you you you Good morning. Good morning. So good to see you this morning. Did anybody get here an hour early today? No. Congratulations. We always remember that one, right? We always remember to give ourselves an hour back. But in March, wouldn't we want to forget about that turning of the clock? But glad to see you made it this morning. Great to have you in the House of the Lord. Welcome to each of you and especially if you're visiting today. We want to welcome you a couple of reminders The first is a flock group this evening We're having flock group at 530 at Hingham Hall Right in downtown Hingham there next to the Hingham pool and spa not to be confused with a mill pond That's not part of it. No, but it is close if you get that far You're in the right area. I would be happy to see you tonight and Bring a dish to pass. It's a great time of fellowship. And we have a potluck followed by a challenge from God's word. So great time of fellowship. Come tonight if you're able, 530. Do be careful because this is the time when the deer like to come out and jump in front of your car for some reason. So speaking from personal experience. Today is also the first day for the membership class. If you are interested in becoming a member of Emmanuel Bible Church, you can still get into the class today, I'm sure, talk with Pastor Kurt. And just a reminder for teens next Saturday, November 13th from 5 to 9 is the activity at the Howard's Grove Activity Center. So remember to put that on your calendar, get that day off so you can enjoy some time that's fun. And one last fun time reminder, December 3rd is our next game night. We had one this past Friday. We had a great time playing some party games downstairs and some fellowship. So join us next time, December 3rd, Friday, December 3rd. So Pastor Kurt, the more serious stuff now. We'll start with something not serious, but very fun. So one of our younger men was out playing disc golf this last week, and his girlfriend found a golf disc, so if you know the discs, golf discs, that said, will you marry me? So Jonah, congratulations, as a clever way to get engaged. But congrats, bud. Good job. All right, so for the more serious things, let's pray for our person of the week this week, who is Roger Bellen. So, Roger, I'm assuming you're watching, we'll be praying for you. He would like us to pray for loneliness. It is, you know, with Bonnie having passed, it's kinda difficult at times. And then, For continued spiritual growth as well as for wisdom as he just organizes all the details of life So he's doing you know kind of the tasks some of them that bonnie did and then just trying to get ready for the Last days, so just pray for him We'll be praying for our overseas servants of the week. This is Paul and Janessa. I won't say what country they're from or where they are, but somewhere in Asia. So let's pray for them. They're settling into their new routine. A lot of answers to prayer have already occurred, so they're there. They're working really hard. hard on the language. Okay, so I won't even say what language it is, but it's a difficult one. So they ask that we pray for significant progress for both of them in the next six months, but also especially that Janessa can find a tutor. So you can find a tutor who might work with you for a couple weeks or whatever, but to find a good Faithful consistent tutor evidently a female one is tough. So pray for Them to be able to find a tutor for her and then our persecuted Saints of the week actually today is the International day of prayer for the persecuted church. So this happens every November and we pray for a persecuted Saint every week and but let me just read what the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is all about. So Sunday, November 7th, 2021, is proclaimed worldwide as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. According to Open Doors USA, there are over 340 million Christians who are living in places where they experience high levels of persecution and discrimination. Open Doors reports that in the top 50 world watch list countries this past year, there have been. So just in the top 50 world watch list countries, the following things have occurred. 4,761 Christians were martyred, they were killed for their faith. That's globally. 4,488 churches and other Christian buildings were attacked. We're having a service, imagine somebody coming and attacking our church building that happened to almost 5,000 churches and then 4,000 277 believers were detained without trial arrested sentenced or imprisoned One in eight Christians worldwide experience high levels of persecution These numbers are heartbreaking And the number one request of the persecuted is that other believers pray for them. So let's not forget our brothers and sisters in Christ who are under persecution for their faith. Our Lord, we have unbelievable freedom, unbelievable because it's rare. And in the history of the church since the time when Christ paid for our sins, we have experienced as a body of believers ongoing minor and major bouts of persecution. It is rare to live in a place like where we do that is encouraging even, at least to a large degree of Christianity. And so Lord, we pray for our own country for continued freedom, but really our purpose today is to pray for the persecuted church worldwide. To hear these stats, almost 5,000 Christians martyred in 2020, to hear that 5,000 churches almost were attacked, the buildings were either burned down or damaged, and that Over 4,000 Christians are imprisoned right now without trial. Some of them have already been sentenced, others not yet, but people who are living in, in most cases, squalid conditions. being treated roughly by other prisoners and certainly by the guards. In some cases they're being tortured mercilessly, horribly, in ways that we maybe know but certainly