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Yeah, we’ll turn our Bibles to Leviticus. This will be the last sermons from the book of Leviticus. We’re going to focus on Leviticus chapter 26 and 27 this morning. Yeah, that’s— Let’s pray. Dear Gracious and Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness and your mercies in our lives. We thank you, Lord Father, for this blessed opportunity that you have given us to gather in this manner.
And we pray as we look into your word, we pray that you open our eyes to behold your glory and your purposes. And we also pray that you would cause us to understand your ways and form biblical convictions in our hearts. So that, Lord, our lives are governed by your word. And we pray that you would give us grace to submit to your word, O Father. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen. We have seen that earlier that Leviticus picks up right where Exodus ends. And if you look at Leviticus chapter 1 verse 1, it begins like this. “And he called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting.”
And we have seen that in the, in the Bible we are looking at one grand story. From Genesis 1 till Exodus 40, one could read entire story as a tale of two movements. In Genesis we see that humanity was expelled from God’s presence in Eden, and then finally brought back into the presence through the tabernacle, the tabernacle system of worship. So the book of Leviticus answers one pressing question. How can a holy God dwell with sinful humanity?
And Moses introduces a system of sacrifices and priesthood that ultimately finds fulfillment in the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And additionally, there are these holy gatherings, which in the book of Hebrews, we see that there’s a lot of parallelism between book of Hebrews and Leviticus. And in the, in the book of Leviticus all the holy gatherings, all the feasts and holy Sabbaths were compulsory gatherings. And when you come to book of Hebrews, there is one gathering of the church. The weekly gathering of the church is a compulsory gathering. It’s not an optional gathering, right? And we, and
And the writer of Hebrews talks about that in Hebrews 10, that see to that there is no one who is negligent, who is neglecting the gathering of the saints. So the issue here is about negligence. Well, I understand that there’ll be times that we’ll be away, there’ll be times that we’ll be sick. And we are not talking about that, but the issue is about our heart, our negligence. So, and like the, like the Old Testament gatherings were compulsory gatherings, they were not optional gatherings, the New Testament gathering of the church is also not optional but a compulsory gathering. And we gather until the Lord returns
right, and the book of Leviticus, and that we do until we gather before the throne of the Lamb in the New Jerusalem. Right? And the book of Leviticus also closes with a promise that only new covenant can fulfill. If you look at Leviticus chapter 26 and read verses 11 and 12, Leviticus chapter 26 verses 11 and 12, it says that “I will make my dwelling among you and my soul shall not abhor you, and I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” And you see that the fulfillment of this in a real sense is seen in
Revelation chapter 21. So and from Eden to the tabernacle, from the temple to the Christ incarnate, and from the church to the New Jerusalem, God’s purpose has never wavered, to that is to dwell with his people forever. And Leviticus is about a holy God making a way for a sinful people to dwell with him. In the, in the, in the previous chapters Moses laid out the holiness code, and we see, we saw that because the holy God had called, covenanted with and set apart a people for himself, they were supposed to be holy unto the Lord. And the instructions on sacrifices, priesthood, Sabbaths and sacred feasts
all carried a common message. Israel’s worth is not found in their productivity, but in resting in the Lord. And these gatherings were compulsory and were not optional. They were, people of God must learn to rest in the means of God’s grace. And today’s just the means of God’s grace is the gathering of the church and what we do when we gather as a church, right? And in chapter 25 there is a crowning ordinance that we have seen, of celebrating the year of Jubilee. Every 50th year on the Day of Atonement, debts were cancelled, slaves were set free, the purchased land returns to the original family.
And during the year of Jubilee, the people rest in three great truths simultaneously. The cancellation of debts reminds them of God’s gracious forgiveness. The freeing of servants recalls the exodus. They had been slaves in the land of Egypt and God had set them free. And the return of God of the land written to the land points back to God’s covenant with Abraham. The land was never fully theirs, it was his gift, his promise, and it was also his faithfulness on display. Those gatherings appointed means of God’s grace to see their sins dealt with through the provision of God, by which the covenant community was sanctified and was encouraged in it.
