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Scripture Reading: Lev. 6:1-7
Today we want to read carefully before God this portion of the Scripture which talks about the trespass offering. The trespass offering is very important in the Bible. Altogether there are five offerings spoken of in Leviticus 1—6. These five offerings typify the five aspects of our Lord Jesus' offering of Himself as an offering. Jesus Christ is one offering; however, viewed from our side, this offering has five aspects. Our view can only be complete with these five aspects. If only one is used to typify the Lord, our view will not be complete. There need to be five offerings to typify the Lord. Therefore, these five offerings are very important.
What relationship does the trespass offering have with the other four offerings? In order to answer this, we need to consider the four offerings. Then we will talk about the trespass offering. We need to understand the offerings one by one. In this way we will not over-emphasize the trespass offering.
First, the burnt offering typifies our Lord's offering His whole being to God. This is very important. This offering is not for the propitiation of sin. However, if the Lord did not offer Himself absolutely to God, He could not propitiate our sins.
Second, the meal offering, which has no blood, typifies the Lord's living; His living in this world was very pure. Flour can be food for man. Our Lord lived before God in a very pure and fine way. This offering emphasizes His perfection. We can say that He was a perfect man.
Third, the peace offering signifies that the Lord has accomplished peace between God and man. This not only enabled God to be at peace with us, but it also enabled us to be at peace with God.
Fourth, the sin offering typifies the Lord's propitiation of our sin, enabling us to be reconciled with God. The Lord propitiated our sin so that we could be saved through His blood.
The fifth offering is the trespass offering. Some may ask what the difference between the sin and trespass offering is. Sin denotes our sin generally; this is the sin before God. Trespasses are the individual sins we commit day by day; they can be counted. We may say that the sin offering is for all of our sins, the totality of sin, while the trespass offering is for our particular sins which can be counted.
The trespass offering is divided into two parts. One part is recorded in Leviticus 5; the other part is recorded in Leviticus 6. Chapter five talks about what we must do before God day by day when we sin against Him. Chapter six talks about what we must do before man day by day when we sin against man. I am not going to speak on chapter five. Rather, I want to speak on chapter six, that is, on what we must do if we sin against man in certain areas after we were saved.
I am not saying that this offering can bring salvation to a man. After we have the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, and the sin offering, we are saved and have life. The trespass offering mentioned in chapters five and six speaks of our fellowship with God. Receiving life is one thing; having fellowship with God is another. When you believe that Christ died for you and receive the Lord as your Savior, you have life. But this does not mean that from now on you will never lose your fellowship with God. The minute you were saved, you began to have fellowship with God. After you are saved, however, if you sin again and do not repent, you will lose your fellowship with God. You will feel that God is very far from you and that it is very difficult to pray and very hard to read the Bible. This does not mean that you have become unsaved again. Once a person believes, he is saved; this can never be changed. But his fellowship with God may change. If you have sinned and do not deal with it, you will lose your fellowship with Him. Many people are saved, but they cannot freely pray, and they find it difficult to read the Bible. The reason may be that their daily trespasses have not been dealt with properly.
At the time we were saved, we surely had a kind of joy; it was the joy of salvation. We wished that we could tell everyone about our salvation. How joyful we were. Unfortunately, this joy did not last very long. How was this joy lost? Perhaps we said some harsh words and offended someone. We became ashamed to face God. We sinned against man, but lost our joy. We sinned against man, but we lost our fellowship with God.
Today we must learn the lesson that a person should not remain merely saved, but should learn day by day to pray well, read the Bible well, testify well, and maintain a living fellowship with God. A man may lose his fellowship, but he can never lose his salvation. "They shall by no means perish forever, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:28-29). This is what our Lord has said. Eternal life can never be lost; life can never be lost. But the one thing that can be lost, perhaps more than ten times a day, is our fellowship with God.
Suppose a father tells his son to be good and not do certain things. If the son opens the cabinet, steals a piece of candy, and eats it, or if he soils his clothes, or if he plays with bad children, he will be somewhat afraid to see his father when he hears him calling. They are still father and son. But since he has done something which displeases his father, he dares not see his father right away. When he hears his father calling, his little heart jumps because he knows that something has gone wrong between him and his father. He will think that he cannot face his father when his clothes are soiled or his toys are ruined. He dares not see his father's face. But does this mean that he is no longer his father's son? This can never happen. The relationship of the father to the son can never change; it is the fellowship between the father and son that changes. The Father and son relationship that we have with God and the relationship in life can never be lost because of some change in our daily living. However, one thing can be lost: our daily fellowship with God.
