I would like you to turn to Leviticus
chapter 16 and hold your finger there and turn back to first
Corinthians chapter 15. Tonight, we're going to have
a baptism. Laura Peterson is going to confess
Christ and believers baptism. And if anybody wants to be baptized,
let me know after the service and you can be baptized tonight. Tonight, I'm going to be preaching
on this subject, self-evaluation from Romans chapter 12, verse
three, self-evaluation. I believe it to be a very important
message that we need to hear, but you know, I hope every message
I preach is important. I shouldn't say that, but I do
at any rate. Now look in verse three of the
passage of scripture that I just read. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. If I say the gospel is that Christ
died for our sins, Number one, I misquoted that
verse of scripture. It's not that Christ died for
our sins. It's how that Christ died for
our sins, according to the scripture. Not only have I misquoted that
scripture, I failed to give the meaning of the verse. It's how
that. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. Not just that Christ died, but
how that he died according to the Old Testament scriptures. That's what he's referring to.
And if I say that Christ died for our sins is the gospel, I
have failed to preach the gospel. I hope you'll chew on those things
and consider them as we look at Leviticus chapter 16. Now,
would you turn to Leviticus chapter 16? You know, I was thinking about
this chapter. I've been, it's funny for me to say something
like this, but I've been preaching for 35 years. I can't believe I can
even say something like that. I mean, I still feel like a young
person. I really do. I might not look, but I still,
I feel it. But at any rate, I've attempted to preach from Leviticus
chapter 16 three times. And all three times I felt very
frustrated when I finished. Felt like I didn't get it, didn't
get out of it what should be. Matter of fact, I was telling
Lynn, I remember one time, this is the only time I ever remember
doing this. I prepared the message and I tore it up. Thought I'm
not even gonna try it. Not even gonna try it. Well,
I hope we have better success by God's grace this morning in
considering this passage of scripture. But look at verse 30 with me
of Leviticus chapter 16. For on that day, the day of atonement, for on
that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse
you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. Does that interest you? Certainly
interests me. I want this atonement to be made
for me, that I might be clean from all my sins before the Lord. Now, in this chapter, we have
the word atonement over and over and over again. And atonement
is a word that is still used. People atone for their mistakes. they made or the sins they've
committed, so they think. I've heard the word used frequently
in sports. You know I'm a sports fan, and
let's say a man has been up to bat three times and struck out
all three times with men on base. He gets up the fourth time. If
he gets a game-winning hit, he's atoned for his previous mistakes. That's the way people use it.
Another word that's used in this chapter that is still used in
our vernacular, people might not know where it comes from,
but we find the word scapegoat. And people use the word scapegoat
all the time. They might not know it comes
from Leviticus chapter 16, but they know that's the fellow who
takes the blame. That's the fellow who's blamed or who takes the
hit, maybe in an office or a business or something like that. It's
a word that's frequently used. Now these two words that are
frequently used come out of this chapter. Now, I've entitled this
message, Atonement. Atonement, and I am greatly interested
in having my sins atoned for, and me being cleansed and actually
being clean before God, where I really am clean before God. Now look in verse 1 of Leviticus
chapter 16, and the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of
the two sons of Aaron when they offered before the Lord and died. And this is the setting. God
is holy. And we read before the explanation
of the great day of atonement of the two sons of Aaron dying
before the Lord. Look back in Leviticus chapter
10. You really can't get the setting
of the Day of Atonement without this. And Nadab and Abihu, the
sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, they were priests,
and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered
strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
Now, what is this strange fire? Is this weird fire? Is this some
kind of different fire? No, it's simply fire that wasn't taken
from the altar of sacrifice. where the beasts were burned,
where the blood was accepted. The only fire that was acceptable
was fire from off the altar of the sacrifice. But they thought,
well, as long as our hearts are right, and as long as we're sincere,
does it really make that much difference what kind of fire
we use? This fire is just as good. They put the fire down
on the incense, and what happened? Verse 2, and there went out fire
from the Lord, and devoured them, that they died before the Lord.
