← ArchiveLeviticusSunday, May 20, 2018DateMay 20, 2018Speaker—TextLeviticus 16Passages in this sermonLeviticus 161:42Leviticus 107:14Hebrews 1010:56Psalms 5119:36Colossians 237:57TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00Now 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 come in, and other priests who enter inappropriately, they die. Well wait, if God's presence is good, how is it all of a sudden dangerous for people?0:28So 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.0:53Welcome. My name is Josh Lead, pastor here at Bethel Baptist Church. You are at Bethel, and we are in Leviticus. So if you don't know where that book is, go to the front of your Bible and work your way to the third book of the Holy Scriptures. And we believe very simply and very clearly that we want to share the whole gospel with the whole person, with the whole world.1:19And when we mean the whole gospel, we mean the entire counsel of the word of God. And I believe firmly that the entire counsel of the word of God is for us today, for our good, for our benefit, for the building up and the implementation of the good news. So with that, join me in Leviticus chapter 16. And some of you are thinking, if you weren't here last week for Mother's Day, happy late Mother's Day, and you're thinking, well, what did you preach on Mother's Day?1:47Leviticus, what else? And so we've been working through this series and asking, Lord, draw us near. Leviticus is all about God's people learning how to have a relationship with the one true God. And that's the same struggle we work out in our lives, is it not? We're still trying to figure out, God, we know we're saved by grace, but we struggle with wanting to earn our salvation.2:15So, God, how do we draw near? An easy way to check yourself, when you sin, what's your first instinct? Do you want to run away from God or do you want to run towards God? The flesh just go away like a shameful dog. Do you have a dog in your house that tears up something, and they always hide under the bed? Because they know that they're in trouble. But God says the opposite, that if we confess our sins, He is faithful, although we are not.2:43He's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. So we're going to work through that today. God, draw us near to you and to your presence. You will need your Bibles today. So if you have your Bibles, please turn to Leviticus 16. We're going to try to read the entire passage, and I will break down each section, and we will apply that in our lives. So it's a unique Sunday in that aspect.3:11If you have your phones, most of you can find your Bible on your phone also. Let's begin in prayer. Father, we confess our sins before you right now. But we are fallen people, fallen from grace. And yet you pursue us through your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, let us rejoice today that the greatest day of atonement the world has ever known was when Jesus Christ declared,3:34It is finished. So Lord, help us live in light of redemption. Help us live today knowing that it is finished, not that we have to accomplish it, but that you have. Lord, restore us, renew us, and bring to remembrance the promises that you have.3:57Now, Lord, apart from your Spirit, we cannot know the plans of God. So Lord, we need your help. Open our minds. Fill this place with your presence. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Let's look at God's Word together. Leviticus 16, beginning in verse 1. And the big idea simply is this. The greatest day of atonement the world has ever known is the day Jesus on the cross said,4:25It is finished. And I'm reminded often that what God has finished, I cannot improve upon. So why do we try? Why do we try? So we read a passage today in Leviticus 16 that is foundational to the community of faith in the New Testament. One scholar said it this way, Every passion narrative, every Easter story, the entire writings of Paul, and the entire book of Hebrews depends upon the day of atonement.4:55So if you think, well, what does this have to do with me today? You're going to have to remove half of your New Testament if this is not applicable to our lives. And when we have fresh eyes in God's Word in Leviticus, we will have fresh eyes with God's Word in the New Testament. So we recognize this, that what you read today is a shadow.5:23And then we're going to apply it in the substance that is Jesus Christ. You say, well, what does that look like practically? I literally walk my daughter through the woods to the babysitter. One day she's going to tell her kids, I used to walk through the woods to go to the babysitter. We literally walk through the woods and we look at rabbits. And a rat ran in front of me the other day and I was so angry. I'm like, Lord, why rats? Why did you create rats? It scared me.5:53And so, you know, when you get scared, you get angry. But we were walking this weekend and we were walking and the sun was setting. So we were coming home and our shadows were cast in front of us. And so she's trying to play with her shadow, which is interesting because a shadow is real. But it's a reminder that the substance is not what you see, it's what you don't see. The substance is us and the shadow is a picture of something greater. And what you see today in Leviticus 16 is a shadow that's pointing to you, pointing to a greater day of atonement.6:22So I think those two thoughts will help us apply Leviticus in your life. This is the shadow. And if you know Jesus, you know the substance, you know the shadow caster. His name is Jesus Christ. And with that, let's look in verse 1. So we're simply going