wouldn't say. Lord, it's very difficult. So we pray for our brothers and sisters, for especially the pastors worldwide who sit in prison right now, for especially the wives of Men who served you faithfully who are now without their husbands because of martyrdom. Children who don't have fathers now. They have a father in heaven, but they don't have an earthly father now because he was taken by cruel people. So Lord, we pray for all those affected that there would be a real sense of the power of you and of the spirit in their lives today. We pray for our overseas servants of the week for Paul and Janessa somewhere in Asia. We ask that you will help them to find a tutor for her so that she can continue to work diligently on the language and progress rapidly. In fact, we pray that in the next six months they would gain so much of an understanding of the language that he would be able to begin to speak and teach and that both of them will be able to have conversations of at least a beginning gospel nature. Lord, the terminology of Christianity, the words like redemption and reconciliation are not normal, even in our own language, let alone in a foreign one. And so we pray that you'll give them the capacity, the time to be able to learn the language well enough to share Christ. And then we pray for Roger. We do love him and miss him here and we pray as he is probably watching now that he would just have an overwhelming sense of the love of our church for him. We ask for the bouts of loneliness that he experiences periodically that he would find rest in You we pray that that we know that you are all we need we even sing that song But it's very real to him, and it's real to him every day every morning every noon every night so we pray for your love to him to be Overwhelming and then for continued spiritual growth as well as wisdom as he has many details of end-of-life details that he's trying to work through So Lord may your hand be upon him We pray for our service today that we would be powerfully impacted by the life-giving word we ask in Jesus' name, amen. If you are following along in the hymnal, we will be singing just the arrow verses. Let's stand. I rejoice with those who said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and glory are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. We have come into his house. We have come into His house, gathered in His name to worship Him. We have come into His house, gathered in His name to worship Him. We have come into His house, gathered in His name to worship Christ the Lord. Worship Him, Christ the Lord. Come, Christians, join to sing Alleluia! Amen! Loud praise to Christ our King Alleluia! Amen! All with heart and voice Before His throne rejoice Praises His gracious choice Alleluia, Amen Lift your hearts on high. Alleluia, amen. Let praises fill the sky. Alleluia, amen. He is our guide and friend. To us He'll condescend. His love shall never end. Alleluia, Amen. Praise ye our Christ again, Alleluia! Amen! Life shall not end thus great, Alleluia, Amen. On heaven's blissful shore, His goodness we'll adore, Singing forevermore, Alleluia, Amen. I worship you, Almighty God. I worship you, almighty God. There is none like you. I worship you, Prince of Peace. That is what I want to do. I give you praise, for you are my righteousness. I worship you, almighty God. There is none like you. I worship you, almighty God. there is none like you. I worship you, O Prince of Peace. That is what I want to do. I give you praise, for you are my righteousness. I worship you, Almighty God. there is none like you O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! O great the Lord. When through the woods and forest glades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook, and feel the gentle breeze. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art, how great Thou art And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. And I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, my God, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee How great Thou art! How great Thou art! Thank you may be seated. Let's pray father God. Thou art great, mighty, holy, just, pure. And we love you Lord and we thank you for your goodness and your grace and your blessings upon us every day that we live. Father. We pray that we might obey you, serve you every day of our lives. We thank you for this time just now when we, with hearts of love and gratitude, give back to you which rightfully belongs to you. Bless these gifts and the giver, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Yeah. Yeah. Would you please stand with me? Turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 29. We'll be starting in verse 31, Genesis 29, verse 31. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened up her womb. But Rachel was barren, and Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben. For she said, because the Lord has looked upon my affliction, for now my husband will love me. She conceived again and bore a son and said, because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also. And she called his name Simeon. Again, she conceived and bore a son and said, now this time my husband will be attached to me because I have bore him three sons. Therefore, his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son and said, this time I will praise the Lord. Therefore, she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing. When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, give me children, or I shall die. Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel. And he said, am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb? Then she said, here is my servant, Bilhah. Go into her, so that she may give birth on my behalf. that even I may have children through her. So she gave him her servant Bilhah, as a wife, and Jacob went into her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son. Therefore, she called his name Dan. Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, with mighty wrestlings I have prevailed, with my sister and have prevailed. So she called his name Naphtali. Then Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children. She took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Then Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. And Leah said, good fortune has come. So she called his name Gad. Leah's servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, happy am I, for women have called me happy. So she called his name Asher. In the days of wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, please give me some of your son's mandrakes. But she said to her, Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also? Rachel said, then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes. When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, you must come into me, for I have hired you with my son's mandrakes. So he lay with her that night. And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. Leah said, God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband. So she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, God has endowed me with a good endowment. Now my husband will honor me because I have bore him six sons. So she called his name Zebulun. Afterward, she bore a daughter and called her Dinah. Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and said, God has taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, saying, may the Lord add to me another son. At Calvary. Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died at Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. By God's word at last my sin I learned Then I'd tremble at the law I'd spurned Till my guilty soul imploring Turned to Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. Now I've given to Jesus everything. Now I gladly own Him as my King. Now my raptured soul can only sing of Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. O the love that true salvation's planned, O the grace that brought it down to man, O the mighty gold that God did spend at Calvary. Mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me. There my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. Thank you. You may be seated. As a child, I really wanted to see heaven, but my dad wouldn't take me. You say, huh? What are you talking about? I grew up in Davenport, Iowa, which is on the Mississippi River. And in Davenport, there is still a chiropractic college. The founder of chiropractic was a mega wealthy man named B.J. Palmer. And he founded Palmer Chiropractic. As a wealthy man, he traveled the world and he collected all kinds of amazing things, coffins from Egypt and antiquities from all around Asia. So, there was this place and I saw it. Every time we climbed to the really steep hill from lower Davenport along the river to the upper area. I mean, it's over a 6% grade. So, you know, us old timers, you remember the cars with the carburetors? Yeah. You know, just try to chug along and keep going to get up this big steep hill. So, you know, we'd be, we'd be at 25 miles an hour. And each time we went up, went past it. Oh, little bit of heaven. It was called. I would ask my dad, dad, would you take me to a little bit of heaven? Thank you. And I guess he had been there, done that, didn't really want to go, and he never took me. Now, my mom, and I was talking with her this past week, she said it was a really awesome place. There was a fort, big gardens, 40-foot waterfall, all of these really cool, I love antiquities, so museums. So this was kind of like a small museum. Well, I never did get to go to what we might call heaven on earth, I wasn't old enough to go or at least take myself and my dad didn't. What is the tabernacle? We're going to be in Leviticus now for the next few months. What is the tabernacle? The tabernacle is like heaven on earth. It doesn't have a 40-foot waterfall, and there aren't any ancient sarcophagi that are housed in the temple. No, actually it's a place of the living. That is, of the living God. God's people, from the time that Adam and Eve fell, wanted to recreate the Garden of Eden. That is, heaven on earth. But it wasn't until, what? gobs and gobs of centuries later before God finally made a way for mankind to access him. And so this morning, we're going to find out a little bit more about the first 10 chapters of Leviticus. I know chapter 1.1 is what's on your sheet here. We're just going to overview the first 10 chapters. But in these chapters, what we're going to find out is that God is paving a way to himself. He's showing mankind how to get to him. So think of Leviticus as instructions on how to pave a way to Yahweh. So what must be done? Now, as we're going through this, think about the Lord Jesus, because the tabernacle and all that we're gonna be talking about is a shadow, it's a prophecy, it's an image, it's a symbol of what Jesus did for us to pave the way for salvation. So what must be done for sinful man to fellowship with a holy God? Just two things, but they are very important things. So first of all, you must build a house of God. God tells his people to build a house for him. And then second, he tells them that you must become pure. They can't purify themselves. God does that. But he tells them these are the two things you must do. First of all, you must build the house of God. When I started studying Leviticus, I was like you probably are, ignorant of the fact that there are two main names for what we call the tabernacle. All right, I just, I'm thinking tabernacle. I'm thinking, you know, that's basically it. But there are two names for what we call the tabernacle. One, and you can see it on your sheet here, is Mishkan. And the