THROUGH THE BIBLE - Leviticu..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. in Leviticus chapter six from verse one. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, if anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor or has found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby, if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the last thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.

And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the Lord a ram without blemish out of the stock or its equivalent for a guilt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. And he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty. Verse seven, my apologies, verse eight. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, command Aaron and his son saying, this is the law of the burnt offering.

The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. And the priest shall put on his garments, his linen garments and put his linen undergarments on his body and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced to the burnt offerings on the altar and put them beside the altar. Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out.

The priest shall burn wood on it every morning and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offering. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually. It shall not go out. And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord in front of the altar.

And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour on the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And the rest of it, Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten unleavened in holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting, they shall eat it. It shall not be baked with leaven.

I have given it as their portion of my food offering. It is a thing most holy like the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it as decreed forever throughout your generations. from the Lord's food offerings, whatever touches them shall become holy. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, this is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to the Lord on the day when he is anointed.

A tenth of a ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening. It shall be made with oil on the griddle. You shall bring it well mixed in baked pieces like a grain offering and offer it for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The priest from among Aaron's sons who is anointed to succeed him shall offer it to the Lord as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burnt.

Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burnt. It shall not be eaten. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, verse 25, speak to Aaron, his son saying, this is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is killed, shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord. It is most holy.

The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. In a holy place it shall be eaten, in the court of the tent of meeting. Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy, and when any of its blood is splashed on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was splashed in a holy place. And the earthenware vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken. But if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water.

Every male among the priests may eat of it, it is most holy. But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place. It shall be burnt with fire. Amen. This is the word of the Lord.

Well, brothers and sisters, we are still quite obviously still in the chapters of the book of Leviticus in the section that speaks to the sacrificial system, in particular for the people of Israel who are still now in the Sinai wilderness. Now we've already considered the five different offerings God has prescribed for Moses to the sons of Aaron to accomplish in the tabernacle and to be offered by Aaron and his sons as a service before Yahweh on behalf of the people of Israel. now we're in chapter six and this chapter can be divided really if we look from a high point of view into two sections the first is from verses one through seven very much a continuation of the guilt offering prescribed prescribed in the previous chapter chapter five that's the one we we looked into last week and if you remember I said last week, it's in my view that these few verses would have been best to be retained in chapter five because I believe that every word in holy writ is God's word but the chapter breaks are not inspired. However, they're in chapter six and we'll address them here this evening because they do Then from verse eight throughout the end of the chapter, you could call that section possibly the the priestly operation manual. Instructions specifically given to the Levitical priests of the day that pertain to their responsibilities in carrying out their priestly duties before the Lord in the service of the tabernacle in particular pertaining to the sacrificial system in Israel.

Now, as I said earlier, verses 1 through 7 is a continuation of the guilt, or as some of our Bibles may say, the trespass offering. This is a sacrifice of a ram for the breach of faith committed, rendering a person guilty before the Lord because of their breach of faith. But as I said last week, in this offering there is a new element introduced and it's one of restitution. The sinner or the offender was not only to offer the ram with their spot or blemish as a burnt sacrifice, but also he is to offer a restitution or compensation of one-fifth of its value. It's to be paid as a penalty or a cost for harm incurred.

Now, last week, the two examples were given back in chapter five, when this guilt offering was prescribed in the event of unintentional breaches of faith was in regards to the holy things of God. And in the context that would suggest the things that are pertaining to the sanctuary, the tabernacle, things of the sacrifice and maybe the tithes we said last week. The offering detailed in chapter 5 was required when worshipper was made aware of his guilt. And the one-fifth restitution was also paid to the priest back then. Because essentially, in this case, when the offense is against the holy things of God pertaining to the tabernacle, the priest was the one who was wrong.

because he's the one who gets the portion of the animal that is sacrificed. And he's the one who gets a portion of the tithes of the tithes that have been paid into the into the temple space. The second example given back in chapter five. is an example where the worshiper's conscience was stricken. His conscience or her conscience was convicted of sin, but no specific details were brought to mind.

Last week, I likened this to when we as Christians, when we pray for forgiveness of sins, we know we have sinned. We know that we have sin in us that we're not aware of. And we come to the Lord and say, Lord, forgive me for the sins that I am aware of. And we confess those sins by name. And we also come to him and say, Lord, forgive me for the sins I'm not aware of.

And you know what they are, Lord, and they are in me, and I ask that you forgive me for these. And of course, when that was the case, and the conscience of the worshiper was stricken, he was not to pay the one-fifth restitution, but rather just to come with the guilt offering. Now, this week, from verses one through seven, the guilt sacrifice and the one-fifth restitution is required, not because one has sinned against the holy things of God, no, but rather in this text, it's required because one has sinned against the property of neighbor. But what becomes interesting here is the type of sins listed for us, beloved. These are deliberate sins.

Listen to verse two. If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor, or if he found something lost and lied about it, swearing falsely. This is the sin of deceiving, the sin of lying, the sin of robbery, beloved. These are deliberate sins. So what does it mean when we read that the sacrifices were only available for unintentional sins, and then we read of sacrifices for deliberate sins, just like the ones listed for us in these verses?

