The Ministry of the Priesthood — Alan Redpath

Leviticus 8–9 and the Ministry of the Priesthood

I'd like to continue with you, if we may, on the subject of priesthood. If you'll remember, last week we looked at Leviticus 8, and principally in Leviticus 8 we see the establishment of the priesthood, and what we're going to look at this morning with the Lord's help is the ministry of the priesthood.

If you look carefully at Leviticus 8 and 9 you'll see some very important truths coming out for us. In Leviticus 8 we see the consecration of the priests, and in Leviticus 9 you see the ministry of the priests.

And with those two things in mind, I'd like to draw with the Lord's help some practical lessons for you and I today. If you hold your Bible in your hand you'll notice that there's a good 80 of it tied up in the Old Testament, and yet it's the part that so often sits on the shelf, doesn't it?

We've got so much to dig into, we've got so much wealth to be gained and gleaned from in the Old Testament, so I do encourage you to look back. To look back. I know we can fall into the danger of going through the types and building upon them new doctrines.

There's a great danger in that. Conversely, if we had the doctrine established for us in the New Testament, we can go back to the old, to the types, to the shadows, and get more light on the subject, and to help us understand the greater truth that God is trying to speak to us.

The Offerings and Glory in Leviticus 9

So we'll read Leviticus 9, it's much shorter than Leviticus 8, Leviticus 9, and we'll read the whole chapter. And it came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.

And he said unto Aaron, Take thee a young calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. And unto the children of Israel I shall speak, saying, Take ye a kid of the goats for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering.

Also a bullock, a ram, and a ram for a peace offering, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a meat offering, or meal offering, mingled with oil. For today the Lord will appear unto you. And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the congregation.

And all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded that you should do, and the glory of the Lord shall appear unto you. And Moses said unto Aaron, Go unto the altar, and offer thy sin offering and thy burnt offering, and make an atonement for thyself, and for the people, and offer the offering of the people, and make an atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.

Aaron therefore went unto the altar, and slew the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. And the sons of Aaron brought the blood unto him, and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar.

But the fat in the kidneys, and the call above the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. And the flesh in the hide he burnt with fire, without the camp. And he slew the burnt offering, and Aaron's sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled round about the altar.

And they presented the burnt offering unto him, with the pieces thereof, and the head, and he burnt them upon the altar. And he did wash the inwards and the legs, and burnt them upon the burnt offerings on the altar.

And he brought the people's offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and slew it, and offered it for sin as the first. And he brought the burnt offering, and offered it according to the manner.

And he brought the meal offering, and took a handful thereof, and burnt it upon the altar, beside the burnt sacrifice of the morning. He slew also the bullock and the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people.

And Aaron's sons presented unto him the blood, which he sprinkled upon the altar round about, and the fat of the bullock, and of the ram, the rump, and that which covereth the inwards and the kidneys, and the call above the liver.

And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burnt the fat upon the altar. And the breasts and the right shoulder, Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord as Moses commanded. And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and burnt offering, and peace offerings.

And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. And there came out fire from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering, and the fat which, when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces.

And we trust the Lord will bless that to us. It's a lovely portion, and as I mentioned last week, despite all of the detail and all the killings and the offerings, there are some wonderful truths that lie in here for you and I today.

The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

If we just cast our mind back just for a moment, what we looked at last week, Leviticus 8, we had the consecration of Aaron and his sons. Aaron and his sons were washed, Aaron was clothed, Aaron was anointed, and then there were sacrifices.

And the blood of those sacrifices was put upon the right ear, the right thumb, and the right toe. And then Aaron and his sons were anointed with the oil and the blood in that order, and then they were bidden to boil the flesh, or the meat, and to eat it at the door of the tabernacle.

And then they were commanded to stay put for seven days at the tabernacle, or in the precinct of the tabernacle. And in there you see the consecration of the priests. And in their own right, as priests, all that was necessary for them to conduct, or to hold the office of that priesthood was established.

All the details regarding the garments that they were to wear, that was established earlier in Exodus 28, I think it is, and the offerings, the tabernacle, all the details about the tabernacle and the offerings, that's all been described for us.

