Christchurch, it's so good to be back with you. It was nice to have a few weeks of vacation, but I'm glad to be back. I had to take some time off to study Leviticus to try to wrap my mind around this book. But if you would, please turn with me to Leviticus chapter one and verse one. And it's a short reading, but stand with me for the reading of God's word. Leviticus chapter one and verse one. The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. Let us pray. Oh, holy and righteous Heavenly Father, we thank you for your precious word. We thank you that you have indeed spoken to your people through Moses, most clearly and fully through your son, our savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you for the precious gospel of Jesus Christ and pray that we would see him more clearly this evening. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. You may be seated. I'm gonna paint a picture for you and maybe let me know if this sounds familiar. Okay, it's January. And you're thinking, this is finally the year. This is the year I will do it. I'm going to read the entire Bible all the way through. So January 1, you start in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1. And you're thinking, I'm just going to read it through. And it's pretty easy going when you start, right? You're very familiar with a lot of the things happening in the early parts of Genesis. Lots of names, lots of people and scenarios that you're familiar with. You've heard these. Maybe you grew up in the church and you heard Sunday school stories of very sanitized versions of some of the things that are happening in Genesis. And you're going along. It's going quickly. You're enjoying reading Genesis. It's familiar enough, a little dry at times, possibly, if you're being honest, but it moves pretty quickly through the lives of the patriarchs. And then you get to Exodus, and it's a lot more of the same. Very familiar stories in the beginning. The timeline has slowed down a bit, but you're now in Egypt, right, with the Israelites and Moses. And these are familiar stories of Israel's redemption from slavery in Egypt. And then the Exodus happens, and things start to slow down a little bit. We come to Sinai in Exodus chapter 19, and there's a lot of law, there's a lot of instructions for building the tabernacle, and then Moses is telling us that we actually followed those instructions, what the Lord told us to do we did, and we built this tabernacle. A memorable narrative of the golden calf, right? And all of this happened. So it's late January, maybe early February now, and then you turn the page and Leviticus. What do you do now? All that progress you've made comes nearly to a standstill. But you push through. You might skim some sections, and even if you're reading it all the way through, reading every word, you might not be necessarily comprehending or understanding what you're reading. You're very likely struggling to discern the meaning and importance of this complex book. Hopefully, as you're going along, you see some of the significance of Leviticus chapter 16 and the day of atonement and the clear sign that it points to the cross of Jesus Christ. Or perhaps you recognize one part of Jesus twofold law of love in Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 18, where we read, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But other than that, you don't really know what's going on. I hope that's not true of all of you. I know that that is probably true of some of you, and certainly has been true of us in the past. But as we've grown in our understanding of God's word, we see maybe the importance or significance of this book. But Leviticus is certainly a book of the Bible that has long been neglected by Christians. In Jesus' day and before that, Leviticus was the first book that children would study in the synagogue. It's the first book that they would learn. And now it seems to be almost the last book that Christians want to read as they read their Bibles. If they, in fact, even read it at all. It's seen by some as boring or outdated, or even by some, especially critics of Christianity, it's seen as downright immoral. There are plenty of uninformed criticisms of Christianity that zero in on specific passages in Leviticus and say Christianity cannot be true because your Bible says this. So maybe you've heard people say that the Bible claims absurd things, like you shouldn't wear clothes made of two different types of fabrics. That passage is found in Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 19. Or you hear people saying, well, the Bible says you can't eat pork. That's found in Leviticus chapter 11 and verse seven. Or maybe you've heard that the Bible says these immoral things, like you should kill adulterers. We read that in Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10, or a very big one today. The Bible says that homosexuals must be put to death in Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 13. So these are very difficult things that Christians need to wrestle with. But these critics of Christianity say that Leviticus especially, or the Bible even in general, is a sexist, homophobic, and nonsensical book. and that Christians contradict the Bible by following some rules. We like the New Testament, right? You Christians, you all like the New Testament, but you ignore the Old Testament. You don't follow all these rules. You're hypocritical. Stop wearing mixed fabrics and stop eating bacon. To that we say no. We will