Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20000719.htm

LEVITICUS: GOD'S CALL FOR A SEPARATED WITNESS
Part I: The Path To Gaining Fellowship With God (Leviticus 1-10)
G. God's Call For PERPETUAL Dependence Upon God's Spirit For Service Effectiveness"
(Leviticus 6:14-23)
  1. Introduction
    1. A Christian may be dedicated to living for and serving the Lord, but even Christians who start out being very dedicated this way can experience unexpected spiritual failures in their lives and ministries.
    2. Leviticus 6:14-23, when coupled with the insight gained from Leviticus 2:1-16 on that offering, supply the answer to what besides dedication is needed, and why so for effectiveness in life and service.
  2. God's Call For PERPETUAL Dependence Upon God's Spirit For Service Effectiveness, Lev. 6:14-23.
    1. As we learned from Leviticus 2:1-16 in our study of the grain offering, the grain offering pictured the perfect life of Christ that qualified Him to be the sinner's adequate substitutionary sacrifice for sin.
    2. That grain offering was mixed with oil, a picture of the dependence on the Holy Spirit practiced by Jesus in His earthly life as follows: (cited from McGee's, Thru The Bible With J. Vernon McGee, vol. 1, p. 331)
      1. Jesus was born of the Spirit in Luke 1:35, seen in the offering's being "mingled with oil," Lev. 2:4-5.
      2. He was baptized of the Spirit in Mtt. 3:16-17 seen in the offering's having "oil upon it," Lev. 2:6.
      3. He was led of the Spirit in Mark 1:12, seen in the offering's having oil "poured thereon," Lev. 2:6.
      4. Jesus served God and offered Himself on the cross in the Spirit's power, seen "with oil" in Lev. 2:7.
    3. Accordingly, the believer who stands justified before God only in the substitutionary atonement of Christ cannot serve God in even his best human efforts, for he is weak in the flesh, Romans 8:3a. Rather, he must rely on the perfection of Christ's humanity in his position in Christ, and depend upon the Holy Spirit's power in and thru him in the pattern set by Christ and His atonement and life, cf. also 1 John 2:6.
    4. In connection to this important need for believers to depend on the Holy Spirit for life and service, Leviticus 6:14-23 adds the lesson of the believer's need to depend on the Spirit continuously as follows:
      1. Leviticus 6:14ff supplied added divine instructions regarding the Leviticus 2:1-16 grain offering.
      2. Those instructions dealt with details concerning the priest's edible portions of the sacrifice as follows:
        1. After burning the part on the altar that was to be offered to God (Lev. 6:14-15), Aaron, the head of the Levitical tribe, and any of his sons could eat in the holy place of God's presence, Leviticus 6:16. This signaled fellowship with God via the meal as both God and the priest partook in fellowship.
        2. However, the priest could not partake of the food with leaven as the meal was separated from sin and its symbol of decay in leaven, Lev. 6:17 (cf. 1 Cor. 5:6). This pictured the need for the believer who served the Lord to keep his life pure from sin, or to confess his sin for purity relative to God.
        3. Significantly, the meal offering's share could go not only to the priests involved in the sacrifice itself, but to all of the children of Aaron, indicating that all believer-priests in the coming Church era could fellowship with God in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, Lev. 6:18.
        4. Also, the priest had to tithe a tenth of the meal offering himself, so, like any other party of the people of Israel, he was required to be subject to the Lord, glorifying Him in the Spirit, 6:19-21.
        5. Of special significance is the fact that this offering was to be given perpetually to the Lord, Leviticus 6:20b, 21-23. This taught the need for the priests always depend upon God's Spirit for effective life and service, cf. Gal. 5:16-23.
Lesson: As the grain offering pictured the need for the believer IN Christ to depend upon the Holy Spirit for his life and service to be acceptable and EFFECTIVE to God, the additional instructions on the priest's share of the meal offering added these insights: (a) ALL believers (b) NEED to (c) RELY upon God's indwelling Holy Spirit (d) CONTINUALLY for effective fellowship WITH God, effective service TO God and effective living FOR God. (d) Any sin breaks the effectiveness of his service (leaven), and must be removed by confession for restoration and blessing, 1 John 1:9; 1 Cor. 5:6.

Application: Beyond DEDICATION, we believers must CONTINUALLY RELY upon God's Holy Spirit or our BEST efforts are both futile and unacceptable unto the Lord. If we sin, we must confess it immediately and return to dependence upon God's indwelling Spirit for effective life and service.