The third illustration is that of making garment material without mixture. This signifies that our conduct is not allowed to be mixed. Those living in the life of the New Testament should not live by the ordinances of the Old Testament, and those who belong to the Lord should not live according to the customs of the Gentiles.
In both Catholicism and Pentecostalism there is the mixture of the things of the New Testament with certain things from the Old Testament. The garments worn by the cardinals in the Catholic Church are similar to the robes worn by the priests in the Old Testament. Furthermore, many of the formalities and rituals in Catholicism are from the Old Testament. In Pentecostalism there is much prophesying in the Old Testament manner, with the speaker often saying, “Thus saith the Lord.” In this kind of speaking the Old Testament, especially the Psalms and Isaiah, may be quoted more frequently than such New Testament books as Ephesians and Romans. I doubt if anyone in Pentecostalism speaks the way Paul did in 1 Corinthians 7. First Paul said, “I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion as having received mercy of the Lord to be faithful” (v. 25). After giving his opinion, Paul concludes, “I think that I also have the Spirit of God” (v. 40b). Paul’s speaking is very different from the speaking of those in Pentecostalism who pretend to be Old Testament prophets and whose speaking is a mixture of the New Testament with the things of the Old Testament.
Three verses in Leviticus 18 and 20 speak of the land vomiting out its inhabitants (18:25, 28; 20:22). Leviticus 20:22 says, “You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out.” The good land vomiting out the defiled and unholy people signifies that the all-inclusive Christ as our dwelling place and everything we need for our enjoyment will vomit us out of Himself (Rev. 3:16).
This matter of the land vomiting out the people implies a great deal. It implies that the land is the supply for the existence and living of God’s people. It also implies that the land is for their enjoyment. If the people are proper with the land, the land will allow them to enjoy it. Otherwise, the land will vomit them out; it will give them up. This indicates that if we are not proper with Christ, who is our good land, He will vomit us out and not allow us to enjoy Him any more.
The ordinances and statutes in Leviticus 18-20 cover many things. First, we are forbidden to have anything to do with demons, idols, spiritism, and witchcraft (19:4, 26; 20:2, 6, 27). These ordinances and statutes also cover humanity and include such matters as reverencing our mother and father (19:3a; 20:9), respecting aged persons (19:32), not mistreating the alien but instead loving him (19:33-34), having just measures and weights (19:35-36), not lying or deceiving (19:11), not oppressing one’s neighbor (19:13), not mistreating the deaf or the blind (19:14), not being partial in judgment (19:15), not going about as a slanderer (19:16), and not hating our brother in our heart (19:17). The most crucial thing is that we never commit any kind of incest. Incest is the most destructive thing to humanity, and a lengthy section of these chapters is devoted to it in detail. We must be pure in this matter.
Chapters eighteen through twenty of Leviticus show us a very high standard of morality. We need to live a high human life, a human life that is according to God’s image. God is holy and righteous, and He is love and light. We, then, must live a life that is full of light. For us to serve God, we need a holy life with the highest standard of morality and ethics. Although we are serving God, we must nevertheless have a proper human life with all those around us, not only with our relatives and neighbors but also with the sojourners. We need to treat everyone properly. This is God’s requirement because He is righteous, holy, loving, and full of light.
We should not think that in the Lord’s recovery we care only for Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church and not for ethics and morality. Yes, due to the lack in Christianity, we have stressed Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church. However, this certainly does not mean that we do not care for the highest standard of ethics and morality. In the Life-study of Luke I presented the high standard of the Lord’s humanity, which is the model, the pattern, for us to take and to follow. In order to live a life that matches our service to God, we must live a high standard of humanity. This high standard of humanity is strict, right, frank, bright, and loving.
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