Why all these sacrifices?
[0:00] Well, good morning and welcome to this pre-recorded service for 6th December 2020 from Calvary Church!
[0:17] Welcome to you if you are regular or just dropping in. For those of you dropping in, let me say my usual introduction, that we are a church based in the UK, in the seaside town of Brighton, directly south of London.
[0:32] We, back in the day, we were 70 or 80 people meeting together on a Sunday morning, but of course at the moment we're meeting by YouTube.
[0:43] My name's Philip Wells, I'm Pastor Elder at the church here. I'm leading this morning and will be speaking a bit later. We've just left lockdown 2 and meeting, as I said, by YouTube and Zoom, but we are actively planning and preparing for limited meetings in our building, beginning with a simple sort of test live stream on December 13th when Mark will be preaching.
[1:11] So people will be able to be present at that and be able to watch it on the internet, but please note there will be a number of limitations and it'll take us a while to get everything working with maximum smoothness.
[1:26] Now, if you'd like to be there, you will have received an email from David and you must reply and book a place because the places will be limited. My understanding of the limitations, just to be reasonably clear on this, we'll have to wear face coverings.
[1:42] There'll be no congregational singing. We'll have to be at two metre distance, therefore limited in numbers. And my understanding that seeing as we're in tier two, socialising with people who are not in your own household, socialising with them indoors is contrary to the guidelines, so we won't be able to stand around and chat.
[2:05] So a number of things there which make it different to what we would like, but please be aware of that. If you are not planning to come, and of course not everybody will be able to attend, the meeting will be live streamed.
[2:19] Now that means you need to tune in at the exact time in order to be part of that. So, just to let you know about those plans. Now the topic that we're looking at this morning is continuing in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews, and we'll be completing our backtrack into Leviticus.
[2:40] We've gone back to look at the Old Testament book and the Old Testament system that Hebrews refers back to, and this time we're going to be thinking about offerings and sacrifices and atonement.
[2:53] And of course as Christians we will be reflecting and marvelling at the way that Christ's death on the cross wonderfully fulfills all the things so vividly depicted in the Old Testament.
[3:07] So the plan is there on the screen, and let's pray. We're going to read in a moment, but let's pray first. Almighty God, you have said that if we draw near to you, you will draw near to us.
[3:26] Please make this time a time of drawing near to you. Deliver us from all distractions. Deliver us from anxious thoughts. Enable us to receive from you and to draw near to you in genuine communion with God through Jesus Christ.
[3:47] In the power of the Spirit. Hear our prayer. Amen. We're going to read from the Bible.
[3:58] There's a few verses to read, and from Isaiah. It's up on the screen there, the exact chapter. I'll give you a moment to dig out your Bible, because I think you might find it helpful just to look up the verses as we go through.
[4:13] We're going to go first of all to Isaiah chapter 40, and this, in verse 12, says about the Lord.
[4:26] Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on scales and the hills in a balance?
[4:47] Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counsellor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him?
[4:58] And who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? And those verses invite us to ponder how great God is.
[5:16] By comparison of big things, the oceans and the mountains, with small things, the breadth of a hand, a pair of scales. He says that God is so big that the whole heavens he measures off with the breadth of his hand, as we might measure a piece of material or a piece of wallpaper or something.
[5:42] God is so great. And it goes on to say how wise God is. He doesn't actually need our advice and counsel. That would be completely improper for us to think that we can tell him his business.
[5:59] We don't know better than him. Although sometimes I think we seem to think we do. But here, who does the Lord consult? Who does he say, oh I am a bit stuck, can you give me a hand?
[6:12] Can you help me out on this? God says, no, I know the end from the beginning. I know the right way. I know the right way to order my universe. And I know the right way to order the lives of my people whom I know intimately and closely.
[6:29] So there's that thought from Isaiah 12 to 14. And then 21 to 23.
[6:40] That's God's greatness.
[7:08] And then we turn over the page to Isaiah 53. I'm just going to bring us verses 4 to 6.
[7:20] Isaiah 53. Where now it changes gear. And we think about the servant of the Lord. This remarkable figure depicted in Isaiah.
[7:33] Isaiah 53. The perfect wise servant of the Lord. Really what Israel was supposed to be. But what she failed to be. And this servant. Who.
[7:44] We thought about how high God is. This servant comes very low. He experiences human sorrow. And pain. And affliction.
[7:55] And disgrace. And we wonder why. Here he is in Isaiah 53 verse 4. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.
[8:10] Yet we considered him stricken by God. Smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions.
[8:22] He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him.
[8:35] And by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way.
[8:46] And the Lord has laid on him. The iniquity of us all. Here is the servant of the Lord. Who suffers for us.
[9:02] There's an exchange. A substitution. We sinned. But he bore the consequences. And this is our God and his servant. This is the Father and the Son.
[9:13] This is the Lord Jesus Christ. And with those thoughts to start us off. Let's sing song 1192. Who has held the oceans in his hand.
[9:26] 1192. Who has held the oceans in his hands.
[9:47] Who has numbered every grain of sand. Kings and nations.
[9:57] Tremble at his voice. All creation rises to rejoice.
[10:08] Behold our God. Seated on his throne. Come let us adore him.
[10:22] Behold our King. Nothing can compare. Come let us adore him.
[10:38] Who has given counsel to the Lord. Who can question any of his words. Who has given counsel to the Lord.
[10:55] Who can question any of his words. Who can teach the Lord. Who can teach the Lord.
[11:05] Who knows all things. Who can fathom all his wondrous deeds.
[11:16] Behold our God. Seated on his throne. Come let us adore him.
[11:29] Behold our King. Nothing can compare. Come let us adore him.
[11:45] God eternal. God eternal. Humble to the grave. God eternal. Jesus Savior. Risen now to reign.
