I want you to hold your finger
in Leviticus chapter 16 and turn to 1 Corinthians 15. While you're turning there, Eric
and Tammy Dickerson's daughter Emily is in the hospital at UK. She has a cystic fibrosis and
had a procedure done to her lungs today. and will be in the hospital
for a couple of days. Everything went well, for which
we're very grateful, but remember that family. Also, Kyle Willis,
Don and Ellen Willis' son, is also in the UK hospital, and
he's been there over a week with lung problems. He had a collapsed
lung, and the fluid has not drained properly, so they're going to
have surgery tomorrow. where they'll scrape his lungs
and clean them out, so remember him. That would be a very difficult
thing. In 1 Corinthians 15, this is
one of the most important statements in the Word of God, beginning
in verse 1. Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel. Now this is the declaration of
the gospel under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And if you
want to know what God's gospel is, listen real carefully. Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. It's the gospel,
which I preached unto you. It's the gospel where, which
also you have received and where in your stand. It's the gospel
by which also you're saved if you keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered unto
you, first of all, of primary importance, I delivered unto
you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures. Now, notice what
he says. He doesn't simply say the declaration
of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins. If that's
what I say, I've not declared the gospel. He says, how that
Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. Now remember
the new Testament had not yet been written. Paul means that
Christ died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures,
how the Old Testament Scriptures set forth His death. And nothing sets forth His death
more clearly than the great day of atonement in Leviticus chapter
16. The word atonement means to cover. The word is first used with regard
to Noah's Ark. In Genesis 6, verse 14, it says
regarding the Ark, Thou shalt pitch it with pitch. That word
pitch is the same word atonement. Thou shalt atone it with atonement. You'll pitch it within and without
with pitch. What is it that would keep the
wrath of God from coming into Noah's Ark? The pitch, the atonement. and it was pitched within and
without. On the outside, that's what kept
God's wrath out, and that's what keeps you within, the atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this word is also translated
by these words in the Old Testament, appease, cleanse, disannul, forgive,
be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge, put off, and reconcile. That one word is translated by
all those different words, and I find that so attractive. Oh,
I want my sins put off of me. I want my sins disannulled. I
want them canceled, just like this atonement says. Now, let
me say a few words about the condition of those people who
need atonement. Look in chapter 16, verse 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses
after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before
the Lord and died. And the Lord said unto Moses,
speak unto Aaron 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, that he die not like his boys
did. Now what did his boys do? Look in Leviticus chapter 10.
And Nadab and Abiyu, chapter 10 verse
1. Nadab and Abiyu, the sons of
Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein. That's what the priest is supposed
to do. And put incense thereon and offered strange fire before
the Lord, which he commanded them not." Now, all they did
was put a different kind of incense in the censer. He commanded a
certain kind of incense. They thought, well, we've run
out. We can't get to it. My heart's right. I've got the
right motive. I'll go ahead and offer this
incense. It'll be good enough. It'll be good enough as long
as my heart's right, as long as I have the right motive. Verse
two. And there went out fire from
the Lord and devoured them. And they died before the Lord. For offering that strange incense,
fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And if you go
on reading in this passage of scripture, Moses says, don't
mourn for them. Don't rip your clothes. Don't
cast up, don't mourn for them. You mourn for the sin they committed,
but you don't mourn for them. Now that is very strong. I mean, that's, and with the
Lord, understand the punishment always fits the crime. Now, what
did these fellas do? They sought to bypass the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's exactly what they did.
My heart's right. What difference does it make
what kind of incense I use? This incense will do." And fire
came down from heaven and consumed them. They died on the spot.
