Well, at long last, we're finally in the book of Leviticus. Someone asked me the other day if I've ever heard a particular series on the Old Testament. And I said, no, I don't think I've ever listened to that series. And this person said, oh, it's so good. It's 10 messages on the whole Old Testament. I'm like, well, not having listened to it, let me just say this, it can't be that good, right? I mean, how thorough can you be? I think this is message 140 or so in our studies, and we've only made it through Exodus. That's not a virtue signal. That's just I'm just saying we can dig deeply and we should Every time we come to the Word of God, so if you turn in your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 1 Leviticus chapter 1 read with me as I begin at verse 1 Here you'll recall that the tabernacle has been constructed according to the Lord's meticulous instructions, and now it's time for the Israelites to learn how the Lord is to be worshipped from this point forward. And let me just say this before we get too far into our studies. There is a way that the Lord demands to be worshipped. There are acceptable ways to worship God and there are unacceptable ways to worship God. God is very particular. God is very specific. We in the Reformed world refer to this as the regulative principle of worship, which simply says that we worship God according to the dictates of His Word and not according to the whims of our own desires. There are a lot of people who are doing things this morning that they will attempt to pass off as worship, and those things stray far from the regulative principle. Some would even say that the regulative principle equals boring worship. Well, that's a heart problem. If worship in any respect is boring, then your heart's in the wrong place. I understand what people mean by that. We don't have, you know, light systems and fog machines and big bands on the stage, and we're not swaying rhythmically with our hands in the air, you know, singing the latest gospel ditty. We are intent on worshiping God as he commands us in his word. And part of that is to come together and hear the word expounded clearly and in a way that can be applied by you responsibly as you seek to be salt and light in this lost and dying world. So just remember that as we go through this. Now, let me just say this as well. This doesn't mean that Leviticus is a manual on today's worship. If you go into the book of Leviticus thinking that, then you're going to come out the other end obeying the Levitical laws in terms of dietary laws, in terms of travel restrictions, in terms of all of these things that were layer after layer after layer of additional laws intended at least in the beginning, to satisfy God's requirement for certain things to be done during worship. But remember, everything in this book, nearly everything, is going to point to Christ Himself. Everything in this book is another reminder of the futility that was built into the Old Testament law, not the moral law. The moral law exists in perpetuity. We're talking about the ceremonial law and the civil laws that were bound up in Jewish culture. We don't observe those anymore. Why? Because Christ has come as the perfect fulfillment of those things. And we're going to see the first of those this morning. Perhaps the most important fulfillment that Christ made was the fulfillment of the sacrificial system. And so read with me, beginning at verse 1. And again, we're going to take this in little bite-sized chunks so that we can properly expound on it. But Moses writes here, then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, speak to the sons of Israel. And say to them, when any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. Now, stop there. You'll note that the Lord is said to have spoken to Moses from the tent of meeting. Some of you might be thinking, well, wait a minute, we discovered Previously, that the tent of meeting was that tent that was erected outside the camp where Moses would go and meet with the Lord, where the Lord's glory was pleased to dwell. Well, that tent of meeting has now been replaced by the tabernacle. So is it still called the tent of meeting? And the answer is yes. Yes. The tent of meeting is more a general designation than a specific. It simply designates the place where God was pleased to dwell among His people, whether that be in that temporary tent out there outside the camp or whether it be in the tabernacle proper inside the camp. In fact, look back at Exodus chapter 40, and we can see that Moses uses the designations, both designations in the same verse. Exodus 40 verse 2, he says, on the first day of the first month, you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. So the tabernacle is also known as a tent of meeting. We see the same thing down in verse 35. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. So he's using those terms interchangeably to, again, drive home the fact that this is the same place. The tent of meeting, the tabernacle, later on the temple, will be the place that God is pleased to dwell among His people in a visually manifested form. In this case, the Shekinah glory of God. Moses was instructed to speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, when any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or of the flock. Just a couple of important observations here. It's important to understand that the word man here is used in most of our English translations and it's the word Adam. or Adam. Adam was named Adam because he was the first of mankind. This word, although it is a masculine noun in the Hebrew, this word is not necessarily masculine. This same word can be translated as mankind. It can refer to both men and women. And this is not unusual in other languages. In Spanish, for example, we have all kinds of masculine nouns that can refer to feminine things. We have all kinds of gender neuter nouns that are neither male nor female. We have female nouns and the verbs that accompany those nouns. There's not a hard and fast rule in the Hebrew that dictates whether or not something is exclusively male. And this is going to be important because when we read here about the sons of Aaron, this is masculine. We are talking about the male offspring of Aaron who served as priests in this particular time frame. Generally speaking, this word is convertible, either way. Now, what drives the determination as to whether or not it's masculine, feminine, or gender neuter? Well, that's all in the context. Remember, context is key in understanding these sorts of things. In fact, it was an effort to clear up any confusion on this that the New King James Version actually translates verse 2 as, speak to the children of Israel. and say to them, when any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the livestock, of the herd, and of the flock." Now, at this point you might be inclined to argue, and correctly I might add, that the responsibility for leading the family in worship falls squarely on the man. And this is true. It's absolutely true. It was true then, it's true today. The responsibility for the worship of the family falls squarely on the man. The problem, though, is that as linguistically as sound as this might seem to be in this case, there are a few places in Scripture where women actually brought sacrifices to the Lord. One of those, probably the most well-known of those, would have to be Hannah. In 1 Samuel chapter 1, you'll recall that she vowed to give Samuel to the Lord for his entire life. And as part of her vow, she brought sacrifices to the Lord's house in Shiloh, including a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine. Now, how do we reconcile this with what the Scripture says at large about the importance of male headship in worship? Well, it's simple, really. There's a significant difference between bringing the sacrifice and offering the sacrifice. You understand that? This is very important. Don't be confused here because again in our English translations, these two words are also used interchangeably, bringing and offering. But we need to understand, especially given the context. that practically speaking, there is a difference between bringing the sacrifice to the temple, to the tabernacle, and offering the sacrifice up. Those are two different things. Anyone could bring the sacrifice to the tabernacle, but it was the high priest who was authorized to offer it to the Lord on behalf of the giver. And as you know, the office of high priest was reserved exclusively for men. The office of priest, period, was something reserved exclusively for men. Now, I realize that for some of you women who may have sipped a sip or two of the feminist Kool-Aid over the years, I realize this might sound like another case of misogyny, another case of male chauvinism. I assure you it's not. How do we know? Because we are told clearly throughout the Word of God that this is God's design for the whole of society. God has designed society itself to be patriarchal. And you'll hear a lot of talk on social media today about toxic masculinity, about the evils of the patriarchy, about how men are inherently dogs and men can't be trusted and we women need to stand up and usurp the authority that God has placed over us in the form of these men. They're actually just living out the curse. We've talked about that before when Adam and Eve were punished for eating of the forbidden fruit. One of the punishments, in addition to pain and childbirth, one of the punishments that God gave Eve was that her desire would be for her husband. That is not a good thing, as we've said. This means that her desire would be to usurp the role of her husband, given to him by God Himself. And ever since then, We've had a much larger problem, I would argue, with feminism than we have had with patriarchy. The reason you're seeing so much about the patriarchy today is because men have allowed themselves to fall back a hundred paces, and let the women rush past them, and now they're in positions of influence and power even in the home. Men have abdicated their responsibility as men in the home, and women have necessarily taken over." Folks, that shouldn't be the case. And I can't tell you the number of people, the number of men I've talked to in this church about, let's say, the education of their children. What are your children studying? How's your homeschooling going for your children? Oh, I don't know. My wife handles that. You see part of the problem? Not only should you know, you should be determining what they're being taught. And