Let me turn to Leviticus chapter 8 and 9. All right so chapter 8, 9, and 10 really should be one unit as we said because the topic is very similar. Chapter 8 is about the institution or the instructions on the dedication of the tabernacle and the priest and then chapter 9 basically is the carrying that out is the sacrifices and cleansing of the tabernacle and then chapter 10 is when they actually begin to implement it when they start to actually give the sacrifices and we know what happens in chapter 10.

But today we're going to just look at chapter 8 and verse 9 and we'll get to chapter 10 not next Sunday because next week we have Passion Week and so those of you who signed up for the Passover meal will be having it on Thursday but we don't have normal Bible study week next week because of that.

So let me pray for us and we'll jump right in. Heavenly Father we ask for your blessing over our time. Help us to understand your word deeply, the foundation Lord God in which the Gospels were laid, the preparation for the coming of Christ, the preparation of our own hearts Lord God as we offer it up to you.

I pray that you would bless our time that you would allow your word to be made known that we would know you, your heart Lord God and all that you've given in Jesus name we pray amen. All right so let's jump right in. So today is going to be the ordination of the priest and also the preparation of the tabernacle.

So up to this point all these instructions have been given and these are the sacrifices that you ought to give so they've given all these instructions but the priest who are supposed to carry this out hasn't been ordained yet so up to this point all of this is just instruction they've been reading the manual and they're about to start implementing it and so but before they do that the priest and the tabernacle itself needed to be sanctified need to be purified because if everything if all the sacrifices that they're giving is for the sanctification and justification of the worshippers the temple itself the tabernacle itself and the priest who are going to handle these holy items they also need to be sanctified so that's what they're doing today in verse 8 chapter 8 and 9 is preparation before the actual thing starts you'll notice that if you've been if you've read through these two chapters maybe three chapters that the phrase as the Lord commanded is repeated over and over again so all the verses that I mentioned here chapter 4 chapter 8 verse 4 5 9 13 17 21 29 34 36 chapter 9 verse 6 7 10 21 and then the word the general word for command is mentioned 20 times in chapter 8 9 and 10 so obviously the word commanded or the Lord commanded is a is a common phrase that you'll see all throughout scripture but it's concentrated in these three particular chapters right so of course everything that he has done is because God commanded them to do it but there's a special emphasis in chapter 8 9 and 10 that that what they're about to do that they're about they're about to follow precisely he didn't give a general outline of hey when you come make sure you bring these sacrifices but where you do it how you do it who does it you know what to cut up what to eat like he was so precise and that's part of the reason why we get lost in the book of Leviticus because his laws are so precise and so detailed that you might read a couple lines and say well I don't understand this and then you just kind of like okay I'm not gonna understand any of it but there's a purpose behind all of this they wanted the Israelites and us reading it to know that the approaching God had to be done exactly so even to the smallest details of the consecration of the temple ordination the priest were carried out in to the exact instruction given by God I mean exactly right so why was this important and how do we see the ramification of this in chapter 10 which we're going to be studying next time how important is it that they follow exactly what God said not generally not a minus right not 99% they needed to follow 100% exactly the way God told them to do it and what was the ramification of it in chapter 10 some of you guys who knows what happens in chapter 10 right so the very first act of sacrifice that was supposed to take place in chapter 10 so chapter 8 is preparation right of the of the priest or the instructions chapter 9 they start giving the sacrifices for the priest to get ordained then after they get ordained and then they begin to practice in chapter 10 and immediately the very first thing that happens is they die and basically all it says was they didn't follow the command so there's a heavy emphasis in chapter 8 and 9 that if you do not follow the command of God you cannot come to God if you come to God with breaking any one of these commands you shall surely die and that's exactly what happens in chapter 10 so the prescription or the instructions on how to come to God was not vague at all it was like step one step two there's like 200 separate steps that they needed to go and every single one of them had to be done exactly the way God planned to do it and it wasn't simply because he wanted to see he wanted to see you know like if you're gonna jump through the hoops and go through all every one of these things had significance and meaning so what do you think the general instruction was and general understanding of the Israelites were don't turn from his word to the left or to the right right and that's exactly what he says later on in Joshua 1 8 and 9 so you understand this in the context of what he says here okay Joshua 1 8 and 9 is right before they enter into the promised land this is after he's given the instruction the blessings and curses and tabernacle is set up and they've been you know they've been sacrificing for 40 years so basically for 40 years what were they learning to do this what you what you and I have been studying we're only in chapter 10 but 27 chapters of instructions this is just at the tabernacle there's a whole different set of rules on what they're supposed to do outside of the tabernacle what they're supposed to eat what they cannot eat what to do on Sabbath what they cannot do on Sabbath and what is clean what is unclean how to wash themselves I mean there's instruction after instruction so for 40 years right for 40 years they were to pay attention to God's law precisely and if they don't the lesson in chapter 10 was that they die so right before they get into the promised land he says this book of law shall not depart from you but you shall meditate on day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it so if you really