The trespass offering is to bring us back into fellowship with God. The sin offering is to bring a sinner into believing in the Lord Jesus, while the trespass offering is to bring a Christian into fellowship with God. The sin offering removed our sin when we were unbelievers; the trespass offering removes the sins which hinder our daily fellowship with God. One gives us life, and the other gives us fellowship.
I have already said that the trespass offering consists of two parts. One part concerns an offense toward God. This is covered in Leviticus 5. The other part concerns an offense toward man. This is covered in Leviticus 6. I want to speak on what to do when we have offended man. This is the subject of chapter six. Today's topic can be called, "What we must do if we have lost our fellowship with God due to our offense against others." We must remember that chapter six is not on salvation and receiving life, but on our fellowship with God.
Verse 1 says, "And Jehovah spoke to Moses." This tells us that what follows is from God and not from Moses. Let us see which sins, according to God, are against man. It seems as if God has put together a list which shows various kinds of trespasses. At the bottom of the list, a total of all these trespasses is given.
Verse 2 says, "When a person sins and acts unfaithfully against Jehovah..." Since the following trespasses are all against man, why does it say that they are against the Lord? When a person sins against a man, he also sins against God. God is the Creator, and every human being is created by Him. Therefore, offending man is the same as offending God. Let us now consider some of the trespasses against man:
Verse 2 says, "Lies to his fellowman in regard to a deposit." This sin will cause us to lose our fellowship with God. Brothers, has anyone delivered something to us to keep? Once when I went home to Foochow, someone asked me to bring some mangoes to my second aunt. But mangoes rot easily. Although I tried to prevent them from rotting, some still changed color and had almost become rotten. I thought that since all of them might be rotten by the time I arrived home, why not give them away to the people on the boat? So I selected three of the greenest ones, kept them, and gave the rest away. As I came closer to home, my heart felt a little uneasy. This was being unfaithful in the thing delivered to me by my neighbor. The mangoes were not mine. Regardless of being good or rotten, I had to bring them to my second aunt. I felt a little ashamed explaining this to my aunt, but I could not let it go unexplained because that would be unrighteousness. Finally, I cleared the matter up.
If someone entrusts fifty dollars to us, we may be faithful to it. But if someone entrusts fifty cents to us, we may not be truthful about it. Since the amount is small, we may think that it is unimportant. But this is deceitful; it is a sin which will cause us to lose our fellowship with God. Perhaps someone entrusts a letter to us to deliver. Even if we do not open the letter and read it, we sometimes like to look at the outside. It is all right if we unintentionally glance at it; but if we have the intention to pry into others' secrets, we are wrong. This matter will hinder our real and intimate fellowship with God. I am afraid that the reason many people cannot read the Bible well is that they have sins which are not properly dealt with. If we are careless and do not deal with such sins, we will not be able to fellowship with God freely.
Verse 2 says, "Lies to his fellowman in regard to...a security." The previous case is general. This case is not general; it is very specific. This is to sin in business. However, this is not directed only at those who are in business, but to every brother and sister. Not only can businessmen commit this sin, every brother and sister can commit this sin as well. I heard that once a mother with her three sons was sitting on a bus. When the bus conductor came to collect the fares, the mother told one of her sons to give the conductor seventy cents. Four tickets should cost seventy-two cents, but she paid only seventy cents. She kept back two cents. This was not dishonesty on the part of the conductor, but dishonesty on the part of the one who purchased the tickets. Sometimes a person rides on a tram and passes three stations beyond his destination. Should he pay according to his original destination, or according to the station that he finally gets off at? He may think that it is better for him to profit than for the tram conductor to profit, and he may decide not to pay for the three stations. This is unrighteousness. The tram conductor may cheat, but how can a Christian cheat? As a Christian, he cannot allow these things to carelessly occur. Sometimes when we buy things, others may give us twenty cents more for change. If we do not return it, we are not honest. If we covet the extra twenty cents, we are delighting in sin. These are very small matters, but we should not let them pass lightly.
Some brothers say that without lying, one cannot be successful in business. But I tell you that we must conduct our business in honesty. We may suffer in the beginning, but eventually we will come out on top. This is what many brothers have told me. We do not have to lie, and we must not lie. If we lie intentionally in our business, we will lose our fellowship with God. We must deal with this.
Verse 2 says, "Or through robbery." Robbing, taking things away by violence, and usurping belong to the same kind of sin. To gain by force or to gain by improper means is to rob. Suppose someone asks you to be the executor of a will. After he dies, are you going to execute his will, or are you going to keep some for yourself? He has died, and the things are in your hands. If you willfully change the will, this is robbing. Some may have been soldiers or may have worked in the customs office. If you have used improper means to gain some possessions, this is robbing.
