Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Leviticus. The Book of Leviticus, Chapter 3. And I want to just say to you folks, as we come to Leviticus Chapter 3, I know in your bulletin, you have Leviticus Chapter 3 and Chapter 7. I want to say to you that we're going to be reading Chapter 3, we will not be reading Chapter 7. Chapter 7 is a fairly lengthy chapter but we will be making reference to it. But for this particular offering, Chapter 3 is the focal chapter but Chapter 7 is really the explanation of how this offering works out in terms of the ritual and the practice and all the particulars of the offering. So we'll just read chapter 3 and then make reference to chapter 7. Leviticus chapter 3 and I'm reading from the New King James. When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around the altar. Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys he shall remove. Aaron's son shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice Which is on the wood that is on the fire as an offering made by fire a sweet aroma to the Lord verse 6 if he's offering as a Sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord is the flock whether male or female He shall offer it without blemish If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting. And Aaron's son shall sprinkle its blood all around the altar. Verse nine, then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering as an offering made by fire to the Lord, its fat and the whole fat tail, which he shall remove close to the backbone. and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the Lord. Verse 12. And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on its head and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. Then he shall offer from it his offering as an offering made by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove. And the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet All the fat is the Lord's. Verse 17. This shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. You shall eat neither fat nor blood. And God be pleased to bless the reading of the Holy Scripture. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the opportunity to come to you now in prayer. We pray, please, Lord, that you would meet with us, that you would be gracious to us, that you would teach us your truth in the inward paths. We pray that we would seek Christ. We pray for the help of your Holy Spirit. We pray that you would be hallowed in our response to the word, that you would make us alert and receptive. We pray that this would all be done to the glory and the honor of your name, for the sake of Christ Jesus. Well beloved, this will be the last of the offerings, of the sacrifices that we will be looking at. Lord willing, next Sunday I hope to go into the festivals. But this is the last offering and it's very appropriate for us to be focusing on this offering as we come to the Lord's table. This really does tie in very well, particularly the second section that I'll be preaching on before the Lord's table. Now a couple of Sundays ago I asked you if you could think of a word that would be the worst word in the human language. And I have no doubt in my mind for any seriously minded Christian that that one word that would come to the surface in your thinking would be the word sin, the word sin. It is sin that separates us from God and we know the wages of sin is death. Now I want to ask you before we go into this passage, if you could think of the best word, the very best word in the human, in the English language, what word would you think of? And I would probably be right in saying that the word that would be the most blessed word you could ever say in the English language is the word peace, particularly peace with God. And so today we're going to be looking at peace with God. But not only are we going to be looking at peace with God, which will be my first section, we will also be looking at fellowship with God, which will be my last section. Peace and fellowship. These two go hand in hand. So as we come to this offering, what was this offering? Well, I'm going to lay a bit of a foundation and I want you to bear with me because there's some detail here that you need to lay a hold of And you need to grasp, to understand what's really going on here. So the peace offering really was a shared meal in which the offerer, the worshipper, celebrated not just for himself the peace of God, but everyone who came with him. He would generally bring an entourage with him. He'd bring his family. He'd invite people and those assembled in the sanctuary. and he would be offering this peace offering and it would be a celebration of the benefits of a peaceful relationship with God. It really was a joyous time of feasting in the presence of God and it was made possible by the blood of the atonement. When blood atonement was made, peace with God followed. And it was occasioned by blessing from God. Let me also say this, that this sacrifice was probably one of the most anticipated and awaited occasions of all rituals because of its nature of a communal meal. It was a great feast. And after performing the required ritual, the offering was apportioned as followed. This is how it was given and how it was distributed. The fat and the inner parts went to God to be burned on the altar. The right shoulder and the right thigh were given to the priest and the rest was eaten by everyone present in the courtyard. What makes this offering so unique, friends, and separates it from the other offerings, is that in this offering the people received a meal. They were given a portion of it. It was a communal meal. Now there are several