not only that, you should be supplementing what they're being taught. Your voice, as well as mom's, should resonate in your children's ears. But your voice should be the authority in the home as far as everything they learn. They need to know that dad's behind it. The only way that we're going to get rid of this emasculation of our young men is for you men to step up. Step up. Well, my wife will hate me if I step up. I don't mean step on. Your wife's not a doormat. In fact, if you're loving her as Christ loved the church, you should know that very well. She's not a doormat. She's not something to be stepped on. But if you step up, I guarantee you, if you have a godly wife, she will automatically align herself under your leadership. Why? Because that's another blessing of God. God has given her that ability to lovingly submit to your godly leadership. Now, if you're being a jerk, there's no guarantee she's gonna submit. Why would she, right? So the onus is on us, again, men, the onus is on you to step up and be the man that God has called you to be in every way, and then watch and see how your home life improves. Well, where do we read this in scripture? Well, 1 Corinthians 11.3, it's a good place to start. 1 Corinthians 11.3, Paul writes, I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. And again, I know that. I feel for you women. In today's culture, that just kind of rubs you the wrong way, but thus saith the Lord, no? Or if you prefer, Ephesians 5, I just referenced this. Ephesians 5, 22 through 24, wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Now again, this doesn't mean, men, that your wives are duty-bound to obey you even when you're being unreasonable, even when you're demanding things of her that are not in alignment with Scripture itself. But if you allow, men, if you allow your wife to lead you around by the nose, don't be surprised when you start losing your own grip on leadership in the home. Be the leader. God expects that of us. Now why did God arrange for things to be this way? Sorry, women, I'm going to get off of this here in a minute. But 1 Timothy 2, 1 Timothy 2, 13 and 14. The reason God arranged for things to be this way was precisely because it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. It was Eve who ate us out of house and home. It was Eve who was first deceived, ate of the fruit, and then offered it to Adam. Well, he shouldn't have taken it. Well, you're right. He shouldn't have. But it all began with her. And here's the thing. Even though it was Eve who was deceived, who gets the blame for plunging the whole of humanity into sin? Adam. You know, when I first read that years and years and years ago, I was like, man, that's a raw deal. Right? I mean, think about it. Why should Eve not get the blame for that? Why should Romans 5, 12 mention Adam and not Eve as the cause for man's being plunged into As a matter of fact, go to Romans 5, we'll read this for ourselves. Just as through one man, sin entered into the world and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sinned for until the law, uh, sin was in the world, but sin was not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reign from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offensive Adam, who was a type of him who was to come. Now let's put all this together and you'll understand why this had to be. Have you ever thought about why Joseph could not have been Jesus' natural father? Because if that was the case, Jesus would have inherited a sin nature from Joseph. Think about that. Think about the genius. that is God's mind, His eternal mind, His eternal decree was that although Eve was responsible for eating the fruit first, Adam would take the blame because... And Joseph, being a son of Adam, would have passed that sin down because sin is transmitted through the father's line. If that had been the case, If the Holy Spirit had not intervened to cause Mary to get pregnant and have Jesus, Jesus Himself would have had a sin nature. Now this is not to say, as the Roman Catholics suggest, that Mary herself was sinless. Again, it's just that we get our sin nature through the paternal and not the maternal line. Anyway, let's move on. Next thing we note here in verse 2. is that the sacrifices demanded by God were to be taken from one of two sources. They were to either be taken from the person's herd or their flock. Now, there is a third source. But it was really kind of the exception to the rule. Down in verse 14, we read that the offering could also be in the form of birds. And there were bird merchants that would set up booths around the...I'm not sure about the tabernacle this early, but at least in the temple. We know that there were people selling birds for the primary purpose of sacrificing. And so if you were really, really poor and you did not have a flock or a herd, you could go and purchase a bird and bring that to be your sacrifice. But by and large, there are two primary sources, either your herd or your flock. Let's look at each of these as they appear in our text. We have the offering from the herd. Verse 3, if his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect, he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting that he may be accepted before the Lord. Now, let's just stop here