Leviticus 1 Bible Study (Laws for Burnt Offerings) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I wanna begin by asking you a question as we enter into this book, Leviticus. Perhaps you've asked this question, and maybe one day as we walk out in this life and Jesus called us to make disciples of all nations and to baptize them. In the name of the father, son, and the holy spirit, not just baptize people, but to teach them everything I have taught you. That's what Jesus said. He didn't say that to pastors.

He didn't say that to evangelists. He said that to every person that is a disciple of his, that they were called to baptize people, and they were called to teach those that they have led to Christ or those that they know that are new in Christ. Teach them everything that you've been taught. And perhaps one day, perhaps you know somebody or one day you will, who will come to Christ or who is new in Christ. And as you've been taught that if you wanna grow, you are as real as you are concerning your quiet time with God and meeting with him in prayer, meeting with him in the word of God.

You tell that to that person, and they start in Genesis, then they come to Exodus. Perhaps they should have started in the New Testament, but they come to this book called Leviticus. And they read through Leviticus, and you get a phone call. And this person says to you, brother so and so, sister so and so, I'm in this book called Leviticus, and I've read through it. And I have a question for you.

What should I, as a Christian, take out of this book? Because I see a lot of sacrifices, and from what I understand up to this point, we're not called to make any sacrifices. And I see a lot of rituals and cleansing rules, and I know that we're not called to do that either. And I see these feasts, but I don't think, from what I know, that we're supposed to necessarily keep these feasts. But I believe the Bible is the word of God.

And I believe God put this book in this big book, this library called the Bible. What do I do with the book of Leviticus? And you're on the other end of that line. How do you answer? How do you answer?

What do you tell that person how they can benefit from the book of Leviticus? And one way you can answer is how you've benefited from the book of Leviticus.

I would mention taking it as a historical prelude

to

to the sacrifice of Jesus. And so remember the cross and and our lord Jesus who died? Well, this is sort of showing us what the Jews, the people of God used to do. They had to kill animals, sacrificing, and all this bloody process, which is looking forward to when our savior

So I'm hearing you, brother Tim, on the phone. I go, that makes sense. Okay. I never saw Leviticus that way. Yes.

Also, the importance of, when there's a sacrifice, there must be bloodshed, and God uses that as an atonement for sin on the whole earth.

Okay. So the idea of bloodshed, the idea of atonement, the theme of atonement in the book of Leviticus. Okay. I didn't see that theme, but now I see it. Thank you, brother Isaac.

Anybody else? Just God's entire us the perfect holiness. The holiness of God. If you're gonna understand the holiness of God in any book, it's gonna be Leviticus. It's going to be Leviticus.

Is there anything else I can benefit from Leviticus? The seriousness of sin. The seriousness of sin in light of the holiness of God. Absolutely. Yes.

But I

get further more shows the attributes and characteristics of God.

So we're gonna we're gonna know something about the character, the attributes of God. If there's one question you can ask yourself concerning any book that you tackle in your personal time, ask yourself this. What does this reveal about God? What am I gonna learn about God through this book? Even through all the laws and through all the what is it saying about who God is?

Sure. Absolutely. Anything else from Leviticus? Well, ask yourself, how have you benefit from Leviticus? So we see the idea of unintentional sin, and there's a sacrifice for that.

And so there's there's specifics about which kind of sins are dealt within a certain way and which are not. Yes. We're gonna discover that. Book of Leviticus. Anything else from Leviticus?

Well, we just concluded Exodus. And from Exodus, a major part of this book, the second part rather, is that God had given instructions to the people of God of where they were to worship, where they were to worship. He had given them the blueprint for the tabernacle, and this was the localized place in which they would meet with God, where they were to worship. But the book of Leviticus deals with not where they are to worship, but how they are to worship. And And even if you remember from Exodus chapter 40 in the last scene that we see, the last snapshot we get of that book is what?

From from memory, what what did we see last in Exodus before it closed? The glory of God filled the tabernacle. The glory of God had descended and manifested in such power that Moses could not even enter into the tent. And it was a manifestation, a symbolic representation of God's approval and response to the obedience of the people according to his rules. And what Leviticus deals with is this one purpose.

Do you want it to stay that way? Do you want the glory of God to remain in your life? Do you want my leading to be so real? Do you want my fellowship to be so tangible? And knowing human nature, what Leviticus deals with is God already knows that they're gonna sin.

God already knows that they're gonna fall. And so he institutes these prescriptions to the people of God in order for them to know how to maintain fellowship with the Lord. That is what Leviticus is dealing with. Number one, how the people of God can relate to their God. That makes sense.

All these laws, all these prescriptions relate to how the people can come to a place where they can walk with him day by day, step by step. And if there's a verse that can confirm that, it's Leviticus one one. The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. So it ended with the glory of God manifesting, and from that place God speaks, and he says, this is how this thing is gonna work out. If you want my glory and you want close proximity with me, let's lay out some ground rules.

And that's how you get the book of Leviticus. And it all has to deal with every sacrifice, every ritual cleansing. Every role for the priest deals with one purpose, brothers and sisters, what the people of God were to do to not drive him from the sanctuary. So Leviticus deals with one, how the people were to relate to their God, but not just how to relate, but how the people of God were to represent their God. Not just relate, but how they were to represent their God.

And so there is a holiness code that is granted in the book of Leviticus. And this is what we see more in the latter part of this book, that God gives these detailed instructions of how they, the people of Israel, were to fulfill their call. What was their call? What was the call for the people of Israel as a nation to the world? Does anybody know?

To be a kingdom of priests.

To be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, Exodus nineteen six. Sound familiar, people of God? We just get a little bit more. We're a royal priesthood, not just a priesthood. And so in order for them to fulfill that call to be what?

A holy nation and a kingdom of priests. They had to walk according to this rule. Why? Because they're still in the wilderness, and God is preparing them. What is God preparing them for?

To go into the land of Canaan. And what was gonna happen when they come into the land of Canaan? They're gonna have some neighbors, and they're not the best neighbors. They're gonna have pagan neighbors. They're gonna have neighbors that worship different gods and have different practices and approach God in a different way, in a way God did not describe and prescribe.

And so the people needed to maintain a way of seeking God and representing God in the midst of all the darkness that would be around them. Not only that, but the people of Israel were delivered from growing up in a system called Egypt for hundreds of years. And so they themselves have seen throughout their lives the way that the Egyptians worship their gods and how they live their lives. And you know what God was trying to do? Not only was God purposely taking them out of Egypt, and he did, God God was trying to get Egypt out of them.

It's not just about taking them out of the world. It's getting the world out of them. Getting Egypt and draining it out. And so he gives these laws, and he gives these detailed instructions so that when people were to see them, they would say, surely, this is a kingdom of priests. Surely, they represent the true God.

Why? Because I can see it. You're different. Oh, and they fall in this cycle of worshiping false gods, and it gets crazy. You know how the book works in the Old Testament.

And this can be confirmed in Leviticus eleven forty four. Ye shall be, what, holy as I am holy. So Leviticus deals with two things right off the bat. Number one, it deals with how the people of God were to relate to God, but not just how to relate to God, but how to represent God. So already as new covenant believers, we have to deal with the same thing.

We are called to relate to God in a certain way. We are called to represent God in a certain way. But notice how the book of Leviticus is structured. Leviticus was not given before Exodus. It was given after Exodus.

Why is that important? Because behavioral modification is not something God gives you and me before he takes us out of Egypt. He deals with us after we come out of Egypt. So he doesn't give these do's and don'ts and these lists of how you should live in order for you to cross the Red Sea. You cross the Red Sea by my grace, not live in this way.

So even the structure of the book and the canon itself describes how we should position this understanding of how we live in response to his mercy. And so let's look at the structure. Take take Leviticus now. Take those pages. This is something that you can't do with a phone.

Take those pages and look at the structure of the book. The first seven chapters deal with the offerings that the people and the priests were to be faithful to. The first seven chapters deal with the offerings required of both the laity and the leaders. Chapter eight and chapter 10 deal with the ordination of the priesthood. So Aaron and his sons are ordained in chapter eight and chapter 10.

We look at chapter 11 to 16, and there are various prescriptions for various types of uncleanness. And so you look at one to 16, it includes the day of atonement of what the people were to do if they fall in any state of being unclean. And from 17 to 27, we are offered here a a code of holiness for daily living. So one to seven deals with the sacrifices for the laity and the priesthood. Eight to 10 deals with the ordination of the priesthood, and something happens there in chapter 10.

11 to 16 deals with the different prescriptions to deal with sickness and dischargement of bodily fluids and all these different things that we'll get into together. And then from 17 to 27, we deal with a holiness code for daily living. So then some of you guys have already mentioned this, but we now have to understand the themes of this book. If you haven't noticed, we're talking overview right now. Overview of the book of Leviticus.

The themes of this book and some of you already said these themes. But one of the themes that we cannot deny is the holiness of God and the call to holiness of man. So holiness. Leviticus deals with holiness. In what way?

Number one, the holiness of God. God is not a man like you and me. Meaning what? We cannot approach God the way you and I approach one another so freely. If there is a specific way that you are to approach a judge in a local sense, if there is a specific protocol that you have to follow if you want to meet with a government official, and if you need to receive an invitation to meet with the president, how much more the God who made everything with his word?

You can't approach God the way you want. I can't approach God the way you want. That's what Leviticus deals with. You can't just waltz into my presence and two priests actually thought that they could do that so casually. And God says, I don't care whose son you are and I don't care what kind of office you have.

Bye bye. The holiness of God. The holiness of God. But not just that, the call of holiness to man that God is concerned in Leviticus, and this is a timeless truth through the sermon in this book, that we as the people of God are called to reflect the very one we worship. And this is what the people of Israel had to understand, that they were to represent him, and they were not to determine their way of worshiping God or representing God the way they knew in their presuppositions in the past in Egypt.

