Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the blessing that we have in you. Help us to search your word deeply, Lord, that we would not simply know it superficially, but all of these things, Lord, that serves as a foundation to prepare for Christ, to know his offering, understanding of our sin, to know your character, that all of these things that you've purposely placed, Lord, in Israel's history, that we may be able to have a greater understanding of what Christ has done and what it is that we have in you.

Help us to appreciate the gift of salvation in a greater way, Lord, as we study your word. We thank you, Jesus, and we pray. Amen. All right. Let's just jump right in. So today is the peace offering. Let's see. Okay. All right, there you go. All right. So the peace offering, the uniqueness of the peace offering, the peace offering is unlike the burnt offering and grain offering because it was an optional offering, meaning it was a free will offering.

So God did not mandate this, that you need to bring this at a certain time of the year or whenever you gave burnt offering, that you ought to give this, but it was a free will offering. And it was brought as they willed. And so it was to fulfill two separate motivations.

One was for gratitude of mercy, so something that was happening in their life that caused them to be thankful and they brought this peace offering, or it was to fulfill a vow. So they made a vow before God and then at the end of their vow, so let's say if they're going to fast for 40 days or they made a dedication to the Lord for something and at the end of the vow, they would fulfill the vow by giving this offering.

So this offering was uniquely different than all the other offerings in that the larger portion of the animal was to be eaten after the fat and entrails of the animals were taken out and offered. So if you read the passages carefully, it doesn't spell out, at least in the text that you looked at in chapter three and parts of chapter seven, it just says that these are to be offered to the Lord and then certain portions of it was to be cut out and was to be burned and then the breast and the thigh was to be given to the priest for their portion to eat and then it doesn't say rest of it you go out to the side and have a picnic, but it does say in a passage, I don't know if I have that verse here, I don't, okay.

So if you look at Deuteronomy chapter 12 verse 7, and you can just write it down to keep it there, it just describes all the different offerings and in these offerings, so let me see if I can do that here, we're on a high tech today. Yeah this is not connected.

Wow technology stinks. All right, I'm going to take a chance. Hold on, I have to reconnect this. >> Okay, all right. So, Deuteronomy 12.7, okay? So, that's one of the passage where I -- one of the -- the new slide I put up has it, but for some reason mine doesn't.

But Deuteronomy 12.7 is one of the passage where it describes the various offerings, and at the end of it it describes that this is the place where you ought to go, right? This is the place where you ought to go and to have basically a meal together, to have food together.

But the passage that is more relevant is Leviticus 19.5 through 8, okay? Can somebody turn your Bibles there to Leviticus chapter 19.5 through 8? Okay. Let me see. I'm going to pick on somebody. Everest. You have your computer open. Can you read it out loud for us, 5 through 8?

Okay. So, if you look at Leviticus 19.5 through 8, it gives the regulation on what to do with the food, and that they were supposed to eat it afterwards, and that you're supposed to eat it that day, right? And you're not supposed to save anything afterwards, okay? So, again, the uniqueness of this particular offering was, it was meant to be eaten.

A portion was given, but the rest of it was to be eaten together. And that's why it's called a peace offering, but oftentimes it's also called fellowship offering, right? Because it was meant to introduce to the community an opportunity to have picnic and eat together. So, usually when the worshiper came to give this offering, they didn't come by themselves.

They would come with family, friends, and whoever that they wanted a fellowship with. They would bring them together. So, the worshiper would give the offering, and they would set it aside with their family and friends, and then have this picnic afterwards. Okay. Cattle, sheep, and goats were the animals that were given to sacrifice.

There was no specific provision made for the poor for this offering. Can anybody guess without looking? I shouldn't have put it up there. All right. Why do you think that there was no provision given to the poor? Where the other offerings were, he said, if you're poor, you had an opportunity to give a small bird or a pigeon or something, but this particular offering, there is no provision for the poor.

It was already up there, so if you already read it, you already know it. Because the purpose of it was to be eaten. So, if you brought a tiny little animal, there's nothing to eat, right? So, there's no point of giving provision, because the whole point of this is to have a banquet with it, right?

So, if you're a fast reader, you should have read it already. Okay. But it didn't stop you from bringing the poor, because the poor could be brought with you and enjoy the offering that you gave. All right. Either the case, even in this offering, the animal had to be without defects.

