All right, first of all, the
one in Leviticus chapter 4. Now, we'll come back here later,
but for now, we just read four verses. Verse 1, verse 2, then
verse 27, and verse 28. Leviticus chapter 4, the whole
chapter is about sins of ignorance. Now, and the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If
a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments
of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done and
shall do against any of them. 27 and 28. And if any one of the common
people sin through ignorance, will he do us something against
any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which
ought not to be done and be guilty? And if his sin, which he has
sinned, come to his knowledge, Then he shall bring his offering,
a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin
which he hath sinned. For I, in Ephesians chapter 4,
there are two verses, has to do with the ignorance of the
Gentiles. Therefore I say and testify in
the Lord that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, verse
17 and 18, in the vanity of their mind. Watch verse 18, chapter
4, Ephesians. having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. Now hear Paul, 1 Timothy chapter
1, verse 12 and 13. And I thank Christ Jesus, our
Lord, who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer and
a persecutor and injurious, that is violent, but I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. Now, our subject again
today, as I have told you, is that one on the subject of spiritual
ignorance. And we will literally be all
over the scripture today in our study. It might surprise us in
the beginning to realize how much the Bible has to say about
this matter of spiritual ignorance. how often it is mentioned and
repeated in the scripture, but also the importance or the impact,
the effect that this ignorance has upon the one who is guilty. and the extent of this ignorance
as it is written up in the scripture, and the nature and the cause
of it. We will look at its nature, we
will look at the cause of this spiritual ignorance, and then
we will eventually look at the remedy. How can one avoid being
spiritually ignorant any longer? First of all, let's deal with
the question, what is it to be ignorant in this biblical sense
of the word? What is the meaning of this ignorance
as laid out in the scripture. It is not necessarily to be under-educated. When we talk about ignorance,
this ignorance is not necessarily to be uneducated. For there are many that are well
learned in the things of the world, and yet they are spiritually
ignorant, and vice versa. There are some wise in the things
of God, ignorant the things of the world 1st Corinthians chapter
3 and verse 19 the wisdom of the world is foolishness with
God in fact in 1st Corinthians 1 chapter 1 and And chapter two,
Paul makes a very long discussion and a contrast there between
the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God displayed in the
gospel and the salvation of sinners in and through Jesus Christ and
the grace of God. I counted, there are approximately
20 mentions of ignorance in the New Testament. In fact, where
the word itself is used in that play. And the word ignorance,
that is, the quality of ignorance is the lack of knowledge or perception,
as in Acts 3 and 17, the ignorance of the Jew in crucifying the
Lord of glory. but also the ignorance of the
Gentiles in Acts 17 and verse 30, and as we read in Ephesians
4 and verse 18. Now, the word ignorant in the
Scripture actually means to not know, that is, to have a lack
or an absence of information. It might be a willful neglect,
It might be a willful ignorance or it might be a suppression
of the truth. Therefore, not to know, not to
be aware, not to have perception and such like. To the understanding,
therefore, it is absent. It is unknown. The wisdom of
God. And therefore, the only other
state is to be ignorant. And again, there is the word
ignorantly. that we meet with in the scripture
from the same word, however, that is translated by the word
ignorant. In Acts 17 and 30 that I mentioned,
Paul tells the Athenians, you remember, they had gods of every
imaginable sort in their city. And Paul tells them there, in
that place I beheld, You're a God whom you ignorantly worship among
your devotion, and it's Him that I wish to declare unto you."
