Aaron's Blessing (Quality: Good)

[0:00] Will you turn to the book of Numbers and chapter 6. The book of Numbers, the chapter 6 and verses 22 to 27.

[0:15] Numbers chapter 6, 22 to 27. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

[0:35] The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.

[0:46] And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them. Now here are the words of Aaron's blessing, or as it's sometimes called, The Aaronic benediction.

[1:04] With this benediction, the children of Israel, through many generations, were blessed. And in the New Testament sense of these words, The people of God are blessed throughout all ages.

[1:22] May the Lord give us assistance then to look somewhat to these verses this evening. When was it first pronounced over the people?

[1:35] I think that without a doubt it was, as recorded in Leviticus chapter 9, And at the 22nd verse, when the tabernacle having been built according to the specification, Which the Lord showed to Moses on the mount, And the priests set apart and everything in its place, The sacrifices began to be offered, And the worship began to be rendered, As God had appointed it.

[2:07] And in Leviticus chapter 9 verse 22 we read, When the sacrifice had been offered up, as Moses commanded, 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.

[2:27] 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 a fire out 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.

[2:51] I would believe that it was first pronounced on that occasion, But here it is being delivered to Moses, And through Moses to Aaron.

[3:03] The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron. Moses was the mediator, By whom these things were made known to others.

[3:15] Moses communicated the will of God in this matter, As in others, To Aaron, the high priest. And both Moses and Aaron Are typical of Christ, Who is the great mediator between God and men.

[3:35] He is that prophet, A prophet shall the Lord thy God raise up From among your brethren, Like unto me, So Moses in Deuteronomy 18, Speaks to the people of the day of the Messiah.

[3:50] Christ is that great prophet, Who should come and speak the word of God, Which he did, And no man spake as he did. And Christ is that high priest, As we were thinking on Thursday evening, That faithful and merciful high priest, Over the household of God.

[4:12] Our great high priest, Not according to the priests of the old Israel, Aaron and his sons, But a priest forever, After the order of Melchizedek.

[4:26] Christ is the one then that truly blesses. But this word that Moses instructed Aaron, To bless the people in this fashion, This was Aaron standing as a representative of that one who is the great high priest.

[4:46] It was not that Aaron had power to bless. It could only be that Jehovah himself could bless the people. But as the appointed representative, As that priest, In that day before the coming, And the doing, And the dying, And the rising again of our great high priest, Jesus Christ, This blessing, Was the blessing of God through Aaron to the people.

[5:16] Aaron and his sons show that, And when Aaron and his sons have ceased to perform their priestly duties, Now that Christ has come, Now that the veil of the temple is rent in twain from the top to the bottom, It is through those who are believer priests, The believing family of God made every one of us priests unto God in Jesus Christ.

[5:42] It is for us to come offering the sacrifice of praise continually, The fruit of our lips, And seeking to present our bodies as a living sacrifice before God, Which is our reasonable service.

[5:57] And the blessing that we seek as we come in prayer before the Almighty, As a believing priesthood, Is that these great blessings of the covenant of grace, Might be ours for Jesus Christ's sake.

[6:15] There is a perpetuity in that covenant. There was but a limited duration of Aaron and his sons, But there is a never-ceasing priesthood.

[6:27] Of Christ and those that are his, Who has made us kings and priests unto God his Father. To offer service in heaven, And then to go on earth, And then to go to heaven, And there to serve him in the realms above.

[6:44] Well then this is the word that the Lord spake unto Moses, Saying, Speak, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, Saying, On this wise, Ye shall bless the children of Israel.

[6:59] It is the children of Israel, Remember, That are to be blessed. It wasn't the nations. Aaron never went seeking blessings upon the nations. No more does Christ, Who has gone before us, Pray for the world.

[7:13] He prays for his own, Those that the Father has given him. And a great burden of our desire, Is that there might be prayer upon the Israel of God.

[7:24] That there might be those blessings of the covenant, Upon those who are within the scope and sweep, Of that covenant ordered in all things, And sure.

