← ArchiveLeviticusSunday, April 22, 2018DateApril 22, 2018Speaker—TextLeviticus 1Passages in this sermonLeviticus 1:11:11Leviticus 11:42Leviticus 47:15Psalms 519:11Leviticus 210:04John 1933:53TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00The book of Leviticus. Now, remember the story of the Bible began with humans in God's presence, but they were banished because of their rebellion. However, God wants to be in relationship with us, so he chooses one family that he will use to restore the world back into his presence. And so God's presence comes to dwell in a tent right in the middle of Israel. That's great. But it creates a problem because it's so intense that Moses can't go in and other priests who enter inappropriately, they die. Well, wait, if God's presence is good, how is it all of a sudden0:26dangerous for people? So think of it this way. God's presence is like the sun. It's pure power and goodness. And when something mortal and corruptible gets close to such pure power, it's destroyed. And so the word holiness is used in Leviticus to describe God's pure and powerful presence, which like the sun is both good and dangerous. So the point of Leviticus is to show how corrupt Israelites can live near God's goodness without being destroyed.0:56Welcome to week two of our draw near sermon series in Leviticus. So if you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn to Leviticus chapter one, verse one. It's in the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. So just open your Bible to the front and work towards that end. The reality is most of us have probably not heard an extensive sermon series on Leviticus. And so this will do our hearts1:24good. If you missed last week, go back and watch it online because we set the groundwork for why we should rethink Leviticus. Even the word Leviticus is incorrect. All right. So it's all about drawing near God speaking to us. Let's begin with reading God's word. Leviticus one, one. If you don't know who I am, sorry, my name is Josh Burnham. I'm the one that you prayed for earlier as your pastor. So it's nice to1:52see everyone here today. The Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. Speak to the Israelites and tell them when any of you brings an offering to the Lord from the livestock. You may bring your offering from the herd or from the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. He will bring it to the entrance to the tent of2:20meeting so that he may be accepted by the Lord. He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the bull before the Lord. Aaron's sons, the priest, are to present the blood and splatter it on the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Then he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into2:46pieces. The sons of Aaron, the priest, will prepare a fire on the altar and arrange the wood on the fire. Aaron's sons, the priest, are to arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat on top of the burning wood on the altar. The offerer is to wash his entrails, its legs with water. Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar3:09as a burnt offering, a fire offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. Now, if we're honest this morning, we're going to focus on the sacrifices found in the Old Testament. But if we're truly honest, most of us find these practices reprehensible. You think, well, these are primitive people. We wouldn't do that now. We've evolved. They're barbaric.3:37This is no longer acceptable for modern society. Anyone feel like that? For those of you who don't, if I slaughtered a goat right now, you would be all over me, right? So we think that this is no longer applicable to us. So here's what we're going to do. For the first part of the sermon, I want to overview the sacrifices in the Old Testament. If you'd like to take notes, this is going to be your favorite day. And then the second half, I want us to work through how this applies in our life.4:07If you're honest, we have difficulty applying these. And as a result, if we remove Leviticus from the Bible, Satan has effectively removed God's word from our lives. Think about that. If we gloss over any part of the Bible, Satan has effectively removed that part of God's truth from our lives. That's why we believe here at this church that we want to share the whole gospel with the whole person, with the whole world.4:36Yes, the whole gospel includes Leviticus. And if we remove that, we don't understand the deep sacrifice that God has given to us. And so we're going to take a moment to break down these sacrifices in digestible bites. And then say, Lord, help us live that out. So if you're taking notes, very simply, two categories of sacrifices. I'm sorry and I'm thankful.5:05You got that? So every sacrifice in Leviticus and Old Testament can be put into two categories. I'm sorry and I'm thankful. And the first is right here in Leviticus 1, the burnt offering. This was the most sacred of all offerings. It gets its name because it is burnt. Right? That's what we say in the South. It's just burnt. Whoever wrote Leviticus was a southerner at heart.5:36The burnt offering. The entire thing is called the whole, the olam, the whole burnt offering because the entire offering is burned up. And it's so sacred that only the priest could partake and eat of this offering. It's so