And he uses it of his own pre-Christian mind or experience. 1 Timothy 1.13, I did it ignorantly in unbelief. What I did, I did out of ignorance. Now, before we settle in on this
and let's pay a visit there to that Old Testament passage in
Leviticus chapter 4, there we find a distinction that is made
in that chapter with regard to their guilt and with regard under
their sacrifices. We find this contrast or distinction. between sins of ignorance and
sins of presumption, whether a sin is in ignorance or it is
in presumption. That is, deliberate, premeditated,
thought upon, and well planned out. It is intentional. It is
premeditated. It is not a sin of ignorance. Now, there are two places here
in the Old Testament where we have a lot of information on
this particular sin. They are Leviticus chapter 4
and chapter 5 and again in Numbers chapter 15 you will find this
discussed. Now, we read in Leviticus 4 and
verse 2, if a soul sin through ignorance. And in verse 18, chapter
5, we read of one concerning his ignorance, wherein he erred
and wished it not. That is, it is an ancient word
meaning to know or to recognize, observe, or discern. wherein
he has sinned and did not know or realize. So let's notice in
Leviticus chapter four and following. Expositors take note of something
here at the fourth chapter of Leviticus, that there is a market
and a sort of a change of emphasis on the particular sacrifices
that are being set forth before the people. Now, the sacrifices
mentioned in chapter 1 through chapter 3 of Leviticus, if we
look at them closely, they seem to be of a voluntary nature,
that one is impressed or moved or motivated to make an offering
of some sort unto God. So to be it seemed to be of a
voluntary nature those sacrifices in chapter 1 and through chapter
3 Leviticus 1 2 for example if any man of you bring an offering
and this is was a burnt offering that was brought before the Lord.
In Leviticus chapter 2 and verse 1, when any will offer a meat
offering unto the Lord. Leviticus chapter 3 and verse
1, if his oblation, that is, his offering, be a sacrifice
of a peace offering. So we have the burnt offering,
the meat offering, and peace offering that are in chapter
1 through chapter 3. And I was reading Calvin, and
he said of these sacrifices in the first three chapters, quote,
they are testimonies of gratitude and exercises of piety, unquote,
when one wanted to worship and adore the Lord God. But with
chapter 4 of Leviticus, comes the sin offering. And we had burnt, and we had
meal, and we had peace. But now we have come unto the
sin offering. And on them Calvin said, quote,
which hold the chief places among the sacrifices, unquote. These are the sin offering. the expiatory sacrifices where
blood is shed on account of sin, to make an atonement for the
sin. For there can be no salvation,
there can be no communion, there can be no fellowship with God
apart from a proper sacrifice for sin and on account of that
sin, unless and until Hebrews 2 and verse 2, every transgression
and disobedient has received a just recompense of reward,
that it might be put away and the way might be cleared under
the worship of God. Again, I say, it might be surprising
to read how many people do not consider themselves to be a sinner
in the sight of God. They do not look upon themselves
as having sinned, having transgressed, and worthy of the wrath of God. How many think that sin is a
little important thing in their life. And how many think that
all go to heaven regardless of the life that they have lived
in this world? Whether they are religious or
not, there is a strong perception among many that all go to heaven,
that all are the children of God, and if their good outweighs
their bad, then that's all that is necessary. who think that
their good will give them an entrance into God and into heaven. Now be that as it may, Leviticus
chapter 4 concerning the handling of the sins of ignorance. We notice as we read or if we
read the whole chapter that there are four very clear division
and distinction or section concerning the sin of ignorance. They concern different people,
in other words. Quickly, here they are, the four
sections, if you are at Leviticus chapter 4. The first one is in
verse 3 through verse 12, and it pertains It has to do with
the priest. Now, the priest has been anointed
by the will of God to be a priest. But if he sins unaware, he shall
offer, when he realizes it, a young bullock for his sin, a young
bullock without blemish, perfect in his physical aspect. Now, this teaches us something,
that even the priest could be guilty of the sin of ignorance. Not only of sin, but also of
the sin of ignorance. Now the second section you find
in verse 13 through verse 21. And this is when the whole congregation
has sinned in ignorance. And then it was made known. And
they were to offer a young bullet who was to be slain at the direct
hand of the elders and the priests of the congregation. And its
blood then sprinkled in the appointed place according to the will of
God. And then thirdly, In verse 22
through verse 26, when a ruler, a magistrate of the people, had
sinned through ignorance, had transgressed the commandment,