[7:37] So there is to be this blessing of Aaron and his sons, On this wise, Ye shall bless the children of Israel. The blessing was every day, Once the service was instituted.

[7:53] The rabbis could never agree, As to whether in the beginning it was, In the morning and in the evening, Or whether it was only in the morning, Or whether it was only in the evening.

[8:04] That's utterly immaterial. But it was after the sacrifices, That there was the blessing, And without the sacrifices, There could not be the blessing.

[8:16] And even in that which is typical, We see that it is through Christ's priestly work, In the offering of of himself, A sacrifice for many. That he maketh intercession for us now, In the presence of the Father.

[8:31] There must be the shedding of blood, That there might be an excess obtained, In order that by that means, And through the appointed mediator, There might be the bestowings of grace to us.

[8:47] Well, all of these things are certainly, Attendant upon the blessing itself, The benediction that Aaron gives.

[8:59] You know, there are two thoughts, Perhaps I mention this before we proceed, Actually to the three parts of the benediction. There are these two views, That it's a prayer, That these are the words of prayer, For these things to be given.

[9:14] And others say, No, they are the words that intimate, What God will do. They, the, They're in the mouth of Aaron, Not because Aaron has any power to bestow them, But, They are indicative of God's blessings, Upon the people.

[9:30] And I think that there is, Something in both of these views, That's why sometimes I pronounce, The benediction, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God, The communion of the Holy Ghost, Be with you.

[9:45] Other times, I, Come with words of prayer, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God, The communion of the Holy Ghost, Be with us.

[9:57] Aaron needed the blessing, Aaron was but a sinful man, Moses was a sinful man, None that stand forth in the name of the Lord, Are, Is without sin, Each one needs the forgiveness of his own sins, We saw that in Hebrews 5, That those that were taken to be priests, Had to offer for themselves, Seeing that they were compassed, With infirmity themselves.

[10:24] And if, A minister, Conclude a service, And pronounce a benediction, It is only that he is intimating, God's blessings upon his people, That God having, Called his people together, For the Lord calls us to assemble, The Lord having been pleased, To receive worship, Through, The mediatorial work of Christ, God is, Pronouncing his, Good pleasure upon his people, As they take their leave, One of another, There's no virtue in the, Man that pronounces the benediction, When we say, As we do at the door, And we, We have heard, It said even this very day, God bless you, The Lord be with you, It's not that we, Are ourselves of power, To bring this to pass, But it is, Our desire, That they might know these things, In that sense, It's a prayer, The Lord bless you, In other ways, It's our strong conviction, That God having been, With us on the past, God is bound to bless, Because of the love,

[11:26] That he's commended towards us, And because we, Meet in his son's, Great name, So we don't want to come into, Legal bondage, On whether we should, Pray the benediction, Or pronounce the benediction, As the Lord, Leads in the matter, Let that, Ever be, The pattern for us, We cannot say, That anything, That we will always do it, Just the way we did it, The last time, Spiritual things, Are not, Proceeded with, Along these lines, We've not got liturgy, We haven't got a form, We do not go through a rubric, We do not read our sermons, We are those, That are, Open to the leadings, Of the Lord, In every matter, And so it should be, And so we desire, That it ever will be, But we are, Whether we are, Pronouncing these words, Or praying, That these things, Shall come to pass, We have got, Matter here, That will, Give us, Great comfort, If God open, Up to us, The nature of the, The benediction,

[12:29] Of Aaron, In these verses, So let us, Look, Now, At verses 24, And through to the end, The Lord, The Lord bless thee, And keep thee, The Lord make his face, Shine upon thee, And be gracious unto thee, The Lord lift up his countenance, Upon thee, And give thee peace, And they shall put my name, Upon the children of Israel, And I will bless them, The last verse is, Another statement, An establishing of the ground, Of the blessing, But the blessing itself, Verses 24, 25, And 26, You see that it's a threefold blessing, There are three clauses, In this blessing, Corresponding to the, Verses, Before us in the text, And each, Is complete, In itself, But each, Complete verse, Is made up, Do you notice, Of two parts, The Lord bless thee,

