You just ponder over the words of that hymn and be greatly edified as to your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and what He means to you. I would invite you to turn this morning to the last chapter of Exodus, Exodus chapter 40. We will be reading from the end of Exodus into the book of Leviticus. made announcement last week of the commencement of two new studies in our Bible class at 10 a.m. dealing with the aspect of civil government and then in our morning worship commencing a study in the book of Leviticus and of course there were some who were vocalizing their interest and they're looking forward to a study in the book of Leviticus. We trust that you're still looking forward to it after today and that others will join in in anticipation as to what is ahead of us over the course of the next half year or more. We're going to read Exodus chapter 40 verse 34. has been the building of the tabernacle. It is reared up to the glory of God. And in Exodus, the last chapter in the thirty-fourth verse we read, Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. The cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, And fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a meal without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priest's heir and son shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water, and the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. Amen. Ending there at the end of verse nine. Trusting the Lord will bless his word. We will not be getting too far into this really only looking at the opening verse But let us bow before the Lord momentarily again and let us pray even as we were singing Earlier that the Lord would break the bread of life to us Our God and Father, we thank Thee for the worship of Thy people, the little insight into heaven when there will be the gathering of all the elect of God, of all those redeemed out of every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And they will unite together in their voices, singing praise to Thee. We pray that this will be always our desire while we're on earth to participate in gathering with the saints. We come to the Word. We thank Thee for its prophetic power. We pray that it will come as the Word of God. Lord, Thou wilt give to us ears to hear, and give to this preacher utterance. Lord, give us utterance. Give us that which only the Holy Spirit can impart. Wisdom, power, love, and grace. administer the word, to apply the word, to deliver the word. And if there be any outside of Christ, that they may be saved, and that your people will be fed upon the finest of the wheat. Hear us and exalt Christ. In everything said, we pray in his name. Amen. Like many of the Old Testament books, the book of Leviticus got its name from the men that translated the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. This happened some centuries before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Greek translation was known as, and still is known as, the Septuagint. And those translators gave to the books of the Bible certain names. Some of those names were different than how the Jews previously identified them. This particular book is called Leviticus. And it's called so because the work that is here given is given to the tribe of Levi, particularly to the sons of Aaron, to the priests. And so, being from the tribe of Levi, the book was called Leviticus. I think it is fair to suggest that if we were to take a survey of each Christian's favorite book of the Bible this morning, that the book of Leviticus wouldn't be at the top of the list. Leviticus, in some ways, is a nemesis to the Christian trying to read through the Bible from cover to cover. Because they read through Genesis, and that's okay. And then they read through Exodus, and most of that's alright. They can manage to get through. And then they come to Leviticus. And they try to wade through it and often fall short of finishing the job. It is my task to try and alter your view of Leviticus if it's a negative one. If it's one thinking that it's that book, I just can't get my head around, I just don't really want to even look there because it doesn't make any sense to me. In fact, does it even have any relevance to me? Good bedtime reading, perhaps. Well, we want that to change, and I trust that the Lord will help us to do that. that by a measure of the Lord's grace that your experience will alter, and that we will at the very least, while it might not become your favorite book of the Bible, that at the very least appreciate its presence and purpose in the canon of Scripture. It is here for a reason, beloved. It's not by accident that the Lord has given it to us, and it possesses some special characteristics that should garner our appreciation. For example, some of you may have a Bible in your hand, or certainly you will be aware of these Bibles, that are called red-letter Bibles. And when you come to the New Testament, you'll find particularly, though not exclusively, in the Gospels, full of red print, highlighting the speech of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we believe that Jesus Christ is God, that he is Jehovah. And when we come