[0:00] The book of Leviticus is a very difficult book at times, but also a very important book. One of the most common themes found in the book of Leviticus is the theme of holiness.
[0:12] It's not a theme in which we speak very often of, but it is a recurrent theme throughout Scripture. As a matter of fact, it is in the book of Leviticus that we have the New Testament quotation of, Be holy as I am holy, thus says the Lord.
[0:28] Somewhere between 90 to 100 times, the New Testament references, either directly or indirectly, the book of Leviticus. So we cannot discount it as just an Old Testament book which has no New Testament application, because the New Testament itself shows us that it is used extensively.
[0:47] It's quoted not only by our Lord, but by many of the early writers to the church, Peter being one and John being others, that write of the importance of this book. The Hebrew name for the book of Leviticus derives from the Lord called or the Lord spoke to Moses.
[1:03] Leviticus, the title which we have, literally means as pertains to the Levites, the tribe of Levi, those who would serve not only as priests, but the helpers in the temple.
[1:14] It is directly connected to the book of Exodus, as you will see in just a moment. We want to approach each of these books with a little bit of background information, a little bit of understanding before we just jump into it, so hopefully we'll be able to paint that picture.
[1:30] But since it has so much to do with the tribe of Levi or the Levites, and it has so much to do with the sacrificial system of the Jewish people, we are tempted to discount it as having no usefulness for us, because praise be to the Lord, we no longer live in a system of sacrifices and offerings, and we already worship through the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, who is Jesus Christ.
[1:56] But we cannot discount the book and say, well, that is just a book of Jewish history that had Jewish application, because as we have seen with many other books, the Old Testament really gives us types and pictures of greater fulfillment.
[2:12] One of those great pictures or types that we see in Leviticus are the sacrifices themselves. Each of these sacrifices, some have said, represent a different side to the diamond of many facets, the different pictures of all that Christ did on the cross.
[2:28] Much like we cannot really understand our salvation without a proper understanding of the book of Exodus, we cannot completely understand all that Jesus did on the cross without an understanding of the book of Leviticus.
[2:44] Because what he did on the cross was so much more than just die in our place. Though he did die in our place, that is one of them, but there was so much more that was accomplished on the cross.
[2:54] Everything that is pictured of every sacrifice, of every offering, of every requirement that a holy God sets forth throughout the book of Leviticus, was completed in one act in Jesus Christ.
[3:09] In it, we find the holiness of God and the unworthiness of man, or the sinfulness of man. We see just how far man must go to really live in relationship with a holy God.
[3:22] We see the standard that is set. We see over and over again the regulations. And as we read it, we will have to be careful because we will get to big portions of it which speak specifically to the priest and to the tribe of Levi.
[3:35] And we will see how the priest must live differently than the common man because the priest hold a very special place. And we will be tempted to say that is for the priest, and the priest must live differently because they have to labor in the tabernacle or the temple, and they have to serve the Lord, and they have to be about the holy things.
[3:53] But we better not forget that the New Testament refers to us as a priesthood of believers. When we read the book of Leviticus, we are reading a letter which God gave to Moses to distribute to a nation with priests.
[4:09] But the church is no longer a people with a priest. We are a people of priests. So every standard that is set forth for the priest throughout the book of Leviticus is a standard which is extended to us, the redeemed.
[4:27] It is a call to live a life of holiness. And it scares us because it is an impossibility. But we need to understand going into the book of Leviticus that it is not a book telling us how to be saved.
[4:45] That's important. Because we'll read all these requirements and all these regulations and all of the works. And we will be tempted to say this is what we must do to be pleasing to God.
[4:56] This is how we must be saved. This is how we must make ourselves holy. And friend, listen to me. That is completely wrong. Because Leviticus does not give us an avenue by which we may be saved or we may be accepted.
[5:10] Why? Because it follows what book? The book of Exodus. And what does the book of Exodus do? Redeems his people. Genesis answers for us. I believe it was Baxter and his book Explore the Bible.
[5:23] J. Sidlow Baxter who said, Genesis answers for us the great need of man. That man needs the seed of a woman to come and redeem him because of his cry.
[5:35] Exodus answers for us the great cry of man. Man cries out to be saved. And Exodus shows us how man is saved. Leviticus answers for us the great requirement of the saved man.
