The Pursuit Of Holiness

Introduction & Lesson 1:Chosen For A Purpose

1 Title Screen

· "For the next Few weeks our Bible study will be centered on the Leviticus." Leviticus?!?

· Anyone who chooses to teach out of the book of Leviticus is often asking for an audience that is puzzled and baffled as to why anyone would take on such a task.

· Leviticus is not one of those books that is widely preached out of or taught on and is undoubtedly one of the least read books in the Bible.

· That being the case, Leviticus is an incredible resource for one of the greatest needs in today's church: The pursuit of holiness.

2 (link between EX. & Lev)

· It is important to know that Leviticus is linked to the book of Exodus.

· In Exodus, the Lord summons Israel to be a "priestly kingdom" and a "holy nation" (Ex. 19:6).

· Further, the Lord proclaims his desire to pitch his tent and live among his people (Ex. 25:8).

3 (golden calf)

· Before the building program begins, however, God's plan to live with his people is thrown into jeopardy.

· While Moses is receiving the plans for God's tent (tabernacle), Aaron and the people grow impatient and make a golden calf. God punishes and then forgives the foolishness of Aaron and the people but announces that it would be lethal for them if He would pitch his tent and live with them.

· That is what is meant in Ex. 33:5 when God tells Moses “If for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you" (Ex. 33:5).

· For a moment, God's plan for living and working through the priestly kingdom of Israel seems to be shelved. The Lord, however, loves and desperately desires to live with his people.

· So after some stubborn intervention by Moses, the Lord authorizes the construction of the tent and "moves in" at the end of Exodus (Ex. 40).

4 (How can a holy God live in the midst of an unholy people and not kill them?)

· The danger created by this action cannot be overstated: How can a holy God live in the midst of an unholy people and not kill them?

· This is the key question for understanding the book of Leviticus.

· The instructions of Leviticus are God's gracious provision for making this relationship work.

· In the book of Leviticus, God provides sacrificial atonement, a priesthood (within the nation of priests), purity laws, and instruction for living a holy life.

· Make no mistake - this is no law book for Israel to earn any status with God. The Lord desires an ongoing relationship, and the Lord gives the instructions of Leviticus.

· While it is true that Leviticus is from a time long ago and a place far away, its counsel for living in the presence of a holy God can sound strange to our modern ears.

· Nonetheless, the principles established in the book of Leviticus are eternal in nature – even if their cultural expression is time bound.

· This series of lessons will primarily focus on these principles, their initial culture-bound expression in ancient Israel and their application for modern churches and Christians living in the twenty-first century.

5 (The Pursuit Of Holiness)

· The pursuit of holiness is one of the greatest needs of the church.

· God, through Leviticus, provides some much-needed counsel for what such holiness must look like.

The Pursuit of Holiness

Chosen For A Purpose

Lesson 1

(Continued from Introduction)

1

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

· Paul states that "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work"

· Paul regarded the Hebrew scriptures as relevant and vital for the life of the church and individual Christians.

· Despite Paul's clear statement concerning ALL scripture, there has been a tendency in churches to regard the Old Testament as "second class" scripture. That the Old Testament is really not that useful for teaching in the church.

2 (Leviticus)

· If this were true about the Old Testament in general, then the book of Leviticus doesn’t stand a chance! The book of Leviticus has a lot going against it:

· Leviticus is filled with legal material (not many stories). Q. Have you read any good laws lately? A. Probably not. Laws, by nature, do not make for good reading.

· The legal material itself seems to be about things that are totally irrelevant to Christian life. Q. Can anyone give some examples of things in Leviticus that seem to have nothing to do with Christian life? A. Animal sacrifice, the tabernacle, priests, clean and unclean foods, holy days, feasts and many other things seem totally irrelevant to Christian life.

· (Notes to the Teacher: 1] It is important to get all of these concerns out on the table. 2] It is important that the teacher says that these "seem" irrelevant. Later, in the course of study, the relevance of all these things will be demonstrated.)

3 (Why bother with Leviticus?)

· The general Christian consensus seems to be "Why bother with Leviticus? What a total waste of time!"

· So, why bother? Why is this not a waste of time?

· I believe Paul is right! ALL Scripture is good! Paul did not regard the Old Testament or Leviticus as unimportant for Christian teaching.

· The fundamental concern in the book of Leviticus is to be a fundamental concern of the church today: Holiness! More to the point, The holiness of God and the holiness required of God's people.

4 (1-5 Below)

1. How can an unholy people live in the presence of a holy God?

2. How can God's chosen people really be holy?

3. What does holiness look like in everyday life and relationships?

4. What does holiness look like in worship?

5. What danger does the "unholy" pose to the "holy"?

· While Leviticus responds to the concern for holiness with specific instruction for the culture of ancient Israel, the principles underlying this specific instruction are eternal and must be applied to every culture, even ours today.

· The matter of holiness should be a burning concern for the church and Christian life!

· In the weeks to come, we will look at all of these matters of holiness and more in the book of Leviticus and seek to understand God's instructions to ancient Israel.

· We will try to understand the basic principles that go beyond the specific cultural situation of God's instructions to ancient Israel.

· We will challenge each other to apply what we learn about holiness to our own lives and the life of the church.

· In addition to these primary goals, we will learn information that will help us better understand the many references to Leviticus throughout the Old and New Testaments and learn about Israel's practices of worship and what these practices teach us about our worship.

· In this lesson, we are going to study some background information that is critical to a proper understanding of the book of Leviticus.

5 (Background)

· The books of Genesis and Exodus give us key information for understanding the book of Leviticus.

· In the book of Genesis God responded to the problems created by human sinfulness (Gen 1-11) by putting His plan of redemption into motion. This plan began when God called the family of Abraham into his service.

6 (Gen. 12:1-3,7)

Genesis 12:1–3 NKJV

Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:7 NKJV

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

· Read

· Q. What are the three major promises that God makes to Abram? A. Make you into a great nation (many descendants). Gift of land. Through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed!

· The promise of descendants and land was not given to Abram for selfish purposes, but for the purpose of undoing the problems of sin and blessing the world through Abram.

· Ultimately, this promise will lead to the cross. However, as the Old Testament demonstrates, Abraham and his family were to actively reach out to the nations with God's message and grace.

· These promises are repeated several times to Abraham and his family.

7 (God Keeps His Promises!)

· In the book of Exodus, we find God keeping his promises.

· God rescues the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and begins to lead them toward the land that he has promised to them.

· The Israelites arrive at Sinai approximately 3 months after leaving Egypt. Q. How long will the Israelites be at Mt. Sinai? A. Nearly one full year.

· It was during that year that events recorded in the book of Leviticus took place!

8 (Mt. Sinai)

· Once Israel arrives at Sinai they must decide if they will enter into a lasting relationship with the God who saved them. In other words, will they enter a covenant with the Lord?

· The establishment of the covenant relationship takes place in several stages at Sinai.

· God makes an initial request for Israel to enter the covenant

9 (readEx. 19:3-7).

Exodus 19:3–7 NKJV

And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him.

· Notice the various persons and roles of the covenant:

1. The whole world is God's possession (19:5)

2. Israel is to be God's treasured possession (19:5)

3. As God's special possession, Israel is to take on the role of "a priestly nation" or "a nation of priests" (19:6).

4. Intrinsic to being "priests" the nation must be holy (19:7)

10 (Jewish Priest)

· Q. What is the role or task of a priest? A. To intercede or be a go-between for God and some human. A priest is to minister to other people and be a conduit of God's grace to them.

· Q. If Israel as a whole is to be God's priest, to whom or for whom is Israel supposed to intercede and minister? A. The world!

· Q. So what is the purpose of the covenant? A. The purpose of the covenant is for Israel to become a "priestly nation." Israel's covenant called her to be a minister (priest) whose existence, way of life, and open proclamation was a witness for the Lord to the rest of the world. This is the same reason God called the family of Abraham and gave them special promises.

· Q. What is the connection between the call to be a priest to the world and the call to be holy? A. One must be holy in order to perform the various roles and tasks of a priest. If Israel is to fulfill her responsibilities to reach out to the world, she must be a holy nation, Israel must be holy

· Israel agrees to enter into the covenant, so God spells out the basic principles of the agreement in the ten commandments (Ex. 20:1-17) and the code of the covenant (Ex. 21-23).

b. In the next few weeks, we will begin to see how Leviticus fits into this concern for a priestly and holy nation.

11 Read and discuss I Peter 2:4-10

1 Peter 2:4–10 NKJV

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

· Like ancient Israel the church is called a "royal priesthood" and a "holy nation" (2:4,9).

· Like ancient Israel, we have been saved (2:10).

· Q. As a "royal priesthood" what is our task? A. To proclaim the mighty acts of God (2:9). Each individual member of the church, just like each individual member of ancient Israel, is a priest charged to minister to the world!

· Q. What is the connection between our call to be a priestly nation and our call to be a holy nation? A. Like Israel, our role as priests to the world demands that we be holy.

· Q. In view of our study of Israel's call, was the Great Commission a new idea? A. No. The great commission was new only in that it directed the church to reach out to the world, rather than Israel.

· The Story of the Old Testament reveals that Israel, typically, did not do a very good job in reaching out to the world for her God. Q. Do you think the church is doing any better? Why or why not?

12 (Title Slide)