Do you know Leviticus chapter
16? We're working on the subject
of God's day of atonement and Really, we're just giving
some introductory things about this chapter. Lord willing, next week, next
Lord's Day, we'll get into it more verse by verse. As we look this morning, there
is a connection that needs to be understood. That is, these
instructions that God gave to Moses to give to Aaron. It was after something awesome
had happened. You notice again, chapter 16,
verses 1 and 2, the Lord Jehovah, that is, Jehovah spake unto Moses
after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had offered
before the Lord and they died. They offered incense and they
offered on what God called strange fire. in God's statutes to Israel,
they were never to offer strange incense or strange fire. No strange incense, just that
which God approved of. That speaks of the merits of
our Lord Jesus and His intercessory work, and then no strange fire. It's got to be God's fire. The Lord had ignited that offering
on the brazen altar. That fire came from God. The
Bible says our God is a consuming fire. And that bright Chicago
glory It shined and the people had seen the glory of the Lord.
We saw that this morning back in Leviticus at the end of chapter
9. And they shouted and they bowed to the Lord, this glorious
God. And then that very fire of God,
God's fire, it absolutely burned up the offering that was on the
brazen altar. But these men, they brought unusual
fire, different fire, God called it strange fire. And then on
that fire, they burned incense. God wouldn't have anything to
do with it. And they died. In fact, if we
have the time to go back, Moses, he called two men forth. He said,
you just take these men right out of the camp. And everybody
was a witness. This wasn't done in secret. It wasn't a private matter. It
wasn't Moses that went to Nadab and Abihu and pulled them over
to the side and said, now you men have made an awful mistake.
No, this is not Moses dealing with them, this is God dealing
with them. And God struck them dead right
there on the spot. And that says to us that if you
endeavor to do anything for God, to worship God, to have access
to God, to draw near to God, to call upon the name of the
Lord, if you do anything of a religious or a so-called spiritual nature
without looking to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, you
will not be accepted. And if you persist in that, God
will kill you. God will kill you. Everything that we do, every
song that we sing, every time we read the scriptures, every
time we call on God in prayer, every time we give our offering,
every time we are in attendance here, everything that we do is
to be always with an eye on the blood shedding of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if you're not focused on
the Lord Jesus, if you've not focused your heart's attention
upon His sacrifice, that satisfied divine justice, then nothing
you do will be accepted by God. Everything's got to go through
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's the connection. In fact,
the Lord said in the second verse, He said to Moses, now you speak
to Aaron your brother, that he come not at all times into the
holy place within the veil before the mercy seat which is upon
the ark, that he die not. You say, boy, this sure is this
severe penalty, isn't it? Death is severe. Because death
is God's punishment on account of sin. The soul that sinned
it shall die. And Moses told his brother Aaron,
now you remember what happened to Nadab in the bayou. If you don't want to die, you
better do things God's way. And I'll tell you, if you don't
want to die, If you don't want to perish, if you don't want
to be separated from God for eternity, you better do things
God's way. God's way is a way of life. God's
way is a way of righteousness. God's way is a way of salvation.
But you do something your way, It's a way of death. Every way
of man is always, it always ends in death. Only God's way is the
way of life. Alright, after the death of Nadab
and Abihu, I don't find that anybody, and
I read these chapters between Go back to chapter 10 and then
up to chapter 16. I don't find anybody, I don't
find anybody, not even Moses and not even Aaron, I don't find
anybody raising the question, well then how can we approach
God so as to be accepted? Is there any possibility that
we can go to God and be received? If these men died, these men
who had the outer dress of a priest, these men who were committed,
at least outwardly, to serving Israel and serving the Lord,
these men whose father was the high priest, if they died, Is it any way that anybody can
ever draw near to God and live? Nobody asks that question. And you know what? I can't find
many people asking that question today. You see, here's the real
issue. Let's just get right down to
where the rubber meets the road. The real issue is how can God
be just and holy and righteous and justify the ungodly? That's the issue today. And I
can't tell you the last, I don't even remember the last time when
anybody asked me that question. They've got lots of other questions.
Well, preacher, how many angels are there in existence? I don't
know. A thousand times a thousand times
ten thousand. What does it matter? Well preacher,
can you tell me what everybody in heaven, what they are going
to look like up there? What are they going to be doing?
