leviticus covers the first month after the tabernacle was erected, because in the second month you have Numbers, the book of numbering. During that first month, at the very beginning of the house, God called His people to come and present sacrifices.
The first seven chapters of Leviticus deal with sacrifices, or offerings. Why? Because these sacrifices and offerings form the basis of priesthood. We can have priesthood only through these sacrifices, and priesthood is to bring these sacrifices.
In other words, the sacrifices not only make priesthood possible, but they are also the functions of the priesthood. It is very important that we have some understanding of these sacrifices.
One day Cain wanted to serve God. He took the produce of his field and brought it to God. It was a good intention, but the Bible says that God rejected him and his offering. Why? He was offering something of his own toil, without death.
But Abel brought a lamb, the shedding of blood, and Abel was accepted because of the offering. Dear brothers and sisters, we are to offer; we are to serve. But how do we serve? What do we bring to God? What are we serving with?
Many people say, “You are very brilliant. If only you were saved, you could be very useful to God. You are a great executive, perhaps the president of General Motors. If you were saved, certainly you could be useful in the church. You could be an elder. If you can govern General Motors, certainly you can govern a church.”
Then that executive becomes a priest and comes with all his experience and skill, trying to build the church and make it like General Motors. But you cannot serve with your own natural abilities. You will be completely rejected by God.
What are we to serve with? When we come to serve God, when we come to bring something to God, there is only One whom God can accept: Christ.
We are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. What are these spiritual sacrifices? They are shown in the first seven chapters of Leviticus. If we present these spiritual sacrifices to God, they will be accepted.
When we come to serve God, do we take things from ourselves—things that are natural to us—and try to serve Him with them? Spiritual sacrifices speak of all the various sacrifices found in the first seven chapters of Leviticus.
There are five different kinds of offerings. These five offerings are divided into two classes: three belong to the offerings of a sweet savour, and two belong to offerings of a non-sweet savour.
The three that belong to the sweet-savour offerings are the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the peace offering. Then there are the two non-sweet-savour offerings: the sin offering and the trespass offering.
These five offerings constitute the basis of priesthood. In other words, the priests are to offer one or all of these offerings and bring them to God.
All these various offerings speak of Christ. God cannot accept anything other than Christ. Christ is presented in these various offerings.
When the priests come to bring these offerings, spiritually speaking, it means our appreciation and appropriation of Christ. Brothers and sisters, how we need to appreciate Christ. How we need to appropriate Him—not merely to appreciate Him from afar, but to experience Him.
As we are brought into the experience of Christ in all His various aspects, when we come to God we simply bring the Christ whom we have known to God. This is priesthood.
The measure of our appreciation and appropriation of Christ shall be the measure of our spiritual service. How much is God really satisfied with your service? It depends on how much you have appropriated and appreciated Christ.
We simply bring back to God, offering back to God, the Christ He has given to us. When we do this, we function as priests, and God is satisfied.
How important it is for us to know Christ in a real way, because that is the basis of priesthood. You cannot serve God with other things. You must serve God with Christ.
You cannot serve God with your knowledge of the Bible. You cannot even serve God with theology or theological knowledge. You can only serve God with Christ whom you appreciate and appropriate. These are the sacrifices.
Let us look briefly at these offerings. We cannot go into all the details; those details should be left for brothers and sisters to discover for themselves. We are only seeking to stir up your interest.
The first offering is the burnt offering. What is special about the burnt offering, and what is its spiritual meaning? Of course, all the offerings speak of Christ, but the burnt offering is the foundation of all the offerings.
Why? Because on the brazen altar, day and night, every morning and every evening, a lamb as a burnt offering was there. The fire slowly consumed it, and after it was consumed in the evening, another was put on the altar.
In other words, the altar was always burning. Whatever offering might be offered afterward was offered upon the burnt offering. Therefore, the burnt offering is the basis of all.
The law says that if anyone presents a burnt offering, it is a voluntary offering. A burnt offering is not something offered by obligation. Voluntarily, you present a bull, a sheep, or a bird as a burnt offering to God.
It is called a burnt offering because the whole offering, the whole sacrifice, is to be burned. Unlike other sacrifices, the whole sacrifice is burned—not merely part, but all.
The way in which it is offered is very special. You come with the burnt offering and lay your hand upon it. That means identification. In other words, I, the offerer, am identified with the offering. I offer myself in the burnt offering.
