Peace Offering — Tom Bentley

Leviticus 3 and the Peace Offering

Now, we're looking at Leviticus chapter 3, Leviticus chapter 3, verse 1. And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offerings, let me just say that this expression is always in the plural, and it should be plural here, as it is in many other portions and in every other portion, this expression is a plural expression, not like the others, this one is plural.

And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offer 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 peace offerings, 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 offering, or the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire, it is an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord. And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings 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 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 offerings, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

The fat thereof, and the whole rump, or the fat tail, it shall be taken 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.

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 of a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord, and 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 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, for a sweet savor, all the fat is the Lord's, it is a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood.

Thanksgiving, Vows, and the Fellowship of the Peace Offering

Now let us turn to chapter seven, it's important that we read these verses tonight. Chapter seven and verse eleven, and 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 or soaked.

Beside 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 offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the priest that sprinkled the blood, the sprinkleth of 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, or a free will or 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 is clean, 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 as 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, that soul shall be cut off from his people.

The Priest’s Portion and the Psalms of the Offerings

Now, it would be good to read the remainder because it's all very important, but verse 31. And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar, but the flesh shall be Aaron's and his son's. At the right shoulder shall he give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifice of your peace offerings.

He among the sons of Aaron that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat shall have the right shoulder for his part. For the way of breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifice of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute forever from among the children.

Now the Lord will bless to us surely the reading of his holy word. Now we're making considerable progress in our ministry as we're looking at the offerings and on the first evening Monday we looked at the burnt offering and do let me remind you that Psalm 40 is the great psalm for the burnt offering and then on Tuesday we looked at the meal offering last night and while I didn't mention it, I know that you already know that Psalm 16 is the psalm of the meal offering.

Now tonight we're looking at the peace offerings and the great psalm that is based on this chapter is to me Psalm 65. You look at that lovely psalm, you'll enter into the richness of this chapter in a very very helpful way.

So look at these psalms, Psalm 40 the burnt offering, Psalm 16 the meal offering, and Psalm 65 the peace offerings psalm. Now do remember what we said about the key word. Last night we intermitted that in chapter 1 the key word for the burnt offering in chapter 1 is the word fire.

Then last night chapter 2 you remember we looked at the meal offering and the key word was simply the word flour. Now in our reading tonight you must surely have noticed the occurrence and the recurrence of the word fat, that key word for the peace offering aspect.

Christ’s Atoning Death and Peace with God

So here are some suggestions that I do trust will help the people of God in their own personal study in these subjects. Now here is a great presentation of the Savior in his atoning death of setting forth the ground of the believer's peace with God, bringing him into fellowship with God and maintaining him therein.

That's a great issue isn't it? Not only has God been given satisfaction in the death of his son beloved, but God has extended that satisfaction into our hearts and we're drawn to him and we can have communion with him for we're at peace with him and that again is the fruit of Calvary.

That is the great message of this chapter. You and I through the death of Christ, being brought into fellowship with God and able to commune with God on the one person, around the same person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The offerer in chapter 1 receives nothing other than the acceptance of the offering. The offerer in chapter 2 receives nothing other than the joy of giving to God and to others. The memorial is given to God upon the altar of the meal offering and then what remains was given for the priests and for the sons of the priests.

And so there they were all feeding upon what this man had provided to God. But when we come to this great issue, we remember reading don't we in the law of the offerings that the offerer, if under certain circumstances he offered his offering, then he was allowed to eat.

He was allowed to partake of this very offering. Now that's different to anything we've had already. And so you see here is communion, here is fellowship, what satisfies the heart of God fills the heart of the offerer.

Thanksgiving and Peace with God

Now we look at that in a moment. Let us get now to the subject and it's important to remember that as far as the peace offering is concerned, there would be several reasons why this person would offer an offering of this nature.

We have found that already, maybe for thanksgiving or perhaps in relation to a vow Godward. Whatever the reason, he is given the opportunity to enjoy a sense of communion with God in his offering. It celebrates, as I have said, for us, peace with God on the ground of bloodshed.

So this offering of thanksgiving for favours received is something that is very frequently touched in the book of Psalms. If you look at Psalm 50 verse 14, Psalm 56 and verse 12, Psalm 107 and verse 21, Psalm 116 and verse 17 and 18, and many other portions in the word of God, thanksgiving arises and presents this aspect to God.