not stop eating bacon. Though maybe we should, I don't know. But all of these objections to Christianity They're ignorant. They're misguided. And they fail to grasp both the importance and the purpose of the book of Leviticus specifically, and the Bible in general, as it was originally given to God's people. When it comes to Leviticus, they also fail to understand the Christians' relationship to the Old Testament because of Jesus Christ. and the law that is found here in Leviticus. And so the outcome of either the boring nature or the difficult nature of Leviticus, as well as the criticisms that come to this book, the outcome is that some Christians just ignore it, or they avoid it, because they don't know what to do with it. They don't know how to answer those supposed objections. But friends, we have nothing to fear from those uninformed objections to God's word. And Leviticus should not be disregarded simply because it's difficult to understand. It just means we need to dive in deeper. We need to get behind it and understand it better. And so I hope one of the outcomes of this sermon series through this book of Leviticus will be to instill in all of us a great confidence in our understanding of this difficult book. And hopefully, maybe some of us will even grow to love Leviticus. So Leviticus gets a bad reputation from those outside the church. But perhaps the gravest objection to studying Leviticus comes from those inside the church, from the Christians themselves. They might say things like, why would we study a book that's full of laws that we don't have to follow anyway? What's the point of trying to understand something that does not apply to my life? If I'm going to take time to study a book of the Bible, why not dive down deep into a book that's going to benefit me like Romans or John, Luke or Acts or Psalms or Proverbs, even Genesis or Exodus? Why Leviticus? Christ fulfilled the law, right? We don't need this law anymore. We can cut this book out of our Bibles, right? The law certainly can't teach us anything except to show us that we can't do it. And we have a Savior who did. That objection on the one hand is absolutely true. I'm not suggesting we go so far as to cut Leviticus out of our Bibles, but we need to understand that this is the law that Christ fulfilled. And so on the one hand, yes, we do not have to follow these laws. But on the other hand, this book is in our Bibles for a reason. And there is so much here for us to learn, and so much that we can learn about Christ, about our great gospel hope that comes from Christ alone, and about how we are to live in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's absolutely true that we cannot keep all of these laws. And as we study this book, you and I will time and time again get an overwhelming sense of our failure to keep this law. And we will see constantly our great need for a perfect law keeper, who is Jesus Christ. But just because we can't keep these laws perfectly, doesn't mean that we can't benefit from studying them. from knowing them better and from seeing how they all point to Christ. It was Jesus himself in Luke chapter 24 who taught his disciples all the things in the scriptures concerning himself, beginning with Moses and the prophets. The laws that we read in Leviticus are difficult to understand, yes. These are fulfilled by Christ. and they point to Christ. They reveal something about Christ, and they find their ultimate meaning and purpose in Christ. Over and over again in Leviticus, you and I are reminded of the necessity of Christ's sacrificial substitutionary atoning death on the cross. We will see it foreshadowed in this sacrificial system that Israel followed, that is outlined for us here in Leviticus. But we'll also see the necessity of Christ's, or excuse me, we will also see the necessity of Christ's atonement as the sheer number of laws compounds as we make our way through this book. Over and over, we're reminded that we cannot keep this law. We cannot do it. And no sinful human can ever hope to follow these laws perfectly. We need someone to do it for us. Leviticus reminds us that Christ is the only way to salvation and that there is redemption in no one else. And so what kind of book is Leviticus? What genre is it? Well, we've already established that this is law. And knowing that will help us to wrap our minds around it. With only two exceptions, Leviticus is entirely made up of lists of laws. And those two exceptions are sections of narrative, of stories. In Leviticus chapters eight through 10, and Leviticus chapter 24, verses 10 through 16, we see these two sections of narrative, and both of them are instructive. Both of them illustrate the laws that are surrounding them in the context of this book. Both sections of narrative also detail the righteous killing of lawbreakers. So it's those who have failed to keep the law that God is prescribing. They are punished by death. While these laws point toward and are fulfilled in Christ, as Pastor John reminded us just this morning from Acts chapter 21, there is still a place for the law in the life of the Christian. And Leviticus still has so much to tell us today, to teach us today. And so throughout this study, We will have many things to say about the nature of the law, both the way in which it guided Israel in their early life and the relationship that a Christian should have to the law in light of Christ's perfect obedience of it. But in Leviticus, we will see those types and shadows that the book