other is Ohelmoned. All right, so who cares? Those are Hebrew words. Well, they're actually really important. All right, because these words tell us what this place is about. So, what are the dual purposes of God's house, that is, of his tabernacle? God needed a place where he could come where both he and mankind would be safe. Think of the tabernacle as mutual protection, protection for his holiness and protection from mankind that they won't be consumed immediately because of their sin. So God's house or Mishkan is the first thing I wanna talk about. From the time of the expelling of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, there had been no place for mankind to meet with God. From the beginning, God created Adam and Eve for fellowship, to meet with Him, to talk with Him, to know Him personally. But once they fell, access to God had been barred. And from the time of the flood, there was no more Garden of Eden at all. So when God comes to His people, at the beginning of Exodus, threw Moses and says, look, I'm going to redeem you. I have chosen you, and I'm going to bring you out of Egypt. His goal has been to draw them from captivity to a place of freedom, from a place of bondage to a place of rest, a place where they can meet with God, dwell with Him, and get to know Him. In Exodus 25, verse 8, We read, let them make me, God telling this to Moses, let them make me a sanctuary, a house, a mishkan, that I might dwell with them. When you see the word dwell, In Scripture, when it's talking about God from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, think fellowship. Because I used to think, okay, God's gonna, he wants to dwell with us, so yeah, it's kinda nice to live with him, but it's much more than just living in his midst or him living in our midst. No, it's all about fellowship. That's the first purpose of the tabernacle, to create a house for God, a place for him to live, all right, with an inner chamber that is his private dwelling. But then second, Moses is told to build a house for God so that it can be a ohel moned, that is a tent of meeting. The tabernacle was built so that God could have fellowship with man. So now think of Leviticus chapters 1 through 7. Sacrifice. after sacrifice. There's this sacrifice and that. Killing this animal. The parts that you're to eat or can eat or maybe not eat at all. What you're to do with this body part. You're to wash the legs and wash the intestines out. You have to, okay, take the hide and the hide is given to the priests and then there's the grain offerings and then there's turtle doves, there's oxen and sheep and all kinds of instructions about sacrifice. And when we You know, you get to Leviticus in your annual reading of the Bible, it's kind of like the graveyard for a lot of Christians. They get through Genesis and Exodus and then it comes to a screeching halt in Leviticus because you're just like, whoa, what is this all about? Well, the sacrifices in Leviticus are teaching us what must be done so that we can approach a holy God, so that we can be with him. In Exodus 29, verses 45 and 46, Moses writes, I will, quoting God, I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I might fellowship with them. I am the Lord their God. Morales writes this, the drama of Leviticus turns upon this hope, how the abode of God can possibly become the meeting place between Yahweh and Israel. Don't think of the tabernacle as just God's house. Think of all the sacrifices as being meals where you get to join with God and have fellowship with Him. There's some of the sacrifices when the whole families come and after the offering of the animal, they sit down in the outer courtyard of the tabernacle and with the priests have a communal meal. We have communion, we celebrate the Lord's table. God is in our midst where two or three are together. That's a picture of God being with us. That is happening regularly, daily, after the tabernacle is built, when the people are coming in and making sacrifices, meals are being had. This is God instructing Moses to build a house, not just to live in, but to invite people to come. It was, if I might, Jeff Cunard's birthday on Friday. So they invited Maria and me to go over to Luigi's for a meal. So that's my first time ever. I've lived here for over seven years and I've never been there. It was delicious and I'm sure I gained a pound. It wasn't a good thing. But anyway, delicious food. You know what? It had just a homey atmosphere. Because we've known the you know, this family for, I don't know, over 20 years, it's just special to be able to celebrate his birthday with them. And one of their children, their daughter, came up and joined us, and it was just a lot of fun. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. When you think of the sacrifices in Leviticus one through seven, that's not what you're thinking about, is it? It doesn't feel like Fellowship, but that's actually the intent of those sacrifices. It's to create fellowship, an opportunity or a way for there to be an opportunity for mankind to meet with God. Turn to Exodus, actually I think it's printed in your handout, Exodus chapter 40, verses 34 and five. In Exodus 40, we read this. So this is the last chapter of the book of Exodus. Sounds like good news. God has come to dwell in the house that he told Moses to construct. But then look at the next line. Then it says Moses was not able to enter. Moses was not able to enter. Moses had been meeting with God up on the top of the mountain. Yeah, it wasn't God's house, but he was still able to go directly into the presence of God and be with him, and he even saw the manifestation of God. His face glowed after he came down from the top of the mountain. He was really with God. And now, what are we expecting after God makes his house? that Moses and Aaron and really the whole nation of