Now picture this in your mind. Here they put this strange fire,
and fire comes down from heaven and consumes them. And Moses
said unto Aaron, verse 3, this is that the Lord spake, saying,
I'll be sanctified, and them to come nigh unto me. And before
all the people, I'll be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. As
a matter of fact, if you go on reading down this chapter, he
said, don't even rinse your clothes. They had it coming. They had
it coming because of this act of presumption in offering something
without the fire of the altar. So in this fearfulness, now can
you imagine how scared Aaron was to do things right after
this. He wanted to be very exact in what he did. Now let's go
on back to Leviticus chapter 16. And the Lord spake unto Moses
after the death of the two sons of Aaron when they had offered
before the Lord and died. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Speak unto thy 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. For I will appear in the cloud
upon the mercy seat. Now, I can imagine how afraid
Aaron was at this time. Can you? after seeing this happen
to his two sons. He's afraid. He's going to do
things exactly as Moses commanded him. Now, we read of the holy
place in the Old Testament tabernacle, which is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have a courtyard with a portable building divided
into two rooms, one the holy place and the other the holy
of holies. And in the holy of holies, The
high priest came in once a year. If he would have come in any
other time, you know what would have happened? Fire would have come down from
heaven and devoured him. So you can bet he wouldn't come
in. He knew what had happened to
his sons and he was scared to death when the Lord gave him
instruction concerning what he was going to do on this day,
this day of atonement. And remember, we want to understand
what this means, Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures. And if the Lord gives us light and understanding, we're
going to understand exactly what that means and we're going to
be able to rejoice in it if he gives us the grace to do it.
But remember, this is how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. That's what's being taught here. Now, verse
three. Thus shall Aaron come into the
holy place, with a young bullock for a sin offering and a ram
for a burnt offering. Now, this was for Aaron. Look down
in verse six. And Aaron shall offer his bullock
of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement
for himself and for his house. For Aaron to be able to offer
a sacrifice for the children of Israel. You know what he first
had to do? He had to offer sacrifice for himself. He couldn't do it
without offering sacrifice for himself because this pictures
the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He never sinned. Aaron was a sinner. He wasn't
any different than me and you. You know how sinful you are?
That's how sinful he was. Believe that? So, it's so. And he knew
that he had to have this sacrifice offered for himself. He wouldn't
dare come into God's presence without this sacrifice. He couldn't
be accepted without this sacrifice. And there were two sacrifices
he had to offer, a sin offering and a burnt offering. The sin
offering to pay for his sins. After that, a burnt offering
that was burnt completely. And it ascended to the Father.
And the scripture says it made a sweet smell to God. A sweet
smelling savor. The first time it's mentioned
is right after Noah gets off the ark. And he offers up that
burnt offering. And it was a sweet smelling savor to God. It smelled
good to God. That means God's satisfied. It
smelled good. That's talking about God's satisfaction
with the sacrifice. Now Aaron first had to offer
up this sacrifice for himself. Verse four, he shall put on the
holy linen coat and he shall have the linen britches upon
his flesh. and should be girded with a linen
girdle, with the linen mitre shall he be attired. These are
holy garments, therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and
so put them on. Now he went from his glorious
apparel, the gold crown, the diamond studded, all the precious
stones on his ephod, and he had this priest attire. He took that
off on this day and wore plain linen cloth that was white. And
what this represents is the incarnation of Christ. He put on flesh. He became flesh. He became a
real man. Isn't that mysterious? God became
a man. God became flesh. You see, man sin. Man's got to
die. For him to die for us, he had
to become a man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. And that's what this represents.
The high priest took off his glorious apparel and he put on
this plain linen garment. And I think it's very interesting.
As you go on reading through Leviticus chapter 16, there are
a lot of other priests, a lot of inferior priests. There's
only one great high priest. And none of the priests were
allowed to participate in this day. Only the great high priest. He had to offer up every sacrifice.