powerful. The sacrifice was offered daily, every week on the Sabbath and at every special occasion in the life of Israel. So this is the most sacred I am sorry offering for general sin and general atonement.6:05So I'm sorry, burnt offering for the congregation, for the community. Now, let's just talk about this for one second. Israel understood deeply that the sins of the individual impacted the sins in the life of the community. We've forgotten that, haven't we? We just think, well, your sins are your sins, my sins are my sins. That is not biblical. That is an ungodly worldview.6:34If you are part of the family of Christ, I am your problem. My sin affects you and impacts your life. Your sin impacts me and this olam, this burnt offering was a general offering for all the sins of all the people. Thank God for this sacrifice. The second I am sorry offering was simply called a sin offering. Now, don't let the name fool you.7:03It wasn't necessarily for sin, but uncleanliness. I know it gets complicated. The sin offering is not for sin, but it is to say I'm sorry. Does that make sense? The sin offering in Leviticus 4 and 5 was to take someone who was unclean and make them clean. So here's another implication. If you were unclean, you can't just wander up to the temple and say, God, here I am. God says you come on my terms.7:31He is holy. We are not. So they had a sin offering, which is not necessarily for sin, to make those who were unclean, clean. So give me some examples of that. If you touched a dead person, a dead body or in the vicinity of that, you would become unclean. Why did the priest or the Levite not want to touch the good Samaritan or the man who was almost dead on the road to Jericho and the Samaritan helped? Because if they touched him and they were going to the temple, they were no longer clean.8:00That would prevent them from worshiping God. So the sin offering is to make those who are unclean, clean. It is the what offering? It is the I am sorry. If you gave birth, this will be the offering that you gave. If you had a skin disease, this will be the offering that you provided to bring you back into cleanliness. That way you might become holy. The sin offering. Third, I am sorry, offering. The guilt offering.8:30Leviticus 4 and 5. This sacrifice was needed when one unintentionally sins. When one unintentionally sins. Now let me go off on another tangent very quickly. There is no offering in the Old Testament for those who intentionally sin. Let me say that again. There is no offering in the Old Testament for those who intentionally sin.8:54You know what that person is called? A pagan or dead. Because those who intentionally sin against the will of God. But yet we see in Psalm 51, God saying to David, I want a contrite heart. So there is a way through grace and mercy. The guilt offering was for the guilt of those who unintentionally sin.9:22So the guilt is not necessarily the intent of the act, but the consequence. If you unintentionally sin, you are guilty and you will present an I am sorry offering to the Lord. So there's three offerings in the I am sorry. Number one, the burnt offering is burnt because what is burned up? The entire sacrifice. The second would be the sin offering. Not because you sin, but because you are dirty. Those who are dirty need to be clean. That way they can worship. And the third was the guilt offering for what sins?9:50Unintentional sins. And that leads us now to our second category. The I am thankful offerings. And so let me run through these. First is the grain offering. In Leviticus 2, you will see the grain offering. These were the most sacred sacrifices of celebration. Consisted of flour, oil, and aromatic spices. I couldn't help but think. Sometimes they would pour these out on the altar. Sometimes they would cook these and sacrifice these.10:18In my mind, I was thinking a Jim and Nick's cornbread biscuit. Right? That would be my offering. Sweet, savory. Lord, I'm thankful. We should be presenting thankful offerings to God in our lives. And God's people were in the routine. Why would they give the grain offering? Because grain is life. So they're giving of the first fruits to say, God, we're thankful. Thankful people give.10:47Unthankful people hoard. God, we are so thankful. The second offering would be the peace offering or the thanks or the vow or the free will. So you could give this offering if you were a Nazarite and you had fulfilled your vow. So a Nazarite, you couldn't touch anything dead. You could not eat any grapes or drink anything of the vine. And you would do this for the Lord in preparation. And when you finished your vow, you would present an offering just to say, God, thank you.11:15Thank you for accepting my sacrifice to you. If you were extremely happy and someone came to your house, you could have a Thanksgiving offering or a free will offering. So I just simply ask you this. What offering are you going to bring to God today? What offering? Maybe you're in the I am sorry category. Where you've walked in with sin and God is convicting you right now. And you say, God, I need to purify my heart.11:44I need to find forgiveness. It's through sacrifice. It's through Jesus Christ. Maybe you're here and you say, Lord, I am extremely thankful. I am just overjoyed with your spirit. And you want to present a Thanksgiving offering. God bless you. Glory