to walk through the entire chapter today. The entire chapter. Verse 1 and 2. Now let's stop there.6:53I've already said for three weeks in a row, the story of God determines the law of God. Grace always precedes law. It's not the other way around. So what is this reminding us of? It's reminding us of the last narrative, the last story in Leviticus, Leviticus 10, which was Nadab and Abihu. They went to the presence of God and they died because they went with incorrect alien fire.7:20And so again, God's reminding us that we don't come to him on our terms. We go to God on his terms. And that should terrify us. But if you know Jesus, you should say hallelujah. Because I can't go to God on his terms because I've broken his terms and Christ has made a way. So we live in light of it is finished.7:48Verse 2. The Lord said to Moses, tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place behind the curtain in front of the mercy seat. Now, if you're Aaron at this point, are you going to listen to God? Yes, because your sons have incorrectly entered the presence of God and God struck them down, killed them. Because God is just.8:18He is holy. He is love. But he is just and he is holy. So at this point, if I'm Aaron, I'm thinking, okay, God, I'm listening. He cannot come into the holy place whenever he wants. But behind the curtain in front of the mercy seat on the ark or else he will die because I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. We were reminded of the beautiful story of God throughout his word.8:47I sat in our conference room today. We have our next steps class. We have three people that want to be covenant members. And the one thing that I ask every person that joins, you need to share the story of what God is doing in your life. And every time someone tears up and I married someone who likes to cry openly and often at points. And so I've just learned when other people tear up, I've learned I'm supposed to tear up also.9:15So it usually gets me. And I've often reflected why. Here's why. If I see God working in someone's life, it's overwhelming. It's overwhelming because we don't deserve that. And I'm so thankful that we have people sharing the story. The story of God thousands of years ago in Leviticus is the story that is continuing in our lives today because of the substance, Jesus Christ. And he wants us to remember that story.9:45And we are prone to forget. You and I are forgetful people. That's why God wants us to worship regularly. We worship to remember his faithfulness, remember his promises. Some of you who grew up in maybe a church that you had a communion table in front of the church. We have one. I think it's in the back somewhere. But on the front of the table that I grew up in, in church, we're etched these words. Do this in remember.10:15Why would God want us to remember? Because we forget. And our job is to gather together to remember God's promises. Because Satan wants you to forget. God wants you to remember. Don't forget God's promises in your life. Worship is a divine gift of remembrance. And everything that you see today in the Day of Atonement is reminding the people, remember, remember, remember. Remember, on the seventh month of the tenth day, by one man, that atonement was offered to all people.10:44Hebrews reminds us of this, though. Hebrews chapter 10. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary. Let me stop there, Hebrews. Do we have boldness to enter? I mean, did you not, did we miss the first two verses of Leviticus, right? Verse 1. Moses spoke after the death of Aaron's two sons.11:15Why did they die? Because they entered the presence of the Lord, right? Verse 2. The Lord said to Moses, tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants. What did the writer of Hebrews miss? Leviticus is screaming, you do not come to God whenever you want. And Leviticus, in Hebrews 10, says, because of Jesus Christ, we have boldness to enter his sanctuary. Church, never forget that you have boldness to enter his sanctuary because of Jesus Christ.11:43Don't take that for granted. The people of Leviticus, the people of the community of faith would say, you can't do that. And we tell them, but his name is Jesus. And we can. I can enter and see God face to face because of what Jesus has done for me. He has restored broken relationship. In Jesus Christ, you and I have uninterrupted access to the Father.12:13What a beautiful thought that that is. You and I have uninterrupted access to the Father because of the Son, Jesus Christ. Never forget, next time you read Leviticus, if you ever do again, and you read this verse, do not come whenever you want. You should rejoice and say, God, through your Son, Jesus Christ, I can come whenever I want12:38because of the power of the blood and the atonement offered on my behalf. Church, you have uninterrupted access to the Father. We should glory in that truth. Verse 3. So Aaron is to enter the most holy place in this way. With a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering,13:05he is to wear a holy tunic and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He is to tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen tunic or turban. These are holy garments. He must bathe his body with water before he wears them. He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. This is a very solemn day. At least six times the high priest was to bathe.13:36At least six times. Now, let me just say as an aside, for all of you people when I was growing up, it wasn't you, I didn't grow up with you, but for everyone who told me I couldn't wear a hat in church when I was little, God is