Sacrifices

Best offer a prayer of thanks, and a prayer of petition. For those, would you buy with me for prayer, for just a moment? Or if you do, thank you for sparing us from so much of this covid problem. It's certainly been a price to pay in different ways for each of us, but more it it sure could have been worse and we just want to say thank you Lord. Thank you for healing those who are ill for protecting those who didn't get ill for helping us and caring for us. Mentally, emotionally, spiritually. And always Lord, we just want to say thank you. Lord, for your goodness and Grace toward us. Lord, we want to remember our brothers and sisters in South Asia and elsewhere. We're still fighting this battle. Lord, many are sick and into many are dying or do we just asked if you might spare and that you might somehow bring good from the bad that they're experiencing, please give relief. Both to our partners. That Josh mentioned and two others who are serving you in those Faraway places where this is still a real issue Lord, please help them and help us Play, we pray in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen. Amen. Please join me in the Book of Numbers will be a numbers once again this morning, Numbers chapter, 28 and 29.

Jay Vernon McGee told, the story of the young cancer soldier who found himself station on the west coast. He never seen the ocean before and neither had his mother. So she asked him to bring home something to help her understand the ocean. So, when he came home on leave, he brought her a little bottle of the sea water bottle said something about the ocean, but it didn't say a lot about the ocean because there's so much more than a small container can communicate. It can't capture the Baskets at the Pacific Ocean. It can't capture the sound of the crashing waves, against the shore, the powerful pull at the tidal, waves or all the creatures, both large and small bet that live in the ocean can't capture any of that. We like that Soldier taste the same dilemma. When we try to comprehend God we might catch a trace or a glimpse but we never come, close, gasping. All that God is in his vast. That's in his greatness in his Infinity. The fact is we struggle to worship an infinite God for my very finite limited ways. Aw Tozer called worship, the missing Jewel of the Evangelical Church. We all have opinions and information about God, but how often do we really truly worship Him in spirit. And in truth, the fact is we tend to approach worship entirely wrong. Can't you put it this way? The unspoken but increasingly, Assumption of today's Christians is that worship is primarily for us to meet our needs there for worship Services. Become entertainment, focus and worshippers can be uncommitted. Spectators, who silently grade the performance. Let me say that the fact is the only one performing really is us not me or not the music team or anyone else. We're not judging others were being judged by God. He is the audience for our worship. He's the Observer of all that goes on we're not the judge God is the judge and he watches our worship and he looks for true worship. He measures us. The worship is not about pleasing us. We're meeting our needs, are felt needs, it's about pleasing God. So what is worship the passage? We're going to explore this morning. Really answers that question. What is worshipped like a chapter 28? And 29 of numbers, which is a summary of all the Old Testament sacrifice has written to help the priests as they prepared to go into the promised land. It's sort of a one-star answer all the different dates and times and requirements for the people of Israel. We're going to look at worship from an unusual passage about the details of the sacrifices of Israel. Now, let me make a confession here. We don't tend to think of these passages these rituals the sacrifices anything very interesting or helpful for us today. I mean, I'm not sure what the offering will be today, but I'm pretty sure when the offering is collected with the electronic transfers and checks there won't be any turtle doves or any goats or any Lambs among the offer, and we kind of work in different colors. See if you will. So what in the world? Could we learn from something? That seems so our take a ritual so different than our day-to-day existence now. Well, the fact is there is much to learn and we should care about the Old Testament. Sacrifice has. Let me give you two reasons before we get into it. Let me try to show you that you really should understand and care about what God had to say to his people in the Old Testament about sacrifices. The first of three reasons. Reason number one, we should care about this because they are shadows from Heaven, Shadows from Heaven. And the book of Hebrews chapter 9, the Old Testament Tabernacle was described as a copy of things to come. In other words, the writer saying, if you want to get a preview of glimpse into what heaven is like, look at the Old Testament Tabernacle and worship. It is a preview, it's a shadow of things to come the worship that they did. Had much to say about the worship. Will see you in heaven. The words used in the New Testament, our copier pattern. Sometimes those words were used to talk about a sketch made with