He had to offer up all the meal offerings, everything that was
done. Somebody said there's 14 or 15 sacrifices all together
on this day. And he had to do every one of
them without any help. Why is that? because Christ had
no help in saving his people. He shall by himself, or he by
himself purged us of our sins. No help. He did this alone. Now look in verse five. And he
shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel, this
is the sacrifice for the children of Israel, two kids of the goats
for sin offering. and one ram for a burn offering.
Now, there had to be a sin offering and there had to be a burn offering.
Now, notice he said two goats, not just one, two, because they
represent the two aspects of Christ's atonement that you and
I must understand and enter into, the payment for sin and the removal
of sin. Those two goats represent the
one sacrifice. And then there had to be that
burn offering, which represented God's approval and satisfaction
of the sacrifice. Now let's go on reading, verse
six. And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering,
which is for himself. Remember, Aaron was a sinner.
And until that was taken care of, he couldn't offer a sacrifice
on behalf of the children of Israel. Christ wouldn't do us
any good if he were sinful, but no, he's perfect. He never sinned. He's holy, and so he can offer
up a sacrifice. Well, Aaron shall offer his bullock
of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement
for himself and for his house. And he shall take the two goats
and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation. Now he's fit to work now for
in behalf of the people. So he takes these two goats and
he presents them at the door of the tabernacle. And what happens? Verse 8, and Aaron shall cast
lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other
lot for the scapegoat. Now why is that? Well, I think
of that passage of Scripture, the lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is the Lord. What the Lord is
showing us at this time is in this great work of atonement,
man's will is not permitted. He wasn't even allowed to choose
which goat was his and which goat was the Lord's. They had
to cast lots to show that the Lord was in complete control
over everything that was taking place. Isn't that glorious? The
Lord's not letting any human endeavor or activity, even enter
into this thing of atonement. Doesn't have anything to do.
Listen, if you and I are saved, it doesn't have anything to do
with anything you've done or haven't done. Go on reading, verse nine. And
Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and
offer him for a sin offering. Now for the Lord to do something
for us, he first had to do something for himself. Now let me repeat
that. I know you've heard it before,
but let me hear it again. For the Lord to do something for
me or you, he first had to do something for himself. Notice
this goat was for the Lord. For the Lord. You see, God is
holy. His law has been dishonored.
His law has been broken. Sin must be punished. He can't
just up and receive me or you without the satisfaction of His
law. It would be against Him. It would
be contrary to Him. He's not going to do it. So this
first goat is for the Lord, for the satisfaction of divine justice. This goat was to die, offended
justice, a broken law, had to be satisfied. Where there is
sin, there must be death. And this is the sin offering.
That's why Christ died. Listen to this scripture. 1 Peter
3, verse 18 says, For Christ hath suffered for sins. The just for the unjust. Christ
has suffered for sins. Why was he suffering? For sins. For sins. Sin must be punished. Christ was a sin offering he
gave himself. And Aaron shall bring the goat
upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him. He cut his throat
and killed him for a sin offering. But Verse 10, the goat on which
the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before
the Lord to make an atonement with him and to let him go for
a scapegoat in the wilderness. Now this scapegoat represents
the removal of sin. Sin offering of the first goat
represents the payment for sin, and the scapegoat represents
the removal of sin, to where it's gone, to where it was no
more. Now, verse 11. And Aaron shall bring the bullock
of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an
atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the
bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, And he
shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar
before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense, beaten
small, and bring it within the veil. Now he's coming within
the veil. And he shall put the incense
upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may
cover the mercy seat that's upon the testimony, that he die not.
See how exact everything is? And he shall take of the blood
of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy
seat eastward, and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle
the blood with his finger seven times, seven being the number
of perfection. Sprinkles blood. Sprinkles blood. What a bloody place that must
have been. It wasn't a clean, neat place. He was sprinkling
blood upon the mercy seat where the Lord was to meet with them. Aaron had to be ceremonially
clean to do this seven times. Now remember, this is the sacrifice
for himself, not for the people yet. This is the sacrifice for
himself. Verse 15. Then, now he's ready, then shall
he kill the goat of the sin offering. that's for the people and bring
his blood within the veil. He went out, killed the goat
and came back in within the veil to do with the blood as he did
with the blood of the bullock and sprinkled upon the mercy
seat and before the mercy seat. Now he kills the goat for the
sin offering. Now Christ had to die without
the shedding of blood. There is no remission of sins. Now regarding What was going
on when Christ was suffering on the cross? The Lord covered
the earth with darkness. The whole earth, not just regional. And that lets us know that you
and I will never really much understand what was going on.
