Well, I don't know if you pay attention to the Jewish calendar, but just recently, last week, September 15-16, Jews all over the world celebrated what we just read about, the Day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Here in Leviticus Chapter 16, of course, the Israelites are in the wilderness. They've just been rescued out of Egypt. And the benefit of the Day of Atonement, as God gives the commands here to Moses and to Aaron, is that it correctly orients the Israelites to the realities of their existence as God's people. Coming out of Egypt, they are people who are familiar with the culture of Egypt, the ways of Egypt, and specifically They've been immersed in pagan ways of thinking. Pagan ways of thinking about what the gods are like. Oh, thanks so much. Pagan ways of thinking about how to appease the gods, how to satisfy the gods, how to live with the gods. And Israel, is not well versed then in the truths of their God, the living God, the God who actually made the heaven and the earth. And so Israel needs to be correctly oriented to the reality of God, to the true reality about their sin and what that means in the presence of God's holiness, and then the reality of grace. And those are the things that we'll be looking at this morning. This is also why this text is so relevant for us today as ministers of the gospel. We live in a culture that is increasingly secularizing and paganizing. And so people feel very comfortable thinking about God according to the contours of our culture rather than according to the contours of scripture, the way that God really is. And so you'll hear people say, well I like to think of God as... And people feel free to imagine God being what they would like him to be. And so you have people on the left imagining that God is happy about homosexuality. You have people on the right who imagine that God is happy with sort of a self-centered, consumeristic, materialistic way of living the American dream as Christians. And that just seems normal and natural to people. Well, our delusions do not change the reality of who God is. God is... He's not like anything that we can compare Him to, right? Who shall you compare me to? And so the truths of our text this morning that I think God is pressing upon the Israelites and upon His people today is the truth of the reality of God in His holiness, the truth of the reality of sin in its polluting power, and the truth of God's grace in its full cleansing and pardoning power. And so that's what we'll look at this morning. The first truth then is just the truth about the reality of God as He is, God as a holy God. The Day of Atonement would be a very sober, somber day, particularly for the high priest. Aaron would get up early and he would know that today he was going to do a very dangerous thing. This day, the only day of the year where he would do this, but this would be the day where he's going to go into the very presence of God in the most holy place. And the text begins with a reminder of the dangers that are inherent in this task. So it reminds us of what, that the Lord comes after Aaron's two sons have died for coming and bringing strange fire before the Lord. And so verse two, the Lord says to Moses, tell Aaron not to come at any time. He doesn't just make his way casually in and out of the most holy place. There's one time that he comes into the holy place so that he may not die. Okay, that's the warning. If someone says that to you, now make sure you don't do this, because if you do this, you'll die. Well, that has a way of sort of getting your attention. It happens again in verse 13, when Moses is to come into the most holy place, make sure that he comes with a censer of coal, with these coals, and then he puts the incense on it, so there's this billow of smoke, so that he does not see the ark, and look upon the presence of God, so that he doesn't die. Moses, you need to let Aaron know that. And we just need to remember that this isn't hyperbole. It's not God just trying to make a point. It's not a metaphor. It's not supposed to remind us or make us think about something. This is God explaining the way things are. that He is actually a consuming fire for all that is sinful. God is not like grandpa. He's not like your best friend. He's not user-friendly. He's God. The sinless angels cover their faces in His presence. We need to remember that. We need to help our people remember that, because we live in a culture that does not believe that. We need to help people sense the truth of God. A thrice holy God. The sons of Aaron died because the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed them. Now again, we just need to recognize there's so many people in our culture who resist that idea of God. And many of them call themselves Christians. We just need to help people remember, help people understand that the fact that we don't like something doesn't mean we can escape the reality of it. I don't like it that taxes are due every April and the government asks for so much. I don't like that. And my preference makes no difference whatsoever to the IRS and to the necessity and my obligation to pay taxes. Our preferences don't change things. I know that sounds very easily obvious to you. It is not easily obvious. to people in our culture. We need to explain this, help them understand it. Well you can see what would be a sobering moment for the high priest as he has to now pay very careful attention to all that God has commanded him because God has