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Saints within the veil and raise your happy song. Your joys can never, never fail. For you to Christ belong, oh happy Saints, forever freed.
From guilt and every care, dwell. Dwell with your exalted head and let your life be there.
#217.
Our place within the veil.
Hebrews, chapter 10.
For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of things, can never with those sacrifice which they offered year by year, continually make the comers thereunto perfect for them, were they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers once purged should have no more conscience of sins. But in no sacrifice there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Or it is not possible that the blood of bulls enough goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not.
But a body has all prepared me, and burnt offerings and sacrifice for sin.
I had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, and in the volume of the book is written of me to do thy will, O God above, when he said, sacrifice, and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, Thou wouldest not, neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, he taketh away the 1St, that he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified to the offering.
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Of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all, every priest standeth daily, ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting until his many enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Where the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us for after thee he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after these those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts and in their minds while I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now we're a remission of these is there is no more offering for sin, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.
My new and living way, which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.
Having a high priest over the House of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith.
Having a heart sprinkled from the evil conscience, and our bodies forced with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. For He that's faithful that promise, let us consider one another to provoke unto love.
And to good works not forsaking the assembling ourselves together as a matter of some, is but exhorting one another so much the more, as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for a of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despise Moses Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.
Of how much sore punishments disclose, ye shall be thought worthy, who had trotted under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith He was sanctified a holy thing, and has done despite under the spirit of grace. For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. But call to remembrance the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions, partly while you were made against them, both by reproaches and affections, partly wise you became companions of them that were so used. For you had compassion of me, and my bonds took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have.
In heaven a better and an enduring substance. That's not a way. Therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise for yet a little while. And he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the judge shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto petition.
But of them that believed to the saving of the soul.
When Adam sinned, he was put out.
God's presence prior to Adam disobeying God and sinning. God would be with Adam. He would come down and visit him and they would have fellowship together.
But after his disobedience he was put out of the garden, and the entry to the garden to God's presence to meet him there, was broken, and he could not approach God in his sinful condition.
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In the way that he had before. And so later on when God established a relationship with the people of God through Abraham and his family, leading on to the days of Moses, Moses said to the Lord, well, we're going to go from Egypt to Canaan, but we're not. We don't want to go. I don't want to go unless you go with us.
And so the Lord said, I'll go with you. And he established a.
Tabernacle in the wilderness, where his presence was to be among the people.
But and also sacrifices were established for them, but they still couldn't approach God.
The people came to the door with their sacrifice, but they didn't go in. They weren't allowed into the presence. And later on the priests themselves served in the outer room of the Tabernacle, but the inner one, that where the presence of God was represented by the ark, no one went. God, man as he was, could not approach God.
And so.
Aaron, the high priest, once a year, he went in with fear and trembling and probably was very glad when he got to go back out, uh, after fulfilling his annual responsibility. And so we learned from Hebrews that the way into the presence of God in a way that was holy and acceptable to God didn't exist under the law of Judaism.
In this chapter that we enter into shows us in the previous chapter that lays the foundation for it.
Says now there is a way through the Lord Jesus Christ and his work that God can say to us, Now you come near, you approach me, and you can come into my presence, and we can have fellowship together as I wish, and you can do so without fear.
As it says, let us verse 22 is where it leads the chapter leads us to is let us draw near with a true heart and the full assurance of faith and so God had through the Lord Jesus and as the book of Hebrews develops for us has made a way in which we can come into his most holy presence.
In without fear and have fellowship with him there.
With Thanksgiving, with common interest and joy in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so on. And this chapter is giving us, you might say, the last step in explaining to us how it is that we are at liberty now to come into the presence of God and ultimately will live there. And that's that's a step beyond even what we have now to enjoy in spirit and in truth. But we will also look forward to.
The coming day when we'll dwell in God's presence and glory.
Class of people that have this privilege done? Or is this uh.
For like it was in the Old Testament, just certain ones.
Body and everybody who is redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
Cool. I think that's so amazingly wonderful.