telling the high priest, put on your hat. Okay? I just want to point that out. Put on your turban, your linen tunic. These new clothes, though, were unadorned. These were not the beautiful theatrical clothing of the high priest.14:03God asked him to strip away his status and look plain. Why would God ask the high priest to strip away his status when he comes into his presence? Because it's a reminder that he is to come with a repentant and contrite heart. When you come to God, God doesn't care who you are. You could be the CEO, the president, or you could be the least of these.14:29You don't come to God and say, God, here I am. No, we come to God and say, God, I am nothing. Strip away everything in me and let me come with a repentant and contrite heart. And the truth is, without repentance and without a contrite heart, salvation will never be yours. That is a requirement of salvation is repentance. You cannot turn to God unless you have turned from your sin.14:59And we should not let anyone else do that. If you love me, you will tell me I cannot grab on to the cross of Christ and grab on to my sin with the same hands. We have to let go of one. And this is a reminder that we must come with contrite and repentant heart. Tradition still carries on the prayer of the high priest. Let me read this prayer. What a beautiful picture of repentance that we should still model in our lives.15:28The priest would pray this prayer. Oh, God, I have committed iniquity, transgressed and sinned before thee. I and my house. You see what he's doing? He was claiming his sin and he's claiming his family's sin. Fathers, that should remind you what your kids do, your responsibility. And he's repenting for his family.16:00He's saying, God, on their behalf, I am coming to you. I believe in personal responsibility. But fathers, you are the leader of repentance in your home. Forgive my iniquities and the transgressions and sin which I have committed. How refreshing. And the day of our lives where it's never my fault, it's always your fault. That the priest, the model of religious zeal in the community stands up and says, God, it's my fault.16:25I and my house, as you have written in your faithful law by your servant Moses, for on this day I shall receive atonement. It will be made for you and cleanse you from all of your sins. Ye will be clean before the Lord. Salvation and atonement is only found in a repentant heart. It is only found in a repentant heart.16:55Verse 7. Next, he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. After Aaron cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for the uninhabitable place, he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be present, presented alive before the Lord to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness for an uninhabitable place.17:22Now, according to one scholar, the lots would look like this. There were two stones. It might have been a black stone and a white stone. And one stone would be the yes stone. So one goat would be the black stone. One goat would be the white stone. One goat would be sacrificed. I don't know which is better. One goat would be thrown into the wilderness, never to return.17:52But this was the process. This was casting lots. And before you think, well, they're gambling. I can't believe that they would do that. This was mandated by the Lord. The presence of God was in this process. We often say that God works in mysterious ways. Now we have the Holy Spirit. We don't have to cast lots. We have the Holy Spirit within us. But God was in this, and the lot would fall to the one that they would call the scapegoat, the yes goat, the azazel goat.18:15Now the word azazel simply means the goat that goes away or the uninhabitable place. Some of your Bibles have azazel. Some of your Bibles have scapegoat. Some of your Bibles have the goat that goes away. Mine has to the uninhabitable place. It's most likely that this word describes the place that it was going. This goat is going to the place where it is an inhabitable.18:45It is a wilderness. Why? What is the goat carrying? It's carrying the sins of the people. What's the reminder to us that my sin makes me uninhabitable for sacred space? Your sin, the goat was a reminder that it is going to a place where no one should live because sin makes you uninhabitable for sacred space. Listen, if you don't get anything else this morning, your sin ruins you.19:13It taints you. It stains you. It makes you uninhabitable to be with God. Now we're going to end on good news. But your sin and my sin are serious. They are not trite. They are not ignored. Our sin makes us uninhabitable. David cries this in Psalm 51. He sins. And if you don't know the context of Psalm 51, this is after he has committed adultery on his wife with Bathsheba.19:39She's bathing. And he's not where he should be. He should be at war. He's a king and he's not at war. And he sees someone bathing. And not only does he see her bathing, he calls the person bathing to his house. He has relations with them. And then he realizes, I've done a bad thing. She's going to have a child. I'm going to kill her husband. It's just a really ugly situation. And in all of this, this is David's prayer.20:07Lord, do not banish me from your presence. And or take your Holy Spirit from me. What does David understand? David realizes, look, I should be the goat. My sin has made me uninhabitable. God, something is here and I should never be visited by your presence again. Look at this goat. Look at verse 26 now. The man who releases the goat for the uninhabitable place is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water.20:37Afterward, he