Turn with me to the book of Leviticus. And you say, Brother Eric, you’ve lost your mind. Well, maybe, but I think this will be a good study tonight. And if you didn’t get a handout, wave at Brother Jim. Anybody not get a handout? Anybody got a little handout? Okay. I was reading after someone and they said, said, I think this story was relayed to them where a lady had started reading through her Bible for several times and she got hung up Leviticus. And she said Genesis and Nexus were interesting or exciting. Leviticus was kind of boring. And the writer I was reading after said, it’s not a narrative just to be read, but it’s a book to be studied. And we’re going to look at some things tonight on how as you go through Leviticus, maybe you’ve already been through Leviticus this year. Maybe you’re getting ready to go in. It don’t have to be a drudgery. There’ll be some truths that we can pull out. So turn with me to the back of the book first. Leviticus, chapter number 26. And then we’ll go to chapter number 27. It’s a book meant to be studied and we’re going to go through this outline together. Then I’m going to bring something else to mind. But it’s fellowship with God, who requires a holy people. So God brought them out of Egypt. He led them through a picture of their redemption. God has redeemed us. How do you know it’s well with your soul? I know it’s well with my soul because the blood is on the account, Christ’s blood. But now to fellowship, be able to fellowship with my heavenly Father, I’ve got to maintain that fellowship right when sin comes in, I’ve got to get it confessed, get it under the blood so that fellowship could be back where it needs to be. Leviticus, chapter 26, verse 46. This is a kind of a summary. It says, These are the statutes and judgments and laws which the Lord made between Him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. Chapter 27 and verse 34. These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai. So we see this whole book has to do with rules and regulations and a way to approach God, but there’s different facets of him. That’s what we’re going to look at. But let’s take a moment and pray first. Heavenly Father, lord, we pray for wisdom and help tonight. We pray that your spirit would work through this message and through Your word, the reading and the preaching of Your Word. And Father, I know that we’re no longer under the law. And Lord, we thank you for that. None of us could ever keep the law. But Lord, you said in your word that the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. And that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable the Lord as we look into the Law tonight. Help us, Lord. Please speak to our hearts, Goddess, and direct us. And the Lord, I believe above all else, help us to see glimpses of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Be able to love him more, serve him more, realize just what he did for us on Calvary. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. There are four misunderstandings of the Book of Leviticus, and let’s just go through those real quick. It’s not very profitable because it’s impossible to master all the rituals and symbols. There’s a lot of rituals and symbols here, but number two, no living relation to present day since the Levitical priesthood. And the Law is done away with. The Law is done away with in crot line. Well give you four answers. It has a living voice to our day. It’s relevant for today, and it reveals to us something of the character of God. It’s unique. Among other books, it shows us God’s holiness and the fact that God is so holy, he can’t just allow sin to go unpunished. That’s why the sacrifices were there. Something had to be punished for the sins of the people. And it is built together according to a clear plan. The penman is Moses, an inspiration of the Spirit of God. And it was about a month long, I think it’s about a month long in writing. It wasn’t long at all. It was less than a year. About a month. The New Testament first leviticus in some way 40 times. That’s interesting. So all that follows in the Scriptures this was a direct quote from somebody I was reading after, and I want you to see it. All that follows in the Scriptures is collared by it. We refer back to the Law and some of it’s in Exodus, some of it’s here in Leviticus. So a clear knowledge of Leviticus will help us as we go through the Bible and understand God’s message as a whole. Okay. How many of you in the past have sometimes gotten bogged down in the book Leviticus? I’m raising my hand, I’ll be honest. But as I was studying this and I’ve read through Leviticus already, I try to do that before I bring a message on it. It’s interesting once you understand the outline of how things are going and some of the pictures there, and I don’t think we’ll get into all that tonight, but you take it a little bit at a time, it’s interesting. Okay. It’s helpful. So someone said that God only took six days for creation, and he rested on the 7th. Right. But he spent 40 days with Moses in directing him to make the tabernacle. And they said this was because the work of grace is more glorious than the work of creation. That’s a good statement. I like to think that God wanted to make sure moses, you get this exactly right, because it’s a pattern of things in heaven. It’s a picture of what God is going to do for us, or it did for us on Calvary. So its main purpose, there’s three here. Three here listed to show Israel how to live as a holy