And in chapter 26 is the conclusion of the holiness code and chapter 27 focuses on Israel’s voluntary response of worship in the form of vows. So I want to share three points this morning from these two chapters. Number one is live an obedient life. Number two is deal with your sin. And number three is serve the Lord gladly. Serve the Lord gladly. Please turn your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 26. We’ll read verses 1 till 4. Leviticus chapter 26, verses 1 till 4.
The Lord said, “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, or you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the Lord your God. You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord. If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season and the land shall yield its increase and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.”
And if you go on to read these verses and till verses 4 till 13, if these people lived according to God’s commands, God’s statutes or instructions, blessings would follow as seen in these verses from verses 1 till verse 13. Israel had been slaves in the land of Egypt, redeemed by God’s mighty hand, and now stood in the wilderness with the promised land still ahead. But the deepest hope was never about the land. Look at chapter 26, verses 11 and 12 again. It says that “I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” So the main point here is about God’s dwelling with his people, that in that land, in the, in the, in
the system that God is good is giving them, God is going to dwell among his people. That’s the main point. And how should an Israelite live? The same way their father Abraham lived. And the writer of Hebrews points us to and reminds us about the heroes of faith, and one of the heroes of faith is Abraham. If you turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 11 and read verses 8 till 10.
Hebrews chapter 11 verses 8 till 10. The writer of Hebrews says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
We see here that Abraham obeyed God, left his home without knowing where he was going. There was no maps. And he lived in tents on the plains of Canaan with his family, right? And without properly inheriting the land. But he was looking forward to the city whose builder is God himself. Look at verse 16.
It says that in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 16 it says that Abraham was looking forward to the heavens. Abraham was looking forward to the heavens. And the distinctive character of Abraham is faith in God. He considered God to be faithful. As John Owen said, “Abraham wholly committed himself to the power, faithfulness, goodness, and direction of God without having the least encouragement about the place he was going to.” His confidence was in God.
His confidence was in the character of God. And the characteristic of such faith in God is obedience. It says, the writer of Hebrews says that by faith, Abraham obeyed. Right? And obedience to all his word. All his word. And the writer of Hebrews reminds us that by faith, Abraham obeyed.
Israel should follow in the footsteps of their father, Abraham. Abraham. Israel should have followed in the footsteps of Abraham. But not many have followed. If you read the history of Israel. They constantly disobeyed God. And God manifested his presence to his people many times. There were times of glory in the land of Israel. But the old covenant has to make way for the new covenant. And that promise of the new covenant was made in the old covenant. The Messiah should come and fulfill the promise made to Abraham in whom all the nations would be blessed. And the promise of Leviticus chapter 26 — if you, if you turn your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 26 and verse 12 — that promise there in Leviticus chapter 26 verse 12 is ultimately of his presence, is ultimately fulfilled in Revelation chapter 21 verse 3, 21 verse 3, Revelation chapter 21 verse 3. It says that
“Behold dwelling place of God is with man, he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with him as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more.” The tabernacle language of Leviticus echoes throughout the scripture. We see that in Leviticus, book of Leviticus, particularly in Leviticus chapter 16 and throughout book of Leviticus, and then we see that the language of tabernacle is used in John chapter 1 verse 14 where the word dwelt among us, the word used there is he tabernacled among us, and then you also see
the word, the language of tabernacle used in the book of Revelation, particularly in Revelation chapter 21. So we too live here with the hope of God’s eternal dwelling. So how must we live until then as God’s redeemed people? Like Abraham, we must fix our hope in this passing world. We must live obedient lives by faith, committing ourselves to the faithfulness, goodness, and also the direction of God’s word. We must fix our eyes on the hope of eternal dwelling of God. We must live in obedience, living completely under the authority of God’s Word. We must obey all of, all of God’s Word. There are no options. If there are, if there are instructions in God’s Word, if they are applicable to us, we must obey all of God’s Word. And we cannot live as
we please you around you with a with the appearance of religion Sunday morning after Sunday morning right it's it matters how we live each and every moment because we live under the presence of God in the presence of God we live under the watching eye of God is watching all the time our life is recorded in his book so it matters how we live each and every moment and our obedience matters we must live pleasing to him we must live pleasing to him so our call here on this earth is obedience to God he is our ruler he is our king he
is our creator he is our redeemer he is our we must obey him no matter what no matter what of what the pressures are the from the world could be whatever the pressures could be in the from the world our aim should be pleasing our God and secondly we must identify sin in our lives and deal with that consistently look at Leviticus chapter 26 verses 14 till 16 Leviticus chapter 26 verses 14 till 16 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments if you spurn my statutes and if you are if your soul abhors my rules
so that you will not do all my commandments but covenant then I will do this to you I will visit you with panic with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache and you shall sow your seed in vain for your enemies shall eat it” and if you go down God also speaks about the coming exile, right in book of Leviticus, much before exile came, much before exile came, the Lord speaks about exile here.