to all the books of the Bible, if we were to be consistent and say, well, it's not just the words of Jesus we want to put in red, but the words of Jehovah, Leviticus would be the reddest book in your Bible. It is almost entirely direct speech from God. And so if I want to know the mind of the Lord, then I should be looking to the book of Leviticus. What are you saying here, Lord? Why were you so specific in all of this? And what is the relevance to me? Like much of the Old Testament, the book of Leviticus has come under the scrutiny of modern critical so-called scholarship. I say so-called scholarship because while I do not despise academia, and I appreciate its relevance and its importance, yet far too often there is an assumed authority that comes with doctorates that is much too generous. Many scholars, and this is a fact, men and women, many scholars join in criticism of the Bible, not because they've done the study themselves, but because they accept the position of others who they assume have done the background reading. And so they question the deity, and they put a question mark over the authorship of Moses, and so on. I'm not interested in delaying our study by going through all of their arguments. I really am not. I'm not going to do it today. I'm not going to do it any day when we begin a book of the Bible because most of the Bible is criticized and torn apart by critics. But when we come to the scriptures, while occasionally I may deal with some little issues here and there, for the most part, I declare and we ought to desire God's word to be declared from a position of belief in its authority and divine authorship. It is enough for me, for example, that Jesus said Moses wrote Leviticus. I don't care what modern scholarship says. If Jesus says Moses wrote Leviticus, that's good enough for me. One example of that is found in Matthew chapter 8. In Matthew chapter 8 we have the leper coming to him, coming to the Lord Jesus that is. And in verse 2 through 4 we read, And behold, there came a leper, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them. That instruction by the Lord Jesus to the leper is taken straight out of Leviticus. It's Levitical law. Jesus is saying, go and do according to Levitical law. Go and do what Leviticus tells you to do as a testimony. And it will show them who I am. But you'll note what he says. He doesn't just mention Leviticus. He doesn't just talk about some book in the Bible. He refers to Moses, the gift that Moses commanded. This is what Moses said, and it's written in Leviticus. Moses is the author, and that's why I'm content to leave it there and not deliberate over all the nonsense of modern criticism of the scriptures. We're leaving before you here this morning really just an introduction to the book of Leviticus. And we will get into the burnt offering that is presented before us in this opening chapter next week, God willing. But I just want us to consider a few things. If you look at verse 1 of chapter 1, you'll see there, And the Lord called unto Moses and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation. I want you to know first of all here the position of Leviticus. The position of Leviticus. As far as the Jews were concerned, the first five books of Moses were really one single unit. The Pentateuch, they were the books of Moses, those first five books as we have it in the Old Testament Scriptures here. And there's a continuity in the books, you will see that. Those of you who are familiar with the end of Genesis will see the continuity into Exodus. We leave it with Jacob and Joseph and all of those, the family of Jacob, being left in Egypt and the death of Joseph. But then we come to them still being in Egypt, though four centuries or so later, but it picks up. Exodus picks up, though the time is distant, but it still kind of picks up where it left off. Time has passed. It's not a huge nation. They've multiplied and grown, but they're still in Egypt. And we have no kind of disparity wondering, well, what happened in between? Obviously, they stayed in Egypt for all the time that intervened between the two. So there's a continuity. And when you get to the end of Exodus, we read the end of Exodus because there's a continuity from Exodus into Leviticus. As the Lord instructed all that was necessary for the tabernacle, and as that is erected up to the glory of His name, then we read that the cloud, in verse 34 of Exodus 40, a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." Then there are a few verses that tell us just about how it kind of took place with the moving of the tabernacle and so on. But you can really move from verse 35 into Leviticus. And the Lord called on to Moses. When the glory of the Lord came down upon the tabernacle, then God began to speak out of that tabernacle and instruct Moses what had to happen within its borders. You've erected the tabernacle, now what? And God speaks. You see the flow. It continues on. There is a unity here. And while we may then say, well, why aren't you dealing with Exodus? Well, we'll maybe get to Exodus sometime. We're just jumping into Leviticus here, trusting that the Lord is leading in this. I believe