back to indexWed Bible Study (BCC 2 - Class 2) - 09-28-16
00:00:48.120 |
I'm just going to go through a couple of lists here. 00:01:23.220 |
and then as He stated that God in His morality, 00:01:29.640 |
He went on to talk about how God is truly unique. 00:01:37.980 |
contributes to our understanding of how God is holy. 00:01:55.440 |
And then He used this term that God is weighty. 00:02:15.480 |
you and I are not going to exhaustively understand 00:02:24.400 |
But that causes us to just worship and be in awe 00:02:48.400 |
introduced to each other would have a chemical reaction, 00:02:51.160 |
there is a sense to which God in His holiness, 00:02:58.320 |
And that's really what I'm gonna be focusing on 00:03:47.960 |
as there was such an intense emphasis of God's holiness 00:03:59.800 |
there has been a contrasting emphasis on sin. 00:04:13.080 |
That the book of Leviticus, when you read it through, 00:04:31.400 |
but there is an emphasis on the various kinds of sin. 00:04:35.680 |
There's an emphasis on the various kinds of sin. 00:05:04.920 |
and then there are sins of rebellion and transgression. 00:05:21.680 |
somebody, when somebody is starting to tell you 00:05:24.360 |
and trying to define for you what something is, 00:05:33.380 |
Now there's an emphasis on what that definition is. 00:06:21.640 |
"Thus he shall make atonement for the holy place 00:06:25.240 |
"because of the uncleanness of the people of Israel 00:06:30.540 |
"because of their transgressions, all their sins. 00:06:49.680 |
"for his house, and for all the assembly of Israel." 00:07:08.440 |
And what he's talking about is from you, the holy guy, 00:07:19.380 |
Because there is uncleanliness in all of you. 00:07:24.340 |
which when I emphasize this idea of everybody's sin, 00:07:30.900 |
That he says, even as he describes this tabernacle, 00:07:40.940 |
just by the fact that the number of time he talks about it, 00:07:48.880 |
And then, God describes that sin's effect everywhere. 00:07:56.640 |
but I just want to make mention of this fact, 00:07:58.920 |
that when you think of the book of Leviticus, 00:08:01.120 |
what you'll find is just that there's so many rules 00:08:17.180 |
And there's just tons of little laws and regulations 00:08:23.300 |
I want to help you categorize that by saying, 00:08:35.900 |
Sin's effect has been decaying the whole world, 00:08:38.980 |
and so in Romans, it talks about how this entire generation 00:08:53.960 |
on why we need to understand the holiness of God, 00:08:56.640 |
we know that there has to be a contrasting emphasis 00:09:02.280 |
And this is just reality, the spiritual reality 00:09:10.200 |
But it's so vital that in contrast to God's glory, 00:09:13.440 |
there is an understanding of the weight of sin. 00:09:16.420 |
Now, the point that I made with this first section 00:09:31.000 |
Okay, well, you're looking on as on your sheets, right? 00:09:37.800 |
okay, yeah, I don't wanna distract us with that. 00:09:43.740 |
The point that I was making is not just the fact 00:09:46.640 |
that God points sin and is like, there it is. 00:09:50.120 |
The idea that I was trying to get us to think about 00:10:03.720 |
So, there's a passage in Leviticus, chapter 22. 00:10:08.800 |
Leviticus, chapter 22, starting from verse two to three, 00:10:22.560 |
but everybody from here forward in all your generations, 00:10:26.080 |
"approaches the holy things that the people of Israel 00:10:28.880 |
"dedicate to the Lord while he has uncleanness, 00:10:32.060 |
"that person shall be cut off from my presence. 00:10:51.000 |
maybe you've heard like, oh, we're just dust of the ground. 00:10:55.400 |
Maybe you've heard we are low because we're sinners. 00:11:04.840 |
The way Scripture describes us through the words of God, 00:11:24.520 |
And the kind of words that are used is really shocking. 00:11:34.080 |
You know, some of you guys who used to do that. 00:11:37.900 |
and we used to make huge batches of rice and meat 00:11:47.960 |
because at the time, when I was like a single guy, 00:11:50.480 |