[13:30] Is the first, And keep thee, The Lord make his face, Shine upon thee, And be gracious unto thee, The Lord lift up his countenance, Upon thee, And give thee peace, You notice that there is an order, There is a pattern, Here, There is something, That is important to notice here, In the first, Part of the benediction, That is in verse 24, There are three words, In the original Hebrew, And then in the second, Corresponding to the 25th verse, There are five words, And in that which corresponds, To verse 26, There are seven words, And those that have studied, These matters, They tell us that, The intention of this, Was that there is a gradual, Building up, The blessing which is short, Becomes greater, Until it becomes, At its greatest extent, In that last, Verse,

[14:31] There is a sense, In which there is, Almost like the breaking, Of a wave, In each, In each part, Of the benediction, A statement, Followed by another, And there is, The building up, Of these waves, Until there is, That great swell, Of benediction, And these things, Show us, The wonder of the scripture, These things show us, The greatness of our God, The very words, Of holy scripture, Are significant, That's why we have such, A high regard, For our Bible, That's why we are so, Jealous, Lest there be those, That take, A faithful translation, Of the scripture, From us, These things, Are significant things, Do you think, These things, Are coincidental things, Do you think, That these things, Are just there, By chance, I don't believe it, For a moment, All scripture is given, By inspiration, Of God, And the God, Who has inspired, The sacred writers, Inspired, Those to whom,

[15:33] He gave his word, As he gave it to Moses, And through Moses, To Aaron, And what is preserved, For us, Is exactly what God, Means, To be preserved, So we see, There is this, This movement, There is the steady, Increasing, Flow of blessing, As the words, Were uttered, And as the words, Become, The sentences, Become longer, In the benediction, So there is that, Ending on a, A great swell of praise, The Lord, Lift up his countenance, Upon thee, Now there is another matter, That is very significant, And completely, Corroborates, What I've just said, About the, Wonder of inspiration, And that is, In the word, Lord, Jehovah, That is, In these three, Verses, Jehovah, Bless thee, And keep thee, Jehovah, Make his face, Shine upon thee, And be gracious unto thee, Jehovah, Lift up, His countenance upon thee, And give thee,

[16:33] Peace, Now each time, In the Hebrew, We find, We find that, There is a slightly, Different, Accenting, Of the word, And the, All Jewish rabbis, Have never been able, To give any explanation, Of these, Differences, These slight distinctions, In the, Three uses, Of the word, Jehovah, And yet, They have to admit, That there is something, Different about them, There's a mystery here, They say, Now we know, The answer to that, The answer is plain, To every, Bible believing, Child of God, The words, Are slightly, Different in the, Accenting, In the original, Because there were, Distinctions, That God intended, To be made, Distinctions, Corresponding, To the persons, Of the Godhead, Jehovah, The father, Jehovah, The son, Jehovah, The holy spirit, There is a foreshadowing,

[17:34] Of the Trinity here, What I say, You will find, Is corroborated, If you want to give, Study yourself, To the matter, In the, The best, Commentaries, That you can, Obtain, On the, The text of Numbers, You will find, That there are these, Differences, According to my, Limited and fast fading, Knowledge of Hebrew, I looked it up for myself, There are these, Slight differences, Why should there be, These differences?

[18:02] Except it were, That almighty God, Was pleased to show, That within, The oneness of deity, Hear, O Israel, The Lord, Thy God is, One God, But yet, There are these, Distinctions, Jehovah, The father, Jehovah, The son, Jehovah, The holy spirit, And that which is so, Parallel in a fashion, To, To this in the new testament, To, Corinthians 3, 14, You see the persons, Of the Godhead, The love, Of, The grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, The love of God, The communion, Of the Holy Ghost, These, You see, Are the distinctions, These belong, To the very, Essence of blessing, If God blesses, It's a triune blessing, It's a triune blessing, It's not the father blessing, Without the understanding, Or awareness, Of the son, Or of the spirit, These blessed persons, Of the Godhead, In the matters of our salvation, Are as one,

