"WHO IS THE RED HEIFER?"

MFBLUME
April 16, 2000 am

Numbers 19:2-13 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

I used to think of the red heifer's death as Christ's death.

But the aspect of it being a HEIFER, FEMALE, prodded me.
But then an important point came up.
We are dead with Christ.
And the Church is always called a woman.
The red heifer is without blemish.

Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The heifer had no yoke.

Isai 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

It was a RED HEIFER.

The Church is covered in the blood of Jesus.

The heifer was taken OUTSIDE THE CAMP.

Hebrews 13:12-14 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

The THIRD day the person would be cleansed if sprinkled with the ashes of the red heifer.

Third day Jesus resurrected.

The idea of red Heifer's ashes sprinkled on us, is the truths regarding THE WOMAN'S DEATH with Christ.

Last week when we mentioned that Hebrews 9:14's sprinkling of Christ's blood on our consciences causes our consciences to be purged from dead works, we noted that this meant truths about the cross are preached to correct our misunderstandings.

We have been feeding upon bread and wine now quite a lot.

Bread of Jesus' broken body and wine of shed blood.
Your consciences have been sprinkled by the blood.
Truth of the cross has been eradicating error in your mind that condemned you.

In John 6, Jesus said that eating His body and Drinking His blood gives eternal life.

LIFE.
I want LIFE.
I want to totally renew my mind to the real issues.

But I warn you that there are a lot of philosophies floating around in this world that are ANTICROSS and ANTICHRIST.

Remember what we said about ANTICROSS thinking?
It is thinking that excludes the necessity of the Cross of Christ.
And we know what the cross of Christ is all about.
If you don't know, let me say that the cross was the only remedy for sin and man's problems.
You cannot improve upon yourself nor save yourself.
God will never look for any of your good deeds when He looks for what will take a soul into Heaven one day.

And I am not concerned about Heaven only, either.

The Bible also deals a lot with having peace in THIS LIFE.
It says we can have perfect peace.
That is speaking about right now in this life.
It speaks about having confidence.
It speaks about being positive.
It speaks about the joy of the Holy Ghost.
Also, the love for one another and doing good to your neighbour.
It speaks about blessing those who persecute you.
We read references to joy unspeakable and full of glory.

But all of these things are provided fdrom God through one means alone.

That source is Christ and Him crucified.

The Bible clearly teaches that outside of Christ, people are aliens and enemies to God.

Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Outside or "WITHOUT" (as the KJV words it) Christ leaves us aliens and outside of God.

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

And we are brought near to God in Christ.

It mentions being brought nigh by the blood of Christ.
It says nothing about being close to God through doing good deeds.
Nothing about being close to God by getting involved in nature.
Only the blood of Christ.
The Blood of Chyrist was shed on the cross.
And the cross refers to His death.
The Bible teaches that we were all born into this world as sinners, due to Adam's transgression, and were on death-row simply awaiting death, the capitol punishment for being a sinner.
But Christ came along and was preplanned by God to die in our places.
And God actually had it occur that, spiritually, we died with Christ, so as to be able to say we are free from the death-penalty.
We already died!

Remember the blood around the doors in Egypt?

The death angel could not enter the Hebrew doors with blood on them, to kill the Hebrew firstborn sons, because the death of the lamb COUNTED AS THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN.
Death already occurred in that house.
The death angel had no jurisdiction to enter such a home.

You might not look at it as though the firstborn son died IN the Lamb, but that is how that death angel looked at it.

That is how God looked at it.
And we need to look at Jesus' death like that, also.
His death counted as MY DEATH.
My faith in that saved me.
That is what it means when we read that we were made close to God by the blood of Christ.

And that brings us to Romans 6:3.

Romans 6:3-11 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We were baptized into JESUS' death when we were baptized in His name.
His death became our deaths.

So we can say what Romans 6:6 says.

...our old man is crucified with him...

We said this so many times, but God looked for one thing when He looked to save people from death in Egypt.

Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

He is looking for the blood alone.

Romans 6 is so exciting to me, because it states some very powerful things about Christians.