nation in fellowship with God, which would prepare the nation for its high calling of mediating, the redemption of God to all the nations. And I didn’t come up with all those big words on my own. I had some help on that. But you remember when we said that Israel was God’s chosen people, chosen out of the other nations to lift up God so all the other nations would realize that there is a God and Israel is serving that one true God. Then they could be the people that tell the world about that one true God. You and I. Now, the church has not replaced Israel, but you and I as born again Christians, have that responsibility now to take the gospel message to the world and show them that there is a God. We serve in the one true God. We can give them the Gospel through that. Okay? So in order to do that, Israel had to be taught about God’s holiness. So it was accomplished in the sacrifices, it was accomplished in the precepts of the law. There was one divinely revealed standard. It was also accomplished in the penalties that were attached to the law. Israel was also taught to be a separate nation. These laws were to ensure a lot of these things that are listed here were already being practiced by the nations in Canaan land. And God says later, that’s why they’re being thrust out, because these things are an abomination unto me. And he said, I want you to partake of that. It was also given to prepare the people for the coming of Christ. I left that verse in there. I think we’re going to look at that later. We’ll try to rush through this so we can look at that. Glacier 324. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. Even way back then, God was trying to get them to see that I can’t do this on my own, I need God’s help. It’s a picture of Jesus coming to fulfill all that. Okay, so it’s a revelation of God’s character to us today. He has not changed two verses there malachi three, six, and I’m sure there are others that you could put here. For I am the Lord, I change not. And Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. It is symbolic of God’s dealings with man. Steel provides a body of civil law for government. Look at some of the things it talks about. Capital and labor, land ownership, private property rights, wouldn’t marriage, and it discusses marriage. Wouldn’t it be wise for our leaders in government now to visit Leviticus and see what God had to say about it in the beginning? That would solve a lot of problems and a treasury of symbolic and typical teachings. So its theme is the fellowship of God. God is near. Think about this, and I got this in our notes here beforehand. God was a far off, but speaking to mankind, his desire is always to be among his people. But he can’t there’s a separation there, but he’s providing a way to be near them. And he’s going to speak to them from within the camp, within the tabernacle of the congregation, and the camp of Israel surrounds it. So he’s going to dwell among them or come and speak among them. He wants to be near his people. So they’ve been brought into a new relationship on the ground of a blood sealed covenant. I like that. Sacrifices are sent forth to maintain a new relationship. So here’s a little table here. Look at that at your own convenience. There two parts. And go to the next page. Here’s a quick outline on the book of Leviticus. Okay? Fellowship through Sanctification, part one covers chapters one through 17. And go ahead and turn to the first part of Leviticus again and let’s put our eyes on these chapters. So when you’re reading through, maybe it’ll bring back something that was said tonight. Okay, the first seven chapters discuss the offerings, and that’s further divided into the sweet Savor offerings, which is the burnt offering, the meat offering and the peace offering. Chapters one, two and three. And all three of those say that it’s a sweet smelling Savor unto the Lord. That’s interesting. There are pictures there. We can’t get into that tonight. I want to do that sometime. I don’t fully understand it myself right now, but what a picture of what Jesus did on Calvary. The first three sacrifices, the meat offering, the burnt offering, the peace offering is what Christ’s crucifixion. What is sacrificed on the cross means to God. God looking down and seeing that the burnt offering, for instance, the whole bullock was burnt completely on the altar. That’s not true with the other offerings. But the burnt offering, everything was burned upon the altar. When God looked down upon the sun, he saw His Son pouring everything out on the cross as a substitute for our sins. So there’s beautiful pictures here. Then there’s chapter four and five, the sin offering and the trespass offering. They are not listed in the chapter number seven. Chapter number six and seven is laws regarding these offerings. And go with me to chapter number eight. Chapter eight, nine and ten have to do with the priests, their consecration. We talked about that in Exodus being set apart for the Lord’s work. And there’s some relation there between their work and our work. There’s only one great high priest that’s our Lord Jesus Christ. But we’re all part of the priesthood that we believe in, the priesthood of believers. We have direct access to our heavenly Father. The blood has been applied. We all set apart for his use. We’re not our own. There’s some good truths contained in chapter number eight. Minute they start serving in chapter number nine and it’s glorious. I want you to look at chapter number nine and verse number 24. The glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle and everything is done exactly as he wanted it to be done. Verse 24. And there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar of the burnt offering and the fat which when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces. What a great moment in their history when they saw God come down and dwell among them. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The fire came out and devoured the buffering. It was accepted unto God. What a great moment. And then immediately after that you come to chapter ten where Aaron’s two oldest sons offer strange fire before the Lord and God slays them. God kills them, say that. Why would God do that? Well, God, there’s probably a number of reasons but God wanted a holy people. He wanted a certain order of things. It was a picture for the Lord and what his work and he didn’t he the Bible says he commanded them not he didn’t command them to do that fire. They did it in their own self will, whatever reason they had for it. And God was saying to his people there’s a certain way you’ve got to approach me and we’re going to be serious about this matter. He said God is holy. He doesn’t accept anything less than what’s absolutely right and absolutely true. Okay? So go to chapter number eleven. Chapter eleven through 16 talks about the people. They’re clean foods, clean bodies, clean clothes. You can see the outline. Clean houses, clean contacts, clean nation. It talks about the day of Atonement. This is one of the areas where sometimes it gets a little bit heavy to read. It talks about the plug of leprosy and what happens if leprosy was found inside a household. And if it gets found inside a household, I’m not your priest, I’m not coming it gets found on your body. I’m not coming to inspect you to see if it’s if it’s spreading or not. Okay? So we got to find a doctor for that. But anyway, that was the law for that. Then you come to chapter number 17 dealing with the altar, I believe it is five times mentioned in here that this is the place where you come to offer your sacrifices. There was only one place and it was at the door of the tabernacle. You heard that right? It was at the door of the tabernacle. The door of the tabernacle. What did Jesus say in John chapter number ten? He said, I am the door. There’s only one way to get to God and that’s through Jesus Christ. It’s interesting. The gate of the tabernacle. There was only one gate to get into the tabernacle, the orientation of the tabernacle, that’s not in Leviticus, we can’t get into that. But that’s part one, part two, so that’s the ground of fellowship, the basis of our fellowship, the sacrifices, the blood that was applied to the mercy seat to the people, the dissent offerings that would be offered to make an atonement for their sin. And it was all a picture of what would happen one day when Jesus came. But then once that was done, there were some regulations given that the people could maintain that clean walk before God. You and I still have that, we still have to maintain our walk before the Lord, don’t we? There are some regulations concerning the people, chapter 18 through 20. There’s regulations concerning the priests, chapter 21 and 22. It’s interesting, there were some things that would prohibit the priest from being a priest if he was any kind of deformity. But all that was because the priest pictured something about the work of the Lord. And I’m glad that there’s no difference now. What we lack, God makes up in our spiritual condition. That’s a blessing, isn’t it? Then there’s regulations concerning the feast, chapter 23 and 24. So this uses outline as you go through, if it helps you to remind the people of the goodness of God. Feast of the Passover, feast of Pentecost, and the feast of Tabernacles. One, two and five were nationally observed. If you’ve read through excess, you remember where God said there were three times in the year where all the male children would appear before me. That was the feast of Passover, the feast of Pentecost, or first Fruits, and the feast of Tabernacles, or in gathering. Okay, a few other things there then regulations concerning the land when they came into Canaan. On the back page is just a note about the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not always just the 7th day of the week, which would be our Saturday. There were also other special Sabbaths or times of rest. And so I truly believe that that comes into play when we’re reading the Gospel account. And Jesus died on the cross, they took his body down because the Sabbath was the next day. I don’t think that Sabbath is referring to number one, the weekly Sabbath. I think I believe it’s referring to number two, the first day of unleavened bread. It was a high Sabbath, so it doesn’t have to be Friday that Jesus died on the cross. Otherwise it’s not three days and three nights. But anyway, it’s food for thought. So you got, you got the list here, you can look and see. It’s interesting to me that number nine and number ten, every seven years, the whole land was to rest. They weren’t to toil their garden, they were just to rest. And then on the jubilee year, the 50th year after 7749, do little multiplication like Jed on the 50th year, they would let it rest. So if you think about it, the 49th year would have been a Sabbath year, and the 50th year was a day of rent, was a period of rest. They weren’t to toil their land for two years, but God said