[19:03] As they are one in all things, As they are one in essence, And yet they are these separate persons, So each performs a specific task, In the work of salvation, And yet they are one in their intention, One in the glory, That they should receive, So in this light, We shall, Look at the benediction, Now in, These, Verses, 24, 25, And 26, Although I observe another matter, Oh, When one, Comes to the word of God, The things that, Reach one, You see the, See the, The force of it, The Lord bless thee, And keep thee, Thee is singular, But the, Aaronic benediction, Was to the, Was to the whole of Israel, On this wise, Ye shall bless the children of Israel, Plural, And yet they, Who are plural, As a, As a, As a collective, Are blessed individually, They are blessed,

[20:05] In this individual, Sense, And, And, Again, You see, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, As, All without exception speak of you.

[20:26] The Lord bless you and keep you. If the Lord bless thee singular in the Hebrew and keep thee. If God was pleased to make it singular in the Hebrew it ought to be singular in the English language.

[20:39] And the thou's and the these are a very wonderful way in order to preserve these distinctions. And may we preserve them too. They're so important to accuracy and important to reverence.

[20:54] As we come before God. This is a wonderful thought. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord bless you and you and you and you and all the people of Israel.

[21:06] That are the people of his choice. That which is spoken collectively is individually applied. What a wonderful thing that is. Just as we are called individually.

[21:17] God hasn't saved us as a group. He could have done it and he willed to do it. He could have altered the whole system of things. But he chose not to do it. And what his wisdom settled upon we believe to be that which is the very best.

[21:33] And God honouring and glorifying system it could possibly be. And he chooses that we should be in an appointed time and lightly ways. And in a way that the sovereignty is shown to be of God and the glory is altogether his.

[21:51] This is how he brings his people. One here. One there. One in a family. One in a home. One in a workplace. Why it should be.

[22:02] Why in me oh Lord. We continually come back to that question. But so it is. And his blessings are as individual as that also. He doesn't say well here's a blessing for all at Salem.

[22:14] He blesses the church at Salem. And the congregation at Salem. But it's an individual blessing. It is appropriate to each individual's particular need. Your need and my need.

[22:27] What a truth it is. And what we see in the word of God. Individual participation. Loving relationship to the singular. As those of you know that study or have done anything in modern languages.

[22:39] You know in such a language as French that the singular is the language of affection. You don't use the plural when you speak of the one you love.

[22:49] You don't say je vous aime. It's je t'aime. I love you. And it is the language of affection here that we have. In the blessing. It is the individual blessing of each one.

[23:01] I have loved thee with an everlasting love. All the depths of the word of God. On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel.

[23:14] Plural. But you shall say unto them. Plural. The Lord bless thee. Singular. Bless thee as individuals. Well then what is the first?

[23:26] Now in the 24th verse. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. It is the benediction of the Father. Here is the language of love. The Father loving us.

[23:37] Corresponding to 2 Corinthians 13 verse 14. The love of God. The love of God. That is the love of God the Father. This is the language of love as I have said.

[23:48] And who is the great lover of our souls? Oh Christ has loved us. Bless his holy name. He has loved us. Washed us from our sins in his own blood.

[24:00] The Spirit of God loves us. But all the Father's love is singled out for us in a wonderful way. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

[24:12] That whosoever believeth upon him should not perish but have everlasting life. Herein is love not that we love God but that he loved us.

[24:24] You think of Ephesians and the opening of it. Here is blessings. We are in the area of the benediction. The blessednesses of God.

[24:34] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.

[24:53] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. According to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

[25:09] The Father whose love was set upon the beloved his son has willed that that love that same love wherewith he loves the son should be set upon the people that he has chosen to be his people.

[25:22] And what we see then in the benediction is that the great fountainhead of blessing is Jehovah's covenant love. The covenant love of Jehovah is the ground of every blessing that comes to us.

[25:39] The Lord bless thee and keep thee. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us. Now we count up the blessings so often in material terms.