He is, that He will bless it to us. In the communication of the Lord to Israel, it comes through Moses. You will see that. The Lord called on to Moses and spake unto him out of the tabernacle, saying, speak unto the children of Israel. And right here, we are learning something, beloved. We are learning something that's important with regard to our understanding of approach to God. It is that of our need of a mediator. Now, for some of you, that's understood. That's something fundamental you already get. But I want to underline it for those who don't already get it, that there is need for a mediator. This is reflected here in this language, that the congregation of Israel couldn't just approach to God by themselves, but God. God mediates His truth through Moses. And in that way we see Moses fulfilling by type, and we'll get to types in a moment, but fulfilling in some shadow the position of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And so nothing has changed in the New Testament era. Man still needs a mediator. God communicates to men through a mediator. And here the mediator is Moses, reflecting God's not skipping issues because they're skipping important parts of gospel truth. by saying to himself, well, the Messiah isn't here, so I'll just directly deal with the people. No, no, I'll have someone who stands between. He may be a flawed man, but he's a godly man, and he's going to represent in shadow form so that the people understand they have no direct approach to God themselves. So it is for us. If you're here this morning and you think that by your own merit you can get access to God, you're mistaken, greatly mistaken. You need to come to the conviction that you need someone to stand between you and God. And not me, and not some earthly priest, by the way. We need one who is God and man, both natures in one person forever. He is the perfect representative. Moses here reflects him. We find through the scriptures Moses being a type. And that is spoken of in Deuteronomy, I think it's chapter 18, where there's the promise of the Messiah that he would be a prophet like unto Moses. And so when Jesus goes about his business and he feeds the 5,000, at the point of feeding the 5,000, the people realize he must be that prophet that Moses spoke of. You see, Moses reflected something. And here he's reflecting the need for a mediator. He's showing that right from the beginning, this need for a mediator, revealing here. And as this tabernacle is erected here at the end of Exodus, coming into Leviticus, we realize that the Lord is now revealing the nature and manner of their worship in the tabernacle so that the people can enjoy fellowship with Him. That's what Leviticus is showing. What will be the nature and manner of your worship? You've erected this building. Now what? Will I leave you to yourselves? No, no I'm not. I'm going to show you the nature and manner of your worship. How you approach me in this place and what must be done. They were not left to themselves to devise how they would worship. God stipulates specifics. Now, while the Levitical laws for worship are nullified by the work of Jesus Christ, that's true, we are going to discover that there are fundamental truths the Lord was teaching that present what is absolutely necessary to find acceptance with God. I've already touched on one of them, that being the need for a mediator. This book reflects the need for a mediator, right from the first verse, and in many other ways, as we shall see. But here God is giving specifics as to how they approach him. It is important that we approach God, God's way. The book of Leviticus pulls the carpet from under the feet of our pluralistic society that says, well, there are many ways to God, and if it feels good to you, then do it. Leviticus shows, no, God has a way that we are to approach Him. He has given specifics, instruction that show that how we come to Him matters. It matters. And so we can't just say, well, I worship God as well, and I do it my way through yoga and meditation, or I do it through Buddhism, I do it through whatever religion. Our invented form of worship No, no, God is showing that there are specifics in our approach, a way that we come, showing that you can't just come any way you like. Man must come to God according as God lays down. He must. The worship of God is ordered by God, instructed by God, and commanded by God. So, we see this from this language that God has given here a tabernacle. Now He begins to speak through the tabernacle. And in the position of Leviticus, we see a continuity. He has given instruction in the pattern of the tabernacle. Now He's going to give instruction in the pattern of the worship within and around the tabernacle. And all of it is relevant. All of it. He takes a long time dealing with it. Some 40 days or so dealing with the tabernacle. Some 30 days or so dealing with the instruction for worship within the tabernacle here in the book of Leviticus. 