understand Israel's history when he says to be careful they didn't read it like the way we read it it's like oh I want to be careful we don't want to memorize it we don't want to get the prepositions wrong you know I want to make sure we want to be Bible centered we're quoting scripture we're expository preaching when they said careful the consequence of not being careful meant capital punishment it was that serious be careful to do all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have to get success so if you want to be successful in in any way do exactly as I tell you have I not commanded you be strong and courageous do not be frightened and do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go in other words he says if you do exactly as I tell you you will live if you stray from it and you're not careful to to obey what I say you shall die right so they would have read this encouragement challenge and warning very differently than the way you and I because they experienced 40 years now in the 40 years were they careful to do according to all that's written in it there were periods of yes and periods of no and exactly as God said when they obeyed they lived when they didn't obey they died that's what they learned for 40 years right for 40 years that's what they learned so what he's instructing here trust me when the Israelites read this they'd never glazed over any part of this they didn't say ah this is too hard and then they go to chapter 10 like give me give me some story that I can latch on to you know if your life dependent on it which it did for them I guarantee you they studied this they memorized it they meditated on it they said it to each other and you can see why by the time we get to the New Testament that the Pharisees were so concerned about obeying the law right just think think of it as a Jew and you say oh these Pharisees are legalistic you can understand why they were legalistic because God told them if you want to live obey everything I have commanded you carefully and we can also understand when Paul says in Romans chapter 1 through 11 that we're no longer under the law the law was only given to us as a guardian to bring us to Christ why they had such a hard time letting go because for generation after generation after generation this was embedded into their psyche their culture their sacrifice their worship their singing their Bible studies right is that if you obey you will live if you disobey you shall die every single part of what he says okay the reason why this was so important why they needed to practice this and practice this so carefully is described for us in Exodus chapter 29 43 to 46 okay in Exodus chapter 29 43 to 46 says therefore I will meet with the people of Israel and it shall be sanctified by my glory and I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar Aaron also and his sons and I will consecrate to serve me as priest I will dwell among the people of Israel and we be will be their God they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them I am the Lord their God all of this was prescribed in order for the Holy God to be able to dwell among his people I would remember that was the whole theme the book of Exodus where the glory of God is up on the mountain giving his law he tells them to make a tabernacle because his intention is to come down so after he establishes tabernacle what happens in the book of Numbers he invites them to come right Exodus he says don't come Leviticus he says I'm about to come so prepare yourself he prepares and they consecrate and then he comes and he says now and then he invites us to come in the book of Numbers okay before we even move on the whole purpose of all of this is described here he said I'm doing all of this because a holy God if I come in your natural state you will die you can't exist with a holy God just by him opening up his his glory for you to see any sinful man who has not been consecrated and didn't follow every every precept of the law would have immediately died right now again obviously you know the blood of Christ covers us but there was a reason why God wanted every one of the Israelites to pay very close attention to the law of God because every part of it revealed who he is and it revealed to him so that when they come they would come with a sense of reverence and awe right again I think that the tragedy that we have in today's Christianity is people don't know the Word of God and when we say people don't know the Word of God it's just another way of saying they don't know God I don't care how much you heard about God from the pulpit or how you grew up in the church and went to Sunday school all your life and if you don't know what the Word of God if you're not intimately in the Word of God you don't know God because God is in his Word he says all scripture is breathed out by God right meaning his very spirit is in his Word and so in the Old Testament his nature and his character was revealed in the law in the New Testament his nature and his character the law led us to Christ but the but the words of Christ is in the gospel and I'm not just talking about you know the book of Matthew Mark Luke and John I'm talking about the whole gamut of the meaning of the gospel everything that we've been studying the book of Romans and on is his nature is contained in the very intricate details of why the gospel was necessary what the gospel accomplished who did the gospel bring us to how was the gate open how are we to have access to it how are we to continue to have relationship what is the gospel established in the church what does a gospel community look like every aspect of the New Testament is a revelation of God and his nature and who he is so you can't have a personal relationship God if you have a very loose understanding of God's Word because that's where he revealed himself so the point of all of this was for the purpose of consecration to reveal himself so that he can dwell among sinful people so chapter 8 verses 1 through 36 it's it's about the consecration of his of Aaron and his sons right 1 and 1 through 9 is the anointing of his of Aaron and his sons so the anointing was done in the assembly of all the congregation this was not done in private because Aaron and his sons were to represent all of Israel so all of Israel needed to know that these people were not just anybody who just walked into the tabernacle these were specially anointed remember the meaning of the word holy one is to be morally holy and what's the other one to be set apart so the the whole of Israel needed to know that these people were not just