What are they going to be worshipping the Lord? They've got all kinds
of questions. I'll tell you this. Years ago,
I was, oh, I wasn't 21, 22 years old, I guess it was. This church
asked me to come candidate for them, and I was foolish enough
to think that I could do it then. And I went and candidated for
them, and they said, well, we've got some questions to ask you
after the service. There'll be a committee that
will meet with you. And I said, well, okay. Well, I knew something
was wrong when the committee was made up of all women. No
offense to you, dear sisters, Well, there was one man there,
but his wife did the talking for him. And I got in there, and I said,
well, what do you want to ask me? And one said, do you think
we ought to have a junior choir? And I said, I don't care whether
you have a junior choir or not. Another one said, what about
robes for the choir? And they started asking questions
like that. And I said, ladies, this meeting
is over. This meeting is over. People are not asking the right
questions. I tell you this, the oldest book
in the Bible is Job. And in the book of Job you find
this question raised. How can he be clean that's born
of a woman? How can a man be just with God? And nobody is asking that question
here. Well, let me tell you something.
This Day of Atonement, it didn't come about by reason of man's
desire, and it didn't come about by reason
of man's wisdom. Moses didn't come up with the
idea of a Day of Atonement, and Aaron didn't come up with the
idea of the Day of Atonement. It's Jehovah who saves. This
is the fulfillment of His purpose. Here's what I'm trying to say.
It's not man who sought to be reconciled to God or who seeks
to be reconciled to God. It's God Himself who is determined
to have a people that will glorify His free and sovereign grace.
God purposed salvation. He ordained this way the only
way by which He could be a just God and a Savior. Here is salvation. Here is forgiveness. Here is life based on God's law
being satisfied by God-appointed, God-approved innocent victim
dying in the stead of the guilty. A guilty person or a guilty victim
can't die for a guilty victim. It's got to be an innocent victim
dying in the stead of the guilty. I don't find anybody in Israel
asking how this can be done. And maybe a few of them, I don't
know how many were even interested in how this could be done. Well,
if Nadab and Abihu, and they were priests, and they had on
the white garments, And they had been participants
in chapter 9, in bringing the burnt offering, in bringing the
blood to Aaron to sprinkle, dressed in their white robes that God
had appointed. They had been consecrated to
God back in Leviticus chapter 8. It looks like somebody ought
to ask the question, if these men cannot be accepted by God
coming the way they did, can anybody be accepted? And if so,
how can that be? I'm interested in it, aren't
you? I hope you are. No, this day of atonement, it
didn't come about by reason of man's desire or man's wisdom. And I don't even read that anybody
was interested in atonement being made. Although I'm sure Moses
did, and Aaron did, and Miriam did, and probably a few other
believers as well. But I know somebody who was interested,
and he's been interested from before the foundation of the
world. That's God Almighty. Listen to 2 Samuel 14, 14. For
we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the
ground, which cannot be gathered up again, neither doth God respect
any person, yet doth he devise means that his banished be not
expelled from him. He has devised the way whereby
his loved ones, his children, won't be expelled from him. You
see, the day of atonement was ordained of God. I love that
verse over in the book of Job. Then he is gracious unto him. And God says, deliver him from
going down to the pit. I found a ransom. We couldn't
find a ransom. We weren't even looking for a
ransom. We didn't even know a ransom had to be paid. We don't know
anything about the justice of God or the law of God. But God
devised a way to satisfy His own just demands through the
death of a suitable substitute. Ah, the Day of Atonement. It speaks to me of the great
Day of Atonement. The great day of atonement or
the great day of reconciliation, that happened 2,000 years ago. That's when sinners given to
Christ Jesus in the covenant of grace were reconciled to God
by the death of His Son. I say this day of atonement originated
with God. And then I want you to consider
this, the date of the day of atonement that was also determined
by the Lord. There was a specific date. Look at verse 29. Leviticus chapter
16 verse 29. And this shall be a statute forever
unto you. That is, as long as the Aaronic
priesthood continued unto Messiah come. This shall be a statute
forever unto you, that in the seventh month, on the tenth day
of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, that's humility,
and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country
or a stranger that sojourneth among you. On the same day, every
year, the seventh month and the tenth day of the month, they
were to observe the day of atonement. Now, in the Jewish way of, in
their calendar, you know, God changed their first month. Go
back to the book of Exodus. Go back to Exodus chapter 12. He changed their calendar. Go to Exodus chapter number 12. Look at the second verse. This
is at Passover. Exodus chapter 12 and the second
verse. First verse says, The Lord spake
unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month,
this month of Passover, It shall be unto you the beginning of
months. We're going to reset the year now. That's what God
said. We're going to reset the year.