We already noted that our baptism into Jesus Christ is baptism INTO HIS DEATH.

Romans 6:7-8 says that one who is dead is freed from sin, and then says we are deadwith Christ.
So that means we are free from sin.
6:9 says that death has no more power over Christ since He died ONCE already, and nobody is meant to die more than once.
So if we are dead with Christ, then death has no more power over us either.
6:12 tells us to not let sin reign over us.
6:18 says I am made free from sin.
6:20 says YE WERE (past tense) the servants of sin.
6:22 says again that we are made FREE FROM SIN.

Now, that sounds like something that is too good to be true.

You are thinking that you KNOW these things in your head and you read them in the Bible and see what it is saying, but something is missing, because simply KNOWING these things is not solving some problems in your lives.
Its like being given an answer to an equation, and not possibly being able to believe that these it could be true.
Or, its like being told you have this much money in your bank account, but thinking that such an amount is so astronimcal to believe you really have that much money!
You KNOW what is being said, but its too good to be true.

Now, this is exactly the way Paul described the Christian's faulty thinking, because he used a term in verse 11 that is used in CALCULATING answers to equations, or doing some accounting and working out sums in banking.

That word is RECKON.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The problem of many Christians is that they may KNOW the answer, BUT THEY HAVE NOT WORKED IT OUT FOR THEMSELVES TO BE ABLE TO SEE THAT IT REALLY DOES ADD UP!!

Notice that Paul said we do indeed have to KNOW this answer.

Roma 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Roma 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Roma 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

Roma 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

But KNOWING It is not enough.

YOU HAVE TO RECKON IT OUT, or WORK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF... CALCULATE IT SO YOU CAN SEE HOW PAUL CAME UP WITH THIS CONCLUSION.
And when you WORK IT OUT for yourself, you realize that it really is true, and you can fully understand how it is true.
And when you understand how it is true, you can TRULY BELIEVE IN IT.
And when you truly believe in it YOU ARE GOING TO LIVE LIKE YOU BELIEVE IT.

When Satan puts it into your mind that you are no-good, and you are CONVINCED that you really did die and that your old life is crucified, and you are now alive UNTO GOD, NIGH TO GOD BY THE BLOOD, then you will LAUGH AT THE DEVIL!!!

"Hey devil, try that one on someone else, liar."

People say they KNOW the Bible states that our old man is dead and crucified with Christ, and that we are freed from sin... and that we are new creatures in Him now, and that old things have passed away and all things are become new.... BUT WHY DO I STILL GET AFFECTED BY THE DEVIL'S LIES????

It is because you KNOW the answer, but you have never worked it out for yourself, and therefore you can't really believe it fully.
LET'S CONCENTRATE ON RECKONING THIS OUT TODAY!
LET'S WORK IT OUT.
LET'S RENEW OUR MINDS TO THIS.

You cannot avoid this issue.

Some are thinking, "Oh, I don't want to have to THINK when it comes to the things of the Bible."
Don't check your brains in the coatroom when you walk into church.
If Paul wrote in Romans 12:2 that we need to have our minds renewed, we are going to have to THINK.
Too many feel that they can avoid THINKING and just jump around in church for awhile and shout a bit, so that they will be hypnotized into living a holy life all week long.

YOU HAVE TO RECKON THIS THING OUT.

You were BURIED WITH CHRIST INTO HIS DEATH.
His death became YOUR DEATH.
That united you to HIM once and for all.

His RESURRECTION became your resurrection.

And now that you KNOW you were united to Him in His death, look at what happened to Him after His death.
He resurrected, never to die again.
Death has no more power over Him, because He died once and it is only appointed unto men ONCE to die.
And He is free from death.

Romans 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Romans 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Romans 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Romans 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The purpose of true ministers is to cause saints to GROW INTO SPIRITUAL ADULTS.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Preachers must minister Christ to you until you are fully aware of who you are in Him.

The more you realize what that IMPLIES about you, the more you can say you've grown.
You APPRECIATE the thought that the cross finished the work.
YOU UNDERSTAND what its all about when you are taught.

And once your RECKON it out, you can DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

Roma 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

You'll act like you're alive from the dead...