God is holy and He will only be approached by His Son. There's no other way of approach. Remember Uzzah? He's Walking
along with the Ark of the Covenant on an ox cart, it hits a rut,
starts to fall off. He puts out his hand to touch
it and God kills him on the spot. Why? He bypassed the Lord Jesus
Christ. The scripture commands you can't
come to that Ark. You can't touch it. Only the
priest can. God is holy. And the announcement of the day
of atonement came after this sin of Nadab in a bayou. We're
given some idea from this of the unapproachable holiness of
the God of glory and how I must have the Lord Jesus Christ to
represent me. Now, an atonement was made for
the holy place, the tabernacle, and even the altar because of
any contact with it in human sin. Look back in Leviticus 16,
verse 16. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place. That's talking about the tabernacle. The altar,
as you go on reading in verse 20 and 21, he has to reconcile
the altar. He'll 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. Because God
is so holy that if a man comes in contact with any part of the
tabernacle, it's unclean and has to be made an atonement for.
Even the altar itself had to be atoned for because men touched
it. God is holy. Notice the words in verse 16,
uncleanness, transgressions and sins. Look in verse 21 of Leviticus
16. 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
in all their sins. People like that cannot come
into God's presence and be accepted. They must have a priest come
for them. And that's what Leviticus chapter
16 is all about. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. Here's the priest I need, verse
30 of Leviticus 16. For on that day shall the priest
make an atonement for you. Ain't that what you need? That's
what I need. I need the priest to make an
atonement for me. I can't make an atonement. I
can't do anything about my sin. I need a priest, the priest,
to make atonement for me, to cleanse you that you may be cleaned
from all your sins before the Lord. Now the priest had to be
sinless. The priest had to be sinless.
He couldn't do you any good if he wasn't sinless. That's why
Aaron had to first have a sacrifice for himself. Look in verse 3
of Leviticus chapter 16. Then, thus shall Aaron come into
the holy place with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram
for a burnt offering. Now these two offerings that
he brought in, a bullet for a sin offering. The sin offering has
to do with God's wrath against sin. The burnt offering has to
do with satisfaction. It was consumed. It has to do
with God being satisfied with the sacrifice. This is how Aaron
could come into the presence of God. Typically, sinless. He couldn't represent Israel
the way he was. First, there had to be a sin
offering. His sin had to be dealt with. God's holy. He cannot accept
sin. And then there was a burn offering. God's acceptance of
the sacrifice. So Aaron was typically without
sin, but he who he typified was actually sinless. Therefore fit
to be a priest for me. That's the priest I need. One
who is without sin, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners. That's what Aaron is typifying
at this time. Now verse four. And he, Aaron,
after these sacrifices, shall put on the holy linen coat, and
he shall have the linen britches upon his flesh, and he shall
be girded with a linen girdle, with the linen mitre shall he
be attired. They are holy garments, therefore shall he wash his flesh
in water, and so put them on. Now he took off at this time
his glorious guard. It's made of gold and precious
stones and purple and white and gold and all the different colors
that were just so gorgeous. He took all that off in order
to make atonement and put on the very simple linen clothes. And this represents the incarnation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He left his father's glory and
he put off his glory and became a man. He humbled himself and
became a man in order to offer atonement. Verse five, and he,
shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel. Now
he's ready to offer for the children of Israel. And he shall take
of the congregation of the children of Israel, two kids of the goats
for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron
shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself,
and make an atonement for himself and for his house. And now he's
qualified to offer the sacrifice for Israel, for me. Look, verse
seven. And he shall take the two goats and present them before
the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron
shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and
the other lot for the scapegoat." Two goats. Now the casting of
lots with regard to these two goats has something to do with,
this is the Lord making the choice of which goat he wanted to use
for the sin offering and which one he wanted to use for the
scapegoat. Because the scripture says, the casting of the lot
is in the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
This is the Lord in control of everything. And there's two goats.
One, notice, one goat was for the Lord. For the Lord. Now see, for the Lord to do something
for me, he first has to do something for himself. You see, my sin
has dishonored the Lord. I've dishonored him. I've dishonored
his law. I've not glorified him. I've
not. My sin has dishonored the Lord.
And for the Lord to do something for me, first he has to do something
for himself. And that's what the goat for
sacrifice is. You see, the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ honored God. He had to be honored. He had
to be glorified. His justice had to be vindicated.