average people these people were specifically consecrated just like all the other holy items that they were God was going to use them so if anybody who came into the tabernacle touch the holy articles of God what happened to them they were guilty of sin right only the priests were allowed to do that because they were separated and it was made holy specifically for that and the whole congregation needed to know this again no different in the New Testament we see again I'm not going to read it but acts 13 1 to 3 when Apostle Paul is chosen to preach the gospel to the Gentiles he doesn't just pluck him out of nowhere and all of a sudden he appears God does save him miraculously but he was actually sent out from the church of Antioch the elders receive instructions from the Holy Spirit to set him in Barnabas apart so they pray for him so it was very public so he was actually ordained by this church was sent and then he would go and come back report to this church so even Paul's ministry was not done in isolation we saw in first Timothy 5 22 25 you know the way that people come into ministry today is they get convicted I want to go they go to seminary they become a pastor and a lot of times the church hasn't church doesn't play any part in that other than they come to want to lead the church one day well the way that the Bible prescribes somebody coming into leadership in the church he tells Timothy to not to be hasty and laying hands in other words not to not to ordain that person hastily because if you do it hastily is that you participate in that person's sin so somebody coming into ministry was never meant to be somebody who just kind of stands up and say you know what I'm convicted I'm gonna go and then you go to a seminary and you become a pastor right and there's a reason why he tells Timothy to be careful because some men sins are obvious and some men sins trail behind them in other words the church needs to test them it needs to be public right and that's why the scripture says when a when a leader sins there is no there's there isn't this process of one two and try to restore them it's as if the leader sins is that it's automatically public right it needs to be dealt publicly so that the sin is revealed to the whole church so there's a seriousness of those people in specifically in the Old Testament and the New Testament where there's a weightiness of the work of the ministry and so that's what's being prescribed here in chapter 8 there's an anointing that takes place it's taking place publicly because because of what they were called to do their anointing first begins with ritual washing so basically they're they're bathing followed by the putting on of the priestly uniform now again there's significance of all of this the priests were uh ceremony of bathed once and after that only washed their hands and feet while they served in the tabernacle does that sound similar to familiar to you Jesus does the exact same thing remember remember where does this take place in John chapter 13 what scene is that in John chapter 13 it's at the Passover meal right when Jesus he bends down he's washing their feet and then Peter says you know you're my master I can you can't do that remember what Jesus says said if you do not let me wash you I have no relationship with you and typical Peter fashion well if that's the case you know wash my whole body and Jesus says he who has bathed does not need to bathe again right but because you walk the search you have to wash your feet regularly right where do you think that concept came from it wasn't just out of nowhere this was part of the teaching in the in the Old Testament that the that the priests who are being ordained for ministry that they bathe when they were initially consecrated but they have to continually go over these this washing of hands and feet in order for them to be able to to do their ministry right so basically it kind of symbolizes repentance in one person a person who has been who has repented does not need to be resaved over and over again but he does need to confess his sins and receive forgiveness over and over again that again so that idea that concept it was embedded in the Old Testament law the way that the priests were sanctified the uniforms you know if you read through and you say well all these tiny little details I'm not going to remember all of it and we probably won't but the uniforms are usually used to distinguish the office of function of a person right and the splendor of the office is also distinguished by the splendor of the uniform so think about I mean think about what profession and for what purpose uniforms are used in in modern-day usage I mean you could probably think of like officers police officers they wear a uniform right in fact it's actually illegal to impersonate an officer right who else wears uniforms going blank soldiers right soldiers wear uniforms doctors right at the hospital they wear uniforms so why do they wear uniforms right to set them apart for what purpose because of the work that they're doing right so because they say as an officer an officer shows up and he's in plain clothing you know he doesn't he doesn't he isn't given the same kind of authority because he's in his uniform we recognize his authority so when he speaks with authority that uniform helps right because he represents not just himself he represents the authority of the government and there are certain things that he can do that a normal person cannot do and so he wears a uniform for that purpose in the army they wear uniform obviously for the purpose of identifying them with civilians versus those who are soldiers so in in the army do they do they all wear the same uniform no based on ranking they have different stripes right different whatever it is you call it right and so usually the higher the rank usually the the the unifier at least the formal uniform not in battle the formal uniform they wear is a little bit more elaborate you know you don't have you don't have privates walking around with diadems and things flowing all over and then the general walking around and you know in in sweatpants usually the higher the rank the more presentation more glorious is the uniform right and so that's what we see here where the first thing that happens is they go through ritual cleansing and then there is a special guard that they put on them to distinguish them from the unholy and holy from the common and the uncommon because they are being separated from lay people because they're touching holy things and they represent the things of God they needed to be ordained in that