Then of course the vow is an option as well. If we do anything of this nature, and I'm sure we must, for surely God would have us offer to him what we are and offer to him all that we have, that he may use it, that he may be glorified in it.

And is this not the point even of Romans 12 and 1? Brethren, my heart's desire, rather, brethren, Paul beseeched the brethren that they present their body, a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

In doing such, you are brought into fellowship with God and you thank God for the privilege of offering to God something that gives him pleasure. Now that is all on the ground of what the Savior has done and what he has accomplished that enables you and me to even come to God with our vow and our offering of dedication.

Male and Female Offerings and Positional Responsibility

Now there is something new in the range of this offering tonight. We have noticed that in verse number 1 and in verse number 6, there is mention of the male or female. Now we hadn't done it before. We always had a male emphasis.

This is the first time a female animal is prescribed by God for these offerings. Now, we would need to ask ourselves, what is the purpose and what is the reason for this? Well now, my brethren will know very clearly that when we look at man in the Word of God as such, we're looking at an element of responsibility.

We're looking at an element of positional responsibility before God. This is not the concept the world has. They speak of a non-gender world. But in our Bible and in the realm of our God, man is distinct in his positional responsibility before God.

Now we all know that. And Romans makes that very clear in that federal headship that is clearly defined in Romans chapter 5 from verse 12 to the end of the chapter. And then in the New Testament assembly, we understand that position well from 1 Corinthians 11, from Ephesians 5, and many other portions in our Bible.

But then when we come to the female, we're not thinking of position, but we're always thinking of condition. It's not standing in the female. It is state. Now that is a very useful key wherever women occur in your Bible.

Just to enter into the spiritual condition of the person, of the situation, the state that is indicated by the presence of the woman in the Word of God. Now that's a very useful key. I find it very helpful, and I'm sure you will too.

Now both, you see, are involved in this refrain. There is positional peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, but then there is very practical peace with God. There is experimental peace with God.

There is a peace that is very much conditioned by our condition and our state of soul. So therefore, you see, the both are in question in this chapter, for not only is this work atoning for where we stand before God, but it is providing sin of God for our state before Him.

So that in that light, God then allows a male or a female animal to be presented in the sacrifice of peace offerings. The gender is very, very important. Now of course, the governing factor in all these is the fact that it must be without blemish and that we know very, very well.

The Sinlessness of Christ in the Offerings

I know that that's a very simple expression there in verse 1, but let us never, never forget the importance of recognizing the implicit demand of God in this figurative sense that is fully displayed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who was without blemish and without spot.

Now we can't emphasize that enough. I know we all know about it and I know we know it well, but in our day there is very subtle insinuations that it was possible for the Savior to sin. Now that possibility prevailed.

I wouldn't have the hope that I have tonight, but knowing that in my mind with the Word of God before me and the terms used in this book, I find it absolutely impossible to conceive that anything else but this is necessary to emphasize how our blessed Lord Jesus is preserved even in the typical teaching, the lamb, the animal must be without blemish.

The Bullock, Lamb, and Goat as Types of Christ

Now we find that the groups, the groups are fivefold. I hope you notice that in the reading. First of all, there is the bullock, verse 1 to 5, chapter 3, and then secondly there is the lamb, verse 6 to 11, and then there's the goat, verse 12 to verse 16.

Now I hope you noticed all that because it is very precious indeed. But when we come to chapter 7, that's why I had to read it tonight and we'll read it again another occasion. When we come to chapter 7, verse 11 and 12, you'll notice there are cakes of unleavened bread to be presented along with this offering.

And then in verse 13, most surpassingly strange, but in keeping with the subject, leavened cakes are mentioned, leavened cakes. Now that would strike a real contrast to what we had last night, wouldn't it?

After all, last night we had the meal offering where no leaven was permitted whatsoever. But now in this law of the peace offering, the permission is granted that the cakes of leavened bread can be presented on this occasion.

Now you understand the reason, don't you? This proves what we have established, that not only is there positional teaching, but there's practical teaching in this subject. Not only are we clear before God and absolute before Him through the work of Calvary and through the work of His Son, but right now, beloved, even in the best, even in the sweetest moments of our fellowship, there wanders not sin, there wanders not that something that needs to be attended to constantly.