There is no special class. We are all priests, brothers and sisters alike, and when we pray or when we praise the Lord.
Might be in assembly meetings, or it might be at our home or wherever we are exercising our priesthood.
Like Don says, that applies to every true believer.
I I just an exercise, brethren, when I see in these conferences sometimes somebody, dear young people here, thank God for them being here. I'd sure love to see you stand up and pray you young people, or praise the Lord or give out of him. It belongs to you. It's not a matter of age or experience.
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But it is being led by the Spirit of God to be exercised to be led by the Spirit of God.
So be exercised as you sit in meetings. It doesn't mean that you will always take part. But this chapter really deals with that question. And there's a tendency this book was written to the Hebrews or the Jewish people.
And there is no author mentioned.
In fact, it's the only book in the Bible that starts with the word God.
That interesting?
God and you have an apostle in chapter 3, but it's not the Apostle Paul that we think probably wrote this epistle. I would guess that maybe because of the prejudice of the believers in Jerusalem towards Paul that he suffered not to put his name on the epistle.
That's a a suggestion. I don't know, maybe there is other thoughts about that but.
The Jewish people have like Don was showing that in Israel there was only one tribe of the 12 tribes, the tribe of Levi that was appointed to the service of God. Of that one tribe only one family.
Could enter into the holiest or into the holy place.
And of that one family, only one person only once a year could go into the very.
Immediate presence of God.
But now look at this. Don's mentioned verse 22, but let's look at verse 19.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness.
To enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. That's a strong word.
Boldness.
Oh brother, if we would appreciate properly what the work of Christ has done for us in the presence of God.
I don't think I have to say for myself, I only can only confess for myself, but I don't believe we appreciate properly that wonderful privilege of going right into the immediate.
Presence of God in praise and in prayer.
And the Jewish people had that idea that certain ones had that privilege.
Today in Christian circles.
The same principle, they want to apply it again. It's called in our day, the clergy.
There's certain ones that that qualify, others don't.
You have to stay further at a distance.
And I fear we profess, brethren, that we don't hold that those principles, but I fear that sometimes we fall into that tendency.
The Lord help us exercise this that we would enjoy and appreciate and I think the truth of this chapter we can go through it briefly gives us to understand the wonderful privilege that is ours of coming.
Right into the presence of God, you know, God is a personal God. He's a God that communicates.
And that's why he wants us there in his presence. That wonderful.
It Moses had to say, so great was the sight thereof, that I exceedingly fear and quake. And it tells us that if a beast so much has touched the side of the mountain, they were slain. And we might read that and say, Well, I could never stand by Moses. Moses, that great servant of God, raised up to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness. Moses, who is so often a picture of Christ to us in the Old Testament.
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I could never stand by him. But isn't it wonderful, brethren, that we don't come into the presence of God or the presence of the Lord Jesus with fear? I remember a brother one time praying at a conference like this on Lord's Day morning, and he mentioned that we came into the presence of the Lord with fear and trembling. But when someone spoke to him afterward, he thought very clearly, We don't come into the presence of the Lord with fear and trembling.
If there's something on our conscience, we're not going to be comfortable if there's unjudged sin. But when sin is judged, we come into the presence of the Lord, as we've been saying, with confidence and holy boldness.
And I think of the high priest when he went into the holiest of all on the great Day of Atonement.
As was already said, I doubt it was ever with a feeling of real confidence.
As he entered that dark room, behind the veil, in the thick cloud, in the presence of God, I'm sure that he was going over in his mind, had everything been done properly? Had the animal been slain properly? Did he have the blood with him and all those things? It was, I don't believe ever with a feeling of real confidence, but just to get a little further context as to what we have here, we know in the book of Hebrews, it's a book of contrasts.
God often teaches us by contrast, and that's what we have in this chapter, isn't it?
If we were to go back and to begin at the beginning, we would find that the apostle, the writer, takes up every part of that which they had under the Jewish or Levitical order of things in the Old Testament.
