The Day of Atonement

[0:00] I'm in Leviticus chapter 16, verse 29 and 30. Hear the word of the Lord. And this shall be a statute forever unto you,! That is in the seventh month and on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or a stranger that sojourneth among you.

[0:28] Verse 34. For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you that you may be clean from all of your sins before the Lord.

[0:39] And God told Moses that the specific day is to be a statute to you forever.

[0:50] Forever. And on that day, you and my people shall afflict your souls. Because on that day, the priest will make an atonement for you.

[1:03] Why? That you may be, as the scripture says, that you may be clean from all of your sins before the Lord. That we may be clean from all of our sins before the Lord.

[1:16] And my title today is the day of atonement. The day of atonement. Lord Jesus, God, I pray, Lord, that this word helps us today. God, I pray, Lord, that your word has free course into our hearts and our minds.

[1:30] And God, that it would strengthen us, that we would learn from your word today, that we would ultimately leave here changed by your word. God, with signs following in our lives, God, as we receive your word into our hearts today.

[1:45] Bless everyone, every hearer today. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. It's hard to do, but if you are able to turn your attention from your own little world, your own little bubble for just a few minutes, and look at the situation of the world around us right now, you might, it wouldn't take you long to realize that the world that we're living in is in bad shape.

[2:14] Evil is seeming to rule the day that we live in. Just in the past few weeks, we see it clearly starting with the assassination of Charlie Kirk on live television.

[2:28] That bold voice for conservative values and principles was silenced. By darkness and evil, killed by a young man whose heart was poisoned by the darkness and evil of the world that surrounds all of us on a daily basis.

[2:49] And from there, the headlines go on, and the last few weeks further paint a dark and bleak picture of the current state of the world.

[3:00] The war in Ukraine that we've forgotten about, that's been raging on for a few years now, is destroying, literally destroying the lives of thousands of young men and women every week.

[3:16] I've seen statistics of 5,000 to 7,000 killed weekly since the war began on average. There's thousands of lives destroyed by darkness and evil.

[3:29] And it continues in the headlines. We see recently an uncovering of a sex trafficking ring of what society would call their elites.

[3:44] Wall Street and the whole nine yards trafficking young people, selling and abusing young souls for profit. The world has lost its senses.

[3:58] The world is dark. It's an evil place. All of the deception and the deceivers, the cons and the con artists, you can't even hardly apply for a job without getting conned out of something.

[4:11] You can't... They con you. They deceive you. There are con artists everywhere. Everywhere you look, there's an increase in lusts and perversions.

[4:22] There's a gender identity crisis. People don't know if they want to be a boy or a girl. And there's death and crime everywhere. We see violence and crime rates of all these major cities around us.

[4:35] The National Guard having to be deployed to Washington, D.C. And all the violence in the world and claiming the lives of people every day. And what it is, it's a mockery of life.

[4:49] The evil and the darkness, the sin of this world, it doesn't value life. It doesn't value your life. It doesn't value my life. It doesn't value Miles' life. It doesn't value any life at all.

[5:02] We live in a world today where the innocent, unborn child is sacrificed on an altar of convenience because a mother becomes pregnant and because it would be an inconvenience to her to birth that human child.

[5:18] They murder the child in abortion. And so a baby is sacrificed on an altar of convenience. And this is the world that we live in today.

[5:29] And it's disgusting. It's evil. It's full of sin. And that's where sin leads us to. And it's darkness. And there's no value to life at all. And there's this spiritual battle that's being waged for the souls of those in this world.

[5:46] And we're part of that spiritual battle. And we too, even though we may have the Holy Ghost and maybe we have been coming to church for a while and our lives seem to have gotten a little better as a result, we still struggle with living in this world on a day in and day out basis.

[6:05] We still have to deal with things. I mean, I can clean my truck really nice and clean. And I can just go about and do the things I have to do, go to work and back or whatever.

[6:15] And I can catch a nail in my tire. And I can get bugs all over my windshield. And I can clean it again and go back to work and come back. And I can have more bugs all over my windshield.

[6:27] That's the way it is in life. We can, there's no way to avoid it. We're just going from doing what we're supposed to do. We could be just doing what we're supposed to do, what we know to do. And life is just going to hit us with things.

[6:39] And it's going to get ugly and it's going to be nasty. And it's because we live in this world, we can't escape it right now. And if God wanted us, I'm off my notes right now, but if God wanted us in heaven right now, then as soon as you would be baptized in Jesus' name and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, you'd be instantly transported into heaven.