But what we have here is the consecration of the priests. And we noted last week that Aaron, there was no need for bloodshedding before his consecration, before his anointing. And that really is a lovely picture to us of Christ.

There was no need for blood to be shed for him to come into the world, and to be offered up. For him to conduct that priestly work, he was anointed the moment after he was baptised as he proceeded out of the River Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove, and then a voice came out from heaven.

And then you see the offerings, and in that of course you see the Lord Jesus Christ offering himself as a sacrifice for sin, without spot, without blemish, unto God. But immediately after that, that's where you see Aaron's sons come in.

And that's a lovely picture of you and I. Aaron and his sons, the priesthood, Christ and all believers. Think about that for a moment. God hath commanded this thing to be so. God has commanded this thing to be so.

It's a strange thing for you and I to stand up in the world and say, we're priests. But God has commanded it to be so. And God has commanded you and I to conduct a priestly work. And that's what we'll look at today in Leviticus chapter 9.

The Blood, the Oil, and Feeding on Christ

You'll note very carefully that after the blood shedding and the anointing, the application of the blood on the ear, the right ear, the right thumb and the right toe, Aaron and his sons were anointed with the oil and the blood.

Oil is always speaking to us of the Holy Spirit and the blood. And that should come as a great comfort to us. Remember what John has to say about the blood and sin, don't you? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.

All sin. All sin. It's lovely just to meditate upon that. It's a great truth and we will soon give our all to give thanks for that. But note also that the oil was placed upon Aaron's sons also. Those who believed, after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

That's a given fact. It's not a theory. It's not something we have in the pages of scripture just to theorise on or romanticise about. It's a fact. God has sealed every one of you with the Holy Spirit and it's a lovely truth that each and every one of us, we've been redeemed, we've been bought with a price and we've been sealed.

But then he doesn't just leave us there, does he? There's a feeding. There's a feeding and Aaron and his sons are bidden to feed on the meat. And so you and I are invited today to feed upon the meat and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You'll remember in John chapter 5, many believed on him, we read. Many believed on him. But then he brought out that great truth about those that would feed on him, my meat, his flesh and his blood, those that would drink his blood.

And there were many that were confounded and they walked away and they didn't understand. But that's something you and I enjoy today, isn't it? You and I can really feed upon Christ through the word. The word is our spiritual food and Christ is our spiritual meat and we can feed upon him.

And whilst we might not realise the effect that that has, while we might sit there and think, well I'm really doing nothing for God, there's nothing that I can do for God, I'm not really out, I'm not really preaching the gospel, I don't seem to be doing much.

But God would have you to feed upon his blessed son. And I think that would be the greatest height of spirituality that you and I could ever reach to. It's not the amount of souls that we might lead to the Lord, it's not the amount of times that we might be able to expound something in the Bible.

God would have you and I to feed on his son and note that they were commanded to stay within the precincts of the tabernacle for seven days. And that seven days I believe is typical or is a shadow of this great dispensation today.

Whom God has saved, he's kept. Whom God saves, he keeps. And he desires to keep you and I within that sphere of the spiritual temple, the holiest of all, the most holy place. And that's something that you and I can truly enjoy today.

To be within the confines of that tabernacle was something that most of the nation of Israel could only look at. To be within the outer court and then to go into the tabernacle itself, well that was confined to even lesser people.

But to go into the most holy place, there was only room for one. It was forbidden to all but the family of Aaron. And access to the most holy place was forbidden to all but one person. And that really does teach us something about how you and I must individually come into the presence of God and serve in that tabernacle.

The Pattern of Priestly Service

But when we look at Leviticus 9, before you come to Leviticus 9, the priests are almost in an anomalous state. They've been consecrated, they're fit to do a work and they've got the office but they're not ready yet to conduct the work.

And this is where we see the pattern of the priestly work that Aaron and his sons should conduct before the people. And what we've read there is but a picture of the priesthood that you and I occupy today.

Although we don't deal with the blood of animals, although you and I don't walk around a tent, all these things have a spiritual application and they are just absolutely lovely. What I'd like to do is perhaps just divide the chapter, Leviticus 9, into just a couple of things so that it helps us to understand the parts that God is teaching to us.

