THE MEAT OFFERING, Lev. 2—We Have in This Offering a Type of Christ As a Perfect Man. If Was Made of Fine Flour. It Was a Food Offering-It Was God's Food. We Talk About Our Souls Being Fed. God Too, Must Have Something to Feed His Soul Upon, Speaking in Human Language. He Says in the 28th Chapter of Numbers, " My Offering, My Bread for My Sacrifices Made by Fire for a Sweet Savor Unto It Is Blessed to See That Christ Is God's Food. Not Only Does He Make Atonement for Our Sins, but He Satisfies All the Wants of God's Heart. When We See All That Christ Has Done for Us, Then We Enjoy This and Appreciate It. Now Observe What Were the Component Parts of This Offering. It Was Made of Fine Flour Mingled With Oil, and Also Anointed With Oil. We Obtain Fine Flour by Wheat Being Ground, so Was Christ Put Through Suffering, and the Wheat Pressed Out. Fine Flour Is That Which Had No Uneven Grains in It. If I Should Take Flour With Lumps or Grits in It, That Will Not Do. but I Take up a Handful Without Any Lumps or Grains and I See It Is Fine Flour, and That Is a Type of Christ's Humanity (John 12:24). You Cannot Say That of Any Other Character in the Bible. Take Paul-He Was a Blessed Man of God, but He Had Need of a Thorn in the Flesh. He Had to Call Back His Words at One Time Before Agrippa, and at Another Time Had to Change His Mind. Christ Never Changed His Mind. Paul Was Told Not to Go to Jerusalem, but He Did Go. Christ Never Did a Thing of His Own Will, but Always by His Father's Will. Take Peter and His Wonderful Zeal. His Very Zeal Made Him Uneven. One Moment He Said He Never Would Deny Christ, and Drew His Sword to Defend Him; but Afterward He Denied Him and Blasphemed

Take up John, he wanted fire to come down from heaven and devour those who were not with him. Take Moses, the meekest man on the face of the earth, and he lost his temper when he smote the rock and said, " Ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? " Christ was not characterized by anything special, but not so with us. One man is very righteous, but needs more grace; another man is gracious, but he is lacking in righteousness. There are lumps and unevenness in us, but in Christ there was no unevenness. Then the fine flour was to be mingled with oil. Oil is a type of the Holy Ghost. In all that Christ did, He did it by the Holy Spirit. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and all His works were done by Him. Many things we do in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit. The oil was also poured upon this-Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost. There was frankincense added to it also.
The priest could not feed on this. It was offered up wholly to God, and is a type of worship; it is a type of that in Christ's life which we could not appreciate. After having been made of these different materials it was subjected to the action of fire-a picture of Christ, the perfect, spotless man, going to the cross and enduring the judgment for us and yet bearing it all perfectly.
Verse 11. There was no leaven to be allowed in it. Leaven is always typical of evil; that is Christ's word, not my opinion. He says, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the evil doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Leaven is evil doctrine. Again, Paul says, in the 5th chapter of Corinthians, "Purge out the old leaven." So we are plainly told that leaven is a type of evil. Wherever it is mentioned it means evil.
Now we see in this sacrifice which strongly typifies Christ, no leaven must be allowed. In some things they were expressly told to put leaven, because it was from themselves; every thanksgiving offering had to have leaven in it. Whatever comes from our hearts has evil in it. While in Christ we are perfect, as perfect as God can make us, yet in ourselves there is leaven still. Neither was there to be honey in the meat offering. Honey is nature's sweetness, and that is to be kept out of worship to God. It is grieving to the Holy Ghost to have people coming to God, and talking about " Dear Jesus, and sweet Jesus." You never find any adjective to the name of Jesus in the Scriptures. You cannot make it any sweeter. Introducing that into God's worship is honey-sentimentalism.
Verse 10. Part of the meat offering was burnt up and went to God, and part of it went to the priests. God brings us through belief in Christ to feed upon the very thing that is satisfying to His own heart. We are brought into fellowship with God. God is satisfied with Christ, and He feeds upon Him. He says, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." If we are dissatisfied with ourselves I am glad of it. I am sorry to find any one satisfied with himself There is nothing but evil in us, but in Christ there is enough, and our hearts can be satisfied with Him. God rests in Him, and there we may rest. Christ is what God wants us to see. Communion is having things in common, and that is the reason we call the Lord's supper the communion, because you drink of the same cup, and I drink of the same cup, and that is communion. When God and I are thinking of the same object, that is communion with God. " Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
Verse 13. While honey and leaven were not to be in it, salt was. Do not let the grace turn into mere sentimentalism, but let there be holiness there. Salt is that which preserves from corruption. There was this then put in the offering to preserve it from corruption, We have that in Christ which can never fail.