After he lays his hand upon the offering, the animal is slaughtered. Of course, the blood is sprinkled. Then the animal is flayed, the skin is taken off so that the inward parts are revealed, and it is cut into pieces.
The inwards and legs are washed. Then the priest puts wood upon the altar, with fire there, and places the burnt offering upon the altar.
Think of it: first it is cut into pieces, and then the pieces are put together in order. Here you find the whole animal, cut into pieces and then put together again. It requires clean cutting.
Sometimes you cut up a chicken and cannot put it back together. But here you find that the priest can cut even a bullock into pieces and then put it together again as a bullock. Then the whole burnt offering is presented upon the altar.
It is burned for acceptance. Even though there is atonement in it, the primary thought is acceptance.
What does it typify? You remember Hebrews 9:14: by the eternal Spirit, our Lord Jesus offered Himself without blemish unto God.
He was not obligated to do that. He voluntarily gave Himself—not merely part of Himself, but His whole being.
We always think of Christ dying on the cross as the sin offering, because we are sinners. We think of Him bearing our sins in His body upon the cross because we are interested in forgiveness.
But when Christ went to the cross, basically He was a burnt offering. He came to this world voluntarily. He was equal with God, yet He emptied Himself, took upon Himself the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Our Lord Jesus willingly and voluntarily offered Himself to the Father. He had to be flayed, so that the inward parts of His life would all be revealed. His whole life on earth was being tested and examined, but everywhere He was found perfect.
He is always accepted by God as a burnt offering. In Ephesians 1:6, we are accepted in the Beloved.
Brothers and sisters, not only are our sins forgiven, but we are accepted. The word “accepted” means that we have found favour.
How the Lord Jesus is God’s delight! He is the Beloved of God. Three times heaven opened and the voice said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” He is God’s delight. He is fully accepted.
Today, because we are in Christ, we are accepted by God. We are highly favoured.
Because of this, it behoves us, in our appreciation and appropriation of Christ, to find the truth of Christ in the burnt offering. How we need to consecrate and present our bodies, acceptable to God. This is our reasonable service.
What are we to bring to God as priests? We bring to God Christ, the beloved Son, well accepted and fully devoted to the Father. Because His life is ours, and because we are united with Christ, we too, in Christ, present our whole being to God.
This is our spiritual sacrifice, our priestly service. That is the first offering.
Then we come to the second offering. The second offering is called the meal offering, the oblation, or the food offering. It is not from animal life; it is from plant life. It is flour.
Here you find the finest flour, out of the finest wheat. It is ground into fine flour. Then oil is put upon it, and sometimes oil is mixed with it. Frankincense is put upon it. Sometimes it is baked; sometimes it is prepared in a pan. But whatever it may be, there is always oil with the flour and always frankincense with the flour.
The priest takes a handful, puts it upon the altar, and burns it as a memorial. The rest is for the food of the priests.
But in the oblation, two things are forbidden. You can never have leaven in it. It must be unleavened. No leaven is allowed to be burned upon the altar. And number two: no honey. You cannot offer honey.
On the contrary, salt must be present. So three things are required with the flour: oil, frankincense, and salt.
What does this speak of in Christ? You remember John 12:24: a grain of wheat falling into the ground.
In this world, before Christ came, it was merely a field of tares—no food for God. But Christ is the first grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying.
The whole life of Christ on earth, as the earthly Man, is like fine flour. He is the finest of the wheat. He is ground into powder. In other words, His whole life was observed and examined by His family, His disciples, His enemies, the world—by everybody.
You can grind His life into powder, and every particle is fine. His whole life is perfect.
You say that He is gentle—and He is. But that does not mean that He is weak. When He cleansed the temple, you find His strength.
You say that He is full of love—and He is. Yet how righteous He is. You can analyse every motive of His, every act of His, every manner of His, and you find that in every area He is right, like fine flour.
The oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. He was born of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit overshadowed the womb of Mary, and the Holy One was born. He was led by the Holy Spirit, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and His whole life was guided by the Spirit and lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Frankincense simply means that His whole life ascends as incense. His whole life is so open. When incense is burned, you cannot hide its fragrance; the smell goes up. The life of Christ was open, and how pleasing He was to God.
Frankincense speaks of the fragrance of the life of Christ. When the wise men came to worship Christ, they brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These represent different aspects of the life of Christ.