or whatever, we would take most of the leftovers home. 00:11:53.360 |
One time, we brought home an entire cooler of rice. 00:11:56.560 |
So imagine just like one of your big coolers, 00:12:03.320 |
And there was this time when all of a sudden, 00:12:09.040 |
And we all kind of had, in the back of our minds, 00:12:11.040 |
like, oh my God, we forgot to clean that stuff, right? 00:12:25.800 |
it's crazy how vibrantly colorful rice can get. 00:12:29.640 |
It's white, but if you guys have ever had rice mold, 00:12:38.240 |
When we think of mold, you typically think like, 00:12:46.160 |
And then there's gonna be like fuzzy white stuff. 00:12:48.680 |
And then it gets even worse and worse after that. 00:12:50.960 |
And the thing about it is when we went outside, 00:12:53.080 |
like the stench was so bad, we would smell it, 00:12:58.680 |
but we felt like the stench was like chasing us, you know? 00:13:01.680 |
It's like following us outside and all that kind of stuff. 00:13:05.000 |
It was so bad, we had to throw the entire cooler away. 00:13:14.080 |
obviously, like there was like moving maggots, 00:13:19.160 |
Now, I'm going at length to describe this to you 00:13:32.240 |
I wanna give you rules about animals and dead carcasses. 00:13:36.200 |
And I wanna show you what is unclean versus clean. 00:13:45.120 |
I wanna show you through rituals, sacrifice, drama, 00:14:07.320 |
again, for the sake of time, I'll read it for us. 00:14:17.920 |
"You shall not defile yourself with any swarming thing 00:14:22.080 |
"for I am the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt 00:14:42.200 |
What does an animal that swarms on the ground 00:14:57.800 |
This is what's clean, this is what's unclean. 00:15:00.840 |
And there must be a recognition by the people. 00:15:12.040 |
they have to be able to tell what is clean versus unclean. 00:15:19.680 |
that comes from Leviticus chapter 16, verse 10. 00:15:32.360 |
you are to distinguish between the holy and the common, 00:15:38.960 |
Because I was preparing for this study tonight, 00:15:42.840 |
that's why I preached what I preached on Sunday. 00:15:45.240 |
I was so convicted that for people who say they know God, 00:15:51.080 |
that means they have to have a light shine on them, 00:15:59.520 |
so that they can tell what's clean and unclean, 00:16:02.200 |
so that they know the difference between left and right. 00:16:15.060 |
As God is teaching them through the rituals and sacrifices 00:16:28.000 |
Because if there's anything that these sacrifices 00:16:42.760 |
what's really been going through the drama is them. 00:17:01.520 |
But the truth of the matter is the book of Leviticus 00:17:07.520 |
because God judges both sin and the one who sins. 00:17:21.200 |
That's one of the biggest lessons that we realize 00:17:25.560 |
That's one of the biggest lessons that God is teaching us 00:17:31.080 |
And so as we see again, the character of God, 00:17:38.280 |
we realize that there's such a contrast and discrepancy, 00:17:50.040 |
where when we ask the question, how does God relate to man? 00:17:56.520 |
that God requires and demands holiness because he is holy. 00:18:01.440 |
So in answering the question, how does God relate to man, 00:18:09.960 |
God knows we are sinners, God knows we're unclean, 00:18:13.040 |
God knows we're incapable, but he demands holiness 00:18:17.040 |
from anything and anyone that approaches him. 00:18:19.640 |
Anything in his presence, he requires that it be cleansed, 00:18:28.160 |
except that God's standard is God's standard. 00:18:33.660 |
I wanna highlight that when God's command is given, 00:18:37.920 |
God gives, in some ways, commands based upon a certain tag, 00:18:44.240 |
a repetition by which he's emphasizing a truth, 00:18:47.120 |
and what he says is this, you shall be holy because 00:18:54.760 |
For example, I'm gonna read some of these passages. 00:18:57.240 |
The Leviticus 19, verse 17 one, you guys know well, 00:19:08.020 |
What's more, I'm gonna read to us Leviticus 18, 00:19:17.520 |
keep my statutes, to live in accord with them. 00:19:22.400 |