So, there was never an instance where God would receive anything of defect. Not the offering or the offerer. So, the offerer had to also go through a ritual cleansing. Right? So, the ritual itself, it was very similar. Not similar, it's identical to the burnt offering. So, I'm not going to go through it.

I'm just going to go through it real quick, because the other offerings where the animal is sacrificed, and you'll notice that the beginning portion of it is identical, right? So, some of you guys may remember, the worshiper would bring the animal to the entrance of the tent of meeting of the tabernacle, and then it would be, they would lay their hands on the animal.

And what did the laying of hands on the animal signify? Union, right? You're basically saying that you and this animal is one. So, the animal is taking your place in sacrifice. So, the meaning itself wasn't lost on the worshipers. They understood that this animal being slaughtered is being slaughtered on my behalf.

And that's what that signified, when they put their animal. So, every time they came to sacrifice, they understood that I needed blood atonement. I need blood atonement for the forgiveness of sins. So, this was embedded into their culture. There's not a single Jew who would not have understood that.

Right? And after the initial inspection of the priest, he would kill them. Who's the he? Does the priest kill or the worshiper? Remember? The worshiper himself had to do it. So, this was not like they just brought it, and then they just kind of watched it. They participated in the ceremony.

So, the only part that the priest did was, they would take whatever you cut up and put it on the altar, and then the rest of the blood, what did they do? They sprinkled it everywhere. Right? So, it was a very bloody scene. So, it wasn't just the priest that got their hands dirty.

It was the worshipers themselves, because they had to do the slaughtering. Okay? And God did that on purpose, because, you know, again, if the whole point of it is to teach the nation of Israel the need for blood sacrifice, that they needed to visually see it. They were smelling it, and they were touching it.

So, every part of the lesson that God is giving them, again, it was not just a visual. It was not just hearing. It was everything. Everything was a part of this. Right? Just like a good teacher would do. And then the priest would sprinkle the animal's blood all over the altar, and again, what does the sprinkling signify?

Cleansing. Right? Cleansing. So, the blood needed to be sprinkled with the blood for cleansing. So, the altar needed to be cleansed, and so that's what was happening. And this is identical with the burnt offering. Right? And then the animal would be skinned, and then cut up, and then it would be sacrificed.

Right? But the distinction between the burnt offering and this particular offering -- grain offering we know is different, because there's no animal being sacrificed. But this particular offering is different, because the whole animal is not being offered. The burnt offering is also called what kind of offering? Whole offering, because everything was burnt.

But this one, only the portions that they wouldn't eat, the fat portion, the kidney, and then the breast and the thigh part, who did it go to? The priest. So, they would have their portion, and then the rest of it, they would eat it as a picnic. Okay? So, they would give the breast and the thighs to the priest, okay?

And then the worshipers would get together and eat it. Again, that passed in Deuteronomy 12.7. And then Leviticus 7.20, that not only did the animals that themselves had to be purified, anyone who participated in this -- so, even though they came and all they did was eat, they had to go through a ritual cleansing to be able to participate in this offering, right?

So, even though you may not have been the one offering for you to participate in the celebration afterwards, they also had to go through ritual cleansing. So, everyone had to be purified. And again, even without me mentioning anything, you can kind of see the connection, right? You can kind of see the connection to the New Testament teaching of fellowship about the church, right?

No? Well, I'll mention it later on, but you can kind of see, even without me saying, like, can you see how this is a shadow of the reality that's coming in the church and membership in the church and, you know, that they have fellowship in the Holy Spirit, right?

There is no true fellowship until there is atonement, right? We become brothers and sisters when we enter into this cleansing in the blood of Christ. And so, all of this was a foundation for a proper understanding of true fellowship in the new covenant. Okay? The purpose of the peace offering.

Just as a review, the burnt offering focused on the general atonement for Israel's sins. It was to satisfy God's righteousness and his wrath. It was the only way a sinful people can have a holy God dwell in their midst. So, remember how, if you remember the Book of Exodus ends with God's spirit up in the mountain, and then he comes and he makes his dwelling at the tent.

But before he can invite the Israelites into the tent, they have to go through this atonement, right? So, the only way that a sinful people can have a holy God dwell among them was a constant atonement of their sins. And that was the burnt offering. And the burnt offering, how often did the burnt offering happen?

