And please turn with me now to that chapter which I read, Leviticus chapter four, for our preparation for the Lord's Supper. Leviticus chapter four. The fourth of the Levitical offerings, there are five of them. The burnt offering, the grain offering, the peace offerings, the sin offering, and the guilt offering. Now, as we read the Leviticus chapter 4, once again we were reminded of the amount of detail that is found in these chapters, these regulations for Israel. And we admit that it is difficult for us sometimes to read chapters like this. And I find the same to some degree, but also have tried to teach myself or remind myself over the years that God's word is precious in every part. And if God took the time to give a lot of detail, then we try to teach ourselves to appreciate that and just thank God for his care and concern that he cares enough to give a lot of detail. Also, as Christians who no longer are required to go through all of these steps, there is some value in reading a chapter like that and spending time in chapters like this because we are reminded of the great change that God has brought about through Christ and it helps us to appreciate and adore our Savior all the more for what He has done for us. We also try to remind ourselves that this was very important in that period of history for those millennia. For God was teaching people how to worship him. So that there are principles in each of these chapters regarding the offerings, and there are principles in Old Testament worship that we also need to learn, but we learn them in a different way. We don't learn them by doing them, but we learn them by studying them. So I have tried to, over the past few months, show you that when you read the chapters on the offerings, for example, that you're looking for certain important statements throughout those chapters. Just for example, I'll remind you, for example, of what we said about the burnt offering in chapter 1. So that as you're scanning the page or you're studying chapter 1, you notice that there are some phrases and things that stand out. For example, in the burnt offering you have the phrase, all of it, verse 9 and verse 13. You don't find that phrase in the other offerings. So that the burnt offering is the offering which signifies one's total consecration to God and it's planted in those words. All of it. Chapter 1 and verse 9. Offer up and smoke all of it. Offer all of it. Chapter 1 and verse 13. When it came to the grain offerings in chapter 2, or the meal offerings, these are non-animal sacrifices. Then we saw there that there are different ways to present that offering. You could either bake it in an oven, you could make it on a griddle, or you could make it in a pan. And that's of interest to all who like cooking. But we saw there that this offering spoke about our response to all the things that the Lord gives us, so the material things in life. And we give back a memorial portion to the Lord. And then we studied in the peace offerings. We saw in the peace offerings that the only thing that is emphasized there in chapter 3 is the different types of animals. Verse 6, if it's from the flock. Verse 7, if it's a lamb. I'm sorry, out of the herd, verse 1. Out of the flock, verse 5. That can either be a lamb or a goat. And we noted under the third offering that we depend on other chapters in Leviticus which give us a little more detail. For some reason God didn't give as much detail in chapter 3 for the peace offerings as he did for the others. So we come now in chapter 4 to the sin offering and then chapter 5 is the guilt offering and these two offerings are related. Remember that there are two categories of offerings. You have offerings by which the worshiper gives himself to the Lord as a sacrifice, as a dedication. And then you have offerings like the sin offering and the guilt offering, which have to do with our specific sins. And that's what you find in Chapter 4. I'll point out to you now that there are two things in Chapter 4 that stand out. And I'm not going to be going into all of the details of chapter 4, so you may see things in there that to which you're drawn. But we're not going to look at all of the details of chapter 4, but rather just focus on two things that you see here in the sin offering. And the first is the kind of sins that this offering covered. And that's found in verse 2. Speak to the sons of Israel saying if a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done. So the sin offering has to do with a specific category or kind of sin. Unintentional sins. The kind of sins we commit probably commit very often. Unintentional sin. But we say, we didn't mean to do it, but we did it. It's like telling a police officer, you know, well, I didn't mean to speed, but I, you know, I should try to get out of it that way, or I didn't see the sign. That's kind of the idea, an unintentional sin or not being aware of a particular sin. So that's the first thing that you notice here, the kind of sin that is dealt with in the sin offering, which is described in verse 3, the sin offering. This is different, but somewhat related to the guilt offering in chapter 5, which we will look at, God willing, in our next study. The guilt offering is very similar to the sin offering, but the guilt offering requires a payment. So you have to pay one-fifth in restitution where there's a fine that has to be paid for sin. So these are interesting, aren't they, in their connection. The sin offering and the guilt offering are offerings that deal specifically with sins, expiation, whereas the other three deal with consecration. So that's the first thing that we notice about the sin offering is the kind of sin which this offering covers. And then the other and the much bigger thing that we see here are the four categories of people that are described here. So let's look at that next. The first is found in verse 3. And he is first, he is the anointed priest. So that's when your priest sins. It would be like saying, you know, what happens when the pastor sins? And sometimes we hear about this, a pastor has committed a sin or a serious sin. Well, that's the idea. That in Israel, the person of the high priest, the anointed priest, is in a sense