His life is so pure—no corruption. On the contrary, His life has a special savour, a distinct character. Yes, He is different.
Leaven always speaks of something evil, either evil doctrine or evil life. The Lord said, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” In 1 Corinthians 5, we are told that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
But our Lord Jesus was tempted in all things, yet without sin. There was no leaven in Him.
And there was no honey. Honey speaks of natural sweetness—something natural that gives a kind of sweetness to our carnal, fleshly desire. The Lord said, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross.” There is no natural sweetness in Christ.
The whole life of Christ is an oblation. In Hebrews 10, we are told that the Lord said, “Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body didst Thou prepare for Me. Lo, I am come to do Thy will, O God.” Thy law is written in My heart.
The life of the Lord Jesus is a body prepared to do the will of God. This is the oblation.
The meal offering is for the purpose of sanctification. We are sanctified by Christ offering Himself as the meal offering to God. If we really see Christ in this way, we see that He is the meal offering.
If we know Christ in this way, we know Him not only as the burnt offering, who in eternity offered Himself to the Father wholeheartedly and was therefore accepted by God, but also in His life on earth as the meal offering.
His whole life on earth was a pleasure to God. If you know Christ in this manner, His life is yours, and that transforms you. That is sanctification.
We are sanctified by the washing of water through the Word, that He may present to Himself a glorious church. Knowing Christ prepares us as His meal offering.
How can we be a meal offering? Only when Christ is formed in us and His life is expressed through us. Then God is satisfied. This again is our spiritual sacrifice.
Thirdly, we have the peace offering. What is special about the peace offering?
If you take something out of your herd or flock and bring the sacrifice to the altar, the sacrifice is slaughtered and the blood is sprinkled. Then the priest takes the fat of the sacrifice. In the peace offering, the fat is burned.
The breast and the shoulder are wave offerings and are given to the priests. The rest of the sacrifice is to be enjoyed by the offerer, his family, his friends, and even the poor.
So the peace offering basically speaks of fellowship. The burnt offering speaks of acceptance. The meal offering speaks of satisfaction. The peace offering speaks of fellowship.
Of course, Christ is our peace. In Ephesians 2, Christ has brought the Gentiles and the Jews together and made one body in peace with God. He has reconciled us, and we are no longer strangers to one another; now we are of the household of God.
Christ is our peace. Why is the fat to be burned? Today people are afraid of fat, but fat in Scripture really speaks of inward strength.
What is left over? In other words, what you need in the body you consume, but what is left over becomes fat in the body. The fat speaks of the abundance of inward life.
The abundance of inward life, represented by the fat, is to be burned. The children of Israel were not allowed to eat fat; the fat was to be burned unto God.
In other words, what is real of Christ—what God has given to you—must first be for God. Primarily, we are here to serve God.
Then you find that the breast and shoulder speak of affection and responsibility, and the rest is for everybody to enjoy. So the basic meaning is fellowship: fellowship with God and fellowship with one another. It is in fellowship that we are nourished.
We need to know that our fellowship is based on Christ. Fellowship is not based on doctrine. Fellowship is not based on experience. Fellowship is based only on Christ.
It is on the basis of Christ that we fellowship with God and worship Him. It is on the basis of Christ that we have fellowship with one another. We share Christ, and that is fellowship.
If we see a question or a problem, we do not merely see the problem. We have an occasion to minister Christ. If you merely hear problems and never see Christ, that is not fellowship; that is merely social conversation.
Fellowship is that we can share everything, but everything is related to Christ. I share with my brothers and sisters, and my brothers and sisters take up the matter and minister Christ. If Christ is not there, it is not fellowship; it is merely social.
It is sad when God’s people come together and begin to gossip and tell stories about one another. That is not fellowship at all. Fellowship is sharing Christ.
Out of fellowship there is peace and there is joy.
All these three offerings are called sweet-savour offerings. Why? Because basically they are positive in nature. They are all burned as incense unto God.
Then you find the sin offering and trespass offering. There is no need for us to go into much detail concerning the sin offering, because that is the one we know better.
We know Christ as our sin offering. In Hebrews 10, we are told that He offered Himself for sin. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
After the sin offering is slaughtered, the fat is burned, but the whole sacrifice is taken outside the camp and burned. This speaks of Christ: on the cross, He gave His inward best to the Father, and then He was crucified outside the city, outside the camp.