and he come to know about it, he was to offer for his sin a
male kid goat without blemish. And the fourth and the final
section we read in verse 27 through verse 35 concerns, quote, the
common people or any individual who sins in ignorance. And notice, and it come to his
knowledge. it be brought to his attention,
he be made aware of it. How was it brought to his knowledge? Was it by an inward stirring
of his conscience and conviction, or the Holy Spirit of God, or
by a close acquaintance who pointed it out unto him, or perhaps a
priest's rebuke? as David received from the prophet. And he was to offer a female
goat without blemish for that sin of ignorance. Now, from these
things and these four divisions, we learn these things are scriptural. Number one, there is such a thing
as a sin of ignorance. of not realizing at the time
that it was a sin. And then it is known in verse
14, or it come to his knowledge in verse 23, again in verse 28,
when secret things are brought to light and made known. The
second thing that we learn Even though it is done in ignorance,
yet are such sins real sins in the sight of God. For they are
transgressions of the commandment and the law of God. They are
not little ignorant missteps to be overlooked. Look at the
13th verse, and that's very clear. And the third thing that we learn,
even if done in ignorance, even if not aware, yet they require
a proper sacrifice. They're not to be left alone. They won't evaporate. They are
to have a proper sacrifice and one of God's sanctioning and
ordaining. Then the fourth thing that I
would call to our attention in three of these scenarios that
we read about here in this chapter. It is clearly stated by the scripture
that such sins of ignorance could and would be forgiven. Let's
look at that. In verse 20, in verse 26, and
again in verse 35, it is said that they would be forgiven. We must make this conclusion
as to our own self, and that is that we sin more than we know. We sin more than we are aware
of or that we ever realize. That means that we are worse
than we even think that we are because of the sin of ignorance. But now, let's move forward to
get the contrast between spiritual ignorance and spiritual knowledge
as it is laid out in the scripture. It is set forth in the scripture,
particularly in our New Testament. Now, it is a far-reaching saying
of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 46. I hope this
is not kind of a diversion, but it is a general law that Paul
lays down there that I want to draw from and to build on. He says in that verse, howbeit
that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is
natural is first, and after that which is spiritual." Now, reduced
to its simple meaning, it is this. The spiritual is not first,
the natural is. And then comes the spiritual
by the work of God. Now, the larger context in 1
Corinthians chapter 15, of course, is the resurrection of the dead. The whole chapter is taken up
concerning and discussing the resurrection of the dead. But
the immediate context that we are in, in verse 45 through 47,
of 1 Corinthians 15 is our relationship to Adam and unto Christ. Adam, an earthly man and living
soul. Christ from heaven and a life-giving
spirit. There's the contract. Paul is
saying we are fleshly and natural in Adam. before we are renewed
and spiritually regenerated in Christ. We have a natural body
before we shall have our spiritual body. Verse 42 through 44. We die in the natural body before
we are raised in a spiritual one. We are born of the flesh. before we are born of the Spirit. And we live in the world before
we live in heaven. So Paul is right. The natural
precedes the spiritual in experience. Now here is this relevant, or
how is this relevant to our subject today of ignorance and of knowledge. What bearing does it have on
the matter at hand that we are discussing? Well, just that,
that the same general law applies that Paul has made. Number one,
we are natural before we are spiritual. We are natural men
and women. Number two, the natural man receives
not the things of the Spirit of God. We are natural by our
birth, by our carnality, and the natural man does not receive
the thing of the Spirit of God. Why? For they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned." How emphatic is Paul about this matter. Now this is
to say that the natural man is ignorant of the things of God. And this ignorance is tied to
the fact that he is yet natural. He is a natural man. Now the Bible speaks of the natural
man. This one cannot know, he cannot
receive, he cannot understand, he cannot discern the things
of God. The reason being, but the things
of God are not naturally discerned. They are not naturally discerned,
they are spiritually discerned. You have a spiritual mind to
discern them. And the natural man has not the
spirit, is not spiritual, hence his dilemma of hearing the things
of God. So then we call the question
forward, what is it to be natural? What is it when the Bible calls
us natural? Well, the shortest answer is
a person that is unregenerate and has not been renewed is a
natural person. They have not been born of God. They have not been born again.
