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Aaron, Between the Living and Dead By Paris Reidhead* I suggest you open your Bibles again to Numbers Chapter 16 and 17. By way of introduction, I read one verse from the little epistle written by Jude, the epistle of Jude the 11th verse: Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. Now these things are written for our ensamples. They are written that we might be warned that we might see what God has done in the past in reference to man’s sin. You see God only needs to speak once and it is said. You do not need to suppose that His mind is changed about the sin of lying to the Holy Ghost, because everyone since the time of Ananias and Sapphira has not been smitten dead on the occasion. (Acts 5:1-11) And all of those who have usurped the place of God and taken to themselves that which belongs Holy to the Lord to disturb and to minister as He wills not been dealt with as was Korah and the 250 of the Reubenites. We want to remember that if God says once it is sin. His mind doesn’t change, His attitude doesn’t change, this is what He thinks about that which He has dealt with. So we find ourselves facing now the rebellion of Korah the rebellion of Israel. Lead by Korah. Now you find his name figuring in that portion that I have read, because he is the Levite. The others were of the tribe of Ruben. He was related by virtue of tribe and privilege to Aaron. Actually Korah, Dathan and Abiram had nothing in common, but their hatred of Moses and Aaron. The only thing that united them. And in this of course you can see a little shadow of the time that is to come when the One Aaron and Moses typified the Lord Jesus is to find a religious conspiracy led by the Levities mind you, by the Pharisees, and the Sadducees gathering the people together against Him. Isn’t it interesting the little ‘by the way’ that you find that this day when Pilate gave Christ over for crucifixion was the day that Pilate and Herod had resume fellowship. They had been on the outs with each other. But they met together in their mutual dealings with Christ. And it is strange also to find the fact that in this conspiracy you have the Levites, you have the Pharisees, and the Sadducees conspiring together against Christ. So in this that you have here when Korah leads the rebellion in the tribe of Rueben. And draws this company, stirs their hearts and causes them to feel as they do against Moses and against Aaron. You have a picture of what is going to happen in to the Lord Jesus centuries later. We must bear in mind that in Proverbs Chapter 6 tells us there are six things that the Lord hates you might like to turn to it, verse 16-19, there are six things that the Lord hates: then is says, “yea, seven is an abomination unto him:” literally. So six things God hates and the seventh God abominates. And do you see what it is? Hatred has added to it, added expression of abomination, hatred carries to extreme degree as you find here, “He that soweth discord among brethren” this had been the nefarious purpose of Korah. (Pro. 6:19) Leading this rebellion for the sake of his own advantage. We find nothing in the Scripture to bear this out, but with some insight into human nature you rather feel this man Korah was jealous of Aaron and wanted to take the office of high priest to himself. If he could create dissatisfaction and disaffection in the mist of the people it would give him leverage for his own wick ambition. We find that Korah, as we read on, had argued fallaciously against Moses and Aaron and this also must be remembered by you lest you should fall into a kindred snare. It was true of our Lord Jesus. When you read the accusations that are brought against Christ you are amazed to find that about half of the things that were said were true. For instance they said “He said He was a king.” (John 18:37) Well He did. He was a king. And He claims sovereignty over all the kings. But that His kingdom was not of the world, which Herod and Pilate reigned wasn’t brought up. That His was a heavenly kingdom, to which all earthly mortal sovereigns must ultimately bow, wasn’t put in. So what they said was true. Then they accused Him of saying “He would tear the Temple down, if it were torn down rather, it would be built in three days.” (John 2:19) Now He did. He said that. Of course, He was referring to the temple of His body, which men would destroy by means of the cross and God would raise from the dead. They of course literally applied it to Herod’s Temple, saying, “This man is a fool. He is foolish.” He say, It took Herod forty years to build it and He says He is going to do it in three days. How can you trust anything that comes from a mind so completely out of contacted with the reality that is His. They never faced the main issue they never entered into it. You see the problem actually was this; they were the leaders of the religious systems of the day. Everything hinged upon them they were the ones accepted by the people. Now as we