may re-enter the camp. So you can turn back to verse 11 now. Jewish tradition. And I've often wondered, what happened to the goat? That's just how my mind works. What happened to the goat? Jewish tradition has it that the man who would carry the goat away would push it off a cliff.21:07Now, I had someone ask me this week, well, if it's a mountain goat, how do you push a mountain goat off a mountain? I don't have a good answer. But why would they go to great lengths and lengths to make sure the goat would never wander back into the community? Can you imagine if the sin goat wandered back? How devastating that would be for the people of God to say, God, our sin that you said you have cast away forever is now coming back.21:38Look, I would not want this job. Can you imagine bearing the weight of this man who has to carry the goat into the wilderness? How far do you have to go to be at peace? And say, and this goat can't find its way back. That's why they would attempt to throw the goat off the cliff. It's almost like 2018, the man who is in charge, actually it happened in January of this year, the man who's in charge of the nuclear warning system in Hawaii.22:03You've never heard of this person. It could be a woman. You've never heard of this person until they accidentally set off the alarm. And for 38 terrifying minutes, Hawaii and the rest of the world thought, oh, no, we're about to be destroyed. This is a great reminder of, look, dude, you had one job.22:34Don't hit the button. Put a glass case over it. Whatever you have to do, just don't hit the button. This guy has one job. Carrie, I would not want the weight of this responsibility. Look, this is a shadow, though. The shadow is a reminder that the goat would carry away the sins of the people. And Hebrews 10, again, reminds us. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.23:03Just as the man who carried the goat had to wash his body, now because of Christ, we are washed. Why? Here's the substance. Jesus Christ has forever carried your sin away. He has forever carried your sin.23:31As far as the psalm says, as far as the east is from the west. And don't miss the symbolism. Where was Jesus Christ crucified? Outside the city. Outside the city. He carried he who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. He was carried outside because he carried our sins outside of camp. And I just began to think and pray over this scripture. If my sins were carried outside of the camp because of Jesus Christ, never to wander back again.24:00Why do we still dwell on those things? Why do we still say, God, you know that goat that wandered away? Man, I just can't forgive myself for that. Why do we hold on to sins that Jesus Christ has long carried and thrown? He didn't throw them off the cliff. He nailed them to the cross. And they are removed from our life.24:31And we still hold on to them. And I believe God is screaming, look, I took them away. There's a visual reminder that your sins are no more because of Christ. Why are you still bearing the guilt that Jesus took? Church, oh, that we would know that we are forgiven. I was reminded by a good friend on Friday night. I love this quote. He said, the greatest form of pride is not forgiving that which God has already forgiven.24:57One of the greatest forms of pride in my life is not forgiving what God has already promised he would forgive. If God can forgive me, who am I to think I can't forgive? That God would redeem us. Listen, you are forgiven. Sin is expunged and driven away by the perfect sacrifice. In Christ, sin might still remain, but it will not reign.25:25We've been given victory over sin. That is the power of Jesus Christ. And our sins are forgiven never to wander back. And if Jesus has taken them away, do not try to reach for them again. Church, verse 11. What a powerful reminder. Some of us need to let that, send that goat away today. Verse 11. When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and for his household,25:54he will slaughter the bull for his sin offering. He is to take a fire pan full of blazing coals. Now, let's pause there. Some of you who were here several weeks ago, you're thinking this is, we know how this ends. You can't just take any fire, any time, any way. We have to do things God's way. Take this fire of blazing coals from the altar before the Lord.26:22Now, let me pause there again. The altar and the coals come from who? The fire to present to the Lord is given by who? It's given by God. No one can stoke the Holy Spirit in your life but the Lord. It is God who's already provided the fire. He just says, look, this is where you get the fire. So if you're here and you're spiritually dry or cold, God is the only one who can renew that and give you the fire that you long for.26:47There's no worship. There's no sermon. It is only the Holy Spirit that can give you what you need. Verse 13. He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord so that the cloud of incense covers the mercy seat. That is, over the testimony or else he will die. And when God says it, he means it. He is to take some of the bull's blood and sprinkle it with his finger against the sides of the mercy seat.27:15Then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger before the mercy seat seven times. The transporting and sprinkling of blood was a key aspect of the Day of Atonement. Without blood, there is no covering. Oh, precious blood that restores us and covers nothing but the blood of Jesus.27:43There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Let me just say this. We are a peculiar people. If I walk in a place and they're singing