be to God, our Savior. But we all enjoy sacrifice. Here's one story of how sacrifice brings joy to our heart. The Victoria Cross is Canada's highest military honor.12:11These medals were awarded for personal sacrifice above the call of duty. The first, and thousands have been awarded to date, but the greatest singular act of this person that has the Victoria Cross was someone who has thrown their self on a grenade for the lives of their brothers and sisters. And the first man in World War II, a man of Sergeant Major John Robert Osborne.12:37He brought them into battle and his men were cut off from the other infantry. And he saved his infantry's life, his campaign's life, by actually picking up the grenades that were alive and throwing them back. Think about that. And one was thrown in a way that he knew he could not grab it in time. So he called for everyone to duck and he threw himself on the grenade and he died and sacrificed for the good of his company.13:03And I was reading that and saying, Lord, thank you for that sacrifice. And even in the United States, we have story after story of men and women who have bravely sacrificed for someone else. And just to be honest, those sacrifices every time make me tear up. So, Lord, thank you for those men who would risk their lives for someone else. Thank you for men like John Robert Osborne.13:32See, there is power in sacrifice. And that is the title of today's message. There is power in sacrifice. Let's pray. Lord, may we not come here today and be idle worshipers, but that we would deeply understand your sacrifice and you would give us a heart to sacrifice also. So, Lord, pour out your spirit upon us. We do not want to hear the mere frail words of a fallible human being.14:00We want to hear a word from our Savior, our King, the one who is almighty, the one who is unchanging, the one who has no fault and there is no shadow within. Lord, let us hear a word from you, our Heavenly Father. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I know what you're thinking. How in the world does all of this sacrifice?14:30How does Leviticus work out in my life? I want us to give us three principles this morning to live out with the grand thought that if you want the power of Christ in your life, you have to be willing to sacrifice. If you want the power of Christ in your life, you have to be willing to sacrifice. You say, oh, no, I don't. What does Jesus say? Take up your cross. He doesn't say get into your minivan. Turn on the AC, open the sunroof, put on your music.15:00He says, take up your cross. If we want to see the power of Christ in our life, we have to be willing to sacrifice to the one who sacrificed all for us. So look at verse 2. These speak to the Israelites, the B'nai Israel, so that the children of Israel. So our first guiding principle for our life and sacrifice is this.15:26Worship always flows from covenant relationship. Worship always flows from covenant relationship. If you're here today and you're worshiping to hope that you will find God, it doesn't work that way. God finds you. And because he finds us, we now worship. Look at verse 2. Speak to who? To the Israelites.15:56Who are the Israelites? They are God's chosen people, founded in the covenant of Abraham. So they don't worship to find God. They worship because they are already in covenant relationship. So the sacrifices are post covenant relationship. Do you get that? So sacrifices are not to bring us back into relationship. They are from relationship. And that should bring us a sense of relief and freedom in our life.16:22The truth is that we live in a worship crazed society. And the great unwritten rule is that you and I are worshiping something. Everyone here worships something. You might stand up and say, well, I don't even believe in God. You're worshiping something. You're worshiping your mind or your wisdom or your degree or secular humanism that if we just educate ourselves enough that we will somehow get better as a society.16:44I would argue the opposite, that the more we educate ourselves, we are devolving as a society. Turn on the news. Prove me wrong. But we're all worshiping something. Maybe you're worshiping religion. I called it last week, fool's gold, that you're thinking, if I just structure my life in such a way that sin will flee and that somehow sanctification will just happen.17:11It does not work that way. True worship always flows from covenant relationship. Listen to our vocabulary. You might have said this, what a powerful time of worship. I hear this often. I didn't get anything from worship. Or I can worship God at my house.17:41The old saying really rings true. Show me how you live and I will show you what you worship. And we speak in a way that we value worship in our lives. So how can God change our hearts? People in covenant relationship understand God's grace before they worship. Verse 2. Speak to the Israelites and tell them what? Tell them.18:12Tell them. Bring to me. Come worship me. You see, Israel believes at some points in their life that the religious acts, that the sacrifices brought them back into relationship with God. God, and that was not true. The truth in God's holy word is that grace always precedes law. Grace always precedes law. And never reverse the orders.18:40Never reverse that. Never come to someone that has just found Christ and you give them all these rules and you say, Okay, here's what you do. Follow this. Bust open Leviticus. Never forget that grace always precedes law in your life. That is the joy of the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. True worship always flows from not to covenant relationship.19:06Second point. Very simply in verse 2. Worship is not passive. Now let me unwind that. Here's our struggle. We have set in our churches this paradigm that most of you come and you sit and you hear one person share. That would be me. You guys are sitting, listening. I am not sitting and I am not listening. I am speaking. So right now you are passive by the way you're listening to that.19:36Okay. So that's not what I'm talking about. But we have to understand that we cannot be idol worshipers. Let's run back through this scripture very quick and let's look at God's people. Okay. In verse 2. Speak to the Israelites and tell them when any of you brings active, right? When you bring an offering to the Lord from the livestock, you may bring your offering from the herd or the flock.20:00Let me pause there. So if you're coming to worship, who brings the offering? Me, right? My worship, my offering. Now think about that. I can't watch you bring my offering. And you can't watch me bring your offering. There is a active, ongoing participation in the life of God's community.20:24Verse 3. If the offering is a burnt offering, and some of you are thinking, I get it. This I'm sorry offering. And the whole thing is about to be burned up. From the herd, he is to bring an unblemished male. Fourth time here. He will bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting so that he may be accepted to the Lord. Now let me pause. By extension, if you don't bring an offering, you're not accepted by God.20:55That's going to apply in our lives later. Active worship. Verse 4. He, who is he? So let's just say, let's put ourselves in the Bible. Because this, if you know Jesus Christ, this is your story. Is that right? So me. So if I'm coming to worship, I am the he. I am to lay my hand on the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on whose behalf?21:20On his behalf to make atonement for him. So you get the picture. I'm bringing the animal. I bring the animal to the front of the tent of meeting. Actually, you're walking into the building. And the first thing you see is the altar on your right. It'll be on your right. And I bring the offering. I lay my hands on it because that animal is going to make atonement for me, the one who is offering it.21:45Okay, active participation. Verse 5. Get ready. I am to what? Slaughter the bull before the Lord. Let me pause there. I'm not a herdsman. I'm not a cowboy, in case you wonder that. Never ridden a bull. But the average bull weighs about 2,200 pounds.22:16That you just brought to the sanctuary to slaughter. Let that sink in. This is not some little baby dog or some baby animal that you say, oh, look how cute. This is a full-grown bull that you're about to look in the eyes and say, bull, you're about to be my sacrifice. And guess who's going to sacrifice it?22:46The one who is offering. Verse 5. He is to solder the bull before the Lord. Aaron's priest, his sons, are to present the blood and splatter it on the altar. Then he is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. And then look at verse 9. The offerer is to wash his entrails with legs with water. Then the priest will burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a fire offering of pleasing aroma to the Lord. Now let me unpack that. Four times in this passage, the word bring is used.23:1776 times in Leviticus, the word bring is used. Why would God's word use that over and over for worship? Because I believe at the heart of Leviticus, it's reminding us this about our worship. Worship is not about what you take. It's about what you bring. Worship is not about what you take. So if you leave here thinking, you know what? I didn't get anything out of that. We open up the word of God. Open up our ears, Lord.23:47Worship is not about what I take. Worship here in Leviticus is about what I bring. I can't even imagine Israelite leaving the temple saying, you know what? I didn't get anything out of that today. They would look at their Western counterparts and say, you guys have lost your mind. Who said worship is about you? Pastor, who said worship is about me? We are bringing sacrifice. We are laying our hands upon it.24:17We are actively participating in worship. God, forgive us where we have been passive. So I just simply ask you, what excuses did you have this morning before church? Who in here packed the 2,200-pound bull in the SUV on the way? Anyone said, man, that was brutal. He didn't want to wake up. And how easy do we have excuses in our lives? Lord, help us.24:47I believe that the reason we are so passive is because we have bought the lie of our entertainment consumer society. Let me just kind of unpack that and apply that to Leviticus here. You and I, we go, and I love sports, by the way. This is not saying sports are the devil. They can be idols. God will tell you when you have crossed that line. It's not my job. It's the Holy Spirit's job. He's a greater guy than I ever could be in your life. We go to sporting events and we watch passively. And we convince ourselves that we've won the