The commandments of the Lord from verses 2 -7. The commandments of the Lord, and he said unto Aaron, take, and so on. These are the offerings. Verses 8 -14, Aaron and his sons offering for themselves.

They're offering for themselves. Verses 15 through to 20, Aaron and his sons offering for the people. Offering for the people. And you'll notice there's a particular order there. We don't have time to look into all of the offerings here, but there's a particular order.

Particularly with Aaron and his sons in their offering. The sin offering came first and then the burnt offering. And then when it came time to offer for the people, there's the sin offering, the burnt offering, the meal offering and the peace offering.

And you can glean much from that order and each of those offerings. Verse 21, the breasts of the right shoulder, Aaron weighed for a wave offering. Verse 22, before they go into the tabernacle, Aaron blesses the people.

Verse 23, note now, not just Aaron, but Moses and Aaron, not Aaron and Moses, but Moses and Aaron, went into the tabernacle of the congregation and came out and blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people.

And verse 24, the fire comes down and consumes the burnt offering. I don't know whether you noticed, but in verse number 1 you read this expression, the 8th day. The 8th day. Well we know of a 7 day week, don't we?

So what does the 8th day tell us? It's a new day. It's a new week. It's the first day of a new week. And if you search that 8th day through the Old Testament, you get a variety of different subjects, but they all speak of this one thing.

And it has to do with the ground of resurrection, the new day. The Feast of Tabernacles has an 8th day. The Nazarite. The cleansed leper. The day of the circumcision. All these days speak of, all these examples here have an 8th day in it.

And there's something very special about that 8th day. And there's a new day for you and I, isn't there not? And it's only upon the new day, it's only upon resurrected ground, it's only because of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that you and I have the capacity to serve today.

Were it not that he ascended into heaven, were it not that he entered into that place, to appear before God for you and I, then there would be no ground for you and I to serve, having the basis of Leviticus 8 before us.

You see there's this new day that you and I serve in. It's a resurrected ground. It's the 8th day. And I'll have to leave it there. You would really glean a lot from going through those different passages.

There's the Feast of Tabernacles. And that's in Leviticus 23. You have the Feast of Jehovah. There are 7 feasts all up and the Feast of Tabernacles is the last one. You have the Cleansing of the Leper.

You have the laws concerning the Nazarite. And the laws concerning circumcision. And there's an 8th day involved in there. Before we look into actually the offering for themselves and the offering for the people, and what actually happened in the Tabernacle and their coming out, I'd like us to read two little verses in 1 Peter, because this is really what connects this chapter with you and I today.

The Holy and Royal Priesthood of Believers

But hold your finger in Leviticus 9, because we'll come back to that. 1 Peter 2, and for most this will be a well-known passage. We'll read from verse 4, verse 3. Chapter 2 of 1 Peter, verse 3. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming, well this is in relation to the Lord, to whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also, that's you and me, as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Verse 9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out from this darkness, out of darkness, into his marvellous light.

I won't ask you to turn to Revelation, but if you were to read Revelation 1, verse 6, and Revelation 5, verse 10, it's Jesus Christ who has made you and I a kingdom of priests. He has made us a kingdom of priests.

Stand on that great fact. This is not theory. He has made us a kingdom of priests. I know the authorised version will say he's made us kings and priests. But if you look at the true Greek expression there, I believe it's a kingdom and it's of a priestly nature.

It's a kingdom of priests. Twice in Revelation you see that it's the one who is worthy, especially in Revelation 5, it's the one who is worthy to open the book. It's him. This is the one who has made us a kingdom of priests.

But note, it's the thing that the Lord commanded. It's the thing that Jehovah commanded and Moses was the one that made Aaron and his sons priests. Can you see the connection there? God always ordained you and I to be saved.

God foreordained you and I to serve and to give our lives unto him. But it was principally through the Lord Jesus Christ that you and I had the foundation for our priesthood. Moses was the one who acted on behalf of Jehovah.

