WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.219 verses 18 through 23. So today just Colossians 2, 16 through 17. I'll read and then pray 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:12.939 and then we'll get into get into the word here. Colossians 2, verse 16. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:20.460 Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:28.080 festival, a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:37.599 The reality, however, is found in Christ. Let's pray. Father, as we get into your word this morning, 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:40.619 would you open our eyes that we would see? Would you open our ears that we would hear? 00:00:42.379 --> 00:00:49.119 Would you soften the soil of our hearts? Would you pierce us with the seriousness of our sins? 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:57.959 Would you strike us with how gracious you've been? Would we accurately see Christ our 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:05.140 Savior in your word this morning? Would we hold fast to him in confidence? In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:11.040 Well, there's some there's some interesting stories in the Old Testament. I don't know if you've ever 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:17.859 sat down and just read the Old Testament. A lot of people will start Genesis and Exodus and then you 00:01:17.859 --> 00:01:23.900 kind of get into Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. And sometimes you find some stories that you just 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:29.719 scratch your head and say, well, that's kind of a weird story. I don't know if you've ever read any 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:35.320 of those. If you've understood all of them completely the first time, then come see me afterwards and I 00:01:35.320 --> 00:01:39.740 will be amazed. Sometimes, though, when I was just reading the scriptures, I would I would read 00:01:39.740 --> 00:01:46.020 something in the Old Testament and say, huh, why would that be in the Bible? If this is if this is God's 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:50.920 word and it is and this is what he's given us and he has, then why are certain things in there? 00:01:51.899 --> 00:01:58.219 In Leviticus 10, we find this this odd story, which I'll just summarize real quick and then we'll get 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:05.079 into Colossians from there. But Leviticus 10, Israel's at the foot of Sinai. They've come out of Egypt. 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:12.979 The tabernacle has been put in place. The Mosaic covenant is in place. The nation is ready to offer 00:02:12.979 --> 00:02:20.579 sacrifices to God as he's prescribed. And then we read in Leviticus 10 that the two men named Nadab 00:02:20.579 --> 00:02:27.560 and Abahu, the sons of Aaron, Aaron being Moses's brother, they offered unauthorized sacrifices before 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:34.060 the Lord, which he had not commanded them. So he's given a list of of sacrifices to offer. 00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:41.679 And he's named Aaron, the priest. And then two of Aaron's sons come to give a sacrifice other than what 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:48.379 God has commanded. And it says in Leviticus 10 to that fire came out from before the Lord and consumed 00:02:48.379 --> 00:02:55.360 them and they died. Then Moses said to Aaron, this is what the Lord has said among those who are near 00:02:55.360 --> 00:03:01.460 me, I will be sanctified. And before all the people, I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. 00:03:02.140 --> 00:03:06.900 And then it goes on from there to say that that God tells them don't mourn their death because 00:03:06.900 --> 00:03:11.960 of how they died. Don't don't mourn them or the wrath of God will come upon the congregation. 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:20.240 And I remember reading that and thinking, that's just that seems so strange. Why is a story like 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:26.500 that in the Old Testament? And we're at the point of Colossians now where Paul's going to start to 00:03:26.500 --> 00:03:33.500 draw from a lot of Old Testament stories and and concepts and and bring them forward into the reality 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:40.680 of what it means to live as God's people in a certain time, in a certain place, namely as his people, 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:47.400 Christians under the new covenant here where he's put us. And so last week we saw Paul use a cultural 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:53.199 example as he spoke of the the slavery of human tradition and magical superstition compared to the 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:58.340 citizenship we have as God's people, that is as Christians. And now this week, Paul's going to start 00:03:58.340 --> 00:04:04.480 making Old Testament references to New Testament realities as he allows the drama of the Old 00:04:04.480 --> 00:04:09.680 Testament to produce the doctrines of the New Testament. OK, and that's important to understand 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:18.040 that the drama of Scripture produces the doctrines of Christian life and the the doctrines of Christian 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:24.560 life are what lead us into doxology or worship. All right. They go hand in hand. So as we see drama 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:29.899 unfold in in the Old Testament in the Gospel narratives in the Book of Acts, then we see the doctrines 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:35.019 coming out of that. That leads us into worship and out of a heart of worship is how we live lives 00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:40.879 of discipleship. And so what we're going to do today is we're going to look at the reality of the shadows 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:47.139 of the Old Testament. And then we'll see the difference between shadows and substance, followed by what it 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:54.259 means to be a people of substance. All this in an effort to fix our eyes on Jesus and and his saving 00:04:54.259 --> 00:04:59.879 grace as we move towards the Lord's Supper. So the reality of shadows, the difference between 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:06.180 shadows and substance and what it means to be a people of substance. First, the reality of shadows. 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:14.199 And we have to remember that that the Bible is is one big story. OK, it's one big story of creation, 00:05:14.899 --> 00:05:22.079 fall, consecration, redemption and consummation. It's one story moving through. But that bigger story 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:29.300 is made up of smaller stories which foreshadow a nearby reality in the bigger story. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:38.360 OK, the smaller stories foreshadow a nearby reality. So if I were to put my hand, if I put my hand in front of the projector, 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:50.280 we see a shadow and the shadow is very much real. Right. It's a real shadow. But the shadow is pointing towards a substance. 00:05:51.860 --> 00:06:00.759 OK, the shadow is not the same as the substance, but it does indicate that there is a substance nearby. 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:07.620 And Scripture does this all throughout the shadows of the Old Testament in the smaller stories. 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:16.300 The shadows point to a nearby reality. And that reality or that substance is Jesus. 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:23.199 So as we work through all these Old Testament stories, Paul says these things are shadows. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:33.839 And the substance is Christ. That's why Jesus says in John 5, you can study the scriptures diligently because you think in them you have eternal life. 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:43.939 But the scriptures testify about him. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. He is the substance. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.719 That all those shadows are pointing towards. 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:56.700 So far, we've seen in Colossians that that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, that he's the Lord of all creation and Lord of new creation, 00:06:56.700 --> 00:07:02.200 that in him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, that by him we have been reconciled into his kingdom. 00:07:02.520 --> 00:07:06.100 He is the full treasure of God's wisdom and knowledge. 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:15.300 And then here in Colossians 2, 16 through 17, Paul says he is the substance that all shadows are from. 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:22.139 And so Paul writes again in verses 16 and 17 in Colossians 2, he says, 00:07:22.280 --> 00:07:34.199 Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a new moon, a celebration, or a Sabbath day. 00:07:34.360 --> 00:07:36.639 So if we pause and we think, what is he talking about? 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:39.160 He's talking about Old Testament shadows. 00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:44.600 He's talking about Old Testament regulations on what you eat and what you drink. 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:47.560 Old Testament religious festivals. 00:07:48.540 --> 00:07:50.079 The new moon celebrations. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:51.879 Actually, the Israelites have added that. 00:07:52.780 --> 00:07:56.420 They've added this whole celebration of the new lunar moon every month. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:58.680 And then Sabbath days. 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:03.660 Several rules have been added to the Sabbath day other than what God originally commanded. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.280 Paul says, Don't let anybody judge you by those things. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.439 Verse 17, These are a shadow of the things that were to come. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.779 The reality is found in Christ. 00:08:17.379 --> 00:08:23.439 What Paul is claiming here is that all of the Old Testament regulations and traditions, again, they're shadows. 00:08:23.899 --> 00:08:25.100 They point to the substance. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:30.720 Just like if I put my hand in front of the projector again, the shadow indicates that there's a substance there. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:33.759 And all of these shadows pointed to Jesus. 00:08:35.220 --> 00:08:45.360 Okay, now the best way that I can think of to illustrate this is to look at one of these today and see where the shadows are and how Christ is the substance. 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:47.279 So I'm going to ask you to turn to Leviticus 16. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:52.899 It's the third book of the Bible, page 118, if you have one of the church Bibles. 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:56.480 And Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. 00:08:59.579 --> 00:09:06.059 And we're going to look at this so that we can more accurately understand why Paul is saying, don't go back to it. 00:09:06.620 --> 00:09:08.360 How it's been fulfilled in Christ. 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:12.539 How the way as Christians is forwards, not backwards. 00:09:12.539 --> 00:09:20.699 And again, we want to see the drama of Scripture produce the doctrines, which from there produces our worship. 00:09:21.439 --> 00:09:25.339 Okay, so Leviticus 16 is the day of atonement. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.399 And it's one of seven original festivals from the Mosaic Covenant. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:46.959 Okay, it's commanded by God to the nation of Israel to be celebrated once per year in order that Israel may have annual purification from sin so that they might remain in God's presence. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:55.500 So biblically ordained by God for the nation for annual purification of sin so they may remain in God's presence. 00:09:55.500 --> 00:10:05.720 And what we're going to see from some of the shadows of this is that sin is far more serious than we tend to realize. 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:08.580 It's far more serious than we tend to realize. 00:10:08.860 --> 00:10:10.700 That's going to be very important going forward. 00:10:11.860 --> 00:10:14.840 It infects both people and places. 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:20.899 And only God gets to decide what the penalty for sin will be. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:23.879 And those concepts are going to be laid out here. 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:26.179 Sin is far more serious than we realize. 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:30.620 And only God gets to decide what the penalty for sin will be. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:37.559 That's what went wrong with Nadab and Abihu that we first looked at. 00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:40.820 They didn't realize how serious their sins were. 00:10:42.100 --> 00:10:45.779 And they thought they could come up with their own way of approaching God. 00:10:46.500 --> 00:10:51.000 They thought they could come up with their own type of dealing with sin. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:52.299 Their own methods. 