So you shall keep my statutes and my judgments 00:19:41.480 |
if you think about it, of what we maybe assume of God, 00:19:50.560 |
He might give some, what you would call, handicaps. 00:19:57.000 |
But what's surprising about the book of Leviticus, 00:19:59.280 |
all the Old Testament, and how God operates is, 00:20:28.760 |
So, I wanna give a couple of these passages as well. 00:20:47.440 |
From chapter 26, you guys can turn your Bibles there, 00:20:55.000 |
Okay, please turn your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 26. 00:20:57.760 |
And my train of thought and reasoning is this. 00:21:13.600 |
but yet still, God's standard does not change, 00:21:33.360 |
And if in spite of this, you will not listen to me, 00:21:36.600 |
then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins. 00:21:46.280 |
and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. 00:21:50.360 |
Then I will walk contrary to, sorry, and then verse 28. 00:21:56.800 |
and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 00:22:05.640 |
I mean, it's sobering for us to hear those words like, 00:22:20.000 |
And then he says, I will stand contrary to you, 00:22:23.600 |
and then he says, I will stand contrary to you in fury. 00:22:33.320 |
and this stands, again, in such stark contrast 00:22:46.680 |
I cannot bring holiness to the table and altar of God. 00:23:14.800 |
And so, therefore, that's why I am just the way I am. 00:23:21.600 |
and perhaps a lot of times in our own private lives, 00:23:29.200 |
It turns into a presumption about God's standard 00:23:49.640 |
and it says nothing about the standard of God. 00:24:08.640 |
where we say, "Righteousness cannot be earned by my works," 00:24:13.000 |
but that states nothing about God's standard. 00:24:17.080 |
It just simply gives us the reality that we are sinful. 00:24:19.600 |
And so, those individuals who use that statement 00:24:23.960 |
or presuming God's gonna just naturally accept them, 00:24:32.320 |
they don't actually understand how sinful they are. 00:24:36.720 |
Now, the examples of this that Pastor Peter gave last week 00:24:53.520 |
Scripture says that when you offer something before God, 00:25:02.500 |
but you put it there anyway, do you know what you do? 00:25:04.660 |
You assume that the table of God is contemptible. 00:25:14.040 |
And that is the sin of Nadab and Behu, the sons of Aaron. 00:25:28.340 |
Just to show all the nation, and just to show Aaron 00:25:31.220 |
that God's standard is righteous, do you know what God says? 00:25:37.060 |
"I don't want you to weep, wail, or say a word. 00:25:46.340 |
"Because at his temple, he will be regarded as holy." 00:25:55.020 |
to Malachi chapter one, verse six through 14, 00:25:58.460 |
this is another just sobering passage of scripture. 00:26:01.400 |
Something that just naturally causes us to evaluate 00:26:14.980 |
what we're offering up as worship before God. 00:26:17.380 |
Addressing this whole topic that I'm talking about 00:26:25.020 |
Again, Malachi chapter one, verse six through 14. 00:26:27.460 |
A son honors his father, and a servant his master. 00:26:42.540 |
but you say, "How have we despised your name? 00:26:45.420 |
"You are presenting defiled food upon my altar." 00:26:52.300 |
In that you say, "The table of the Lord is to be despised." 00:26:56.620 |
But when you present the blind for sacrifice, 00:27:00.260 |
And when you present the lame and sick, is that not evil? 00:27:07.060 |
Or would he receive you kindly, says the Lord of hosts? 00:27:16.100 |
will he receive any of you kindly, says the Lord of hosts? 00:27:20.060 |
Oh, that there were one among you who would shut the gates, 00:27:22.600 |
that you might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar. 00:27:25.860 |
I am not pleased with you, says the Lord of hosts, 00:27:30.300 |
For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, 00:27:34.860 |
In every place, incense is going to be offered to my name. 00:27:38.180 |
And a grain offering that is pure for my name 00:27:40.800 |
will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. 00:27:48.980 |