purpose so even within the priest there was the garment was different between who the high priest and the low priest high priest and then the regular priest right so the high priest garment was very elaborate I think I might have a there you go that's the high priest and that's a regular priest in fact the regular priest garment is usually was usually a lot more plain than that didn't have any color like that one has right in fact I don't even think that's the regular priest that that's what the probably the high priest had underneath all that other stuff but I couldn't find pictures side by side but you just you know what I'm doing right so the high priest garment was very elaborate right and he had a special thing on his head he had a breast piece and he had all these different things that he wore so when a high priest walked into the temple or to do any kind of service people would immediately be able to notice that and not just not just him obviously any priest walk in to do the work the people needed to recognize that someone who was set apart for this work has come so they just kind of you know allow him to take lead and so that's what the the holy garments were for okay Aaron's garments are first described again in great splendor compared to the other priest the high priest garment drew attention to supreme dignity and holiness of the special office Urim and Thummim literally means lights and perfection I was kind of debating whether I should even share this with you today because I didn't want to get sidetracked but so many people are confused about what it is and so I thought it'd be you know it it doesn't add to the main teaching of their garment but I think for your curiosity I wanted to mention it the word literally means lights and perfection and the reason why they didn't translate it lights and perfection is because they don't exactly know like what the function was they don't know exactly so they just kept it in Hebrew so the literal Hebrew words Urim and Thummim and most scholars believe that they believe that it was some sort of holy lots right and whether it was a dice or whether it was whatever configuration it was the high priest or the priest the priest kept it in one of his side pockets and it was kind of like remember the book of Acts I think I have the book of Acts here all right though okay so remember in the book of Acts chapter 1 12 to 26 right what happens there Acts Acts chapter 1 12 to 26 they're trying to replace Judas as the 12th disciple right I thought I had the text here why don't you turn your Bibles to Acts chapter 1 and we're getting a little bit sidetracked but I think this is so many people have asked me this question I thought it'd be helpful for at least to touch upon it for a little bit so if you look at Acts chapter 1 12 to 26 this is where they choose to replace Judas and then they have a criteria that this man was going to do something very important they're going to replace the 12 disciple and the 12 men are going to be co-rulers with Christ in eternity in the kingdom of God and so this was not just some random position this was going to be a very important position in God's kingdom he was going to replace one of the 12 who's going to go out and preach the gospel to the to the remotest part of the world so they couldn't have just chosen anybody so the criteria was a man who was with the Lord during his life and then he and then they had to meet this criteria so they had two people who met this criteria right and who are the two who are the two people who met the criteria?

Barthas and Matthias right so among the two who was the one who was chosen? Matthias okay so but how did Matthias get chosen out of the two? Okay they cast lots what's what's casting lots? Just roll the dice think about what this position is this is the 12th disciple who in eternity is going to be one of the 12 rulers of his kingdom and they rolled the dice with this guy that was basically umim and thumim when they weren't clear about God's will they rolled the dice oh they say what that's a very strange part of God's commandment but this is the thing that you need to understand that it what they did roll the dice but they didn't roll the dice between should we worship God and Baal you know they didn't worship the worship um roll the dice between you know what let's we're going to choose Matthias and here's this drunkard who's hanging out at the you know hanging out at the at the temple worship and in worshiping idols say which one does God want let's roll the dice that wasn't the case both of them Matthias and Barsavas either one of them had a but would have been a good choice because they met all the criteria but how do they choose between the two so they rolled the dice now why would they roll the dice it doesn't say but I could totally understand the wisdom behind that can you I could totally understand the wisdom behind that because it was a choice between any one of these could be but because because the end result was so important it needed to be solidified fairly and so later on and say you know we thought Matthias and then you know eight people voted for Matthias and then three voted for the other and then the three and the eight start arguing say everything Matthias you know this guy's not very generous and he's kind of lazy and they said I told you we should have chosen Barsavas and I'll bet you that that humanly as it's just from my experience there would have been a division among the disciples like we should have chosen Barsavas right again this is just my taking it my insight into it like I don't think in God's wisdom in that situation it's better to be clear right that we rolled the dice and the dice falls on Matthias and we declare that this is God's choice with definitive action rather than say you know we all voted and we chose what was best we weigh the portals and cons and then we decided that this was the guy who's a little bit better than the other guy and then every time something goes wrong we question that decision so umim and thumen was not used in the context where where it was unclear it was kind of in those kind of situations where you wanted to solidify right this is God's doing where really it could have been one or the other okay I'm gonna move on from that because so many people ask this question so the rolling of the dice wasn't as just random chance as you think it is it just God's will that that really could have been one way or the other it's just to be solidified and say this is what God is doing instead of saying we did it okay I'm just gonna leave it at that if you have any questions