And the more we have fellowship with God, the more we're conscious of this, beloved. And here is God making this provision in this category here that is almost unnoticed, but it's in the book and we have to face it.

The Five Groups and the Character of Christ

So we have five groups. Well, I think it's much the same as we had on Monday evening, only I changed the titles a little. I'm going to call the bullock for its might, the bullock for its might. Unrestrained service.

Isn't that a lovely expression? I love it. I think of Mark's gospel, the Son of Man has come not to be ministered unto, but to minister, but to minister. And you think of the might and power of our blessed Lord to serve God and to serve Him acceptably and to offer to God in His life and service something that pleased Him fully and completely and then to do a work that no one else could do and do it in the power of His might.

Oh, I love that. I'm thankful that the weight of Calvary fell on Him. I'm thankful that the weight of Calvary were so unbearably heavy. He bore it all. He had the strength, the might. And then we think of the meekness of the Lamb, the meekness of the Lamb.

I think of His unresisted surrender. I think of that voluntariness that marked Him. We have touched it before. And as the man riding in his chariot reached down Isaiah 53 in Acts chapter 8, 33 to 35, he's bound to ask the question that any of us would ask, of whom speaketh the prophetess?

Of himself or of some other man. And Philip began at the same scripture and preached unto Him, Jesus, for that man never read of such a person in all his life. Those lovely readings are that which fills our hearts tonight as we think of the meekness, the Lamb of God.

That willingness to hand Himself over not only, as I pointed out the other night, to the hands of wicked men, lawless hands, but knowing that He had been formally delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

The meekness. And then the majesty of the goat. We had that the other night. The majesty of the goat. I love that subject. Nothing delights my heart more as to watch the Savior walk. Whether it's on the mountain hill or on the sea.

Whether it's in the valley or in the home. Wherever it may be, just to see those footsteps mark the sands of time down here. And think of the stateliness. Think of the unquestioned. Think of the unrivaled stateliness of that blessed one as He walked, as He moved here in all the majesty and in all the glory of His person.

And here, as we bring together this offering, we can put our hand upon the bullet. We can put our hand upon the Lamb. We can put our hand upon the goat. These varieties that tell us so much of the person of Christ and in our fellowship with God.

Sometimes we're thanking Him for the strength of Christ. Sometimes we're thanking Him for the submissiveness of Christ. Sometimes we're thanking Him for the stateliness of one that walked. We understand that.

Unleavened Bread and the Sinlessness of Christ

But gifts of unleavened bread, that which is provided for in chapter 7, as we have pointed, verse 11 and 12, I want you to notice unquestioned sinlessness. Unquestioned sinlessness. What I feel is so beautiful, those lovely words of 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21.

Who knew no sin. Who knew no sin. You know, no one knew sin more than He did. But then the strength of that word must be understood. He never knew it experimentally. He knows all about it. He knows more about it than we will ever know.

In that intuitive sense. But He knew no sin. It's telling you, He never experienced, not for one iota, anything. And so these cakes of unleavened bread are presenting to God that aspect of His Son as they're presented to Him in this vow of thanksgiving and in this vow of gratitude and of dedication to God.

But then there are cakes of leavened bread. He knoweth our frame. He remembereth the wear but dust. He's touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows exactly where we are, beloved. And in unparalleled sympathy, He ministers to us with all our feeling.

Even our holiest moments, not without a tinge. So isn't it wonderful to see how all this is brought together and how God is providing for our positional peace. And God is providing for our experimental peace.

The Devotedness of Christ in the Fat

Now we have to look a little bit deeper than this. We have to come to what I'm going to call the requirements. Because the detail here is tremendous. And very, very important. I want you to notice now in verse number 3.

And we're looking at verse 3 with you. And He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings and offering made by fire unto the Lord the fat that covereth the inwards and all the fat that is upon the inwards and that is upon and the two kidneys which is by the flanks.

Now look at that please with me. I want you to think of this fact. This is one of the main issues in the peace offering. The fat in these particular positions. Maybe we don't hear much about it but I think it's very wonderful just to think of this.

I'm going to call this the devotedness of Christ. Here beloved is the richness of the animal. Being placed on the altar for God. The priest is going to take what is rich of the animal. And it's going to be put on the altar for God and for no one else.

So as we dwell on that, I want you to think of the devotedness. He always pleased the Father. Now we know that. I do always those things which please the Father. Romans 15 and 2 says, He pleased not himself.