for a minute because the terminology is kind of alien to us. We don't really know in our own culture what a burnt offering was like. Aside from the occasional burned biscuits and what Grandma often called a burnt offering, this is not the same thing. What was a burnt offering? The burnt offering was a treatment of the sacrificial animal offered for sacrifice. that would cause smoke to rise up in the air as a pleasing aroma to God. Of course, this is not to be understood literally. Why? Huh? Yeah, God doesn't have a nose, right? God doesn't have olfactory receptors to determine what's pleasing and not pleasing. So this is an anthropomorphism. This is an anthropomorphism. describing the pleasure that God takes whenever man offers a sacrifice according to this prescription. It was to be representative. More than anything, the burnt offering, burning something, was a way of completely destroying it, obliterating it. Now, what's that a picture of? Well, first of all, it's a picture of Christ. When Christ died on Calvary's cross, He was completely obliterated. I think sometimes we underestimate just how heinous the crucifixion of Christ actually was. And not to get too graphic, but we would do well to get a little graphic here, because we need to understand that the night before Jesus was hung on that cross, you remember what happened to Him. He was beaten within an inch of his life. They would take what's called a cat of nine tails. They would take a whip, a scourge that would have leather strands coming off of it, usually nine of them. And on the end of each strand would be either these little barbell-shaped pieces of iron or bits of glass and pottery. And they would whip someone, and every strike of the whip, those things would embed themselves into the flesh, and then they would rip it out, ripping out huge chunks of flesh. Jesus was whipped using one of these flagellums. And again, within an inch of his life, he's had a crown of thorns pressed down around his brow. He has had the equivalent of railroad spikes driven into his wrists and into the top of his feet. He's been hung on the cross, emaciated, thirsting beyond belief, bleeding profusely from the wounds he's already received, and then he has a spear thrust in his side where a mixture of water and cardiac fluid flow out, blood and water. We need to dispense with this phony image that we see in the crucifixes that people love to wear. First of all, don't ever wear a crucifix. Why? Because Jesus is not on that cross. To continue to parade around Jesus on a cross is really the highest form of blasphemy anyone can commit to. Now, why do Roman Catholics love the crucifix so much? Well, I'll tell you why. They have to have Jesus on that cross. Because in the Mass, they are re-sacrificing Him every week. over and over and over and over again. And how someone can miss, so many people can miss the crystal clear teaching of the Word of God where we're told that Jesus was sacrificed and His sacrifice was a once for all sacrifice. After which, He was buried, rose again on the third day, and not long thereafter ascended into heaven where He took up His permanent place at the right hand of Majesty on high. He's not there. He's not on the cross. He's not in the tomb. Jesus Christ is risen. But don't neglect to remind yourself as often as necessary of the completeness of His sacrifice. The burnt offering was to signify the thoroughness of the work of Christ. There would be nothing left of the burnt sacrifice. What else did it symbolize? Well, the burnt offering, if you think about it this way, the sacrifice itself is meant to be substitutionary. In other words, as one watched their sacrifice go up in smoke, literally, they were to stop and consider, but for the grace of God, that should be me. Now there's another way of looking at this as well. Whenever we repent of our sins, we lay down our sins, sacrificially. We deprive ourselves of things that we rather enjoy. The sins that we rather enjoy, we lay them down, and by the precious blood of Christ, those sins themselves are obliterated. Remember what we're told later on, your sin and mine was actually nailed to the cross that day. The judgments against us, all of the things that God had against us as we were still at enmity with Him, all of those things died on the cross with Christ. This burnt offering was intended to signify that. It was dramatic. It was messy. But it was all, again, to point to Christ Himself. The burnt offering was seen by the Israelites Even at this early stage, it was seen as an opportunity to start over with God. Once I bring my sacrifice, I am absolved of my sins. Until when? Until the next sin you commit, right? I've said it before, I'll say it again. You talk about futility. You watch from the... opening of the tabernacle you watch as they take your sacrifice and they burn it and then they take the blood and they take it away into the Holy of Holies and they sprinkle it on everything in there and you think to yourself, absolution. I'm no longer a sinner before God. God has given me a substitute. How great it is and you turn around and you stub your sandaled toe on the limestone around the temple, and you shout an expletive, and what just happened to your sacrifice? It's as if it never was. So now the count