about blood, I'm going to say, who are these vampires? I mean, just think about that. If you do not know anything about God or church and you walk in and people are singing about blood, there is a fountain filled with blood.28:13Okay, let me sit on that side of the sanctuary drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Why can we say that? Because it's the blood that gives us atonement. There cannot be salvation without the blood of Christ. So any doctrine, any church that tries to remove the blood of Christ has effectively removed the gospel.28:39But we need to claim that this is just weird. The world is going to look at you and say, why are you guys so bloody? And we can say, because Christ sacrificed his precious blood to wash our sins white as snow. And that's not something we sing about. That's something we have to believe. Notice the cherubim here in verse 11 through 14. They're looking down upon the mercy seats.29:09And one thing I read as I was praying, it just brought this thought. The cherubim look down upon the mercy seat, only see evidence of Israel's unfaithfulness. These cherubim are perpetually looking down. They can only see the unfaithfulness of Israel until the blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat. And when the blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat, what do the cherubim see?29:40They see the blood, and the blood's a reminder of what? The sacrifice. The sacrifice is a reminder that we have forgiveness of our sins. The sacrifice is a reminder that we can come into the presence of God here only one time, one day, one person. But we can come into the presence of God because we have forgiveness. Don't miss that, church. We have forgiveness of our sins, and we don't have to look down at our unfaithfulness anymore. We can look up to our Father because of Jesus Christ.30:09That's the power of the sprinkling of blood. Verse 23. Then Aaron is to enter the tent of meeting, and he's to take off the linen garments. And it's not said here, but can you imagine that these garments are stained with blood at this point? And he's to leave them there. He will bathe his body with water in a holy place and put off his clothes.30:39Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people's burnt offering. He will make atonement for himself and for the people. He is to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. The man who released the goat for the uninhabitable place, Azazel, is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water. And afterward, he may reenter the camp.31:05Why such a ceremonial pitcher of washing? Why did the priest have to wash six times or more? Why did the man who carried the goat and threw him off the cliff, why did he have to wash? Because it's a pitcher that through sacrifice, we are washed. We are washed clean. And it's interesting in the word for sin here in verse 16. He will make atonement for the most holy place for the sins of Israel, their impurities and their rebellious acts.31:35It's the word pesah, which is the most grievous word for sin in the Old Testament. It's only used twice in Leviticus. God's reminding the people that, look, your sin breaks relationship. One sin. Anyone here sin once, just once. I'm not asking for two or three or a lot more than that. Anyone just say, I've sinned once. Anyone awake.32:05Anyone awake. Okay, some of you are. Anyone lying. So you're now in our camp. Okay. The Bible says that all have sinned. Well, I stand here, as Paul would say, the chief of sinners. We are not without sin. And because we have recognized our sin, we know that he is the rescuer of our sin. And this word is saying that, look, we are grievously stuck in our sin. We have broken relationship. Look, God looks at our sin as serious. He does not ignore our sin.32:35He doesn't say, church people, you get a pass, you Southern Baptists. Good job. Look, if Israel doesn't get a pass, we have no hope. You and I are not Israel. Now we're grafted in, praise God. But we are not Israel. And if God treats his covenant people and treats the seriousness of their sin, how much greater is our sin? This sin is great, but yet it's a shadow.33:02The substance is this. The substance is that if this sacrifice covers the sin of the people, how much greater does the sacrifice of Jesus Christ cover the sin of the people? I'm thinking about that old hymn that goes like this. The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Some of you know it.33:33The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. What a beautiful. I mean, we just sing that. That's what a peppy song that is. Those vile people. But think about it. What you're saying, Lord, I am the vile. God, I am the ungodly. I am the ugly. And Lord, if I come to you from the fountain of atonement, the moment I repent, I will receive pardon.34:01We are the vilest. And in Christ, you can be the pardon. You and I can be the pardon to the praise of our heavenly Father. Jesus washes us clean. Look at verse 29. Wow. Verse 29. This, Israel, is to be a statue for you.34:28What type of statue? A permanent statue. And today is evidence of that. We are still reading the beauty and the power of the word of God today, remembering in the seventh month, on the tenth day, that we are to practice self-denial and do no work, both the native and the alien who resides among you. Now, Americans, you don't like this verse. Let's be honest. We do not like the fact that God would say, on the day of atonement, you must practice, he didn't say self-sufficiency.34:54Work really hard and do for yourself. Practice self-denial. The Mishnah actually gives a list of