charcoal or pencil, where you throw to sketch out a piece of art and then later to come along with me to put all the color and finishing touches. In a sense, the Old Testament Tabernacle was that sketch just that sketch pad yet to be colored in once we get to heaven and see the full color finish Masterpiece. So we are to learn about the sacrifice and because their Shadows Of Heaven, the New Testament, in Hebrews, and in Colossians 2 tells us that the law on the sacrifices and holy days, were all Shadows of things to come. They have something to tell us, not just about the past but about the future. What will see you in heaven? Let me give you another reason to care about these reason. Number two, because they pointed us to Christ. The point is to Christ, all the scriptures of the Old Testament. All the Hebrew Bible has one subject and as Jesus Christ and packed, as we looked at recently and Luke chapter 24, Jesus, All the Old Testament books, all the Hebrew Bible testify of him. And that includes the sacrifices and rituals that we're going to talk about this morning. They testify of Jesus, the book of Hebrews, spent great time, explaining how Christ brought in a better, Covenant, contrasting his sacrifice with the sacrifices we talked about in the Old Testament. What? Let me give you a third reason to understand and care about these things, gives reason number three because they help us understand worship John when I'm the biblical scholar, put it this way. Sacrifice is at the heart of biblical worship. Going to say that again, sacrifice is at the heart of biblical Worship. In other words, if you want understand worship where the ra talking about centuries ago or today, or even in the future, sacrifices at the heart, sacrifice was the heart of the Old Testament system. The New Testament Christ sacrifice is at the heart of everything and sets the model for us. This is a fact for all-time frankly. If God cares so much about sacrifice, as 2 is to created an instructed and expect it from his people. You care about it too because there's something there for us to learn that we're going to try to understand today, as we look at this matter of worship from the Old Testament sacrifice system. So what is worship something? We talk about, we, hopefully do. Let's try to get three answers this morning, please join me in chapter 28. Let's get a sample reading of this long, passage of lists and quotas chapter 28, verse one. Now the Lord spoke to Moses sanctum and the children of Israel and say to them my offering my food for my offerings made by fire as a sweet Aroma to me. You should be careful to offer to me at the airport to time and used to say to them, this is the offering made by fire, which you shall offer to the Lord to mail Lambs in their first year without blemish day by day as a regular burnt offering the one lamb you show. Copper in the morning. The other Lamisil offer in the evening and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with 1/4 of a hand of pressed. Well, it is a regular burnt offering, which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a sweet Aroma and offering made by fire to the Lord and it's drink-offering. She'll be one fourth of a hand. For each limb, in a holy place, you shall pour out the drink to. The Lord isn't bring the other lamb you shall offer in the evening as the morning grain offering and it's drink-offering, you shall offer it as an offering made by fire a sweet Aroma to the Lord. What you get the sense of this passage? This passage is going to share. I believe. Three answers to the question. What is worship? And you probably detected what? The first answer is from that paragraph worship is sacrifice, worship is sacrificed, if you trace the word offering or offerings throughout this chapter, the next one you'll find it. Averages at least one perverse. I mean, one mentioned for each verse. It's it's incredibly What it's all about offerings and sacrifices numbers, 28 and 29 provides a checklist. It's a calendar sacrifice is to help the priests as they prepare to go into the land, it tells them what day and what they prescribed offerings are. In fact, it's a One-Stop source resource to help them understand. What is due to God every day in terms of offering, the Lambs are offered each morning and evening, double that on the Sabbath, everything is doubled on the Sabbath the seventh day on the first day of the month, add 7, more lambs, and two bowls and one ram. And one go during the Feast of unleavened bread, which eventually discovered add 7, more lands, two more Bulls one more RAM, one more gold. And so on there's a very detailed list of all the dates and events and sacrifices that are to be offered to God on those days. The list is working. I sequentially if you analyze the chapters, you'll see, it starts with days, what happens every day then it moves up to what happened to everyone? Specialist a bath, then to the first of the month, the new month. And then it covers a series of annual events holidays, are celebration to happen throughout the year. So it's a calendar of Jewish Worship in chapters 28th and 29th, along with the prescribed sacrifices. If you study it, you'll find it also revolves around the motif of seven. The seventh day