Right? Again, the focus here is that all my commandments, all his word. You may have thought that we can have our own way neglect God’s commands and somehow we can still pass into God’s eternity with God yes you will pass into eternity if you’re a true believer there’s no doubt about that but the problem is that there is a but in verse 14 look there is a but “if you will not listen to me” notice where the problem begins with the ears right “if you will not listen to me” then it moves to the hands “you will not do all these commandments” and then it moves to the heart but it is all rooted
in the heart if you still “if your soul abhors my rules” if you don’t listen to me if you don’t do my word and if you do if your soul abhors or if your heart abhors my rules the heart is the driver of the hands those who don’t obey God’s law are those who don’t love God’s law there’s no doubt about it there’s no confusion about it if you don’t do God’s law if you don’t live according to God’s Word your soul is not delighting in the ways of God in other words you’re not delighting in God himself and a B and disobedience should bring
consequences and we see that from verse 16 onwards and they multiply for an Israelite here in chapter 26 the Lord the discipline of the Lord only multiplies Israel’s history as described in verses 26 chapter 26 verses 29 till 33 which are like prophecies actually happened during the exile from verses 29 till 33. But we may always remember that the goal of discipline, we must always remember that the goal of discipline is repentance.
God wants us to move us towards repentance. If Israel sins, if God sends his illness and famine, if they don’t repent, more trials will come. Look at verse 18. the trials will multiply sevenfold and if they don’t still repent drought follows look at verse 25 then pestilence look at verses 31 to 33 the language of exile over there each wave of discipline is designed to turn the people back and the goal is always repentance look at verse 40 “but if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in that treachery that they committed against me” look at verse 42 “then I will remember covenant with Jacob and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham” even then God remained faithful to Israel because of the covenant that
he had made with Abraham Isaac and Jacob the covenant of that he had made with Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 verse and also chapter 15. And then it's repeated in chapter 17. You know, God reminds of this covenant even in book of Leviticus. Which he had also reaffirmed with Isaac and Jacob. We read that in verses 42 and 45 in Leviticus chapter 26. The Lord urges Israel to stay faithful. Warning that disobedience leads to judgment and exile. Yet, he promises to remember his covenant and restore repentant people. And his promise to the patriarchs, the fathers of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was unconditional.
There were faithful Israelites throughout the history of Israel. They hoped in the Lord. They trusted in the promises of the Lord. They obeyed the Lord, right? And they constantly repented when they sinned. They hoped in the Lord. But many times, Israel as a nation was not faithful.
And that is a testimony of the Scriptures. Hebrews 8, verse 9 says that Israel did not continue in God’s covenant. They brought upon themselves the covenant’s dire consequences, including famine, violence, exile, disease, and death. What is the hope for them? God’s faithfulness. God’s covenant with Abraham is a hope. And the fulfillment trajectory runs through periods of exile.
and the prophetic promises of new covenant were made during the exile. God was giving to the people of exile a promise of new covenant. You see that in Jeremiah chapter 31, verses 31 to 34, and also Ezekiel chapter 36 till 37. Right? God gave them a hope of new covenant during the time of exile. But because of Israel’s consistent disobedience, they only accumulated curses.
The hope is a new covenant. God fulfilled his covenant to the patriarchs in the new covenant. The Mosaic covenant must make way to the new covenant. Read Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15. “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” What is the hope for the people of the first covenant? First covenant is the old covenant, the Mosaic government. What is the hope all for these people under the first covenant? They needed to be redeemed, which could only occur to the death of an innocent substitute, Christ, whose blood purified covenant breakers from their treacherous acts which deserves death and
they are not redeemed by the blood of the bulls. Verse 14 of Hebrews 9, just above this verse, it says that they are not redeemed by the blood of the bulls, but they are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. In the innocent substitute, Christ himself. Christ, the Christ, the hope of the new covenant, the hope of the old covenant, is the redeemer of both the people under the first covenant and also the new covenant.