No. No. No. No. No.

Doesn't matter how you grew up and what you're comfortable with or what your idea of God is. Bye bye. Nor were they to change the way they see God or change the way they relate to God in the future around the cultures that would be developing and changing. No. No.

No. No. I've given you the instructions for all time. And so the way we worship God, that's the second understanding. We're gonna figure out something about worship.

Listen to Leviticus 18 just for a second. Just listen. Leviticus eighteen three, you shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you lived, past tense, And you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan to which I am bringing you future sense. So no matter what you grew up with, no matter what you're comfortable with, no matter what maybe even a spiritual leader told you, if it's not according to the word of God, you dismiss it. Doesn't matter what the culture says.

Doesn't matter what the majority are doing and concerning their worship service and how they relate to God and what they do with the word of God. We stick with what he has given us. Worship. So there's a prescription for worship. There's an understanding of his holiness.

And listen, the book of Leviticus is not a way for God to flex his transcendence and say, look how awesome I am. His nature demands these things. So God is not giving out these laws and these things just because he wants to show how holy he is and just say, this is how awesome I am, and this is what you have to jump through all these hoops just because I decide. No. His nature demands it.

The very holiness of God demands the very things that we will read about. And so when you read those things and sometimes your mind goes off to different places, realize this. This is how sacred he is. That even if a fluid from my body is discharged from me, I gotta step outside of the camp for several days just to be in the very courts of God. We've lost hear me very carefully.

We have lost in the church today, and I say this with fear and trembling. More than anything, if there's any doctrine that we've dismissed and pushed in the background, it's the holiness of God. And part of that reason too is because many of us have divided this understanding that God just has these moods, and he's in a bad mood in the Old Testament. In New New Testament, he's in a really good mood, and he's staying in that mood forever. It's the same God.

The same God. And guess what? He's the same God that requires the very same holiness. And what's the difference? Well, in the Old Testament, he had a different code.

In the New Testament, same holiness, same demand, different code. Different code. So he's not flexing his transcendence. He's not saying look how else no. His nature demands it.

Because as glorious as his holiness is, it's also dangerous, especially when it comes to the contact with corruption. Oh, would the book of Leviticus take our breath away and not put us to sleep? That we would realize his majesty and his splendor. Themes, the holiness of God too. Worship.

Worship. This book deals with how the people were to worship and how we, to some degree, need to worship God. Three, somebody had said it more than once. There's a theme of atonement. The theme of atonement.

We cannot look at Leviticus as just a singular book. We must understand this book in the larger scale of the narrative of the scriptures. And what Leviticus does to the history of the people of God concerning us as well, up to this point concerning his remnant, they are going to quickly come to an awareness of their need of a substitute because of their lack of ability to be able to maintain God's law in their own strength. So every time a sacrifice is instituted, what God had desired to do is make them realize their need for a substitute. Holiness, worship, atonement.

So I get the themes. Here's the final part of our overview. What does that have to do with me as a new covenant believer? I get those themes and that can cause me to worship, But what can I take out of Leviticus in sense of application? I need three people to give me three verses.

I need one person to open up to Luke twenty four forty four, Luke twenty four forty four, one person to Luke twenty four forty four, Another person to go to first Peter one fourteen. First Peter one fourteen to 16. And a third person to go to Romans twelve one. First person, Luke twenty four forty four. Second person, first Peter one fourteen to 16.

Third person to go to Romans twelve one. Whoever is at Luke twenty four forty four, could you read it out loud, please? Who will win the race?

Then he said to them.

Then he being Jesus.

Then he said to them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the songs concerning me.

This is what he said concerning him, that all that was written about me where? What was the first thing? The Law of Moses. So this is what you and I can anticipate as we go through Leviticus. I am going to learn something about Jesus.

Number one. As I go through Leviticus, I'm going to learn something because Jesus himself said that out of the law, if it gets any more law, it's this. This is how this is like pinnacle of law right here in Leviticus. I'm going to see Christ somewhere in this book more than once because he says it points to me. It points to me.

Who's at first Peter one fourteen? First Peter one fourteen to 16.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passion of the soul of ignorance. But as he who called you is holy, you also be holding all your conduct.

Also, Peter found some use in Leviticus. He's speaking to new covenant believers, and he says, listen. As obedient children, I want you to live holy as he is holy. And guess where he's pulling that verse out of? Leviticus 11.

So if Peter could find some use inspired by the Holy Spirit, surely and this is

what you'll learn from the

book of Leviticus, we will learn together. You and I will learn principles of holiness. Notice I didn't say practices for holiness. Principles for holiness. There's a big difference.

Because if you're gonna go

into Leviticus and say, okay.

If this is what it means to be holy, I'm gonna live holy. You're gonna change your closet. You're gonna change the way you farm. You're gonna change the way you come to church big time. And you're not in that covenant.

We're not in that covenant. But the principles remain the same. And that's what Peter's getting at. And there are even spiritual principles within even those physical commands of outward holiness. Romans twelve one.