I took this quote from the old Puritan Thomas Goodwin, quote,
a person with no other principle than they brought into the world
without any spiritualism put upon them by the spirit." That's
a natural individual. Thus, this ignorance is spiritual
ignorance. It's not earthly or man's education. It is a spiritual ignorance,
but it exerts a very great influence upon the life and the action
of such as walk in ignorance because they know not God. Let's consider some example from
the New Testament. It is an amazing thing what we
read in Luke chapter 23 and verse 34. Now the Lord is on the cross,
he's nailed to the cross, fastened to the cross before he dies. And in Luke 23 and verse 44 Hanging there between two thieves,
the Lord makes, some have counted, seven sayings while he is upon
the cross. And this is one of them, and
it is a prayer. He says, Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. What a prayer from the lips of
our Lord. How is it they know not what
they do? How is it that he says they do
not know what they are doing? They knew they were crucifying
one that they knew as Jesus of Nazareth. They knew that they
had asked for him to be put to death. They knew they had cried
out, crucify him, crucify him. He ought to die. They thought
they were crucifying an imposter, a false messiah, a blasphemer
who made himself equal with God. And herein lies their principle
ignorance, but having such an effect. According to our Lord's
Prayer, they knew not the full impact of what they were doing
and had demanded, for they had killed a prophet. And to kill
the prophet is one thing, and evil in itself, but to kill Messiah
is the height of wickedness and fill their cup of iniquity to
overflowing. And yet the Lord in this prayer,
as John Gill wrote about it, their ignorance was not grounds
for pardon, quote, but a description of their state at the time, unquote. They know not what they do. Now I think you confirmed that
from Isaiah 53. They considered him a false one. They considered him a sufferer.
They considered him a great sinner at the first when he appeared
among them. And then they came to know that
he had borne their sin and had suffered at the hands of God. So it was not that their ignorance
would grant them a pardon. but they knew not the extent
of what they were doing. Forgive them, praised the Lord,
involved in the crucifixion or had a hand or had a part in that
matter. Who was it that had a part? Well, there's Annas and Caiaphas,
the priest of the Jew, there are the Jewish leaders who convicted
him, there is the Sanhedrin, there are the Jewish people,
there is Pilate, there is Herod, and there are the Gentiles. All
of them had a hand in the crucifixion of the Lord. You can find it
prophesied in Psalm 2, 1 and 2, and confirmed in Acts chapter
4, 26 and verse 27. Now, of course, all are guilty
who had a part or a hand in the killing of Jesus. However, in
this prayer, I tend to lean toward what might be called, quote,
the great bulk of the Jewish people who were standing by,
aiding and abetting the crucifixion, unquote, in their ignorance. ignorantly following along the
blind following the blind. So let's see if we can support
from scripture no doubt this prayer at least in part fulfilled
a prophecy of Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 12. There in that
prophecy you read this, and he made intercession for the transgressors. The Lord made intercession for
the transgressor, even in his agony, misery, and suffering
on the cross. This is much like the dying prayer
of the martyr Stephen, found in Acts 70. And verse 60, one
of his last words were, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,
unquote. The last thing he said before
losing consciousness under the pounding of the stones of the
Jew was, Lord, lay not this sin under their charge. Now, I hope
this diversion doesn't take our minds off of the train of thought,
but in 2 Chronicles 24, verse 22, we find there a martyr praying
to a different end. Quote, the Lord look upon it
and require it. Unquote. But Stephen, after the
pattern of the Lord, prayed with the last breath, lay not this
sin to their charge. And catch the word sin. Lay not this sin to their charge. Their sin of crucifying the Lord. They add another. They shed innocent
blood. But concerning their ignorant
acts, now let's consider their ignorance. In Acts 3.17, The
Apostle Peter said after the day of Pentecost, quote, and
now brethren, I want, that is in King James, I want, W-O-T,
that is, I know that through ignorance you did it, even as
your leaders. As he preached to the Jew, I
know that through ignorance you put him to death, even as did
your rulers. In all of your acts, resulting