70 days dealing with worship. Erection of the tabernacle, the worship within the tabernacle. Do you see how important it is to God? He's taking his time. He made the worlds with a breath. With one word, he spoke into existence, the creation. And he took six days working it all out. But he's going to take 70 days for how Israel are to worship him. He's taking his time. These things are important. They matter to him. So, the position of Leviticus. It comes after Exodus. There is a flow here and a connection in what's going on. But note then the theme of Leviticus. What is the theme? Well, if I was to ask for the answer to come from the floor, which I'm not going to do, I would hope those who are regular in this house could give me the answer. I would hope so, that you would turn to Luke 24, wouldn't you? Tell me you would! You would turn to Luke 24, and verse 27. I'm beginning at Moses, we read of Jesus as he speaks through the Scriptures, and all the prophets he expounded onto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself. Jesus taught himself through the Word of God. The Word of God instructs us in the message of Christ. And if we are reading the Scriptures, studying the Scriptures, and we have no desire to see Jesus Christ, we are not getting the point. I mean, it's one of the things we're doing with the young people. It's one of the things we did through Genesis. It's one of the things we are doing in Proverbs. We are coming, we're going through all that it says. At the end it's saying, where do you see Jesus Christ? And I put that to them. Thankfully, there were some answers that came that were right and on point. They could see, some could see elements of what's teaching Jesus Christ in Proverbs chapter one. Could you? And this is the point. And we will go through each chapter and seek to find not only what it's teaching us, but what it reflects of He who is wisdom. Jesus Christ. We need to see him. The theme of Leviticus then is Jesus Christ. In John 5 46 it tells us, for had ye believed Moses, that's what Jesus says, had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. He wrote of me. Moses wrote of Jesus Christ. And Moses wrote Leviticus. Therefore, Leviticus is part of what Moses wrote about Jesus Christ. And if you're visiting today, and you're just passing through, and you worship somewhere else, that's good. I'm glad you're here, and you're worshiping the Lord with us. You're very welcome. But wherever you worship, make sure you're hearing of Christ. If you're going through, you're being led through the Scriptures in such a way that you never see Christ, He's never being brought to the forefront of your mind, and even in the New Testament, there's maybe just elements. But we're thinking of the Old Testament, because that's where the work needs to be done. And we look at the Old Testament, what is it teaching about Christ? If you're not being taught that, you're being sold short. And we will be seeing this really clearly. That's one of the things you're going to marvel about through the book of Leviticus. You're going to see, wow, how come it's so full of Christ and his gospel? So full of it. We will see that in the weeks ahead. And I trust it will excite you. I keep emphasizing that the gospel is the heart of all parts of Scripture. The person and work of Jesus Christ permeate every single book in some way, and it's important that you see it. Of course, if you're familiar with the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, then you will know that it leans heavily upon the Vitical Law. Or maybe you don't. But it does. It does. As the apologetic effort of the writer to the Hebrews, as he sits down to present his argument as to why the Jews, the Hebrew converts, should not go back to Judaism, go back to Jewish religious practice as within the confines of the temple and the synagogue, why they shouldn't go back to that. As he presents that argument, he leans heavily on Leviticus. He is arguing for the legitimate priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you go through the book of Hebrews, you will see it in various ways. It speaks of the high priest. It speaks of the tabernacle. It speaks of the day of atonement and so on. All these things are in Leviticus. The manner in which Leviticus presents Christ to us is to show that, listen, without Him, man can never be reconciled to God and in fellowship with God. Without Jesus Christ, man can never be reconciled to God and in fellowship with God. Leviticus lays that out. Just a quick overview in this as well, in chapters 1 through 16. We will see how it shows us how we may obtain fellowship with God. Obtaining fellowship with God. And then in the last half, chapters 17 through 27, it will show us how to maintain fellowship with God. But it's all about fellowship with God. We will see in that first opening 16 chapters various things. For example, the need of sacrifice in the opening 7 chapters, the need of a priest in chapters 8 through 10, the need of a realization of sin in chapters 11 through 15, and then the need for atonement in chapters 16. And then in the second half, we will see that in maintaining fellowship with God, we will first need the obedience of the people in chapter 17 through 23, and the need of the observation of certain feasts in chapter 23, and then other issues that lead to the end of the book. It will show, it will