This is a people are cheating with this. We need to do something about that. Romans twelve one. The reason why I always ask to look and we wanna look in the Bible together so that you can map it out in the scriptures. Romans twelve one.

Romans twelve one. You guys can do it in the same time if you want. Go ahead, Ken. Go ahead.

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,

holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Paul is using Old Testament language to admonish new covenant believers concerning what true worship is. And he says, I want your bodies. And look what he does. He uses Old Testament language as a living sacrifice. So we're gonna learn something about spiritual worship in Leviticus.

And so we come to Leviticus chapter one. Leviticus one as we spoke of Leviticus two, three, four, five, even to six, and spilling over even to seven, deal with these types of sacrifices and offerings. Does anybody know some of them at the top of their head? The offerings that the people were to give. Grain offering.

Grain offering. Yes. What else? Burn offering. Yes.

Do you have one? Yeah.

Like dogs or, like, or birds?

Yes. So within those offerings, there are different types of animals they can give. Yes. Peace offerings, guilt offerings, sin offerings. There are mainly five offerings that we're we're gonna deal with in the beginning here.

And these offerings have a specific purpose though they are so alike. There's a unique fulfillment that they they have concerning how they worship God and how they relate to God and what it satisfies concerning God's standard for righteousness and holiness. And there's a prophetic element to each of these offerings concerning who? The person that we just sang to tonight, concerning Jesus. And not just Jesus and what he has fulfilled.

Because all these sacrifice, again, deal with a certain detail about how they were to be cleansed or or how they were to give themselves over to God. And Christ sacrifices, one sacrifice deals with everything, only one sacrifice, not multiple sacrifices. But these things Christ has fulfilled, he's covered it all in his own sacrifice. And not only that, each of these offerings that we're gonna discover are gonna show us something about what worship looks like to God and what he desires, not in copy paste. We don't have an altar.

We don't have to throw grain. We don't have to roast animals. No. But there are principles there in light of the new covenant as a living sacrifice. And so the first one we're gonna deal with, chapter one, burnt offering.

So look at chapter one quickly. I'm just gonna read these verses and see what comes to mind. Verse three. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. Go to verse 10.

If his gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, he shall bring a male without blemish. Go to verse 14. If his offering to the lord is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves or pigeons. One offering, different ways of giving it. What is God showing about himself in doing this?

Now look at verse four. What is the purpose of this offering? Look at verse four. He shall lay on his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. So this sacrifice has to deal with atoning for sin, but there are various ways of doing it within the heading of burnt offering.

And the question is, what is God revealing even in saying, if you can't do it this way, you can do it this way. If you can't do it this way, you can do it this way.

He's giving you opportunities and avenues to come meet him to atone for your sense, giving you options.

Yes. So he is giving options. Absolutely. But with what in mind? Why is he giving options?

Some people can't afford it. That's exactly right. Because the peep some people could not afford to bring a bull or to bring a sheep or to bring a goat. And so you know what he has in mind though? God wants all people to be able to receive atonement.

He he doesn't wanna hold atonement from anyone. And so with God's heart, he goes, listen. If if you can't afford this look at his heart here in Leviticus. If you can't afford a bull, you can bring a sheep. If you if you can't even bring a sheep, you you can bring something as small as a bird, and that bird is so tiny.

You can't even you can't even cut it up and do it the way you could with a sheep or a goat. But this is God's heart behind this very offering. I long to grant atonement to all people. I am not selective. Look at the prophetic imagery here.

I am not selective in my salvation. I'm not looking to a certain group or status in society and saying, here, I'm gonna give this to you. I'm gonna make these holes easier for you to hoop through. No. No.

No. I'm gonna give this to all people. I'm going to make salvation reachable for all people on the same playing field. I'm not restricting this. I'm not making this difficult for whether you're poor.

You can be a bum or a brilliant billionaire. Atonement is available to you. And look at how important it is to understand some

of these details in Leviticus and

the old covenant. Turn your Bibles to Luke two twenty four when Mary wants to come and bring baby Jesus for a ceremonial offering concerning her son. And look what it reveals here. In Luke two twenty four, and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, this is Mary and her husband going now, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. You know what that shows about Mary and Joseph as parents?

What? They weren't rich. They didn't have the money to give a bull or to give a goat or to give a sheep. And this is who the God of the universe chose to be born under. He didn't give himself over to Herod and to be born in the palace.

He didn't give himself to some Pharisee. No. He came under a young lady and her husband who could not even afford the maximum ability to worship. And I love this image that they're going with these birds, and at the same time, they're bringing the child who's gonna actually bring sacrifice for all men for all time. God desires to have all people reach atonement.

God is not restricting it to a certain brand of people, to a certain group of people. No. God wants all people to come to the foot of the cross. I love the scripture when Paul preaches in Acts 17. Bear with me.

Acts seventeen twenty four to 28. Acts seventeen twenty four to 28. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything. For he himself gives to all mankind life, breath, and everything. And he made from one man every nation of all mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.