His wrath had to find a way out. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
all that in His sacrifice. You see, the sacrifice of Christ
was for God. Understand that. It's for God. And His death glorified every
attribute of God. The first goat was for the Lord. And Aaron, verse 8, shall cast
lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other
lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat
upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a sin offering,
that sacrifice. But the goat on which the lot
fell to the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord
to make an atonement with him and to let him go for a scapegoat
into the wilderness. And we'll get back to that scapegoat
In a moment, 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. And he shall put the incense
upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense
may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he
die not." Even at this time, the only reason Aaron doesn't
die is because of the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what this incense represents. Verse 14, 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. Ceremonially
he was now completely clean, and now he was fit to be a priest.
Now here's what he does for us. Verse 15, Then shall he kill
the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and bring
his blood within the veil, and do with the blood as he did with
the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat,
and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel, and because of their transgressions, and all their
sins. And so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation,
that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. As the priest, he now offers
up in behalf of the people, and even has to offer up for the
tabernacle itself, for the altar itself, for the temple itself,
because anytime man comes in contact with anything, it's sinful.
And so go on reading. Verse 17. And there should be no man in
the tabernacle of the congregation where he go within to make an
atonement in the holy place until he come out and have made an
atonement for himself and for his household and for all the
congregation of the children of Israel. He did this alone. He had no help. He had no assistance. Only Christ only can make an
atonement. He did it by himself. Hebrews
1.3 says, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high, 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 with his finger seven times and cleanse it, seven complete,
hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. Now for the scapegoat. Verse
20, this shows the other aspect of his atonement. Now the first
part, the sin offering, was for himself. His law had to be vindicated. He had to be honored. And that's
exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did. He glorified God completely
by his death on the cross. Our salvation is a benefit of
that. But his first purpose was the glory of his father. Now,
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, the scapegoat. Everybody's heard the term scapegoat.
So one bears the blame. And when he has made an end of
reconciling the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation,
the altar, he shall bring the live goat 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 in 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." Now, this is what the writer to the Hebrew
calls the doctrine of the laying on of hands. Now, picture in
your mind what takes place. Great High Priest puts his hands
on the head of that goat. And he confesses to him all the
iniquities and all the transgressions and all the sins. He confesses
to God all the sins of the children of Israel, putting them on the
head of that goat. Now, the first thing I want to point out is
confession. Does confession atone for sin? No. My confession and your confession
could never atone for sin. Only the blood of Christ can
atone for sin. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Confession can't atone for sin. You can confess every single
one of your sins, which is impossible because you don't know what they
all are. But in confessing them, that's not going to atone for
sin. But understand this, where there's atonement, there will
be confession. What does it mean to confess
your sin? When I confess my sin, it doesn't
just mean that I admit that I did it. It means much more than that. It means that I take sides with
God against myself. God is right and I am wrong. And I confess my sin before him. Now the great high priest confessed
all of his sins. I love the language here. 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 in all their sins. Don't you
like that word all? Putting them upon the head of
the goat and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into
the wilderness. The land of separation. Now,
what this demonstrates in this scapegoat, all the sins being
transferred to him. And that's what happened on the
cross. All the sins of God's elect became the sins of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that fit man takes that goat
into the wilderness and lets him go. The land of separation. You know what that teaches us?
That our sins have actually literally been separated from us. The sin
that you feel and grieve over now has been separated from you. Isn't that wonderful? As far
as the East is from the West. So far have he removed our transgressions
from us. Now that's what the scapegoat
teaches us. It's put, it's led out into the wilderness. No man's
land, the land of separation. Sin has been separated. God has been glorified. God's
law has been honored and vindicated and sin has been separated. Now
that's what happens in atonement. That's what we see in these two
goats. Verse 22, and the goat shall
bear upon him all their iniquities into a land
not inhabited, a land of separation, and he shall let the goat go
in the wilderness. And that goat was to be seen
no more. Now, I think it's interesting.