of Hebrews tells us about of the gospel. Those types and shadows of the gospel that are fully and finally revealed in the New Testament in the coming of Christ. But these types and shadows are instructive for us. And you and I will see that this book of laws that is thousands of years old is still very relevant for us. And so here's a summary, a brief summary of some of the things that we will encounter in this study in Leviticus. In Leviticus, you and I will be confronted with the great holiness of our God. He alone, God alone is supremely holy, set apart. He alone is worthy of our worship and our praise and our adoration. we'll not only learn about what it means for God to be holy, but we will also see that all of those who claim the name of Christ must be holy as well. So that's one of the reasons I've entitled this series, Be Holy For I Am Holy. It's because holiness is one of the central themes of Leviticus. And this statement, be holy for I am holy, a statement from God to his people, is a constant refrain throughout the book. It's mentioned a number of times. In fact, we'll turn to Leviticus chapter 19, verses one and two, and we will see this statement. Leviticus chapter 19, verses one through two. There we read, and the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, you shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. These two verses can serve as something like a thesis statement for the entire book of Leviticus. God is holy. and therefore his people must be holy. The word holy in the Hebrew appears in Leviticus 143 times. 143 times we have some variation of this word that is translated holy. And that is by far the most out of any Old Testament book. Leviticus shows us how God made Israel holy in His sight. And you and I will see here how God makes us holy as we follow after Christ and live lives in obedience to His word by the power of the Spirit. It's only through our holy Savior that we can do that, that we can follow God's law, that we can live in holiness. because our holy God submitted to his own holy law so that he could make us holy. Another theme, which we will look at Lord willing next week, is the theme of the presence of God, the presence of God. After leading his people out of bondage to Egypt, God gave Israel the law. But He also gave him instructions for building the tabernacle at the end of Exodus, that place in which God would dwell amongst the people of Israel. God called Israel, saved Israel, redeemed Israel out of Egypt to have a relationship with Israel, to dwell in the midst of his people. And Leviticus has at its very heart this tabernacle, the place specifically marked out for God to dwell in the midst of his people. And we see that even in our verse here this evening. God is calling to Moses and speaking to him from the tent of meeting, that is the tabernacle. This theme of God's presence runs under the surface of the entire law that is given in this book. And it will show us much about the love and the grace of our great God, who even now dwells within his people by his spirit and who longs to dwell with his people. Another theme that we'll explore is the theological concept of revelation. The fact that God has chosen to reveal himself to all mankind. both through creation, or excuse me, to reveal himself to all mankind through his creation and to his people in a specific way through his word. This natural and special revelation of God. We'll actually see in a few moments that most of Leviticus is given directly from the mouth of God as he reveals his law to Israel. Of course, the sacrificial system and the associated laws are integral to Leviticus. And so we will dive deep into the different types of sacrifices and explore what they reveal to us about Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross. The day of atonement is central to Leviticus. And it's the sacrifice which most clearly points forward to Christ's substitutionary atonement on Calvary. And so sacrifice is another theme. One other defining characteristic of Leviticus is covenant. The covenant theme which underlies the whole law code that's given here. Though the specific Hebrew word covenant is only mentioned 10 times in the whole book of Leviticus and eight of those in chapter 26, it's still a very pervasive idea. The whole idea of a law in and of itself only makes sense within a covenant framework. And so we will return to that theme throughout. One of the very important themes of Leviticus, all of these are important, but this is a major one, is the theme of worship. Worship. The whole ceremonial law that we have given in Leviticus is God showing his people how he is to be worshiped. God cares about the way his people worship him. And there's one way to worship God. Israel was to follow that system to the letter. Because of the central and clear message of the holiness of God, which we've discussed, and the unholiness, the sinfulness of man. Because of that, because of their understanding of that, Israel knew that they needed to be shown exactly how to worship God, how to reconcile with their holy God when this covenant was broken, and how to make themselves holy in the sight of the Lord. A large portion of Leviticus actually deals with the worship that was to be conducted by the people of Israel. The way to make atonement for sin. The sacrifices that were to be made by the people. The establishment of a priesthood that could then perform those sacrifices. The laws which govern the actions of the priests and what