[5:49] How he and she are to live after salvation. Holiness is not an issue for the unredeemed or the lost. Holiness is an issue for the redeemed.
[6:01] Those who have been saved. As a matter of fact, we get from the very first verse in the book of Leviticus. That everything in this book flows from fellowship with God.
[6:13] Exodus we find, and we'll see it in just a minute. Exodus we find God speaking to his people from a distance. Either in a burning bush or on a mountain that is covered in smoke and brimstone and fire.
[6:24] And he is speaking to Moses to speak to his people. In the book of Leviticus we have God speaking from his tabernacle. Which he indwelt at the very end of the book of Exodus. Which means he is now not up above his people.
[6:36] He is actually, where? In the center and in the midst of his people. That was to be a physical representation of God's manifest presence, right?
[6:46] Or the fact that God is here. That that is fellowship. And because God is here, the book of Leviticus. Since we are in fellowship with a holy God.
[6:57] Since we have been saved. We have been called out of Egypt. We have been redeemed. The Passover lamb has been slain. The blood has been put over the doorpost of our hearts.
[7:09] Since we have been saved. This then is how we shall live. That's what the book of Leviticus is all about. It is a high standard.
[7:21] It is a hard requirement. But it is one that we must not overlook. I believe it was Charles Spurgeon who said. That an unholy church has done more harm in the world than any other institution or any other.
[7:35] Think. The church has been called to holiness. And the book of Leviticus will address that. The book of Leviticus tells us how man can enter into the presence of God.
[7:46] Since God has entered into the presence of man. It is easily divided into two sections. The first part deals with man's way to God through the sacrifices.
[7:59] His way to God through fellowship and sacrifices. And the second part deals with man's walk with God. In his moral standard and his moral living a life of purity.
[8:12] We find in it issues addressed that have to do with morality. Civil government. Unclean and common and holy things.
[8:22] We find everything from how we deal with diseases to how we deal with personal relationships. We find issues in Leviticus that we will not address anywhere else in scripture. That we would be tempted to overlook and avoid and to skip around.
[8:34] If we had not already committed to saying we're going to make our way through the book of Leviticus. But it is all about, it is nothing really about what we do and all this.
[8:45] It's about the holiness of God. And how because we now live in fellowship with God. How our lives will be dictated because of that fellowship. So we start in Leviticus chapter 1.
[8:57] It says, He shall wash with water.
[9:59] And the priest shall offer up in smoke all of it on the altar for a burnt offering. An offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. But if his offering is from the flock of the sheep or of the goats for a burnt offering.
[10:11] He shall offer it a male without defect. He shall slay it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord and Aaron's sons. The priest shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. He shall then cut it into pieces with its head and its soot.
[10:24] And the priest shall arrange them on the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar. The entrails, however, and the legs. He shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar.
[10:35] It is a burnt offering. An offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. But if his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds. Then he shall bring his offering from the turtle doves or from young pigeons.
[10:47] The priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off its head and offer it up in smoke on the altar. And its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar. He shall also take away its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar eastward to the place of the ashes.
[11:00] Then he shall tear it by its wings but shall not sever it. And the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is on the fire. It is a burnt offering.
[11:11] An offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. Leviticus chapter 1. In the first section of Leviticus where we see man's way to God as a result of his fellowship.
[11:24] We are introduced to a number of sacrifices. We are introduced to five sacrifices very quickly. Three of them would be called sweet aroma or sweet smelling sacrifices.
[11:35] And two of them are not so sweet. The three that are sweet are those which are pleasing to God. They are really just acts of worship. This is how man worships God because he is in fellowship with him.
[11:48] It really has nothing to do with us. It's all to do with him. The first is the sacrifice of burnt offerings. It is the most repeated sacrifice in the Old Testament system.
[11:58] Because the priest would offer one in the morning and in the evening. And whoever desired to would be able to offer one throughout the day. We'll get to that in just a moment. But those that were the sweet smelling aroma sacrifices were those that would come to God and just want to worship him and adore him and to love him.
[12:14] And for no other reason they just wanted to offer up that sacrifice. The final two offerings in that grouping of five are those that don't smell good. It doesn't say that they're a sweet smelling aroma.