He takes up the question of angels. The law was given by the dispensation of angels.
And angels played a very important part as God's messengers in the Old Testament and with God's earthly people.
He takes up the question of Moses. He takes up the question of Aaron and his sons.
The Levitical priesthood, the worldly sanctuary, the building of God on earth where he dwelt amongst his people.
But here he take the old covenant, but here he takes up the question of the sacrifices.
And we're going to notice as we go through these verses that there's a contrast now, the law with a shadow of good things to come as our chapter opens up.
And those things that were laid down by God in the Old Testament.
For his earthly people, Israel, they were good and right and proper in their place.
And they were given by God, but they were only a shadow of what was really in the mind and heart of God.
And though the priests and the Levites and the children of Israel in the Old Testament.
Didn't understand it fully or see it clearly. The sacrifices that were offered from day-to-day and year to year.
Spoke to the heart of God of what was coming when His Son.
Would go to the cross and offer himself as that supreme sacrifice. And every offering offered in a different way, and different things had to be done with different offerings, and so on. We go back and we see it in the light of the revelation of the New Testament, and we see how those things correspond with various aspects of the person and work of Christ. Because, brethren, we have an intelligent service in Christianity.
That's what marks Christianity. But in the Old Testament, why did they carry out these sacrifices and do these things according to the way God established it? Well, if you had asked a priest, well, why do you do this? And why, when it's the bird, do you have to pinch the head off and the crop and the feathers have to be said? I don't know exactly, but this is the way God has ordained it. And we saw what happened to Nadab and Abihu when they didn't follow.
God's instruction and they were slain at the altar, and there's stiff penalties, even death.
Connected with not carrying it out. They couldn't have told you exactly why, because theirs was not an intelligent service and to some degree it was motivated by fear. Who? Through fear of death.
Where their whole lifetime subject to *******. But brethren, isn't it wonderful, as Bob said, that we can see it all now in the light of Christianity and to see that that shadow of good things to come is our It's pictures and illustrations that help us to understand very clearly what we have in the person and work of Christ and what our position and relationship is now to God and to the Lord Jesus.
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And we get the doctrines in the New Testament, but those pictures and shadows are very wonderful, but they never made the commerce perfect. They never brought a person into the relationship and nearness to God and to the Lord Jesus that you had in the Old Testament.
Perhaps we should refer to the 16, which is the, the Day of Atonement. I wouldn't want to, uh, uh, I just want to remind us of it. I don't want to, it's a long chapter and there's a lot of detail in it, but umm, what we have is, uh, the 9th chapter and the 10th chapter refers back to the.
Day of Atonement In the 9th chapter we have UMM reading from verse 6.
Now when these things were not ordained, the priest went always into the first Tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God, but into the second, when the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the errors of the people. Now notice this. What happened there was the high priest. If you go back to Leviticus 16, he had to go into the holy place twice.
He had to go in with a great big offering, a Bullock for his own sins.
Because until he dealt with his own sins, there could be no question of him acting as an intercessor for the people of God. He had to go in and deal with his own sins. And so we find in that, according to that seventh verse, the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself. That was the first time he went in. And then he came out again. And then he went in and offered the goat for the, the, the people. Now in contrast to that we have.
But Christ being come, I read from the 11Th verse, and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and cars, but by His own blood He entered once.
Into the holy place. Why did he not have to enter twice? He didn't have to deal with his own sin. So we have the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ contrasted with the failure of the old dispensation insofar as it was weak through the flesh. The high priest had to go in twice to deal with his own sins. First, the Lord Jesus Christ went in once and we get that term once, three times in this passage, the 9th and 10th, because we get it again in the in chapter 10 as we've read.
Verse 10 we will first of all we then we have the the.
Once again, a reference back, I believe, to the great Day of Atonement, for in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins every year. If I can turn back to Leviticus.
Leviticus 16 so I can find the chapter verse Leviticus 16.
Verse 21.
An errand shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. So here again this the.