This is what they call Israel's ecclesiastical year. Or their
religious year. God said we're going to reset
the calendar right now. It shall be the first month of
the year to you. And we know, look over in chapter
13, we know the name of it. Look at chapter 13. Look at verse 3. Verses 3 and
4. And Moses said unto the people,
remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the
house of bondage. For by strength of the hand the
Lord brought you out from this place. There shall no leavened
bread be eaten. This day came ye out in the month
of Abib." Now, Abib from then on, during the month of Abib,
that's when the Passover would take place. The month of Abib
corresponds to our month of April. Our month of April. In fact,
the word Abib really means when the grain is just being formed. That's really the definition
of Abib. When the grain is being formed.
It's in the springtime. In the springtime. That's when
Passover was. will then go seven months out
from that. Now our calendar would be October. That's when God said you'll have
in the seventh month on the tenth day of the month, you'll have
the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement. That first
month That's Passover month. God said, we're going to reset
the calendar now. You say, why that? Because life begins with the
death of the Son of God. That's when it all begins. This
is when it all starts. That's where pardon is from.
That's where everlasting life is from. It's due to the blood
shedding of the Son of God to His death. Let's reset our calendars. Everything begins with the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what God's telling Israel.
Everything begins with His death. By the way, after You get over
to the book of Nehemiah and Esther, Abib is then called Nisan. The
month of Nisan, but that's the same. But as far as this Day of Atonement,
you've got to go to the seventh month, which is Ethanun. It's like Ethan and add I Am. That's the seventh month. And
I'll go into that in a little bit. God says on this day, this specific
day, you'll have the day of atonement. It wasn't left for Moses to choose
the day. It wasn't left for Aaron. It
wasn't the elders of Israel. They didn't put this to a vote
through the nation of Israel because they didn't have a democracy.
They had a theocracy. God set the day. He said, same
time every year, same day every year till Messiah comes. The
seventh month, the tenth day of the month. This is all up
to God's timing. Even so, the great day of atonement,
the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He reconciled His people
unto God, when He redeemed His sheep from the curse of the law.
That day was not determined by man either. It wasn't up to man when Christ
would die. In fact, if it had been left
up to the Jews according to their wishes, they didn't want Him
to die at Passover time, did they? You read in Matthew chapter
26. Oh, they conspired to kill him,
but they said, but not at Passover, because we fear the people. He's
got such a big following. They didn't want him to die at
Passover when thousands and thousands upon thousands of people were
in Jerusalem. Not at the Passover. It'll be
at the Passover. Notwithstanding what they wanted.
Because you see, God's Passover lamb is going to die when He
says it's going to die. Dies on His schedule. The Lord
had determined when His Son would die at Passover. Christ would
die so that the very truth of the Gospel might answer to the
typology. That the substance might answer
to the shadow. God chose the location, God chose
the manner, God chose the method, God chose the very timing of
the Savior's death. He chose the Redeemer before
the world began. Behold mine elect, God said. God first chose Jesus Christ
to be our Savior and then He chose us in Him before the world
began. He chose who would betray Him. He determined everything about
the death of the Son of God. Even who would drive the spikes
in His hands and His feet. Who would put the crown of thorns
upon His brow. that He would stand before Pontius
Pilate, and that He would stand before King Herod. God determined
all of that. God chose everything about it.
He died right on schedule. Right on schedule. When we were
yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. In due time, when our debt came
due, That's when he paid it. This is a time marked out in
old eternity. The Son of God talked frequently
about that hour. That hour. He said in Matthew
26, 45, the hour is at hand that the Son of Man is betrayed into
the hands of sinners. In John 8, 20, these words spake
Jesus in the treasury as He taught in the temple, and no man laid
hands on Him. Why not? His hour was not yet
come. John 12, 23, and 27, Jesus answered
them saying, The hour is come. that the Son of Man should be
glorified. He said, now is my soul troubled. What shall I say? Father save
me from this hour, but for this reason I came to this hour. This date is ordained of God. And then let me tell you this,
there was just one day of atonement. Just one day of atonement. Look
at verse 34 of our text. Just one day of atonement. One
day a year. Verse 34 chapter 16. This shall
be an everlasting statute unto you to make an atonement for
you or for the children of Israel for all their sins. How many
times a year? Once a year. And He did as the
Lord commanded Him. Once a year. This was a law that
had to be strictly observed. Go over to Leviticus chapter
23. Leviticus chapter 23. In this
chapter we see that God gave to Israel seven annual feasts. They're all set forth in this
chapter. I want you to consider what happened
in the seventh month. Remember, that's the seventh
month, the tenth day of the month. That's the day of atonement.