he would provide for them if they would just obey Him, what faith that would have, and how God couldn’t have blessed them. There’s no record of them keeping this, though. And it’s interesting to note that while they were in captivity, the land did have rest. And I believe it was for every year that the land didn’t have rest during this period of time. It’s amazing how God fits everything together, isn’t it? So that’s Leviticus, and we’re going to keep that in mind. Turn with me to glacians chapter number three. Lest as we study or Leviticus, we fall back under the Law, it’s profitable for us to get a glimpse of what Jesus did for us. And I would love to dig deeper into these things. But let’s look at Galatians tonight. Verse three. Chapter three, verse one. Old foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth? Crucified among you? This only would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? Let’s answer the question. How did we receive the Spirit of God? By the law or by faith? By faith. Right. We put our faith and trust in Jesus. He gave us of his spirit. So the Law is insufficient to save. We know that it did not bring the Spirit’s indwelling, nor his power. Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain, he therefore that minister to you the Spirit and work of miracles among you doethe by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith. So the Spirit of God, his power is not through the Law, it’s through faith. Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know you therefore, that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. Galatians is about faith and the Law, and trying to get these early Christians and some that were still Jews to understand that you can’t be saved through keeping the Law. And we’ll get on to verse number 24 says, it was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. Verse ten. For as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse. For it is written cursed as everyone that continueeth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them. So God’s words tell us if you offend at one point you’ve offended in all right. Guilty of one thing. I may not kill, I may not commit adultery. I may not steal. But if I covet my neighbor’s pickup truck, I’m guilty of the whole law. Right. And I’m not going to ask for raise a hand there, right? But if I covet somebody’s hunting bow brother Jimmy then something like that. Then we’re guilty of the whole law. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is evident. For the just shall live by faith. Christ, verse 13 hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made. A curse for us. For it is written curse it is everyone that hangth on a tree. Let’s go down to verse 21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For there had been a law given which could have given life fairly righteousness should righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded how many all understand that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. If you’ve believed, God’s given you his righteousness. But before faith shut up. Unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. So the law is a teacher. It’s a revealer of man’s heart. Let me say this. It was needed during that time for laws to be given so they wouldn’t go after the other nations for them to be a separate people. But it was also needed to reveal their heart. If there was no law regulating the speed of traffic on the interstate, I guarantee you most of us, if not all of us, would probably have broken our necks by now. We’d be flying. But there’s got to be laws to regulate, but also to reveal their hearts and show them they needed the Lord Jesus Christ. Same for us. After that faith has come. We are no longer under a schoolmaster. We’ve been delivered from the law. Hallelujah. Thank the Lord for that. Grace is greater than the law. We’ve heard preaching from this. The law says thou shalt not commit adultery. Grace says the greater standard says thou shalt. Don’t look upon a woman to lust after her. For if you have you committed adultery already in your heart. The law says don’t kill. Thou shalt not kill. But grace says don’t hate your brother in your heart. If you hate your brother in your heart, it’s as if you and not the very image of the things. We don’t worship a bullock, we don’t worship a turtle dove. We don’t worship a pigeon. We worship the shadow of those things which was Jesus Christ. We worship him that was represented in the sacrifices can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continue to make the comers thereof there unto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered. Because at the worshipers, once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. Verse four. It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Look at verse five. This is where when you read Leviticus, especially those first few chapters, you see the offerings that were given. It’s a picture of one facet laying on the cross for our sins. All of it. Every offering is a picture of what happened at Calvary from different facets. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he said it. Who came into the world? Jesus. Right. When he cometh in the world, he sayeth, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared for me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said, I lo I come. In the volume of the book, it 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 wouldst 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 first that he may establish the second. So Jesus fulfills the law. Right. And verse ten by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all. So when that bullock was offered upon the altar as a burnt offering something about that represents Jesus Christ on Calvary from God’s viewpoint. When that sin offering, when the priest and the one coming to present that sin offering would come and present that offering that’s another facet of what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary. It took all of that to show what Jesus did for you and me. So as you read think about this. What does this teach me about my Lord and Savior and his work in my life? When you read about the high priest being consecrated, remember there’s only one high priest at a time and we have only one high priest now. And that’s our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There are no other high priests. So as you read through zero in on that, how is this a picture of my Lord and Savior? See God’s holiness. Here we see the insufficiency of the law. Here we see God providing Himself as a sacrifice. Verse number 19. We see having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. And having a high priest forever for over the house of God, I think at least me, myself, we as Americans are so far removed from the sacrifices that we lose sometimes. I don’t know how you say it, but we lose sometimes certain things, certain aspects of what Jesus did for us at Calvary, what it cost him, what all he did do. I’m glad he saved my soul. I’m glad I’m going to see Him one day, but I want to know more about Him, don’t you? I think we learn more about Him when we study. Hey, when I study through Leviticus, I say, I see god says if I curse my mother or my father, I’m going to die. That sin must be pretty serious to God, even now that sin is serious to God. So I need to be careful when I see other things that come down and I see, wait a minute, boy. There’s no way I could live up to that. You can’t live up to that. But Jesus paid the price and he covers all of that with his blood. When a sinner sinned, he brought that offering unto the tabernacle and that blood was applied. The Bible says that that sin will be forgiven. You you know what? The blood’s been applied. I’ve been forgiven of my sins as far as heaven goes. And now one John, one Nine says, if I come to Him and confess my sins, he’s faithful and just to forgive me my sins every time. Every time. Because I have a high priest that’s living forever, that’s sacrificed Himself on the Cross of Calvary, gave his blood and his blood has made atonement once and for all for my sins. That’s a blessing. There’s so much more in this chapter we’re not going to look at, but we talked about the admonition, verse 22 through 24. There’s judgment for those that reject Jesus Christ. There’s what? I may remember Jonathan Edwards, not personally, but remember hearing about Jonathan Edwards and he preached one message. He would just read his message and I don’t think gave very much inflection, didn’t jump around, but he just read his message, and the title of his message was sinners in the Hands of an Angered God. He used for his text dispersed. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of living God and hundreds, if not thousands, of people fell under conviction and got saved from that one message and how God used that. But let’s consider that it is fearful for a sinner to fall in the hands of a living God. We don’t have to worry about that kind of judgment. But I want to be pleading to Him, don’t you? I want to maintain that fellowship. Look at verse number 37, and we’ll end with this tonight. Forget a little while and he that shall come. What’s next? Two words will come. Brother Eddie would say, that’s a promise. Amen. That’s a promise. He that shall come will come and will not. Terry, I know we use that word a lot. I’ve even used that myself. If the Lord Terry’s is coming, but might not say Biblically, that’s not accurate. He’s not going to tear he’s not going to wait around. When it’s his time to come, he’s coming. And so we ought to be ready for that. Amen. All right, so that is. Leviticus. I hope when you read through it, maybe get you another extra cup of coffee or whatever it is. But write down some notes and say, how is this a picture of Jesus? What did Jesus do for me? In the burn offering? In the meat offering. The meat offering. It wasn’t just flesh, it was meat. As if I’m sitting down to eat my meat in the morning. I’m eating a bowl of Cheerios. It’s just something I’m going to eat. It’s like a food offering. Okay? And I know you’re not kindergarten. I’m not trying to talk to you like a certain politician tries to explain things who’s also vice president of our country. But anyway, just so you know, the meat offering is not just what we consider meat. Then there’s the peace offering. There’s a sin offering, the trespass offering. Some of it, they would heave up before the Lord. Some of it they’d wave before the Lord. The priests would be able to eat some of it. As you go through all that, think about, don’t think about, boy, I’m glad you can think. I’m glad I’m not under that now because there’s no way I can remember all of this. But realize what God has done through that. It’s for you and for me. Every bit of that was a picture of what Jesus did. What, Lord, give us understanding to see what you did at Calvary. Amen. Wouldn’t it be wonderful? All right, that’s enough. Let’s pray.