Paul draws the line in Galatians chapter 3 verse 10. He says that, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law.” And declares in Galatians chapter 3 verse 13, that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”
See, on the cross Christ Jesus bore the full weight of all the curses of the, of, for breaking the law. And on the cross Jesus bore the full weight of Leviticus 26 is a escalating curses — spiritual desolation, divine abandonment, forsakenness as a true Israel and the last Adam. He suffered on the cross. In his death, he bore all the curses. The curse was laid on him.
And in his death and in his resurrection, he inaugurated new covenant blessings. Fruitfulness, God’s presence with his people, which he caused. Leviticus chapter 26, verses 11 and 12. The new covenant ultimately finds his fulfillment in Christ, in whom all covenant promises are realized as yes and amen. Paul talks about that in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20. In Christ, his people now stand under no condemnation. Romans chapter 8 verse 1. Those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb, those who are his, those who are sealed by the work of the Holy Spirit, there is no condemnation. Not because the curses were ignored.
The curses were dealt in the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. But because Christ bore them, we are spared. This produces neither presumption nor despair. But it should produce reverential, joyful obedience to our God. Produce reverential, joyful obedience to God.
God is not going to send the church into exile as he did with Israel, but he’s going to deal with his people. He’s going to deal with his people. And the word for that is discipline. Discipline from God is his grace towards his people who are erring and rebelling.
Discipline is the way God pursues his people. Discipline is of two types. God disciplines when we sin. It’s more like chastisement, punishment. For instance, as we see in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul asked the Corinthian church the Corinthian church to put the immoral man out of the church. Immediate discipline so that his flesh would be broken and he will be dealt with. Finally he will have an opportunity to repent. And then also you see that in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 20. 1 Corinthians 11 we see that. It’s more of chastisement. And in Leviticus the picture is chastisement. In Leviticus chapter 26.
The apostle Paul wrote that the Corinthian church faced physical weakness, sickness, and even premature death as discipline for partaking in Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner. And in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul commands the church to put out the immoral man so he will have an opportunity to repent. And God, as a loving father, chastises us when we consistently rebel against him. And the goal of such chastising is repentance.
For example, following David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, the prophet Nathan confronted David. David recognized his sin. He repented. God forgave David’s confessed sin, but he still had to face severe earthly consequences. Sometimes our repentance will follow severe consequences. In Hebrews chapter 12 verses 7 till 11, there is another dimension of discipline there.
Turn your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 12 verse 7 till 11. It says that “it is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? He disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems rather than pleasant, but later it yields the fruit, peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” See, there is another aspect of discipline that is not necessarily related to chastisement or punishment. If you read Hebrews chapter 12 carefully, you get the sense that this discipline is not primarily about chastisement or punishment.
Instead, God as a loving father deals with our remaining sin by allowing difficult circumstances into our lives. Difficult people into our lives. Trials to keep us humble and to help us fix our eyes constantly on the Savior. Who is perfecting our faith so that we share in his holiness.
Christians, God allowed the infiltration of false teachers into their churches, but these Hebrew believers, instead of fixing of their eyes on Christ, they became trouble. They couldn’t resist this false influential teachers. And the way, by the way of this letter, Hebrews, God encourages his people to stand the course, to endure, to fight for the truth, to stand on the solid ground that is Christ himself.
God sends trials, difficult people, and allows temptations in our lives so that we may respond in each of these different scenarios according to God’s word. We need to endure so that in these difficult situations we can become mature. The way, the reason that God continuously allows difficult situations in our lives, so that through that we can depend on him and his grace, and so that we can mature. We can grow strong. We can become more able Christians. We share. The goal is that we share in God’s holiness. The writer of Hebrews says that. We should not disobey God even in difficult situations.