starts again. Until when? Until next year, the Day of Atonement. Remember, the Day of Atonement was one time a year. You could bring sacrifices at other times, yes. You could do that for a temporary sort of absolution. But the Day of Atonement, that was...the Day of Atonement was the big one. That's where you got all your sins wiped away until you sinned again. How futile. Anybody want to go back to that system? No. Again, this is why it's so laughable that many in churches all over are just...they're just salivating over the prospect of the temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem. They're going to reinstate the sacrificial system. And my response is, no. Why? Paul would ask the same thing, would he not? Paul would say, why are you going back to the elementary things of the world? Why are you going back to things like do not taste, do not touch when Christ has fulfilled all those things? And oh, by the way, this is also kind of something that latches on to many of us when we think of our relationship to God in terms of penance. How many of you still occasionally fall into this penance trap? Look, repentance is not penance. The Roman Catholic Church has taught for centuries, and we have also kind of adopted this same mentality, that when I sin, I need to repent of that sin, but I also need to do something to make up for that sin. Don't. Christ paid it all. If you're going to do something about that sin, pray and thank Him for doing all that's necessary to absolve you from that sin. You know, we get on that, again, performance treadmill where it's like, well, I really sinned. I really messed up. I need to do all I can to get back in God's good graces. You couldn't do that even if you thought yourself able to do that. Only Christ can bring you back, reconcile you to God the Father, and He's already done that. Well again, speaking of this temporary reconciliation, go over to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Don't just hear it from me. Hebrews chapter 10, beginning at verse 1. Here the author writes, for the law, now again he's not talking about the moral law, let me just state again, the moral law exists in perpetuity. The moral law has been written on your heart and mind. The moral law is that which reminds us what God's thrice holy standards are, how short we come in meeting those standards, and how thankful we should be that Christ did meet those standards. Right? And we will strive with every fiber of our being to be obedient to God's moral law. The law being spoken of here is the ceremonial law. All of these sacrifices, all of these rituals, all of these outward things. For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never By the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, it can never make perfect those who draw near." Can you imagine what a blow that would have been to the Jew? They would have asked them, why are we doing them? Well, later on we're going to learn the reason you're doing those things is because those things point to Christ. That's the only reason. And if you're missing that link? then all of your efforts at offering these sacrifices year after year are in vain. Otherwise, he says, would they not have ceased to be offered because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? In other words, if the sacrificial system worked as they believed that it worked, then all you would have to do is experience one sacrifice your whole life, and then you'd be perfect. Well, human history tells us that never happened. In fact, the Israelites were far from that at every turn. But in those sacrifices, there's a reminder of sins year by year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, sacrifice an offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for Me. In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, for sin you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come, in the scroll of the book it is written of Me, I have come to do your will, O God." And then jump down to verse 11. Every priest stands daily, that's those other sacrifices I was talking about, stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet, for by one offering he is perfected for all time. those who are sanctified. And again, I have to ask my Roman Catholic friends, why? Why, in the face of such clear, unambiguous truth concerning the finished work of Christ, why, oh why, do you allow that mere mortal man to stand up in front of the gathered people and say, this is the body of Christ? It's not. We observe the Lord's table, yes we do, as a memorial. Before Jesus went to his death, the night he was enjoying the last supper with his disciples, he said, as often as you do this, do this as a way of remembering me. Remembering what about him? His final sacrifice. Take, eat, this is my body, broken for you. It hadn't been broken yet, but it was about to be. Take, drink, this is my blood. What blood? The blood that established the new covenant. The blood that was shed on Calvary's cross so that the sacrificial system could be completely done away with. Once the real has come, there's no need for the shadows and types. We're going back to our text. Note how the burnt offering from the herd was to be administered. First of all, we're told that it should be a male without