in the death of Christ and traceable to your ignorance of the things
of God, both of the people and their leaders. Then, let's consider
something else. What Paul tells some in Antioch
in Pisidia, Acts 13, 27, quote, For they that dwelt at Jerusalem,
and their rulers, because they knew not him, nor yet the voices
of the prophet, which are read every sabbath day, see verse
15, they have fulfilled in condemning him. Now listen very carefully. As it is proved in the verse,
the voices of the prophet is a reference to the scripture
which were read and all about what the Lord did or was to do,
what he said, what he suffered, it all matched the scripture,
every bit of it that happened under our Lord. Then consider
what Paul said, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 8, where
Paul writes concerning the hidden wisdom in the gospel. He said,
quote, which God ordained before the world under his glory, in
verse 7, which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. One more example from among the
Jew, John chapter 3, and the ignorance of Nicodemus, a teacher
of Israel, and yet ignorant, not knowing such fundamentals
as spiritual renewal and regeneration and the new birth, which were
included, written up in their Old Testament scripture. You're ignorant. How is it that
you know not these things? Once more, let's emphasize that
this ignorance is not to be viewed as people who are simple-minded. We're not to view this as somebody
who would we call low-class people. It is not confined to mental
dullness or an uneducated underclass of people. For a rocket scientist
might be spiritually ignorant of the things of God with all
else that he might know. But let's also drive down a stake,
put up a marker here that we might commemorate this fact. Spiritual ignorance is among
the first causes of religious errors and heresies in the world. Spiritual ignorance is perhaps
the leading cause of religious errors and heresy in the world. Consider again, it caused the
Jew to mistake Christ and to crucify Him to their destruction
and that loss of their national commonwealth, their temple destroyed
their priest murdered and their genealogies destroyed and their
holy city left in ruins all because of the act that they committed
in ignorance. Again, we read it, spiritual
ignorance made the Gentiles to bow down before their idols and
their false gods. Ephesians 4 and verse 18. Spiritual ignorance propelled
Saul of Tarsus to persecute and waste the Christian church and
to blaspheme the name of Jesus. Spiritual ignorance made the
Athenians to be polytheists in Acts 17. They even had that one
devotion inscribed to the unknown God in Acts 17, 23, when Paul
said, whom you ignorantly worship. You don't even know who he is
by your confession, the unknown God. and the church at Laodicea,
knowing not that you are miserable, poor, and blind, and naked. They thought they were well and
knew not their true spiritual estate. Spiritual ignorance caused
the Samaritans to set up a mongrel worship church. Mount Gerizim,
as you read in the fourth chapter of the book of Acts, and that
they did. And the Lord said to the Samaritan
woman in John chapter 4 and verse 22, you worship you know not
what? And in 2nd Kings 17 and 26, they
knew not the manner of the God of the land. They did not. Now,
let's turn to Ephesians chapter four and verse 18 and take a
closer look at what Paul has said of their unconverted counterparts
in Judaism, their moral, I'm sorry, in Gentile-ism and their
moral and spiritual estate. Look what we read. The vanity
of their mind is in that verse. Understanding is darkened. alienated from the life of God. Ignorance is in them, blindness
in their heart, and past feeling. Now that describes an awful state
and situation. Let's lift the part that said,
being alienated, that is, being cut off, being separated, being
excluded from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them. Now, get the connection. Being
separated from the life of God through the ignorance that is
in them. John E.D. called their ignorance,
quote, a deep-seated element of their moral condition, unquote. For herein is the reason of their
alienation from the life of God, ignorance. not knowing God, ignorance
of his being, of his character, of his attribute, of his salvation,
and all of that. Now what is the cause or the
origin of this ignorance? Verse 18, having the understanding
darkened. Here they are, here's their estate,
having the understanding darkened. As best I could, I understood
the Greek knowledgeable guise from them that the tense is this,
having been darkened in the understanding, having been alienated from the
life of God. Linsky viewed it, quote, the
tense indicates a past act with present and enduring results."