have seen of the Pharisees in the past they were fundamental in their theology, they were evangelistic in their zeal, missionary in their fervor, they were devout in their purpose. They had everything but salvation. Everything but salvation. Now the Lord Jesus comes and He says, What you have as good as it is isn’t enough. And I am the only one that can give you what is enough therefore if you do not take what I have and what I am, you shall perish in your sins. Obviously, when the Pharisees found out what Christ had they either had to seek it or to kill Him. But they never brought the issues up. They never said we’re afraid of this man because of His teaching continues it’s going to show that we been blind leaders of the blind and that we are not to be trusted as speaking for God and that all this great monument that is here this great religious system of which we are so proud is the product of our own energies and our own intelligence and we refuse thus to be branded. And so away with Him, crucify Him. The real issue is never faced going back to Korah you will recall he said, “You took us out of the land that flowed with milk and honey.” (Num. 16:13) They had forgotten in these few brief years that they were slaves down there. And there it flowed with milk and honey, but they didn’t get it you know. They only had the leeks and the garlic. And they had to glean for themselves. The milk and the honey went to someone else, but in retrospect everything looks lovely. How amazing it is that people prayed to be delivered from something and a few months later they can’t wait to get back. Groan and agonized in travailed to somehow escape from the very thing and few months later they are weeping to return to. That’s what has happened here. Distance makes everything look more attractive than it is. Thus we find that it’s true. Where they are wilderness what they are eating is manna and they drink water from the rock. It is true everything that Korah said in this regard is true. “You haven’t brought us into this land that you promised us.” (Num. 16:14) Obviously, that’s right. They’re in the wilderness. Now the fact that he ignores that they were in the wilderness because of the sin of such men as Korah. The unbelief and the disobedience and the rebellion, but Korah argued with a certain measure of truth. The most dangerous kind of argument is the one that is about 50% truth content in it. And you will recall this was exactly what Satan did to Eve. “The day you eat you won’t die.” (Gen. 3:5) Well, God said “they would die.” (Gen. 2:17) Did they die, no. They didn’t die physically the food wasn’t poisonous, which was implied in the statement or nor was there a sudden smiting of them by some bolt of lightning from God. As there was in the case, incidentally, of Korah. But they did die physically for death became the principle of life. Then they died legally, they died spiritually and they came under the sentence of eternal death. But there was just enough truth in it to make it dangerous. And almost invariably you will find when someone comes to you, you know, the gossip monger that has the wears to petal will come to you the fact of the matter is almost invariably when that is done there is an element of truth in that, an element of truth, but the whole truth rightly viewed is so entirely different. Thus Korah successful in going to Ruben and this tribe of people and raising this insurrection, because of the twisted facts. Now Moses had no other alternative than to present the matter to God. He said the Lord is going to have to settle this issue. Do you know there are great many things that no one can settle but God? A great many problems that nothing can settle but time. A great many questions can’t be answered except just by waiting. Just by waiting. And Moses could have spent a great deal of time trying to prove that he was right and true and fair and just in God’s servant, but he would have he would have been squandering life substance in doing. He didn’t raise a voice he said you have sinned against the Lord and I’m going to present the matter to the Lord and we’re going to see whether or not you were telling the truth or whether would I or whether I am God’s servant and I am here by His appointment. And it was of course that same thing that the Lord Jesus Christ did. He didn’t argue with His accusers. He didn’t debate with them. He didn’t try to prove by logic and semantics that they were wrong and He was right. He simply committed His case to the Father and left it there. The Father would prove it. It was just today that I was glancing through a periodical and I saw that Maximiliano the Emperor of Mexico, said, “We can send our armies we can and conquer our nations we can reigns and rule, but there is one thing we can’t do we can’t alter the evaluation that history will place upon us.” Well, this is exactly what happens you can’t change what history is going to place over you and upon you. And the Lord Jesus Christ didn’t, He simply committed