King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Saturday, February 15, 2020
Chapters: Leviticus 8-10
Message: I Have Kept The Faith
Hello My Friend,
I will never forget the day I got baptized, September 16, 2006, I had been going to the church for a while and wanted to join, when I told the pastor, he asked if I was baptized and I said I was when I was a baby. Well, he proceeded to tell me, of course, that that was not the same thing, and explain what baptism is. The thought of getting baptized in front of a bunch of people scared me to death, but apart from receiving Christ as my Saviour, it truly was the best decision I ever made. Publicly professing to all the world that I am trusting only in Christ as my Saviour, and joining the church was my personal vow that I was going to dedicate my life to my Saviour until He brings me home. Have I been fulfilling my vow? Yes, I have. Has it been easy? No, it has not. I cannot tell you how many times I failed Him in the fourteen years since, but I can tell you that I have been faithful, and forgiven, and by the grace of God, will continue until He does bring me home. What scares me to death, and I hope I never lose this fear, is the thought of losing my faith in Christ, and all it takes is one wrong decision for that to happen. I have been quoting, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” – Matthew 24:12-13, quite a bit this week because I have truly come to understand that we must keep our faith until we take our last breath.
We know that salvation is by grace through our faith in Christ alone, and baptism, joining a church, and making a vow to dedicate ones life to Christ has nothing to do with keeping our salvation. Keep in mind, that salvation has never been about works, and always about faith. It was atonement that needed to be constantly made so that we might be forgiven of our sin. When God instituted the sacrificial law concerning atonement, there were several steps to be taken, and we truly need to be thankful that we only needed one sacrifice today. If anything, it keeps us in check of how it was before Christ came here, and just how blessed we are that we no longer have to take so many steps to even be able to be forgiven of our sin let alone be able to communicate with God. And remember, this included the priests as well, they needed atonement and to be consecrated in order to receive the offerings from the rest of the people. God calls for Moses to prepare Aaron and his sons for their duty.
“Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; And gather thou all the congregation together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; and the assembly was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Moses said unto the congregation, This is the thing which the LORD commanded to be done. And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. And he put upon him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith. And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim. And he put the mitre upon his head; also upon the mitre, even upon his forefront, did he put the golden plate, the holy crown; as the LORD commanded Moses. And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them.” – Leviticus 8:2-10.
“And gather thou all the congregation together” This was their public profession of their faith, they were showing the entire congregation that they were about to dedicate their lives to God. It was not enough to put on the clothes, they needed to be saved, and then consecrated themselves. There were a total of three animal offerings and one meat offering, with each one they had to place their hands upon the sacrifice.
“And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering. And he slew it; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured the blood at the bottom of the altar, and sanctified it, to make reconciliation upon it. And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake, and a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and put them on the fat, and upon the right shoulder: And Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before the LORD: for of the ram of consecration it was Moses’ part; as the LORD commanded Moses. And Moses took of the anointing oil, and of the blood which was upon the altar, and sprinkled it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon his sons’ garments with him; and sanctified Aaron, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation in seven days, until the days of your consecration be at an end: for seven days shall he consecrate you. As he hath done this day, so the LORD hath commanded to do, to make an atonement for you. Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation day and night seven days, and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not: for so I am commanded.” – Leviticus 8:14-15,18,22,26,29-30,33-35.
“until the days of your consecration be at an end:” Once they were consecrated they could not leave the tabernacle while they were fulfilling their duties. Why? Any exposure to the elements of the world would defile them, and then they would have to go through the process all over again. This is is why it is important that once we are saved we stay close to Jesus. While we do not lose our salvation, and thank God, we do not have to receive Christ as our Saviour over and over again, any exposure to the world does defile us (Matthew 9:16-17). “for seven days shall he consecrate you.” Do you understand that it took them seven days, which is actually the number of completion, for them to be consecrated? Thank God that our salvation is instant (Romans 10:9-10). “that ye die not:” And this is exactly what Jesus I talking about when He tells us that we must endure until the end. I never understood this until this past year, if we walk away from Christ, meaning if we stop believing that He saved us, and lose our faith in Him, then we will not be among the saved (Mark 13:13). Apart from their being consecrated to fulfill their service, the congregation had to do follow the same commands in order to be saved, and reconcile with God. Now, those seven days had come to pass, Aaron and his sons were now able to receive the offerings of the people, and the very first offering was made.
“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 thou shalt 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 and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meat offering mingled with oil: for to day 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 ye 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. And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings.” – Leviticus 9:1-7.
“for to day the LORD will appear unto you.” There truly is no better feeling than to feel the presence of God with you. And those who think that God does not talk to you or appear as He did with Moses, need to rethink their faith because He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We may not see His face, but we will definitely feel His presence, that is as long as we are faithful to Him. I know I have felt it, and I also know when He has distanced Himself because of some wrong decisions I made until I repented (Hebrews 13:8). “and make an atonement for thyself,” This is a reminder that while we are saved, we still need to confess our sin daily. Remember, Jesus tells us that we need to wash our feet (John 13:10). Salvation does not exempt us from sin, and this is where we need to be careful, all it takes is one sin for us to turn our faith around, for us to go from saying, “I believe in Christ.” to saying, “I renounce my faith in Christ.” As long as we believe until our dying breath that Christ saves us He will, but if anyone turns away from that faith they will not be saved. And this is the importance of enduring until the end. Two of Aaron’s sons found that out the hard way.
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.” – Leviticus 10:1-3,6-11.
“and offered strange fire before the LORD,” What happened was this, when the tabernacle was set up, the altar of incense was lit, and it had to remain burning at all times, even when they were moving. It was their duty to keep the fire burning, and they failed, So, when they attempted to relight the kindles, it was strange to God, “and they died before the LORD.” I had not realized all of this until recently, for years I thought that they had offered some incense or something that was not approved by God, and that was what killed them. What happened was that they let the fire go out, they thought that all they had to do was relight it with the fire they had and it would be accepted by God. It did not work that way. The fire represents the Holy Spirit, He is the fire of God, once we receive Christ as our Saviour, He comes into our soul and gives us that fire, we must keep it burning or it will die, meaning we must keep our faith in Christ or the fire in us will die (II Timothy 4:7-8) This is not the same as someone who lives in sin and is saved, they will never lose their salvation. This is someone who turns away from their faith in Christ, and they will not be saved because they did not endure to the end. “No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.” – Mark 2:21-22.
Today’s Prayer: God, I can understand how sin separates us from anyone, especially You since You are holy and just. I thank You for Your mercy, it truly does not end for those who love You. I am not only saved by the blood of Your Son upon believing in and accepting Him as my Saviour I am also reconciled with You. Thank You, for loving me and not giving up on me, and for keeping me faithful. I know that it is only by Your grace that I am even able to do that. Lord, I truly want to endure to the end, I want to see Your face at the end of my life, knowing that I have fought the good fight, I have kept my faith, and I get to live for eternity with You. Lead me and guide me, keep Your fire burning in me, let me not be exposed to the elements that would defile me. Give me Your power, wisdom, mercy, grace, love, and strength to endure temptation, and glorify You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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