Israel will be able to have fellowship with God, and what do we find? We find something shocking. We find that after all of these instructions and then after the construction of the tabernacle, that Moses doesn't get to come in. It doesn't make sense, at least not at first, not to us. You know, not since the fall had Mankind been able to be in the garden with God. If you think of the tabernacle, and I've already argued this in past sermons, that the tabernacle is intended to, even on its inside, to look like the Garden of Eden. Okay, so if the tabernacle is intentionally a recreation of the Garden of Eden, one that can move around, then you would expect the cherubim that are guarding the entrance to allow Moses in, but God says you can't come in. And so that brings us to the beginning of Leviticus, chapter one, verse one. where we see after God has them make a house, it's a place to fellowship with them, then we find that this ends up being the way to God. Leviticus 1.1, the Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. And so what we find as we sweep into the narrative of Leviticus is that God tells Moses, right now you cannot come, but soon I will let you come. But let me give you some instructions that will pave the way, make it possible for you to enter my presence. Exodus ends with you can't come in even though you've been accustomed to meeting with me Moses now you can't why? Because a new era has begun one in which I want to teach you and I want to teach all of Israel Many lessons that will all culminate in our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes to earth and in the things that he did while he was here. What is Leviticus about then? Leviticus, look, we're trying to go from okra to ice cream. That's the title of the series. Trying to make Leviticus not taste, I mean, a few of you like okra, sorry. I don't like okra, so let me pick on it, all right. You know, I don't like okra, even the fried okra, nah. Okay, it's just, to me it's a weed, it was part of the curse of Genesis 3, sorry. I'm joking, and I know some of you like it, and so you can pick on me later. But I want Leviticus to go from tasting like okra to tasting like a bowl of ice cream. In other words, when you get to Leviticus 1.1 in your devotions in whatever it will be, February, maybe March next year, I hope that it'll mean much more to you and that you'll love it. So what is Leviticus about? It's not about a whole bunch of sacrifices. It's not about the consecration of the priests. It's not about all the laws of cleanness. Oh, what happens if there's white spot on your skin? It's not about all the laws of on and on and on, or the holy days and that. I mean, yes, those are the contents of the book, but that's not what Leviticus is about. Leviticus is about remaking a way to enjoy fellowship. God makes a way to enjoy fellowship with his creation, as originally intended. Leviticus is about living a life of constant worship. Fellowship, I'm gonna argue this. Worship and fellowship are kind of the same idea. They're maybe not identical, but they're really similar. When we think of worship, we're thinking of singing. on Sunday morning, and that's a part of worship. But worship is more, why do we think like that? Because churches refer to, ours too, we refer to the song time as the worship time. But worship is not just the songs, it's what you did when you came in the entryway and you were talking and fellowshipping with others. It's what we're doing right now, but it doesn't end when you leave the premises of this building. This building isn't the church, we're the church. Worship is fellowship. And in the book of Leviticus, it is a book about worship, but it's worship slash fellowship, and the worship of God did not take place just on the Sabbath. In fact, worship is a way of life. It required sacrifice, special events and so on, but many of its laws in Leviticus are not about what you do when you come into the outer curtain, into the courtyard, in order to do a sacrifice. Many of its laws are what you do from Sunday through Friday. Worship, fellowship with God, is, to say it proverbially, the 24-7. It is all the time. So how can we get back into Eden, into the tabernacle. How can the people of God in Moses' day return to have a personal relationship with them? It's through the system that God creates. How can you and I? What is this all about, all these sacrifices? The book of Leviticus is about the way to enter God's presence. What is the way today? If the tabernacle is the way in the Old Testament, what is the way in the New Testament? Jesus said it like this. In John 10, verse nine, I am the door. the tabernacle, before you even got into the outer courtyard it had a doorway. And then there were sacrificial things and even a washing place. And then there was another entryway, another door on the actual tent itself. And then beyond that, there was a curtain. And of course, the high priest could only enter that curtain, that doorway, that opening once a year. It may have been that there was a little bit of an opening between the holy place and the holy of holies. We'll talk about that later, because the staves probably did actually leave a hole between the two, and that's why in the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews says that the altar of incense is in the holy of holies, not in the holy place. How could it be? We know it's in the holy place, yet the writer of Hebrews says it's in the holy of holies. Could it be because the incense goes in and the staves actually do lift the curtain a little bit where, you know, the poles that were used to move the Ark of the Covenant were probably lifting that curtain up. So, the door. There are three doorways to get to the inner chamber of God. And then there are all kinds of things between where God is and where man first comes in that have