[11:56] God eternal. His love. Jesus Savior. Risen now to reign. He moved. God bless you.
[13:05] God bless you.
[13:35] We'll say that together when I've prayed my prayer. We come before you in adoration and praise because you are the mighty, mighty God.
[13:52] Lord, forgive us that our imaginations and our minds tend to contract you instead of magnifying you. But help us to lift up our hearts and souls and spirits to you this morning in praise and in adoration for your greatness, your majesty, your wisdom, your power, your glory and goodness.
[14:16] We come to you, Lord, in confession. We confess our sins to you. The sins of thought and motive and word and action.
[14:34] Things that we have said and thought and done that we should not have. And things that we have omitted to do that we should have.
[14:45] We bring our sins to you and don't hide them but confess. And we ask that at this time particularly you would deliver us from the sins of becoming bitter, thankless, grumbling, unbelieving.
[15:04] But rather deliver us from those sins and forgive us for them. We come to you in thanksgiving and particularly at this time we are thankful not only for the way you have kept us and are keeping us and providing for us.
[15:25] But we are thankful also that we have the anticipation of remembering the season at which hope came down in the form of the baby Jesus.
[15:36] That you showed that you had not left this world to run its course lonely and destructive but that you came in person to be our deliverer and our redeemer.
[15:50] We thank you for the hope that is embodied in the baby in Bethlehem that we'll be thinking about in this season. And as we come to you in prayer we bring requests in prayer for our world that you will have mercy on our world with all the mess that we're in.
[16:11] For our nation and government please give wisdom and humility to the leaders of the nations and not least our own government in the UK here.
[16:27] We pray for the Queen and the royal family as we are commanded to do and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and the leaders of the different parts of our United Kingdom.
[16:43] Pray too for those who serve in the NHS and in other services that you'll protect and uphold them at this time of continued difficulty.
[16:53] We pray for the spread of the Christian gospel in our land and in our city. Please bless and help each gospel church whether it is large or small.
[17:11] And we pray too that you will bless the work of the gospel overseas with our different brothers and sisters and friends in different places.
[17:21] We particularly pray for Victor and Judy at the moment that you will be with them in their need particularly in the housing situation that we are seeking to help with at the moment.
[17:34] We pray, Lord, for those who are vulnerable and lonely and isolated. And we think of a number of people in our fellowship, particularly our friend who is several hours journey away in hospital and pray that you will be with him.
[17:52] We also commit to you those who face medical procedures that you will grant them calmness and a good outcome to those procedures. So here are our varied prayers, O God.
[18:06] Thank you that you in heaven hear prayer at the place of compassion and almightyness, at the throne, the gracious throne.
[18:18] So please overlook the imperfections in our prayers and in grace and mercy hear and answer. For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[18:30] And now let us say together the Lord's Prayer. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.
[18:42] Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
[18:53] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.
[19:07] Amen. Now, having prayed, we move on to a reading. And thank you, Wendy, for so clearly and beautifully reading to us from Ephesians 5, verses 1 to 20.
[19:22] I've chosen this reading because it starts off with a reference to Christ and his offering and sacrifice, which we're told was of a sweet aroma to God.
[19:36] And as Paul talks about this, he says how this ought to spill over into the quality of life and relationships in the church of Jesus Christ.
[19:46] So thank you, Wendy, for reading Ephesians 5, verses 1 to 20. Ephesians 5, verses 1 to 20. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
[20:10] But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
[20:23] Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure. No immoral, impure or greedy person, such a man as an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
[20:43] Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.
[20:55] For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.
[21:08] And find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
[21:22] But everything exposed by the light becomes visible. For it is light that makes everything visible. That is why it is said, wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
[21:37] Be very careful then how you live. Not as unwise, but as wise. Making the most of every opportunity. Because the days are evil.
[21:47] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
[22:01] Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.
[22:13] In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And having sung, having read about the self-offering of Jesus Christ.
[22:24] Now let's sing about the self-offering of Jesus Christ. This song that is generally associated with communion, but speaks so clearly about the Lamb who bears our sins away, slain for us.
[22:38] 1-1-1-8 Behold the Lamb who bears our sins, And we remember the promise made that all who come in faith find forgiveness at the cross.
[23:26] So we share in this bread of life, and we drink of His sacrifice as a sign of our bonds of peace around the table of the King.
[23:56] The body of our Savior Jesus Christ, torn for you.
[24:07] Eat and remember the wounds that healed the death that brings us life, paid the price to make us one.
[24:23] So we share in this bread of peace around the table of peace. So we share in this bread of life, and we drink of His sacrifice as a sign of our bonds of love around the table of the King.
[24:47] The blood that cleanses every stain of sin shed for you.
[25:05] Drink and remember the drain of the King. Drink and remember the drain desk cup that all may enter in, to receive the life of God.
[25:20] Drink and remember the drain of the Lord, and we drink of His sacrifice as a sign of our bonds of grace around the table of the King.
[25:44] Drink and remember the drain of the King.
[25:56] And so with thankfulness and faith we rise to respond, And so with thankfulness and faith we rise to the Lord, and we drink of His sacrifice as a sign of His sacrifice.
[26:16] 종종종 come again and we'll join in the feast of hell around the table of the king.
[26:52] So having sung about Christ and his self-offering, we're now going to have a reading. Ray is going to read to us from Leviticus chapter 1, 17 verses, which give us exact blow-by-blow detail of the burnt offering, the Ola.
[27:09] And so thank you, Ray, as he reads Leviticus chapter 1, verses 1 to 17. Leviticus chapter 1, we shall read the whole chapter from verse 1 through to verse 17.
[27:21] The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, speak to the Israelites and say to them, when any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.