[6:59] Amen. Why doesn't that happen? He doesn't want us in heaven right now. He wants us here in this world to be the light to this darkness that's around us in this world. Amen. We're here to be the light. But see, sometimes we can't get past ourselves enough and get out of our little bubble and our little life and look around and say, you know what?

[7:16] There's a world that's dying and going to hell that needs me. And you don't have to look very far. It can literally be in the next room over in your house. It could be your own family.

[7:27] It could be your neighbors. You don't have to look far to find somebody that needs Jesus. Amen. And we have Jesus, don't we? And so we need to learn to get past ourselves and our issues so that we can be a blessing into the world.

[7:41] And so we need atonement. We need atonement. It's now more than ever that we need to live a daily life repented, a repented life separate from the world.

[7:54] And we need to be in good standing with God. And so we need atonement. Atonement is when things are made right with God. When things are made right with God, atonement is a restored relationship with God.

[8:09] Basically, atonement, biblically, has to do with the covering, the forgiveness, the removal of sin through sacrificial offering.

[8:21] Atonement is found in the Old Testament tabernacle and the temple sacrificial systems. When you read, that's what the book of Leviticus, where we open in Leviticus chapter 16, it's all about the priests, the Levites.

[8:33] It was the priesthood and how they would take care of the tabernacle and the temple and all the services that they would perform. That's what the whole book's about. And for us, the New Testament church, atonement is fulfilled through Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

[8:47] But atonement was first taught to us by the way God instructed the Israelites in their tabernacle practices. Sacrifices were offered to cover and make amends for sin, allowing God's people to be reconciled to Him because without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins.

[9:08] Amen. That's what the Bible says. Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins. It takes blood to cover sins because sin is nasty. Sin is dark and evil.

[9:20] Amen. And it was through our disobedience in the garden that caused us to be in this state with God. And it took blood and it took the killing of an animal to cover us and to cover our sin in the garden.

[9:34] It continues. Leviticus 16 and 15. Then shall He kill the goat of the sin offering, that is, for the people, and bring His blood within the veil.

[9:47] They sing about the veil being torn. Within the veil, and do that with blood as He did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat.

[10:01] And He shall make an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel. Because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

[10:14] And because of their transgressions and all of their sins. And so shall He do for the tabernacle and the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

[10:25] Because of their uncleanness. Because of the uncleanness of God's people. Because of their transgressions. Because of their sins. That's why it had to be done.

[10:36] So that the children of Israel, God's people, could be in good standing with God again. Amen. We need to understand that if we are unclean, if we have transgressed the laws of God, we too need to have atonement.

[10:54] Leviticus 16 is a chapter that's full. The whole chapter is all about what the high priest is to do. And what the high priest's duties were.

[11:05] And there's only a verse or two about what we or the other priests are supposed to do. And the day of atonement is not really about us or what we can offer.

[11:18] It's not something that we can do. It's about the high priest on behalf of us. all the other holy days that would come and go.

[11:29] We, as the people of God, would have to bring a sacrifice to the temple or to the tabernacle for the priest to take and sacrifice on our behalf for all the different things.

[11:42] But it's on the day of atonement and still to this day it's celebrated in Israel and the Jews. They call it Yom Kippur. And this day of atonement it was unlike any of the other holy days.

[11:57] In fact, we wouldn't bring anything to the temple for sacrifice. This is the one day of the year that the priest would go into the furthest, deepest part of the tabernacle into the Holy of Holies.

[12:10] There's only one day a year that he got to go into the Shekinah presence and glory of God where that mercy seat was. And that was on the day of atonement.

[12:20] Just one day a year they got to go past that veil into the Holy of Holies with this sacrifice. And the bullock was the sacrifice that the priest would have to bring for himself and for his family and for his household.

[12:36] And there were two goats that they would get. And one would be the sin offering for the people of Israel. So there's the bullock or the bull, the cow that would have to be sacrificed on behalf of the high priest and his household.

[12:53] And then there's a goat that would end up being the sin offering. That's what we were reading about. And that was for the people. See, the people didn't bring it. The high priest provided it.

[13:06] The job of everyone else was to wait on the high priest with faith as he would do his rituals and make those sacrifices and go and put the blood on the pieces of the furniture and go into the Holy of Holies and present God the sacrifice on behalf of the children of Israel.

[13:28] The Jews teach and believe that on the Day of Atonement each of their names is brought before God's heavenly courts by the high priest.