the matter to the Father and said now Father, God You must settle this. This is something that only you can solve and only You can answer and only You can settle. And the Lord Jesus committed Himself to God as a faithful keeper of all that He had come to do. And He was as you know gloriously raised from the dead. Attesting everything that He said to be true and everything that He has prophecy would certainly come to pass. Now the strange thing is that Korah and his company were actually sinning against themselves. They were trying to hurt Moses their purpose was to injury Aaron. Their desire was somehow to accomplish their own ends and aims. But all they were doing was hurting themselves for they brought fire upon themselves. They brought judgment upon themselves. Someone said just recently to me if you’re right you can afford to wait. It is the man who isn’t right that is so anxious to be proved that he is. Moses had no necessity proving he knew. He knew what God taught him. He knew what God had said. And so he knew that Korah and these were simply sinning against themselves, hurting themselves, bringing fire upon themselves. Therefore, we find in this rebellion of Korah dangers which confront every one of us and temptations that we all will sooner or later encounter. First your temptation is going to be to have confused motivations and seek to get something for yourself that is only in the hand of the Lord to bring, “promotion cometh not from the east or the west, but from the Lord” (Psa. 75:6,7) And it is therefore imperative that the wise man totally commit himself to the Lord and trust the Lord to do it, because if it isn’t done by Him there is no use, no reason for it to be done at all. The second thing is that one can very likely listen to that which is going be confused, distort and misrepresent. If you can bear in mind that there are two sides to the question that you needn’t unthink for a moment that anyone who speaks speaks primarily objectivity, but there is in the speaking an intension to communicate an opinion. Objectivity is a rare gift seldom come by and infrequently found. And therefore the wise person is going to reserve judgment, listen and say there is another side to this, another side to it. Think of the destruction that came to Ruben because they listened to gainsaying of Korah. Who was speaking so he could gain something by it. How perfectly obnoxious it is, how nauseating it is, to find people that are so prepared at times in your course of your wondering through life, prepare to believe the worst about everybody. If you can simply recognize there are two sides to the problem, two aspects to the question and the one that is reporting is only giving one point of view. Going to preserve you and protect you from the kind of difficulty in to which Korah came. But now we need to see just a few things regarding Aaron’s relationship to Israel. For he is the one against whom Korah came. The priesthood of Aaron typified the priesthood of Jesus Christ which was bestowed upon Him by his Father in His human nature. Our Lord as you know was a priest not of the tribe of Levi for he was of Judah. But he was given a priesthood according to not Levi, but Melchisedec. Melchisedec was a king and a priest. (Heb. 7:14-17) We see therefore that when Aaron stands before Israel, he is representing Christ. He is revealing what to Israel something of the function of that Christ will have to Israel and to us. Therefore, when you accept this truth that Aaron typifies Christ then you shall have to accept that what is done to Aaron is a picture of what is going to done to Christ, as we have already pointed out. Thus the revolt of Korah was actually a foretelling, a foreshadowing of the refusal of Israel to have Christ to be high priest over them. By the way you might to go just a step further, the destruction of Korah is a picture of the destruction that came to the enemies of Jesus Christ, who refused to bow and bend to that revelation that God in Christ. You think of the fact that as “He stood there, a living generation of men said His blood be upon us and upon our children.” (Matt. 27:25) And you know that is was only about thirty-five or forty years after that forty years (for forty is the number of judgment) that Titus succeeded Vespasian. There is the general putting down the insurrection in Jerusalem. And the armies came against the city, the fortified city of Jerusalem and it is just exactly what they said of the temple. Christ prophesied there won’t be one stone remaining upon another, because as the place was set a flame the gold vessels and the implements in the temple melted and the gold ran down between the blocks of stone and the soldiers in their greed came with their huge bars of iron and press it apart. And Jerusalem was... the temple was complete destroyed. And it is said that when this happened there were so many crosses in the vicinity (virorens) in Jerusalem at the time of its destruction that Josephus said, “There