occasions given, and if you were to read Leviticus chapter 7, they would be stated there very clearly. If you want to go over there, you can take a look at them, but verse chapter 7, verse 12 to 13, we won't read it, but the first occasion was an occasion for thanks, a thanksgiving occasion. a thank offering, if you will. In fact, this is where the declarative Psalms could be sung. Psalm 56 verse 12, Psalm 107 verse 22, and basically this thank offering was the effect of acknowledging that when God blessed you, When God had mercy on you and you received a blessing from God, you wanted not to keep it for yourself, you wanted to share it with others. And so gratitude was the evidence of God's blessing on your life. And this is the way you could express it. Another occasion for the peace offering would be the payment of a vow. In Davidicus chapter 7 verse 16 to 17. And in these particular cases, the worshipper was fulfilling a promise made to God, paying a vow of sacrifice promised in support of a petition. If you think of a worshipper who paid a vow to God, I wonder who would come to mind. One of the classic examples of this would be Hannah. Remember how Hannah had prayed that the Lord would bless her with a son, and then God honoured that prayer, And she came and she brought three young bulls, an ether of flour and a skin of wine in payment of her vow for the provision of young Samuel. And this was the generous provision of someone who came from a well-to-do family or household. But a third occasion for the peace offering was the free will offering. And really the free will offering was simply an expression of general thanksgiving and love to God. It just overwhelmed you to be thinking of God's goodness and you would want to bring this offering as an expression of that. A person of faith would bring a peace offering any time to celebrate the blessing and joy from being in covenant with God. So those are the three main occasions for this peace offering. But what's the main theological fortune. What's the main idea here? It's important for us to see this. The main emphasis of the peace offering is the celebration of all the benefits of being at peace with God. Really what the peace offering indicated, what it expressed, was that all was well between the worshipper and his God. One commentator writes this, a man by the name of Rashtuni said this, the purpose of the sacrificial system is the restoration of peace and communion between God and man, a relationship which has been destroyed by man's sin. The penalty for man's violation of God's covenant and law is death, and a man cannot make atonement for his own sin. Man is blemished, is a blemished offering. Furthermore, his sin places him in enmity towards God, and hence hostile to peace with God. And as Paul says in Romans 8, 7, the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. And then he goes on to say this, and apply it to us today in the new covenant. Only with Christ's atoning sacrifice is our enmity with God broken down. Because of what Christ has done, that peace offering has been completely fulfilled. Now let me say this beloved as well, all the occasions for the peace offering are connected to the blessings of God on the righteous. And really when it came to the worship of Israel, this was their high point. This was their high point. Prominent in the emphasis of this offering was God's portion. He received the entrails and the fat and the blood. And the symbolism of these elements show us that celebrating peace with God must be accompanied by surrendering to Him the very best, indeed, one's whole life. So not only did you bring this offering, but you gave to Him the best. Let me also say this. You might have read through this chapter and thought to yourself, well, I can understand the offering and the sacrifice, but Pastor, I don't get the idea of a communal meal. Where do you get that from? Well, it's only hinted in chapter 3. It's only hinted at in chapter 3. But when you go to chapter 7 and it's developed, you see that it wasn't just an offering. It was a meal. It was a festival. And the peace that the people of God, the Israelites could celebrate didn't have to just do with the way the people ate the meat. Rather, it was a holy meal. So it wasn't just a festival, a feast, a sumptuous meal, but it was a holy meal. Why was it holy? Well, where was it eaten? It was eaten at the temple. You didn't take this hoe and eat it at home. You ate it at the temple, and it was a picture of being in the presence of God, in celebration of His manifold blessings that you had received. You know, I read this, and I couldn't help but think of the prodigal son, with a father called the whole neighborhood, the whole town, and sacrificed the best. And they ate sumptuously. This is the picture of the peace offering. And I want to say, beloved, it's really important to get a hold of the fact that this wasn't just an offering, but it was a meal, because that meal, that biblical theme of eating and having fellowship, a fellowship meal, is evidence of that communal relationship and fellowship between God and one another. Now, having set that as an important background by way of giving you at least something to, you know, some kind of point of reference as to why this offering took place. Let me say that this offering falls into three categories, and in chapter 3 we have three categories. There's cattle, verses 1 to 5. There's sheep, verses 6 to 11. There are goats, verses 12 to 16. And then in verse 17, God says this, you are not to eat the fat and you are not to eat the blood. As we come to this text, how are we going to look at it? Well, each of these