we can talk about it afterwards okay Israel and the church are called a nation of priests so as a nation of Israel is ordained for ministry we are also called the priest so it's not like we have nothing to do with it all of this pertains to ultimately pointing to us so as Christians we are to be ordained right as Christians we are to be set apart to declare his glory and the language over and over again in the New Testament is to put on put on put off the old and put on so a Jew would have easily understood this as the instructions that given in Leviticus right so a common person because he was a Levite he would put on off his old clothes and he put on his new clothes for the purpose of serving God right and so we used we see that language again all over in Romans 3 14 put on the Lord Jesus Christ first that's only five eight since we belong to the day let's be sober having put on the breastplate of love and love faith and love Colossians 3 12 put on then as God's chosen one so over and over again you see in the New Testament this language of putting on right so when we think of putting on we think of just putting on clothes a Jew would have heard this easily connected to what we're seeing in Leviticus it wasn't just a common person putting clothes on so that they're not naked they're putting clothes on to set set them apart for God's holy purpose right that we're like articles that are set apart for God's use and then finally Moses anoints the tabernacle and Aaron with oil and so oil signified ordination at that time so they use a special oil of God's blessing upon them then we see in chapter 8 14 to 17 the sin offering for Aaron and his sons so for God to be present for the worker of the priest to offer sacrifice sanctuary needed to be purified that's the first offering commanded was sin offering or otherwise known as the purification offering which would make perfect sense before anything else happens they needed to be purified so the purification offering was the very first thing that they do so once they are the priests are washed they put on their holy garments the first sacrifice they give is a purification offering and then second one in verse 18 21 is the burnt offering for Aaron and his son what was the burnt offering for general atonement right was it for very specific sins or general sin general right it wasn't it wasn't just anything about one particular thing that you did wrong it was just the totality of who we are we they're repenting so that's why we equate that with justification justification isn't coming for God and saying I'm sorry that I stole right I'm sorry because I shouldn't have done this repentance when we first meet Christ is a repentance about who we are right and so the burnt offering represented that it represented the general atonement for the sins of Aaron and his sons and then again the instructions for this is more specifically prescribed in Exodus 29 15 to 18 so we're not going to look at that but that's where it's found the more detail and also Leviticus chapter 1 I miss something I don't have D huh okay well anyway the Rams consecration offer for Aaron and his sons chapter 8 22 to 30 normally the blood was sprinkled against all the altars but in this case some of it is smeared on the right ear right thumb right toe and on the clothes of Aaron and his sons right which is kind of strange this is only done in consecration of the priest the ears the thumb the toe and the clothes what do you think what do you think that symbolized clearly the blood represents what cleansing right purification cleansing so if their ear is being cleansed what is that what do you think that symbolizes to listen right if the thumb is being cleansed what do you think that represents purification of your work right so if the toe is being cleansed right I mean it's kind of tied to your thumb but it's the work where you're going right how you're living and then the clothes right in and of itself had to be cleansed and sanctified so in a commentary new international commentary of the Old Testament this is how Gordon Wenham explains it why should these points of his body be singled out for purification it is an example of the part standing for the whole the right hand side was considered the more more important of the favored side the priest must have consecrated ears ever to listen to God's holy voice consecrated hands at all times to do holy deeds and consecrated hands at all times to do consecrated feet to walk evermore in holy ways so again every single one of these kind of symbolized an action or something that they needed to do and that needed to be consecrated do you remember remember when Isaiah when he meets God in Acts not acts Isaiah chapter 6 what happens to him he falls down in terror and then what did you say I'm a man of unclean lips from a people of unclean lips so how does God prepare him for ministry he sends his angels and he takes a hole and he touches his mouth like burns his mouth and what did that burning of his mouth symbolized purification right and why was his mouth purified why not his ears and why not his feet because he was a prophet who's going to prophesy about God in fact Isaiah is probably considered one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament because he speaks more about the coming of Christ than any other prophet right remember what we talked about when we're studying Isaiah Isaiah is considered the Romans of the Old Testament because the clearest presentation of the coming of Christ is written in the book of Isaiah so Isaiah he says he when he sees God the reason why he says I'm a man of unclean lips because he knows what's what he's being called to do right you don't know the kind of foul things that come out of my mouth you don't know you don't how can this lip proclaim your holy name and so God comes and touches his mouth and cleanses and purifies him in order for him to do that work and so the priests are being consecrated for the same purpose right but the priests work isn't to proclaim the good news was it oh their work was to listen to God and be a mediator and to work with their hands so their ears being cleansed their thumbs their toes their clothes right because God is purifying them for the work that they're about to do just like Isaiah with his mouth they were consecrated for seven days and obviously you guys know the seven days symbolizes a time of completion for seven days they are within that they're not allowed to come out and all seven days oh did I already put that there according to Exodus 29 35 every day a bull was offered on each of the following