Every single day, morning and night. So, the altar was being burnt all the time, constantly. And then each time they did a burnt offering, what offering was given with it, typically? The grain offering, right, as a dedication. So, once your sins are atoned for, right, the second part of that is an act of dedication, which was the second part, right?

The grain offering focused on Israel's dependence upon God, not only for forgiveness and spiritual life, but for the physical life. It was an expression of tribute. Remember that last week? That ultimately belonged to God to express lordship. So, we talked about how if burnt offering is justification, the grain offering, in a sense, is sanctification, where you're offering your life as a living sacrifice, right?

So, again, this was done, like, morning and night every single day. The burnt offering and grain offering was offered almost every single day. Not almost everything. It was offered morning and night. So, it was constantly burning, constantly giving. And so, this was to signify to the nation of Israel that this is how -- this is the only way a sinful people can have a relationship with the holy God, through the blood atonement and through the sacrifice, okay?

But the peace offering focuses on Israel's peace with God, right, the result of these offerings that resulted in peace with God, right? The joys and peace of mind, which comes from knowing that God is at peace with his people. So, the purpose of this is -- was for the purpose of celebration.

So, you give the burnt offering, and then you give the grain offering as a tribute, as an act of dedication and thanksgiving to God. And then the peace offering basically was a celebration, a freewill offering that you brought to God to thank him for the relationship that they were to have with him because of the sacrifice, right?

The Hebrew word for peace offering, or peace, is shalamim, okay? That's the word that is used here. And this is -- this is the part that really kind of shines light on the significance of this offering. The word literally means to be complete or whole, to be complete or whole.

So, a Jew who would have understood the peace offering would have understood that this was the complete offering, that this offering signified that they were made well, right? I think the -- maybe the best way for us to understand it is if somebody was sick and that they were made well, that that would be like, oh, they've been made complete.

Right? The idea of peace in Hebrew is more than absence of war, right? To be complete, a Jew would not have understood. It's like, oh, okay, there's no war. There's no turmoil. The Hebrew word for shalom signified completeness or wholeness in God. So, you know that that was the most common greeting that they had among the Jews.

They would say, shalom, shalom. And so, shalom literally means peace, but the idea of peace to a Jew was more than -- more than just not being in war. Right? So, when they greeted each other with shalom, it meant that the Lord's blessing be upon you. May God's favor be upon you.

Right? May God be on your side. And so, this offering was a constant reminder to the nation of Israel that the only way that they could be whole with God is through the blood sacrifice. And so, it was an act of thanksgiving to God. And so, this was not a solemn occasion.

Right? The burnt offering was for the forgiveness of sins. Right? The grain offering at times is celebration. At times, it's at the end of a vow. But this offering was almost -- it's equated with joy because it's meant to be taken aside, and it is not a solemn celebration, but a joyous celebration.

Right? It's like a picnic. Kind of like when the churches get together and they have a picnic, you don't have a solemn picnic. Right? The idea of picnic is to go out and have fun and to celebrate. And so, that was the idea behind this particular offering, to be made whole.

And I think a best illustration of this idea of wholeness is in the relationship with Adam and Eve. Remember when God creates Adam, he looks at Adam and he says, "What? It is not good for him to be alone." So, the concept of it is that he wasn't complete yet.

Right? I know it's Valentine's Day. Don't equate this with Valentine's, okay? Because I'm going to knock it down afterwards, so don't get your hopes up. Right? But the idea is that Adam wasn't complete yet. Right? So, he makes a suitable helper to complement him, to help him along with his work, to be a companion.

Right? So, Adam was not made whole until he sees Eve and says, "Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh," and then he is complete. So, the idea when God looks at Adam and said, "It is not good for him to be alone." God didn't create Adam to be not good.

Right? That's not what he means. When we say the way we use the word good or bad is morally good or morally bad or something that is tainted. That's what we think is something good and something bad. The idea of the word when God said it is not good, the idea is he is not complete.

Right? Because he needs a counterpart that he can commune with, fellowship and work with. So, that's the idea of completeness or peace. And it is that peace or that completeness that God gave Adam through Eve that was broken at the fall. Right? So, this union that God gave Adam and Eve, right, because Adam was not complete, because he was alone, he couldn't bear fruit.

God told him to be fruitful and multiply, but he couldn't do that until Eve shows up. So, the counterpart shows up and he's made complete. And so, again, the picture of the fall is the brokenness of that peace between husband and wife. Right? So, because peace with God is broken, peace with husband and wife is broken.