The same question has to be thoroughly dealt with. Everything has to be enumerated in the presence of God. And so we have that. There's a there's in those sacrifices, there's a remembrance made of sin every year, and it happened once a year.
We have.
Then said, Hey lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me. He takes away the 1St, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
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So in the 9th chapter we advance contrasted with twice. Here once is contrasted with something that can be done every year. Then last of all, of course, there was a problem with the ecclesiastical the the levitical economy. The day after the the great Day of atonement, I could sin.
What would happen then? Well, according to the 4th of Leviticus, there was a sin offering to be offered. And that's what I believe we have in verse 11 and every priest standard daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God and verse 14 for by one offering he had perfectly forever then sanctified. I like Mr. Darby's.
Translation there. I think it's perfected in perpetuity. Then that are sanctified so we get the Lord Jesus Christ contrasted with.
Once contrasted with twice, once contrasted with once a year and once.
Contrasted with the many, many sacrifices of the Old Testament times, in every way the person of the Lord Jesus Christ exceeds that which there was no doubt very valuable to the godly Jew. But the Lord Jesus Christ, in His excellence of His sacrifice, exceeds all that the Jew could enjoy through.
Through the the whole what the Holy Spirit had given to them at that time.
That's beautiful. Yeah, that it is. All those Old Testament figures were shadows.
But the Lord Jesus came, and he was the glorious reality.
That's why in the book of Hebrews you have apostasy addressed.
An apostasy is after the Lord Jesus had come the glorious reality.
And there were Jewish people that joined into the movement. There were so many thousands that were being converted.
They joined in, but then they went back again to their system of religion, which was in effect a negation of the efficacy of the work of the Lord Jesus. Extremely serious sin. For an apostate. There is no salvation.
So it's it's serious. This is God's answer to the same question.
And so it is so important to understand it and to enjoy it. And I just want to say to young people, seek to get an understanding of it. Let it sink down into your hearts and enjoyment because that's what's going to give you liberty to go into God's presence and praise and in prayer.
And just like to say that.
All these things are beautiful in the Old Testament. We go back like Jim said, we see the figures back there, but we don't go back to the figures. We might go back there and read them and enjoy how they reflect some of the perfection of the person and work of the Lord Jesus, but we don't go back to the sacrifices.
And that's important.
Sometimes say.
Shadow is something that is cast by the sun that shows that there is an object near.
Sometimes give the illustration to my Latin brethren. Suppose he and I have told my wife I'm coming home a certain day.
And it's getting close to the time when I should be home, and all of a sudden she sees a shadow coming across the porch.
What do you think she's going to do?
Come out and examine the shadow? I don't think so.
She's going to grab on to the reality.
Oh brother, the glorious reality has come. Do we appreciate it properly?
I'd like to use another illustration in that regard, because I think it's important and I was glad Brother David went back to the Old Testament.
To give us some of the picture that helps us to understand what we have in our in our chapter and here in the book of Hebrews.
Because we want to be careful and not give the impression that the Old Testament pictures and shadows are not important for us today. They're the illustrations, as we've been saying, that help us to understand what we have as to that which has been fulfilled in Christ. I just say in passing too, that you have in Hebrews the word better 13 times. That's a lot of times, isn't it? Brother David mentioned a couple of them, but thirteen times in contrast.
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And So what we have in the Old Testament where pale reflections and foreshadows, as we've been saying, of what was in the heart of God. But I sometimes illustrated it this way because when I was engaged to the one who later became my wife, there were several months between our engagement and our marriage, and there were many miles between us. I lived in Smiths Falls and my wife was from Newfoundland and back 30 years ago, travel wasn't as prevalent in communication wasn't as.
Easy as it is today. And so there was AI had a large photograph on my desk in my room of the one who had promised to be my wife. And for those months between the engagement and the marriage, that photograph, that picture assumed a very important role in my life because I believe, if I remember correctly, between the engagement and the marriage, I only saw my wife, my fiance, once.
And when we talked on the phone in those days, you had to wait till after midnight when the rate dropped and you made sure it was well after midnight and it was different time zones. And even then you timed it and you didn't talk too long because it was expensive.