Actually, the entire month was special. This is also the month
for the Feast of Tabernacles. That's when that was held. And
later on, the Feast of the Dedication of Solomon's Temple was held
in this month. It's the month of Ethanem, or
Ethenem, which has some interesting meanings. The seventh month,
it has some interesting meanings. It means, number one, that which
is ever flowing. And the reason was because in
the seventh month, our October, during the seventh month, the
dry riverbeds would be filled by the autumn rains, and the
water would flow again. And I tell you, with joy shall
we draw water. from the wells of salvation that
run perpetually, trace them back to the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Trace them back to the great
day of atonement. This word, Aethonim, it also
means the month of gifts. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. I'll tell you something else
it means. the month of the fragrance of
flowers. There's a blessed fragrance that
rose up to our God in the death of His Son. Ephesians chapter
5, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and
walk in love as Christ also hath loved us. and hath given himself
for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor." The sacrifices that Israel brought
in the book of Isaiah, God said of them, there's smoke in my
nose. But the sacrifice of His Son,
sweet-smelling savor. In other words, it pleased the
Father. It satisfied Him. It satisfied
Him. In this, the seventh month, many
things happened in Israel. For instance, look at verse 23. Leviticus chapter 23, verse 23,
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speaking of the children
of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, very first day of the
month, you'll have a Sabbath. A memorial
of blowing of trumpets. It will be a holy convocation.
Ye shall do no servile work therein, but ye shall offer an offering
made by fire unto the Lord. I'll tell you a verse that very
much relates to this. Psalm 89, 15. Blessed is the
people that know the joyful sound or the joyful sound of the trumpet.
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. We
have heard the joyful sound. What is it? Jesus saves. Jesus saves. And every time we
gather together, we blow the gospel trumpet. You blew the
gospel trumpet this morning, didn't you brother? And I blew
the gospel trumpet here. Brother Trabant blew the gospel
trumpet up in Almonte. Brother Shepherd down in Jacksonville. And all of God's servants. Brother
Parker down in Albany. Blowing the gospel trumpet. What
a joyful sound for sinners that Jesus saves. Jesus saves. God says you'll do this every
year. Seventh month. First day of the
month. Feast of Trumpets. Now look at
verse 26. And the Lord spake unto Moses
saying, Also on the seventh month there shall be a day of atonement.
That's the one we're talking about in Leviticus chapter 16.
It shall be a holy convocation unto you. Ye shall afflict your
souls and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. He shall
do no work in that same day, for it is a day of atonement,
to make an atonement for you, for you, before the Lord your
God. There was but one day of atonement
ordained of God, and that day was to be observed till Messiah
came. One day of atonement because
Christ Jesus offered Himself unto God One time is the sacrifice
of the sin. And that's emphasized so much
in the New Testament. Romans chapter 6 and verse 10,
For in that he died, he died unto sin once. But in that he
liveth, he liveth unto God. Hebrews 7.27, "...who needeth
not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first
for his own sins, and then for the people's. For this he did
once when he offered up himself." Hebrews 9.26-28, For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
Hebrews chapter 10. And verse 10, which our brother
read a few moments ago, For by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 1 Peter 3.18 For Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. He died once. He died once and
satisfied God's justice. I'll tell you something else
about this Day of Atonement. There wasn't to be any work done
by anybody else except the high priest. Not even the regular
priests. They stood and watched. The rule
was no work today for anybody except that man. except the high
priest. You're still in chapter 23. I
want you to notice how often God said, no work. No work. On these holy days,
on these feast days, no work. He kept emphasizing it. Go all
the way back to verse 7. 23 verse 7. This is about the
Passover. This is the Passover and then
the Feast of Unleavened Bread associated with it. Chapter 23,
verse 7. In the first day ye shall have
a holy convocation, ye shall do no servile work therein. Verse 8. But ye shall offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days. In the seventh
day is a holy convocation, ye shall do no servile work therein. Drop down to verse 21. Ye shall proclaim on the self
same day that ye may be a holy convocation unto you. Ye shall
do no servile work therein. That shall be a statute forever
in all your dwellings throughout your generations. Look at verse
25. Ye shall do no servile work therein, but ye shall offer an
offering made by fire unto the Lord. Look at verse 28. Ye shall
do no work in that day. It's a day of atonement. Look
at verse 31. Ye shall do no manner of work. It shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Look at verse
35. On the first day shall be, and this is the Feast of Tabernacles
by the way, on the first day shall be a holy convocation,
ye shall do no servile work therein. Verse 36. Seven days ye shall
offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. On the eighth
day, you remember in John chapter 7, the eighth day, the great
day of the feast, that's when Jesus stood and cried saying,
if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. This is the
eighth day. The eighth day shall be a holy
convocation unto you, and you shall offer an offering made
by fire unto the Lord. It's a solemn assembly, and you
shall do no servile work at all. What's servile work? Well, work
like a servant. You couldn't work in your garden.