constituted proper worship and clear warnings against improper worship. All of this and more is revealed throughout Leviticus. And all of these laws that surround this theme of worship have distinctly relevant and important things to reveal to us today. Worship is vitally important for the Christian. We cannot know how to properly worship God without his guidance. And he has revealed precisely how he is to be worshiped in his word. This is what is called the regulative principle of worship. And it says that God's word prescribes how we worship him. And we do nothing in our worship services that is not explicitly commanded by God in scripture. So Leviticus will help you and I to better understand what is and what is not proper worship. We'll also see how seriously God takes proper worship. In fact, one of those narratives that I described or talked about before is one of the greatest examples of people dishonoring the proper worship of God and is in fact a strong argument in favor of the regulative principle. That's found in Leviticus chapter 10 in the death of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. One further underlying theme jumps out to us right from the first verse of Leviticus. Look there with me again. The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of Medina. The Lord called Moses and spoke to him. All throughout redemptive history, God calls a people to himself. And so if we remember back to what was alluded to before in the story of Genesis, God called Abraham out of Ur and promised to bless him with offspring and with land. He called to Moses from the burning bush. In Exodus chapter three, he later calls to Samuel while he's sleeping. God called to all the prophets, revealing to them their vocation and the things that they are to say to the people of Israel. The Lord calls each and every one of his elect out of darkness and into his marvelous light through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this important theme jumps out to us from the first verse. God has spoken to his people, and he does so through his word. It's not through rituals or sacrifices or certain forms that the people of Israel heard from God, but through his voice. In Deuteronomy chapter four, God is, or excuse me, this great fact is explained when Moses reminds the people how God spoke to them. Deuteronomy chapter four verses 15 through 18. We read there, therefore watch yourselves very carefully since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. They saw no form. God heard God's voice. He called to them from Mount Sinai, and the people of God heard the voice of the Lord. He made known to them his will for them, his law. Remember back to Exodus chapter 20 when God gives the Ten Commandments. He does that to the people. He doesn't use Moses as a mediator at that point. And this is vital to understand. And it's something that comes up again and again throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament. God speaks to his people. In Hebrews 11, one, we read that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Romans 10-17, Paul writes that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Again, Hebrews chapter one, long ago God spoke through the prophets, and now he has spoken in his son. And even in the Gospels themselves, in John chapter 20 and verse 29, when Thomas finally sees Christ risen from the dead and believes, Christ says, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And the Apostle Peter, who spent three years with Christ, who was an eyewitness to his teaching, to his miracles, to his death and his post-resurrection life and ascension into heaven, Peter himself says, God's word is more sure than all of that. God's word is more sure even than eyewitness accounts. Our great God has condescended to us, has given us this wondrous book in which he reveals himself to us, showing us the history of his redemptive work through the life of his people, and also showing us that all of scripture points to and is fulfilled in Christ alone. And this we know is something more sure than any eyewitness testimony or firsthand account, though these are important. God's word is even more important because it is the self-revelation of our most high God who cannot lie. So why is this fact, why are we taking the time to talk about this when we study Leviticus? Why is this important to remember? It's because of what we read here in verse one. God calls to Moses and he speaks with him. This verse is short, but it can also be seen as something of an introduction to the entire book of Leviticus. All of Leviticus comes directly from the mouth of God. All of it is God's revelation to Moses of his divine will. Leviticus is not to be disregarded. We've talked about the criticisms that come to this book specifically. But Leviticus is not to be disregarded. Its importance is not to be downplayed simply because we think it no longer applies to us, or we wrongly think that it would be of no benefit to us. No, Leviticus is God's holy word. and it comes directly to us from God himself, as does all scripture. Historically, we see in this verse how the book was transmitted to us. God spoke to Moses, and Moses, we see in verse two, is commanded to speak to the people of Israel and say to them, So God gives his revelation to Moses, and Moses, as the mediator between God and Israel, tells them what God says. And that's where the book of Leviticus comes from. Moses wrote it down. This whole book comes directly from God through the mediation