following six days and the purification okay all right there's a whole middle part that I didn't put up here okay you're just gonna have to follow along okay do you have it see I'm just gonna read it to you okay so Aaron's offering for himself and the people chapter 9 1 through 21 on the eighth day Aaron was to begin his ministrial work as a priest okay on the eighth day Aaron was to begin his ministry as a priest so for seven days they're inside six days bull is bulls are sacrificed to atone for their sins and the purpose of these sacrifices be is repeated twice in verse four and six that the glory of the Lord may appear to you so twice he said all of these are happening for what purpose so that God's glory may be revealed right let me ask you a question and I just wanted to think about it okay as much as you want to know the Lord as much as you want him to answer your prayers and know the intimacy is there any part that you play is there any part that you play that depends on you for your intimacy with God I'm gonna answer that question for you absolutely absolutely if we sit there kind of like well he loves me so much he died for me you know and why isn't God appearing to me you know while we're never touching our Bibles never praying never you know what I mean like living in obedience just kind of feeling bad about our sins and just kind of passively just kind of like you know get me on the right boat and then hopefully I make it over there and always wondering what's wrong what's wrong with other people how come I don't feel fellowship you know is there is there a part that you play absolutely when you feel disconnected with other believers how much of that do you play in that before you start looking at other people and it's like all these people are not doing this and those people are not doing that how much of that is because of you okay I say all of this because he says all of these things he gives he said in order for his glory to come so what if they didn't do it he couldn't come he wouldn't have come he said I want you to observe what I am telling you because his whole reason was he wants to draw closer to us why did he give the Bible to us it wasn't just for a security blanket the scripture basically is a revelation of himself if the scripture is a revelation of himself and we want to draw closer to God and yet we don't study the Word of God and we're wondering why we're not drawn closer to God the answer is pretty easy right God gave you the path to come and you're not taking it and you're looking for all kinds of other reasons why why I don't feel close to God is there a part that we play absolutely right we can't say you know the path to grace of the throne has been open to us and then and then wondering why I don't get there on a couch watching TV complaining about how other people aren't helping you get there right it's been given to us everything we need for a life of godliness has been given to us in the knowledge of his son Jesus Christ right everything has been given to us so the balls on our court it's in my hands if I want to there is no barrier between me and God if I want to pry out to God I have access to God now I have access to God I don't need you to get to God you don't need me to get to God you don't need me to open up to you John chapter 3 and tell you what it said you have the Word of God you don't need me I can help you but you don't need me right your friends can help you but you don't need your friends so to think that you're not getting to God because of other people and other things I said you've been given everything in Christ right the Old Testament believers didn't have this access to God to get to have his glory even be in the midst they had to go through all of this but all of this was paved by the blood of Christ right so I mean even they they couldn't complain if you obey all of this he said I will come and I will reveal my glory to you and they did it and when they did it the glory of God came right but all of this has been purchased for us by the blood of Christ and the door has been opened and now we have no excuse guess what read Hebrews chapter 10 because the whole point of Hebrews chapter 10 is say if God did that for the Old Testament believers how much more if you trample underfoot the Son of God after everything that he's done he said it's not enough right how can every how can any believer in the New Testament ever come before God and say I don't have enough right we have to stop looking to other people and other things we have everything and more and then some to get to God the robe it hasn't paid there is no barrier between God if I want to cry out to God I can do it tonight if I'm wondering where God is I can go to him today if I'm wondering what he thinks I can open up the scriptures right it's how everything that I have so all of this he says has been open to us in order that he can make a dwelling D right or C these sacrifices made to make fellowship with Holy God and his dwelling among his people possible the dwelling among his people possible D Aaron's first offerings included all the major sacrifices in Leviticus chapter 1 through 5 with the exception of the guilt offering and the reason why the guilt offering wasn't sacrificed was because the guilt offering was a very specific offering for a specific sin right for their ordination it was to cover all the general stuff I don't have the D either priestly blessing of the people a after Moses and Eric completed all the purification rituals and sacrifices what happens in verse 22 so let's let's go there for the last part chapter 9 verse 22 to 23 and Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offering and Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting and when they came out they blessed the people in the glory of the Lord appear to all the people just like he said if you do all of these things he says I will come and reveal my glory and then when they do it he comes and he reveals his glory in the verse 24 and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offerings and the pieces of the fat altar and when all the people saw it they shouted and fell on their faces they basically the word fell on their faces proskuneo in the New Testament means that they broke out into spontaneous worship that's what happened when God's glory appeared right now here in the Old Testament in order for them to come before God to worship they needed to go through all of this the priest needed to be consecrated they need to put the right clothing on they need to pick the right animals they need to cut it up and sprinkle the blood