But know that in each trial we must keep looking to Christ and his finished work. God will allow someone in your life to test your patience, to provoke you to anger. Not so you will be tempted to respond in a sinful manner, but in such situations you look to Christ and His work and receive grace to respond in a God-honoring way. That way you are shared into Christ-likeness. You will find such opportunities in the church itself. You don’t have to go anywhere, brothers and sisters. You will find such opportunities in church itself. You will find that brother who is irritating you, who’s troubling you, who’s pestering you, that sister would whom you couldn’t
stand. Why did God place such brother and sister in your church? Have wondered? Why? Have you ever thought why doesn’t God do something to him or her? Remember that brother and sister is also equally precious to God as you are. God is working both in both of us.
In us. Sometimes I’m, sometimes I cause irritability to others. Sometimes you cause irritability to me. So the point is that we learn to respond in God honoring way and we grow together in God’s likeness, in Christ’s likeness, right? In such situations, you, we look to Christ and his word to receive grace ways to respond in a God-honoring way. That way, you and I are shaped into Christ-likeness. You’ll find many of such opportunities at church, at home, with your spouse, daily with your spouse, with your kids, in your neighborhood, among your relatives, at your workplace. So we should always be prepared.
There are opportunities for our sanctification, to grow, to become more resilient and strong. And many of us will be probably be surprised at the end because we neglected to live under the authority of God’s word. We haven’t learned our lessons. We kept ignoring people. We kept avoiding people. We kept, we kept on hating people because we haven’t learned lessons. We haven’t grown. We haven’t matured. And yet the end we’ll be surprised. We haven’t obeyed God as we should, love God as we should. We haven’t hated the systems and the patterns of this world. We haven’t served in a way that pleases the Lord. We
were not kingdom minded. We haven’t served others well. We have squandered all our time and money on ourselves. We hoarded money for ourselves and spent it on our own luxuries and happiness. We loved ourselves too much, which made us each easily offended. Brothers, I want to tell you, getting easily offended is a sign of immaturity. If you are easily offended, that means that you are not growing in the grace of the Lord. You are not growing in Christ’s likeness. Getting easily offended and putting walls around us is a sign of immaturity. We need to break those walls. We need to fix our eyes on Christ Jesus so that we grow and mature and become more resilient.
Even to the hurt that people causes us. We loved ourselves too much to pursue people who are unworthy in our eyes. We reserved hate, ill will, and vengeance toward those who hurt us. We avoid people easily. We did not lay down our rights and egos at the cross daily.
Instead, we fought for our rights, showed people their place. We were not gentle, we were not patient, we were not forbearing with others. And these are all new command, new covenant commandments. Brother, I'm not telling something new. You read the pages of the New Covenant, you will find these exhortations again and again. We were not quick to repent. We are not quick to seek forgiveness from people whom we have, we had offended. We gossiped and we slandered people behind their backs. We made, we made, we make people hate those whom we hate. We pass on that hate to others, right? We easily pass on that hate to others. And we make people hate
them, we think we have succeeded. Remember, your sins are being recorded. The Lord is going to deal with you if you don't repent. He's going to discipline you if you're not repenting. We loved our secret sins. We went back to them again and again, and we have convinced ourselves that no one knows, no one sees, and that I can put up a show on a Sunday morning.
And we haven't loved God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. And we thought that we can sing joyfully with others on a Sunday morning. Throughout the week, there's no time for God. There's no time for God's word. There's no time for prayer. There's no time for seeking God with earnestness, but on a Sunday morning we sing so joyfully.
Dear people, this is the kingdom of God. We are part of it. God is watching, and King Jesus will not tolerate when we grieve the Holy Spirit. He will not abandon us in our sins, because we are his people, he purchased us with his precious blood. He laid down his life for us. He will pursue us. He will pursue us.
So in order to follow in the pathway of Abraham and of those heroes of faith, we must commit ourselves to God's word and live by all of his commandments. Look at Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1. The writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The people of God, we have a race to run, a race of service, a race of sufferings, a race of active obedience.
is marked off by the word of God. This race is marked off by resisting every temptation to sin. And the cloud of witnesses who lived before us ran this race with faith and endurance that took God's commandments and his word seriously. And look at verse 2 of Hebrews chapter 12. “Looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endure the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Brothers and sisters, we follow the good example and the instructions of God's Word, not by our strength, but
by looking unto Jesus, is not just a good example, but he is the cornerstone of our faith. He is the foundation of our faith. He is the source of our faith. He is the object of our faith. He is also the perfecter of our faith. He brings our faith to the, to his desire and to his end goal, which means he gives all grace for our endurance on this side of eternity. How can you put up with that brother who irritates you? The grace comes from the King Jesus.