game.25:18Right? Some of you went to the A game and there were touchdowns. And you have convinced yourself, I scored the touchdown. And no, you didn't. You did not score the touchdown. Now, you might have been there cheering and we're thankful for your participation, but that's a passive watching. We watch TV and we convince ourselves that we're friends with the celebrities. And you say, well, I would never do that. Go to the airport and find one of your favorite celebrities.25:47And what do you want to do? Hey, let me take a picture. And you call him by name. He doesn't know your name. Our faces glow each minute we spend on the phone. And over and over again, you know what we're doing? We're being passive. We're watching. And that's a lie for us. And if we're not careful, what does that do with our worship? We come in here and we get into the same mode. We cheer and we clap, but we watch and we're not participating. Lord, forgive us where we are passive.26:15And the horrifying truth is that we have let the societal malaise infect our worship. So we show up when we want to. We listen half-heartedly and we hope to passively, by osmosis, hear something in worship that might help me have a good day. And if we're honest, some of you have come right now to only see what you can receive26:42and not ask what you can bring. Lord, forgive us when we are that. When was the last time that we woke up and you said, Lord, what can I bring to your people today? Lord, worship is going to be awesome because I am going to bring my life as a sacrifice of praise. God, I'm going to serve your people.27:10God, I'm going to invest in the kingdom. God, I'm going to give of what you have given me. Lord, I don't want to be passive. I want to be active in worship. I want to give. I want to serve. I want to live in a way that the world would see that worship is not passive. It is active because of the active sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Lord, help us that we might know Christ and the power of the gospel. That we would not leave here thinking what a great sermon, what beautiful music,27:39or how moving it was for other people. I want to leave here saying, Lord, I brought my life as a sacrifice to you. I don't want to come to worship and say, you know what, man, Chris, he did a really good job sacrificing that ox. How awesome. Good job, Chris. Or Lewis, man, that baby lamb, that must have been hard for him to sacrifice today. But you know what? I clapped him on. Good job.28:09Good job. Why do we do that in worship? Why do we let Satan make us into passive, passive observers and watchers? Instead of saying, Lord, what can I bring to you, my king? May our worship be powerful, active, and sacrificial for the one who has sacrificed it all for us. Do not be passive. And if you're past your prime, if you're past retirement years and you think, I don't have anything to give, that is a lie.28:34That is a lie from the adversary. We say, well, what can I do? I have a five-year-old and a three-year-old that need you to invest in them. Invest, serve the kingdom. To our gray-haired, blue-haired, pink-haired people, you are a treasure to the church of Christ. We have not forgotten you.29:02Be used for his glory. We need you. We need you to impart wisdom. We need you to impart guidance. We need you. You might not have the same energy you have. That's our job. But when we're not using our minds, you can give us yours. We need you. Quit being passive church. And for those of us who are not gray-haired yet, and you think, well, you know what? I'll serve God when I get around to it. Do not buy the lie from the adversary.29:29Do not, young people, use your summers for Christ. Go on missions. When you go to college, go on summer missions. Go away. Reach the nations for the kingdom of God. Be used for him. And do not let anyone tell you you can't serve Christ. That's what Satan says. So if someone comes up to you and says, you know what? You guys be quiet in the church. You can say, get behind me, Satan.29:58Pastor told me to say that, and he said he heard Jesus say it. But that together we are actively serving the Lord together. And here's what's beautiful. The world doesn't understand this. Find me another place in the world where you have young and old living together in perfect community to serve alongside one another. We don't have that. That's the picture and the beauty of Christ's sacrifice for our Savior. Third point.30:29Third point. Verse 2. I want us to unpack the power of the sacrificial remembrance. And we're going to quickly go through these. This is the I'm sorry burnt offering. So very quickly. When any of you brings a burnt offering. Verse 3. If you were to bring a burnt offering from the herd, he is to bring a what male? A perfect or unblemished.30:56Our sacrifices must be perfect. And if you are listening at all, you're thinking, I don't have anything to offer God that is unblemished. You're right. But there's hope. We have one that is our perfect, special, spotless sacrifice. We have one in 1 Peter that Peter describes it this way. Our redemption is found in the precious blood of Christ that is offered on our behalf.31:24He is the unblemished, spotless lamb. I love the old hymn that says, Behold him there, the risen lamb. My perfect, spotless righteousness. The great unchangeable I am. The king of glory and