the most important person. There's a special focus on him. For if the priest does not have his sins forgiven, how can he lead the people in the forgiveness of their own sins? Remember Hebrews talks about the priest offers first a sacrifice for himself and then for the people. And then it goes on to compare that to Christ who did not sin. So the first category to which the sin offering is directed is the anointed priest in verse three. The second category is found in verse 13 and that's the whole congregation. Now that's interesting, the whole congregation of Israel, if they commit error and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly and they commit any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done and they become guilty. So this is an interesting phenomenon that the whole congregation sins. You can think of examples in the book of Exodus and Numbers when the whole congregation of Israel sinned. Remember when they made the golden calf, when they joined in opposition to Moses. So there are these cases, it's hard for us to imagine, like a whole congregation of New Testament church sinning all at once. But it does highlight this truth that we are a corporate people. I think the best comparison would be that if I or you, as an individual in the Church of Christ, would somehow lead other people to sin, you know, with me or with you. So you have a group. That would be the best comparison to that. So in chapter 4 you have the high priest is singled out, so offerings would be made for him when he sins. The same offering would be brought when the whole congregation sins. And then thirdly, you have a leader in verse 22. When a leader sins unintentionally, When a leader sins and unintentionally does any one of all the things which the Lord God has commanded not to be done, he becomes guilty. The leader that is being referred to here is the head of a tribe or a division. So you don't need to turn here, but let me just read a couple of these references so you know who this leader is. Numbers chapter 3 and verse 24. Numbers 3-24, and the leader of the father's households of the Gershonites was Elieasaph, the son of Lael. chapter 3 and verse 30, and the leader of the father's households of the Kohathite families was Elisaphan, the son of Uziel. And chapter 3 and verse 35, the leader of the father's households of the families of Merari was Zuriel, the son of Abahel. They were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. So here's the third group in Israel. corporate entity, the leader, the anointed priest, the high priest, when he sins, he brings a sin offering. When the whole congregation sins, they have to bring an offering for their corporate sin. When a leader of a tribe sins, then the offering is made for them. And then you have the fourth, the final category, verse 27, just what you would expect, an individual. Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally, in doing any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, and if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, and so on. So here you have the four categories. It's a hierarchy. So sin is sin, no matter who commits it, right? Sin is sin, and sin is serious, and sin needs atonement. But there is a hierarchy. that when the high priest sins, that's a really serious matter, because he's the leader of the people. When you have a leader of a tribe, same thing. When you have the whole congregation, that's pretty serious too, because then the sin is spreading. And then when you have an individual, which is much more common, because we as individuals sin in many ways. But in each of these cases, sin offerings needed to be brought. Now we wouldn't know it from the way the offerings are presented here in Leviticus, but we know from other passages in the Old Testament, such as Leviticus 28 and 29, which we won't turn to, but in Leviticus 28 and 29, Moses is describing the regular pattern of worship and bringing offerings in Israel, and you come to understand from those two chapters that the burnt offering and the grain offering were much more common and much more frequent than these offerings here, the sin offering and the guilt offering. And that makes sense. That the offerings of consecration, when the people brought burnt offerings as a statement as a dedication of themselves to the Lord. Lord, I am yours, I am all yours. Take the whole sacrifice, consecrate it to the Lord. Or when they brought their grain offerings as tribute, first fruits, everything I have comes from the Lord. I offer him back a portion that belongs to him to show that all things belong to him. I remind myself, I make a statement in a grain offering or a meal offering. So these offerings were regular. The burnt offering was every day, morning and evening. And if you read those chapters and numbers, you see that those offerings were regular, regular offerings. And I mentioned under the peace offerings that this was a concluding offering. So this would have taken place after a sin offering and a guilt offering. The point is, The point is that these offerings here in chapter 4 and chapter 5 were less frequent than the offerings of chapters 1, 2, and 3. And of course, we are reminded again here that we don't have different categories like this when we come to the Lord's Supper, which is a sacrificial meal. But the Israelites did. But what we do have is the truth that for us, we need to offer ourselves to the Lord and say, Lord, I am yours. I am all yours. My life belongs to you. I offer it to you. And then we come through Christ's sacrifice with nothing in our hands. Remember, I mentioned that a few weeks ago, a month ago, that for us, when we come before the Lord, Nothing in my hands I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Jesus paid it all. Jesus did it all. It's all about Him and not me. But on the other hand, I offer myself to the Lord based on His sacrifice. I offer myself to the Lord and it's all about me. My life is yours. So we've seen then in chapter four, the highlights of chapter four are that it's the kind of sin and it's the classification of people who are to bring these offerings. So let me now develop the first point a little bit and point out that in chapter four