categories, the stipulations are repeated. And so because of that, we're not going to work through the chapter verse by verse. We're going to look at each of these offerings and all the particulars that go with it. So we'll look at it almost in a sense of a topical way, but going through the passage. The first thing I want us to consider in chapter three is that we see here celebrating peace with God is based on the shed blood of the substitutionary sacrifice. Celebrating peace with God is based on the shed blood of the substitutionary sacrifice. If you have the chapter open with you, please read with me verse 1 and 2. When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, He shall offer it without blemish before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around the altar. And then look, if you will, with me at verses six to eight. If his offering as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord is of the flock, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. If he offers a lamb as his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord, and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting, and Aaron's son shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar. Then look, if you will, at verse 12 and 13. And if his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord, he shall lay his hands on its head, and kill it before the tabernacle of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood all around the altar." So what do we learn as we look at this point beloved? What do we learn? Well first of all we learn that the people of God are privileged in that they enjoy peace with Him. They enjoy peace with Him. What is the very heart of the worship? of God's people. What is at the very heart of Israelite worship? Peace with God. Peace with God. Fellowship with God. And so this offering was central to their worship. This peace offering or this fellowship offering. And when we think of the word peace offering, the word here is a very specific word. It refers to an ancient type of sacrifice whose essential right was the meat of the offering at the feast. It's a sacrifice of well-being. We bring this offering. It's a sacrifice of well-being. Peace. When you think of the word peace, what comes to mind in the Hebrew language? Shalom. Shalom. Now the thing about Hebrew language is that it's quite different to the English language. When we think of peace, we have a whole bunch of things that come into our mind. But the word Shalom is very specifically defined. And it really meant health and prosperity, which was inextricably linked with peace with God. But peace with God means salvation with God. It was characteristic of all that entailed salvation with God. And so peace and well-being reflects what this sacrifice was celebrating. What it was praising God for. And when we look at the sacrifice and we see how the worshippers partook of it, we see that very clearly. First, we see that the worshippers ate from the sacrifice in the presence of the Lord. They didn't eat it in their own homes, in the tabernacle, in the place of meeting. Fellowship with God, beloved. In Exodus 24 verse 5 and verse 9 to 11, after the Lord gives the Ten Commandments, we have this picture of the elders going up and meeting with God, going up into the cloud, They're sprinkled with the blood and they go up into the cloud. In verse 5 we read this. This is Moses speaking. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. This happened just after the 10th of month. And then in verse 9 we read this, Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and they drank. What a stunning picture. Do you realize, beloved, that God cannot behold, look upon sin without destroying it? And here we have a picture of these elders having fellowship with God, eating in His presence, and God does not destroy them because of the blood that was shed, because of the atoning sacrifice. But let me also say the sacrifice always followed the burnt offering. In fact, if you think about what you've just read here, you would have noticed that the burnt offering was offered and then this offering was placed on top of the burnt offering. And it was a powerful picture to the Israelite that peace with God was based only upon atonement. Only upon atonement. And so, beloved, we need to understand as we look at this offering, this was an expression and a celebration of being at peace with God. Now, it was expressed by a tangible occasion, by tangible evidence from God that gave witness to that relationship. And chapter three doesn't tell us how the worshiper experienced that peace and how it was demonstrated. It only tells us how or describes to us what took place. But the point is in this offering that there was peace and this meant that all was well between the worshipper and his God. Andrew Bono applying this to the Christian in the New Covenant said this, They are to but put on the sacrifice that is upon the wood which feeds the flame of the altar. And the daily sacrifice is referred to which typify the atonement in all its fullness. Upon this, therefore, must the pieces of the peace offering be laid. Our daily acts of communion with God, our daily praise, our daily thanksgiving must be founded afresh in the work of Jesus. By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God, continue. What a picture, beloved. Of Christ's death, having laid down His life, and all of our service on top of that. And all of our service as a result of that finished work of Christ. What a beautiful picture. But secondly, let me also say this. The people of God, not only do they enjoy peace with Him, they celebrate peace with Him. Whenever