And as a result of that, they're having children, they're laboring, but what does it result in? Heartache, division, right? Thorns and thistles. They're laboring and they're sweating their brow and nothing is coming of it. Right? And so, on the surface, everything looks the same, but the peace, the shalom of God has been broken.

Right? And so, that's where we get the idea of the Sabbath, where God's Sabbath, Sabbath basically means rest or again, the equivalent idea is peace. So, God enters into the Sabbath, God enters into his eternal peace, but that peace is broken. And so, all throughout redemptive history, God is trying to restore that Sabbath back into human history.

Right? Do you follow? So, the illustration that God uses between a relationship with the holy God that's broken, immediately results in a broken relationship between husband and wife, and then the Sabbath that God brought mankind into gets broken. So, the pursuit of salvation in redemptive history is the pursuit of restoring that peace, restoring that shalom.

You follow? So, this peace offering is the result of the atonement. So, the constant atonement of sacrifice is a picture of the atonement and the result of what God does on the cross that restores our relationship with God. As a result of it, it restores what? Our relationship with each other.

Right? That's what it ultimately points to, that there is no peace with one another until there is peace with God. Right? So, the offering was given as a free will offering in an act of thanksgiving for God's mercies and blessings. So, the sharing of the meal only heightened the joyous occasion that this offering represented.

And eating meat, and I share this with the burnt offering, was a very rare occasion. So, whenever they had meat, you know, in our generation, we eat whatever we want, whatever we want. So, nothing is that special. Right? Americans in particular. But I don't know if anybody would know.

I mean, when I was younger, you know, my parents immigrated to the U.S. in 1975, and it was no more than 20 years, or less than 20 years removed from the war. And so, Korea was not a very developed country. And I remember eating meat was huge. And I can only remember maybe a couple times a year, if that, only when there was a special guest that came into town.

You know, and then my parents would announce that we're going to have meat. Right? Next Thursday, or next month on Tuesday, we have a guest coming, we're going to have meat. And usually it's not like the Korean barbecue. Usually you just get a -- you have meat, and a big chunk of it is left for the guest, and then we would have a little tiny piece of meat.

And that was a big deal. Right? And it wasn't that our family was especially poor. You know, because my grandfather, my mother's side was actually pretty wealthy. It was just -- that's how poor the country was at that time. So, I remember very distinctly, like, what a big deal it was to eat meat.

Back in the '70s. Right? I mean, now, I mean, everybody eats meat, and now you're looking for quality meat. Right? So, eating meat for fellowship for the Jews was not a common occurrence. So, the fact that whenever somebody gave the peace offering, you know, my guess is if their family and friends knew that they were giving this peace offering, that all of a sudden they had a lot of friends around.

Like, that's what I imagine. You know? Like, where are you going to give offering? What kind of offering? Right? Burnt offerings. Ah, forget it. Right? Great offering. Peace offering. Right? And they said, can we go? So, I would imagine that that was kind of like the environment every time they gave this peace offering, fellowship offering, that everybody got excited, and they all wanted to participate, because that's what it signified.

Right? And they got to eat meat. And we don't know how often this happened, but whenever it did happen, it was meant to be a time of celebration. Right? The significance of this in the New Testament is all over. I mean, I think we could have spent just two days just talking about the significance of this, because this is peppered throughout all in the New Testament.

Right? Again, as I mentioned, eating meals, again, in the Jewish culture, and you see it in the New Testament, was significant. So, that's why over and over again you see the Pharisees constantly having problems with Jesus eating with the tax collectors. Right? Or the Gentiles, or with the sinners.

Like, oh, you're having a banquet. You're eating with them. So, there's a lot of parables. There's a lot of teachings and grumblings about who Jesus was eating with, who Jesus was inviting to the banquet table. There's a lot of parables. Right? I didn't list them here, but you could probably think of them yourselves.

A lot of Jesus' teachings and parables centers around eating. Right? Because the eating, to a Jewish mind, was more than just eating. It was communing. It was fellowship. Right? And that's why the Pharisees were saying, how can you eat with these people? Because eating with them basically meant that you were one with them.

Right? It doesn't mean that today. If you sat and just had a meal with somebody, it doesn't mean anything in particular. But in this culture, you didn't just eat with anybody. Right? So, in Mark 2, 16, again, and it's not the only place where the Pharisees are grumbling against Jesus.