[12:26] Because those two are those sacrifices which are offered in response to our sin. They are not offered just for the purpose of worship, but they are offered for the purpose of forgiveness.
[12:38] Because we have messed up. Because we have fallen. It is those sacrifices which man does in response to a failure. Or a response to an unintentional sin.
[12:49] Or a response to a mistake. Becoming unclean. So we are introduced here to five different types of sacrifices. And we begin in chapter one with the sacrifice of burnt offerings.
[13:03] Each of these sacrifices find their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. They all point to the cross. Some have said that much like God gave the instructions for the building of the tabernacle.
[13:15] He started on the inside out. He did the same with the five sacrifices. He went from inside out. Whereas if we come to God, we normally come in the opposite direction. We come with the first sacrifice being that of we've made a mistake.
[13:29] We have sin in our lives. So we need the sacrifice of sin. This is a problem. This is something we did. And the second sacrifice would realize that we have a sin nature. We just unintentionally sin.
[13:40] So we offer that sacrifice. And then there is the sacrifice of praise. And the sacrifice of thanksgiving. And finally there is the burnt sacrifice. Which is just the sacrifice of worship. So tonight I want us to take a time and start where God starts.
[13:54] And that is with the burnt offering. Nothing other than a sacrifice of worship. The theme through chapter 1 is the fact that God accepts this sacrifice.
[14:05] And this sacrifice is pleasing to God. It really has nothing to do with the man who is offering it. Other than the fact that the man is worshiping God through this sacrifice.
[14:17] Because of the fellowship he has with a holy God. He wants to maintain that fellowship with a holy God. And in order to maintain it, he must worship him in a proper way.
[14:28] We have already seen what happened when God's people attempted to worship him in an improper way. With the building and the construction of the golden calf. So God begins to lay out how they may worship him in the proper way.
[14:40] It was something that I did not realize until I really got to studying into this. As we understand that God sets himself apart as holy throughout this book. Because he is introducing himself for the first time to believers who really had no concept of his holiness.
[14:56] He has delivered them from Egypt. And sure they are of the right people. They are of the Jewish nation. But think about it. Each one of them were born into captivity. Raised into captivity.
[15:07] And lived their entire lives in captivity. Surrounded by multiple gods of Egypt. Each of them would have been familiar with a great pantheon of gods.
[15:19] And different ways of approaching God. And their whole concept of God would have been construed to the environment in which they grew up in. They would have had no idea, no concept other than hearsay.
[15:30] What had been passed down from generation to generation to generation. Over 400 years of God's standard of holiness. It is Moses who writes the Pentateuch.
[15:41] The first five books of the Bible. So they would not have been able to go back to Genesis while they are living in Egypt. And read of how God created the heavens and the earth. They would have heard it. They would have not been able to go back and read the early portions of the book of Exodus.
[15:54] They would have been living with a knowledge of God. But an improper or incomplete understanding of the holiness of God. So God in his grace and in his mercy says, I've entered into a relationship with you.
[16:08] And now I long for you to worship me. I want to maintain this fellowship with you. And in grace I'm going to tell you how you can do that. It is grace, not legalism.
[16:21] That leads God to be clear in how man can approach him. Because it is absolutely unfair for a holy, perfect God to be silent and hope man can figure it out.
[16:35] It is a gracious, loving God that says, I've redeemed you. I've set you free. I want you to be my people. I want you to worship me. Now let me tell you what it's going to take for you to worship me.
[16:49] And the very first thing he introduces them to is really just this pure sacrifice of worship. It has nothing to do with them. All it is is God saying, This is pleasing to me.
[17:04] It is pleasing in my sight. It is probably the greatest and it is the sincerest sacrifice that we see if we're taking it from our perspective. Let's just talk about it.
[17:15] Let's give application for just a minute of who we are as believers. When we come to Jesus Christ, we come to him as new believers. We come to him understanding he died for us. And that is all that we need to understand that we are messed up people.
[17:29] We make mistakes. God is good. He is holy. He is right. There is a day of reckoning and we cannot attain to his standards. So we need someone to die in our place. And all that is required of salvation is that we believe that Jesus Christ is that sacrifice in our place for our sin.
[17:45] And we are content to be there. And we rejoice and we find forgiveness and redemption for all of those things which have plagued us. Those things which are on our heart, those convictions. And then the longer we live with Christ, the more we understand it.