to be done before man can get there. When Jesus says, I am the door in the Gospel of John, that is full. of imagery. When he says later in the chapter, I am the Lamb of God, that is full of imagery. Jesus is pictured by all of the sacrifices that had been offered for thousands of years, for 1,500 years in the tabernacle and later temple. When he says in chapter 14, verse 6, I am the way. I mean, man, since I've been studying the Pentateuch, I mean, I'm just seeing the word the way everywhere. It's popping all through the Pentateuch. It's popping in especially the book of Acts. But it's not just there, it's in Paul. The way. If you've seen the Mandalorian series from Disney, they talk about the way. I'm actually thinking that they're borrowing from scripture, because George Lucas and the writers borrow from religion a lot in the Star Wars sagas. But I wonder if they're not just borrowing from the way. The way is a prominent idea. It's a prominent word in the Pentateuch. And Jesus says in the Gospel of John, am Yahweh, I am the way. He is saying that he is the embodiment, the fulfillment of all the imagery of what is going on in the book of Leviticus. So what did man have to do to get from his tent somewhere in the camp to either, if he was the high priest, he could get in once a year, or at least have a representative get into God once a year. What did he have to do? Oh, there were all kinds of things that had to be done. They weren't saving themselves by doing these things. These are just images of what Jesus, the high priest, would do. Think of all the things that had to be done before sinful man could enter God's presence. How does all this apply? What is your body today? Your body today is the tabernacle. Where does God dwell now? He dwells in you, if you're a born again believer. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20, Paul says, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? How important was it to be holy, that is, to be purified through all the sacrifices? Critical. In fact, if you even just take one shortcut, you end up with a Nadab and a Bihu, which is chapter 10 of Leviticus. We'll talk about that later. But you don't even want to take even a minor shortcut, or fire falls from heaven and destroys you. Holiness is the book of Leviticus. It's a big theme in the book of Leviticus, obviously. Do we not realize, Paul says, that when you think of the tabernacle or temple and how holy that is, do you not realize that's your body today? As the Holy Spirit dwells in you, what are you bringing into your body? Your self? What are you allowing? to come in. Paul concludes that first verse with two thoughts. One, you are not your own. You can't live the way you want. If you're a Christian, you can't live the way you want. You are not your own. And then two, you were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body. What are the implications from the tabernacle for our lives today? Hope to make that very clear as we go through this book. So think of Leviticus again as instructions on how to pave the way to Yahweh. What must be done for sinful man to have fellowship with the Holy God? There are two things, the second of which is that you must become pure. So Leviticus 1 through 10 is about sacrifices and priesthood. Let's gain a sense of where we are before we lay out the first 10 chapters. Genesis. Genesis is a book about, I think, the theology of sin. Someone was listening, they don't go to our church, but he and his wife were listening to the series on Leviticus and he called me, I haven't even met him yet, but anyway, he called me and he said, you know, it is so good to actually listen to sermons that preach on sin in the church where he is, there's not much, if any, preaching on sin. He said, this is just so, Helpful for me. You know, what is Genesis? Genesis is a theology of sin. It's mankind seriously messing things up. And not just unbelievers, it's even God's people seriously messing things up. And Genesis ends, as we've said before, with two words, coffin in Egypt, death in bondage in a place that is far from God's presence. Genesis is, yeah, it's a book of hope and it's a book of promise, but maybe more than anything, it's a book about sin. Exodus then is the theology of redemption. It's God choosing a people who do not deserve to be chosen. Is that not the point of the Exodus? We talked about that last week. I mean, wow, how could God judge the Egyptians and save the Israelites after the golden calf? That's what Paul says in Romans 9. It's not fair. God is just. He can do it because he paid the penalty through his son, but it's not fair. And so Exodus, it's a theology of redemption. It's a theology of things we don't deserve. It's a theology of grace. God chose them and redeemed them. Mankind can't save themselves, but then you get to the book of Exodus, and after the construction of the tabernacle, you're thinking, all right, they get to go in, and then the book ends with Moses was, and I quote, not able. That's not the way you expect Exodus to end. He's been meeting with God, now he can't meet with God. What's all this redemption about? That brings us to Leviticus. Theology of Sin, Genesis, Theology of Redemption, Exodus, and now Theology of Fellowship slash Worship. Finally, mankind can meet with God again directly, at least through the high priest once a year directly. And the book begins, the Lord called, the Lord called, the Lord makes the way, the Lord gives the instructions. So we're gonna divide Leviticus into three sections in our series through this book. The first one, chapters one through 10, are all about becoming pure before going into God's house. 