How can you be eating with these people? How can you identify yourself with these people? Right? Right? The first thing he does, he slaughters an animal, and then they have a banquet. Right? And again, in a Jewish mind, they would have immediately thought of the peace offering, because when you slaughter the animal to eat, it was the peace offering.

Right? They're reconciling. God is bringing them back, and that was the significance of this peace offering. Even the last Passover meal. Right? I think the clearest significance of the peace offering is the Passover meal. After they give the sacrifice, they would sit and eat together, and they would remember what God did and how he delivered them from the nation of Israel, but this was meant to be done in the context of people that you loved.

Right? I'm just going to give a real, like, short plug here. Okay? This year, for Easter, for Passion Week, you know how we used to have every morning, we'd get together and have morning devotions, and then some of you guys would go to work and things like that. We decided this year that we're going to do something different.

Instead of having that in the morning, that on Thursday night, we're going to practice the Passover meal. Okay? So Thursday night, again, this is, you know, whoever can come, and we're going to take sign-ups, and we're going to ask you to pay your portion of the meal. Okay? So that you don't sign up and not show up.

We want to make sure that if you're going to sign up. So on Thursday night, before the Passion Week, where Thursday night, where Jesus gets together with his disciples and they eat the Passover meal, and then they -- we're going to basically not reenact. I'm not planning to dress up.

Okay? So we're just going to go over the Passover meal and what they did, and then we're going to actually partake in it. Okay? So -- and then Thursday, and then take some time to pray to prepare for the next day. So instead of doing the day-to-day thing in the morning, we're going to have one day Thursday, and then we'll have the communion on Good Friday, on Friday night.

So instead of every day, we're going to have Thursday and Friday night. Okay? So that's just a plug. We'll make the announcement, and we'll start taking sign-ups pretty soon. But again, the clear picture of this Passover peace meal, fellowship meal, is with the communion. Right? And 1 Corinthians chapter 11, remember, it says, "He who does not acknowledge the body of Christ and eats and drinks the blood, eats and drinks judgment upon himself." So, you know, again, you know, people ask -- it seems like it's kind of a trend today that they want to have communion at the wedding ceremony or something else, and I know some churches do that.

At our church, we don't do that. Right? And the reason why we don't do that is because communion was meant to be done in the context of the whole body of Christ. Right? It was to acknowledge the body. It was not meant to be something personal between you and God and between you and your husband.

It's meant to be done in the context of the whole body of Christ. Right? And so the communion is a time where we remember. It says if you have a relationship that you haven't reconciled, or you're holding a grudge, somebody holds a grudge against you, that every time you come into the communion table and you don't deal with that, it says you drink and eat judgment upon yourself, that you completely ignore the body of Christ.

So it's a reminder to us that because of the blood of Christ, he commands us to be reconciled with our brothers and sisters. Right? So that's -- every time we have communion, we're reminded of that. Again, this is the peace offering. Right? The offering not only signified peace with God, but also peace with others as a result, that the only reason why we're able to have fellowship is because of what Christ has done on the cross.

Right? So in Acts 10, 13 to 16, remember that incident with Peter where he has a dream. He gets -- goes into a trance, and Jesus says -- he looks at all these unclean animals that are coming down from heaven, and he says, "Eat." And here's a faithful Jew all his life.

He never ate anything unclean. He says, "I can't do that." Jesus himself tells him to eat, and he's -- again, Peter is telling him, "I can't do that." Right? Peter has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth. He forgot what he did before. Right? Then Jesus basically says, "Rise and eat." "By no means, Lord," verse 14, "for I have never eaten anything that is uncommon or unclean." And the voice came to him again, said a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common.

This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven." So this dream wasn't about the animals. What did this apply to? Remember? The very next scene, he gets called to Cornelius' house, right, which was a Gentile. And so he goes there, and so the application of that was that the Gentiles are no longer unclean.

They have been made clean by the blood of Christ. So if you're a brother in Christ, you have been made clean. So God calls Peter to go, basically, right, and lay hands on him, and then he becomes a believer, and he gets baptized, him and his household, right? So again, the significance of these Jews and Gentiles could never have a meal together because they would have been considered unclean.