wasn’t room to raise another cross.” And this to a generation to whom God patiently gave witness of the church in its pristine glory and power and the whole and thrust of the church in all the demonstration of the resurrection victory of Christ. But forty years is the number of judgment. And so you see in that which happen to Korah to Israel some foreshadowing of what actually took place. Now if you’ll have in type and in picture this that is accomplished certainly you can rest assured that when it speaks of the fact that in that day Christ shall come with angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that no not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. That every prophecy that has been made will be fulfilled with the same degree of accuracy and thoroughness. Thus we find that Christ is represented here by Aaron. Korah and Ruben represent Israel and rebels of all the ages who will come against Him. Now I wouldn’t dwell too long upon that which you have read the actual facts. I want you to acquaint yourselves with the character and ministry of Aaron. For if he is as we have pointed out the picture of Christ our desire tonight is to see Him. First thing I want you to know about Aaron so obvious in this that he was a lover of the people. And so was the Lord Jesus Christ. In the case of Aaron, the people were envious against him. They were jealous of him. They hated him. We find them conspiring to over throw him. Take him from the position that he had not sought for himself, but God had given him. They had sinned by their murmurings, by their complaining, by their evil thoughts, by their vicious words and by their determination to take and destroy him. They deserved judgment. God had pronounced judgment upon sinners He has said, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” and surely these were a people that deserved all of what God’s wrath could do. (Eze. 18:20a) They were living in the presents of the miraculous. They were living under the pillar of cloud. They were living in the column of fire. They were living where God was. They had absolutely no reason for this save the ambition and vanity and iniquity of their hearts. They were under judgment. Aaron was the one that was offended. And yet you find that Aaron is the one that saved Israel. Oh, what a measure of love. What a picture of love is this man, who had the whole congregation gather together the day after Korah and the two hundred fifty had been swallowed by the earthquake there they are a throng of people. A mob of people. A leaderless company of enraged wick men standing there calling as it were for his blood. And Aaron loves them, the unlovely, and the unlovable. Those that have set out to destroy him. And yet when the plague began to move, Aaron at the first word from Moses picks up the censor and runs into the midst of the people any one of which was vicious enough to have hurt and injury him. He thus gave evidence that he did indeed love the unlovely the very people he was saving by the endangering of himself were the people that hated him. And sought to take from him that ministry which God had given him. Aaron exposed himself the avenging justice God. He put himself right out there where the wrath was moving and anger was enforce. Where God’s thrust of justice was moving. He ran. Oh you can see in this lovely running. Can’t you see him? With the heavy robes, the mitre, the Urim, the Thummim all that was there. The gold, the pomegranates everything in his ceremonial robes. And yet when there comes danger to the people, whom he has loved, God has already said move aside and let me destroy them. He said no. No. Moses said Aaron take the censer and go. And the old man takes the censer and runs as fast as he can for should he have walked another, another and still another would have perished. Aaron was a lover of the people. And oh what a picture this is of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was a lover of man. For they hated Him. They gnashed upon Him with their teeth. They railed against Him. And He looked from where He hung on the Cross and said, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) The second thing we see about Aaron was that he was the great propitiator. For he carried the censer full of incense. The incense spoke of the perfect sacrifice of Christ. The perfect character of Christ. All of the perfections in the Son of God. For you find in the frankincense and myrrh and all the ointments that were used in the incense. The divine portraiture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the coal that was taken was from off the alter where the blood of the sin offering and the trespass offering had been poured. And the living burning coals were put into the censer on the incense. And thus Aaron was sent by God with this which pictured perfections of the Lord Jesus into the midst of the company of people that were being destroyed. He was ready for the work the moment the emergency developed. The moment the