of grace. One with himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by his blood.31:51When you come before the Lord, your sacrifice must be unblemished. And that is only found in the spotless sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It's the one that John looks in Revelation and says, Behold, I saw a lamb as though slain, burnt offering slain. But he's not lying because he's not dead.32:20He is standing because he is risen, because he is perfect. And if you trust in him, he will be your sacrifice. Is your sacrifice spotless? Second, when we come before the king to bring our unblemished sacrifice. Verse 4, he is to lay his hand upon the sacrifice. The laying on of hands represents ownership and substitution.32:48Ownership and substitution. It is as if the worshiper was saying, God, this one's mine. God, this lamb. God, this bull. This one right here. This one is mine. I just couldn't help but think of how we profess Christ. The difference between laying on the hands and not33:17is the difference between knowing Jesus Christ saves and knowing that he has saved you. Many people in church grow up knowing that there's a sacrifice on their behalf. But if you notice, Leviticus doesn't stop at bringing the sacrifice before the Lord. What is verse 4 saying? We must lay our hand upon to say, Lord, this one's mine. This is my sacrifice.33:46And my sins belong to him. And this animal is going to lose its life for me. And I just couldn't help but wonder, in John 19, when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said this, it is finished. And then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. And I couldn't help but think, did Jesus bow his head as if to say, when you profess me, lay your hand upon my head.34:09Lay your hand upon, here, let me bow my head to you that you might lay your hand upon me because I have sacrificed my life. I am the perfect spotless sacrifice. That is the profession of faith. It is not enough to know that a sacrifice has been presented on your behalf. You must confess him as Lord. You must lay your hand and say, God, this one is mine.34:39Jesus is mine and I am his. He took my sin. He takes ownership of my sin. He who knew no sin became sin for me that I might become the righteousness of God. Have you professed Christ as Lord and Savior of your life? You say, well, I know he died for me, but is he yours? Have you laid your hand upon him? Have you confessed him as Lord and Savior?35:08Not just he is the sacrifice, but he is my sacrifice to God be the glory. He is our sacrifice. This sacrifice also provides, it says, atonement. Look at what the scriptures say in verse 4. That they are to lay their hands upon the head of the burnt offering so it can be accepted on his behalf to make atonement. Atonement means to smear, to rub, or to cover.35:37And so the purpose of the burnt offering, and there would be scholars that argue that the Levitical system was not for atonement of sins. I would say, read the Bible. I'm not a smart guy. I was raised in the South Mississippi, right? But if it says make atonement, I just take God's word as it is. Make atonement. The sacrifice of the person that was offering it, they understood that this covered their sins. What sins do you have in your life right now that God needs to cover?36:06The point of the sacrifice of Christ is to wipe away your sins. And you might be saying, well, Josh, you don't understand the sins that I brought here. I don't, but he does. And he provided. And if we're honest, our sins eat us alive because that is the Holy Spirit convicting. And if you're uncomfortable when I talk about your sin, you should say, God, make me uncomfortable that I might find atonement. Cover it. Smear it. Wipe it away.36:36Psalm 51 says this way, purify me, Lord, and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. The sacrifice was also in verse five, slaughtered. Slaughtered. Why? As a reminder to God's people that our sin and their sin always leads to death. This is what the New Testament says. The wages of your sin, not my sin, not your parents' sin.37:03The consequences of your sin is death. This is a constant reminder that the sin, my sin leads to the death of something. Church, let me ask you this. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if every time you sin, you had to kill a dove. Let's just start small. Would you think about your sin more? If every time you clicked on that computer and said, man, let me look at this.37:32If you knew I'm going to have to kill a, sacrifice a dove before the Lord to find forgiveness. Would you turn the TV off? Or shut the computer down? Or would you not cheat on that exam? Let's ramp it up. Maybe it was a lamb. Maybe it was a goat. That you would see that goat die for your sins. Would you think about your sin differently? The wages of your sin is that there is no sin in your life that does not lead to death.37:59Every sin, one sin leads to death. But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. Never forget, may the bleeding of sheep and the cry of our Savior remain in our ears that we would remind ourselves that his sacrifice was because of our sin. Lastly, we see this about sacrifice.38:29Sacrifice is personal. Look at verse 9. I'm going to gross some of you out, but you need to know this. The worshiper is to wash out his entrails. Youth, that means