Jew would have been defiled. But Jesus says because of his blood sacrifice, they are no longer considered unclean. What Jesus calls clean no longer calls unclean, right? That's what this signified. Again, Ephesians 2, 14 to 19. "For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

By abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who are far off and peace to those who are near.

For through him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." And let me reiterate. You cannot come to God in prayer if you refuse to be reconciled to your brother.

Because at the core of the Lord's prayer, it says, "Forgive us our debts as what? We forgive our debtors." So you cannot come to God and ask for forgiveness if you refuse to forgive. It is at the core of our salvation. Because he forgave us, he commands us to forgive our brothers.

He said, "Before you go to the altar, if you notice that somebody has something against you, what does he say? Drop and go reconcile with that brother first, and then come back to the altar." So in other words, you can't come to the altar until you've been reconciled, right?

So our horizontal relationship affects our vertical relationship. Our vertical relationship affects our horizontal relationship, right? So the expression of our devotion to God is expressed through love, brothers and sisters, right? Now it may not spell this out. Like in this offering, God doesn't spell out that this is what I mean by it.

But you can clearly see, if this is what the Israelites were acting out, every time they had a peace offering, they offer this to God, and as a celebration, they would have a picnic. And they would know, right? Just by acting it out, just by eating at the tabernacle, that they're doing this because of that animal sacrifice.

And so when Christ comes, and he gives his life as a living sacrifice, the Jewish community automatically understood that we've become one because of this. Because they acted it out. They ate it, they tasted it. But ultimately, it points to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Isaiah 9, 7, it says, "Of the increase of his government and peace, "there will be no end.

"On the throne of David and over his kingdom, "to establish it, to uphold it with justice, "and with the righteousness from this time forth "and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts "will do this." Now we have a lot of weddings at our church, and one of the significance of this wedding is when two Christians get together, and they have a covenant relationship, what happens afterwards?

What happens afterwards? You just pack up your bags and go home? There's a reception, right? There's a banquet. So every wedding, I don't know, I've never been to a wedding that doesn't have a banquet afterwards. If you don't, you're gonna get cussed out, right? 'Cause you expect, you expect, oh, is that, oh, I'm sorry, you expect, oh, was that offensive?

'Cause you expect it, right? Have you ever been to a wedding where there wasn't a banquet afterwards? I mean, the kind of banquet obviously may be different from group to group, but there is an understanding with this covenant relationship, there is a celebration, some kind of celebration, right? Again, that celebration may look different from culture to culture, but in particularly in a Christian wedding, right, when the covenant is made, the whole thing of the Christian ceremony, right, and a lot of times when we think of the Christian ceremony, we think it stops with the worship.

You know, when we say amen and here's husband and wife, and then they walk down, okay, now we're done with the holy stuff, let's party. You know what I mean? It was almost kind of like there's a separation between the holy time and then the unholy time, right? (congregation laughing) But the Christian wedding, the whole thing is a Christian celebration because of what happens in the ceremony that we're able to have this fellowship, right?

And it was meant to be fellowship, not, okay, now I'm done, the covenant is done, so let's go have some fun, right? So the marriage ceremony itself really points to what the Israelites were doing for hundreds of years, right, restoration with God needs to banquet with mankind, and then we see that in Revelations 19, 6 through 10.

"Then I heard what seemed to be the voice "of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters, "like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, "crying out hallelujah for the Lord our God Almighty reigns. "Let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory, "for the marriage of the Lamb has come, "and his bride has made herself ready.

"It has granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, "bright and pure, for the fine linen "is the righteous deeds of the saints, "and the angel said to me, write this, "'Blessed are those who are invited "'to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' "And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.' "Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, "but he said to me, 'You must not do that.

"'I am a fellow servant with you "'and your brothers who told you the testimony of Jesus. "'Worship God, for the testimony of Jesus "'is the spirit of prophecy.'" So again, in Revelations 19, 6 through 10, it points to the very end when Christ comes to redeem his church, right?

So the scripture talks about how we are saved, we are being saved, we will ultimately be saved, where the final conclusion of everything that he's done on the cross is going to be actualized when Christ comes and he establishes kingdom. And so his establishing of the kingdom is described as what?

The supper of the Lamb, right? It's described as a supper of the Lamb. That's how restoration and salvation is ultimately described in the scripture, that that's where he's taken us, to this banqueting table, right? I don't know, we don't sing that song anymore, but what is it called? Something, something, banqueting table.