[27:39] If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to offer a male without defect. He must present it at the entrance to the tent of meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord.
[27:52] He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the young bull before the Lord and then Aaron's sons, the priests, shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
[28:13] He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron, the priest, are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
[28:24] Then Aaron's sons, the priests, shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar.
[28:40] It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, neither the sheep or the goats, he is to offer a male without defect.
[28:57] He is to slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord. And Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood against the altar on all sides.
[29:08] He is to cut it into pieces and the priest shall arrange them, including the head and the fat, on the burning wood that is on the altar. He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water.
[29:21] And the priest is to bring all of it and burn it on the altar. If the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, he is to offer a dove or a young pigeon.
[29:42] The priest shall bring to the altar, wring off the head and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. He is to remove the crop with its contents and throw it to the east side of the altar, where the ashes are.
[30:01] He shall tear it open by the wings, not severing it completely. And then the priest shall burn it on the wood that is on the fire on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.
[30:20] Amen. Well, there's the reading about the details of one of those major Levitical sacrifices. And we're now going to sing a Christian song which has a take on that.
[30:33] It's number 709. It's by Isaac Watts, the classic English hymn writer. What offering shall we give or what atonement bring to God by whom alone we live?
[30:45] High Heaven's eternal King. What offering shall we bring? And then he begins to answer that question by saying, For all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could never give the conscience peace or wash away its stain.
[31:00] It's exactly the statement of Hebrews, isn't it? That those things could not do what they were supposed to do. But Christ the heavenly Lamb takes all our sins away.
[31:11] A sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they. Well, he actually says that spot on, doesn't he? So here's the song by Isaac Watts.
[31:25] The tune is, I think, a little bit pedestrian. We try and do our best with that. But it's worth it for the words, in my opinion. So we're going to sing 709.
[31:35] What offering shall we bring? The tune is, I think, a little bit pedestrian.
[31:54] What offering shall we give?
[32:11] Oh, what atonement bring! To God, my home alone we live. I am eternal King.
[32:29] For all the blood of peace, A Jewish altar slain Could never give the conscience peace.
[32:43] O wash away its stain. But Christ the heavenly Lamb Takes all our sins away A sacrifice of nobler name And richer blood than they.
[33:10] In faith I lay my hand Upon his head divine While I tell their hidden dice And there confess my sin So I look back to see The weight he chose to bear When hanging on the cross for me Because my guilt was there Believing we rejoice To see sin's curse removed
[34:11] We bless the Lamb with heart and voice And sing his wondrous love Well, we're going to think about sacrifice from Leviticus And we're opening Leviticus chapter 1 And looking really at the first nine verses And before we get into it, let's pray Lord, you have told us that if we meditate on your word We will be like trees planted by the water And we want to meditate on your word just now And hear what you are saying to us Please come beyond the human speaker And be the one who speaks to your people That our lives may be built on you And in fellowship with Christ That we may live for your glory
[35:13] And be in fellowship with you Amen Amen Well, let me first of all tell you what the plan is I'm going to say quite a long introduction About the matter of giving and receiving gifts Offerings and sacrifices And I'm going to try and start where we are at Not that that is the thing that limits and determines But just for us to realise where we're at So that we can go into the world of Leviticus Perhaps a bit better prepared So it's quite a long introduction Then we're going to look into Leviticus In some detail And then I'm just going to wrap up with some thoughts Sort of trying to connect that with Christ And with the Christian life So that's the plan And just so you know where we're going with this So let's start off with this question What is this whole thing about sacrifices?
[36:11] Because it's very, very foreign to our culture What is this about sacrifices and offerings? So I looked on the internet For a picture of sacrifices and offerings And I've got this one About somebody about to sacrifice a goat And there were some pictures When the goat had actually been sacrificed And I thought they're just too gory For daytime viewing Before the nine o'clock watershed As it were So I haven't put a picture of the sacrifice Actually happening Because it's so distasteful And Well, there we are And that would be our reaction I think generally To this whole subject We'd say This is gory Unnecessary What's attractive about a religion That has this in it And we might say Perhaps a little snootily That's very primitive We've advanced way beyond that
[37:12] We don't do anything like that at all It's completely foreign to us And we might actually say It's all unnecessary Can't we just forgive?
[37:25] Be kind Isn't that the root of all relationships? Just be kind And that's really all there is to it Well, that's the sort of thing I'd like us to think about And just to finish the pictorial side of it I didn't do a dismembered goat But there's the counter in a butcher shop So you can actually see what meat looks like And that's really all this is going to be Just going on and on about Killing animals and meat And stuff like that Anyway, that's where we're going to get to So let's wind ourselves back And just think Perhaps a little bit more generally About relationships Relationships between people So things that are not true of relationships Between a frog and a piece of coal Or something like that But between person X and person Y Person to person relationships Now I know there is this statement
[38:27] In a relationship Which is just a euphemism, isn't it? Because it means something But in a relationship Well, there are all sorts of relationships And I'm going to go through quite a few of them Because they all have slightly different ways of operating But they're all relationships So there's a father-son relationship And that, of course, is particularly significant for Christians Because we're told that at the heart of the universe Is a father-son relationship In the beginning was the Word And the Word was God And the Word was with God And the Word was God And that's the father and the son Daughter-mother relationships That's being in a relationship of a sort, isn't it?