the Israelite wished to celebrate their relationship with God, they had to follow specific guidelines. Any animal of the herd or the flock could be offered, male or female. One man wrote this, he says, in contrast to the sacrifices that were completely burnt on the high altar, the sacrifices that would be eaten by the worshipper could be male or female. The fact that it could be eaten as well shows us that while it was a holy offering, it wasn't a most holy offering. Also, another little detail about this offering is that Though it had to be a blameless offering, it could have a blemish or two. In fact, you can read that in Leviticus 22 verse 21 to 23. But thirdly, the peace offering was always accompanied by a meal offering. If you go to chapter 7, verse 11 and 12, this is what we read. This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer to the Lord. If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes, mixed with oil. Also we learn, regarding this offering, that when the offerer presented the sacrifice to the Lord, he would still have to go through the ritual of laying his hand on the animal's head as it was slaughtered. Why? All the other offerings we can understand, laying your hand on the head of the animal is a picture of transferring your sin. But this offering wasn't made for sin. So why? Well, it still symbolizes identification with the animal. But let me suggest this, it's a different identification. One could say it was some symbolic of a transfer of the intentions and the emotions to the victim. And again friends, this makes perfect sense because there's no sin mentioned here. And so, basically, All the other offerings, the sin offering, the burnt offering, it was a picture of the transference of our sins onto those offerings. But this one, this one was a picture of us really transferring our intentions onto the offering. There's a joy, celebration, intense emotions for God's goodness being transferred onto this animal. The animal was then slaughtered at the door of the tabernacle. And once again, what would the priests do? They would collect the blood. Look at verse 2. They would collect the blood and they would splash it against the altar. Wonderful that the believer in the Old Covenant could do that. This is expressing my heart to God, my joy and my love to God. But I want you to notice, friends, it still had to come at the cost of blood. It still had to come at the cost of blood. Without blood, it is impossible to come before God. And once again, friends, this was always done as a ritual for entering the sanctuary. The blood itself represented the life of a victim for the life of the offerer. And even here in our best intentions and our desires to express worship and praise and adoration to God, even here a life was surrendered for the offering and for those who would accompany him. No matter what act of worship, there was always blood that needed to be shed, always blood. In other words, even in the midst of this joyous occasion, there was the solemn reality that when you approach God, there's always going to be the loss of life because He is a holy God. There's always going to be the loss of life. And the very fact that you can approach Him is by the grace of God. And beloved, does that not show us the wonderful meaning of grace? You see, grace is not God just winking at us and just kind of sweeping our sin under the rug. Grace is somebody else standing in our place. Somebody else paying for our sins. And the grace of God, the goodness of God meeting us on the basis of that glorious sacrifice. Another thing about this offering is that Not just anyone could sprinkle their blood. The blood was necessary. But another thing that was necessary, even in this celebration of this fruit offering, was the need of the priest. Later on, in Leviticus, we learn that the only ones who could approach the altar were the priests. It was the priest who collected the blood of the slaughtered animal and sprinkled it around about the altar. And it was the blood that makes atonement for the soul. And in all this ritual slaughter, again, what do we see, beloved? We see these things shouting out for a perfect offering. These things crying out to the Israelites. There was one that needed to come and be slaughtered, and that was Christ atoning for His people. Could we enter into the presence of God? No. Christ had to enter in. Could we offer anything to God that He would be pleased with? No. Unless it was our very lives and our very souls. And here, in this peace offering, even in this peace offering, what do we see, beloved? We see that Christ, He is the priest And He is the offering. He is the sacrificial lamb with no blemish whose substitutionary atoning death is effective for all guilty sinners who identify themselves with Him. Let me ask you the question this morning. Is He your substitute? Pity the fool who says that he can come to God and he doesn't need Christ. Pity the fool. Oh, well, I just want to praise God and I have all these great intentions towards... The whole notion of the fact that as long as you're sincere, God will accept you. What a lot of nonsense. Even with your best intention, there is so much sin. Even your best righteous acts are but filthy rants. You need this perfect offering. You need the blood of another. You need a priest. And Christ is that lamb and He is that priest. Let me move on. Secondly, celebration of peace with God is marked by surrender to God. So the first thing we see is celebration or celebrating peace with God is on the basis of the shed blood of the substitutionary sacrifice. And then secondly, we see that celebrating a peace with God is marked by surrender to God. Look at verse three to four, if you will. Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord. the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove. And then verse 9 to 10, then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering as an offering made by fire to the Lord. It's fat. and the whole fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys he shall remove. Then verse 14 and 15, Then he shall offer from it his offering, as an offering made by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails. The two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys he shall remove. So this peace offering included several aspects. This ritual included several aspects. We notice here in verse 3 to 5 what was burned. The choice fat parts were burned on the altar by the priest as a sacrifice to God. We also notice that the portions were given to the officiating priest and were eaten in a clean place. Now we don't see that here but we will see it in chapter 7 verse 14 and verses 30 to 36. But along with this offering it included one of the cakes of the meal offering. The best being a wave offering. Chapter 7 verse 30 to 31. And the right thigh as a contribution. Chapter 7 verse 32 to 34. To the one who offered the blood of the peace offering. The remainder of the offering was returned to be the communal meal. Now again let me say, Leviticus only, Leviticus chapter 3 only hints at this. by calling it a food offering, but it anticipates it and it's fully developed in chapter 7. According to Leviticus 7, if the peace offering was a thank offering, it had to be eaten in the sanctuary on the day of the offering. Chapter 7 verse 50, but while it was roasting on the fire, what could happen was the person offering it, the worshipper, would give public testimony to the acts of deliverance. Psalm 107 verse 22 which would be a psalm read during this offering. This is what might be on the heart and the mind of the offerer. Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. It was a free will offering. When it was a free will offering, it could be eaten on the day of the offering or on the following day. Now I lay that before you because it's important for what we're about to learn from this offering. And under this setting we learn the best way, the best, was to be given to God by His people. When we see all of these things, it was a testimony that His people were giving their very best to God. Another thing that comes out here is that the blood was not allowed to be consumed. Why the blood? Well, the blood was not allowed to be consumed because of its use in atonement. And in Leviticus, we learn that the life is in the blood. Why the fat? The fat was not allowed to be eaten. Why the fat? Well, there's no easy explanation for that. Suffice to say this, for us, fat may seem gross. How many of us want to eat fat? Usually we cut that away and we toss it out, right? But when it comes to fat in the Old Testament, fat was seen as a good thing. It was seen as the very best thing. Remember in Genesis chapter 45 verse 18, we read that Israel was to eat of the fat of the land. And so fat was symbolic of the very best. That's important for us to see that, folks, because if the animal was a representative of the worshipper, then basically what this offering and the way it's offered is saying to us is that giving the fat to God really was symbolic. It was a picture of the worshipper giving his very best. Let me say that This offering wasn't just mere tokenism. This offering spoke volumes. You were praising God for the goodness that he'd lavished upon your life, but you were also, in a very real sense, by making this offering, rededicating your life to God, God, you have given me the best. You have given me redemption. You have given me peace. I am giving you the best of my life. The best is to be given to God by His people. But the second thing under this heading is that the world was to be surrendered by God's people. You know what's striking about this offering? Is that the entrails were burned on the altar. Why? Well, it's not explained in the text. But let me give you this explanation or suggest this explanation. Since the kidneys and the other organs represented the seat of emotions, in other words the world and other related emotional instincts, perhaps what was being indicated here or expressed here by the worshipper is that he was giving his very heart He was giving His emotions. He was giving His very sincerest intentions. We've often heard the scriptures talk about how there's love one another from the bowels, from the deepest recesses of our soul. And when we look at the Old Testament, when we look at how the Old Testament speaks about the inner organs, we see that they're related to our emotions and our desires. And I think that this is a clear expression that the offerer is saying, Lord, my very being, my very inner being, the very depths, my very entrails, as it were, my very guts, I'm giving to you. Makes sense. Because this offering was given when the people were in joyous praises of God. This was a very emotional time. And in this part of the ritual, the offerers were symbolically surrendering themselves, their innermost beings to the Lord. Is that not how you feel when you rejoice with God? God, take everything, my heart, my soul, my every part of me, my very fabric. I want to say, beloved, in the light of this, No one can claim to be at peace with God or enjoy the benefits of that peace by refusing to surrender the very innermost being to Him. They're very hot. So let me apply this as we bring this to a close. The first thing we've learned is celebrating peace