[13:39] In essence, that's what's happening when the high priest would enter into that Holy of Holies and present that sacrifice. Our names are being presented to God inside of His heavenly courts.

[13:54] And the traditional greeting still to this day on the Day of Atonement if you go to Israel this week you'll hear them telling each other may you have a good final seal.

[14:06] May you have a good final seal. What does that mean? May you have a good final seal is an expression of having your name written in the book of life.

[14:19] And this expression is found in the Old Testament and the New Testament in the book of life God has a record of all the names of the righteous who have their place in heaven. The wicked on the other hand the Bible says those without righteousness as described as being blotted out of the book of life and they are going to face God's judgment in the time to come.

[14:44] And still to this day the Jews teach and believe that there is a period of ten days which we're in the midst of right now that's leading to the Day of Atonement which is actually happening tomorrow in which the book of life is opened and for those ten days your life stands in the balance until the Day of Atonement.

[15:05] And so what do we have to do to make it into the book of life? Is it something we can do for ourselves? Is it something that we can earn?

[15:17] There was a Jewish rabbi that was highly respected in the history books of the Jews one of the most respected rabbis in Jewish history and he was laying on his deathbed I read this story this is factual from their history he was laying on his deathbed when he saw his followers it is recorded that he began to cry and his followers said unto him light of Israel pillar of the right hammer of the strong why are you crying?

[15:51] And the rabbi responded now that I am being led before the supreme king of kings the holy one I know that if he is angry with me his anger is eternal if he incarcerates me his incarceration is an eternal incarceration if he kills me his killing is for eternity I am unable to appease him with my words I can't bribe him with money moreover but now I have two that passed before me one the garden of Eden and one is hell and I do not know which way I am going and will I not cry a highly respected priest a rabbi that was considered the light of Israel and all of his followers looking on him on his deathbed see him in this state of uncertainty about his eternal destination when he is facing his exit from this world that would leave them all hopeless

[17:05] I am sure and I don't know about you today but I want to live my life in a way that I know with certainty I know with confidence where I am going when I leave here I need to do what I can I need to understand what I need to do I need to understand what it is that I need to do to live how to live to make sure that I can live with confidence knowing that when I'm on my deathbed I know where I'm going and the only way I can do that is if I live a life of repentance every single day I have to understand that it's my human nature to make mistakes it's my human nature to sin it's my human nature to fail God it's all within my human nature to do that and so every day I need to make sure that I've repented and my heart is right and ready for the day that would come to my end amen and if I come out and be separate from the world and I don't talk like the world I don't look like the world

[18:06] I don't act like the world I don't think like the world I don't stand for the things that the world stands for if I do those things and I read this book and I apply this word to my heart and my life I know that I would experience salvation that I would repent and be baptized in Jesus name and have his spirit inside of me and I know that I can make it out of here amen in righteousness amen and have righteousness and have my name written in the Lamb's book of life amen the scapegoat so there's two goats that they would get like I said the high priest he would get that bull for himself and his family and his household and sacrifice it but then there would be the two identical goats that they would get and one would be the sin offering for the children of Israel and the other would be considered the scapegoat and the high priest would cast lots basically kind of like rolling the dice to see which goat would be the scapegoat and which goat would be the sin offering goat and the one that would become the scapegoat they would tie a red ribbon or a string to its head to indicate that that was the scapegoat and then the high priest would pray over the scapegoat and it would symbolically transfer all the sins this is all in Leviticus chapter 16 you can read it and it would symbolically transfer all of the sins of Israel onto the scapegoat and that scarlet ribbon around the scapegoat's head they would take a piece and they would cut it off and hang it on the door of the tabernacle or the temple and then that scapegoat would be led into the wilderness and it was symbolic that the sins of

[20:13] God's people were being removed from the camp it was about a 10 or 12 mile journey and they would have booth set up along the way at different checkpoints and way points that they this escort it wouldn't be the high priest because he's in the tabernacle or the temple doing his high priest duties but they would have an escort taking this scapegoat out of the camp and they would stop at all these way points along the way to get refreshments or first aid or whatever they would need along their journey 10 or 12 miles to a place that then they would approach a cliff and then push the scapegoat off of the cliff and it was to be carrying all of the sins of Israel's camp with it so that I wouldn't be able to return to them and the high priest in the meantime would be conducting all of his sacrifices and services in the tabernacle and when all this was completed if God would accept the sacrifices of the high priest and the scapegoat the scarlet ribbon hanging at the door would miraculously turn white indicating that the