[39:16] Brother-brother, sister-sister Brother-sister relationships And they have a particular significance to Christians Because we're told that we are members of God's family And the other Christians are brothers and sisters of ours Now, there are also relationships like employer-employee relationships And they have their own dynamics Their own expectations Their own boundaries And so on There's a friend-neighbour relationship The person who lives next door to you Or the person that you come across in the street When you're on your way between Jerusalem and Jericho And, again, that's an important relationship Jesus picked out a verse from Leviticus Which said, you're to love your neighbour as yourself And he said, this is the second Of the two-fold basis of the law This is what God expects Love God with all your heart and soul and strength
[40:19] And mind, whatever it is And love your neighbour as yourself This is absolutely, absolutely fundamental And then there is the husband-wife relationship Again, very special in the Bible Because that is We're told that human marriage Is a reflection of the marriage between Christ and his church And when I say marriage here I mean it in the traditional sense Of a union between opposites To unlike creatures A male and a female And a relationship which is exclusive So other people aren't admitted to that relationship It is sexual It is committed And permanent Well, permanent as long as Until death shall part And that is a particular relationship And of course when people say In a relationship What they usually mean is I'm somewhere near that last one
[41:19] But not quite in it I'm in a relationship that has some exclusivity to it Some commitment but not total commitment And there is something sexual about it But it falls short of Well, presumably Falls short of the sexual relationships within marriage So let's just continue to think about Person-to-person relationships Because there are all sorts And I want to go on a little bit further With personal relationships Because here is a relationship Between the state and the citizen And that is a personal relationship You wouldn't have that Between a frog and a piece of broccoli It is a relationship between people So this sort of relationship Involves the citizen paying taxes And the citizen conforming to the laws of the state So all the citizens of the state Agree to drive on one side of the road And not on the other side of the road I mean, obviously in England
[42:21] I won't go any further with that But there is a relationship Between a lord and the servant Now he may be a good lord or a bad lord But if you're a servant You're still a servant And that's a relationship of authority And allegiance And hopefully protection and benevolence Or you might say A relationship between a king and his subjects And that brings us into Old Testament territory Doesn't it?
[42:51] Well so of course does the lord and servant Because the lord is the lord And we're his servants The king is a particular thing About the Old Testament King David The messiah is king And his people are his subjects And they're to love the king And he's to love his people Although that love takes different forms And in particular If he's the king His subjects are to do what he says And they show their love by obeying him And if we just focus that thought A little bit more On the idea of covenant Which brings it right home With the Old Testament Covenant is a promise relationship And the covenant in the Old Testament The old covenant The Mosaic covenant Is an impressive And fair And generous covenant In which God the king Redeems his people From their slavery And he says I will take you to be my people
[43:53] And I will be your God And you will be my people And he spends a huge amount Rescuing them And being kind to them And in turn expects them To appreciate him To be loyal to him And to learn his ways And follow his ways And that's the covenantal relationship You can have a relationship Between a judge and a defendant So the person is up in court And the judge says You are guilty Or you are innocent And depending on which of those He says There is perhaps a penalty To be played So you can see There are lots of different Relationships here And here is one unique one Which we don't have Anything like it In ordinary human experience This is between The created Beings And the creator And We are Created beings God is our creator
[44:54] There is no one else Like him in this regard We are made In his image And Well there is another relationship So I just tried to Quite broadly Sketch out All the whole realm Of relationships That we Are in Or might be in As people And being a person Brings us into that world Of relationships And then we are going to say Well where do sacrifices And offerings Come into this Because you remember At the beginning We said Too advanced For this primitive idea Of sacrifices And offerings So I am going to say Actually In person to person Relationships There are a lot of Sacrifices And offerings Now what are Personal relationships About Well particularly If we think about The close relationships I am not going to be Particularly clever I am just I am not a sociologist Or a psychologist It just seems like Common sense Relationships In their deepest form
[45:54] Are about the other person Aren't they So love Is between Persons In relationships According to the Sort of relationship And I mean I particularly think Of the marriage relationship It's about The other person Not really about me It's about the other And these relationships Involve things like Acceptance So Not having to Earn Or prove Something But being accepted And that's going to figure In a minute As we go through The idea of Walking together Or working together Having fellowship In that sense Of shared business Things we do together That sharing aspect And the sharing of lives In relationship Remember Jesus Saying quite profoundly Of his relationship With the Father
[46:55] I am in the Father And the Father Is in me So close That they Sort of Inside one another As it were Sharing of lives I mean Emotionally Physically In action In thought In word In deed The sharing of lives And relationships Involving Trust And dependence So in I suppose In the deepest forms That the other Becomes an extension Of oneself Certainly true In the Father Son relationship Within the Godhead The Father Acts Through the Son And he There's a trust That one will do As the Father Shows the Son What to do He will do it The Father Trusts the Son The Son Depends on the Father And this Of trusting Is Seems to me Pretty deeply Embedded in the idea Of personal relationships And there are