defects. Again, why not a female? Well, because again, this is a picture of Christ. Christ was a male, despite what many heretics are trying to tell you today. I don't know if you've heard the latest news, but there is a movement afoot. to declare that Jesus Christ himself was transsexual. Folks, the blasphemy is not going to stop. The heresy is not going to stop unless and until we with voices stand up and say, enough. Enough. You realize that's what they've done. And I don't mean to set up any kind of false us and them scenario, but there is clearly an us and them in the world today. There are those out there who would love for you to jump on board and believe all of these loony things that they say are true. How did they get their voice? You ever wonder that? How does, what is it now, 1.3% of the population? You know who I'm talking about. How is it that 1.3% of the population can command the thoughts and dominate the minds of the rest of the population. You know why? Because they speak about it. Do you realize that if you spoke about your Savior nearly as much as they talk about their sins, the world would be a different place? The sacrificial system needed to point to the sacrifice that would be made by the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it would need to be that which illustrates the concept of male headship. Now next we see that the sacrifice was to be offered at the doorway of the tent of meeting so that it might be accepted before the Lord. Is there any significant thing about this? Well, I think there is. There was only one way to get in and out of the tabernacle. There was really only one way to get in and out of the temple when we're talking about beyond the outer court. You go from the outer court to the court of women, court of the Gentiles, court of the women, then you go into the holy place which surrounded the holy of holies. There was only one way through. What's that significant of? Jesus Himself said, I am the door. Right? John 10, 9. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. And again, this just obliterates the notion that there are many pathways to God. There aren't. There aren't. This obliterates the fact that one man's religion is just as valid as another man's religion. It's not. This lays waste to the idea that you can have your truth and I can have my truth, and both truths are valid before God. No, they're not. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And the only way to get to the Father is through Him. He also said the way is narrow. The pathway to destruction is wide, and many there are that go therein, but the way of salvation is narrow, and few there are who find it by God's grace." This is what's being represented in this doorway. In this early stage of God's revelation, the one bringing the sacrifice would come to the door of the tabernacle, and then they would wait for the priest to receive the sacrifice, and then the priest would inspect it. And he would either approve or reject it. This also reminds us of the sacrifice of Christ. As being the only sacrifice acceptable to God. And doesn't this really bring new light to Romans 12 one? I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. That you present yourselves. as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. On what basis is the offering of ourselves holy and acceptable before God? Well, again, go back to the beginning of the verse. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. We can only offer ourselves and be acceptable before God in terms of our works of righteousness, in terms of our repentance from sin, in terms of how we seek to please God. We can only please Him as we are clothed in the righteous robes of Christ. Listen to Spurgeon's assessment of this process up to this point. He said, the appropriation by the offerer and the death of the offering are most fitly joined together and must neither of them be overlooked. Let us on the present occasion look at the leading act of the offerer. He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering and all that goes before is important, but this is the real sacrificial act so far as the offerer is concerned. Before he reached this point, the person who presented the offering had to make a selection of the animal to be brought before the Lord. It must be of a certain age, it must be without blemish, and for this latter reason a careful examination had to be made, for the Lord would not accept a sacrifice that was lame or broken or bruised or deficient in any of its parts or in any way blemished. He required an offering without spot. Now I invite all those who seek reconciliation with God to look about them and consider whether the Lord Jesus Christ be such an atoning sacrifice as they need and as God would accept. After you have well examined his blessed person and his spotless character, if you arrive at this conclusion that he is a fit and acceptable sacrifice for you to present before the Lord, then I long that you may take the much more practical step and accept the Lord Jesus Christ to be your representative, your sin offering, your burnt offering, your substitute, and your sacrifice. Happily, you have not to find a sacrifice as the Jew had to supply a bullock. God had provided Himself with the perfect sacrifice, that