11 through 16 are about remaining pure even when you're away from God's house. so that your representative won't be tainted by your sin when he goes in to offer the sacrifices on your behalf to the Lord. And then chapters 17 through 27, the last third of the book, are about living with God throughout the year. There's more than that in there, but it's about living with God all the way through the calendar. Leviticus will teach us about relationship. How do you feel about that word? In fact, how do you feel about your relationship with God? If husbands, if you talk to your wives and spent time with your wives as much as you spend with God, what would happen in your marriage? Parents, if you interacted with your children the same amount of time per day that you interact with God, what would happen with those relationships? Would they break down because it's literally 30 seconds here and 30 seconds there? Or is there a real relationship with the Father? We're gonna look at the sacrifices. We're gonna find out they are far more than just instructions on how to cut up a kill and cut up an animal and what to do with its blood or its flesh or its bones. Far more than that, these are about creating a way to have a meeting with God, a personal relationship with Him. We're gonna learn from Leviticus about examining our own hearts. The first sacrifice in Leviticus chapter one is, it's out of order. It's not the first one that's offered in any way, shape, or form at any time. It never is. So why did God instruct that to be the first one? Why did Moses write that one down first when it's out of order? There's a really important reason, and part of that reason is because it's all about examining your heart. The total consecration sacrifice is about, it's not about killing, having the animal killed on your behalf as much as it is, it is about that, but it's more about, is your heart really with God? I mean, are you offering all of yourself to him as all of the animal is consumed in the fire? We're going to learn from Leviticus about who God is. We're going to learn about His character. You will learn about the Father, things that you didn't know before. We're going to learn about our own natures, problems with ourselves. and how God remedies that. We're going to learn about total dedication. Total dedication is kind of one of those old revival terms. Revivalists, evangelists would kind of blow in, blow up, and blow out in a church, right? I'm not opposed to a powerful preacher coming in, so don't misunderstand what I'm saying here. But they'd blow in, blow out, and blow out. And when they kind of blew up in the church, when they really, they would sometimes, and I've been a part of meetings like this where Maybe even unethically, you know, the evangelist would kind of like twist your arm and if you are not, you know, this, then stand up or sit down or whatever. And he would kind of almost trick you into coming forward. And it was all about people coming forward and how many came forward to dedicate their lives totally to God. So, you know, in the revivalism, I'm all about revival, but revivalism, trying to create Revival, forced revival upon the church. That's not really total dedication. What we're going to learn from Leviticus 1 is not legalism. It's going to be total, true surrender fully to Him. We're going to learn about what God wants from us. So Leviticus 1 through 7, it's about sacrifices. Chapter 8 and 9, consecration of the priesthood. And then chapter 10 is about the very first time, oh man, Nadab and Abihu. So these are instructions on how to walk the pathway to God. They're instructions about how to cross over from the profane into the holy. how to leave one world and enter another. It's how to go from outside of Eden to inside of it. To go into the garden to be with the Father in His house. To have a meal with Him. To sup with Him. Leviticus 1-10 culminates in chapter 9, verses 22-4. And I'll read these verses. Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And he came down from offering the sin offering. We'll talk more about coming down, why it's high up. But he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. They actually get to go in. And when they came out, they blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they were blown away. They were shocked. They shouted and fell on their faces. After God came to what I'm going to call the altar of ascension, the burnt altar, and consumed the offering with fire, His presence, could we call it, is maintained every morning and every evening by the priests as they offer a yearling lamb, a year old lamb, to the Lord. His house is a place of meeting. God wants to dwell with us. And if we translate that into the New Testament times, God is dwelling with us. He lives within us. God, through the sacrifice of that yearling lamb, as day broke and then as day waned, was picturing our lives. Constant fellowship with the Lord. We conclude with Hebrews 10, verses 19 through 25. What is Hebrews about? Hebrews is a picture, I'm sorry, what is Leviticus about? Leviticus is a picture, the tabernacle is a picture, the sacrifices, the priesthood, all of the instructions, they are a picture of greater things. and specifically of what Jesus would do. So, Hebrews 10, starting in verse 19. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places, we have confidence. We can go in. The writer of Hebrews is a Jewish man. Writing to Jewish people. I mean, it's not that Gentiles can't read it, but it was for Jewish people. written by a Jewish man to Jewish people, and he says, you can have confidence and enter the presence of God. It would have been a scary thing to enter into the Holy of Holies as the high priest once a year. I don't believe there was a rope around his ankle. That myth started in the medieval period. There's no record of the high priest having a rope around his ankle before, I think it's like Maimonides or whatever. So it's something like 1100. A.D. So he didn't have a rope around his ankle. There's zero. We know every high priest who ever was. There's records of every high priest. No high priest ever died when he went into the Holy of Holies. So that rope around the ankle thing, that's total myth. Right? Totally doesn't exist. Please don't buy into that. But do buy into what's be, you know, the thought kind of behind the rope. What's the idea with the rope? You know, if the high priest entered, you know, behind the curtain and all the sin wasn't covered, then God would have struck him dead like he did with Nadab and Abihu. But that never happened and there was no rope. That's just a medieval myth. Came thousand years after Jesus had died on the cross. All right, but it does tell us what I'm sure was going through the mind of the high priest as he pulled that curtain back and went in. He knows he's entering the very presence of the Lord. Did he do so with confidence? I think so, because of all the sacrifices and because high priest after high priest had done this year after year, none of them had ever died, none of them was ever wearing a rope around his ankle. So he did enter with confidence, but still with some fear, right? Still with very high reverence. Jesus says, I paved the way, I fulfilled, I was the sacrifice. I am the one who washed you. I am the one who is your priest, your high priest. I am the one who grants you access to the Father and I do so, how? By the blood of Jesus, by my blood. by the new and living way. There's the word way again. The new way, not the old way, not the old covenant, not the tabernacle or temple, that's gone. Jesus fulfilled, completed that. Now there's a new way, a new covenant that Jesus cut. We celebrate the time we celebrate the Lord's table here at our church. It's a new way, a living way that he, Jesus opened for us through the curtain. Jesus was the one who removed the curtain for us. How? Through His flesh. That is, by dying on the cross. Since we have a great high priest over the house of God, because we have a great high priest, our Lord Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Never fear God. If you're a Christian, don't fear him. Even after you sin, even if it's a grievous sin, don't beat yourself up and hide in a corner. Foreign to God that's trying to pay for your own sin Jesus paid it all as the old song says When there's sin, what do you do you go? Immediately you with confidence you go directly in why because Jesus is your high priest He is the one who gives you the full assurance of faith. He is the one who with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed pure with water. Jesus did that. You don't have to do that to yourselves. In fact, you can't do that to yourselves. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful. It's not about you and how perfectly you can live, if it were. If you're honest, you'd be like, oh, I'm in bad shape. I'm in big trouble. No, it's not about how perfect you are or how, now we should live righteously. Don't, don't take this as a, it's a sermon. Don't take the end of this as a sermon to like jump over into the ditch of antinomianism. Like, okay, I can throw off all restraint. And that's, that's not what, what the writer of Hebrews is saying. But what he is saying is, Hey, you, You can't do it on your own. Jesus did do it. He who promised is faithful. He has completed everything. He's the one who sits at the right hand of the Father now. And then finally, let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some. It's interesting that even in the first century, there were already people who were worshipping under their sheets on Sunday morning. In other words, they just couldn't quite get up, couldn't quite make it, couldn't quite be there. Now I realize there are some people who are watching who can't be here, so I understand that. But what a powerful thought. Jesus made the way. He is the one who provided the means for us to gather And it's commanded that we do. There aren't many excuses for not neglecting to meet together. We stir one another up to love and good works. Being together has that effect. So, Jesus is the picture. We're gonna learn a lot about him, about ourselves, and about the Father as we study this book. Our Father, today I've introduced the book of Leviticus. We've seen that you told Moses to build a house so that you could meet with your people. You told him about sacrifices and the priesthood so that the way could be paved so that people could actually come to the house. But ultimately, it's about fellowship with you. May we truly understand as we continue to go through this book. Thank you for it, Lord Jesus. Amen. Our closing song this morning is, I Am Resolved. No longer to linger, charmed by the world's delight. Let's stand and sing, I Am Resolved. I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world's delight. Things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have allured my sight. I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee. I am resolved to go to the Savior, leaving my sin and strife. He is the true one, He is the just one, He hath the words of life. I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee. I am resolved to follow the Savior, faithful and true each day. Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth, He is the living way. I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee. I am resolved to enter the kingdom, leaving the paths of sin. Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me, still I wonder if I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee. I am resolved, and who will go with me? Come, friends, without delay. Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit, we'll walk the heavenly way. I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee. Hear these words in closing. Know unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever. Amen. You are dismissed. Yeah.