everywhere they need to to be cleansed by their year their tongue their toes their and then they need to make sure that the altar was cleansed they need to make sure that the proper sacrifices were made sins were confessed the priest had the right garments on and they needed to be done morning and night over and over they need to go through all these rituals constantly in order for the glory of the Lord to appear so that they can worship God this is the only way that they could worship God we come to the New Testament the only reason why the glory of the Lord we're not in the presence of the glory of the Lord is because we don't want to and that is the only barrier between us and God our own desires our own distractions our own temptations we just don't want it we kind of want it but not really so the New Testament for New Testament Christian there's not a single Christian who is lacking something that prevents you from coming to God you're not lacking fellowship now some people's fellowship may be better than yours you're not lacking leadership now some people's leaders better maybe better than yours but according to scripture we have the glory of God in us so the only reason why we don't experience this this drama that we see in chapter 924 is lack of will right and that's what we struggle with our struggle right and and that's this is the reason why we can't complain when you have a grumbling spirit right you said after everything that God has done you say well Lord it's not enough it's because of this and because of that it's basically come before God and saying it's not enough you know I need Jesus and some other people I need Jesus and and better organization I need Jesus and better Bible study no there is no barrier between us and God there is no barrier between us and God and so what you and I need to be wrestling with every day is with ourselves you understand what I'm saying our primary focus of frustration should be me not my wife not my kids not my church not my small group not my friends not my circumstance not my job because if life is in Christ and I have been given access to Christ the primary thing that prevents me from coming to Christ is me nobody has changed me nobody has a gun against my head nobody's holding my feet back it's just because we are tempted with a world and we have one eye on the world and one eye on God and that's why we lack this fervency right I mean that's just that's just our honest confession including myself that's our honest confession and that's why it's important for us to come before the Lord you know like not frustrated with all these other people but with myself right just like that sinner beating his chest right even after all that you've given me I still struggle even even after the access even after taking care of all of this like we're in a new covenant and he said we we don't have to do any of this to get to God all we have to do is close our eyes and say I want you Lord right that's all we need to do get in a room by ourselves and pray I want you Lord and then he says you have access to me and then for us to not to do that and then complaining about other people you think about it from God's perspective right in the New Testament whenever the glory of God appears there's joy there's jubilation there's excitement there's fear there's generosity there's kindness it was it wasn't discipleship and don't get me wrong the Bible does tell us to baptize teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you right there is supposed to be instruction they're supposed to be modeling they're supposed to be teaching all of that is there but when you look at the New Testament we look at the Old Testament when God appears people just change it wasn't because of years of discipleship and instruction and leadership training and how to how to speak God's Word these people who are not generous became generous people who weren't joyful all of a sudden was was filled with joy people were living in fear and running around even as they're running for their life they're sharing the gospel that's what happened when they were in the presence of God's glory it just happened right and that's why I think you know whenever you travel you go to certain areas of the world where people have nothing and all they have is intimacy with Christ and they are so much more effective in everything that they're doing their fellowship is better their evangelism is better they're more generous they're more sacrificial and just you just see the fruit and I think like in John chapter 15 when he says you cannot abide you cannot bear fruit unless you abide in me is it wow that's he really meant that because that's exactly how it works right my point of all of this is is the same our primary objective is to get to God because all the answers is found in Christ my joy is found in Christ my security is found in Christ my deliverance is found in Christ so that's why we became Christians because we believe that he is the author of life and that's why we confessed our sins that's why we we draw near to that's what we come to church on Sunday right so if if all life is found in Christ shouldn't be the greatest endeavor greatest purpose and greatest pursuit of greatest energy and greatest money should be committed to drawing near to Christ like no duh I mean nothing I said is so profound it's not profound you learn this in Sunday school right it's just we tend to forget our biggest problem is is we're tempted with the world and so we have a part of us that knows like okay answers found in Christ but I want the world that's the problem right because we have that we have the road I'm not sure if I want to take it today he's the answer and that's my life and that's what I want but I want some of that too that's our problem right you look in you know Acts chapter 2 when the Holy Spirit comes he comes in fire and then whenever his appearance comes they fall down to the ground and worship God if you've ever experienced like real worship and I'm assuming a lot of you have that's all you want right that's all you want I mean that's been my experience and I know that many of you experience the same thing like that's all you want all of a sudden you forget about your problems stress what people are saying about you what tomorrow is gonna bring what people think like all of that just dies in the presence of God and it's just nothing this doesn't seem to matter I mean it's we still need to live and pay bills but it's just it just doesn't seem as important when you're near Christ right and and we see that every time when they're near Christ right