He gives you the grace to endure, to tolerate, to bear, to love, to forgive, to let go of your rights. As and when we fix our eyes on Jesus, we will keep learning that this is not about me. This is not about my comforts. It's not about my ease. It's about God and his kingdom. And I need to lay my rights at the foot of the cross of Jesus.
The strength to endure comes from fixing our eyes on Jesus who endured hostility. The strength to forgive our offenders again and again comes from our Lord, not from us. We can only hate, we can only avoid, we can only spoil the reputation of people, but the grace to endure comes from Him. Grace to forgive again and again comes from Him. Our sufferings cannot be compared with the ultimate price Jesus paid on the cross, who shed his blood to purify our conscience and draws near to God. Meditating on his sacrifice day in and day out would put our trials into perspective, strengthening our hearts against self-pity and hopelessness.
You know, every time you face some trial, you pity yourself, right? Oh, pity me. Christ has finished work. And the joy of dwelling in his presence should give us to persevere whatever crosses come our way. The one who constantly sins against the Lord. Remember that the Lord will discipline and guide us toward repentance. On the other hand, if you’re facing difficult trials caused by people around you, remember that the Lord is also dealing with the remaining sin in you. He’s showing that you need to grow in endurance, you need to grow in forbearance. If you are getting harsh and harsh every time in your relationships, the Lord is allowing those difficult circumstances or difficult people in your life so that there’s a need for you to grow in gentleness.
God will give you multiple opportunities to forgive and He will give that again and again so that we can grow in forgiving, we will learn like forgiving like God forgiving us, right? Remember, we must remember that we should not sin in those situations, but look to Christ who endured hostility. You should not grow weary in doing what is right, responding in a manner that honors the Lord and that shapes you into Christ’s likeness.
Finally, serve the Lord gladly. Chapter 27 deals with the vows. There are many vows in chapter 27. Vows are not demanded by the Lord. They are free. They are free voluntary acts made unto the Lord in times of great distress or great delight as an act of thanksgiving.
Jacob vowed to give God a tenth of everything if God preserved his life. Hannah promised to dedicate her long-awaited son Samuel to God’s service and from that vow we have a wonderful man of God like Samuel. This was not required. No one commanded Hannah to give her firstborn.
No one had to make a vow. There was a natural overflow of a heart that is grateful to God. There’s a natural overflow of a heart that loves the Lord. Chapter 27 reveals what was already in the hearts of the people. God deserves everything. You read chapter 27, the people have vowed about lands, animals, their houses, their properties, right? Which means that God deserves everything, your land, your house, your animals, your children in your very life, everything belongs to the Lord. All of these things were given to the Lord as vows. They exist for God’s glory, not because God demanded them, but because the people wanted to give them. Vows of persons, animals and property all express a life given over to God. In chapter 27 verse 28 we see the irrevocability of the vow.
Once a vow has been made, the person who made it is obligated to the well no matter the cost. People made vows as an act of gratitude to the Lord. In the New Testament there are no regulations on making vows. The irrevocability of devoted things models the totality of consecration.
The consecration that Christ calls from his people. As we read in Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. Your entire life belongs to God. Let’s read that verse, Romans chapter 12. Verses 1 and 2. Your entire life belongs to God. Your entire life belongs to God. He is the Lord.
Are you living out of gratitude for his redemption? God has redeemed you from the curse of sin and made you his child. Ask honestly, what are you withholding from him? What are you withholding from him? Relationships, your money, your pleasure? What are you withholding from Him?