Well, beloved, last week I mentioned the meaning of unintentional sin as the Bible says it. Literally, literally, this is high handed sins. Sins committed with the fist waving at God. These are blatant, defiant, rebellious acts against God. Intentional sins do not heed God or His authority or His holiness, and they do not heed His commands and His statutes.

It's to say, God, I know this is against Your law, but I don't care. I'm going to do it anyway, and I don't care about the consequences of my actions. That's intentional, blatant sins. As Hebrews 10 tells us, there is no sacrifice for defiance like this, for fist-waving sins such as these. Beloved, this is a dangerous, dangerous place to be.

Remaining in any habitual, unrepentant sin is a very, very dangerous place to be. But in the text before us in Leviticus, we have the case of guilt incurred by an offending or an offender violating the property of their neighbor, whether it's defrauding in an entrusted deposit where the neighbor has given something to their neighbor to try and trust. to keep for them, or robbery of a neighbor's goods, or even finding something that doesn't belong to him. Maybe a goat has wandered from his neighbor's property and wandered into his own fault. And this person realizes that this goat doesn't belong to me, it belongs to my neighbor, but he doesn't do anything about it.

And when his neighbor comes around asking, hey, have you seen my goat neighbor? He lies and says, nope, sorry, I swear, I don't know where your goat is. That's deliberate. And just to give you an idea of the seriousness, in verse three, what's noted for us as swearing falsely is the same term as used in Exodus chapter 20 in the ninth commandment. However, this person's conscience gets the better of him.

And when he realizes his guilt, the offender then must make restitution for the wrong he has done. He must restore the property of his neighbor, the goat in this situation, and then pay restitution, a compensation of one-fifth, 20% of the value of that goat in damages. Like I said last week, beloved, the consequences of our sin is costly and needs to be properly compensated. Now it's clear in the context that the offender is coming clean and is willing to recompense for his guilt. But if he doesn't fess up, and he's caught and convicted and stealing his neighbor's property, the penalty is still greater.

Yeah, we know this. If you remember back in Exodus chapter 22, the compensation for, for example, an ox, an oxen stolen and then killed by this person, the person who had stolen the ox is actually to replace that one ox with five oxen. And if it's a sheep that is killed, then the replacement and the restitution in there must be four sheep. It's costly. Even if the animal is still alive in that situation and that person is caught, then the compensation must be double.

But here in Leviticus, the offender, it seems, is willing to come clean on the breach of faith against his neighbor and make things right. That is, to restore what has been taken and then to pay a compensation, a penalty of one fifth. But beloved, this is something I want us to see and hear. Willingness to come clean to neighbor, a neighbor that you've wronged, is both necessary and it's good, but it cannot atone the sins. Even if one pays back ten times, no, a hundred times what they have taken from their neighbor, the sin remains and needs to be atoned for.

So now the offender, we're told, after resolving things with his neighbor, needs to come and offer a ram as a sacrifice for his guilt. Why? Because sin against neighbor is first and foremost against God. In fact, all sin is first and foremost against God. Don't overlook what is written in verse two.

If anyone sins and commits a breach of faith against, it is the Lord by deceiving his neighbor. You hear that? The breach of faith is against the Lord by deceiving his neighbor. Our sin is detestable before God. His eyes are pure and holy and we are creatures made to be holy as he is holy.

Our sin is against him and therefore needs to be atoned for by him. But also realize that true repentance, true repentance, not simply to come and say, hey, I'm sorry, and walk away, but genuine repentance that results in the restoration of what has taken, was taken from the neighbors. So restoring the neighbor's property, and then the necessary 20% compensation that precedes this is it must come first before one comes and presents a guilt offering before the Lord. Now, that's not to say that the restitution or the compensation that this person has already accomplished or done brings forgiveness, not at all, but rather the evidence of a circumcised heart. The evidence of a true person of God is a heart that grieves over sin and seeks to make things right, not only with God first and foremost, but also is eager to make things right with his neighbor.

This is why, this is why John the Baptist would look at the Pharisees in his ministry and he'd look at them and say, produce fruit in keeping with repentance. The fruit is a broken and contrite heart that is willing to pay any cost to make things right. But the forgiveness of sins is not because you're willing to compensate. No, rather the forgiveness of sins is because we have a merciful, gracious God in whom there is an abundance of grace, beloved, who has made a way to forgive sinners like these people in Israel and a way to forgive sinners like us. then in the next section from verse 8 through to the end of the chapter in fact into the 36th verse of the 7th chapter we have repeated for us all of the five offerings available to the people of God that we found in the first five chapters of the book of Leviticus and they're all repeated again however Until now, all the offerings and the sacrifices that were detailed in the book of Leviticus were from the worshipper's point of view.

However, here in the next few, in a couple of chapters at least, the sacrifices are from the priestly perspective. This is how the priest is to offer his sacrificial services in the sanctuary before God on behalf of the people of Israel. You see from verse 8 to 13 is the burnt offering. That's what's in view here. But here there's a slight difference because the burnt offering that is in view here is the one that is prescribed for every morning and every evening.