[17:59] It's not just the things we've done. It's the nature inside of us that needs forgiveness. We have a sin nature. We by nature are sinners. It's not just our sins, the things we do.
[18:10] It is our sin. Singular. Paul references this in the book of Romans. The sin nature that we possess. And then we thank God that Jesus did more than just die for our mistakes, the things we've done.
[18:23] He died for who we are at our core, our sin nature. And we realize that the sacrifice of Christ was so much more than just the mistakes we made. It is also the people we are by nature.
[18:34] And then we rejoice that he's made peace with God. And we finally, when we've walked with Christ long enough, we come to the realization that when Christ hung on the cross, we have that Old Testament passage that says that the Father was pleased to offer up his son.
[18:50] That at the core of it all, Jesus hanging on the cross was pleasing to God Almighty.
[19:02] And you're almost disturbed by that because you don't really get it. But what it is, is God saying, now worship is sincere. Was he happy? No, it wasn't happiness.
[19:15] But it pleased his holiness. And allows us to worship him in sincerity. And more than hanging on the cross, we were on his mind, absolutely.
[19:29] On his heart, absolutely. But friend, Jesus says, I came to do the will of the Father. And when he hung on the cross, it was more about the will of the Father than it was the need of man.
[19:42] I know that kind of goes contrary sometimes to some of our theology because we would love for the gospel to be all about us. And we would love for the scripture to be all about us. But it is the will of God the Father to offer up his son as a pleasing sacrifice.
[20:00] And we see this in Leviticus chapter 1. We see it in three things real quick and we'll go through it. And we don't have to look at verses specifically. We want to see it in its entirety.
[20:11] That this burnt offering, which is a sacrifice of worship. It is not necessarily, I'm making atonement because I messed up. It is not, oh, I shouldn't have done that or there's bad things.
[20:22] It is just, I want to worship you, holy God. It is that sacrifice. We see, first and foremost, it is an open invitation. It says, Then the Lord, that is Yahweh, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting.
[20:41] This connects it to the very last passage in the book of Exodus, which tells us that the presence of the Lord filled the tabernacle and the Shekinah glory was in the tabernacle and no one could go into it.
[20:53] Someone has rightly said that the glory filled the tabernacle and no one could go in. So God spoke from the tabernacle and told them how to come in, right? He is proclaiming forth, I'm in here and you can't come in here because I'm holy.
[21:05] So these are the things you must do to make your way in here. And this is what he's doing in the book of Leviticus. But God has now come down and is dwelling in the presence of his people and he cries out.
[21:16] So we, all of a sudden, at the very beginning, see that these things are a result of the fellowship which they already have, not as a way of works to invite God to come into their presence.
[21:27] God is already there. And we are also reminded here that it is the Lord God himself who takes the initiative. It is not Moses sitting around scratching his head, forming a committee trying to determine what is the best way to worship God.
[21:39] Now that we have the Shekinah glory in the tabernacle, now that he is here, now that we have built this structure and God has come down, let's all gather together and figure out what we must do to worship him in the right way.
[21:51] That's not what goes on. As soon as God comes down to his people and he's dwelling in the presence of his people, God himself takes the initiative and begins to speak to his people, which tells us that God wants us to worship him.
[22:04] Think about that just for a minute. A holy God, we'll see holiness all the way through here, desires for us to worship him so much, he tells us how to worship him. That is great.
[22:15] That is good news. We don't have to hope we have it figured out. God is very clear. It is an open invitation. The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord.
[22:32] Just stop right there. You see this? When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord. What is that? That's a whosoever will. That's an open invitation, right?
[22:43] God doesn't just say when the right people or when some people or the people that I choose bring an offering. It says when any man of you brings an offering to the Lord. As a matter of fact, I love Leviticus chapter 1.
[22:55] The more I've studied it today, the more I've grown in love with it, because we see that this invitation is genuinely extended to all people. God says when any of you brings it, then any of you have the opportunity now to bring it, and he extends it to all people to the extent that no one can be limited because of financial burdens.
[23:14] He says that when you come to me, bring a bull. If you can't bring a bull, bring a lamb or a goat. And if you can't bring a lamb or a goat, then bring a bird, a turtle dove or a pigeon. What is he saying? None of you are going to be hindered from coming into my presence simply because you cannot afford it.