THE PEACE OFFERING, Lev. had a threefold character too. This is a type of Christ as the One who made peace for us. Many people have the idea that they have to make their peace with God. I cannot make my peace with God; God might keep His part, but I would not keep my part. Christ made peace by the blood of the cross; it is folly for us to talk about our making peace, for Christ has made it already; it is signed and sealed with the blood of Christ. Another text says, He is our peace. Have you the peace that Christ made in the blood of the cross? There is a thought of communion brought forth in this sacrifice. While the burnt offering was all burnt up to God, and the meat offering was partly fed on by the priests, the peace offering was eaten by the one that offered it. Every soul that trusts Christ has peace with God. God did not allow a single drop of blood to be shed in the camp of Israel, without being shed at the brazen altar; nor any fat to be eaten. Thus, in a typical way, the Israelite was brought into fellowship with God. It is we having fellowship with God, in Christ. He has made peace, and God accepts it, and I accept it, and I have peace in my own conscience; I am brought into fellowship with God-that is the portion of every believer. If I have peace with God what a wondrous thing it is!
THE LAW OF THE PEACE OFFERING, chap. 7:15.-This had to be eaten on the same day that the fat was burnt up: worship must be in communion with God. Suppose in a meeting a man is led to pray by the Holy Spirit twenty words that will be in communion with God; but that won't do, he wants to pray fifty words; he does, and the rest he has all to himself. All that is called worship in any church that is not done by the Holy Ghost is not only no use, but it is an abomination to God. Verse 18. All this fingering on the organ and the cultivating of man's voice which is paid for, is an abomination to God. Everything that is not led by the Holy Ghost is an abomination. Think of these things in God's presence. Verse 31. Now you find three parties shared in this peace offering; a part went to God, a part to the priest, and the rest went to the man who offered it. Aaron is a type of Christ. Thus we have God, Christ the Redeemer, and the sinner. To think that God brings you and me into fellowship with Himself and His Son! Through Christ's death God is happy to have any sinner come to Him. You can do nothing to give God joy, except to accept His grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 2 we read of the angels appearing praising God and saying, " Peace on earth, good will towards men." " Peace on earth?" When Christ was born He came to bring peace on earth, but Herod drew forth his sword to try and kill Him. So peace on earth was a failure. Christ, when He discovered the enmity in man's heart, said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth." Now, mark this well, peace on earth was a failure, and so when Jesus was going to Jerusalem to be crucified, the multitude sang, Peace in heaven. By and by, the time will come, when the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together; that is future. Now God leads poor sinners to rejoice in peace in heaven. You will find no peace on the earth. Christ says, " In the world ye shall have tribulation." But we have heaven's peace and joy.
SIN AND TRESPASS OFFERING, Lev. 4-6-There are some things here that I cannot go into very much in detail to-night, but I will mention the different characteristics of them. Sin is a thing I have; trespass is a thing I do. The Christian is troubled about the sin that is inside of him, but he gets deliverance by and by, by seeing that Christ died for him. Christ has died in my stead. So you see that it is impossible for a soul that believes in Christ to be lost. While a man liveth he is under the law, but when he is dead he is free from law.
One word or so I must add regarding the difference of the offering for the whole congregation, or the priest (who represented the whole congregation), and the individual. In the former case the blood was brought into the holy place, and the horns of the altar of incense touched with it, and the body burned outside the camp; in the latter, the blood was not taken in, nor the golden altar touched with it, nor the body burned outside the camp; the horns of the altar of the burnt offering were touched with the blood and the body fed upon by the priest who offered it.
I would call especial attention to the point of contrast regarding the golden altar of incense (worship). If the whole assembly be defiled, of course worship has been stopped; but individual sin does not interrupt the worship of the assembly; if it did, when should we ever worship? It may, does, prevent power; and, should the assembly, after knowledge of it, allow it, worship. But while it remains individual, it becomes a cause of our priestly intercession, taking it to God and pleading to Him on behalf of my brother just as the priest ate the sin offering in the holy place.
Notes of Lectures on the Tabernacle: by C. H. B.
THE LAVER.
" Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal; and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein " (Ex. 30:18),
WE have to pass the brazen altar before we come to the laver, for we never could understand the teaching of the brazen laver until we have understood the teaching of the brazen altar. But now, having passed the altar, we have a right to the use of the laver; but remember, the laver is not atoning. The only place where we found atonement was where the blood was shed; I need to be washed by the water here, but that does not atone for sin; the only thing which atones for sin, is the blood of Christ. Now there is no such thing as a man being beyond the need of the blood of Christ, for " if we walk in the light as He is in the light," then, " The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin," but while I am never on any other ground than on the ground of a blood-washed sinner, yet every sinner who trusts Jesus is saved, and the blood puts away his sins forever. " For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified " (Heb. 10:14). This is simply God's blessed word; not my interpretation of it, but God's own word; every one whose conscience has been touched by the blood is perfected forever.