You'll act like your old life is completely gone forever.
You'll act like condemnation from the devil is a pack of nonsense.
You'll act like all those no-good feelings may have applied to you before you were saved, but that person is gone forever, having died with Christ.
Old things passed away and all things are become new.

When you know you are ALIVE FROM THE DEAD, that means you initially understand the old life DIED.

Its gone.
You are alive and resurrected from that dead.
The life you now life is a totally different life.
Its a life, that before you did one single good deed after you were saved, THE BLOOD OF JESUS DREW YOU NIGH TO GOD.

WARNING:

Don't think that since the blood of Jesus drew you near to God, and not your own good works to the extent that you think you can sin and never lose that close position with God.
As soon as you sin, your sins separate you from God.
If you sin, then repent, in fear of God and true godly sorrow, and ask forgiveness.
And true repentance brings you close once again, because when you repent, the blood cleanses you.
And His blood brings you near to God.

And when you UNDERSTAND and APPRECIATE the finished work of the cross, when the devil condemns your mind, or anybody else condemns you for that matter, YOU LAUGH at it.

Its easy to recognize false doctrine and lies once you appreciate the FINISHED WORK OF THE CROSS.
And when you feel condemned, realize you are eating knowledge of good and evil.
And realize YOU CAN KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH CAN SET YOU FREE.

What happens with some peop0le is that they know they are feasting on the knowledge of good and evil.

They know they are thinking wrong.
BUT THEY THINK THEY cannot learn.
THE DEVIL DOES NOT MIND YOU KNOWING YOU ARE INCORRECT, SO LONG AS HE CAN DUPE YOU INTO THINKING YOU CANNOT learn the truth.
He still has you so long as you do not learn the truth.

By their FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits...

This goes way back to the Garden of Eden.

When a doctrine tells you to IMPROVE yourself through SELF-ESTEEM, or reform, etc., WITHOUT THE CROSS AND DEATH WITH CHRIST MENTIONED IN ANY FORM, its the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil all over again.
Without the cross we are hopeless.

What fruit did God want man to eat?

FRUIT OF LIFE.
NOT FRUIT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.

And when Jesus said:

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
John 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
John 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

...He was saying that the fruit of Life for the world is actually HIS BLOOD AND HIS BODY.

When they asked Him what He meant by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, he explained....

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.

His WORDS about His BODY and BLOOD being BROKEN AND SHED on the cross GIVE US LIFE.

That is what God is looking for.

So many think they are not good enough, and that they are EVIL...

They hammer themselves with that thinking.
BUT ITS NOT A MATTER OF GOOD AND EVIL.. ITS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

The false tree was the tree of KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.

Debating over how GOOD you are, or how EVIL you are, puts you in the arena of THE WRONG TREE ALTOGETHER!
Its not good or evil, but TREE OF LIFE OR TREE OF DEATH.

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God said, eat of the fruit of good and evil, and you'll die.

It doesn't matter if its the GOOD side of the fruit or the BAD side, because the forbidden fruit was the fruit of the knowledge of BOTH GOOD AND EVIL.

If God said Adam would DIE if he ate of that tree, then that tree is the tree of DEATH as opposed to the preferred tree of LIFE.

ITS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

This thinking that tells you that you are not GOOD, and you are EVIL.. GOOD BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH... is all the claptrap fromt hge knowledge of good and evil.

Its nothing to do with being good.
What made you aliens from God is the fact that you were OUTSIDE CHRIST.

1Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

ITS A MATTER OF ADAM AND CHRIST.

In Adam all die.
In Christ shall all be made alive.
ITS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

There are GOOD people in Adam.

Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Where is any mention of GOOD in the above verses?

The only good that is mentioned is GOD'S GOOD, in DRAWING US NIGH TO GOD by CHRIST'S Blood.

It did not say we are made nigh to God by our good deeds.

It said nothing about being drawn nigh to God by avoiding evil.
It said nothing about GOOD OR EVIL.
IT SAID CHRIST'S BLOOD drew us nigh to God.

And 1 Corinthians 15:22 says that in ADAM ALL DIE, but in CHRIST ALL LIVE.