For what reason? Why did God allow people to live on the the places of the world in different countries and different boundaries at different times? Why? Why? Why?

What reason? Verse 27. That they should seek God. That they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.

I love that verse. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us. Why? For in him we live and move and have our being. The omnipresence of God makes it accessible for whether you live in the jungles in Africa or you live in the high rise in New York, that every person has the same ability to call out to God and reach out to him.

He made himself reachable. He's not far from each one of us. If you don't know Christ today, you can get saved in this living you don't have to go through some religious hoops. You don't have to wait for a certain time. You don't have to be in the right sacred place.

So how does a person for for wherever they live or whatever time they're in, how does a person reach God and come to God? Well, Acts seventeen thirty. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere. All people everywhere to do what? Repent.

Repent. For he is fixed in the day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. He has given assurance of this to all men by raising him from the dead. Don't preach repentance. Oh, the apostles did.

He commands all people everywhere to repent. That's how you come to the knowledge of God, repented faith in him. And so we see from these sacrifices that God's heart is that all people would be able to reach atonement. What else do we see from these sacrifices? There's a common theme amongst though they were bulls and though they were goats and though they were turtledoves, they had one thing in common, though their kind was not the same.

Perfect. They had to be perfect. Without blemish. Without blemish. Now focus on the first part.

Focus on the herd, the the male bull here. That they were to be without blemish and not only without blemish. You look here in verse nine. They see here that the priest shall burn all of it on the altar. So we see that even before that, rule number one, without blemish, without spot, without fault.

God wants the best. Right? But then they were to take this bull, if the animal was big enough, to cut it up into pieces. And as they cut it up into pieces, it says there in verse nine that they were to take all of it and put it on the altar. And Christ is the ultimate sacrifice, and we know that he was without fault, without blemish, but not just in a general sense.

Think of it because he took on flesh that in every part concerning who he was in his humanity, in every part, it proved to be acceptable to God on Calvary. Do you know what I mean by that? I mean, they cut up that sacrifice into pieces, and every piece had to be without spot or blemish and had to be acceptable before God in such a way. But in Christ, the ultimate sacrifice, he proved to be the same. It says in first Peter two twenty two what?

That in him was no sin and in him there was no deceit. Where? His mouth. There was no deceit in his mouth. Peter used that to encourage the believers not to retaliate with their lips.

And he said Jesus was without sin, and Jesus, in his mouth, there was found no deceit. And I love that, that every part of Christ proved to be acceptable before God on Calvary the same way that every part of that bowl needed to be spotless and perfect to be acceptable before God, which means something for you and me. That because of Christ on Calvary and every part of who he was, even in his physical suffering, proved to be acceptable before God, that means that every part of my life has proven to be made perfect and righteous before God as well. Think about his physical suffering. Think about every part of his physical suffering and how it deals with every part that you and I, every instrument of our body that we've used to rebel against God.

And so as one missionary said, our our minds, they were hostile towards God. They love to meditate on the things that God hates. And so what does Christ do? They put a a thorny crown on his brow. His lips his lips were dry, parched, thirsty.

Your lips and mine spoke things that we should never have said, blasphemed God beyond measure, and his lips on that cross suffered for your lips. And these hands these hands have touched things that they shouldn't have touched and taken things that they shouldn't have taken, but those hands were nailed on the cross. And your back and my back have continually turned against God and walked in our own direction, defiantly showing him that we will not walk according to his ways. And so he offers his back, lashed beyond recognition. Oh, and these feet, how they have wandered to places that they should not have gone, and how they have drifted away from the place in which they were supposed to be concerning the righteousness of God in obedience to his word.

But they did not, and so they were nailed. They were nailed on the cross. Every part of that bull needed to be spotless on that altar. Every part of Christ was proven to be blameless on that cross, dealing with every part of your members that were used to rebel against him, which tells you and me something concerning our sacrifice. It's complete.

His sacrifice was made complete, not for some of you, but for all of you. All of you and all of me. Why do I say that? Because there are some things that we are convinced that Jesus can forgive us of, but but there are some things we are not convinced that he could have forgiven us from. Oh, yeah.

I understand. I've lied with this lip, but you don't know what I've done with these hands, man, and I can't imagine no. No. No. Every piece has been covered.

Oh, you don't know where my feet have gone. Yeah. I understand. He can forgive me for what I've allowed in here, and he can, what I've allowed in here, but these feet no. No.

No. Every piece has been translated to you. Not some of you. Do you want to know what happened to your sins and mine? Colossians two thirteen and fourteen.

And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God has made alive together with him having forgiven us not from some, having forgiven us of all our transgressions. Doing what? Taking that record of debt and laying it aside, right, with all its legal demands. What did he do with it at the end of that verse? He laid it aside and he nailed it to the cross.

That record of sin, every single thing, all the transgression has been written and has been nailed on the cross. And you know what many believers are doing? They're trying to pull it back down. Leave it there. He nailed it on the cross.