emphasize the whole concept of maintaining fellowship with God. But it brings us to that. And tell me, beloved, do you not want to know and enjoy fellowship with God? Of course you do. Of course you do. And so Leviticus becomes relevant. Really relevant. If you're sitting here this morning and you could say honestly within your heart, I feel that I am detached from God, that the Lord is just not near to me, I have been trifling with sin, I have been just playing around in my Christian life, and I'm just longing this morning to get back the love. Leviticus has a message for you. It does. It will call you in. Oh first, oh first it will be very plain that you're a sinner. But it will be very plain that you can still come near to God on the grounds that He has provided by the means that He has ordained. So, the position of Leviticus, the theme of Leviticus. Lastly, the typology of Leviticus. By typology we mean a divinely ordained picture that points to a reality. A divinely ordained picture that points to a reality. That's what we mean by a type or typology. We will see in the book of Leviticus sacrifices pointing to the cross. We will see the priesthood pointing to Christ's priesthood. We will see leprosy pointing to sin and so on and so forth. All of these are, as Hebrews 10 verse 1 puts it, a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things. They are a shadow of good things to come. That's what this is here in Leviticus. Shadows, types, imagery of good things to come. So that the Israelite coming into that tabernacle wasn't just to look, oh look at how God has given us this tabernacle or whatever. Or as they stood around and observed it and wondered what was going on within it or whatever, depending on their position and their service or so on. As they would look at that or participate in that and get involved in that, the one who had faith was seeing typified good things to come. That's the point. Seeing how the Lord opens up His promise in Genesis 3, 15, the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. I will send one who will be born of woman. And he will crush and destroy and overthrow all that has been robbed from you by the devil. He will bring in a new creation. He will exercise a new dominion. And in that dominion, he will reconcile those who trust him to himself so that they once again, like was known in the garden, can talk with God in the cool of the day, can fellowship with the Almighty. Leviticus is pointing to all of these things, showing all of these things. And they were given by God to teach Israel the gospel, and they will also teach us the gospel. They will. If you stay and you're with us here week after week, you will see the gospel of Christ in Leviticus. And if you take notes, and I would encourage you, there may be one where you might need to do that more, then when you come and you're Bible reading next year, and you're going to read from Genesis through Revelation, and you come to Leviticus, and you're like, oh, no. Oh, hang on. I have my notes. I have my notes. And you'll see the beauty of the gospel. But maybe you wonder, what's the point? If we have the real thing, why look back on the shadows? I've used this illustration in different ways. say, a soldier, and before you head out to do your duty on a foreign field, and before that, you've entered into a relationship, maybe you've just gotten engaged or something, maybe even you're married, I don't know, but you take pictures with you. And while you're away, of course, you look at the picture, and you kind of reflect your love toward your girlfriend, your... your wife or whatever, and you're looking and you're kind of looking at it and enjoying looking at it and kind of sharing in the love you have for her. But when you come home, you don't get off the airplane and walk through the meeting place and bring out the photograph and look at that. You have the real thing. You have her before you. You can embrace her. You can share in her love and the real thing. And so you might say, what's the point in keeping the photograph? Why look at it at all? Well, it does have a purpose. It does. There are many things in the shadows that help us understand what they point to, they do. You see, because the New Testament was not written in a vacuum, the apostles who ministered largely to the Jews, certainly in the early part, they're ministering to a people who know this book. And they're ministering the Word of God from the point of them having a grasp of all of this. There is a foundation in their hearts. And so when they point to Christ and talk about Christ, they are making connections with all that was taught to them in their past in the Old Testament. But we have come, and we read very often the New Testament in a vacuum, not with the foundation of the Old Testament. And so there are nuances that we miss. For example, for example, if I asked you or any theologian, hypothetically suggesting that Hebrews itself didn't exist, If I said to a theologian who was a master in the New Testament, but didn't really give much emphasis to the Old Testament, argue for the legitimacy of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, he couldn't do it. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't know where to start. He wouldn't know what to say. Jews are coming and saying, well, Jesus Christ wasn't from the tribe of Levi. How can He be your High Priest? How can He be the means whereby you enter in before God? Away with it! Jesus isn't of the tribe of Levi. He's of the tribe of Judah. He cannot be a priest, therefore. How would you argue? Oh, but you see, the writer to the Hebrews, who I believe is the Apostle Paul, He knows Leviticus. He knows the Old Testament Scriptures. And when an attack is made upon the person of Christ, arguing that you cannot be, he cannot be your priest, Paul enters into, or the writer of the Hebrews enters into this great argument. He is, indeed must be, our great high priest. He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. So we need to know the background. We need to understand the Old Testament. And then we see truths and grasp certain aspects of what the New Testament points us to as well, and it all becomes the brighter. In Leviticus 16, for example, when we see the high priest on the Day of Atonement putting his hand upon the head of the scapegoat, and then sending it out into the wilderness. When we get a grasp of that picture, then we understand what the prophet meant. Or what he recorded truly when he said in Isaiah 53 verse 6, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. The scapegoat's in mind. The scapegoat's what's in view. The Jew knows this. The person familiar with the Old Testament realizes this. There he's thinking of the placing of sin on the head of that scapegoat. And when we view the cross, we see Christ as our scapegoat and my sins being laid on Him and Him being sent out into the wilderness, cut off from the presence of God to be under the suffering of isolation from God because of my sin. Oh, I understand more of the sufferings as I see the scapegoat and what Jesus Christ endured. Leviticus has much to teach us, much. As we close this here this morning, I trust the Lord will have been wetting your appetite and you will come and you will be excited to come and see, how will I see Jesus today? The practice of the Levitical law in Israel was given to be a blessing to the people, not a curse. It wasn't to be a burden. It wasn't to be some religious exercise that they just had to do because God's an authoritarian character who makes you do stuff you don't want to do. Not at all. Of course, without faith it taught them nothing. But with faith it taught them the grounds upon which sinners can approach an infinitely holy God. As I said earlier, if you struggle or have ever struggled with guilt, a sense of your own sin, a sense of alienation from God, a general feeling of unworthiness, Leviticus is for you. Oh, it will confirm all your fears about your sin, and it will confirm your unworthiness, but it will also present the answer. It will. The gospel tonic for a guilty conscience. It shows you how you can be brought near to God. Rather than be at a distance. Near to God. You know that's the whole purpose of Jesus Christ. Bringing sinners near to God. The curse of Cain was he was sent out from the presence of God. The folly of Jonah was he run from the presence of God. But for those who are like John the beloved disciple. Oh just to put my head upon his bosom. Oh just to rest near him. Yeah. Or to pray like Paul and Philippians 3 that I might know him. Knowing him. Oh you need to be near someone to know them don't you. Now this is what Leviticus promises us and will teach us. I trust that the Lord will help us to see it clearly and thrill our hearts with it and encourage us through this study. Let's bow together in prayer. Once again, remind you that there is the observation of the Lord's table here after. And just in a few minutes' time, if your time doesn't permit you to stay with us, then that's okay if you have to get up and go, but we encourage you, especially if you know the Lord, He invites you to come and to sit at this table with Him. Again, it's only for those who know the Lord. Maybe today you think yourself, well, I believe I'm saved, but preacher, I've been living in sin. Maybe I shouldn't come to the table. No, no, that's not the way to look at it. As long as you come with repentance, then you have acceptance to come. This is a time of renewing. Our God and Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word again this morning. And we thank Thee for the prospect of studying through the book of Leviticus. We ask, O God, that Thou wilt help us to understand it and whatever We are dealing with, in our own lives, that the book of Leviticus will come with doctrine and truth to edify and build us up in our most holy faith. We pray that Thou wilt give us light in it and understanding in it, and that it will be a real means of blessing to us in our walk with our Lord Jesus. As we come to the table on this time, we pray O God, come and sit with us, please. Let us know the presence of the risen Christ here. And for those who may have to leave us, go with them. Lord, hear and answer us. Receive our thanks for giving us thy word and inviting us to this table. In Jesus' name, amen.