of Moses to the people of Israel. This phrase that we read here or variations of it, the Lord called to Moses or in other places, the Lord spoke to Moses. This idea of God talking to Moses occurs 38 times in these 27 chapters, which should be a signal to any reader of the importance of this fact that God is speaking directly to his people. And so while these laws were given to this Exodus generation of Israel as it was camped, as they were camped at the foot of Mount Sinai, it was given to them immediately, but it also has relevance for us today and it teaches us so much. Though Leviticus was written for people long dead, it is, in fact, the Word of God, which is, of course, living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joint and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. That is what we find here in Leviticus. In Romans, Paul tells the Christians in Rome that whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. That's Romans 15, verse four. Dear believer, even though it might not seem like it on the surface, Leviticus was written for your encouragement. that through the study of this book, you might have hope. But we would also do well to recall Paul's words to Timothy, when he says that all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. We simply cannot disregard or ignore Leviticus because we think it's difficult or unimportant or irrelevant. No, all scripture is God-breathed. And we will study this book to see how it is profitable so that we would all lack for nothing and be better equipped for every good work. God has spoken to us in his word, we must listen. It's exactly what the disciples who accompanied Christ onto the mountain of transfiguration were told. The voice spoke to them from heaven saying, this is my son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. And so as we study Leviticus, we listen to the word of Christ who is speaking to us through his word. How marvelous then that our gracious Lord called to Moses and spoke to him. The 19th century Scottish pastor, Andrew Bonar, he's the younger brother to the hymn writer, Horatius. He wrote a commentary on Leviticus and he says this about verse one of chapter one. He says, quote, what love is here? the heart of our God in the midst of all his own joy, yearning to pour itself out to man. God is here yearning to pour out his heart to man, to us, to you, and to me. God speaks to his people because of his overwhelming and overflowing love through Jesus Christ. Of course, we know that before the creation of the world, God lacked for nothing. He was perfect in every way, perfectly holy, perfectly loving, perfectly just. He did not need to create mankind in order to fill some sort of hole in His life. No, He created because of His great love. And after He created, He didn't need to reveal Himself to His creation, but He did. Again, because of his great love for his people. Our great God has chosen to reveal himself to his people through his word because of his great love for us. And in these last days, as the writer to the Hebrew says, he has spoken to us by his son. God speaks to his people because he loves them dearly. Dear believer, And Leviticus shows us right from the very beginning what this book will be. It is God revealing himself to his people because he loves them. And this is key to our understanding of Leviticus because without understanding God's love for his people, these laws will feel cold and distant and arbitrary. We find our loving triune God condescending to his people, showing his great love to them by speaking to Moses, the mediator for Israel. And so my hope is that throughout this study, you and I will see the great love that God has for us in Jesus Christ, who did what you or I could not do. Christ lived a perfect life of obedience to God's law. These laws that are given to us in Leviticus that compound upon one another, that are a great burden upon our shoulders, Christ bore that burden for you and for me. He perfectly obeyed God's law and he fulfilled all righteousness by obeying this law at every point, so that all of those who call upon Christ's name alone for salvation will be saved. In the law of God, you and I see God's love and His compassion, because even here in the Old Testament, He is making a way for His people to be reconciled to Him, to have an intimate relationship to Him. He's making a way for us to love Him and to be loved by him. So my hope is that through this series in Leviticus, you and I will increasingly be able to say along with the psalmist in Psalm 119, oh, how I love your law. It is my delight day and night. And as we dive into this difficult book over the next few weeks and months, may your prayer and my prayer be, O Lord, open my eyes that I may behold the wondrous things out of your law. Let's pray. Our great and holy, loving, triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we cry out to you in thanksgiving and awe humbling ourselves before you, knowing that we do not deserve what has been given to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank you for your precious word, for revealing yourself to us, for loving us so much that you have condescended to us, giving us your word and giving us your very son, who died on the cross, fulfilling all righteousness, obeying the law at every point. Oh, Lord God, we thank you for our great and mighty savior and pray all of this in his name alone. The mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, our communion hymn this evening.