All through the Bible the stress is LIFE AND DEATH.
Whether or not you are good or evil, if you are outside of Christ you are DEAD.

Last week I mentioned that our consciences can be DEFILED and EVIL.

The blood of Jesus must sprinkle our consciences and purge them from dead works.
The reason that DEAD WORKS is called the defilement in our consciences, is because DEAD WORKS are useless works that are urged by the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.
They are works that are antichrist, because they bypass the need of the cross and convince you that your GOOD DEEDS can make you GOOD and not EVIL.
But the infatuation with GOOD AND EVIL is the giveaway!
Its the defilement from the knowledge of good and evil.

The concern is not whether you are good or evil, but its "WHO ARE YOU IN?"

Its a matter of life and death.
All in Adam will die.
All in Christ will live.

Trying to be good is trying to have your own righteousness.

Philippians 3:8-9 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Paul did not want to be caught by God in the end as having his OWN righteousness.

He wanted to be found having the righteousness that was of God.
God's righteousness.
Not his own righteousness which is of the Law.
Paul said this about the righteousness of the Law:

Romans 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

It is a righteousness of DOING THINGS.

Works.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

The more you learn that it is either being in ADAM OR CHRIST, a matter of LIFE OR DEATH, not GOOD OR EVIL, the more you will grow strong in Jesus Christ.

Here is what happens when you do not correct all that knowledge of good and evil out of your consciences by the blood.

Numbers 19:13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

The dead body that so many of us touch today is THE OLD MAN that is crucified with Christ.

Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

The body of the dead man is the OLD MAN, because THE OLD MAN IS DEAD AND CRUCIFIED.

Everytime we think of improving ourselves, and we forget about the FINISHED WORK OF THE CROSS, we TOUCH THE OLD DEAD MAN.
We think like ADAM in the ADAMIC world of cross-less philosophy.
Adam thinks he can imrove himself.
Just supply him with the knowledge of what is right and wrong, and he will do the rest.
No need for a cross in ADAMIC PHILOSOPHY.
No need for Jesus Christ in ADAMIC THINKING.
Feed Adam the knowledge of good and evil.
That is OLD MAN THINKING.
ADAM is the OLD MAN.

And when we TOUCH the old man, we defile the tabernacle of God.

Hello, Tabernacle.
You are the TABERNACLE/TEMPLE OF GOD.

1Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, ...

You DEFILE your CONSCIENCE by feeding on that false thinking of good versus evil.

Its not a matter of good and evil.
ITS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.
CHRIST AND ADAM.
GOD'S GRACE OR YOUR OWN WORKS.

...because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean...

When you do not sprinkle your conscience by the blood.. CORRECTING ALL THAT FALSE THINKING BY UNDERSTANDING THE WORK OF GOD... you touched the old man.

You would not have ever touched him, but would have left Him dead and buried, had you UNDERSTOOD about the BLOOD.
...Had you understood about the FINISHED WORK.
...Had you understood about A TOTAL SEPARATION FROM ADAM TO PUT YOU INTO CHRIST, MAKING YOU CLOSE TO GOD ON THAT BASIS ALONE.

The red heifer was slain.

RED MEANS DEATH.
The death was the DEATH OF CHRIST.
A HEIFER means female.
The Church is always called a FEMALE, THE BRIDE OF CHRIST.
THE CHURCH is people who DIED WITH CHRIST.
THE OLD LIFE IS DEAD.
GONE.
Apply that understanding to your conscience.

You can KNOW it, in your head.

But it does not hit your CONSCIENCE until you get a revelation when you RECKON it to be so.
WORK IT OUT IN YOUR SPIRIT.
FIGURE IT OUT.
CALCULATE IT.
Ashes from the dead red heifer in water that is sprinkled refers to the same thing the sprinkling of Jesus' blood refers to.
TEACHING YOUR SPIRIT THE TRUTHS OF THE CROSS.

By habit we often touch the DEAD MAN, since we always tried to improve ourselves before we were saved.

So when you bump into him, get washed from it all.
Be sprinkled with the blood.