This was a transaction between the Father and the Son. Christ
was not offering Himself to you. Christ was offering Himself to
His Father for the satisfaction of divine justice. He was doing
business with His Father. And you know, men were really
shut out. There's no way that we can understand how Christ
suffered when he was crying, my God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? But understand this, he was not
offering himself to you. He was offering himself to God. Remember, for God to do something
for me, he first had to do something for himself. And that's what
Christ was accomplishing while He was suffering on Calvary's
tree. I love the phrase in verse 15,
that this is for the people. Look in verse 15 again. Then
shall He kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the
people. That is for the people. That's talking about my sin being
counted to Him. The people's sin being counted
to Him. He was dying for somebody's sins,
the people's sins. Verse 16, And he shall make an
atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of
the children of Israel. Now it's interesting, he even
had to make an atonement for the tabernacle. He had to make an
atonement for the holy of holies, because if man comes in, it's
defiled. That's just the way it is. All
I've got to do is say it and that makes it sin. All I've got
to do is think it and that makes it sin. That's how sinful we
are. We don't really much understand that. I realize that. I'm saying
things that I don't really completely grasp. But I know this. Even
the holy place had to be atoned for. The holy of holies had to
be atoned for. The altar had to be atoned for.
All the things were purged with blood. That shows how holy God
is. That sin cannot come into His
presence. He will not accept it. And he
shall make an atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness
of the children of Israel. And because of their transgressions
in all their sins, so shall he do for the tabernacle of the
congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. Everything had to be atoned for. And there shall be no man in
the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth into make an atonement
in the holy place until he come out and have made an atonement
for himself and for his household and for the congregation of the
children of Israel. It's pointed out he had no help. He by himself. Oh, I love that scripture. When
he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. There is no contribution you
and I can make. Is that good news to you? It
is to me because I can't bring anything to the table, but he
did this by himself. Verse 18, and he shall go out
into the altar that's before the Lord and make an atonement
for it. and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of
the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar
round about. And he shall sprinkle the blood upon it with his finger
seven times, and cleanse it, and howl it from the uncleanness
of the children of Israel." Even the altar has to be purged with
blood, or it can't be acceptable for the sacrifice. Verse 20, And when he hath made an end
of reconciling the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation,
the altar, He shall bring the live goat. Now notice this goat
is a live goat. And it's part of the sin offering.
It's given to explain to us what Christ was doing. First, the
one that died, that's the sin payment. But what about the sin? It's got to be removed. And that's
where the scapegoat comes in. Look in verse 21. He shall bring
the live goat. Verse 21. And Aaron shall lay
both his hands upon the head of the live goat. and confess
over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all
their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them, these
iniquities, these transgressions, these sins, putting them upon
the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of
a fit man into the wilderness. Now the atonement cannot be understood
without some understanding of this scapegoat. He was alive. And this is one of the most horrible
things to think about. But sometime, at sometime, when
the Lord Jesus Christ was alive, the sins of all of God's people
were made to meet upon Him. He, according to the Scriptures,
bore our sins. in his own body on the tree. You know, this issue is found
in Hebrews chapter 6, where the Lord talks about the first principles,
not having to lay again these first principles, repentance
toward God, faith toward God, repentance
of dead works, the laying on of hands, and this is what he's
talking about, the laying on of hands. Sins transferred from
one place to another. And to think of the Lord actually
having to bear my sins, the shame, the guilt, the filth of them
in his own body on the tree. Now, he never sinned even then,
but he experienced everything about sin, just like that scapegoat
did. Now, what did they do with this
scapegoat? The live goat bearing our sins? is led by the hand
of a fit man away. Let's read this. Verse 21, And
Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat,
and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of
Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand
of a fit man. into the wilderness. And this
shows another aspect of Christ's power. He's the fit man that
carried our sins away. He had the strength to bear them
away and carry them into the wilderness. Now, where did they
go? Verse 22, And the goat shall
bear upon him all their iniquities. unto a land not inhabited, and
he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Now, there's been
all kinds of speculation as to what took place. when that goat
was led away. And I've even seen a painting
of this goat with this horrible look on its face, and it was
in Myre, and you had the burning sky in the background. It was
kind of falling over, dying in the wilderness. But who knows
what happened to the goat? That's just speculation. I know
this. You know where my sins went? With the goat. to a land
not inhabited, nobody there, gone, separated, as far from
me as the east is from the west, according to the scriptures.