It is a fact that one receives life by believing in the Lord. It is also a fact that everyone who is saved through the blood of the Lord has his sins forgiven before God. However, when you sin against someone, God cannot forgive you on that person's behalf. For example, if I offend Brother Wang and I confess before God, God cannot forgive me on behalf of Brother Wang. If you offend man and do not deal with it properly, this sin will not cause you to lose your life, but it will cause you to lose your fellowship.
Verse 2 says, "Extorted from his fellowman." "Fellowman" in the Old Testament denotes other people; it does not necessarily mean the person next door. This is a kind of Jewish idiomatic expression. The fellowman denotes other people. How many mothers-in-law have deceived their daughters-in-law? How many parents have deceived their children? How many teachers have deceived their pupils? How many in high positions have deceived those under them? All of these are deceiving their fellowman, and all these matters displease God. None of us can act foolishly or live our lives foolishly. We must deal with these matters. Many are harsh husbands, harsh wives, or harsh mothers. Many mothers use improper ways to deceive their children. In our daily life, we deceive others in many ways. We often speak words that deceive others on the street. We often resort to force with the cab drivers or rickshaw drivers. We often are too harsh in dealing with others. These all deceive our fellowman. Servants and drivers were all created by God, and we cannot treat them in a harsh way. Very often they may be wrong and unreasonable. But do they have your kind of background? Do they have your kind of position? Do they have your kind of education? They do not have your background, position, and education. How can you expect them to be as reasonable as you are? Even if they are wrong, you do not have to oppress them. Christians ought not to be unrighteous toward others. For Christians to deceive others is displeasing to God.
Verse 3 says, "Or has found what was lost and lied about it." We may think that this matter is not very important, but this is deceitful. We may think that picking up things left behind by others is not unrighteous. But God says that this is deceitful. No Christian can claim what others have lost as his own. If we are on a tram and we see others deceiving, that is not our business. We cannot control them. We have no way to change the morals of society; the Lord will take care of it when He comes. Many pick up money and put it into their own pocket because they are afraid that the money would otherwise go into someone else's pocket. This is unrighteousness. Once I saw a man counting coins in a tram, and he dropped one. Another man stepped on the coin so that the owner would not see it. When the owner got off the tram, the other man also got off. I do not know if he paid the fare for the two additional stops just to get that one coin.
Whether it is a handkerchief, hat, fountain pen, or someone's letter, anything that is left on the street can never be claimed as our own. This is unrighteousness. In the past we may have picked up others' possessions. But whether it is money or objects, something big or small, as long as it is not ours, we cannot have it as our possession. If at all possible, we must return it. When we see something left on the street, we should wait for the owner to come and find it, or we should hand it to the local officials. Otherwise, God will say we have sinned.
Verse 3 says, "And has sworn falsely." Swearing has two aspects in the original language. One is in the context of the previous trespass, and the other is independent of it. In the context of the previous trespass, it means that when after picking up another's thing and being caught and questioned, one lies and swears that he has not picked it up and that if he had, he would have done such and such. It is wrong for you to pick up another's thing and to lie and swear that you did not do it. This is condemned by God. We can never lie this way to avoid trouble.
Generally speaking, lying is a way of avoiding being blamed for sin. I have said that there are three big reasons for lying. One reason is pride. Lying may keep one's pride intact. After one has done something wrong and people ask him about it, he either says that he did not do it or says something else to cover it up in order to save his face. Another reason for lying is that one fears that others may become too strict toward him. An overly strict mother will have lying children. An overly strict teacher will have lying pupils. An overly strict master will have lying servants. Being too strict will cause others to lie. If you can tolerate the mistakes of others, they may be willing to tell you the truth. But if you have a whip in your hand and cannot forgive the smallest matter, others cannot help but lie because lying may help them avoid difficulty and save them. The third reason for lying is what we have been speaking about today, that is, lying in order to gain profit. If I can gain one hundred dollars by just a little lie, why should I not lie? It is possible to gain some benefit or money by lying. Some lie because of pride; some lie because others are too strict. These are lesser sins. But lying in order to gain a profit is a more serious sin. God condemns any lie that is done for profit. Lying is condemned already; but lying for profit is condemned even more.
Some who work as nurses may take some cotton swatches and medicine from the hospital. Their intention may be to bring them home for their own use. But when the pharmacist asks them what they are doing, they may say that these are for their patients. They may be successful in taking those things, but this is lying for profit. It is very easy for us to acquire things that belong to the government by way of lying. This is wrong. As Christians, we cannot do this. I have no objection to man giving you something or allowing you to take something. If others have the authority to give something to you, I have no objection.