[47:56] Relationships Which have a strong Component of authority And responsibility So for example The covenant king Has authority Over his people And the covenant people Are to obey him So Where do sacrifices And offerings come in Well Things can go wrong In relationships And You know The idea of having Such a relationship Sort of brings with it The idea that If that's what it Ought to be like There's ways that It can go wrong So When acceptance Is turned into Rejection There's hurt And when there's Betrayal There are responses Of anger And jealousy And when there is Cruelty instead of Kindness There is a reaction Of fear Instead of love And when pain Is deliberately Or accidentally Inflicted On the other There is guilt And regret And in other
[48:57] If we sort of Move out of the Into other parts Of the spectrum When there's rebellion Towards a king There is a righteous Anger After all I've Done for them How dare they Behave to me That way A righteous anger So now I'm Moving on towards Sacrifices and Offerings Now in these Relationships as I've Described It seems to me That actually Offering Is a huge part Of what goes on So offering Of self And limiting Self I mean that's That's a form Of offering Isn't it Sacrifice If you like So in motherhood You give yourself To the little baby Inside you And you give yourself To nurturing That little baby 24-7 For so many Months and years In marriage You limit yourself You give yourself To the other And you limit
[49:57] What You can't give Yourself to other People as well There's Sacrifice involved In that Isn't there And In relationships Again The offering Of a costly Gift To bring pleasure To the other That's what we do At Christmas Isn't it When we give Christmas presents We say To somebody I love you And I love you enough To buy you This Small plastic toy Or whatever it is Offerings of appreciation Isn't this Actually what Relationships are made of Saying thank you You know The thank you card The thank you gift The words Of thank you This is an offering And a gift The sacrifice Of praise That was going to Come up later The saying Well done You've done well Saying I love you This is giving Isn't it This is an offering Of something The giving of attention You know The gift of time
[50:58] And to listen To somebody That's a giving Isn't it That's an offering The giving of communication The saying You know I really enjoyed Our trip to the London Eye Or I'm really worried About Brexit Or something like this This is communicating And this is giving And this is what we do In relationship I mean a particular Gift and offering Is the gift of food This is the sort of Instinctive love language Of a mother Isn't it To feed her kids And to Probably feed anybody else Who turns up as well And Just going back to the idea Of covenant You see I'm going all over the place With this aren't I The covenant king The giving of covenant love To the king And the king Giving his love In covenant to his people And expecting them To love him In the form of obedience Remember somebody saying If you love me You will keep my commands That sort of thing
[51:59] Just to continue This sort of general thought When relationships go wrong Gifts and offerings Come into play So there is the offering Of restitution So I clumsily Spilt my cup of coffee All over the new white carpet I will Make good on that I will clean the carpet Where I spilt the coffee That's restitution Offerings that take the blame And bear the guilt Which say Well Actually it wasn't your fault That was my fault I was completely out of order With that Which is A sort of sacrifice Isn't it It's putting oneself Into the position Of the guilty party And of course When people don't do that You can quite understand The sort of unspoken thing I'll make them pay for that I'll make them pay for that Nobody gets away With saying that to me Treating them that Treating me that way I'll make them pay Or the other way
[53:00] I was wrong I will bear the pain And disgrace Of this Whatever it was Betrayal Unkindness Harshness Etc And there are offerings That affirm restoration So When There's been an argument There is a way of Making up And saying Okay We've sorted that Now let's go and enjoy A nice walk And a meal together So there are Sort of Ways of celebrating Restoration So I've tried to take this Quite Widely And just say That actually We live in a world Of Giving and receiving Offerings And sacrifices And I've just got one more There on the screen Which is Of course There are Penalties For wrong So we can think of A duty to the state You know If you drop a letter Or something You pay a hundred pound Penalty So These offerings And sacrifices Go across
[54:01] A spectrum Of things So What have I said In this Long introduction In person to person Relationships Sacrifices And offerings Are not something That in our Culture we don't have It's everywhere All our relationships Involve Sacrifices And offerings When the Relationship Is going Right There's a Giving and Receiving And when the Relationship Goes wrong There's a Penalty to be Paid Remedy to be Sought And reconciliation Hopefully To be Affirmed And this Very long Introduction I think Prepares us To look at The sacrifices And offerings Described in The Levitical System Because they Cover all This ground And I'm not Going to try And cover it All this Morning I've sort of Been long Enough in This introduction But suffice it To say that When Hebrews Looks back At that System It says Every priest Is selected From among Men To represent
[55:02] Them in Matters Relating to God To offer Gifts You know Thank you Gifts Praise Gifts Appreciation Gifts And sacrifices I'm sorry I got that Wrong Here's Restitution Here's Penalty And the Death of Jesus Is specifically To be Understood As the Fulfillment Of these Old Testament Sacrifices What did Jesus do When he Died on The cross He fulfilled This Sacrificial System Okay So Let's take A deep Breath Now And go Into Leviticus And It was Read to Us by Ray The Lord Called to Moses And spoke To him From the Tent of Meeting He said Speak To the Israelites And say To them When any Of you Brings an Offering To the Lord Bring As your Offering An Animal From either The herd Or the Flock In other Words Cattle Or sheep So if it Is From the Herd Is Is Is
[56:02] Is To Is To Offer A Male Without Defect So there's Our poor Little Bull Little Male Cow Male Cow You know What I Mean A Male Without Defect Okay So we Just follow It Through He Is To Present It At The Entrance To The Tent Of Meeting So there's The Tent Of Meeting That's Where God Lives And we're His Neighbors If you like In this In this Regard And the Man Who brings This Offering Is To Lay His Hand He Is To Present It At The Tent Of Meeting So That It Will Be Acceptable To The Lord Now That Idea Of Being Acceptable Is An Important One Which We Come To Later It's God Saying This Is Going To Be Okay With Me Now This Is Okay He's To Lay His Hand On The Head Of The Burnt Offering And It Will Be Accepted So The Acceptance