his insides. His innards, as they said in Mississippi. Right? His innards. Just one word. To wash that. To help gut the animal. You say, well, that's nasty. It is. What does that remind us about our worship?38:58Sacrifice is personal. It's personal. It's personal. I can't sacrifice on your behalf. And if you are counting on your mom or your dad or grandpa or grandmother, their righteousness to cover you, their sacrifice to be yours. But that's not the way that it works. Sacrifice is personal. And Jesus died for you personally. And if we understood this, our life would be changed.39:26And this is how we sometimes live. I think we come to the altar and we bring our offerings and we do everything but want to slaughter the animal. We want to say, God, the animal's blood is not on my hands. I'll do everything but sacrifice. God, I'll do everything until we get to the point of discomfort. But God, don't make me do that. I don't want that blood on my hands. And God is saying, but Josh, don't you realize the blood covers you?39:57Don't you realize that the blood of the sacrifice washes you white as snow? Don't you realize that the sacrifice of the king of kings was the way that God provided for you? Don't you realize that the cross that he bore for your sakes, he did that you might now take up your cross? Do not buy the lie that we can sit in our pews and be comfortable and never sacrifice for our Savior.40:25My heart is that I want to outwork the devil. Until God takes me home, Satan, you're in for a fight. Because this is what I know. Death has already been swallowed up. In victory. Death, where is your sting? Oh, hell, where is your grasp?40:54Satan, you have no dominion over those who have found Jesus. Because there is therefore now no condemnation. And I will not sit idly by. Lord, I want to sacrifice my life to you who sacrificed his that I might find new life before the king of kings. So church, where do we go from here? Very simply this. Will you boldly take a stand this morning and say, God, I want to stand up and sacrifice for you.41:21God, I've sat back far too long. God, I've been in the shadows. God, I felt like I've passed my prime. Lord, Satan has lied to me and said, I don't have anything to offer. Today, the lie ends. And God, I want to serve you. And God, I want to serve you in a way that's not my strength, that's yours. Make me uncomfortable. God, I want to sacrifice to you. Because you sent your son to be my perfect, spotless sacrifice.41:49Let me remind you that you do not sacrifice and bear your cross to go into a relationship. You sacrifice because of relationship. Church, will we not stand up and throw ourselves at the altar and say, God, make us new. And we will not give Satan a break. Youth, will you stand up and say, I will be a leader in the school. I will say no to temptation.42:18I will go on missions around the world. Parents, are you willing to stand up and say, I will let my child go for the sake of Christ. Sometimes the greatest prohibitors of our kids are parents. That we say, well, no, it's not safe. And they say, it's not. But the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not once, even though I go to the dark valley. His rod and his staff, they guide me.42:47Parents, are you willing to let your child go this morning? Maybe you need to come to the altar and say, God, the plans I have for my child have not been yours. I will confess my sin and I will give them to you. And Lord, I will trust you with them. How is God calling you to sacrifice this morning? David Livingston says this way, people talk of the sacrifice that I made spending much of my life in Africa. It is emphatically no sacrifice.43:15Rather, it is a privilege. The question is not if you will sacrifice. The question this morning is how. How is God calling you? Let me just tell a quick story. I'm teaching a retired ladies class in Sunday school. I'm not retired. And I'm not a chick, as they call themselves. And I said, Lord, what are you doing?43:46And yet that has been some of the most fruitful times in my life. I would have never guessed I would teach the chick class. I'm trying to retire. I told them that I'm retiring. But it has been a fruitful endeavor because I said, Lord, I will sacrifice for your sake. And if we do, he will be glorified. Maybe you're here today and you have never laid your hand upon the head of Christ.44:10You have never professed him as Lord and Savior. You have been in church all your life. You know about him, but you have not laid your hand on his head and you said, God, this is mine. Will you do that this morning to know that according to the scriptures, he died on the cross for your sin? That even if you don't believe, he died on the cross for your sin. That's the love of our father. And that if you would confess that he is Lord, if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,44:41you, it's not a, it's not a, a subjective possibility. If you confess with your mouth that you believe in your heart this morning, you will be saved. Because the sacrifice has been given. The unblemished, perfect, spotless lamb. But this is not passive. You must participate.45:10Confess him as Lord this morning. Let's pray, church. So you bow your head and close your eye.← Previous in LeviticusSunday, April 15, 2018Next in Leviticus →Sunday, April 29, 2018More sermons on Leviticus →