Some may be working in an organization where everyone is allotted papers, envelopes, pencils, etc. If you conserve some of them and give them to your children, that is all right because they are your portion. But if you tell the one allotting the stationery that you do not have enough and need more, it is a sin. You are profiting by improper means, and this is not pleasing to God.
If we have committed these trespasses, what shall we do? The following verses tell us what to do in our practice. Once we realize that there is sin, we should deal with it.
Verse 4 says, "When he sins and is guilty." Sinning is an act, while being guilty is something before God; it is having a case of sin before God. We can see what needs to be done when there is a case of sin from the following verses.
Verse 4 continues, and verse 5 says, "He shall return what he took by robbery, or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was deposited with him, or the lost thing which he found, or anything about which he swore falsely; he shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more; he shall give it to whom it belongs on the day he is found guilty." The most important command is first to restore and give the things back to others. Whatever is not yours can no longer remain in your house. If a Christian is not clean, one cannot blame society for being unclean. If a Christian covets others' possessions, one cannot blame many government officials for coveting others' possessions. If a Christian is loath to part with the things which he has obtained, one cannot blame others for being loath to part with the things they have obtained. Every Christian has to be clean. If at all possible, we have to repay others and confess to others.
There is one main difference between the sin offering and the trespass offering. The sin offering is to "propitiate," and the trespass offering is to "repay." We cannot repay God for our offenses against Him; neither can we propitiate our offenses against men. We have sinned and can only be propitiated to God by the Lord's blood. When we have offended others, we cannot propitiate, but we must repay. If we are not faithful to what others have entrusted to us, or if we have gained something by base means, we have to repay others. If we are not willing to repay others, we cannot offer the trespass offering. By the blood of the Lord Jesus, we can receive forgiveness from God for our sins. This is the truth. However, if we have offended others and are not willing to deal with the offenses, we will lose our fellowship with God. Whenever we think about it, we will feel bound, uneasy in our conscience, and that we are unable to fellowship with God.
The meetings at Keswick started fifty-one years ago. Once Mr. F.B. Meyer was invited to speak. What did Mr. Meyer say in his first message? He said, "If we expect God to bless and revive us, we must first take care of things properly. If there is any bill still being kept in your house that you have not paid, you should not expect any blessing or revival." There may be a bill of ten dollars in your house that has not been paid for a long time. Bringing a lawsuit against you is too much, but ignoring it will mean that the bill will remain with you forever. After Mr. Meyer said this, the result was immediate. The next day, all the money orders at the Keswick post office were sold out. From this, we can see how many unrighteous Christians there are.
Many can say, "I have never killed anyone, and I have not set fire to anyone's house." But to take a little advantage of others can cause us to lose our fellowship with God. The blood of Christ will only wash us of our sins and wash our conscience; it will not wash our heart. Only after we have dealt with all our earthly relationships will our heart be washed clean.
Some things are harder than others to deal with. Many people have their assets built on unrighteousness. If these are not dealt with clearly, they cannot have good fellowship with God. These things will hold them back from further advance. If there is anyone whose assets are built on unrighteousness, if at all possible, they should give all these things back to others today. If at all possible, they should settle these things properly. Of course, if it is not possible, God will still accept their heart. There was a brother who owed others tens of thousands of dollars. He had acquired the money by illegal means and later spent almost all of it. At this time he had only three or four thousand dollars left. He had a few children to feed, and he asked me what he should do. I said to him, "If you had fifty thousand dollars in the bank, what would you do? If you had fifty thousand dollars and did not want to repay what you owed, it would be a different story because then it would not be a matter of not having the money, but a matter of not being willing to repay the money. However, God will not let you go. If there is an accusation in your conscience, you will not have peace. In this case you should return to the others what little you have." We would rather be poor and peaceful in our conscience. If we do not deal with our sins clearly, all our energy will be wasted away.