You guys know that song? Really, you don't know that song? Okay, we should sing it. But anyway, we used to sing that song all the time. It's like, "Brought us to the banqueting table." Anyway, anyway, there's a song that talks about that, but basically the scripture describes the end conclusion of our salvation is to bring us to the banqueting table, and that's what this peace offering ultimately pointed to.

It's not just talking about how we're not going to hell. And a lot of people who understand salvation in a very elementary way of, "Okay, now we're not just going to hell." And then that's how they live their Christian life, right? That all they understand about their salvation is, "I'm not going to hell.

I'm not being judged by God." But when scripture says that he came to give us life and to give us life abundantly, that he brought us from darkness into light, and the fact that we are in light is to bring us into celebration. So if Christian life isn't characterized by celebration and a banquet, that's why it becomes a dread, right?

And all the commandments of God and all the dues and all the things that we're called to do, that somebody who doesn't understand that our salvation ultimately is bringing us to the banqueting table, will consider any restrictions in their life as a dread. Because you look at joy as the world, right?

And if you look at salvation as just not being judged, and then you find life and joy in the world, anything that restricts you from the world is going to be a dread, right? But the proper understanding of salvation is he saves us from darkness to bring us to light, to bring us to the celebration table, right?

And to do this together, and that's what the church is meant to be. That's why worship is central, right? It is not just a part of our walk with God. It is central because this is where we find sustenance. This is where we find life. And anything that prevents us from worshiping God in spirit and in truth, that's where, right, that's where your dread should be, right?

Because if you find life in Christ, anything that prevents you from coming to Christ should be the very thing that you dread, right? If we understand our salvation correctly. So as you mature in your faith, sin, right? Sin is what keeps you from Christ, right? So anything that prevents you from wholeheartedly loving Christ is the very reason why you feel this dread, you feel this guilt, you feel this, whatever it is that you feel, is because, again, you have an incomplete and immature understanding of your salvation.

So this peace offering, every time they got together and they celebrated, they understood that God's mercy led them to this banqueting table, right? Hopefully, again, as we understand it more and more, that that would really sink in, right? God brought life, right? He meant to bring life, not dread, right?

And if that's how you feel about your walk with God, it's because you don't fully understand what it is that you have, right? And you need to take a step back and really take a close look at why you are running to the world rather than to Christ. What do you think, what do you believe about the world and what do you believe about God that causes you, when you have free time, to run to the world rather than to Christ?

If you believe that true life is in Christ, right? So the discussion questions today, it's more of an application. Number one, do you think you are being intentional in fellowshipping with brothers and sisters at church or just hoping that someone else would initiate? Okay, and this is something that, even though Christ has made us one, right, just like in a marriage, you know, when they get together, he said, you know, you become one because of the covenant, legally.

And for the rest of your life, you're working to become one, right? Sharing your finances, sharing your space, sharing, you know, your time, whatever decisions you make. So you're learning to become one. So it's no different in the church. We've become one because of the blood of Christ and part of sanctification is learning to become one in every way, right?

How do you function in a church where you have different personalities and different opinions and people who are passive and people who are aggressive and, you know, people have different hobbies and different background, different education, different finances, and yet we're all in the same church sharing lives together, working together for the kingdom of God.

It requires a lot of work. It requires humbling. It requires communication. It requires talking. It requires humility. It requires sanctification, right? You can't come into church and remain the way you are and expect fellowship to be good. Fellowship, just like a good marriage, requires sanctification, right? So fellowship requires work.

Like God made us one and then we are working to become one. So that's number one question is, is fellowship something when you look at that you're hoping that would happen or is it something that you're actually pursuing? Okay, number two, are there any broken relationship that you need to be reconciled with?

What steps have you taken to reconcile with them? What is the responsibility of a Christian if the offended or offending party does not wish to reconcile? Okay, so we may look at that. Again, hopefully you guys have some good discussions on this. Like what is the response? I'm sure a lot of you guys have very specific application of this that you want to reconcile, but the other person does not make any effort and you've given it a try and it doesn't.

So do you just kind of say, "Forget it, right? It's not my responsibility anymore." So what is the responsibility of a Christian if it is not being reciprocated? Okay, are there any specific things that you can think of? Right, number three, is there someone you can think of that you can individually and as a group help them be brought into more intimate fellowship of the church?