And so this photograph assumed a very important part of my life. But suppose after we were married, you came to my home.
And you found me more occupied with the photograph than the one who was now with me as my wife.
Oh, you'd say. That's very strange. You'd say, Jim, you have, if I can put it this way, you have the real thing now. This is just a picture now. You have your wife with you. Now, you'd also be surprised if after the marriage I had torn up the picture, thrown it away or put it through the shredder. No, the picture is still valuable to me. I still have the photograph. And it still is on my shelf in my in my room. But perhaps that helps us in a feeble way to understand what we're talking about.
The types and shadows, the pictures are still important. We don't go back and keep the sacrifices and the rites and ceremonies of the Levitical or Mosaic Law. No, we have the better thing now. But it's important. And I want to encourage all of us go back and read the Old Testament, go over those sacrifices, those offerings, and there's some very helpful books that Bible truth carries.
That help us to have an insight into those offerings in relationship to what we have now in the New Testament as to the person and work of Christ. So the Old Testament is important for the pictures and illustrations.
But we have it all fulfilled in Christ, the glorious sacrifice.
And remember this, the sacrifices in the Old Testament are plural. But when it comes to the sacrifice of the New Testament, the one who was in God's thoughts and mind all through those, the Old Testament of which those sacrifices were but feeble foreshadows, it's singular. We're going to find by one offering he has perpetrated forever them that are sanctified, and he's offered himself as the supreme sacrifice.
And God will never now require another sacrifice as He did in the Old Testament.
Toge today about the law.
And that means people who are not safe.
They right away come up with the 10 commandments.
And we know that all those of us who came out to systems, they experienced the same thing.
But we also know that God gave the 10 commandments when they were in the wilderness and they needed something to go by. So He called up Moses up into the mountains to give them 10 commandments, which are called the 10 words.
And Moses spent 40 days up there.
When he came down with it immediately had to break the tablet with the 10 loss or the 10 commandments.
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So God was.
Very gracious. He is very gracious.
After proper retribution had been made as to the evil, he sent Moses up again.
Into the mountain and give them the same loss.
Only.
He had to chisel him in there.
But they were the same laws that he gave them, and Moses took them down.
But what happened?
They were too much permitted.
With what they had learned in Egypt, idolatry.
Idolatry came in instead of studying and finding out what God really wanted them to do by giving them the 10 words.
They forgot immediately, forgot all about it and started idolatry making a golden calf.
And from there on, we see that God gave him more things to hold, like the seven feasts. We all like feasts and we have usually a, a, a picnic and something like that. And there's nothing wrong with that.
But why did he do that, given more things to hold? Because that's what people want. They want to have something to do.
While they are waiting, what's going on and.
Is their life further? And God fast said he gives them more things to do, but it always comes back to idolatry. Go back to idolatry.
Worship their own gods, worship their own ways.
And many people know that, that it went on and on until to the the Ferris came in and they had, I guess 611 or more commandments set up. And the Lord Jesus never addresses that kind of a thing.
When they asked him, By what authority does thou do these things, The things which he did in the temple when he drove out the merchants?
And they asked him, who gave you the authority to do these things? He just asked that one question.
And that question again.
Concerned.
What? John the Baptist?
Had brought in.
Which was directly from God.
But they would not respond to that. They would, they would not respond to that. What God has brought in.
They wanted to keep their own ways and they got the results of that.
And we still have that same thing going on today.
Our own will sin.
That thing has to be done away with.
And we had heard a lot about that, how that is done.
In verse two we have the expression the worshippers.
The worshippers, that is, those who are going to approach God.
To worship and to present the Lord Jesus Christ to God. And so I'd like to go back in connection with that expression, the worshipper to John's Gospel, chapter 4, when the Lord Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well.
And.
He says to her.
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John chapter 4 and verse 22 you worship, you know not what.
We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews, but the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such.
To worship him.
It's important, brethren, to understand that God has chosen you to an occupation called worship.