And they go in that awful condition, they stay under it, unless until
the Spirit of God come and regenerate them and cause the glorious light
of the gospel of Christ to shine into their darkened hearts 2nd
Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4 now we notice that that no
agent is mentioned in this particular passage as the cause of the darkness. So we would ask, is it self-inflicted? Have they darkened their own
understanding? Maybe not in this case, since
Paul uses the tense twice, having been. having been darkened, having
been alienated. Now the devil does blind the
mind of unbelievers. 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 4. So does God, however, do that. John 12, 37-40. And in Isaiah 6, 9-10. And especially the Jew, in accordance
with his sovereign purpose. And of the Gentiles, Paul writes
in Romans 1 and 21, And their foolish heart was darkened. Which in the context of Romans
1, was a judicial blindness inflicted upon them. John Gill wrote on
Ephesians 4 and verse 18, Every unregenerate one is an ignorant
one, Unquote. It being natural to man. It's our natural habitat, if
you will. It is natural. It comes with
our depravity and our original sin. And if it remains, and it
will until God opens our understanding and gives us knowledge of the
things of God and of the truth. But let's look. what Paul wrote
of the Gentiles in Ephesians 4 verse 19. He adds this, who being past
feeling. Think about that. What words
are those? Who being past feeling. Now this described the old pagan
world in the times of its ignorance. Past feeling, callous. having
lost compunction until they became a people beyond shame and immune
unto regret, that conscience seared with a hot iron with no
sense of their guilt in the sight of God. So that what did they
do? Did they become cultured and
advanced? No. They gave themselves over
to the worst forms of vice. Now, I think, see what you think,
that there has arisen in our time a generation that is ignorant
of the things of God, children of the generation that quit going
to church, they've never been in church or around the gospel,
in their life. They are blind. They are completely
ignorant. They are totally irreligious.
They have no moral standards whatsoever. And my, what will
be their end who are in such sad a state even in our day. But let's close with Paul saying
1 Timothy 1 What he did before Christ took him, he notices that. What did Paul? Was Saul a fine
moral man? He thought so, and others did. He thought that he kept the law
to perfection, but now he realizes he was a blasphemer. He was persecutor
and was violent. He blasphemed the name of Christ
and he forced others to do the same. He ravaged and wasted the
church of God. He hated the name of Christ and
he forced some others to blaspheme and he cast many in prison all
in the name His religion you can see that again in Galatians
1 and verse 13 and then he said but I obtained mercy in spite
of my wickedness notwithstanding my animosity against Christ and
against the church I was shown saving mercy because I did it
in ignorance and unbelief. Now I want to say what evil twins,
ignorance and unbelief. What evil twins are these? Our ignorance does not excuse
sin, It does not merit mercy. It does not cancel guilt. How
zealous was Saul before his conversion, but he acted in ignorance, which
made him to fight against God. But he was a vessel of mercy,
and Christ saved him. He took him on the Damascus Road
and even made him a preacher of the gospel. Thank God we have
a high priest according to Hebrews 5 and 2, who can have compassion
on the ignorant and them that are out of the way. That was
a qualification of the high priest in the Old Testament, that he
could have compassion on the ignorant and them that were out
of the way. Yes, the times of our ignorance
God winked at, Acts 17 and 30, and then He granted us repentance
unto life, Acts 11 and verse 18. Thank God, our great ignorance. What we said, what we did, in
our utter ignorance in those days. Shames us now to think
about it. But God was merciful. He forgave
our ignorance. He provided an all-sufficient
sacrifice that removed every sin, sins of omission and commission,
sins of ignorance, and sins of presumption. Thank God for that.