He pleased not himself. That's very clear isn't it now. That's a very strong message to us. There's nothing we like more now than to please ourselves. And we like to put the pleasure of our own selves fairly high on the list.

I wonder where we are in relation to this. He pleased not himself. And so we're entering in by this expression surely into the absolute sincerity. I'm going to say we can't get any further in. You know what I mean by that?

You see, the animal has been fled. And we're right inside the being. And God is looking at the fact. And He's looking right in. The health, the wealth of the animal is just right before Him. And it's in this aspect of His Son.

The devotedness. The absolute sincerity of the Savior. I'm going to come back to that in a moment. Because I need to explain that for you. But I'm going to go to the next point. The kidneys. Now, most of us have two kidneys.

I remember when dear Sidney lost one of his. And he always used to say I'm only a one cylinder preacher. But mind you, he did fairly well on one kidney didn't he? Well, here is the plural. Kidneys. And God is looking for the fat upon the kidneys.

And the kidneys. Now you know what the kidneys do, don't you? You drink. You eat. You absorb. And those kidneys act in your body to extract what is vital and valuable for your health. And then it discharges double function, isn't it?

And we all know. When we hear of our friends having kidney problems. We're very sympathetic. And then, how many of you have heard that their kidneys have failed? They don't live very long after that. Very practical.

The Discernment and Dependence of Christ

Well now, here is God putting His hand upon the kidneys of the animal. What do you think that would mean? Well, I want you to think of the discernment of Christ. The discernment of Christ. Your Bible says about Him that He loved righteousness and He hated iniquity.

Don't you know that? Man, He could discern between what answered the heart of God and what didn't. He had the power to discern what was right and what was wrong. And in that discernment, we find His absolute sensitivity to evil.

Peter might voice an opinion. The Lord traces it to the devil. You and I may feel perplexed. The Lord terms it hardness of heart. You go through your Bible. Go through your Gospels. See that blessed one having the ability to discern.

He need not that anyone should tell Him why He knew what was in man. That dear man that brought the Savior in exposes his weakness. For he says, if this man were a prophet, then he would know in what manner of woman foolish statements in the presence of Christ.

He knew. Oh, thank God He knew. He was able to discern one from the other. And that Pharisee thought the Savior didn't know. And it's lovely isn't it to go through your Gospels. Man, I love it brethren.

And just pick out these things with the Savior. Oh, the discernment of Christ. I will come back to that in a moment. Then come to the flanks. Now, that is what's called the confidences of the animal. And so we're looking at the dependence.

The dependence of Christ. And God wants that too. He wants the fat above the flank. He wants the richness of that animal. And He wants it on the altar to give Him pleasure. For it's speaking to Him of His Son in a way that fills our hearts with absolute worship and praise.

And then we come to the coals. Now the coal is the policeman of the body. This is where the veterinary surgeon ascertains the health of the animal. This is what's called the excess. This is what's called the sufficiency.

This is what's called the abundance of the animal. Now, you have a Newbery Bible I hope. Every believer should have a Newbery Bible you know. And if you have a Newbery Bible and you're open to this chapter.

You will see in the margin Mr. Newbery gives you the words that I've given you. And this is a useful way to study. A subject of this nature. And if you look at the margin, you'll see the word kidney and what he gives it to mean.

And you'll see the word flanks. And you'll see the word call. And you'll see that he gives you a New Testament counterpart. Where are we going to get it? There's a ministry meeting. I have to teach. I have to work at my Bible.

I have to get before God and ask Him, Lord give me a parallel here. Give me something that will endorse what we're teaching from God's word. Not just from my mentality. It wouldn't be worth two cents that is.

And even less. I want to suggest something to you brethren. This is now in advance. Second Corinthians is the epistle of the peace offering. And I want you to read Second Corinthians. I was going to say on your knees.

If you do it at your desk, you'll be doing well. And now I want you to study that epistle with me for a few minutes. As we're going to point out how Paul draws upon this. And teaches the saints in Corinth.

The ministry of the peace offering. In these issues. Now you watch it carefully and get this down. Because to me, this is very, very precious and important. And this is the New Testament counterpart. This is what I want.

Sincerity in Christian Service

Now go back to the fact of the devotedness of Christ. And I pointed out to you that that devotion marks His sincerity. Marks His sincerity. Now you know brethren. What God expects of you and what God expects of me.