with God is based on the shed blood of the substitutionary sacrifice. And we've seen how the people of God enjoy peace with him, how they celebrate peace with him, and how that peace is marked by surrender to God. There can be no peace with God without a costly sacrifice. At every point when the Israelite offered up these offerings, they were being reminded again and again that someone had to lose their lives. This was costly. that there was a sacrifice that needed to be made, and it was begging again and again upon the heart of the Israelite, perhaps the question, is there no perfect sacrifice? Is there no perfect sacrifice? We have to keep doing this again and again. Every time we want to express our hearts to God, there must be this shedding of blood. Is there no perfect sacrifice? Well, that's the point, beloved. There is no peace with God without a sacrifice. And the Israelite was being prepared for the fact that there was one true peace offering to be made. And that was the word that the Lord, our Savior, the word of God. Let me also say this. Many today believe in peace at any price. If you walked out into the road and you spoke to the average person, and you asked them what peace meant to them, no doubt you would have many different answers. And if you look at the world in which we're living in, many today believe peace at any price, and hence they have no peace, but rather a growing judgment by God. Most people, when they define peace, speak about peace with one another, but there can be no peace with one another unless there is peace with God. And there can be no peace with God without a sacrifice. And as long as man lives for himself and not God, lawlessness and injustice will reign and he will never know real peace. He will only know trouble and destruction and ultimately judgment. Look at the world in which we live in, friends, and the people who try and strive for peace. And it's again, peace at any cost. evil cannot be reasoned with, bribed or persuaded into goodness. If there is no peace with God, there will never be peace on this earth. And what the peace offering tells us is that our continued communion with God is predicated upon the death of another, the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone suffered and died for sinners. But let me also say what it also tells us is that God requires the continuing death in us of all that is contrary to his word and the continuing death all around us of those things which are contrary to his law. As long as Christ is not king of this earth, beloved, and as long as men and women have not bowed their knees to Christ and submitted and surrendered to him, we will always see death. In fact, Romans tells us that all of creation groans and longs for the appearing of the sons of God. Why? Because the sons of God have peace with God. They have peace with God in Christ Jesus. And when the sons of God preach the word and proclaim the kingdom and the kingdom expands, the peace of God will spread. and the peace of God will be a reality. Isaiah chapter 9 tells us that Christ will come and the government will be upon his shoulders. Who is he? He is the Prince of Peace. And so beloved, the point I want to make is this. The only way we can know peace is through Christ. through our fellowship with Christ and our reconciliation to the living God. And the only way this world will know peace is if we take Christ out to them and proclaim Christ to them. Do you know this peace? Do you know Christ? Have you yielded yourself to Him? Do you know what it is to have fellowship with the living God? When you come to God, do you know that that temple curtain has been torn into, that that offering has been made, and that you can now enter into the presence of God just as these believers could enter in? And even more so now because that offering is perfect. Micah chapter 6 verse 8 says this, He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. This cannot happen, beloved, without peace with God through Christ. And as long as we live in a world in which Christ is rejected, this world will never know their peace. Because this world will reject God and this world will reject God's holy law. And as long as this world rejects God and rejects God's holy law, this world will always be under judgment. But for the believer that judgment has fallen on Christ, and we are justified and we can have access into his presence. We have every reason to rejoice. Lord willing this afternoon we'll celebrate the table and we'll see how that all ties together in the table. Amen. Our Father we thank you for your grace and for your mercy. We pray that you would help us to see our need of Christ. Help us to understand that as we live under the yoke of Christ, as we walk in his light, as we live in his light, his kingdom has come upon us. Lord, we pray that you would help us to realize how important it is for us to proclaim this gospel in this world in which we live in. When we think of men who are lost, men who are trying to find peace at any cost, but they have no peace with you. And as long as they have no peace with you, there will never be peace on this earth. There will never be peace in their lives. There will never be peace in their families. There will never be peace with one another. Our Father Christ is our offering. He is our lamb. But He is also our priest. And because of him we have access into your presence. And we thank you and we praise you. And we ask you to work in the hearts of those who do not know you, that the veil would be taken from their eyes and that they would see the freedom that is theirs in Christ. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.