Why are you trying to unhinge it? And if the devil would ever try to point any sin to you, make sure that you remind him where it's nailed. Oh, you can point the record to me all you want, Satan, but look at where it is nailed on the cross. And I have no plans of taking it down because it's dealt with. It's dealt with.

Every piece was on the altar. Every pre piece of Christ proved to be acceptable, and every part of who you are is made blameless because of what he's done. So we understand Christ, but there's something about worship and the burnt offering. There's something about worship, and this is where we're ending. If you can turn to Romans twelve one.

If you're familiar with the book of Romans, it's a powerful scripture. And Paul deals with so much from Romans one to Romans 12. He deals with justification by faith. He deals with the glory of God. He deals with the inheritance of the Holy Spirit.

He deals with how we can live in victory over sin. He deals with God's plan for Israel and God's plan for the Gentiles. He deals with so much. All these weighty matters, all these theological truths, and he comes to Romans twelve one. And sometimes this is where divisions and chapters can do us a disservice because it's one continuous thought.

He comes to Romans twelve one and he says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. It's as though to say, listen. Up to this point to what you have read, up to this point to what you have heard concerning your salvation, concerning your inheritance in Christ, concerning the future glories to come, concerning God's sovereignty over all affairs in the world. After you have heard and read all these things, he climaxes here as he transitions his thoughts in the book of Romans to practical Christian living. He says, I appeal.

I adjure. I beg you. In light of all that you've heard, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. All of those things, next time you and I read the book of Romans, read it all up and let it build up to Romans twelve one. Then when he comes up to this point, it's all there to say, now do something with this.

Let it cause you to live a life of daily of daily sacrifice. And this is what we have to understand concerning the Old Testament in this. Like the burnt offering, not just a part of you, but all of you. Could you imagine how ridiculous it would be if a person had come to bring a bull, cut it up into pieces? And as he's contemplating of putting that entire sacrifice on the altar, he goes, you know what?

I'm gonna keep a thigh. You know, I'm I'm I might use the feet, so I'm gonna keep the feet. And they could have done that, but you know what? It wouldn't have been acceptable before God. It wouldn't have been true worship.

And so in the same way, he's not saying part of your body. Paul's not saying some of your life. Paul's not saying a fraction of your existence. He's saying your whole body as a living sacrifice. As a living sacrifice.

See, in the Old Testament, it was about bringing a sacrifice and killing it. In the New Covenant, it's about you living it. And you living as a sacrifice, not you killing something. In the old covenant, you would bring a sacrifice. You would lay your hands in it.

It would it would be symbolic of your sins being transmitted onto that sacrifice and you killing it. You taking the life of another thing as a substitute of worship to God. You know what God says? I don't want you to give a life of another. I want you I want you to give me your life.

You could bring to me 5,000 bulls and cut them up and bring them before an altar in the new covenant, and guess what? It wouldn't mean lick for God. He wants you and I to live as a sacrifice unto him daily. And this is what we have to understand here. When you understand that burnt offering and to give it completely in light of our worship, it's really easy to say, right, perhaps even now we could say, who here has given everything to God?

And sometimes we hear that, and we go, yeah. I I'm pretty sure I've given everything to God as an act of worship to him. But it's a whole different thing when you cut up your life piece by piece and examine it and say, have I really given this part to God? Have I given this part to God? What about this aspect of my life?

Is it surrender to God? When you really analyze your life piece by piece and not just flippantly saying, oh, I gave everything to God. Yes? And you really reflect, it would be amazing to see how your heart feels that pull when you realize, I don't know if this is fully surrendered yet. I don't know if this part of my life is really given to God.

Cut your life into pieces tonight and ask yourself, is this part given to God? Is my sexuality given to God? Is my finances given to God? Is what I let into this mind given to God? Is what I let let let out of this mouth given to God?

What? Are all any of these things restricted to myself, to my own purposes, to my own glory? Have I convinced myself that I have put three quarters of myself on that altar, but I've kept the peace to myself? The same way that the Old Testament required all of it is the same way Christ requires all of us. And until then, it's not true worship.

The same way part of that sacrifice being reserved for self would disqualify that burnt offering from being a pleasing aroma to God, I wonder today in all humility and the fear of the Lord, do I ask this question? How many believers today are walking around thinking that their lives are really a sacrifice when really it's not? Because they themselves know within their hearts that they have not given every part. What does it mean to give your life as a living sacrifice? Well, in the same book, Romans 12 turn back to Romans six.

Look at Romans six thirteen with me. Romans six thirteen. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. So this is what it means to dedicate my life piece by piece to the Lord. Simply ask this sobering question, is this element an instrument for righteousness or for sin?

Is this is this member of my body given to the glory of God or for the satisfaction of self? If you and I can scan through our entire lives and say this part of my life, this member of my body is given to the glory of God, and you can check it off, you know that your entire offering is legitimate. I remember hearing of a group of young men freshly saved that were pursuing God as a group of friends, as a group of friends. If you have friends that love God, hold on to them very tight. They're hard to find in this day.