[25:50] We've been blessed with the good gifts, the food and drink and shelter and all the necessities of this life and many a comfort. But remember that the spiritual blessings are even greater than the temporal blessings.

[26:05] We have the temporal blessings because of the spiritual love of God towards us. Because he loves our souls. Because he would have us through all eternity.

[26:16] He undertakes to keep us in our bodily needs and provide for us. But the spiritual blessings are the blessings above all that we seek. Are you seeking spiritual blessings?

[26:28] Here is the Aaronic benediction then. The Lord bless thee. Jehovah the Father bless thee. And what is the specific thing that is brought out in the Aaronic benediction?

[26:41] The Lord bless thee and keep thee. Oh what a mercy to be kept. We are kept by the power of God unto salvation. Do we not see the Lord before the cross of shame?

[26:54] Do we not see him bowing to the Father in the great prayer of John chapter 17? And do we not see that he is praying this very thing in the 11th verse?

[27:07] Keep through thine own name those that thou hast given me. While I was with them in the world I kept them. But now as he goes by suffering to the cross and to the tomb.

[27:21] And previous to the resurrection and the ascension. His charge is that the Father might keep them. Holy Father keep them in thy name. Keep them.

[27:32] That they all may be one that thou hast given me. I and them. And here is the keeping. Kept by the power of God.

[27:44] Do we need to be kept? Is that not the greatest of all blessings? That he's kept us out of hell. When we were in the state of nature. When we were oft times just a hair's breadth from death.

[27:59] We were not brought to death. Or had we died? We would have died in our sins. And after death, judgment. When others perished around us. We were kept.

[28:09] We were kept. We were kept by God's love upon us. And we will be kept. And until the time comes for us to exchange earth for heaven. Where are the spirits of just men made perfect?

[28:22] We shall be kept. That's the blessing of the Father. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. He loves his people great and small. He won't be parted from any of those that are his.

[28:37] And here is the blessing. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. Do you feel that you need to be kept? I do. I feel I need to be kept in this pulpit.

[28:49] I need to be kept stepping down from it. I need to be kept every moment of the day and night. The more I go on, the more I feel I need to be kept. Kept by the power of God.

[29:01] Unto salvation. Ready to be revealed in the last time. He is a keeping God. A loving God. A gracious God. He has loved us and adopted us. And predestinated us to be his children in Christ Jesus.

[29:16] He has done all this out of love. He will keep us. The perseverance of the saints. How is it that you can come across those that deny the perseverance of the saints.

[29:27] That feel that God has not power to keep. Surely there must be an inadequate view of grace. To bring a man to Christ. If that grace can be forfeited.

[29:38] It's the will of the flesh you see. It's not the will of God. Where there's the will of God. Nothing can undo it. When he is willed that they shall be mine. They shall be his.

[29:49] What sort of God is he that wills from eternity? A people to be his. And loses them in time. And they're missing in the day of days. There will be none missing.

[29:59] They will be kept. Everyone will be kept. We will be kept. You feel you can't keep yourself. My friend I assure you you can't keep yourself. You never could and you never will be able to keep yourself.

[30:12] But the benediction that Aaron pronounced. And the benediction which is in these blessed words. And they're a blessing just to have these words apart from anything else.

[30:23] Is that the Lord bless thee. And keep thee. He will do it. He's able to bless and he's able to keep. In that he keeps us he blesses.

[30:35] In that he blesses us he keeps us. And then we turn to the 25th verse. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. Here's the realm of grace brought out.

[30:46] And who is the one that particularly we connect with grace? It's the dear Savior Jesus Christ. It's the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

[31:05] Oh here is the making of his face to shine upon us. If the Lord doesn't make his face shine upon us. Then there is a darkness.

[31:17] And it is a darkness that will never be lifted by anything that we can do. If we remain in the darkness which is ours by nature.

[31:27] We will go in the end to the place of an everlasting darkness. Except there be this difference made. That there is one that will make his face shine upon us.