And then from verses 14 through 23, we have the grain offering in view. Then in verse 24 through the end of the chapter, the chapter that we corporately read here this evening, the emphasis is for the priestly details in regards to the sin offering. And then into the next chapter, from verse 1 through 10, we have once again some prescription on the guilt offering for the priest. And then from verse 11 in chapter 7 onwards, we see that there is the peace offering that is in view. Now this afternoon, I'm not going to reiterate the offerings and the details of those five offerings because I'm hoping that they're still fresh in our mind over the last six weeks that we've been going through the book of Leviticus now.

but there are so much in this passage. Now, I was going to highlight at least three points briefly in this section. My thoughts were to highlight some key points like the priestly garments and the fact that these linen garments are very depictive of the purity of a priest who comes and presents himself before the Lord or the earthenware that needs to be broken if it's splashed with any of the blood of the sacrifice. evening and the perpetual fire on the altar. There are three things I really wanted to address this evening but after preparing, I realized it would end up sermon length corporate reading and I don't want that to happen.

So, instead, what we'll do together is we'll just highlight one point and the point I want to highlight this evening is the continual fire on the altar. Now, this detail is found no less than three times. Three because it's that important, because the fire must not be put out. You see, it was the priestly responsibility to make sure the fire of the altar of burnt offerings remains lit continually. It was his responsibility to make sure there was fuel to cut the wood and to put it on there daily.

Why, beloved, we need to ask. Why is the fire on the bronze altar of burnt offering, why is it needed to be continually lit? Well, I believe it's because what the fire on the altar stands for. And beloved, it is more than one thing. Firstly, the blaze, the fiery blaze is a symbol of God's perpetual wrath upon unrighteousness.

We know, we know that God is indeed gracious. We know that God is merciful. We know that God is good. We know that God is love, but also, beloved, we must not forget that our God is holy, holy, and holy, and as a holy God, he cannot look upon sin, and he's angry with the wicked every single day. The fire is a symbol of his wrath.

Now, also, we know the very first day The very first day, Aaron and his sons were consecrated for duty in their service in the tabernacle on behalf of Israel, which was the very first of the countless days of burnt offerings in Leviticus 9. We're told in an awesome display of the glory of God, fire falls from heaven and lights up the altar and consumes the burnt offerings. This was the same as what happened some 500 years later, if you remember when Solomon was dedicating the temple unto the Lord, fire rained from heaven onto the altar. You see that the fire, the priests here in this tabernacle, in the Sinai wilderness, that fire that they will kindle day in, day out, day in, day out, making sure it is perpetually and continually lit is a fire from heaven. And the sacrifices on that altar are prescribed by God and approved by God.

He lit the fire. But also, I believe not only was the fire a symbol of the wrath of God upon sin and unrighteousness, but also it was a picture, a picture of the ever available forgiveness for those who seek Him wholeheartedly. It was a picture of His mercy and love. You see, you see the burning or the fire burning continually was a reminder that the people in that camp were all sinners. Yes.

And it was a reminder that they were all needing a forgiveness. Yes. But as long as that blaze, as they could see that blaze burning day in and day out, it was known to them that God's mercy to forgive was also available day in and day out, night in and night out. Never was an Israelite to be in need of forgiveness or approaching God, which must be through sacrifice. And he had a desire to be made right with God.

Never was that to be the case where he approaches and finds the fire is out. That the place of the substitutionary sacrifice was closed for the day. Never. that was never to happen. His mercy and His grace is ever available to those with repentant and contrite hearts.

If you seek for Him, you will find Him. The fire was a picture of His wrath, yes, but it was also a picture that He has made a way to satisfy His wrath and forgive those who truly, truly believe. For us today, beloved, We acknowledge that Yahweh is still the same. God is still the same. He's just as angry with sin and unrighteousness every single day.

He's no less holy and sin is no less abhorrent in his eyes than what it was 3,500 years ago in this wilderness time. But for us, Nowhere in our sight, beloved for us New Testament believers, nowhere in our sight is there a bronze altar with a perpetual fire raging hot to consume anything that is placed upon it. Why? Why is that? It's because for His people, to Israel of God, the blistering fire of His wrath has been extinguished.

It's been swallowed up by the sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, and His once and for all sacrifice. The Liverpool priesthood, beloved, their duty was to keep the fire burning. Beloved, our great high priest, the great high priest in the order of Melchizedek, his duty was to put out the fire. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Praise be to God.

But to our shame, to our shame, even though we're no longer under the wrath of God, Even though we are no longer slaves to the power of sin that God hates, we still dwell in the presence of sin. And this means to our shame, we continue to transgress the law of God in our weakness. And when our conscience is stricken by the spirit who is at work in us, at work in us to make us more like Christ, at work in us to make us hate our sin all the more and love righteousness because God is righteous. We look to him in contrite hearts. We look not to a blazing bronze altar in the wilderness as a means to mercy and forgiveness, but to our Redeemer, the risen King Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and is now risen and now sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for his people.

Brothers and sisters, we look to him. We look to Christ alone, and we know. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Praise be his name.