is the Sabbath. The seventh month, has the most special activities, the Jubilee, the big celebration in Israel comes after 7, 7 year periods. In other words, the 50th year. After 7 times, 77 is woven throughout all the sacrifices 7 is in Bible terms is typically the number of perfection or completion. And so again, God's word, a puts his fingerprints on this system of worship. And tell him what we see here in these chapters is simply that's the word required, his people to give offerings offerings of grain or oil, wine and animals. Among these many kinds of sacrifices. The animals, were the most expensive and most significant, we swear to take meat for granted, but in ancient times the average person, probably did not eat meat most days. It was kind of the exception, not the norm where the standard as it is. So often in our case, so meet with valuable animals were valuable and significant because of the value and the blood, one scholar added up, all the quote is in numbers, from these two chapters. He came up with a minimum offering per year of 113 Bulls. 32 Rams, 1086 Lambs over a ton of flower over a thousand bottles of oil and wine plus all the personal offerings, plus a whole bunch more Lambs on on Passover. So, in other words, you see an incredible wealth of sacrifices. Offer to God. It sort of hints that when God takes him to the promised land. It's a rich land where they're going to have land and Fields, and fruit and animals. And they're going to be generous in their giving This is a constant stream of sacrifice, why? So much sacrifice. Here's what is going on with sacrifice, is what's important in a couple reasons, sacrifice is important because sins must be paid for it either by the center, or by the substitute for that spinner. All sins. Must be dealt with all sins. Must be resolved, when an animal was sacrificed. It went like this, The Giver would leave his animal fair. The Giver would put his hands on the head of the animal. Literally. The Hebrew says, they would lean on the animal and the Act was meant to symbolically state. That I'm putting my sin, my guilt on this victim, on this animal. This one is becoming my substitute. I'm guilty that animal is not. I'm putting my guilt and shame and send on this one. I'm transferring it. And then to give her, that animal would kill the animal and prepared for the sacrifice kind of a graphic way, isn't it? Kind of a powerful object lesson to say mice in cost something It cost wife, that takes blood to wash it away and that was the message. God was giving to the sacrifice system. The animal sacrifice the worshipper was considered clean and Guiltless taking on the purity of the substitute. The sacrifice, the Bible says, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission, no forgiveness of sins. Of course, Christians can look at Christ is the ultimate sacrifice because of his shed blood, we are washed from our sins, really? All the different words that talk about salvation in Christ, really revolve around its ideas substitution. He took our place, he who was in a sentence. Took the place of us who are guilty and I'm sure he took on himself. All the sins of the world, he became our substitute, he died where we should have died and gave us life where we should have had life. That's the message of the gospel and that's the message that the Old Testament sacrifice his point to. God was pleased with this. I'm sure. You know, the thing about these sacrifices not only did Sims require sacrifice to be paid for it. God is pleased with acceptable offerings. And with Humble Hearts, only the Lord is righteous and holy only. He can say what constitutes an acceptable payment for sin and he set that up with a system that he created and gave to Moses and the people of Israel. So he specified the sacrifices, they had to be spotless. You couldn't take your sick lamb or lazy, livestock, and pass it off cuz it's going to die anyway. My soul sacrifice it. No, no. It had to be perfect without blemish had to be Flawless. In other words, you gave the best to the Lord, not the worst, the best, it had to be a fitting sacrifice. And then it would be accepted by the Lord 7 times. These chapters you'll see the phrase a sweet savour, a sweet Aroma to the Lord. What this tells us is that acceptable worship and sacrifice is a sweet Aroma to the Lord. That was not a curious way to put it, it's kind of a way of describe, Got in human terms. But here's the point it's saying that when a sinner comes and offers a sacrifice and acceptable sacrifice with a humble Spirit. When that is offered, God is pleased. He Delights in that get, you know, in our own fleshly nature. We can sometimes think of God is a little more stingy, a little disapproving and not willing to overlook sin for the fact is he's holding just but he is equally gracious and merciful so that he Delights when Sinners come to be reconciled with him. God prefers Mercy over judgement and the fact of the matter is God does not reluctantly give forgiveness. He gladly gives it its a sweet Aroma to him when it comes to repent. He Delights in that and that's an encouragement for you and for me as well. God, Delights and the sacrifice. He's pleased with acceptable offering to with Humble Hearts. So