He commanded, via the Lord, he commanded Aaron and his sons what to do as to their priestly conduct in Leviticus chapter 9. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ who has made us a kingdom of priests. This should really thrill our souls, believers.

This should really touch us. You and I are not saved just to sit around and just to wait, although that would be good in its own right. Patience is a lovely virtue. You and I are not saved just to be saved for a future day.

God has a particular work for you and I. And what God commanded Aaron and his sons to do in Leviticus 8 and 9 is just a picture, I suppose, of what you and I have today. 1 Peter chapter 2, in verse 5 there we see he has made us a holy priesthood.

It's a holy priesthood. And in verse 9 there we see a royal priesthood. In Leviticus chapter 9 we see Aaron and his sons offering the sin offering and the burnt offering for themselves. Now remember, offer for thyself.

And offer for thyself. And you shall take a holy priesthood. God ever desired you to conduct that priestly work before God. Irrespective of our service before men, God would have you to offer up spiritual sacrifices before him.

Spiritual Sacrifices and Giving Thanks

You and I, we're clothed with spiritual garments. We're spiritual priests. We have a priesthood. We're clothed with spiritual garments. We serve in a spiritual temple. We offer spiritual sacrifices. But all these things are for you and I to enjoy today as a great privilege, but they also come with some responsibility.

God desires to hear your voice, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks. Do you give thanks to God often? God loves to hear you give thanks for all that he's done for you.

God desires you to give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus. In everything give thanks. The Lord Jesus Christ never, ever, ever asked you and I to do something he didn't do himself.

And I love it every time when you read the scriptures that he gave thanks, or he blessed the bread. Before he turned the bread into a great multitude for the 5 ,000, he blessed it. Before he instituted the Lord's Supper, he blessed it.

Now you think, well, he had really no reason to give thanks for it. It's you and I that really should have to give thanks for it. But there's a deeper side to that, in that giving of thanks, and I'm sure most of you know what that is.

But he desires you and I to give thanks, and it's a wonderful privilege that you and I have today. Now, I need to really speak on two parts here, because most of you are thinking, well, if I'm a brother, well, I have the great privilege of speaking in the assembly, in the congregation, before the people, to give thanks unto God.

And if I'm a sister, well, I'm not really supposed to be speaking, publicly, verbally, audibly. Don't for one minute think that you are not allowed to give thanks, or it's not your place to give thanks.

Yes, there's a particular order that Paul gives to us through God, and these are the commandments of the Lord. That's 1 Corinthians 14. God desires each and every sister here to give thanks. It shouldn't be left just to the men to give thanks.

I want to encourage you, dear sister. Your spiritual sacrifices are worth equally, and I often believe far more than what some of us men can offer. Your spiritual sacrifices, dear sister, are worth so much to God, and I don't ever, ever want to think for a moment.

It would grieve my heart to think, a dear sister here, thinking that, well, if I'm not allowed to speak, if I'm not allowed to conduct this spiritual work in an audible fashion, then I'm perhaps not really much worth to God.

Far be the thought. You offer spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable unto God, period. They are acceptable unto God. Never does it say that a man's spiritual sacrifices are more acceptable unto God.

In the New Testament we do speak of men and women in the Bible. But when it comes to Christ and our positional standing before him, we are all one in Christ, are we not? We are all one in Christ. Brothers and sisters, and we all have this great capacity to offer up spiritual sacrifices unto the Lord.

Congregational Prayer and the Priesthood of All Believers

Sometimes we do have very gifted men, and they are often able to lift out a prayer that just leaves us speechless. We think, dear oh dear, how am I ever going to rise up to that prayer? We often wonder at that prayer, and some of us go home thinking, dear, what a wonderful prayer.

But that shouldn't be the focus of our meeting, dear brother and sister. That brother offering prayer is really just a collective mouthpiece for the assembly. When that brother offers prayer to God in the assembly, before God in the assembly, he's really the, I don't like to use the word, the spokesman, he's the collective mouthpiece.

And when he prays, the assembly prays, and gives to God. That's how I see it anyway. And when a brother prays, we shouldn't think that he's praying for himself and of his own volition. Most of us understand that when we pray, we pray we.