Isaiah falls down just just falls down in worship Ezekiel falls down Acts 123 they're all everybody's living in all Matthew 17 the disciples when Jesus's glory is revealed they fall down revelations 117 John in the face of his God's glory he falls down revelations five the four beasts and 24 elders are constantly are bowing down prostrated in worship and this is not God holding the neck and putting them down and say you better worship me it's just in the presence of his glory they can't help it's they can't help but to surrender so it's not a position of of where God's like forcing them out on their neck it's just they're just like oh my god and they were in such awe of God you know there's like such awe of God that their immediate instinctive reaction is falling down and worshiping the angels fall down and they worship the Hebrews 1220 he said therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken this let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and all for our God is a consuming fire so let me conclude with this today if you are a believer in Jesus Christ and your communion with God isn't what it ought to be I don't care how great your marriage is I don't care how great your relationship is I don't care how much money you're making if you're a true believer in Jesus Christ you are miserable and you know it you know it you you may be working hard to make everything right but your communion with God isn't what it ought to be inwardly you're you're miserable because you know where life is and you're not going there if you're not a believer you may hear all of this and say well that's a lot of talk but I don't know what you're talking about but if you're a believer you know exactly what I'm talking about there is life in no one else but Jesus Christ all of this drama is for a reason all of this drama is so that when Christ comes so that these people would recognize that's what we've been waiting for so that glory that they experienced that they would experience when Christ came but they didn't experience him they should have instinctively recognized him if they were ever in the presence of God's glory before Christ came they wouldn't recognize the glory that was in Christ remember what Jesus said you don't recognize me because you never recognized my father you were never in the presence of my father so you so now that I'm before you you don't recognize me either so Christians who don't have an intimate relationship with Christ when Christ comes you're not gonna recognize him either because you know you came to church but you never had fellowship with him you don't understand right but if you're a believer I don't care what you're entangled with I don't know like what things that you're concerned about what you're praying about if you genuinely believe which I I believe that most of you are and your primary pursuit isn't to be at the center of where he is at the core of who you are you're miserable you might be blaming your friends your circumstance your kids but deep inside at the core of who you are the Holy Spirit is groaning on your behalf working to get you back to God right so sobering Leviticus is so sobering right it's also I don't know how else to explain it if you've never experienced the glory of God come to the Lord in genuine repentance maybe it's because you've never really repented maybe your heart and your life has never been consecrated and so you learn how to play the game come to church have the Bible go through the motions you learn how to play the game but you've never experienced the glory of God so we talk about all of this and you're studying all of this like you're studying some history but you don't get it right Christianity is not something you can study and by knowledge and by effort to come to God only people who have been consecrated by the blood of Christ can understand what I'm saying so if you've never experienced that I want to encourage you right come to the Lord in genuine repentance to meet the Lord Lord I want to know open my eyes to see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ right repent and receive his forgiveness those of you who have tasted the goodness of God remember what that tasted like compare that with what you're tasting now repent repeat and redo what you did at first remember what he said if you do not I will take away my lampstand and what is that lampstand it's his presence among his church it's his glory he said I will with I will withdraw my glory if you continue to walk in lukewarmness let's take some time to to examine to pray to be sincere and not to play church games but to but to really come before the Lord I don't know where you are in your walk with God no I and I'm not here intending to to like let's have revival but I know there's a lot of church games going on in our lives and all of that adds to nothing but frustration right only really meeting Christ is worth putting our energy into so I'm gonna pray for us I'm gonna put I'm not gonna explain the verses I'm gonna let you guys take some time to discuss and pray but I really want to encourage you to meet the Lord to hunger and thirst for righteousness that can only be satisfied when you're in the presence of God and to persevere in your prayers persevere and crying out and let God hear that this is more important to you than anything else that you you are pursuing right now and let God hear that let God know that so that he can answer you and satisfy you let me pray for us then I'll release you gracious and loving father you know our weakness you know our distraction you know our excuses Lord it may be strange to say oh or sometimes I look to these Israelites with envy that even though they lived in danger and even in fear Lord God and yet they saw your glory because of that glory they worshipped they rejoiced they lived and they were blessed Lord we are on this side of the cross and we wrestle to live in your presence you've given us access Lord God of the throne of grace you've commanded us to come to you Lord with confidence you called us co-heirs you adopted us as your children and yet we struggle Lord stir in us a hungering and thirsting for righteousness that our satisfaction may come from you and you alone help us Lord God to cut through all the superficial things that we've established in life all the fake securities Lord God that we lean on help us to be emptied of ourselves that we may have you and you alone I pray father you would anoint this time anoint our discussion anoint our small groups Lord God may it be a time of refreshing we thank you father in Jesus name we pray amen