[21:29] Lord had accepted it all and the people's sins were removed and they were atoned from their sins and the people would celebrate and today now there is no need for these sacrifices and the red ribbon and the scarlet ribbon and the scapegoats because of what God did for us amen what God did for us through the man Christ Jesus Isaiah 1 and 18 says come now and let us reason together say the Lord though your sins be as a scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like crimson they shall be like wool Jesus was our sacrifice and Jesus is our high priest Hebrews 8 and 1 says now of the things which we have spoken this is the psalm we have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of majesty we sing about that today in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle which the

[22:37] Lord pitched and not man this is a tabernacle this is a temple that the Lord put up not built by men for every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man have someone also to offer for if he were on earth he should not be a priest seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law meaning he came for a specific purpose not the traditional things that were needed of a high priest this is a different high priest we're talking about Jesus the Bible says who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things not earthly things as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle for see saith he that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mountain talking about Mount Moriah or I'm sorry Mount Sinai when they left Egypt but now hath obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which was established upon better promises see when

[23:50] Moses led the people out of the Israelites out of Egypt 50 days after the Passover which is the day of Pentecost well we celebrate the day of Pentecost 50 days after the Passover when they were thrust out of Egypt Moses on Mount Sinai receiving the commandments the ten commandments we refer to them as but he also at that time received all of the blueprints to the tabernacle everything you find in Leviticus chapter 16 and all those other things in Leviticus all the priestly duties all the schematics for all the furniture pieces all the rituals they'd have to do he received all that on Mount Sinai 50 days after the Passover and that's where Moses received all those plans for the atonement that we're talking about today and that was God's covenant at that time for his people but like verse 6 says but now has Jesus obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant which is was established upon better promises amen what is he saying the better covenant was prophesied to us amen to Israel and and and ultimately to us through the prophet Jeremiah

[25:11] Jeremiah 31 31 behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt which my covenant they break although I was a husband unto them saith the Lord but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days the Old Testament saith the Lord I will put my law in their inward parts and right in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people so the covenant that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai came with the promise of a greater covenant a covenant that would transform us from the inside not just rituals that we would practice on the outside but something that would transform us on the inside what would that be and Moses gave us a hint in Numbers chapter 11 verse 29 and Moses said unto him envious thou for my sake would God that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the

[26:24] Lord would put his spirit upon them Moses said God I wish you would make all of your people prophets and that you would give all of your people your spirit and that that hope and desire was echoed by Jesus in John chapter 16 verse 7 he said nevertheless I tell you the truth it's expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will send him to you and it was on that day of Pentecost 50 days after the Passover the very same day that God originally gave the original covenant to Moses on Mount Sinai that God fulfilled his promise of a better covenant as he poured out his spirit upon those people in that upper room on the day of Pentecost amen and now today that new covenant that better covenant is available to all of those that believe and are willing to receive the promise of the Holy Ghost amen amen the whole point what I'm trying to tell you here today is that we are sinners by nature and we need atonement and the way we're going to have atonement and that new covenant is to have the

[27:39] Holy Ghost amen we have to have the Holy Ghost it has to be refreshed it has to be renewed in our lives every single day in order for us to make it amen the Holy Ghost is not just something you receive once and then you don't experience that anymore we have to have the Holy Ghost every day amen Jesus Christ was our sacrifice and he was our high priest and when he died as that sacrifice that veil that separated the Holy of Holies it tore at the temple because the way into God's presence was now open to everyone and the way God was going to make it open to everyone is that his spirit would be able to dwell within us amen we are the new tabernacle we are the new temple amen that the the Holy of Holies is supposed to be within us and within our inward hearts amen and that law and those ritual practices that were written in the book and given to Moses this new covenant is supposed to be written upon our hearts amen and now his spirit his presence it abides with us we are the new temples of God and we don't have to travel to Jerusalem and we don't have to go to a tabernacle somewhere and make sacrifices for sins to atone for our sins we don't have to stand outside of the presence of God while just a select few priests or a high priest gets to go and experience the presence of God amen but Jesus is our high priest amen and it's his spirit that's within us amen every day every hour every minute and God hears us and forgives us when we confess our sins to him amen and ask for his forgiveness and when we repent of our wicked ways and our things that we know displease him as soon as we can make ourselves come to the point of repentance amen we get atonement instantly the rituals already been taking place the high priest