Because His blood was shed and sprinkled, our sins are put away. The sin offering speaks basically of knowing the forgiveness of our sins.
Whenever we come to God, we know that it is because Christ is our sin offering that we can come without guilt. But I think probably we do not know as much about the trespass offering.
What is the difference between the sin offering and the trespass offering? The trespass offering governs our daily life.
Once for all, Christ died for us as a sin offering. But in our daily life, we may trespass in something concerning God or concerning other people.
The trespass offering is very practical. If we trespass against God, then we pay the debt to God. If the matter also involves other people, then we have to make restitution.
Suppose a person has done something wrong in the holy things—that is, something concerning the things of God. It is considered a debt to God. He has to offer a ram according to the valuation, according to the shekel of the sanctuary.
In other words, it depends on the degree to which you have sinned against God. According to that degree, the priest decides, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, whether you must have a larger ram or a smaller ram.
But if you have sinned against people—taken other people’s things, used other people’s things, taken advantage of them, or defrauded them in some way—what do you do?
You go to the priest, and according to the degree of your trespass, he asks you to offer a ram according to the shekel of the sanctuary. You bring the ram and offer it to God, just as you do with the sin offering.
But there is another side: you have to return the principal and add one fifth as interest to the one whom you have wronged. That is trespass offering.
In other words, the trespass offering not only deals with God; it also deals with man. There is restitution, so that we may maintain a good testimony.
A good illustration is found in Luke. One day, our Lord Jesus was passing through Jericho, and the short man Zacchaeus wanted to see the Lord, so he climbed up into a sycamore tree.
When the Lord came to that place, He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down; I am going to your house.” Zacchaeus was so touched that he came down.
But everybody began to murmur: “Does He not know who that man is, that He wants to go to his house? He is a tax collector. He has robbed people. He has cheated people out of money. He is a rich man, yes—but unrighteous.”
Zacchaeus was standing before the Lord. On the one hand, he was so happy that the Lord wanted to go to his house. On the other hand, he hung his head. He dared not look at other people.
Then he raised his head, looked at the Lord, and said, “Lord, I give half of my property to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
The Lord said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.”
According to the law, you need only pay one fifth of the principal as interest. But when you are touched by the love of Christ, you can go further. In other words, you do not merely repay legally; love goes beyond that.
So, brothers and sisters, we need to know Christ not only as our sin offering, who has forgiven all our sins, but also as our trespass offering, so that by His grace we may maintain a good relationship with God and with others.
These are the spiritual sacrifices. As priests, we need to appreciate and appropriate Christ in these sacrifices. That gives us the basis of priesthood.
When we come to God, we bring what Christ means to us as the burnt offering, what Christ means to us as the meal offering, what Christ means to us as the peace offering, as the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.
When we bring these to God, we are functioning as priests, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee. Thou hast not only called us to be priests, but Thou hast given us something that we may offer.
Oh, we praise and thank Thee that we are never at a loss as to what to bring, because Thou hast given Thyself to us in such a full way, in many ways, that we may bring Thee back to our Father as an offering unto Him.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that these are the spiritual sacrifices that we can offer. We pray that we may know Christ more and that we may know how to serve Him. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
We make restitution only when there is a debt. In other words, suppose the Lord is dealing with you, and the matter has not, in a sense, constituted a debt to the other person. Then it is between you and the Lord.
But if it does become a debt to another person, then you have to make it right. It is just as the Lord says in Matthew 5:23-24: if you are offering your gift upon the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, evidently you have done something wrong and that brother or sister knows about it.
That person has suffered damage. If you know about it, the Lord says, “Leave your gift there before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
So it is only when there is a debt—a real debt—that restitution is required. It means you have wronged a person, that person knows it, and he has been damaged by it.
It is not merely that someone is angry. If you hurt someone, and that person is hurt and knows it, and there comes a kind of wall between you and that person, then it has to be cleared.
Now, if it does not constitute a real wrong—if it is simply that two persons are together and their personalities clash, but not to the extent that there is something against the other person—then it is part of the process of maturity. There is no need to do anything special.
But if you do something and there is something within that person against you, and somehow there is a distance between you and that person, then there is a need for reconciliation.
Concerning the sin offering outside the camp, the sacrifice was taken outside the camp and burned there. The whole camp was considered holy, so it could not be burned within the camp. It was simply burned outside.