Chapter 27 invites reflection on our own consecration. Is your service unto the Lord out of joy and gratitude or out of reluctance? Are you reluctantly forgiving others? Are you reluctantly forgiving your offenders again and again? Oh, I should put up with this brother, I have no other option. Or what will others think about me if I don’t act good? You don’t, if I don’t smile at that person, what will others think of me? Or what will that person think of me? Oh, let me put a smile on my face. Are you doing things out of reluctance? Are you forgiving others out of joy that your sins against the Lord are forgiven, are freely pardoned? The Lord is erasing all your sins against him. Are you forgiving others out
of that joy that your sins are freely forgiven. And when we struggle to forgive, what do we do? We come to the cross. We bring our struggles to the Lord who paid for our sins and who will grant us grace. God forgives and remembers our sin no more. That’s the character of God, right? But we are not like that. We cannot easily forget like God.
So what we have to do? We come back to the cross again and again and bring our inability to forgive others to the cross daily and regularly seeking help from the Holy Spirit lest we sin against the Holy Lord. Are you serving out of joy or out of reluctance or out of grumbling?
You say that only it is I who serve, only I who do these things or that things, whatever you do it with gladness. Are you giving generously? Are you giving out of reluctance? Oh, I should give, otherwise Prashant will know, because you know he has all the UPI transactions, right? He will get to know and he will have a record of it. Right? So and eventually that will be passed on to the elders and they will come to know. Are you giving because of that or are you really giving out of joy?
Are you serving sacrificially? The sacrifice means it will pinch you. It will pinch you. You're making time when it is difficult. You're giving when it is difficult. It pinches you. Giving sacrificially, serving sacrificially should pinch you. You'll feel the pain. That is serving sacrificially. You are letting go of your rights and privileges to serve others and God's kingdom.
Paul says again, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” You know intellectually that you are — your life belongs to the Lord, but what does it look like practically to serve him with everything that you have and everything that you are? It means surrendering yourself which you've been pampering all this time. It means surrendering yourself which you have been pampering right from your young age. It means putting to death the sin that you've been ignoring.
God cares about your holiness. Don't let this sermon series pass by, end with you hiding your sin. Present your body as a living sacrifice. Let someone in your life share your struggle. If you're unable to deal with that, confess to a brother or a sister. Pray with your spouse. Die to the need to be rich, to accumulate money for yourself, to be liked, to be honored, to be valued by others. Die to those desires. Be vulnerable to others. Open up about your struggles to others, your weaknesses to others, who can help you, who can keep you accountable, who can watch over you, who can pray for you.
For some of you, it means finally placing your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no middle ground. You are either a worshiper of this world or you are a worshiper of the living God. You are either an idolater or a child adopted by God. Today God is calling you to turn away from your sins and trust in Jesus. To look forward to the future of joy. To recognize that Jesus is a sacrifice that you desperately need. Because he is the only provision from God.
For our sins, God offered his son in our place, for our sins. And God takes sin with ultimate seriousness. That's the reason he offered son, his own son, who is one with him from all eternity, who is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. At one point of time, he stepped down into this world. He took upon himself a human nature. He lived like a man. He had let go of his identity as God, lived like a born servant, lived in whole humility, but without sin, went to the cross. Our sins were laid on him. God dealt with our sins in punishing Jesus Christ.
God punished Jesus. And the book of Isaiah says that it pleased him to crush him on the cross. God crushed Jesus on the cross for our sins. He died and he rose again from the dead to live forevermore. And he's seated at the right hand of the majesty as eternal God and eternal high priest who is saving his people, he is building his church, he is going to return for his church and he's going to fully establish his kingdom forevermore, and whoever does not bow down to him and acknowledge him as the Lord will be put in eternal lake of fire.
If you haven't placed your trust in Jesus, if you haven't repented of your sins, dear friend, please turn to the Lord. This is the only provision that God has for sinful humans like us. So in conclusion, do not treat your relationship with God as a reward system. The covenant blessings are lavish gifts given to those who walk with God, not wages earned by performance. In Christ you already possess every spiritual blessing. Cultivate the obedience of faith. Obedience, not the obedience of fear, but obedience of faith and reverence. Secondly, take sin seriously, every sin seriously. Though believers are not under condemnation, remember God keeps disciplining
his children. And when suffering comes, examine your heart. Do not lose heart in seasons of discipline or spiritual dryness. Thirdly, confessing, humbling yourself, returning to God is walking the very path the Lord prescribed for return. Ask, what are you withholding from God? In Christ, the call is to present ourselves as living sacrifice, wholly, irrevocably devoted to Him.