what those included for the Jewish population. They could not bathe. Some of our youth are like, yes, I told my mom I don't have to. You could not use oil on the body. You could not wear shoes.35:24And you could not have sexual relationships. On that day, you are to practice self-denial. Why? To remind yourself that when you rest, you're saying, God, you've done it. God, I have not earned this atonement. It is by your grace and your mercy. The substance, if this is the shadow, the substance is this, that the cross-shaped life is a life of self-denial. A cross-shaped, and you say, well, I'm not going to do that. You don't want the cross of Jesus Christ.35:52Jesus says, if anyone would follow after me, he must take up, not the one that we wear around our necks, the cross of self-denial, and follow him. And I believe sometimes the world struggles with us because they look at the church and say, you're not denying anything. You've added Jesus in your life, and nothing has changed. And they look at us and say, you guys aren't practicing what Jesus preaches. And we need to look back at them and say, you're right.36:21And we repent, and we're sorry. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it this way. He calls it cheap grace. Self-filled Christianity is powerless Christianity. Listen to what Dietrich Bonhoeffer says. Cheap grace is the grace that we bestow on ourselves. I made a profession. I walked an aisle. I was baptized. I am a member. I do this. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance.36:50Baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship. Grace without the cross. Grace without Jesus Christ. Living and incarnate. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a man who died. Because he said, I will stand up for Jesus Christ, even if it costs me my life.37:15And may the same be said of us. Verse 30. On this day, atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. And you will be clean from all of your sins before the Lord. Kippur or kippur or kippur atonement is a word that simply means to make amends, to pardon, to release, to appease, to forgive, or to cover, thereby forgetting sin.37:43When God says atonement, he says, I have covered you in the blood. Colossians picks up on this language and says it this way. Colossians 2. You were dead in your trespasses. Not half dead. Not struggling. Not churchy. Not hypocritical. Whatever that word might be. You were what? You were, we were dead in our trespasses.38:12Can you get more dead than dead? No. But Jesus has made you alive with him and forgiven us all of our trespasses. I love the picture of grace and mercy. Look, when Lazarus comes forth out of the grave, the community is like, this is not normal. Someone who is dead is now alive. This is the power of the Messiah.38:41This is the power of the gospel. Verse 14, he has erased the certificate of debt with his obligations that were against us, and he has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He has disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly. He triumphed over them in public. The substance is Jesus Christ, and he gives you a full pardon if you receive that. Full pardon. What type of pardon do you receive if you know Jesus?39:12Full. When Satan reminds you, remember your sins, you should remind him, Satan, I understand. Thank you for reminding me. I am prone to forget. But the promise of God is that I have received a full pardon. And Satan, next time you come back, because I'm forgetful, I'm going to remind you and remind myself that I have received a full pardon. That I was dead in my sins and I am made alive in Jesus Christ. That he has erased my sin, he has nailed it to the cross, and I have received something that I do not deserve.39:39So, Satan, what else you got? We need to remember and preach to ourselves the gospel daily. Verse 31. We'll end here. It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you. You must practice self-denial. It is a permanent statue. Why does God want his people to rest? Because he looks out at his people and realizes they've been saved by grace, but they're still not resting in grace.40:09You've been saved by grace, but you forgot that. You've been saved by grace, but you're trying to earn his grace. And it doesn't happen like that. Look, the Lord does not want you today to simply know about atonement. Some of you today are thinking, hmm, that's really nice. God saves. He atones. He is our scapegoat, whatever that might be. God does not want you to know about forgiveness.40:38He wants you to know that you are forgiven. He doesn't want you to know about atonement. God wants you to know that in Jesus, you are atoned for. God doesn't want you to know about righteousness and fill your mind with knowledge. He wants you to know that in Christ, you are righteous. God doesn't want you to know about pardon. He wants you to know that in Christ, you are fully pardoned. And we need to live as if that is something that we claim for ourselves.41:08Every year, the people of God would go through this exercise to remind themselves, God, our sin is removed. We need to daily remind ourselves, God, my sin is taken away to the praise of our Father. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord.41:38God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord.42:07God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord.42:36God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord. God, our sin is taken away to the Lord.43:05God, our sin is taken away to the Lord.← Previous in LeviticusSunday, May 13, 2018Next in Leviticus →Sunday, May 27, 2018More sermons on Leviticus →