Some of you guys who've been here longer, some of you guys who are better connected than others, you may observe that again as a church is growing, there's always going to be people on the outskirts. Are there people that you're looking at, right, that may need your help to help in fellowship?

Just like if you see your brother or sister, blood brother, blood sister who are struggling, being intentional about helping them out. If we are brothers and sisters in the church, do we just watch them from a distance and say, "Well, that's the welcome team's responsibility," or, "That's the responsibility of these people or those people," right?

Is there anybody specifically that you can think of that you can individually and as a group be intentional about reaching out to them? I can tell you that our church has a lot of unbelievers who are entering into the church right now, right? And the reason why that's happening is because many of you are being active in your faith, you know?

And so I'm encouraged to see that. I'm encouraged, like, we have so many people who are bringing their coworkers, brothers and sisters, and various relationships. And so there's a lot of non-Christians. So we actually started an outreach group in the church just to focus our attention on the non-Christians who are coming into the church.

So they started a prayer meeting recently, and then the next step is to actively reach out to them. So we're thankful that that is happening. But as a result of that, that's not something that a few people in the church, like, "Oh, we have six, seven people who are responsible for that.

We just give it to them." Everybody in the church has to be aware that there are non-Christians coming to the church. And then there's very young Christians walking into the church who've never studied the Bible, right? Some of you guys have been at the church long enough where you know how to do inductive Bible study, right?

And I know that even in this room, you know, some of you guys are sitting here, you've never, like, systematically studied the Bible, and then the first book you study is Revelation, and then the next book you study is the book of Leviticus. So, like, "Oh, my gosh, this is hard." And I don't blame you, right?

If I started seminary with Leviticus and Revelation, I might have quit, right? But those of you guys who've been at church or been trained and you know how to do that, I know some of you guys may be thinking, "Oh, it'd be great if the leaders did this." I mean, we're doing as much as we can.

We need you guys to be active. If you have people around you that you are aware of, and I'm encouraged to see that. I see at the cafe, I see some of you guys who are actually meeting up with people on a regular basis just to teach them how to do quiet time, right?

Teach them how to do inductive study and go into it. I'm really encouraged to see that. So, I want to encourage you guys, when you see people like that, instead of waiting, "Why don't the church do something?" Bring them aside, right? Meet with them before Bible study, or meet with them, you know, at some time and sit down with them and do quiet time with them in the morning, right?

Show them how to do it. Show them what you know, right? Because if you wait for the church, the leaders to do it, I mean, when will we do this, right? I mean, we're kind of at capacity, even with the new pastors coming on. So, those of you guys who know how to do it, I really want to strongly encourage you to be deliberate about reaching out to people because we have a lot of people coming into church, and we can't do this discipleship ourselves.

The church has to be actively involved, okay? So, that's what that is. I'm asking you guys to be deliberate in your small groups to discuss and to reach out and identify who they are, pray for them, and to be active and reach out individually and together, okay? So, today's discussion is going to be primarily centered around that.

It's about fellowship. So, again, if you've been sitting around waiting for somebody else to reach out to you, I guarantee you there's other people sitting around you hoping that you would do the same, right? We have communion with God. So, every single person who has communion with God has whatever it is that you need to actively reach out to other people.

So, I hope that you guys can take some time to spur one another on to have a lively discussion on this and apply this in an active way. So, let me pray first, and then I'll have you guys get into your groups. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you again.

We thank you, Father God, that because of the blood of Christ, that even in our weaknesses and times of pride and selfishness and having a hard time at times, Lord God, even understanding between husband and wife, to participate in a large group of people where we have different personalities and interests.

Humanly speaking, Lord God, it is a task beyond us. But we thank you that because of the blood of Christ, that you call us, command us, encourage us to become one, that we would practice the love that you practice on us, that the curse of mankind may be reversed as the power of the gospel takes deep root in our hearts and in our community.

I pray, Father, that in our small groups, that whether we are weak or whether we are strong, whether we are in need of encouragement, that each one of us, as we look to Christ, the author and the perfecter of our faith, would give us the strength, Lord God, to see the larger world, the people who are in dire need of you, who do not yet know you, that they cannot pray for themselves because they haven't been reconciled to you.

Help us to be strong for their sake. So, I pray, especially tonight, as we have discussions, that you would bless the time and bless the application, Lord, that they will be able to make. We thank you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.