plague broke out. He hast not a moment and went. The people were perishing wrath had already go out and he was ready to save. So what a lovely picture we have of the Lord Jesus Christ. Aaron literally if I may use the word offered himself. He put himself between the wrath of God against this wick people, this sinning people, he put himself between them and the dead. And thus we have the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as the great interposer. Aaron was an interposer. Interposing himself placing himself between the dead and the living. How many people there are that feel that the division between the living and the dead is a ceremony. Some will say, well I was taken into the church. I had this ceremony. I was baptized. I was catechized. I had this happen to me or I had that. All of these things have some value. None of them are certainly discounted meaningless they all have some at least in the Christian context some reference to Christ some reference at least to Bible truth in a Judeo- Christian setting. But you know the division between the living and the dead is not a decision. How many people have thought that the reason they’re on the right side is because they decided. Now there is a place for decision, but decision isn’t the difference. It isn’t that you put your decision up and say, Lord, here is my decision. It isn’t that you put your baptism up and say, Lord here is my baptism, nor your church membership, nor your knowledge of Scripture. None of these things are sufficient. It was a Man that was the division. It was Aaron running out into the very face of plague that came from God. Aaron stood there as this plague moved he stood between the plague, the wrath of God, and the living people. And the division between life and death is not in an it, or a thing, or a this, or a that, it is in Christ, as He was pictured by Aaron. How many people there are that are in our churches that are trusting in the plan of salvation. Now I think the plan of salvation is indispensable to salvation. You must understand truth you must understand reason why, but my dear if you’re trusting in the plan and you do not know the person, the plan is valueless, meaningless to help you. It was Aaron that had to rush into the gap and stand there and wave the censer that incense testifying to the perfection of Christ offered in free sacrifice. The only thing that could satisfy the wrath of God and a swayed His vindication of His holiness. Aaron thus would is the picture of the Lord Jesus, who stood between certain death and absolute just judgment and condemnation of you and me. And if you want to find the correct division between life and death you find it not in a church or a doctrine or dogma, you find it in the person of Son of God. Our great high priest, the Lord Jesus. Then we see also that Aaron was a great savior, a great savior. The plague had started to work. Destruction was coming 14,700 people had already died. Oh, when you think of the multitudes that have died under the wrath of God. Let your mind run back for a moment to the flood and see there the wrath and anger of God as it was manifested against a generation whose minds and imaginations were only wicked continually. Come back to Sodom and Gomorrah and see God’s wrath against a people whose morals were perverted to the place rose as a stench into the nostrils of God. Come back I say across the years and find the swift sudden certain absolute destruction of God as He has manifested His feelings against sin. And then remember yourself and think of your imaginations and think of your heart and think of your life and think of your words and think of what you were by nature, by choice. And compare yourself with Ananias and Sapphira and measure yourself by Korah and the Reubenites. Measure yourself by Saul. Take anyone you wish and I submit to you that if you’re honest with yourself you’ll find that you won’t come out one wit better than these that have been so dealt with the swift justice of God. What does it mean then? It means then if you and I were to receive that which we deserve; it would be nothing but certain destruction and annihilation from His presents. Nothing could save us. Nothing could save us. The mountain of our guilt was so immense, the roster of our sins was so lengthy, and the corruption of our hearts was so complete that none of the ointments that men mighty devise or the sals that they might prepare could serve to heal the grievous wound that sin had made in our hearts. Oh, to see One who is a savior. To see One who is perfectly innocent, spotless. He has not entered into conspiracy, not entered into the crime. He has nothing to do with it, but this greater than Aaron, Lord Jesus Christ that runs out and stands right there under the sword God’s justice and the arrows of His wrath. And he said, Father, Father, I’m standing here in the place of Mary and Bill and Jane. I’m standing here in the place of these that I’ve seen deserve everything your wrath can