We give thanks, Lord. We do give thanks. And often another brother or sister might say, well, Amen. Amen. It's a good thing to acknowledge what another brother prays for the assembly. But now for the men of our assemblies.

Don't think that prayer is limited to the older men who have some spiritual wisdom that might appear to be greater than you and I. Don't think for a moment that prayer is limited to those who have got experience in praying.

Can I just share an experience with you? When I was saved, I came in from the world with no understanding whatsoever of how I should conduct myself in the house of God. No understanding whatsoever. I witnessed these men from Lord's Day to Lord's Day and I believe it was the breaking of bread that drew me to God.

But then came the day when I was received and this fear came upon me like you wouldn't believe because I knew it was perhaps sooner or later that it would be my turn to give thanks. This fear came upon me.

Can you see the incorrect standing I was looking at of my own placement in the assembly? I was looking at myself amongst the men. I was looking at what other men might think and other sisters might think of what I would say.

Can I just encourage you? Younger men, older men, don't ever, ever think that your prayer should be something that is acceptable to fellow men and fellow sisters. Be encouraged. Five words is more than a thousand words of audible beauty.

Five words is more than a silver tongue. Behold the Lamb of God. It would be just lovely for someone you don't hear very often to just simply get up and say thanks Lord for dying for me. And if that's all you heard, what sort of a tone would that bring to our assembly?

Don't for a moment think that you have to utter a long prayer before it's acceptable to God. You see God would have, and we noted this last week, all the congregation were to come around the tabernacle.

And all the congregation were bidden to view the priestly work of our Lord Jesus Christ, well in type, of the priest. All were bidden to view the sacrifices. But then the priestly work, yes it's offered to a select few but that speaks of believers, the priesthood of believers.

It's only the believer in Christ that can offer up spiritual sacrifices. It doesn't mean that only elders are enabled to go into the tabernacle or into the spiritual temple and offer up sacrifices. It's not limited to the mature of our assembly.

You see that limitation of the family of Aaron, that speaks to us of the priesthood of believers, those that are in Christ. I really get worried sometimes and this is speaking from personal interest and care.

There are some men amongst our assemblies and I know they have a great amount to offer. I've been helped by many men in our assemblies but sad it is that these men fear what other people think they might have to say in our assemblies.

Be encouraged. God loves to hear you. You're not speaking before men although there is a right and proper place for the prayer that we offer. There are some prayers that we do offer that are really restricted to you and I in that holy place.

It's fitting that only you and God should hear those prayers. There are some prayers that we really shouldn't because they're not appropriate to pray before the people. But dear believer, dear brother, don't feel that you should sit back because it's not your turn.

It's not your position. It's not your place. You've got nothing to offer. My word you've got a lot to offer. My word you've got a lot to offer. You see when Aaron and his sons, he was the brother of Moses and his sons were commanders.

In Leviticus 9 you don't see this. We'll just stand back and just wait and see how Aaron does it. When we get to a certain age then we'll start to offer. No, in Leviticus 9, Aaron therefore went. An older brother once said to me, when you read therefore you know it's there for a reason.

Aaron therefore went. He did as what the Lord commanded. And the Lord's commanding every one of us to offer spiritual sacrifices unto the Lord. To give thanks to His name. To worship Him. Now all this comes out in Hebrews 9, 10 and pretty much actually all the way through but in particular 9 and 10.

Spiritual Discernment and the Assembly's Worship

God desires to hear the voice of the assembly. God desires to hear every prayer whether it be audible or inaudible. And for those little moments of silence well they sometimes are a good thing. They are a good thing just to sit quietly and to meditate.

You know these spiritual things are spiritually discerned aren't they? Now I'm in the ground of conjecture here. I'm not drawing from the Bible but sometimes I often wonder. A spiritual sister amongst our assembly quietly there meditating upon the Lord and the Spirit of God takes it up and moves a brother and he gives.

Another sister thinking about the lovely glories of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God would move a brother to stand up and give out a hymn. You see these things are spiritually discerned. You and I, we can't organise these meetings.