[57:03] Is I Put A Thumb Of Up Sign There This Is Okay It's Acceptable And The Hand Is Laid On The Animal And Again The Word Acceptance Is In There He Lays His Hand On The Head Of The Burnt Offering And It Will Be Accepted On His Behalf To Make Atonement For Him So It's Accepted And This Is Put In Relation To This Word To Make Atonement To Cover So The Variation On This Word Here Is Kipair And That's What We Need To Be Thinking About What This Kipair Do It Covers It Atones It Does All That's Necessary To Make Acceptable So Okay We're Just Following This Through A Step At A Time The Next Thing That Happens Is It Says To Kill The Young Bull Before The Lord So He Kills It Says Actually The Son Of The Bull He Kills The Son Of The Bull Before The Lord And That Word
[58:03] Before Always Has A Little Echo Before The Face Of The Lord The Lord Watching And Saying Now What's Going To Happen Here This Is A Sacrifice That's Going To Be Made! So The Priest Take The Blood And There's The Animal As It Slaughtered And Bleeds It's A Very Gory Thing If You Look At The Pictures On The Internet See Why I Didn't Use Them In The Presentation This Morning And This Blood Is Caught And Sprinkled Against The Altar On All Sides At The Entrance To The Tent Of Meeting So There's A Bowl To Catch The Blood There's The Altar And We Ought To Have The Tent Of Meeting Coming In There Soon So It's Splashed On The Altar And There's The Door Of The Tent Of Meeting So
[59:03] That's The Next Thing That Happens So This Blood Is Brought Into So Probably It's The Priest Who Knows How To Do This Who Is To Skin The Burnt Offering And Cut It Into Pieces So Here's The Animal I won't Try To Draw Cutting An Animal Into Pieces I'll Just Put A Line Across It But It's Cut Into Pieces Presumably Because You Need To Cut It Into Pieces If You're Going To Burn It The Sons Of Aaron The Burning Wood That Is On The Altar So It's Cut In Pieces They Get The Fire In The Wood So The Fire Is Going And Pieces Of The Animal Are Put On The Altar And Burnt This Must
[60:03] Be Quite A Procedure I've Never Seen An Animal This Size Being Burnt What Must It Smell Like And Sound Like And How Much Fire Do You Need To Get It All Treated Specially So I'm Assuming The Fat Is A Particularly Valuable Part That's Burnt Up And There Are The Inner Parts And The Legs That Are Washed With Water And The Suggestion Is That The Cow's Poo Is Probably On The Legs And Maybe On The Insides And This Is Washed Off So That The Offering Doesn't Contain Stuff That's Unclean But It's Clean Stuff And The Priest Burns It On The Altar So The Head And The Fat And Stuff It Gets Cleaned And That's All Burned On The Altar And It Concludes By Saying Burn All Of It It's In Verse Nine
[61:04] The Priest Is To Burn All Of It On The Altar It Is It All Goes Up In Smoke It Gets Turned Into Smoke And Ash This Beautiful Valuable Animal There's Costly Sacrifice Turned Into Smoke And Ash And It Is A Burnt Offering An Offering Made By Fire And It Also Includes I Just Looked It Up It Includes The Idea Of A Food Offering Can't See Where That Comes In The NIV Translation And It Says It Is A Pleasing Odor Aroma An Aroma Pleasing To The Lord The Word Pleasing There Having Relating To The To Noah Actually Meaning Rest Content Soothing Calming You know This is This is Okay Bringing One Into A Good State Of Mind And Heart So That Is The Sacrifice
[62:04] And We End Up With I Don't Intend That To Be Anything Other Than A Symbol Of The Pleasing Happy Nature Of The Result So I Just Whipped Through That That Is Standard Procedure For A Burnt Offering I Say There Are Other Offerings As Well But Let's Just See What We Can We Can Get As We Think Of This Offering So Let's Have Some Thoughts About It And This Is As Far As I'm Going To Go This Morning Some Thoughts Then So What Context Does This Fit Into!
[62:44] So In My Long Introduction I Said There Lots Of Relationships What Sort Of Relationship Does King Side Of Things First That God Is An Almighty And A Holy Covenant King Living Amongst His People That's His Tent And His Holy His Special And These People Are Unclean And Sinful Now I Know He's Also A Husband To His People And A Father To His People So Those Relationships Are There Too But I Think This Primarily Addresses The Fact That God Is An Almighty Holy Covenant King And That The People Are By Nature Unclean And Sinful That's The State That These Offerings This Particular Offering Addresses Head On Because Their Uncleanness Makes Them Ugly And Stained And Their Sin
[63:44] Makes Them Guilty And As We Learn From This There Is A Penalty Here Which Is Death And That's One Of The Striking Things About This Sacrifice Isn't It There Are Other Sacrifices That Don't Include Death And Don't Include Blood But This One Does And It's An Inescapable Feature Of Relating To A Holy God That If You Are Unholy There Is A Death Penalty If You Are Relating To A King And You Are A Rebel!
[64:23] Sin Can't Be That Bad And I Suppose The Only Answer To That Is That God The Holy Spirit Has To Show Us How Foul And Evil And Wrong Our Sin Is And What It Does Actually Deserve And That's The Work Of The Holy Spirit To Convince Us Of That And I Hope You Will Be Convinced Because If You Don't Then Everything Else Goes Wrong This Is Fundamental So Here Is God Living Among This Sacrifice I Put It Creates A Relationship I Think That's Probably Not Quite Right I Think The Relationship Was Already Created By God's Redemption Of His People And He Took Them Out Of Egypt But Certainly Keeping That Relationship Going Sustaining It And Mending All The Faults And Lapses This Sacrifice Is Constantly Repeated To Keep Mending And Keep
[65:23] Cleansing And Keep Washing And Keep Sustaining This Relationship The God Who Walks With His People And To Continue That Walk The God Who Lives With His People And To Continue That Fellowship And And I'm Reminded That In The Christian Life We Have The Same Thing Only More So Don't We He Lives In Us He Walks With Us He Is With Us He Will Not Leave Us Nor Forsake Us We Have Fellowship With The Father And With The Son Christ In You It Says In Colossians The Hope Of Glory And We're In That Relational Context Of Closeness To God And This Is The Context In Which We're To Understand The Function And Significance Of This Sacrifice So Let's Come To This Idea Of Acceptable I Said I'd Come Back To This The Idea Of Acceptable
[66:24] Uncovering Now God Is Not Obliged To Forgive Sin Forgiveness Is Not Something That Somebody Is Obliged To Do Forgiveness Is A Gift Of Grace And God Could Easily Say I'm Not Accepting Any Of Your Sacrifices I Want The Full And Proper Payment In The Full And Proper Way But God Says In His Grace Actually I Have A Way That I Will Accept You This Is A Gift From Me To You God Is Not Obliged To Overlook Or Cleanse Or Forgive Sin But He Decides In His Grace He Will Do So By Rights As We Learned From This Sacrifice Someone Ought To Die God Is Willing To Accept Well In This System He Accepts Something Lesser The
[67:25] Death Of An Animal As A Substitute! Instead Of The Sinner Isn't That The Idea Of Putting The Hand On Which I Think We'll Come To In A Moment But God Is Not Obliged To Do This But He Says I Will No I Will Accept A Lesser I Will Accept A Substitute And In Leviticus 17 10 There Is A Very Significant!