Listen. Sincerity. Be sincere before God. In every department of your life. As God penetrated the recess of that blessed one's being. What do you see? Absolute sincerity. You know that. What about this man here?

Turn to Second Corinthians. With me. Second Corinthians. I'll show you what I mean. And then you'll be able to work at it when you get the notes. Or when you get home or whatever. And look at chapter 1.

Second Corinthians chapter 1. I can't give you it all but I'll give you a portion. And you can fill it in. And then verse 12. For our rejoicing is this. The testimony of our conscience. That in simplicity.

And godly sincerity. Not with fleshly wisdom. But by the grace of God. We have had our behavior. Our conversation. In the world. And more abundantly to you work. Now if ever you get a more practical reference to sincerity in your book.

You get it. There it is. And there's the practical counterpart in your life. And in mine. To the fact. Of the peace offering. Absolute sincerity. That's not the only passage. You're going to have to work hard aren't you?

Get your concordance down tonight. And get these verses. That deal with sincerity. In this epistle. And that's the fact. The devotedness. What about the kidneys? Now you younger men and sisters. You know don't you?

The older brethren know this. That this word kidneys. Is the word reins. In your bible. R-E-I-N-S. For the righteousness of God. Trieth the heart. And reins. Got that? Examine me O Lord. And prove me.

Try my reins. And my heart. You got that? But O Lord of hosts. That judgeth. Righteously. The trieths. The reins. And the heart. Emphasis on the reins. I the Lord search the heart. I try the reins. Even to give every man according to his ways.

And according to the fruit of his doings. But O Lord of hosts. That trieth. The righteous. That seeth. The reins. And the heart. Now those are all Old Testament passages. They are. You listen to the new, will you?

I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know. That I am he which searcheth. The reins. Does this church know that? Does this church in Blue River know that? What do you mean? How sensitive are you to evil?

What is your discernment? To evil. And to good. What is mine? When God is looking at this animal for this purpose of coming into fellowship with him. He is going to touch the very innermost being. And he did it with Christ.

That one that died on Calvary. Never, never, never failed in discerning between good and evil. What we are looking at is this. Those kidneys I am speaking now figuratively. We are active. God says I want that singled out.

Above those kidneys. I want to put it in the altar. And oh beloved. What about me? Back to 2 Corinthians. Chapter 1 again. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 please. Verse 12 again. For our rejoicing is this the testimony of our conscience.

There is the kidney. Chapter 4 please. Verse 2. But we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. Not walking in craftiness. Nor handling the word of God deceitfully. But by manifestation of the truth.

Commending ourselves to every man's conscience. In the sight of God. There are the kidneys. There are the kidneys. You want any more? Chapter 5 verse 11. Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord we persuade men.

But we are made manifest unto God. See that? And I trust also are made manifest in your conscience. There are the kidneys. Go through 2 Corinthians. Get it down. There is a New Testament counterpart in this epistle to this quality.

That Paul is seeking to emphasize as being absolutely vital in every aspect of testimony. Clear conscience. Conscience able to discern between good and evil. Enlightened. Enriched. The flanks. Job says in chapter 31.

Confidence and Sufficiency in 2 Corinthians

If I have made gold my hope. Or have said to the fine gold. Thou art my confidence. Many have said that. Come on now brother. Face it. My hope is in gold. My confidence is in money. Verse says. For the Lord shall be thy confidence.

Is that where it is tonight? What is this? Sincerity. Sensitivity. In the kidneys. But listen. Serenity. In the confidence. Would you like to come to 2 Corinthians a minute? Chapter 1 again please. Let us get a few verses here.

Chapter 1. And verse 15. And in this confidence. I was minded to come unto you before that ye might have a second benefit. Now what I have done. I have hit the word. You get it down in your book tonight.

And go through 2 Corinthians. And pick out the word confidence. And trust. And see how it touches every facet of Paul's ministry in this epistle. That is what he is doing. He is ministering the peace offering qualities.

For example. Chapter 5. And verse 6. Chapter 5 and verse 6. Therefore we are always confident. Knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight.

We are confident I say. And willing rather to be absent from the body. And to be present with the Lord. My what a theme in this epistle. Take it up. Go right through. And you are touching the flanks of the peace offering.