here, only one type of sin is mentioned and that is an unintentional sin. Now, there are different kinds of sin in the Old Testament, or God dealt with his people under different categories of sin. The first type of sin is a sin with a high hand or a defiant sin. Turn back to Numbers chapter 15, or up to Numbers chapter 15. You see this distinction in verses 27 through 31. Numbers chapter 15. I'll start with verse 22 actually. When you sin, but when you unwittingly fail and do not observe all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses, even all that the Lord has commanded you through Moses, from the day when the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations. Then it shall be, if it is done unintentionally, without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one bowl for a burnt offering, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one male goat for a sin offering. See the connection there? You have the burnt offering, the grain offering, but you have a sin offering because there's been an unintentional sin. Then the priest shall make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and they will be forgiven, for it was an error. And they have brought their offering, an offering by fire to the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord for their error. So all the congregation of the sons of Israel will be forgiven, with the alien who sojourns among them, for it happened to all the people through error. You know, sometimes we say, well, I didn't mean it. But when we say to somebody, well, I didn't mean it, we have to remind ourselves that even though we didn't mean it, it may still be a sin and we still may need to ask forgiveness for it. That's the idea here. That's the idea of the error. Also, if a person sins unintentionally, verse 27, then he shall offer a one-year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the person who goes astray when he sins unintentionally, making atonement for him that he may be forgiven. He shall have one law for him who does anything unintentionally, for him who is native among the sons of Israel and for the alien who sojourns among them. Verse 30, but the person who does defiantly, or anything defiantly, whether he is native or alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord, and has broken his commandment, that person shall be completely cut off His guilt will be on Him. So in the Old Testament you have sins committed defiantly. That means with a high hand. You know what you're doing. You have planned to do it. And you desire to do it. and therefore you do it. So that's the idea of somebody being defiant or doing it with a high hand. These sins could not be atoned for. These require the death penalty in Israel. Thank the Lord that he doesn't use the death penalty on his people. Although, you do have that instance in Acts chapter 5 with Ananias and Sapphira. I mean, you could say that Ananias and Sapphira were not Christians, but I don't really think that's valid. I just believe that in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, it serves as a reminder of how seriously God takes sin. It's a statement that God is making, but thankfully, in His mercy, He doesn't deal with us or we'd probably all be dead. So, but this is still an important issue. Sinning with a high hand, sinning defiantly. In the Old Testament, these required a death penalty. They usually, or they are, I should say, in general, they are violations of the Ten Commandments. For example, you have the death penalty prescribed for idolatry, that's the second commandment. I won't mention all the verses. Offering children to Molech, violation of the second commandment. Witchcraft, false prophesying, these are all related to the second commandment, and the many verses described the death penalty, prescribed the death penalty. Blasphemy, the third commandment. Leviticus 24.14, 1 Kings 21.10, Death penalty, a violation of the Sabbath, Exodus 31, 14, 35, two numbers, 15, 32. The fifth commandment, striking or reviling a parent, Exodus 21, 15, death penalty. Murder, Leviticus 24, kidnapping, adultery, seventh commandment. A false witness in capital cases, Deuteronomy 19, 16 through 19. So this is a category of sin in the Old Testament. And yes, it was pretty serious. Most of the time, as I understand from my limited knowledge, the Israelites did not always apply the death penalty in these cases. Although when they were showing their animosity and hatred toward Jesus, remember with the woman, they wanted to put her to death. But they did not always carry through with that. But still, God prescribed the death penalty. So that was a category of sin. And then you have this category here. Inadvertent or unintentional sins. So opposite of sins of intention, you have unintentional sins. It's a sin of commission. It is something that we do, but we are not aware, we don't realize that we have committed the sin. Notice the phrase in chapter four, when it is made known to him, when it is made known to him, and that is repeated. You have a number of examples in Numbers chapter 15, Leviticus chapter 5 concerning his error, which he sinned unintentionally. Numbers 35 even refers to an unintentional murder. Joshua 20 verse 3 and verse 9, the same. Remember, turn to Psalm 19. This was the basis of the psalmist's prayer in Psalm 19. He said in verse 12, as he's coming to the end of this creation Torah psalm, he said in verse 10, they are more desirable than gold, yes, the much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned and keeping them there is great reward. And here's the question, who can discern his errors? That's what we're talking about here in the sin offerings, the unintentional sins. Who can discern his errors? Equip me of hidden faults. Keep back your servant from presumptuous sins. They're all related. Errors. hidden faults, presumptuous sins, let them not rule over me. So the psalmist is afraid of that, he's afraid, he understands the deceitfulness of sin, he understands that a person could decide to sin and then do it. I hate my mother, I hate my father, I'm gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill her, this type of thing, Old Testament. But then there are