How far is that? Infinite. The removal, now this
is talking about the absolute removal of sins, the sins that
I'm aware of right now, they've been removed from me.
Sin can't be two places at once. If Christ bore my sins, I don't
have them. They've been removed from me
as far as the east is from the west. That's what this scapegoat
represented, the complete removal of sins. He bore our sins and
put them away. Sin is the transgression of the
law. He was manifested to take away our sins. And that's exactly
what He did. And in Him is no sin. That means
if I'm in Him, I have no sin at all. Now this is called the
gospel. This is how Christ died for our
sins according to the scriptures. And we wouldn't dare change a
thing, would we? Not a thing. What a beautiful
picture of the glorious death of Christ. Verse 23. and Aaron shall come into the
tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments
which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall
leave them there. You can imagine how bloody they were at this
time. And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place,
and put on his garments, and come forth and offer his burnt
offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement
for himself and for the people. Now the burnt offering. What
this represents, this is a different sacrifice. And what it represents
is the offering being a sweet smelling savor to God. He accepted
it. He was pleased with it. He's
pleased with everybody Christ died for. Bless God, He's pleased
with me right now through the Lord Jesus Christ. He's pleased
with me. I'm not pleased with myself,
but He's pleased with me. And I'm a lot more concerned
about Him being pleased with me than me being pleased with
myself. I surely am. The burnt offering representing
God's complete satisfaction with what Christ did. Verse 25, "...and
the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar, and he
that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes
and bathe his flesh in water after he came from the camp."
Now look, get this. This shows how truly Christ was made sin.
That fit man who came into contact with the goat was ceremonially
unclean because of his contact with the scapegoat and he had
to be washed before he could come back into the camp. Oh,
the exactness. of the atonement according to
the scripture. Verse 27, and the bullet for the sin offering
and the goat for the sin offering whose blood was brought to make
an atonement in the holy place shall one carry forth without
the camp. And they shall burn in the fire
their skins and their flesh and their dung. and he that burneth
them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and
afterwards he shall come into the camp." Now remember how it's
pointed out when Christ died, he died outside the camp. He
died outside of Jerusalem. Outside the camp. Turn with me,
hold your finger there and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Verse 11, for the bodies of those
beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high
priest for sin are burned without the camp. Outside of the Levitical
gathering and the people outside of the camp, wherefore Jesus
also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered
without the gate. Let us go therefore unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach. Now, if you would have
looked outside the camp, you would have found three different
things there. First, you would have found a
bunch of lepers outside. They weren't allowed in. And
then you would see the sin offering. And then you would see all of
God's people coming to Christ outside the camp, outside the
Levitical system, outside the accepted religious way, looking
to Christ only. And this man who came back in,
he had to be washed before he could come back in. Now, what
happens now? 29, I read a threefold response of
the people to the atonement. A threefold response, all three
of which are of critical importance. Verse 29, and this shall be a
statute forever unto you, that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, this day of atonement, You shall afflict
your souls and do no work at all, whether it be one of your
own country or a stranger that sojourneth among you. For on
that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse
you that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and you shall afflict
your souls by a statute forever. Now here are three things that
we're given to do. Want something to do? We're going
to give you something. First, he says, to afflict your
souls. Then he says, to do no work at
all. And then he says, to rest. Now that is the believer's response
to the atonement. First, you afflict your souls. Turn with me, hold your finger
there and turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 36. This is what happens when God gives
a new heart. Verse 31, he'd been talking about
the new heart he gave You can read about that in verse 31.