we're shift is sacrifice, Christians are called to give off Things we give offerings. We have that is part of our worship, typically, as we receive offerings, but Christians are giving a better Covenant, a better relationship with God and we're also given a better opportunity. Were told not just to offer sacrifices, but to become a sacrifice. Listen to the words of Romans chapter 12, I beseech, you, therefore Brethren by the mercies of God, that you present, your bodies, a Living Sacrifice, holy acceptable, to God, which is your reasonable service. So what the New Testament calls has to do with Christian is not just to give offering, but to be an offering to be a Living, Sacrifice to get, not just my stuff to God, but to give myself to him to love him and live for him to honor him in my body to live for him. That's what it's talking about course. You know what the old preacher said, the problem with a Living Sacrifice is, it keeps Crawling Back Off The Altar and isn't that the experience we all have? We surrender? And then we kind of take it back and then we surrender. We had to take it back. The point is to present yourselves a daily hourly, moment-by-moment, as a Living Sacrifice to God, which is are reasonable and acceptable and proper service. The one who has done so much for us, But what is worship? Answer number one. Definition number one worship is sacrifice. Let me suggest a second one from this system. Sacrifices worship is remembering worship. Is remembering chapter, 28 systematically lays out a calendar sacrifices. In fact, as I said, it's working eyes chronologically or sequentially. Starting with a day, a week, a month. And then the year what goes on in the year. In other words, the calendar goes daily, weekly, monthly annually and very logical order to help us understand what God's expectations and requirements are besides the days and weeks months their annual times, a special celebration. They're called peace. Why are they called Feast? Because it includes celebration with food. There is at least one day of fasting, mention, but by and large the feast, our celebrations of worship of giving and feasting together going to tell you a secret. The Baptist did not invent Fellowship meals. Did you know that they had Fellowship meals in the Old Testament? They got together an eighth and enjoy that food and time together. And that was at the heart of their celebrations. Let's highlight. Just a few of these events to give you a sense were flavor of God's intent. In this chapter mentioned several, holy days and feast, let me just give you three samples to give you the sense of what they were all about. First one is the Feast of unleavened bread. Just came right after Passover passover's. When they were told annually to remember how God rescued them from Egypt from the house of bondage, in fact, they left with such urgency, they didn't have time to raise their bread. They ate it unleavened and just packed up and hit the road, really fast. And so ever after they would have your Passover with its rituals and observances and part of, that was the unleavened bread, kind of like a matzo bread today, a flatbread like a cracker and so they would eat that as a remembrance the Feast of a Leavened bread is all about remembering God redeemed. You you were a bonded slave. You were under harsh taskmasters. You had no future, no freedom and got such a free does not have residents with Christians. We were in the house of slavery. We are in bondage to sin and bondage to the evil one and Dad set us free. That's worth remembering. In fact, as we prepare for communion, we should remember that that God has set us free. He's redeemed us, he's bought us where the price paid the ransom to set us free. This event called a Passover. The unleavened bread was designed to remind the people of God's Deliverance. Here's another one, the Feast of first fruits, and each of these has various names sometimes. This one is called the Feast of Weeks to Feast of harvest. This one was time to sequentially fall within the time of the first crops coming, right? In other words, that correspond to the start of the harvest season, God was giving them a good land in the promised land. He would give them Bountiful Harvest. And they were told to remember that God is providing for you and to appreciate his provision. His generosity, got to the generous, got in the people set aside days every year to remind and thank God for his provision. There's a third one, the Feast of booths were tense word, Tabernacles, what in the world is that if you read in the chapter, won't go into the details now. But part of the celebration was two people would leave their home and camp out in shelters of branches were other materials for about a week. Did you know that camping out as a family as biblical camp out? What in the world was the purpose? For this campout, the purpose was simply to remember that, God took that generation who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, those two generations, and he brought them to permanent homes, to give them houses, they didn't have to build, he gave them the land of the gift. The point was to say, remember God, in his faithfulness, he took you and your father's when they were