which you have to bring to God, God first brings to you. Has God given you an awareness of the substitutionary sacrifice that is His Son? What Spurgeon is talking about here is not human responsibility. He's talking about the fact that God Himself provides the sacrifice. Much in the same way as Abraham, getting ready to plunge the dagger into his son's own chest, looks over at the last minute and he sees a ram caught in a thicket and he named that place, I found a ram. No. He named that place Jehovah-Jireh. God has provided. It's the same way we should look at our salvation. God has provided. He's given us His Son as our sacrifice. And with that sacrifice, He is well pleased. Well, next in verse 4, we learn that the one offering the sacrifice was required to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering. This laying on of the hands was actually seen as a transference. The one bringing the sacrifice would lay the hand on the head of the sacrifice as a way of signifying, this sacrifice now represents me. And then once burned, that person could have the assurance that their sins had been atoned for, again, if only temporarily. It was a way of acknowledging that I need to offer this sacrifice and the fact that it had to be year after year signified not only do I need to offer this sacrifice, but I need to be born again year after year after year. I need renewal with the Lord and I need a mediator who will go between me and God. Now, again, notice. how Christ himself is pictured in not just the high priest, but the priests themselves. They performed this intercessory role. It wasn't that you could just bring your sacrifice, you know, rush into the Holy of Holies yourself and say, here you go, Lord, here's my sacrifice. Thank you. No, it was all very ritualistic. It was all very serious and sober-minded. It was a way of acknowledging, as those who would die in the Holy of Holies would find out, God would not just entertain visits from just anyone. It had to be the one that He designated to offer the sacrifice. And again, how much more thankful should we be that Christ went in to the place where no man dare go and offer himself as our sacrifice." Well, next in verse 6, we're told that the one bringing the sacrifice was to skin the burnt offering and cut it into pieces while the sons of Aaron, the priests, were to build the fire. Once the fire was built, the priests were to take the pieces of the animal, arrange them on the altar. The head and the suet, that's just fat, were to be placed on the wood as for the entrails and the legs, these were to be washed with water after which all the pieces would be burned again with the smoke serving as a soothing aroma to the Lord. So let me just ask you, why were the entrails and the legs to be washed? Need I remind you what's in the entrails? Yeah, it's pretty awful, not that awful, not O-F-F-A-L, but I'm talking about what's usually lingering around at your death in your large and small intestines. The food that you ate a day or two ago, right? This was considered unclean. So the animal had to be taken, the entrails were to be spilled, and every dirty part of the inside of the animal had to be cleansed. There would also be dirt in the hooves, dirt in the feet, on the lower portions, on the legs, and this is why they had to be washed. Again, this goes back to the picture of Christ as the spotless Lamb of God, inside and out. You know, you couldn't just say, well, yep, looks spotless to me. Here you go, God. Now, let me just ask you this. If your worship here today is to be a sacrifice of praise. If your worship is likened unto the sacrifice in terms of its need to be pure, unsullied, sanctified, how are you doing as we enter into this next hour? Have you come prepared this morning by cleansing yourself mentally, spiritually, or have you brought in all kinds of baggage from the world? If you've done that, then spend the next time before the service starts, go back and get a refreshment or go talk with the people that you haven't seen all week, do whatever you want to do. Take some time though, to ask the Lord to prepare you for what you're about to receive again from his word. And that includes both inside and out. This is the importance of cleansing even the entrails. What a beautiful prayer that would be. I know it sounds gross, but Lord, cleanse me on the inside. Cleanse my entrails for your service. Go to that level of depth and completeness to make me ready to worship you in spirit and in truth. I guarantee if you do that, you'll sing with more enthusiasm, You'll pray more fervently, you'll listen more intently, and then you'll go out and apply the word more diligently. Is that your desire this morning? It should be. I pray that it is. Well, next time we're going to pick up Lord willing at verse 10. And again, let me just encourage you as we go through this book in particular. Look beyond what's written in black and white. Look beyond the words themselves. Steve and I were talking about that just this morning in my office. I'm going to encourage you once again, just slow down. Slow down and take it all in and ask, Lord, what is it that I can see about Christ in this passage? What is it that I can see about you and about me in this passage? You'll be blessed in the process.