You, you might, someone says to you. What's your occupation?
Well, I'm a a banker or a farmer or a retiree or something or other. I'm a student.
But have you ever answered somebody? Well, God gave me the occupation of being a worshipper.
We are, and it's a one of the most important occupations that any of us will ever be occupied with.
In the children of Israel.
As has already been mentioned.
11 tribes didn't have anything to do with that occupation.
The 12Th tribe, only a very small fraction of it, was directly involved in the sense of presenting anything to God from the door of the Tabernacle onward. Why?
Because as it presents it to us here in the 10th chapter, they couldn't, they weren't fit for their occupation. Have you ever presented yourself for a job or an occupation of something and someone says to you, well, what are your qualifications?
For this job, This job requires certain qualifications. Well, what are yours?
Well, I don't have any.
Sorry, we'll have to find somebody that's qualified to do the work that we need done.
Sometimes we incorrectly disqualify ourselves, which seems to be part of Bob's exercise in taking this matter up. We incorrectly disqualify ourselves from being suited to the occupation for which we have been called.
And in the chapter we have it presented to us as the Old Testament case was they came those that were chosen of God for that particular responsibility.
But to approach God, you must approach Him.
Without sin.
And the Levite and has already been brought even all the way up to the High Priest.
I can't approach God. I've got my sins.
And the provision was made in the picture, the shadow of the Old Testament to deal with such a case. But as to the individual.
Even.
Aaron or anyone else that came to present something.
As scripture calls it, worship for them. Anyone that came to present it, he had to do so without a purge. Conscience, that is. Has Have you ever been responsible for something and your conscience is bothering you because you know there's something not quite right?
I very well remember one time when I did something wrong in my own household as a child and I was approaching the dinner table and I was afraid that my father, my mother were going to discover.
What it was that I had done and my conscience was guilty. And so and yet I approached uh Sharon, the fellowship of the meal with about conscience.
And sometimes it is with us. We say, well, what right do I have to approach God in this chapters showing us in the very beginning of it actually that while they didn't couldn't approach with a clear conscience, purge conscience. We can we can and we should properly, unless there's a an unconfessed sin in our life to approach unto God with perfect liberty and say I can worship.
00:50:07
I can fulfill the occupation that God has chosen for me. I can present the Lord Jesus to him with liberty, with joy.
Because the Lord Jesus has removed the whole matter of sin between God and myself and said that when I see you, I see you and the Lord Jesus Christ and I see you and all the value of his work. And in that I see you as perfect and you may approach me and we don't have to talk about sin in that approach. You approach me and we were and you may worship, you may fulfill. There's been the whole time on this, but it's it's the point is God seeks worshippers and you're one of them if you're the Lords.
And he has fitted you with the proper robes of salvation. He has removed the issue of sin from the approach. And now he says, come near and worship. Fulfill what I've chosen you to be. God seeks worshippers.
I mean, all of us can work there every day. We're not just time together here. We can worship God whether it be driving in our car or in our room alone at night. It says in chapter 13 by him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise, conduct to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. And so when the door in heaven is opened in Revelation four and five, what do we see them engaged in?
Worship and praise to the One who alone is worthy.
The law was given by Moses for grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And so those offerings in Leviticus one through 5 we see them fulfilled. And Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the trespass offering, the sin offering, the peace offering, the burnt offering.
We see those pictures in the Gospels, and so in Luke 24, when Jesus himself drew near and went with the two on the road to Emmaus, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures that things concerning himself it says in verse 7.
And the volume of the book it is written. You can take every single book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
And we can see the revelation of Jesus Christ, the reflection of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find in Genesis chapter 3 that He came to Adam in the cool of the day. In Genesis chapter 18, He came to Abraham.
In the heat of the day, in the afternoon in in Genesis chapter 32, he wrestled with the Angel of the Lord, wrestled with Jacob until the break of day. So whether it's the cool of the day or the heat of day or until the break of day, First Corinthians one and nine says we are called into fellowship of God and his Son Jesus Christ.