Wanderers and Exiles and Nomads, and brought them to a permanent home and hasn't God, likewise been faithful to you and me, he's been faithful to us giving us a home in heaven. Giving us all we need every day. Got us a generous God to us, no less than to them. Is a is a righteous, got a good guy, every demon, god who saves people Who are guilty. The Feast of tents for Booze was a reminder does faithfulness. When I was stationed in Kuwait for for about a year I noticed not long after I got there that in the winter time when the temperatures were relatively mild for Kuwait, the qualities would leave their homes and go outside to put up tents all over the world in us and I thought I've seen camping but camping out on a stretch of desert sand doesn't really appeal that much but they just went crazy all over the desert. You see these little Villages of tents and shelters summer. Very simple. Pop-up, tents or tarps somewhere, huge compounds with generators one, even had a 30 ft tall inflatable toy, you know, for kids, I'm not sure. They got the whole idea of roughing it but the principal and ask one of the well, in the winter time when we get out there, because one, remember our heritage that we were Wanderers in the desert. We want to keep in touch with the desert. I think it's something like that with Israel. They're told to honor the Lord and his faith with us for when they were people without a home, he gave them a home. And Christians can relate to the same. We had no home and God has given us a home and it's preparing at home for us. So what is worship worship is remembering remember, remember the story that is told of Jesus when ten lepers came to him and he told them to go show themselves to the priest and as they went, they were all healed. All 10. How many came back to say thank you. 11 and the Lord says where they're not can wear the other nine, and sure enough, it just reminds us that we'll have short memories can. I can I say, we probably don't consciously. Thank God as much as we ought to. Thank God. I thank God for his many blessings and generosity his Redemption by his faithfulness. Remember faith has a good memory. Doubt has a short memory under God, pay him, his respects in his dues as Believers were obliged to be thankful and we ought to do so. Well, let me show you one, more definition of worship. We said, worship is sacrifice. Worship is remembering there's a third. One worship is fellowship, worship, and fellowship, three-time Denise chapters. The Lord will save you sacrifices. Make atonement the word atonement appears three times chapter 28 verse, 22, verse, 30, 29 verse 11, Turn the sacrifices cover. Sims, let's talk about what they do. These are all designed to restore Fellowship. Is he sacrifices cover set the word. Atonement means literally to cover said when the Hebrews offered and Faith are animal sacrifices as God. Commanded, he covered their sins and other words, he made it as if it was of no effect avoided their sin, their guilt their consequences before. God, did you know that in the New Testament, we have a better system in a better result. They offered animals. We have the offering of Christ, the animals had to be offered again and again, daily, quote of animals to satisfy the requirement Christ. Once, for all paid for sins, they had sins covered, we had since Donnelly covered. But cleanse, John, the Apostle wrote this in first John chapter 1, verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful. And just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Did you know the Christian? Your sins are not just covered their cleanse. What? There might be consequences of our sins. There's no guilt, no condemnation from our sins. It's washed away by the work of. Jesus Christ. Amazing, amazing. What sacrifices are offered to. This end, the purpose is to restore Fellowship. Among other things, has it occurred to you, by the way, that the kinds of sacrifices offered meet with our truths oil and wine will comprise a pretty good full meal. Have you thought about that? It seems to me and I wonder about this, it's almost like the people are offering all the elements of a me to share that meal with the Lord, to Feast with him, to include him in the face that they offer these sacrificial food items. That would make a pretty good table. That's what the Lord is suggesting. I think this morning will take communion and we'll come to another table. Think about the names that we call this table. This act of worship that we call communion the word communion as in community in Plaza, We're sharing and exchanging and doing it together with each other, in the family of God, and with God, our Father its Community together. We sometimes call this the Lord's table or the Lord's. Supper that suggest a family, dining event. And we see the Old Testament worship of Israel had a lot of that kind of activity. It was cable fellowship, and that's effectively with. This is sometimes it's called the love these combined with a meal. The early church would have which suggests a climate and attitude of caring, Mutual care and unity together. All these are termed for this table which points to Fellowship that the Lord desires us to have sin separates us from God, but sacrifices restoreth