And as for its fruits, its food is to be despised. 00:27:56.260 |
And you disdainfully sniff at it, says the Lord of hosts. 00:28:01.580 |
and what is lame or sick, so you bring the offering. 00:28:04.200 |
Should I receive that from your hands, says the Lord? 00:28:07.080 |
But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock 00:28:09.540 |
and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. 00:28:13.180 |
For I am a great king, says the Lord of hosts. 00:28:19.140 |
Dang, doesn't that just cause us to take a moment and think? 00:28:30.080 |
like why do I have to do this in church service? 00:28:33.260 |
Why does it have to be like that and it's inconvenient? 00:28:40.740 |
from the church, from the people, from the pastor, 00:28:42.860 |
from the word, all of a sudden becomes burden to us. 00:28:46.980 |
And then, if we've ever succumbed to that burden 00:28:57.160 |
maybe God is far, does God even see this stuff? 00:29:00.860 |
And then you start to offer things that are to you, 00:29:08.020 |
Does the scripture say God's standard all of a sudden 00:29:10.420 |
has been lowered because we're in the New Testament? 00:29:14.860 |
because all of a sudden we're in the New Testament? 00:29:29.820 |
And the way that God, the holy God, deals with his people 00:29:42.140 |
God does not simply say, I understand, it's all right, 00:29:50.100 |
But at this point, if you're feeling a sense of like, dang. 00:30:03.480 |
like, oh my gosh, that is the standard of God, 00:30:23.980 |
And how do we, as sinners who are so wretched, 00:30:27.780 |
unclean, and sinful, and defiled, approach God? 00:30:31.940 |
And so all the book of Leviticus is telling you, 00:31:00.060 |
which is how does the holy God relate to man? 00:31:14.220 |
lots of different passages in the book of Leviticus, 00:31:17.980 |
that this is not just like one verse, or like one theme, 00:31:25.500 |
of everything that's happening in the Old Testament. 00:31:28.020 |
But take a look at this, chapter 16, verse one through three. 00:31:36.860 |
And he says this, I had you guys read this passage, 00:31:40.100 |
but I'm just gonna read verse one through three. 00:31:51.180 |
for how the people were supposed to come before God. 00:31:57.460 |
before the Lord and died, and the Lord said to Moses, 00:32:01.220 |
tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time 00:32:11.540 |
For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat, 00:32:15.620 |
but in this way, Aaron shall come into the holy place. 00:32:22.740 |
I've highlighted in circle with a little heart this way. 00:32:29.020 |
Because when God is telling Aaron, you can't come in, 00:32:31.520 |
because if I allowed you, if I didn't say stop, 00:32:42.660 |
you shall approach me, that is the profound grace of God, 00:32:46.180 |
teaching them that during this time, during this era, 00:32:50.100 |
this is the way by which Aaron is going to approach 00:33:01.660 |
Chapter 16 is a profound chapter of the entire Bible, why? 00:33:06.100 |
Because this is the chapter on the day of atonement. 00:33:09.580 |
The day of the atonement for the nation of Israel 00:33:11.940 |
is the greatest, the holiest, most profound day of all. 00:33:23.960 |
It's the day of atonement in which God has given them 00:33:28.360 |
this profound way by which they would sacrifice 00:33:37.480 |
and ask this question, what does atonement really mean? 00:33:58.400 |
You guys know the various, there's been like, 00:34:01.900 |
there's five major sacrifices in the book of Leviticus 00:34:05.360 |
and then on top of that, there are lots of descriptions 00:34:13.200 |
come from a sacrifice of the sin offering, okay? 00:34:20.200 |
And the description about that, as you guys know, 00:34:25.280 |
And then the lifeblood of that animal that is spilled 00:34:32.520 |
The term atonement in the Hebrew is figuratively to cover. 00:34:38.560 |
And the way that it comes about essentially is to say, 00:34:41.120 |
how do we reconcile that distinction and contrast 00:34:50.040 |
There needs to be a covering of the sinful individual 00:34:52.280 |
in order that God may enter into his presence. 00:35:05.360 |
And this is where I wanna take a little bit of time. 00:35:09.080 |
There is a concept that's gonna hit us a little bit weird. 00:35:22.240 |
Essentially, if you could imagine two individuals 00:35:26.720 |
and then something incredibly offensive happens, right? 00:35:30.080 |
Typically, even when guys fight, even when brothers fight, 00:35:36.840 |
'Cause to hit the face is like disrespect, you know? 00:35:42.000 |
But if you would imagine something like that, okay? 00:35:49.440 |
And then one individual gets incredibly angry. 00:35:54.380 |
If an individual's incredibly angry or bitter, right? 00:36:04.280 |
Now, the reason why I say we might not like that idea 00:36:07.220 |
is because that idea sounds a lot like pagan gods, you know? 00:36:12.220 |
The Greek gods, or the gods of some Eastern religions 00:36:23.440 |
So you do crazy stuff like sacrifice a bunch of animals, 00:36:35.580 |
and the way that we're supposed to approach God 00:36:39.480 |
is just a simplistic thing where it's one-faceted. 00:36:55.740 |
that is fiery and burning and is waiting to be poured out. 00:37:04.840 |
that you need to deal and appease that anger, right? 00:37:09.060 |
That is something that perhaps oftentimes escapes us, 00:37:21.400 |
you are dealing with the anger of God, right? 00:37:24.580 |
And so this is why I think it's super important, 00:37:29.400 |
is because perhaps a lot of times in our day, 00:37:36.520 |
oftentimes we deal with it in terms of our pain, 00:37:45.220 |
other categories and contexts without connecting it 00:38:12.940 |
You and your sins has to do with God's displeasure. 00:38:30.780 |
I use this analogy with Catholics and people who struggle 00:38:54.420 |
you talk ill of Bia and you disrespect my kids, 00:38:57.660 |
maybe you punked them around in the nursery or something. 00:39:01.220 |
And then you come back the next week and you say, 00:39:03.180 |
but Pastor Mark, I listened to your sermon, it was so good. 00:39:12.920 |
I'm gonna look you square in the eye and say, 00:39:20.800 |
But that is a lot of times what happens for Christians, 00:39:28.560 |
who are in the Catholic faith struggling so hard 00:39:37.720 |
And so, this is kind of a weird way to wrap things up, 00:39:44.720 |
In asking the question about how does God deal with man, 00:39:54.040 |
This is an essential part of the truth that we believe. 00:39:58.520 |
This is an essential element of the story of redemption 00:40:08.520 |
where the holy God who is absolutely powerful 00:40:11.960 |
is repelled by us, rejects us because of our sin, 00:40:25.420 |
And regardless of what we try, regardless of what we say, 00:40:29.960 |
there's an element by which even what we do and say 00:40:32.520 |
is still producing more stain and uncleanliness. 00:40:44.100 |
And this is where we can look to the gospel of Christ 00:40:58.140 |
that we're supposed to be grateful for the work of Christ 00:41:01.280 |
in both covering, in both appeasing and propitiating, 00:41:10.680 |
and in revealing to us the greater glory of God 00:41:14.400 |
by which we cannot see on our own accord, amen? 00:41:43.000 |
We have not began even to exhaustively think about 00:41:46.160 |
the kind of chasm that exists between the holy God 00:41:59.240 |
we would grow in our appreciation for Christ. 00:42:01.800 |
And to that measure, we would grow in our adoration 00:42:04.480 |
and worship of your name and your work in our lives. 00:42:07.720 |
Father God, we pray that as these are foundational truths 00:42:11.040 |
to the gospel and these are foundational truths 00:42:13.520 |
to the church, would you grant to us a spirit of conviction 00:42:17.600 |
that these things would dive deep into our hearts 00:42:27.120 |
Father God, there would be no arrogance thinking 00:42:29.360 |
that we could reach you however and any way we want. 00:42:35.080 |
and God, that we'd be so appreciative for your great grace. 00:42:38.400 |
Lord, we thank you, it's in Christ's name we pray, amen.