[31:42] You know the verse in 2nd Corinthians 4. It's so opposite to this. Where it says God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Has shined into our hearts.

[31:56] To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Christ is the light that's shining. We have been made to look to things of light.

[32:07] We were those that were dark by nature. Darkness naturally suits us. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. But there has been a shining of light.

[32:19] And we have been made to come to that light. It's shining. The day of mercy is the day when the light burns forth.

[32:29] And we've been made to know it. And how have we been made to know it? In the face of Jesus Christ. It is the Lord that makes his face shine upon us.

[32:43] It is Christ as he is seen in the gospel by the sinner wrought upon by the Holy Spirit. It is Christ that brings light. The sun of righteousness arising with healing in his beams.

[32:57] Oh to have known that. Can you say tonight I must ever ask the question. Never assume that we've known something of the rising of the sun of righteousness upon us. That we have known the light shining into the darkness of our hearts.

[33:11] The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Only the Lord can do this. The Lord says here and make his face shine upon thee.

[33:23] No man can make that light shine. No man can do it. No religion on earth that is originated in the flesh can make this light shine.

[33:33] Only Jehovah can make it. Only the God that made light in the beginning to shine forth in the creation can make light shine in the dark recesses of a sinner's heart.

[33:48] Only he that made the world can make a Christian. And this is the theology of the verse. This benediction is stiff with content. And full of gospel truth.

[34:00] The Lord make his face to shine upon thee. I came across a sermon by Philpott preached in 1852 in London on this text. We have as much power says Philpott to stretch forth our hand and sweep away the mists.

[34:16] As we have power with the same hand to sweep away a London fog. We have as much power with our hand to sweep away the mists of sin and darkness. As to sweep away with the same hand a London fog.

[34:29] Do you know the making of light to shine where there was only darkness? And though at times there is the return to the darkness.

[34:40] And though it seems that we as children of heaven, ears of heaven, seem to be walking in the darkness. Yet it's not that darkness. Not that utter darkness. And we're not looking to self-originated sparks of light to give us hope.

[34:57] We're those that look to the Lord and stay ourselves upon our God and trust in him. Trust in his name. This is the benediction.

[35:08] This pertains to you and to me individually. It's to the Israel of God but it is to every individual believer. The Lord bless thee and keep thee.

[35:18] The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. Grace is the key to the gospel. You can't have a gospel where there's no grace. If you haven't got sovereign grace you haven't got a gospel worth preaching.

[35:32] Sovereign grace is the gospel. It proclaims salvation all of grace. Salvation to those that deserve it not. Salvation to those lost and ruined by the fall.

[35:45] Salvation in the blood and in the righteousness of Christ. At a meeting on Monday some of us were out. There was a question asked. Could you define grace? Whatever definition you come to of the word grace.

[35:59] You've got to bring in the word unmerited. That which is undeserved. It's undeserved favor. The favor of Christ. Christ loving the church and giving himself for it.

[36:11] Those that were so undeserving of it. Those that were mockers. Those that were scorners. Those that had nothing to commend them towards God. Yet these are the objects of his love.

[36:25] And these are the people of Christ's heart. And they are upon his heart as he comes and toils for them in establishing a righteousness. And in the way that he hung and suffered and bled and died.

[36:40] That's grace. And the application of it is grace. And the benefits that are continually accruing to us as Christ. A full Christ dispenses favors upon us.

[36:51] They're the favors of grace. Grace for grace of his fullness of all we received. Grace for grace. Grace every day to our very last day.

[37:04] And no lack of grace in our last day. Grace through Jesus Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in the 26th verse there is the third element of the benediction.

[37:21] The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. The longest of the sentences. Is this not the benediction of the Holy Ghost? You say you can't distinguish between the 25th verse and the 26th.

[37:37] The Lord make his face shine upon thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee. You can't see a difference. Oh there's a difference. You think that God would put the same thing down.

[37:49] And not make a difference. Of course there's a difference. When we countenance something we approve that thing. It is speaking of communion.

[38:00] It is speaking of fellowship. When the child has been what he shouldn't have been. There's become an estrangement. There is a fallen countenance.

[38:15] He looks down. He won't look you in the eye. And because of the estrangement that's there. And because he's not yet come to own up. Or to say he's sorry. You won't look upon him as you do.

[38:27] And there won't be the smile. And there won't be the kiss. That perhaps he is looking for. But when the matter has been sorted out.

[38:37] And when there is a forgiveness. And when there is no obstacle anymore. Then there is that lifting up of the countenance. He can look up and smile.

[38:48] And you will look again in favour upon him. And so it is with God. When we're in that place of sin. And backsliding.

[38:59] That so often we fall into. And when we know that something has come between us. And the face of our God. We feel that there's the hiding of his face. We feel that if he isn't hiding his face.

[39:10] We are hiding our face. As Adam did. Adam hiding himself from God. In the trees of the garden. Because he knew what he had done.

[39:21] Have we not often been in that place. And there is that breach between us. And the devil would prize it apart for all eternity. If he had power to do it. Thank God he hasn't. He would make us on the grounds of our backsliding.

[39:35] To feel our cases hopeless and lost. But the truth of the matter is this. That there is the lifting up of his countenance.

[39:46] The Lord lift up his countenance upon me. The Lord does it. He does it you see. He will unilaterally do it. Because with his chastening rod.

[39:57] He will bring us to that place. Where there is a lesson learned. And we've been the mute Christian under the smarting rod. And we've learned now. To make no excuses for ourselves.

[40:08] But to kiss the Lord. The rod. And him. And know. Why he has appointed it to us. And accept. And become submissive to his wisdom.

[40:19] In the chastening we've received. And he lifts up. His countenance again. Upon us. Or we may be in something. And we feel that men. Are against us.

[40:29] But we feel we're in the path. That God has appointed. And the thing then is. That we will have the countenance of the Lord. Lifted up upon us. And if God's countenance is lifted up upon us.

[40:41] It doesn't matter the frowning faces of men. And all their opposition. And all their terrors. This is what it means. It is speaking then of communion. Not surprisingly.

[40:54] Then we have into Corinthians 13-14. The communion of the Holy Ghost. Jehovah the Holy Spirit. Is the one that brings us into fellowship.

[41:05] He is the communicator. He is that one that brings. The blessings of Christ in salvation. To our experience. The favor of God from all eternity.

[41:16] To us in the present. It's the spirit of God. That brings these things to us. It's the spirit who's grieved. By our sinfulness. And our backsliding. And when we resist him. And when we quench him.

[41:28] But there will be in the true child of God. Always that chastening rod. And will be brought again. The way to avoid. Too frequent applications of the rod.

[41:39] Is to seek to walk tenderly before him. To do the first works. To be those that continually seek. To live in his fear. And in constant communion with him.

[41:51] But there will always be the lifting up. Of his countenance upon his people. And does it not speak of assurance. We want assurance that we are the children of God.

[42:02] Our sins have come between us in God. We feel estranged from God. We doubt whether we can be the children of God. Or for a lifting up of his face. And it's in this benediction.

[42:13] And if it's a prayer. Then you're praying that he will grant you this assurance. Lift up his countenance upon you. And give you peace.

[42:23] And if it's a gospel pronouncement. Then it's this. That to those who are his. His countenance will be lifted up. And they will be the recipients of his peace.

[42:35] And this is the fruit of the spirit. Love. Joy. And peace. And that peace of reconciliation. Reconciled to God by the blood of his dear son.

[42:47] The spirit's business is to show us that. The spirit's business is to fix us upon the finished work of Christ. And the more we're brought to him. We're unworthy. Philpott says in his sermon.

[43:00] And worthiness fell with Adam in the garden. And not one of the Lord's people has ever been worthy since then. We're not coming on the basis of our works or our worthiness at any time.

[43:13] We're coming on the basis of grace. And the spirit of God will lift up his countenance upon us. When we're brought to the place of trust and faith in the dear Redeemer.