[23:31] That's great news. God says I'm inviting whosoever will to have the opportunity to come and worship me and for their worship of me to be pleasing to me. I'm not asking them to come and to beg my pardon and beg my forgiveness right now.
[23:46] All I want them to do is worship me, and I want their worship to be pleasing to me. And I'm giving this invitation. I'm putting it out there. And I said when any man comes, let him come and let him bring this to me.
[23:57] I want to tell you what he needs to bring. But I don't want them to be hindered simply because they can't afford it. Maybe there's someone in the presence who says, I can't afford a bull. I don't have a cow. I don't have any cows. Cows can be expensive.
[24:09] He says, okay, well, do you have any lambs or goats? And well, yeah, I have lambs or goats. Then bring a male lamb or a male goat. And maybe there's some who say, well, I don't have that. He says, okay, then bring a turtle dove or a pigeon.
[24:20] What he is saying is I'm going to accept equally any who come to me on any grounds. I'm not going to accept the one who brings the bull more than I accept the one who brings the pigeon. And that's great because we see that God is pleased.
[24:36] Each of them ends with this thing. It is a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord. That means he accepted it. Okay. That's all that means. It doesn't mean that God stuck his nose out there and went, oh, it smells good.
[24:48] Some of you came in tonight and I was eating my lunch. And yes, I ate it a little bit late because I never left the church today. So Carrie had, and thank you, Brother Ronnie. I was going to save you some, but I got to eating them and there was none left when you got here.
[25:00] She had taken some deer steaks. Brother Ronnie had killed a deer and given it to me. And she had made steak tips out of these deer steaks and had cooked them in the crock pot. Oh, brother, they were good. She brought me a bowl and I said, I thought we was eating those for supper.
[25:11] She said, well, everybody at home got to eating them, so I got you some. And so she brought them in. I stuck them in the microwave. I was in my office eating them. Carrie said, everybody's going, what's that smell out there? What smells so good? And that was your pastor eating his lunch.
[25:22] And I spilled a little bit on me, but it sure was good. And I would have loved to share it with you, but it was too good when I got to going on them. So that's not what God is saying. What God is saying is when you smell this on the altar, when you smell this flesh burning, God says, I want you to know that I'm accepting that.
[25:40] That is mine. And I take that worship. And that worship is acceptable to me. Look at the invitation here. God didn't say if you have a thousand pound calf or 150 pound ram or a half a pound bird, you are more welcomed or more accepted in my presence.
[26:01] He said the invitation is so much that whatever you bring in this stipulations, you bring what you can afford. Now, these are the three things you can bring, but there were none who could say, I can't afford a pigeon.
[26:14] He says, if you can bring one of these three things, you are welcome. What is that showing us? That when Christ hung on the cross, friend, listen to me, it is an open invitation to whosoever will.
[26:26] And it's not just to those who have it all together. It's not just to those who are financially well off. It's not to those who are at a certain level in society. The death of Christ on the cross is a pleasing sacrifice to all who come by the way of the cross.
[26:40] And God sees that and accepts that worship, that whoever comes through the cross, it is not an invitation just to the select few. It is not an invitation to the upper crust of society.
[26:54] It does not exclude the upper crust because it is an invitation to them as well, but it is an invitation to whoever, whoever brings their sacrifice to me.
[27:06] And this is great news. By the way, I don't know if you caught it or not, but these individuals who brought the sacrifices had a very hands-on approach to it.
[27:18] We would like to think that this was all about the priest, and it does have a lot to speak to of the Levitical priest, but if I brought a ram or if I brought a bull, when I got to the doorway of the tent of meeting, we'll get to that in just a minute, I laid one hand on its head, and with the other hand, I slit its throat.
[27:34] I know this sounds gruesome and it seems a little cruel, but this is the price of our worship. This is what it costs. Again, it's a picture, right? So I would be the one who slew the animal. The hand laying on its head would be a sign of me putting my trespasses and my sins and myself in its place.
[27:51] It has taken my place, and I would kill it, and I would skin it. It says that whoever brings it would skin it. I would skin the animal myself. I would cut it into pieces. I would wash the unclean parts out, the legs and the inwards.