You think about it. We didn't ring up each other and say the order of service is, we're going to read out this hymn and then there's going to be a prayer and then perhaps another prayer and just so we don't get too repetitive we'll put in a hymn in there.

No brother, the Spirit of God moves you and I collectively to offer up spiritual sacrifices unto the Lord. Now there should be nothing stopping a brother here from reading out a hymn. There should be nothing stopping a brother reading out a hymn.

I used to think maybe the hymn is not appropriate. Well yeah, perhaps there are some hymns that are probably best left to a gospel or something else that relates to going out and really there's something of self in it.

What we've gleaned from God. And there's a lot to be thankful for what we've got out of God. But you know there shouldn't be anything that stops you and I from offering a hymn. I'm speaking to the brothers now.

There shouldn't be anything that stops you and I from reading out a hymn. That speaks well of Christ. Of the sacrifice that He's made for you and I. Be encouraged. Please be encouraged. We're living in a day.

I look around this assembly and I look around all the other assemblies. We're living in a day where we have very few men willing to serve God and give their lives to God. I can't even really speak of myself in that light.

We could be so much more. Don't ever think that you're not summonsed to come to the tabernacle. Don't ever think that you're the part of the congregation that has to sit back and watch. Aaron and his sons speak of the priesthood of all believers.

All those that in Christ, brother and sister alike, we're able to offer up spiritual sacrifices unto the Lord. Yes the brothers do have an audible part. And the sisters do have an inaudible part. But nonetheless, there should be something of a sweet smelling savour that arises to God.

Offering for Ourselves: Sin and Burnt Offerings

You see first of all that the priests had to offer for themselves. And there's a sin offering and a burnt offering. The burnt offering always speaks to us of what Christ is really to God. Who God is to us.

The lovely matchless character of His life, of His death, of His resurrection, of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all of Him. But before you and I can ever ascend to those great glories and give thanks to God and to worship those great truths, before that can even happen there comes the sin offering, doesn't there?

And Paul does exhort you and I, let a man examine himself or let one examine himself. Is there something forbidding you and I from giving thanks? Is there something forbidding you and I from coming in this assembly on a Lord's Day holding us back?

Get right with the Lord. Don't sit there for years and years thinking, well I'm just not acceptable and what I did I can never be forgiven. Get right with the Lord and come on the new day. On that new day, the eighth day, the ground of resurrection.

The only ground that we have to offer and to come here is the new day. The ground of resurrection. On the new day He arose. On the new day we meet. The new day of the week we meet. Now just to finish up we really do need to look at their work for the people.

Offering for the People: Intercession and Witness

They offered for themselves, but then they offered for the people. There's a lot in this. This is what we have in the royal priesthood. First we have the holy priesthood under God. Then we have the royal priesthood.

This really speaks to us of our conduct before men. Before the world. Verse 15 through to verse 20. The offerings. I just want to remind you. Dear brother, dear sister. You have a wonderful privilege to intercede for other believers, for those that are out of Christ, those that have no understanding of the scriptures whatsoever and their fallen state before God.

You have a lovely, lovely privilege to go into that most holy place and to intercede for them. Do you understand that privilege that you have? Enjoy it. Develop it. We have a responsibility. God doesn't expect you and I to just sit back and collect all these things and accumulate these great truths that man has fallen and needs a redeemer and provision has been made and there is a coming day.

You know these great truths. You don't need me to tell you that. Have you told someone else? God is not expecting you to sit in an idle state. Spiritual priesthood. A holy priesthood before God. A royal priesthood before men.

And your conduct should show forth the praises of Him. Your walk before men as a light. You don't hide it under a bushel, do you? Your light, your walk before men should show forth the praises of Him who called you out of darkness, who has converted you and brought you into this marvellous light.

Don't you just want to tell people about it? Don't you just want to tell people of this bursting joy that you've got? Eternal life. I've got it. It's mine. I'm His and He is mine. I've been bought for the price.

I've got a home in heaven. Sin is forgiven. Dear Saint of God, don't keep these things in your pocket. Share them with people. I know people don't want to hear but that's not our purpose to change people.