do. Now, Lord, do to me do to me what you need to do to them. Aaron did this. He opened himself up the wrath of God. The only thing he had to offer was the smoke rising from the censer, which testified of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was to come. Aaron stood there as the great savior. But he was picturing the Lord Jesus, who unaided without any help from anyone else tread the winepress of the wrath of God alone. How many people there are that think somehow they have got to weep more before they will be saved. But my friends, for your tears to flow like a river, they could not make you one wit more worthy. And there are those that feel they have got to pray more. But every prayer you offer in your unregenerative state is but a further insult to a God, whose Name is holy. There are people that think they should do more that they should be better. How many there are that say just let me be a little better. Let me get this situation cared for. Let me get these debts paid. Let me get my own problems settled. Let me take care of this, or take of that, do this or do that and then I’ll come to Christ. But it isn’t so. It isn’t so. Men are not going to make themselves one wit more worthy or expectable or better. Charlotte Elliott sang so beautifully, there is nothing we can do: “Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me.1” Christ had to do it alone and unaided. But He is an all sufficient savior. It didn’t take the rest of the Levites to go out there. It didn’t even need Moses out there. When Aaron stood in the front of the plague and waved the censer, he testified to the infinite perfections of Jesus Christ and that was enough. And everything is in Christ. The all sufficiency of Christ, the beauty of His holiness, perfection of His character, the glory of His righteousness, the measureless depths and heights of His love all are yours when you and I come broke and hopeless and helpless. And as Aaron stands there and I see him in mind’s eye, the cringing fearful people certain of destruction because their sins. And the 14,000 laying there cold in death and I see this old man standing there alone waving the censer. Oh, what a lovely picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, forsaken of all hanging on Calvary’s Cross drawing the very wrath of God from you and me into His own heart, His own bosom that He might save us, that He might redeem us. Of course we see Aaron was not only a great lover, a great propitiator, a great interposer, a great savior, he was a great divider, and he stood between the dead and the living. He stood so that on one side were these that were dead, others behind him, who were spared from death. And Aaron stands in the middle, he stands in the middle of Israel, but Jesus Christ stands in the middle of society. I have said the dividing line between life and death is a person. But oh how my heart aches when I realize that we are facing a day which everyone now lives will one day stand before Jesus Christ. This is the truth you must recognize. You have unsaved loved ones. You have unsaved neighbors and friends. You are aware of their unsaved state. But what are you doing about it. Now in a since you are the high priest. For you are a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Can I say this, that God by His Spirit wants you to be a great lover of the lost? Will you permit me to go further and say you are to be a propitiator? You can add nothing to what Christ has done, but you are to mediate just as He before the cross held a censer and thus held up that which Christ was going to do. So you come by your testimony hold up what Christ has already done. That you are the interposer stand between the dead and the living, between the wrath of God and grace of God. Can I put it, that you are in a since, in a limit since a great savior? Oh I know that Jesus Christ died to provide our salvation, but I also know that everything the Son died to provide, He mediates through His church and His church is made up of men and women and young people such as we are today. Are you aware of the fact that you are to be a great divider? You are to stand between the dead and the living. You are. You are. Just as Aaron was responsible to run, so you and I are responsible. But we lose sight of the danger. We lose sight of their perishing condition. Oh, how easy it is for us to lose sight of the fact that we were saved in order that these blood redeemed lives and bodies might be vehicles given over to the risen Christ, that through us He can meet a generation for whom the Savior died. I declare these things to you, which are truths, sterling truths because there are truths of His Word. And I hear you say Ah yes these things I’ve heard, these things I’ve known, but I wonder sometimes how much we have heard, how much we’ve known. I recall hearing of the man, the notorious criminal in England that was put into the prison. And he refused to see the chaplain of the prison. It got into the papers the