[29:44] Jesus our high priest has already gone in and he's been our mediator through his sacrifice amen Hebrews 7 and 24 says but this man because he continueth ever Jesus is living forever Jesus forever has an unchangeable priesthood wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them for such a high priest became us for such a high priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners and made higher than the heavens who needed not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice first of his own sins and then for the people remember the high priest had to do for his own sins the bull and then for the people with the goat and Jesus doesn't have to do that for this he did once when he offered up himself the bible says amen the perfect sinless man

[30:49] Christ Jesus died for us and he became our high priest amen and he is our mediator and he is the one that's making intercession for us lord jesus god i thank you lord i thank you jesus for being our mediator god i thank you jesus for being our high priest and our sacrifice amen amen let's all stand this week right now the the jews all across the world are observing yom kippur the day of atonement and all across the world jews!

[31:28] all across the world right now jews! are repenting and they're greeting each other saying may you have a good final seal and so today the day of atonement i pray may you all have a good final seal hebrews 927 says and it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment so christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time amen we have to be looking for christ every single day amen we have to be looking for the second coming looking for him to to appear amen are you looking for him every day is it on your mind do you think about it do you live a life of daily repentance do you think about that do you make sure that you're in good standing with

[32:54] God every day are you anxiously waiting anticipating the second coming even though that that famous rabbi dedicated his whole life to God and climbed all the ladders in his religion at the end of the day he didn't know where he was heading on his death bed it's not our own strength that is going to get us there it's not anything that we can really do it's just a decision that we have to make that's really all it is for us is a decision and the work is done already all we have to do is decide all we have to do is decide and if we decide that we do want his mercy and we do want his grace and we just ask for it and if we're able so I mean we're our egos are so big we walk around and act like we didn't do anything wrong but if you really compare your life to this book right here the bible says that we're all sinners and we all fall short of the glory and we all need the forgiveness of

[34:14] God and if we say we're not sinners then we're liars that's what the bible says and the truth isn't in us we have to recognize every single day that no I can't!

[34:26] do it on my own no I don't have the strength no I don't have the wisdom no I'm not perfect I make mistakes I fall I fail God amen but if we can be quick to repent in the same way that God turned that scarlet ribbon from crimson red to white as snow God has made a way for us through our faith and if we repent if we already experienced baptism and the water and the spirit all we have to do now is just repent and it's something that we have to do every day we have to live a life of repentance there's nothing for us to do other than to repent and turn to God and our high priest Jesus Christ does everything else there's no burden on us other than the sin that we choose to carry when we don't have to the sin in darkness it's heavy it's a heavy load and we don't have to carry it it's depressing sin is depressing it's darkness it's burdensome yet we choose to carry it and we think we can have the strength to to get by without fully repenting but all we have to do is give it to

[36:08] God and stand back and let our high priest do his job have his role in our lives and let him intercede for us through the sacrifice that God did through Jesus let that high priest work for us let that sacrifice be what we need all we have to do is ask for God's forgiveness and he's faithful and he's just and he's quick to forgive if we truly in our hearts really want forgiveness so today if this word spoken to you in in any way if it's helped you understand the fact that we really need God and we can't do it alone and every single day we need to make a conscious decision to repent and make sure I mean before we go to bed or whenever find a time to

[37:13] God forgive me today I was sharp I said some things I didn't need to say I I responded to some things in a way I didn't need to respond that way and see the thing is about our high priest God he robed himself in flesh came to this earth and he was tempted and he was tried in every possible way anything that we would be tempted by he was tempted by when we face things in life he faced those things in life he was outcast he was persecuted he was falsely accused he was murdered he was beaten and murdered he was he was despised he was ashamed he was broken he was he was stripped naked embarrassed in front of people

[38:15] God allowed himself to go through all that and so he everything that we could possibly experience in life betrayals whatever it is God's experience that he knows what it's like to be human he's not separate some God that's separate and can't relate to us he knows he's quick to forgive us he understands he understands that we're not God we only have we only have an earnest of the spirit we didn't have the spirit without measure like Jesus did he knows we're going to fail all he wants is us to be able to recognize that we need atonement that we need him and if we can do that amen we're going to make it our name is going to be!

[39:04] the Lamb's Book of Life he's going to be our mediator he's going to stand in the heavenly courts and mediate for us and our names will be in the Lamb's Book of Life amen before we leave let's let's just connect with God think about think about the words that were said today think about the word of God let it penetrate!

[39:24] your hearts!