[43:26] Jesus Christ. To look to him. It's the spirit's work to bring us there. Therefore he is lifted up upon us. He's returned to us. That sweet messenger of rest.

[43:37] When we hate the sins that made him mourn and drove him from our breast. When we look to Christ. When we're listening to the word of the Lord as we're listening to no one else's word on earth.

[43:48] Whatever he saith unto you. Do it. Do it. It's the spirit of God then in the third element of the benediction.

[43:58] The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.

[44:10] Peace to the Hebrew was more than the absence of war. For it was all the blessings and the favours of God. It's Spurgeon that brings the point out on this. That when you go through all this chain.

[44:23] You come at the end to peace. Which is the great summary of blessings in experience. To have peace. To have peace with God. To live at peace with God.

[44:34] To know Christ's peace in our hearts. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid.

[44:44] To have that peace. It's worth thousands and millions in the bank. And those that lack it can't buy thousands and millions in the bank. Purchase it. It's Christ's gift.

[44:55] It's his bequest. To his people. Now the last verse and I'm done. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel. And I will bless them.

[45:06] I will put my name upon thee. They shall put my name upon the children of Israel. It's because of this that all these things that we've been looking at are realities to us.

[45:20] It's because God has willed it. He is the eternal shalms and wills of the covenant. It's because of these. It's because God has willed it. It's because God has willed it. It's because God has willed it. It's because God has willed it. To put his name upon a people of his choice.

[45:33] That Father, Son and Holy Spirit are so full of blessings. And so graciously disposed towards us.

[45:44] I will put my name upon thee. And here is the sure reason, you see, that we will be kept. When you put your name on something, you're reserving it.

[45:55] There's a large purchase which you can't take home with you. So you put your name on it. Or in the store, they put your name on it. And it's reserved for you. You've bought it.

[46:05] It's your purchase. And upon the church of the Redeemer, those given to his Son to keep and into whose hands their salvation was placed and he has obtained it for them.

[46:19] And God has put his church. He has caused them to be redeemed with that precious blood of his Son. They belong to God. They belong to Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

[46:31] Perhaps we would say in the economy of salvation, they belong to the one whose blood was shed to purchase them. They are his. He won't be parted from them. What sort of Christ would he be?

[46:43] His name upon those and his blood having sealed the purchase. What sort of Christ would he be to let them go? To let others claim them and take them? The devil says they're mine.

[46:54] They've got my name by nature upon them. Ah, but we've got a higher name by grace upon us. That's our hope. That's our assurance. And it's because we have that name of God in the covenant upon us.

[47:08] That possession being guaranteed. There is no coming short of the glory that is before us. They shall put my name upon the children of Israel.

[47:22] And I will bless them. I will bless them. The God whose name is upon them will bless them. The God whose name is upon them cannot do else but bless them.

[47:35] Those who are the children of Israel. That's the spiritual seed remember as we've seen recently on Thursdays. This is not the natural descendants merely. The spiritual blessings are for the spiritual seed.

[47:49] And the spiritual blessings are the true blessings of the Father in the covenant. They are for those upon whom his name is settled. And he says, and I will bless them.

[48:00] And no one can stop him blessing them. And they can lock us up as they've done some in past days. And they can torture. And they can jeer. And they can mock.

[48:12] And they can put to death. But they cannot alter the blessings of God one whit. And they will be blessed. And their tormentors will be damned.

[48:22] And there are curses as well as blessings. Remember that. But he will bless those upon whom his name is placed.

[48:33] When God says, I will, it's immutable. It is the word of omnipotence. It will be brought to pass. I will bless them. Not even their own unbelieving hearts will prevent them being blessed.

[48:46] They will be blessed. And blessed with all the favors of a triune God. Well, may the Lord enable us to respond.

[48:56] Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. But if you creatures will not praise him. Then we will seek to do it this very night.

[49:09] Praising Father, Son and Holy Ghost. He shall bless the children of Israel saying unto them. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious.

[49:22] unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee. And give thee peace. God grant it. Amen.

[49:32] Amen.