made it very clear how Aaron can safely and effectively carry out his ministry. He's supposed to wash himself, remove his beautiful high priestly robes, put on linen robes. These would be white linen, the clothing of a slave or a servant, very common, very normal, but they're holy clothes. They're the clothes that are set apart to this task. Aaron will not enter in the glory of his priesthood in that sense. He will enter in the humility of a servant, a slave, and carry out the ministry there. And Aaron, as the text tells us, first, needs to sacrifice a bull for his sin and the sins of his own house and make atonement in that way. And he would do that just once a year in the most holy place. He would take the blood and he would sprinkle it all over the ark and with the coals and the incense so that he doesn't die. You can imagine the drama of this. Think of it, if you're an Israelite and you're watching Aaron. It's the only time you ever see him once a year in these white linen robes. No one is in the tabernacle. The court is cleared. Aaron is all by himself. And you see him with the incense, with the blood, make his way into the tent itself, and you know he's going into the most holy place, and you know that he could very well die there. It wasn't that long ago that that's exactly what happened to his sons. It would be high drama. Harrison in his commentary says, The question for the Israelites would be, how do we know the offering was effective? How do we know that this works and that God was willing to receive the sacrifices to make atonement? And the answer would be, if Aaron comes out alive, then the sacrifice was accepted. It was pleasing in God's sight. And so the first reality of the Day of Atonement is just the reality of God, the holy character of God. And you see it is that reality that makes all the rest of the day, in fact all the rest of the ceremonial laws in the book of Leviticus, necessary and coherent. Without this reality, you don't really understand anything about the Old Testament or the New. The foundational understanding of true religion is the understanding of what God is actually like. If we don't get that first, we won't understand the reality of our sin. We won't get the necessity of atonement. We won't sense the glory of grace. You might know the words but you won't feel any of the weight of it. None of the severity and the beauty of it. You won't be moved to worship. It will just be words, ideas, religious thoughts. unless you face and grasp the truth of the holy character of God. It's the foundation of all true religion. That helps us then understand, secondly, the polluting reality of sin. The second lesson on the Day of Atonement is that sin has polluted all of Israel and everything that Israel touches. Harrison says, the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement make abundantly clear God's detestation of sin, which if it was continued resulted in defilement and death. And so you see in the chapter everything has been polluted by Israel's uncleanness. Israel's transgressions and their iniquities and their sins have made everything polluted and everything needing to be then cleansed, atoned. And so even the material objects of Israel's worship, all the people and the material objects, so the ark and the altar, the tent itself, everything needs to be sprinkled with blood and consecrated again before the Lord. It just reminds us of the polluting power of sin. Sin renders people and things unfit for God's holy presence. They simply cannot abide. I remember, oh I don't know, probably 10, 15 years ago now, we had a yellow lab named Buddy, great dog. Buddy was out one night and suddenly I hear this howl from the backyard. Buddy was clearly in pain and so I opened the door and he comes running past me with a stench that was so overpowering I couldn't even identify it. It was stunning. It smelled like diesel fuel with with creosote and and then a stench you simply couldn't abide it and it was a skunk he got hit full in the face and buddy ran into the house and began running his face up against all the furniture trying to rub it off we quickly slammed him into the bathroom and and and started to work on him but he I don't know if you've ever experienced skunk up close. There's nothing like it. And it is not abidable. Nobody says, ah, it's a little skunk. Don't worry about it. Nobody says, you know, I kind of like skunk smell. I've not heard anybody say that. You cannot have that aroma in your house and live there. I don't think it's possible. Well, that's just... It's the truth with sin. Sin can't be in God's house. It just doesn't fit. It doesn't work. God can't abide it. It has to be dealt with. And it pollutes everything and everything needs to be then cleansed. It needs to be taken care of. Now you see it would be very easy for Israel to assume that that was not the case. It would be easy for Israel to assume that God wasn't that concerned about their sin. After all, He had just rescued them out of Egypt by His own hand. weren't really that great a people. They couldn't really point to any great deeds and moral capacities that they've shown that made it necessary for God to do that. He just liked them. They were the children of Abraham. And He promised to bring them into a land and it would be very easy for them to assume that's just how it works, right? We're Israelites, God is God, He likes Israelites, He likes Abraham's descendants, and He's not that concerned about our sin. People think