Not the ones that call themselves Christians and talk about other trivial things in this life and don't care about the things of God and growing in grace, ones that really love God. This group of friends came to a place in which they were convicted. They've surrendered to Christ. They've given their lives to Christ. But there is something in one person's heart, and it was a confirmation for another brother's heart that he had realized that he had not surrendered his trust in God for his future concerning his finances.

And as they were sitting there together before a service, he had openly confessed. I I I I feel like the Lord has convicted me about about how I handle my money because before I came to Christ, I was always anxious, and I love money, and I was cheap, and I cheated people. But now I'm in Christ, and I I feel like I still have a residue of that in me. And I I God has convicted me about it, and I wanna do something as a symbolic act. I don't know if you guys wanna join me, but let's do it if you want.

And what they did is they got around in a circle, and they all pulled out their wallets, and they threw their wallets in the middle of that circle. They locked arms together, and they prayed saying, Lord, we dedicate our wallets to you. We dedicate our future finances to you. That whether you give us much or little, we will use these things as instruments for righteousness. That's what we're talking about, examining the parts of your life that have not been given over to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

And oh, how freeing it is when you can really just sit down and do some inventory on your heart. And you, even if you tonight after this Bible study ask God, Lord, is there a part of me that's not on that altar? He will gladly show it to you not in condemnation but in conviction. If you ever feel convicted, it's not about being condemned. Always relate these two things whenever you feel that piercing of the Holy Spirit in your heart.

Always always remember this, that whenever you sense conviction, it's God's invitation into something greater. God doesn't convict you so He can make you feel bad and let you for a couple of days feel so dirty about yourself. God convicts you so that He can invite you into something greater. Oh, if you ask him, you'd be amazed how he said, you know, you've kind of left that part off the altar. So what happens?

Look at verse 13 here. Do not present your members unrighteousness, but dedicate into instruments of righteousness. Now come to verse 19 of of Romans six. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you were once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

So again, it's the same question. Is there any part of my life that's that's a slave to impurities? Is there any part of my life that is under the the lordship of sin and self? If so, God in Christ has given you the power to set that thing free and to be dedicated to him and his purpose is leading to life and sanctification. And I love how Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is continuing in this train of thought because he comes to 13, he comes to 19, then he just gets real.

Then he just gets in your face. Then he just says, you know, I'm just gonna just be let's just get real talk here. Look at verse 21. As though to convince them to put everything on the altar, he says, but what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? He's like, if you're not convinced, if you're really not convinced to put it all on the altar, if you're really not convinced to dedicate every part of who you are to the glory of God and his righteousness, let me ask you this question.

Whatever you're holding on to, really ask yourself, what fruit is it producing in your life? You just hey hey, guys. I just want you to know. Really think about it. Your sinful life, your life that is contrary to the glory of God and his standards, what is it actually producing?

Ask yourself that. Have you ever asked yourself that before you were saved? Have you ever asked yourself that before you came to Christ? What am I doing? What is the end goal of this?

Where am I going? Why am I doing this every weekend? Why am I doing this with this person? What is it? And here's probably some possible answers.

Well, it feels good. Well, it probably does feel good, but it doesn't last too long. Even if it does feel good, Hebrews 11 tells us it's fleeting pleasure. Sin offers pleasure. It does.

We would all like or else we wouldn't do it. We wouldn't be doing it if it didn't feel good. But remember, it's fleeting. So, okay, it feels good. Now ask yourself, what are the feelings that come after when that high is gone?

Shame, guilt, regret. K. So now you see the fruit of it. Paul says here, in motivating the people to lay it all on the altar, what fruit were you getting out of it? And he answers it at the end of '21.

For the end of those things is death. There's no life. And so how are we to give ourselves to this living sacrifice as a living sacrifice? We conclude legitimately. When you go back to Leviticus.

And you come not to chapter one, but you come to chapter six, which gives further instructions for the burnt offering. Look what it says in Leviticus six nine. Verse eight will begin. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, command Aaron and his sons saying, this is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth of the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.

The burnt offering, when it comes to the sacrifice on the altar, that fire is not going out, and that sacrifice cannot come off until it is completely consumed by that fire. Because afterwards they would take it down as ash and remove it into the outside part of the camp. So you know what that tells me about you and I concerning living sacrifices? That God wants to consume us completely. Completely.

Not partly, completely, totally consume you and me. And that fire does not go out. It's always burning. That's the standard. That's the aroma that Christ wants.

So when you and I wake up, we go to bed tonight and you wake up in the morning, he wants you to wake up with the full knowledge that you're a living sacrifice. Throughout the day, you and I are living sacrifices. When we go back to bed, we're still a living sacrifice. Throughout the night, you're still a living sacrifice. The next day when you wake up again for church, you're a living sacrifice.

When you go to school on Monday, you're still a living sacrifice. When you go to work, living sacrifice. And you and I are walking throughout our day as a pleasing aroma to Him, and it never goes on pause. It never goes on pause. That burnt offering was unending until obviously Christ comes into the scene.