You couldn't go out and pull up weeds. You couldn't Do any
business. If you owned a business, you
couldn't do any work on that. It was a day of rest. A day of
rest. And on the Day of Atonement,
God said no work. No work. Somebody else is going
to work today. You'll watch. He'll work. And they all watched Aaron as
he went about his duties as the high priest on the Day of Atonement. Oh listen, in this matter of
salvation, it's not of works. Watch Christ Jesus do the work. He did it to God's full satisfaction
and went home to glory and sat down at the right hand of the
Father. And this salvation is not by our works. None whatsoever. And if anybody in Israel got
the bright idea, well, I think I'll work a little on this, the
Day of Atonement. Here's what happened. Look back
at verse 29. This is on the Day of Atonement
now, verse 29. Chapter 23, verse 29. For whatsoever
soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he'll
be cut off from among his people. And whatsoever soul it be that
doeth any work in the same day, the same soul, God said, I will
destroy from among the people. No manner of work. That's pretty
clear. Somebody else is doing the work.
Salvation is by grace alone. Not of works. Ephesians 2.8 and
9, for by grace are you saved through faith. Even that's not
of yourself. It's the gift of God. Not of
works. lest any man should boast." You
don't make the difference in salvation. Jesus Christ does. It's not your labors, it's not
your work, it's not your blood, sweat, or tears. It's His blood,
sweat, and tears. It's His work. The great high
priest on the great day of atonement. He settled the issue at the cross.
That's when he reconciled his people to God. That's when he
justified us. That's when he put away our sins.
That's when he brought in everlasting righteousness. And when the spirit
of grace takes the gospel word and quickens our poor dead hearts,
when he gives us a new heart of faith, then we'll see Christ
Jesus finished the work long, long ago. And I enter into his
labors. I reap the rewards of his labors. He did the work. Don't you dare lift a finger
to assist God in saving you. He'll damn you for it. He'll
do it. Because he's jealous of his glory. He said, I'm the Lord, that's
my name, my glory will I not give to another. Not by works
of righteousness which we have done. And you got people who
are trying to keep the law and doing the best they can. I listened
to a country song the other day. I kind of like country singing
every once in a while. It was talking about where I
come from. Where I come from. We're trying
to work our way to heaven. Where I come from. Well, that's
because you come from this old earth. And that's the belief
of the natural man. It's not of works. It's not our
work. It's His work. His work. And on this Day of Atonement,
as we're going to see, as we get into it more fully next Lord's
Day, on that day Aaron, God's appointed high priest, he wasn't
elected high priest. He didn't volunteer to be the
high priest. God chose him to be the high
priest. And our Lord Jesus Christ, He
was chosen by God to be our great high priest. Now He volunteered
to do the work that God gave Him. He did it voluntarily. But
He did it by Himself. By Himself. And that's what we're
trying to say. Christ is all in all in God's
salvation. And you don't enter into it.
We just give thanks for Him. And we worship Him. And I know
there are works that will follow in the life of a believer. It's
got nothing to do with your acceptance before God. Nothing whatsoever. It's His work. We rejoice in
Him. Let's sing a song.