" For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat" (Ex. 30:10). This is not then for atonement at all, but for washing the hands and feet of the priests. He made the laver of brass, of the looking-glasses (the polished brazen mirrors) of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of t he tabernacle of the congregation. There is avert' instructive thought for us here. " If any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein," etc. (James 1:23). The word then is like a looking-glass, but if we look into the word it will never give us a nice picture of ourselves. Looking-glasses are more often resorted to for flattery than for censure, but the word of God never flatters. So-called "students of human nature " flatter, and if we listen to them we will think all is going well, but if we examine ourselves by the word of God we will be convinced more and more that in us there is no good ' thing. I think Moses made good use of those brass mirrors. He made a brass laver and put water into it. Brass is significant of judgment all through God's word, and water is the word that cleanses us; thus we get in the brazen laver the judgment and cleansing one's self by the word. Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet every time they went into the tabernacle or ministered at the altar. There was need of constant cleansing of that used to serve at the Lord's altar, and of that used to walk in His presence. Nothing, nothing but the blood of Christ can atone for sins, but we have to examine, ourselves continually by God's word, else service and walk will be hypocritical; self must be constantly judged There are three judgments in God's word-God's judgment, self-judgment, and Christ's judgment. God's judgment against sin, that is what Christ endured on the cross for every soul that trusts in Him. If I accept of Christ the judgment is passed. No soul that is saved will ever come into judgment as a sinner. Then there is self-judgment-I have need to judge myself all the time, and it is a precious privilege. I have a right to go to the water now and wash myself While I was away from Christ, washing was of no avail, the leopard could not change his spots, but now the guilt of sin is put away by the blood (for I had to come to the altar to get to the laver), the practices of sin must be washed away by the water. David says, " Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word." There is a third judgment, and that is Christ's judgment-the judgment He will execute when He comes to judge the nations with a rod of iron. I might put this also in another way, our judgment as sinners, our judgment as sons. amt our judgment as servants. And it is well to distinguish these things. Our judgment as sinners is past, our judgment as sons is every clay when He chastens us, and our judgment as servants is when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment that we have in the brazen laver is that which we have every day.
Turn now to the thirteenth chapter of John's Gospel. The Lord after supper took water and washed His disciples' feet (verse 3). Peter says, " Thou shalt never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, IT I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." Mark, He did not say you have no part in Me, but you have no part with Me. If I allow a single sinful thought in my mind, there can be no fellowship with Him. Then Peter says, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." Peter did not know that he was all right without his hands and head being washed. Jesus said unto him, " He that is washed (bathed) needs not to wash save his feet, but is clean -very whit." Mark this, Christ affirms that every one ",hat is bathed is clean every whit. He needs to have his feet washed every day, but still he is clean every whit. The washing (bathing) of regeneration (Titus 2:5) can be but once. The priests needed the feet washing daily, but the bathing of their consecration was but once, for the' priests once consecrated were priests always. This washing (regeneration) is before come even to the gate. Without it I would have been content outside.
If our- Lord and waster has washed our feet, we ought to wash one another's feet. And I shall never be successful in doing so by pointing him to the laver and saying, " There! you have dirty feet, go and wash yourself." No; let me get down, humble myself, and approach him, not as a superior, but as weaker than he, and endeavor to restore in the spirit of meekness, considering my own liability to fall if tempted.
Remember again the position of these things, for many would have us use the laver to get that which is only obtained through the altar, and many say "the blood cleanses" in a sense only used in Scripture of the washing of water of the word, and others do away with the laver altogether. We need the altar and the laver, and the laver and the altar, but the ALTAR first.
Notice there was no measure given for the lave'. There is no limit to our need of the washing of the word. Some people say they are sinless. God says they deceive themselves (1 John 1:8). I need the water to-day, and to-morrow and next day, and every day of my life down here. By and by we will stand on a sea of glass. You cannot wash in glass, can you? What then is it for? It reflects. Now, we understand we are children of God and beautiful before God, but by faith. Then we shall not need any faith; we shall not need the water to cleanse us, 'but we will have a sea of glass to admire ourselves in, if I may so speak. While we are here our beauty in Christ is a matter of faith and not sight. While we are here we need the water all the time. We never become sinless here, but "when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."