[28:04] I would wash all that out. I would give the priest. The priest would build the fire on the altar, and then I would give that to them, and they would lay it on the altar. So I had a lot of hands-on responsibility in that, and it doesn't exclude any of us from that.
[28:21] Whoever would lay hold of that sacrifice could come and worship, and God says, I'm pleased with that sacrifice. One of the things that amazes me throughout the New Testament, and I know that I have done a sermon series in the past, and I believe we've done it here.
[28:34] I believe I did it several, several years ago, a sermon series entitled The Untouchables, and it's amazing when you go through the New Testament and you see those that society ignored and those that society would separate themselves from and those that they would have nothing to do with, and yet we find Christ touching them, the leper, the blind, the mute, the woman with the flow of blood, the lame, the crippled, the sick, and we see Christ touching them and healing them, and how those, whoever was welcomed, could come and they could worship through Christ, and we see this in an open invitation.
[29:14] Number two, not only do we have an open invitation in this sacrifice of worship, we have an appointed place. It is important because this invitation is extended to whoever. It would say, the Lord called out from the tent of meeting, and says, which, or when any man of you, that's a large group of people, right?
[29:30] When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of an animal from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect, he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting that he may be accepted before the Lord.
[29:46] While the invitation is extended to anyone, it is not extended to any place. That is important. Anyone can worship him, but you cannot worship him anywhere.
[30:02] Now again, we live in New Testament theology. I understand that, that the presence of Christ indwells us. We are filled. There was a time when God made his tabernacle among his people, and now we are told in the New Testament that he has made his tabernacle in his people.
[30:17] So we literally take the presence of God with us wherever we go. I believe that I could worship in my vehicle alone just as much as I can worship in the company of believers. But I do believe that in the company of believers, I am enabled with a greater freedom of worship because he is in that presence as well.
[30:35] But we see here that in this time, what he is telling us is that while anyone can worship me, you cannot worship me wherever you want to. Which means that if you wanted to offer a sacrifice of a lamb, or maybe you didn't have a lamb, maybe you wanted to offer a sacrifice of turtle doves, you did not have the right to take your bird and go offer it on any mountain or hill or place you so desired to.
[30:57] God said, I'm going to appoint a place for you to come, and it is important that you come to that place because a right sacrifice offered in the wrong place would be unacceptable.
[31:11] We see that over and over again. And we see that throughout the Old Testament. We see it throughout the nation of Israel that they began to build altars in places that they shouldn't. And we see the great danger that it does to the nation of Israel because we see that God has an appointed place.
[31:27] There is but one altar that God had appointed, and that is the altar at the doorway of the tent of meeting. So over and over again, God says, when any man of you wants to worship me and any man of you brings the proper sacrifice, if it is a bull or if it is a male lamb or a male goat or if it is a bird, then he must bring that sacrifice to the right place, to the appointed place.
[31:49] And the appointed place is to the doorway of the tent of meeting. So remember where the doorway was, right? The doorway was facing towards the east, which means you had to come from the east.
[32:00] And if we follow that theme throughout Scripture, those who went to the east moved from the presence of God. Man was cast out of the Garden of Eden towards the east. He went in the eastward direction, which means he was leaving the presence of God.
[32:13] The descendants of Cain went towards the east. They left the presence of God. And every time in Scripture we see people going towards the east, they are leaving the presence of God.
[32:24] But that's the direction. I'm not saying that's east. I know that's not east. That's more north. I understand that. I'm just pointing my hand that direction. But that doorway was facing the east, which means you had to come from the east to come into his presence.
[32:39] So you were coming into the presence of God. You were actually traveling a westward direction because you were coming into his presence. What God is saying is you have to come towards me, come into my presence, come near as near as you can.
[32:54] He doesn't say come into the doorway. He said you come to the doorway because only the Levites, the priests could be inside the door. But this is where you have to bring your sacrifice. This is the appointed place of your worship.
[33:07] Anybody can do it, but you have to do it at the right place. Why? Because that's where the altar was at. It had to be offered on that particular altar.
[33:19] And it had to be at that appointed place. Why is that important? Because there's but one place that man can run and find redemption and forgiveness for his sins.
[33:30] There were thousands, thousands of Jewish men crucified on crosses during the Roman rule.