other types of sins which we're not aware, we just don't know our hearts and our hearts take us in a certain direction. That is what he's writing about in Psalm 19. And so it is with us. We know that, well, John talks about the sin that leads to death, so there's certainly a connection in John's doctrine of sin in 1 John. But for the most part, John, in 1 John, when he talks about sin in chapter 1, he just says, that we can't deny that we sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So John is saying that we do have an awareness of sin. Sometimes Christians, they don't want to think about their sins, they just want to think about Christ. Well, that sounds good, but if you think about Christ, you're going to think about what Christ did to take away sins, and then you'd be back to where you started. So there's nothing wrong with thinking about sins. You don't want to dwell on your sins. And you would think that, well, in the Old Testament, it seems like with all these regulations and all these chapters, that that's all they had to do. All they did was think about their sins. But that's not true either, because the Israelites were a very joyful people, and that's why they wrote the Psalms. But they were still conscious of their sins. So for Christians, we should be conscious of our sins. And especially when we come to the Lord's Supper, which, the Lord's Supper is a remembrance of Christ, but it does need to be a reminder of sins. Because it's our sins that put Christ on the cross. So don't, I would urge you as a Christian, don't ever think that it's not right or not necessary to think about our sins. And as far as these different categories of sins, the one about which we're reading about here in Leviticus chapter 4 reminds us, and it's a great reminder to me as well, and I think, well, if you're married, you get this reminder a lot. Because you're always regularly asking yourself, did I sin by what I just said to my wife? Did I sin by what I just did to my husband? And so on. And that's just, in the intimacy of a marriage relationship, we sin a lot against each other. In our words, maybe our deeds. We have a lot of sins of omission, too. That's another category. That's the third category, actually. Sins of omission. You know, things that you didn't do for your wife, or things that you forgot to do that you said you'd do for your husband, or your children, or your mom, or your dad, and all the rest. So all of these Old Testament categories are very realistic. Very realistic. And this one, unintentional sins, is one that shows the deceitfulness of sin and just what we're made of. We're just frail and we often sin and we don't realize it. And sometimes we just need somebody to come and say, hey, you sinned against me in what you said. We don't like to do that. But sometimes that has to be done. Sometimes you have to do that to someone else, maybe in your family or a friend or in the church or whatever, and sometimes they have to do it for you. So when that happens, You shouldn't get your feathers ruffled and get all up in the air about it. This is an Old Testament reality. You see it in Leviticus 4 here. Unintentional sins require that the matter be made known to the person. And when it's known, there is an offering that you can bring to find the peace and the assurance of the forgiveness of sins. And so John says, again in 1 John, in his doctrine of sin, that if we say we have no sin, if we say that we have not sinned, and then he says, but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So John also is very realistic about sin. And he also reminds us that Christians need to think about sin just as the Old Testament people thought about sin. And so, as we come to the Lord's Supper today, then we will think about Christ, what He's done for us, what He's accomplished for us, and we'll also think about sin, how our sins are covered under His blood and washed away, they're placed as far as the east is from the west, they're put under the deepest sea, so they're remembered no more. But then, there is the recognition of my own sins, that I still sin, I sin every day. Remember the Lord's Prayer? Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done. And then he prays for the forgiveness, we're to pray for the forgiveness of sins. Forgive us this day our debts, as we also forgive others. There it is, forgive us this day our debts, every day. It's not a morbid thing. It's just a righteous thing. Just ask the Lord to forgive your sins every day. Whatever they may have been. If you're aware of them, sometimes we say, I'm not even aware. And that's an unintentional sin. But ask the Lord to cleanse, wash our sins away. Our focus is really on Christ, but we get to Christ through his offering for sin. Lord, we thank you for dying for us on the cross. We thank you for offering yourself as a perpetuary sacrifice for sins, for our sins. And we come to the table here today with joy and gratitude. thanking you for this great provision and asking that you will help us, Lord, to have a wholesome, healthy, and righteous dealing with the sins of our own hearts. Help us to think about the way we relate to people, especially the people who are closest to us. Help us, Lord, when we are in relation to other people, to confess our sins to you or to others. Lord, we also pray that you will forgive us the sins of our hearts, our evil thoughts, our lusts and passions, and our idolatries. We pray that the sins of the heart, which no one knows but you, that you will also forgive these as well. Help us, O Lord, to walk as your saints did, like Zacharias and Elizabeth, in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. Lord, we pray that we would never commit a defiant, high-handed sin. But as we sin every day, help us to know the peace and joy of your forgiveness. And it's in Christ's name that we pray. Amen. And just a reminder that we're going to sing in a moment, and as we take the Lord's Supper today, I just want to remind you that the Lord's Supper is for members of the Church of Christ, either here or in some other place. And again, if it's something that you have never taken care of in your life, I just urge you again to prayerfully consider this extraordinary