Verse 5 says, "He shall make restitution for it in full and add to it one-fifth more." For example, if we owe someone five dollars, we have to repay him six dollars. This extra dollar is counted as the interest. The fifth part must be added when we restore to others all that we have taken advantage of them in. This includes all money and materials gained by improper means. This additional fifth part is to compensate for the loss suffered by others. When we pay others back, it is not too much to give a little extra. When we restore things to others, we should not restore just the exact amount. We should always give a little extra; otherwise, we may shortchange others. This is a most important principle. Suppose I apologize to Brother Wang after I have an argument with him, and I say, "I should not have argued with you today; I did not behave like a Christian. However, you should not have argued with me either." I confess, but that confession can only be considered a restoring of the principal; it is exact accounting. This kind of confession does not have the fifth part added. When we confess, it does no harm to confess a little more. Not only should we restore the principal, but we should add the extra fifth part. This is a principle. We should extend the limit a little. If we are still complaining about others when we confess, this means we still have hatred in our heart. We should only confess our own sins, and we should not implicate others when we confess. We should add an extra fifth part to God's ordination. It is not enough to confess five- fifths; we have to confess six-fifths. If we are going to confess, we have to extend the boundary a little further.
Verse 5 says, "He shall make restitution for it in full...on the day he is found guilty." This tells us that we should give back on the same day as our trespass offering and not wait any longer. Once we are clear about something, there is no need to wait for the Holy Spirit to move us anymore; the Holy Spirit has already moved us and made known to us our trespass. We need not wait; we should make restitution immediately. If we delay in our restitution, there may be two undesirable consequences. First, our conscience may become more and more quiet. It is precious to have the conscience speak again and again; it is terrible to be without its speaking. Second, the condemnation of our conscience may become more and more acute, so that we become unable to open our mouth before others. Then we cannot preach and have no peace at all. If we know about our trespasses and delay and wait, there surely will be these two consequences.
Therefore, if we have offended someone, we have to deal with the matter clearly. If we have shortchanged someone or gained things by unrighteous means, we have to give them back and settle the matters properly. We should never be deceived to think that we only need to confess to God when we offend others, and that there is no need to confess to men. This is absolutely wrong. God can forgive us because of the Lord's blood, but God cannot forgive us on behalf of others. We have to repay the same day. Whenever it becomes known to us, that is the time to take care of it. If we wait one or two days, we will find that we have less power to do it. Doing this requires strength, and today is when the strength is most available.
Verse 6 says, "Then he shall bring to the priest his trespass offering to Jehovah, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to the valuation, for a trespass offering." This is the second thing that needs to be done. Even though we have paid others back, there is still one more thing we need to do. Even if we have paid others back, it will not bring us forgiveness before God. We still have to offer up the trespass offering. No one in the world can be forgiven just by confessing. If we have offended God, we can only receive forgiveness by the Lord's blood. If we have offended man, we have to clear the offense with man, and this needs to be done first. At the same time, we have to say, "O God, I know that I have offended someone in a certain matter, and I have already cleared it up with him. Now, please forgive my trespass by the blood of the Lord Jesus." If we clear it up with others and confess to God today, He will surely forgive our trespasses according to the blood of the Lord Jesus.
Verse 7 says, "And the priest shall make propitiation for him before Jehovah, and he shall be forgiven for whatever he may have done by which he has become guilty." There is no trespass in the world that is too great for God to forgive. The question is whether or not we will confess. But we cannot lay aside the blood of the Lord Jesus. It is through the Lord's blood that we can have fellowship with God.
Today I would like all of us to see the place of confession in the Bible. Some may say we can be forgiven without confession; this is not enough. Others may say that through confession we are forgiven; this is too much. The Bible says that once we have offended someone, on the one hand, we need to deal clearly with man, and on the other hand, we need to confess clearly to God. God will forgive us by the blood of the Lord Jesus. If we do not clearly settle with man and only confess to God, our conscience will not be at peace, and we will not have the strength to believe that the Lord's blood can bring us forgiveness. Without the Lord's blood, our trespasses cannot be forgiven; however, if we do not confess to man, our trespasses will still not be forgiven just by trusting in the Lord's blood.
Today my only hope is that we would clearly settle before God all of our offenses against others. Otherwise we will lose our fellowship with God.
(1) This magazine was started in April of 1930. Through the end of 1933, forty-four issues have been published. We hope to publish one issue every month (the Lord willing).
(2) This magazine is relatively simple. Sometimes it speaks a little about the gospel; sometimes it speaks a little about the work of the Lord and the person of the Lord; sometimes it speaks a little about doctrines which edify the young believers, etc.
(3) This magazine is given away free of charge. Those who want it will be sent one when they write and ask. (To ask, write directly to Shanghai, P.O. Box 323, The Gospel Book Room.) If some desire to give something for the cost of printing, as the Lord grants the ability, it will also be acceptable.
(4) Starting from Issue No. 40, we are printing seven thousand five hundred copies for every issue of this magazine. All issues prior to No. 40 have been completely distributed. There are no more of those issues to give to those who want them. Please excuse us!
December 1933, Shanghai