[33:44] Thousands. I think history tells us that there is at one time over 20,000 Jewish men killed by crucifixion in one short period of time.
[33:54] crucifixion was a very, very popular practice. It was invented for the purpose of suffering.
[34:06] It was invented not necessarily, I don't think, by the Romans. I think Greece invented that and the Romans just adopted it and used it as some of their torture. They would line the streets with crucified Jewish men.
[34:20] Friend, listen to me. It is not just a cross. It is the cross of Jesus Christ. That one particular place.
[34:36] It's not just any old cross. As a matter of fact, one of the great evidences we have for the crucifixion and the fact that Jesus was crucified the way scripture says he was because scripture tells us that he was nailed to a cross, right?
[34:50] That he was nailed through his wrists and that he was nailed through his feet or really probably his ankle bones. And many people disputed that for a long time because every evidence that they had ever found of crucifixion they always tied the one who was going to be crucified.
[35:06] They tied them to a cross or then nailed them to a cross until archaeologists dug up an individual who had evidently died from crucifixion and he still had the nail and portions of the cross which he hung on going through his ankle bones.
[35:21] His feet were still together and the spike was still there and the spike was still going through his wrists. It was then that science discovered what the Bible had been proclaiming that yes, the Romans did actually nail some of their people to crosses.
[35:39] And it was dated about the time of Christ. Now, is that man's cross important? Not to us. Because it is the appointed cross of Jesus Christ that matters.
[35:55] God did it to fulfill all Old Testament prophecies. He said that he would be lifted up. The picture that we see of Moses with the serpent in the wilderness as he lifts him up and whoever looks at the serpent upon the staff shall be saved and is by faith.
[36:06] Jesus says, this was a sign given to me as the serpent was lifted up so too will the Son of Man be lifted up above the face of the earth. And the only death that was possible at that time for someone to be lifted up above the face of the earth would be through the cross.
[36:20] It was an appointed place at an appointed time and an appointed season and it had to be at the right place at the right time and it could only be one that was acceptable to God.
[36:32] That does not mean that God doesn't care about all those other ones. I'm not saying that at all. I'm not saying that at all. It's a cross that God called to be the one to pay our price.
[36:44] And while there have been altars and altars and altars being built and there have been sacrifices and sacrifices as a matter of fact you can go into the regions of Samaria today and there are still sacrifices going on in the regions of Samaria where they are still following this Old Testament practice and those altars are still in existence and have been in existence since the days of Jesus.
[37:03] Do those altars matter? No. No. Why? Because there was an appointed place that God gave for a prescribed form of worship and anything else done in any other place was not acceptable.
[37:15] God is concerned about the particulars and about the details. We must come to him. Whoever can come but they must come one way.
[37:30] That's important. whosoever will is invited but they can only come through one sacrifice one place and that is Jesus Christ.
[37:44] So we see an appointed place. We see not only an open invitation appointed place. Number three we see a costly offering. In this sacrifice of worship we see a costly offering and we see it throughout this while God gives the invitation and he makes a way for even the poor to enter in he does not make it easy.
[38:08] Okay? There's a big difference. He does not want financial burdens to be a constraint to worship. That means if you are not as financially well off as your neighbor you can still worship me. But if you do have financial means if you have a herd of cattle you cannot bring a turtle dove.
[38:27] If you have a flock of sheep you cannot bring a pigeon. The only way that provision meets is if you do not have the cattle and you do not have the sheep and you do not have the goats then you bring the bird which means you cannot make it easy on yourself.
[38:43] This is where the holiness of God comes in because many people would rather worship God in an easy way as opposed to worship him in a costly way.
[38:55] And the holiness of God has always demanded that man's worship cost him something. And we see this theme running throughout the Old Testament we see it running into the New Testament and do not let the offering of Christ be something that excuses us because the application still rings true in the New Testament.
[39:17] The application still shows the standard is there. If Exodus is our salvation then Leviticus is our living because of that salvation. And we see someone has said that Exodus in the Old Testament is what the Gospels are in the New Testament.
[39:30] The Gospels show us what we must do to be saved and Leviticus in the Old Testament is what the epistles are in the New Testament. The epistles show us what we do now that we are saved. How we live in light of our salvation.
[39:42] And we see this truth running through even here in the cost of the offering. If I happen to be an owner of a herd of cattle then I had to bring the choice of my cattle.