There's been all kinds of art. And you see, I've seen him. I've seen this goat with this
hideous expression on his face dying in the wilderness while
it's out there. Who knows what happened to that goat? I don't
know what happened to that goat, but I know this. I know what
happened to my sin. It's been put away. That's what atonement
means. It's been put away. It's been
separated from me. And this is something the Lord
did for me. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities
unto a land not inhabited, and he shall let the goat go in the
wilderness. Now Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation,
verse 23, and shall put off the linen garments. wherein he had
made this sacrifice, which he put on when he went into the
holy place, he shall leave them there. He now takes them off
and he washes his water with flesh in the holy place. And
he now puts on his other garments, the priestly garments. And he
comes forth and offers his burnt offering and the burnt offering
of the people to make an atonement for himself and for the people.
Now he offers another sacrifice. Isn't it amazing how many sacrifices
take place? But now he offers a sacrifice
as the great high priest without the linen clothes. This is the
Lord's intercession for his people. But in the Lord's intercession
for his people, what is his plea? The sacrifice. At all times,
the sacrifice, the sacrifice, the sacrifice. That's all the
Lord looks for, the sacrifice. 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, that fit man who led him into the wilderness,
shall wash his clothes. You see, he came into contact
with sin. That goat represented sin. And he came into contact
with sin. And even when he comes back,
he's got to wash his clothes and wash himself. This is how
holy God is. And he that let the goat go for
the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in
water and afterwards come into the camp. And the bullock, listen
to this, verse 27. This is disturbing in a very
real way. Verse 27. And the bullock for
the sin offering And the goat for the sin offering, whose blood
was brought to make atonement in the holy place, the ones that
were sacrificed on the altar to make atonement, you know what
they do with those? They carry them forth without
the camp and they shall burn in the fire, their skins and
their flesh and their dung. And this is not on an altar.
This is in a rubbish dump. a heap. They were treated as
loathsome, even at that time. And he that burneth them shall
wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards
he shall come into the camp. Now this picture shows us how
truly Christ was made sin. The bodies of the sin offerings
were taken outside of the camp and burn up, even the dung. And the men who did it had to
be clean. They were burned not on an altar,
but as rubbish, as garbage, as loathsome and polluted. And perhaps
this gives us some idea. Some glimpse and just a glimpse
of what Paul meant when he said Christ was made to be sin. He bore all the hideous loathsomeness
of sin. And if you want to know what
sin is, look at the cross. There it is. If you want to know how sin is
put away, look at the cross. That is how sin is put away. Verse 29. Now here's the people's
response. And this shall be a statute forever
unto you. This great day of atonement.
That in the seventh month on the 10th day of the month, here's
the people's response. First of all, you shall afflict
your souls. Now, why is that? It seems like
we'd be celebrating and rejoicing. Well, we do. But here's the first
response. You afflict your souls. My sin,
he had to bear to that extent. And I have to think that the
Lord had to feel and experience the hell that's in my heart.
I afflict my soul. That's the first response. I
mean, it's not giddy. You're amazed, you're filled
with fear, and you afflict your soul. But look at the next response
in verse 29. You'll do no work at all. No work at all. He that's entered into his rest
hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Have you
ever, have I ever trusted Christ only? No work at all. And what's he say next? And whether it be one of your
own country or stranger that sojourneth among you, for on
that day, the priest shall make an atonement for you to cleanse
you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
And it shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you. Rest. The cross. Let's do this statement
real carefully. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God asks no more. And he can take no less. Thank God for the atonement.
I'd like to close with a passage from the new Testament turned
to Colossians one. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God can ask for no more. And he can take no less. Colossians 1 beginning in verse
20. And having made peace. Through
the blood of His cross. By Him to reconcile. Remember that word atonement
is quite often translated reconcile in the Old Testament. By Him
to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him, I say, whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were
sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel, which you've heard and which was preached to every
creature which is under heaven, Whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. What a glorious gospel. Let's
pray. Lord, the confession of our heart
is what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Lord, how we thank you for the precious atoning blood of your
son. Lord, we ask that you would give
us such a view of his person and work that it causes us to rest, to do no work at all, to afflict our souls, and to walk in fellowship and
communion with Thee, the living God, through our great High Priest. Lord, we ask that You would work
in us for Christ's sake. both to will and to do thy good
pleasure. We thank you for the gospel.
In Christ's name we pray, amen.