00:10:53.879 --> 00:10:59.000 Now Leviticus 16, we won't read every verse, but the first few verses here are interesting. 00:10:59.159 --> 00:11:05.179 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:06.860 That's what we referenced at the beginning of the sermon. 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:08.820 And the Lord said to Moses, 00:11:08.820 --> 00:11:19.680 Tell your brother Aaron he is not to come whenever he chooses into the most holy place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark or else he will die. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:23.420 For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:27.960 And this is how Aaron is to enter the most holy place. 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:35.300 And what he's going to give is first he's going to give this description of how purification is made for the priest. 00:11:35.660 --> 00:11:42.139 And that's important to understand that under the Old Testament, under the Mosaic law, the priest had to be purified. 00:11:43.280 --> 00:11:45.840 Again, sin is far more serious than we realize. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:57.700 Even the priest, even the best of the nation, had to have purification for their sins before they could even think of offering a sacrifice for other people. 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:03.080 And so we see these bathing and these clothing things that must occur. 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:06.160 All part of the purification for the priest's sin. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:12.199 As well as the bull that's then sacrificed for the purification of the priest. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.100 Then after that we see purification for the place. 00:12:17.579 --> 00:12:27.740 As you move through verses 14-19, you'll see that there's a way to purify the place in which the priest is working. 00:12:28.959 --> 00:12:31.319 Remember sin, again, it's more serious than we realize. 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:34.500 It affects both people and places. 00:12:34.500 --> 00:12:40.799 And so the tent of meeting, the altar, and the most holy place, they're purified. 00:12:40.919 --> 00:12:44.980 The instruments of redemption, if you will, must be pure. 00:12:45.100 --> 00:12:47.480 Both the priest and the place. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:54.720 And then in Leviticus 16, verses 20-22, we see now there's a purification for the people. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:01.960 With regards to the scapegoat, which is a concept we want to know, a scapegoat, in Leviticus 16-20, 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:09.160 we read that when Aaron has finished making atonement for the holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, 00:13:10.420 --> 00:13:12.139 he shall bring forward the live goat. 00:13:13.180 --> 00:13:19.900 And he's to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites, 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:23.360 all their sins, and put them on the goat's head. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:29.800 He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:37.240 And then verse 22, the goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place, 00:13:37.419 --> 00:13:39.919 and the man shall release it in the wilderness. 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:48.000 And so, on this annual Day of Atonement, the priest is purified. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:50.639 The place is purified. 00:13:52.199 --> 00:13:53.659 Sacrifice is made for the people, 00:13:54.099 --> 00:14:00.779 and then literally all the sins for that entire year are pronounced out loud on the head of this goat. 00:14:00.779 --> 00:14:09.519 And so, if we bring that into today, and we think about what would this look like if we were to even try to do what Paul says not to do and go backwards. 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:13.860 What would it look like to have a Day of Atonement here at Carygoline Baptist? 00:14:13.939 --> 00:14:20.120 We would all go home, we would write down our sins as best we could remember for the entire last year. 00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:26.840 So July 2018 until July 2019, we would sit as a family. 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:30.519 And we'd say, what have we done wrong in the last year? 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:34.700 There's 613 commandments in the Old Testament. 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:38.879 We would probably go through each of them and write out which ones we've done wrong. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:43.980 And then we'd all come together, and after the priest had been purified, 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:46.100 after the place had been purified, 00:14:46.100 --> 00:14:53.240 all those sins would be collected and literally read out loud by the priest onto the goat. 00:14:54.600 --> 00:15:06.899 And we would hear sins of lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, anger, jealousy, pride. 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:09.800 It would go on and on. 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:15.899 We would hear our specific sins read out loud. 00:15:17.060 --> 00:15:20.340 And we'd probably cringe because we would know that was ours. 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:23.980 He's talking about our sin right there. 00:15:25.899 --> 00:15:29.480 And maybe we would have a moment of pride when we thought, oh, I haven't done that one. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:32.100 Then we could already add that to our list for the next year. 00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:40.940 All those sins would be read out loud and pronounced on that scapegoat. 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:46.820 And then someone from the church would take that goat maybe to the cliffs of care. 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:47.780 And a little bit of pride when we thought we'd see small friends here and see running down 00:15:47.780 --> 00:15:48.280 here next time. 00:15:48.280 --> 00:15:48.520 Thank you. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:49.260 We love you. 00:15:49.560 --> 00:15:50.300 We thought we were going to get aroundnor and we think as much as you do, 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:53.460 keeping theetes comportment sempre like to the��를, 00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:07.580 as it does or… 00:16:07.580 --> 00:16:08.600 help us, 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:09.400 in turn, 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:39.379 Thank you. 00:16:39.399 --> 00:17:09.379 Thank you. 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:11.400 Thank you.