But that's the picture of worship for you and me, which tells me something in light of Romans 12 what worship really is. True spiritual worship to God means nothing in song if our lives are not yet laid on the altar. It's unlegitimate. It it it doesn't it doesn't qualify to God. Oh, but when a life is completely consumed in him, like that burnt offering in Leviticus, there's an aroma to him.

There's a sweet smelling sacrifice, a savoring. And that's what God smells today in light of the new covenant concerning a person that does not shed their own blood for their God like many other religions do. God is not interested for you spilling your own blood, spilling your own entrails, giving yourself over. And you know what God is looking for? A life that can say no to temptation.

A life that can say yes to righteousness. Oh, this is the best part. A life. A life that still walks with God when everybody else wants to give three quarters of their sacrifice. Oh, that he would see a fragrance coming up in North America when everybody else wants to just give pieces to God and keep some for self, that he would see a remnant, he would see a group in which there is that sweet smelling perfume that comes up to heaven.

This is what God is looking for. That's true worship. That's true worship.

And so we look at some people and we say, oh, that person worship so powerfully. That person worship so passionately. And, yes, there is an element of singing that is a sacrifice of praise, but it is disqualified if it comes from a vessel that has not been completely reserved for the purposes and the glory of God. So what we look at at the with with our determination of what true spirituality looks like, God says that person when nobody sees him and is saying no to temptation is living for Christ, is always thinking in light of how can God be glorified in my decisions, God says that's worship. That's a song to my ear that no person can pitch, no person can sing behind a microphone.

Oh, that's a sight to see, greater than all these piles of bulls and goats that are shed. Oh, yes. That's what God is looking for today. Christ is your burnt offering and mine, and every part of him covers every part of you and me. And in the light of our worship, he wants every part of us as a response to the grace of God.

And if you're in sin tonight to any degree, if you are contemplating holiness and this part giving of God, can I ask you one question in light of Paul's question to the Romans? What fruit are you getting out of it? What fruit is coming out of that kind of life? Because if you're truly a believer, even if you're living in compromise, you know it full well. You're miserable, aren't you?

You're miserable. You're miserable. And that true freedom and that true life comes when you know that every part has been stamped reserved for the glory of God. Some new people here tonight. Welcome.

Do you know Jesus Christ? We didn't read something, and we're closing here to worship in a moment. There is something about that burnt offering. See, this is something that happened in the Old Testament. It's a picture of what's supposed to happen in the New Testament through Jesus Christ and his ministry.

But there's a part in the Old Testament right there in that very chapter that we read where that person would bring a bull. And you know what he would do? He would lay his hands on that bull as a symbol that everything about who he was would be transmitted. All the sin, all the inequity, all the faults, all the guilt would be transmitted to that animal as his substitute. It would be slaughtered on his behalf, and it would cover temporarily for his sin.

You know, Jesus Christ is a picture of that sacrifice. But guess what? We don't have to lay hands on anything. The transaction for all your record of sin, all the things that you've done against God is not through the laying hand of hands on an animal, not giving yourself over to a goat and saying this is my sin. It's going over to no.

No. No. No. No. That transaction of all that you've done against God that brings you to a place of standing condemnation is transmitted over to Christ by faith.

By faith. So faith given over to Christ takes all of those things that stand you condemned before God and comes over to him, and he pays the price for you. Have you done that? Have you done that? Is there a moment that you can remember where you said I recognize my sin?

I recognize that I need a sacrifice? I need a substitute? And like in the Old Testament, they would have to lay hands on that animal and say whatever they have to say. Yahweh, this is my substitute. These are my sins.

Now approve of me. No. New covenant is God, I know that I've sinned, and I see Christ on that cross, and I believe that he made the payment for me. Justified before God by faith. If you have never made that conscious decision, make it tonight.

And guess what? As we just heard in Acts seventeen twenty four to 28, he is not far from each one of us. For in him, we live and move and have our being. He's right here. Call out to him right here, and everything can change for you in this bible study tonight.

What we're studying week after week is not just some information for

a religious group that has nothing better to do on a Friday. We believe the very words of God are given through this text, and they give life and life eternal.

I hope that our hearts are stirred, that Christ is the thread through all these texts. And now what these people in the old covenant were looking forward to is what you and I can experience today. I conclude with this again. When you think of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22, who is Christ symbolized by in that story? Isaac.

And look what it says about Isaac. Verse five of Genesis 22. Then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there to worship and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son.

That even in Genesis 22, Isaac was supposed to become a burnt offering, and God said, no. I'll send my son to become that all consuming, all satisfying sacrifice for all humanity, for all time. Hebrews two nine says he tasted death for every man.

Oh, people of God that we would worship him, Worship

him in light of the fact that he is the satisfying sacrifice for you and me, and this is our worship as Romans 12 says. Not repeating songs off the screen though that is an element of it, but saying, Lord, here's every piece on the altar. Every piece, every member of who I am dedicated not to unrighteousness, but to righteousness. And lord, let it be a sweet smelling sacrifice unto you.