And so in John 21, when the disciples went fishing and they couldn't catch any fish, and he told them to turn their net on the other side, and their Nets were full and they came to the shore. He had the coals, he had the fish, he had the bread. He said come and dine.
He wanted fellowship with disciples. It was the third time that he appeared to them, not just once or twice. It was the third time there. And so there he communed with his disciples there on the shore after his resurrection. And so the heart of God for his children is to commune with us, to have fellowship with us, and we can return worship and praise and adoration to the one who alone is worthy. Sometimes it's been said, and it's helpful that we worship God for who he is.
We praise Him and thank Him for what he has done and it is amazing. That's why in that verse that uh Don read in John chapter 4, it says that worship is in spirit and in truth. It's the Spirit of God that opens up to us who God is.
Oh, the amazing.
Wonder of the fact that we can know God through the Lord Jesus. And in truth, according to the revelation that we have now in the Old Testament, the revelation of who God was was not complete as it is now in the person of the Lord Jesus. We have the complete revelation of who God is. And so we can revel, brethren, we can enjoy.
We can praise Him, We can worship Him for who He is.
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Oh, the wonder of it, the the amazing privilege of worshipping God.
In this chapter, I'd like to show here twice.
4 sacrifices are mentioned in verses 5 and six the first time, and then in verse eight again it mentions the same four. They are the basic sacrifices of Leviticus.
Notice it says sacrifice. That's the sacrifice of peace Offerings of Leviticus, chapter 3.
And offering. That's the meal offering of Leviticus chapter 2.
And burnt offerings, that's Leviticus chapter one. And sacrifices for sin, that's chapters in Leviticus chapter four and five, perhaps where we have the trespass offering. But in general it's the four offerings. And in those four offerings the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross is figured. Sacrifice of peace offerings was a communion offering.
Where there was part of the animal that was sacrificed, taken and burnt on the sack on the altar for God, and then the rest of the animal was for the people to eat. You remember on the dedication of the temple.
Solomon offered sacrifices of peace offerings because all Israel had congregated there. 22,000 bullocks.
120,000 sheep were slain for that, offering incredible amounts of animals.
Because it was for the people to enjoy that sacrifice. And I love to think rather than that is our privilege. Tomorrow when we come together into the Lord's presence, we're enjoying the same person that God enjoys, has enjoyed forever, but especially displayed in the work of Calvary, so you and I can have fellowship with God.
About his son wonderful privilege and then the meal offering was not anything connected with blood, but it signifies the.
Complete perfection of the Lord Jesus and his humanity. And in that sacrifice the high priest took a handful of that meal and put it directly in the fire.
Because that we complete.
Perfect.
Was evident even on the cross.
In the midst of the fire.
Beautiful meditations, brother.
And then it says burned offerings, The burnt offering was something that was for God. It was all consumed for God. The only thing that the sacrificer could take away from the burnt offering was the skin of the offering. But the whole animal was consumed in a certain way, like somebody has said before, that then it helped. To me we say Christ died for our sins. That's the sin offering.
But Christ died for God, brethren.
That's the burnt offering, and they're both very true, very important.
But how, in a practical way, do you explain people now what worship is?
The so-called churches all got to sign out worship meeting at such and such a time.
And when you tell them, well, we have a rebirth at the breaking of bread, well, what is that truly asked, Well, what is that? How do you do that? We come together, we praise the Lord Jesus Christ and in doing that.
We do that what he requested from us to remember him in his death.
But how you do that? Well, we do it just the way, simple way of bringing bread and bringing wine. Put it there and partake of it.
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Yeah, that sounds good, but that isn't done today anymore.
Well, where are you going to tell them about? Start doing it.
Is that going to help you?
Yes, it would be right.
But we have a pamphlet. So we have several pamphlets. They explained with many pages what worship is. I have them to I read them.
And I understand them.
But you can't just give him a pamphlet and tell him how you read that pamphlet.