It says, then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings
that were not good. And notice. were is in italics,
kind of like it's what you did in the past. No, we're talking
about what's going on right now. Your doings that are not good
and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities
and for your abominations. Now, that's what it is to afflict
your soul. I wish I could say this the way
it ought to be said. I have no sin in Christ. And
I hate the sin that I have. I hate it. I flick my soul over
it. I ask the Lord to deliver me
from it. Oh, it's ever before me. You know, you can't be in
this world and have a holy nature without feeling the stench of
the old nature that you truly despise. Do you know anything
about that? Afflicting your souls. Now, that's
not in order to gain God's acceptance. You see, you've got God's acceptance,
but you can't stand sin. And you afflict your souls. You say with David, my sin is
ever before me. Paul said, oh, wretched man that
I am. That is the affliction of the
soul. You see your sin being placed
in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're sickened by
it. You afflict your souls. But you
know what you do next? You do no work at all. Why? Because it's already been done.
There's nothing for you to do. The priest did it all. And there's absolutely, positively
nothing for you to do. That sin that you're afflicting
your soul over has been brought out. It's been cancelled. It's
been carried away. You really don't bear it. He
took my sin and my sorrows. He made them His very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. Beloved, salvation is not by
works in any way. It's by Christ. He did it all. Don't dare insult God by trying
to present your works in any way in light of His glorious
atonement. Can you see how offensive that
is to God that He gave His Son and then you present something
of yours? You know, this thing of even afflicting the soul.
Some people want to say, well, you know, they almost make that
their penance. That's putting away sin. No, it's not. No, it's
not. The only thing that puts away
sin is Christ Jesus himself. Nothing else. Do no work at all. And what's he say to do next?
Well, in light of verse 30, For on that day shall the priest
make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that you may be
cleaned from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath
of rest unto you. Now even while you're resting,
you're afflicting your soul. That never goes away. You know,
as long as we're alive, as long as we have a sinful nature, there's
going to be some soul afflicting going on in there. That's just
part of it. But rest. You know, that's what
you do when you don't do any works. Now, if you're working,
you're not resting. But if you're not working, you
know what you're doing? You're resting. There remaineth. Well, let's look at this. Hebrews
chapter 4. Verse 9, There remaineth therefore
a rest, a keeping of the Sabbath, literally, to the people of God, a Sabbath
of rest. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. When God finished the creation,
the scripture says he looked at it and said, it's very good. Can't be improved upon. This
is God's testimony. And you know what he did when
he was finished? He rested. Why did he rest? Because there
wasn't anything left to do. That's why. His rest was in response
to a perfect and a finished work. And when we rest in Christ, we
cease from our own works. And when I even say that, I feel
tension leave my body. It's relaxing, isn't it? I'm
not working. I'm resting. Rest. Back to our text in Leviticus
chapter 16. And it shall be a Sabbath of
rest unto you, and you shall afflict your souls by a statute
forever. And the priest, whom he shall
anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister to the priest's office
in thy father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall
put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments in the future.
This is the way it's always going to be. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the
tabernacle of common creation, and for the altar, and he shall
make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the
congregation. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto
you, to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their
sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded
Moses. Now let me close with this. Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. Well, that means,
first of all, he had to be perfect. He had to be without sin, just
as Aaron was. There had to be a sacrifice for
Aaron and a burnt offering for Aaron to picture the sinlessness,
the perfection without blemish of our Redeemer. And then there
had to be a sin offering for the people. And it was represented
by two goats. One to punish for the sin. The other, the scapegoat signifying
the removal of the sin. And then the burn offering showing
us God's satisfaction with that sin offering. And how are we
to respond to that? We're to afflict our souls. We're
to do no work at all. And we're to rest. Now that is
how that. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. Let's pray.