condemned man going to the gallows, who wouldn’t see a clergyman and he wouldn’t see a chaplain. And so one after another clergyman of the city went to the prison to see him. They were permitted in right enough, but the man seeing the clergyman come would curse and swear so violently that most of them would turn and go 1 “Just as I Am, Without One Plea” Words by Charlotte Elliott, 1835; Music by William B. Bradbury, 1849. after a few moments. Then one man who loved Jesus Christ determined to hear it out. He knew that sooner or later the man would give up in exhaustion and then he could speak. So he went in with the raging man inside the cell, cursing with all the words he could bring to his tongue’s tip. Trying by every means possible get rid of this thing that stood before him, such a hateful thing as this clergyman, this preacher. But after a while he couldn’t speak any longer in hoarseness he could only whisper. And the clergyman began softly to tell him about the love of God. Tell him about the Lord Jesus Christ. And as the old story came with its sweet tender revelation of God’s grace and mercy and love in Christ. The man sitting now on a stool in his cell began to have tears come to his eyes. After a while he looked up and said, “Ah sir, that’s the sweetest message I have ever heard. I didn’t know that’s what clergyman had to say. As a little boy here in the slums of London, I used to come and try to earn a half penny holding their horses, while they would go into their churches.” He said, “I live all my life with the shadow of the steeple of the Cathedral came into the barren dirty little room where I resided.” And he said, “No one ever talk to me. No one ever told me. I’ve never been inside a church. All I know is if I didn’t do things the way they wanted, they’d cuff me and scold me.” And he said, “I just figured that you were trying to get some publicity off my execution. Be the clergyman I talk to.” He said, “You know as tender as this is and as moving as it is, I don’t believe a word you’ve told me.” “You don’t. Why?” He said, “I don’t believe a word you’ve told me.” “You tell me about God’s love. You tell me about Christ’s death. You tell me about His resurrection. You tell me about salvation. No, I don’t believe it’s true. I don’t believe you believe it’s true. I don’t believe your people believe it’s true.” “What do you mean?” “Man, this world that I grew up in never heard about it. These people that I lived with never knew about it. And now when I am here full in my sin and I am condemned to die and now you come and tell me. I don’t believe it.” “Listen,” he said, “you know if I believed that, if I believed what you say you believe, if I really did, if I’d experience this forgiveness, this salvation, this life that you say you’ve experience, why man with good news like that, I’d walk all over England. And when I saw an aged man I’d run to him and warn him lest he should die before he hear. And when I couldn’t walk any longer, I would crawl over all the cinder paths of Britain on my hands and knees to warn people to flee from the wrath to come. You don’t believe it. You don’t believe it. You just say you do.” And with that he said, “I’ve talked long enough, go, go.” And the man went, because there wasn’t anything more he could say. He knew that most of the people that would have heard what he gave, ah, that’s the truth. The Gospel truth. But he knew what the man had said was right. They didn’t really believe it. They didn’t believe the wrath of God was suspended over wick men that if they should die they would be forever in a devil’s hell, they didn’t believe it. Oh, they believed it, but they didn’t believe it. BECAUSE WHAT YOU BELIEVE, CONTROLS YOU AND GOVERNS YOU AND MAKES YOU. AND AARON BELIEVED! AND AARON RAN AND AARON STOOD IN THE FACE OF THE WRATH AND DREW IT TO HIMSELF THAT HIS PEOPLE MIGHT BE SPARED. And if you believe, you will have to run as it were draw the wrath of God to you people be spared. Oh, what do you see? God took Aaron’s rod and He made a dead rod live and had leaves and blossoms and almonds overnight. The glorious picture of the resurrection of Jesus Christ laid in the grave before the Father as a sacrifice dead, dead under the weight and load of my guilt and sin. And just as God performed a miracle on the dead rod and made it live, and without roots bare leaves and blossoms and fruit. So God breathed upon the form of His Son, smitten in death bearing all the wrath and anger of God to Himself and He lived. Aaron’s rod that budded that is the glorious picture the revelation of Jesus Christ. And my friend in as much as Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead every prophecy concerning Him is true. And every dire prediction of judgment to the lost is true. God has sealed it. Amen. * Reference such as: Delivered at The Gospel Tabernacle Church, New York City on Sunday Evening, February 14, 1960 by Paris W. Reidhead, Pastor. ©PRBTMI 1960

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