[39:54] I had to bring a bull and it had to be perfect. It had to be spotless. It had to be the top of the line. We could not bring a defiled animal. We could not bring something that had any lame or defect in it.
[40:05] We find that in the book of Malachi. God says I don't want anything to do with that. Go give that to your governor. Go give that to your ruler. See if he's pleased with that. God demanded a perfect sacrifice because he knew the human tendency is I'm going to keep the best for myself.
[40:22] You know that bowl over there looked a lot better in the freezer or well they wouldn't have freezers in the time of the Bible right? It looked a lot better in the smokehouse than it would on the altar. A T-bone should look a lot better than watching it burn up on that altar.
[40:36] I'd rather have it on my fiery furnace in my house. But what is God saying? If you happen to have a herd of cattle you bring me the best one you have. If you have a flock of sheep you bring me the best sheep you have.
[40:47] If you have a flock of goats you bring me the best goat you have. If you don't have those you bring me the best turtle dove or the best pigeon you can find. But whatever you bring me you bring me the best. It is a costly offering.
[41:00] One thing that we find in the book of Leviticus is that every one of the sacrifices come from domesticated animals which means you could not go out and capture a wild animal and offer it as a sacrifice.
[41:11] Why? Because it had to come from something you possessed. It was David who said I will not offer to the Lord my God that which cost me nothing. When he bought the threshing floor of Arunah remember that?
[41:25] Which would become the mount of the Lord where they built the temple in Jerusalem. He said here you can have it you can take it and here's the cattle and here's the wood you go ahead remember that when the angel of the Lord was coming down and there was this great pestilence going because David had issued this decree to count people and God says don't do that and this severe plague came over the angel of the Lord was standing there over the threshing floor of Arunah and he says you can have it King David do it just offer the sacrifice David goes no I'm going to pay for it I'm going to give it to you because I will not offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing.
[41:59] And friend listen to me that resonates throughout the Old Testament and resonates even into the New Testament that our worship of God is a costly thing. It cost him everything to redeem us and it will cost us much to worship him.
[42:17] It may cost us popularity it may cost us financially it may cost us time it may cost us a lot of things throughout these times but it is a true worship that God calls for and he says you will offer something to me which costs you.
[42:32] It is not a worship of convenience rather it is a worship of expense and you offer me the best. Why? Because that's what pleases the Lord.
[42:47] And it's not a very popular thing. We would rather have our worship services about us. We would rather have our worship services about the music we like, the way we like it, the program we like, the standards we like, with people we like.
[43:02] And God interrupts that and says you've got it all wrong. Worship's not really about you and what you like it's about me and what I accept. and what I accept is a worship of spirit and truth.
[43:16] And one that costs and one that is sacrificial, which means you may have to give up something you prefer in order to worship me in sincerity and truth. You may have to give up something that you would prefer so that you can worship me in sincerity and truth.
[43:30] You may have to give up your feelings so that you can worship me in sincerity and truth. But I want you to give me the best of what you got. And I'm going to accept that worship. Because worship's not about you, God says.
[43:44] It's about me. And what we find in the burnt offering is a sacrifice of worship. And what Jesus did on the cross, it was not what he wanted to do.
[43:56] Right? The Garden of Gethsemane says, Father, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, who for the joy set before him endured the cross.
[44:11] The cross was something he endured. Why? Because of the joy of the worship. The joy of the presence of the Father. And we understand that worship really is something that costs.
[44:26] And when Moses is telling the people this, he's saying, don't bring this any animal. Any one of you that want to worship, you can worship. Any of you that want to come, you can come. There's a place you can come to.
[44:37] It's the doorway of the tent of meeting. One place. And anybody that comes to that one place, you bring your best because of who you're worshiping.
[44:49] Because you're already living in fellowship with him. And you don't want to worship him half-heartedly because he is holy and he is worthy. Let's pray.
[44:59] Lord, we thank you so much. God, we rejoice in who you are. And we thank you that you have paved the way for our worship, our adoration, our love.
[45:12] And I pray, oh God, that we would come to you with all that we are and say, you are worthy, oh God, you are worthy. You are worthy of all of our praise. You are worthy of all of our rejoicing, all of our great daddy daddy Thank you.
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