[67:48] Verse Which Says! Eats Any Blood I Will Set My Face Against That Person Who Eats Blood And Will Cut Him Off From His People For The Life Of A Creature Is In The Blood And I Have Given It To You To Make Atonement For Yourselves On The Altar It Is The Blood!
[68:13] That Makes Atonement For One's Life Therefore I Say To The Israelites None Of You May Eat Blood Nor May A Stranger Living Among You Eat Blood God Says This Is Something I Given To You This Is My Gift Of A Way Of Making Reconciliation Through The Blood Of These Animals I Have Given It To You God Says This Is Okay It's Good Enough For Me And That Leads Pretty Rapidly To The Question How Can God Do That To Accept An Animal For My Sin Some Dumb Poor Animal Because Of My Cruelty My Perverseness My Ingratitude My Nastiness My Foulness I Mean Surely That Doesn't Compute Does It?
[69:14] And The Spiritual Insight Throughout The Old Testament Is Well God Says That So Trust Him But It Doesn't Compute There Must Be More To It Than This But We'll Trust God On What He Says If That's What He Says We'll Believe Him And It's The Faith That New Testament!
[69:33] Christians Have But We Have More Insight Into What's Happened That Surely Human Sin Requires A Human Price And Yes There Was A Day When A Man A Spotless Perfect Man Got Treated Like A Sacrificial Animal And He Died And His Blood Was Shed His Precious Blood Was Shed As A Sacrifice He Offered Himself As A Sacrifice!
[70:11] And That's Why Those Words Are So Wonderful At The Beginning Of John's Gospel Behold The Lamb Of God Who Takes Away The Sin Of The World The Lamb Of God A Man Treated As A Sacrificial Animal Whose Sacrifice!
[70:30] Self Deals With Sin So As To Bear It Away And Not Just For One National Group But Across The Nations The Sin Of The World Let's Come To This Business Of The Hand On The Head So There's A My Little Sketch Of A Funny Hand On The Head Of The Animal What's That Saying I Identify With This Animal This Is My Animal Me Animal That's That's It Is It Like Infection You Know Hands Face Space Whatever Was The Blood Guilt On My Hands Is Now Transferred To This Animal So There's So There's Infection In Which We Both Have It Or There's A Transfer Which Would Say I Had The Infection Now I Give It To The Animal And It Leaves Me And I Think It's More In That Latter Sense Isn't It And As Soon As This Sin Is Transferred
[71:30] To The Animal Like This The Poor Thing Gets Killed I Always Think That's Rather Shocking The Idea That Whatever I Had Whatever Infection And Uncleanness And Guilt Of Sin Whatever I Had As Soon As I Give It To That Animal It's Done For It Immediately Dies That Would Have Been Me Wouldn't It And It Shows Us That Sin Is Very Serious It's A Lethal Danger!
[71:58] And This We Find Hard To Comprehend Don't We We We're Taught It Here But We're Also Taught It By The Cross Of Christ We Think That Is What Sin Deserves That Is What My Sin Deserves When I See Him Hanging On The Cross Crying Out My God My God Why Have You Forsaken Me That's What Sin Is He's Made Sin And That's What It Looks Like That's What It It Brings That's The Enormity Of It We Are Humiliated Aren't We By Our Sin And The Hand Well It's The Personal Involvement Of The Sinner Isn't It You've Got To Put His Hand On That Animal And In A Moment We're Going To Sing A Song By Faith I Lay My Hand On That Dear Head Of Thine Or Something Like That This Is At The Heart Of Christianity Too Isn't It It
[73:00] Isn't Something Cultural It Isn't Something You Get By Belonging To A Group I Mean You Do Belong To A Group But It Has To Be You As An Individual You Know Your Mum And Dad's Faith Isn't Enough You Got To Have Faith The Fact That You Joined A Cozy And Happy Group Of People Which I Hope They Are A Happy Group Of People But Just Joining That It Has To Be A Personal Faith So Our Involvement Is Not By Laying A Hand On Anything Or Anybody But By Faith That His Promises And The Work Of Christ Are Good Enough For Me We Say I'm Up For That I Put My Hand Up For That And Faith Is Saying I Put My Faith In Christ And Him Alone It's Not What I've Done Anything
[74:01] About Me It's Him And I'm Trusting In Him I Lean My Weight On Christ And Then Thinking About This All Burnt Up This Is A Very Costly Sacrifice Actually I'm Presuming That In Those Days If You Had An Animal That Would Be A Substantial Part Of Your Bank Balance As It Were Now This Sacrifice Is Total Everything Is Burnt Up Now The Other Sacrifices Vary This Some Of It You Share Some Of It You Take Home And Eat Some Of It Is A Together Sort Of Thing So There Are Other Sacrifices That Express Other Aspects Of Giving And Receiving In Fellowship Thankfulness Reconciliation And So There Are Other Aspects Of This And Hebrews 13 15 Picks Up On This Where It Says
[75:02] Us Offer Well What Sacrifice Do We Offer The Sacrifice Of Praise Lips Oh I Should Look It Up And I Had The Place Marked Here We Go Through Jesus Therefore Let Us Continually Offer To God A Sacrifice Of Praise Fruit Of Lips That Confess His Name That Sacrifice Doesn't Involve Blood In That Sense And Do Not Forget To Do Good And To Share With Others For With Such Sacrifices God Is Pleased So Those Are Sacrifices To Again No Blood But Sacrifice Offered An Offering In The Sense Of The Offerings That I Talked About Right At The Beginning And Let's Think About This Pleasing Aroma Now I Don't Know What It Would Have Smelt Like Would Smelt Very Distinctive Burnt Up Cow Bull