And a couple of weeks later, you you meet him again. Did you read it? They say no, didn't read it.
It see the scripture about the glories of the person of the Lord Jesus.
Perhaps afterwards he praises the Lord for it. And that's the way we worship. It's led by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the worship leader. So often you hear about men that are appointed or worship leaders. There already is a worship leader, brethren. It's the Spirit of God and we wait for him to guide. Somebody may give out of him. And it's beautiful to think of our hymn book, brethren.
Lot of hymns that are worship hymns I like to think of if you look at 150 and that hymn, of course nothing is the void of the work of Christ, but that hymn really speaks majorly of the glories of the person of Christ. Not much about his work so much as his person. That's a worship him, but there's so many hymns that have.
Lots of worship in them. So through that means we worship, didn't you say, Jim?
Important to see too, that we are only collectively what we are individually, and if there isn't an appreciation of the person and work of Christ in our souls, an occupation with himself individually during the week, there's not going to be that collective worship that he desires. Because I think maybe you or someone else said that worship springs from an appreciation in our souls.
Of the person of Christ, based on the work that he accomplished at Calvary's cross.
And why is it, brethren, so often we come on Lord's Day morning and we might read some scriptures. We can even give out some hymns and sing them.
But why is it that there often doesn't seem to be in our souls that worst true worship that He desires in spirit and in truth?
I suggest, brethren, that it's because we have an individually been in the enjoyment of the Person of Christ during the week, walking in His presence, enjoying communion with Him.
Reading our Bibles, having Christ before our souls from the word of God.
And if I can just make a very practical remark in that regard, brethren, it is too late on Lord's Day morning, as we're getting ready for meeting, to try to conjure up some feelings of worship and praise in our soul if we haven't been occupied with the person of Christ during the week. And I know that there are many things that take our minds and occupation during the week that are necessary to survive in the workaday world in which we find ourselves. But, brethren, there are many things that the enemy uses.
To keep us too, in our free time, from enjoying the person and work of Christ.
Now in the Old Testament, worship was connected with the natural man to a great degree.
I'm not saying there weren't those whose hearts didn't truly respond. There was. But you think of the Tabernacle in the wilderness and later the temple in Jerusalem, the beautiful goal, shimmering gold, the silver, the incense, the curtains, and all the things that appealed to the natural senses. I dare say you could have walked into the temple and there would have been some real feeling of awe and the spiritual side of man would have been been stirred. But that's not what we have in Christianity.
Philippians 3 says we're not. We're those who worship God in the spirit, not in relationship to what appeals to the natural senses. And so there's only going to be that true worship in spirit and in truth. I say again, in the measure in which, first of all, we are individually in the enjoyment of the person of Christ and in the measure in which that appreciation deepens from week to week.
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Then and only then will there be collectively, truly the worship that he desires. One more little comment about praise and worship. Praise is always audible in Scripture. Worship often is, but it's not necessarily. Worship again has to do with the heart. And as to praise, the Lord said, this generation draws nigh unto me with their lips and honoreth me with their mouth, but their heart is far from me. That's not what he wants. He doesn't want us just to come on Lords Day morning.
And sing some hymns and read some scripture and give some nice words of what might seem like worship and praise. That's just lip service. No, brethren, He wants the true response of your heart and mind.
Pride with the Lord Jesus and God and worship when you watch TV.
It takes everything away from you. I know I would do that.
I couldn't worship on Lord's Day, just impossible because there's too many thoughts that I have been exposed to and I watch TV. I don't watch TV, but when I used to, I could never shoot.
And it's true that it's, it's true. I had a neighbor man, Washington, uh, visiting me a few days ago.
And we talked about these and you said, yeah, but look what what they do. There's preachers out there and then and, and I watch them on TV and they speak so wonderful. They have great congregation. There's a there's a colored man now on TV he's asking of everyone of his members and there are 18 thousands, $350.00 so he can buy himself.
A jet airplane for $240 million and eventually is gonna get it.
Well, how about that have to do with Russia? Nothing.
Hymn #8.