of that all the time in our world today. Whatever they might think about God, you know, not liking sin, it's not anything that really is an obstacle to His love and grace. And so people assume that, you know, they pray sometimes. They believe there's a God that's got to account for something. They've made efforts to improve themselves. Surely God is happy about that. So whatever sin there might be in their life, and they're not perfect, they're willing to admit that. Surely, you know, God wouldn't send people like them to hell. He wouldn't condemn them. Hell is for like bad people. People in our churches assume this. They're good Christians. They go to a good church. They believe really good doctrines. They don't sleep around. They're not robbing banks. They're not killing people. They might be full of lust and envy and greed and idolatry, but they're good people. Make no mistake, friends, people in our churches think it's their natural bent. And so we need to understand that is not how God sees it. This text brings a screeching halt to those delusions. God is passionately concerned about our sin. He will not abide any of it. And there is one way and one way alone for sin to be dealt with and that is by blood, sacrifice, atonement. You see what God is communicating to Israel is there is nothing they can do to make this right. They can't make it right. It's going to have to happen through a substitute, through a sacrifice, through the death of someone in their place. And that's what defines the grace. The reality of God's grace comes through so wonderfully here. Everything about the Day of Atonement is meant to point them to the truth of grace. The animals are taken and they're slaughtered. They're in front of everyone. That's a sobering thing. I don't know if you've ever seen an animal put to death. It's a very sobering thing. And to see the blood gush out. And to know the animal had done nothing wrong. He was dying because your sin. Aaron would take the bull and sacrifice it. He would take the goats. And this is maybe one of the most memorable images of the day. As these two goats are taken by lot, one is sacrificed on behalf of the people as their substitute, killed in their place. And then the other goat is made the scapegoat. It's a gripping scene. Verse 21 you read, Aaron would take both of his hands and he would lay his hands on the head of the goat and he would begin confessing Israel's sins and they're standing around and they would hear Israel, Aaron confessing their sin, their very real, their pride, their greed and their envy and their covetousness and their lust, their quickness to judge, their impatience, their lack of concern for others. You would hear Aaron confessing your sin. You'd recognize yourself as he confessed these truths before the Lord. Your anger with your brother or sister, your white lies, your coveting heart, all your failures to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your failures to love your neighbor as yourself. Aaron is confessing your sin. And as he does that, he is symbolically placing the guilt of your sin on the goat. And then when he's done, a man has been appointed and he would solemnly lead that goat away. And you could watch him go down the road. There they go through the camp and then they're out of the camp and they make their way up the first hill and disappear for a moment and then you see them on the next hill and then they disappear again and then they're gone. And you know that they're never going to return. That goat is never coming back. And the beautiful thing that God is saying to you as you watch that goat go, is just as surely as that goat is removed from the camp, never to return again, so surely your sins are being removed from the presence of God and they will never ever appear again. They will never come back to condemn you. That goat is not going to make its way back and stand in the trial of your life. The sin is gone. It's removed. It's forgotten. It's atoned for, washed away. That's an incredible thought and that's exactly what God promises us in the Gospel. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. We need to hear that message. Our people need to hear that message. It's so normal and natural in church for people to live with a sense of sin, either sin that they committed 30 years ago, or sin that they committed this past week. And they've confessed it and they've asked God to forgive it but the shame, the guilt lingers. And they need to hear about the grace of God that takes that guilt and that shame and puts it on the head of someone else and removes it forever. never ever to come back. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. It's forgiven, it's gone, it's done with. And every Israelite could go home that day knowing then that that was the truth in their case, that their sin had been atoned, their sin had been taken away, their sin had been removed, never to come back and they were free to live in the grace and the favor of God. And friends, that is the truth of the gospel, of course, as it is fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the day of atonement in person. Jesus came preaching the same realities, the reality of a holy God, and a God who will not abide sin. Jesus talked about hell. Jesus addressed the pervasive, polluting power of sin. Remember, I think it's in Luke 13, when Jesus asked this question, there had been a tragedy in a nearby town, a tower had fell and 18 people had been killed under this tower. And Jesus asked the question, He says, do you think that the tower of Siloam fell on those people because they were uniquely wicked? And the answer is, yes. That's exactly what they thought. That's how it works. If you really mess up, God will get you. If you keep your nose clean and do the right things, then God will be gracious to you. You never imagined that there would be judgment for you. And Jesus says, Jesus pops that balloon and he says, unless you repent, you likewise will perish. Sin has pervaded everything and everyone. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And so he proclaims the universal polluting power of sin and the devastating consequences of it. And he said that to the high priest and to the prostitutes. Everyone had been affected. Everyone needs cleansing. And Jesus came precisely for that task, to truly atone, to truly and fully forgive and forever wash the guilt away. You see, the weakness of the Day of Atonement is that it was symbolic. It couldn't accomplish what it spoke to. It could point to it and that's all it could do. The blood of bulls and goats can't truly wash away sin. But Jesus came to do exactly what the day of atonement could not do. Jesus came and says, a body you have prepared for me, coming in human flesh and form precisely so that he could be our substitute and bear our guilt and atone for our sin by the shedding of his blood. And so the universal message of the New Testament is that it is not just Jesus that saves, but it is the blood of Jesus that saves. Ephesians 1.17, Paul rejoices that through the blood of Jesus, we have redemption and forgiveness of our trespasses. Romans 5.9, since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God? Revelation 5, 9. Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you are slain, and by your blood you ransom the people for God. The New Testament authors celebrate the blood of Jesus poured out for the sins of His people. That's why Jesus came, friends, so that by that one sacrifice our sin could be dealt with. And just as Aaron had to go alone into that most holy place, Jesus had to go alone to the cross of Calvary. He had to bear the wrath of God there alone. And the question, of course, that we could ask today is the same that the Israelites asked then. How do we know the sacrifice was effective? And back then it was, well, a living Aaron came out of the most holy place. And for New Testament Christians, a living Jesus came out of the tomb. And that's how we know it was affected. And not only did a living Jesus come out of the tomb, but the veil that separated that holy place was ripped in two from top to bottom, God himself rending the thing that barred people from entering his presence. And the writer of the book of Hebrews will say, therefore now, let's enter boldly. Because Hebrews 9.12, He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Is that good news for you today? It's good news for a sinner like Dale Van Dyne. Securing, not making possible, securing an eternal redemption for sinners like you. and sinners like me, and sinners like the people in our congregation. And we want to call them then and call ourselves to live in that truth. We want to call people who've never really dealt with the reality of God's character, the reality of holiness. We want to plead with people and pray that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes and the eyes of our people that they could see the reality of God and hear that God calling them to repent, call them to confess their sins. to abandon all hope of their righteousness, somehow making it possible for God to show favor to them. There's one way, and one way alone, and that is through the cross of Jesus Christ. and offering then to people the promise of the Gospel where Jesus says, if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness and to minister that Gospel grace to our people that Jesus Christ came not just to forgive you but to cleanse you of all unrighteousness whether it happened 30 years ago or whether it happened this week. To convince our people by the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that what the Gospel accomplishes is the removal of all the guilt. The removal, the washing away of the stain. It's gone forever. Every single sin we lay upon Jesus Christ is gone. Forever. Never to return. So that we can now with boldness in Jesus draw near to the throne of grace. Let's do that together. Let's pray. Father in Heaven we thank you for a Gospel for sinners. A Gospel that magnifies the reality and the glory of your holiness. And the reality and the glory of your justice. And the reality and the glory of your grace in Jesus Christ. As oh Heavenly Holy Father you gave your perfect and holy Son to be the sacrifice bearing our guilt and our shame and our sin so that by His blood we could be truly and forever set free, washed clean, all of our sins forgiven and forgotten in the sea of forgetfulness. Father, what a beautiful gospel this is. We thank you for it. And I pray, Lord God, that we would trust it. Lord, any in this room this morning, Lord, whose sins of the past or present cling to them, I pray, oh God, that as they confess that sin to Jesus Christ at the foot of the cross, that they could know on the basis of your word that we heard this morning, that it's gone, it's removed, never to return, that we might live with boldness and confidence and assurance in the presence of our saving God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.