[76:03] But Whatever It Would Have Smelt Like If You Had Been There The Amazing Response From God Is That Has He As We Think Amped The Promorphically Think That God Has Nostrils And Smells It We're Invited To Think That Way Knowing That It's Not Actually Literally True But God Smells This And Is Respond With Saying That's Good I'm Pleased I'm Pleased Job Done We're Friends Now I don't Know Whether You've Ever Reviewed Anything On Trust Pilot Or Seen Reviews Of Things And On Trust Pilot You Get Positive And Negative You Know You Get Positive All My Clothes Were Straightened Using This Iron And Negative But The Handle Fell Off After Three Weeks Use Or Something Like That Positives And Negatives I Made That Up As You Could Tell But When God Gives His Review Of This It's All Positive He
[77:03] Says This Is It I'm Satisfied With This It's A Pleasing Aroma To Me And That's A Wonderful Thing Isn't It This Pleases Me And We Have A Reference To That Pleasing Nature Of Sacrifice In Ephesians 5 The Pleasing Sacrifice That Christ Made Be Imitators Of God Therefore As Dearly Loved Children And Live A Life Of Love Just As Christ Loved Us And Gave Himself Up For Us As A Fragrant Offering And Sacrifice To God And There Is The High Point If You Like The Total Pleasing Of God That God Says After All The Sins My People Have Committed And All Their Uncleanness And All Their Mistakes All Their Wandering And All Of That That I Known About When I Chose Them All Of That Having Seen The Sacrifice That My Son Has
[78:04] Made As He Offered Himself I I'm Pleased In This All Positive This Pleases Me No Wonder Christ Could Say Finished I've Made A Full And Complete Atonement For The Sins Of My People One Offering And The Thing Is Of Course That As Christ Has Offered This Aroma To God If We Are Near Him We Pick Up The Same Scent On Us And We Too Can Offer Ourselves And In This Context God Will Accept Us And What We Bring And What We Offer So In Particular I've Got Romans 12 1 Where It Says!
[78:59] Therefore I Urge You Brothers In View Of God's Mercy To Offer Your Bodies As Living Sacrifices Holy And Pleasing To God This Is Your Spiritual Act Of Worship And You See How We Are Brought In On This Whole Sacrifice Thing Daily Offering Ourselves To God Not As Burnt Offerings That Get Burnt Up Once And Then You Get Smoke And Ash But A Living Sacrifice Daily Offering Ourselves Totally To God This Is How We Live In Relationship With Him On The Basis Of What Christ Has Already Done For Us And As I Think We Read Earlier The Hebrews 13 To Do Good And Share With Others For With Such Sacrifices God Is Pleased He Says Yes That's Good So There's
[80:01] My Thoughts About The Levitical Sacrifices And Here's A Summary Those People Had A Massive And Bloody System For Cleansing And Covering Their Sin So That God Could Live Among Them With Contentment And They Could Be Giving And Receiving And Fellowship Together We As Christians Have A Greater Sacrifice The One Off Sacrifice Of Jesus Christ And We Come To God Believing In What Christ Has Done We Come By Faith And We Live In Fellowship Giving And Receiving From Our Father Offering Ourselves As Living Sacrifices As We Head Toward Heaven And All Because Of Jesus And His Cross Amen So We Thought Together About Sacrifices And Offerings And
[81:02] The Great Sacrifice And Offering Made By Jesus Christ And We Will Close By Singing The Song That We Have Sung Last Week The One About The Power Of The Cross Oh To See The Dawn Of The Darkest Day Christ On The Road To Calvary I Think The Song Really Wonderfully Captures The Awesomeness Of The Awfulness Of Sin But The Awesomeness Of The Work That Christ Did For Us So We'll Sing 11880 Oh To See The Dawn Of The Darkest Day!
[81:42] God See The Dawn! The God Go to See The Dawn Of The Darkest Day Christ On The Road To Calvary Tried By Sinful Men Torn And Leading Then Nailed To A Cross Of World This The Power Of The Cross Christ Became Sin For Us Dumb The Lame Over On We Stand For Given At The Cross Sin Oh To See The Pain Written
[82:42] On Your Face Bearing The Awesome Weight Of Sin Every Bitter Thought Every Evil Eat Crowning Your Blood Stay Grow This The Love Of The Cross Christ Be Name Sing For Us For The Lame For The Wrath We Stand Forgiven At The Cross Now The Day Life Flees Now The Ground Beneath Quakes As Its Baker Bows His Head Curtain Torn In Tomb Dead Are
[83:42] Raised To Life Finish The Lame Tree Cry This The Power Of The Cross Christ Became Sin For Us Took The Blame All The Wrath We Stand Forgiven At The Cross To See My Name Written In The Wounds For Through Your Suffering I Am Death Is Crushed To Death Life Is Mine To Live One Through Your Selfless Love Is The Power Of The Cross
[84:43] Son Of God Save For Us What A Love What A Cost We Stand For Giver At The Cross God God Now let's close our meeting with a prayer.
[85:12] May the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep equip you with everything good for doing his will and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever.
[85:37] Amen. Amen. Well we shall meet face to face before too long but for the time being that's it from me and I say goodbye.
[85:52] Bye bye. desde desde