Fellowship. So as we come to the table, it's an opportunity to reset our relationship would got stick infest. Sins to confess our failures our wrongs, you know, Lord, as I look back the last week I was really not acting rightly. I spoke some things I shouldn't have said, I had the wrong attitude, I was coveting last week. I was very selfish last week, where would you forgive me? But this is a time and a reminder, to reset our relationship with God, to get rid of the send, get rid of the package, get rid of the stuff just get right with God to have a clear conscience before God, and everyone else. That's what this table is all about, just as the Old Testament worship was all about. Well let me say one more thing, Fellowship finds its completion in Christ. In Christ. The Tabernacle of the Old Testament, was a tent where God symbolically was present with his people. He was there in the pillar of cloud and fire. God was showing himself there, the tents, the Tabernacle was about God among his people. He lived in the middle of the camp and went wherever they went in the New Testament, we have a better commentary on that. John chapter one says that Jesus, the son of God came and put on flesh and it says in John chapter one, he Tabernacle the month has literally pitched his tent Among Us. Did you know what Christ coming is, its God put it on flashing, kitchen is 10 to hang out with us, that's what it is. He's with us. Fellowship is completed comes. Did Christ and we will show a joy that and it's full of sense in heaven. One day. Christ is temporarily not here. He's absent and body at this time, but we remember him to communion. Remember the words of communion pulsepak, Paul talks about it and says we Proclaim in doing this. We proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. Another words communion is not a permanent ordinance of the church. It's a temporary stopgap. Jesus ascended to Heaven, one day. He'll come back, will be with him. In this interim time between this is our remembrance of him, we look back at his sacrifice for us. We look forward to every Union with him. One day, we will see him just as the Old Testament, Tabernacle was a shadow of things in Heaven. Can I suggest you? This is a shadow of things in heaven. This table proclaims that one day. We'll be with the Lord. We won't do this in Memorial, the table will see you in heaven. One day will be fully equipped, fully spread will be at the wedding Feast of the Lamb. We will See him face-to-face. We want worship him in a spiritual sense. Will see him bodily presence Among Us? This table is a shadow. A preview of things to come a meal that we will enjoy with the Lord when we see him face to face, those were prepared for the Lord's table and communion let's trust in Jesus, sacrifice for us as the writer Hebrews explained, in chapter 9 worth the blood of bulls and goats in the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean Sanctified through the purifying of the flesh, how much more should the blood of Christ? Who through the eternal spirit offered himself for that spot. The gods cleanse your conscience from dead, Works to serve the Living God today, as we prepare for the table, and this time of worship, let us come with clean Hearts, confessing send trusting in the sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The righteous who died for the unrighteous come to him for cleansing a sin. If you've not believed in Christ, if your Authentic believer in Christ, repent. Turn to Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins. He paid all the sacrifice you ever need to give, you don't need to work harder at being good. You don't need to go get baptized and catechized and whatever else you can think of just need to repent and ask God's forgiveness, believing that Jesus. The son of God died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead. That's the sacrifice and you can't improve upon that. It's the only thing that will do. For this morning, we try to answer a question with three definitions. What is worship worship is sacrifice. Worship is remembering what God has done and worship is fellowship. Restoring fellowship with God. So as we come to the table, Let's pray and prepare our hearts. Will you pray with me? Father, we want to honor you today and be true. Worshippers worshipping in spirit and in truth, and what we need your help to do that today. Father, we want to be deliberate and intentional. Honoring your sacrifice. We've heard about sacrifices, but there's no sacrifice, like, the Son of God. You're not even comprable to the animals once for all, you paid for our sins and we say, thank you. Father's Day one. To remember all you've done for us, forgive us. When we get selfish or ungrateful, forgive us when we're focused on what we want. Instead of being grateful for what we have. Father today, would you restore a fellowship? What do you reset us as we confess our sins to you and to others? Would you forgive us? Would you restore a fresh relationship with us? May you warm our hearts and encourage us. May you draw us to yourself today, may we be Falling in love with you today. Father, we ask your help in all these things. We pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen.