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Today we’ll look at chapters 17 till 25. So before we get into the details of these chapters, I’d like to mention that the Levitical system, though not perfect, it always pointed to a perfect high priest and the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the law was never given so that people could become perfect. It was given to show God’s high standards for holiness and to, or we can say that it was given to show the standards of God and to also to reveal man’s weakness or his inability to live by God’s standards. According to Romans, Paul says that all have fallen short of God’s glorious standards. And if you see the first three chapters of the book of Romans, he is stating those words in the context of the law.
And no one can measure up to the standards of God and therefore no one is righteous. And Paul talks about that in chapter 3 of Romans, and therefore the law was a standard to show that man that man by himself can never meet God’s requirements. And the New Testament times there were different groups no, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and they were also called as the Judaizers who began, these groups began during the Second Temple period. And they had their own interpretation of the law and some of them believed that by keeping the law they could be made righteous or they would find eternal life. And Jesus counters them again and again saying that no, it’s not
not, you don’t find eternal life by searching the Scriptures, the point he says that they point to me. But but in reality those Pharisees and those Sadducees, they could not live up to their own teachings, which is why Jesus many times called them as the hypocrites. And the and then we see that the purpose of the law was never to make someone righteous but to show God’s righteous standards, and it points to the perfect Lord Jesus Christ who through his life, death and resurrection will save a people. And additionally this false understanding of the law also entered the churches through these Judaizers.
And that is why the New Testament writers address these issues and misconceptions about the law again and again. But the Levitical system, which was an essential part of the old covenant, was we was God’s provision for his people to remain holy and to offer acceptable worship. Every offering was or should be made in faith in God who provided this means of grace for the Old Testament saints. Even the people of the Old Covenant, if they were saved, they were saved by faith alone. They were saved by faith in God and his faith in his provision, right? So later, with the coming of Christ and his perfect sacrifice, God would perfect all the Old Covenant saints who live by faith in God and would also redeem those who place their trust in him.
Now if you look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15, the writer of Hebrews says that, “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” And the first covenant here is referring to the old covenant, is referring to the people under them, under the old covenant. So and after God, so we should not see law as something no, which was given so would be made righteous. No, law was given so that people would see God’s holy standards, they would
see their weaknesses, their inability, and trust in God’s provision for their salvation and sanctification. So yeah, and yep, after God instructed the Israelites in the book of Leviticus on how to live in the promised land, like we have seen the last week, without succumbing to the surrounding culture. Today, we will look at chapters 21 to 25. And the underlying theme is that what was God’s way of keeping his people holy? Or what was God’s means of grace for his people to keep them holy while the culture around them was so polluted by sin and evil, right? So and there are a lot of applications also for the for the for the Christian Church. Yeah, so firstly, we look at the holiness of
the priest and the acceptable worship in these chapters. If you turn your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 21 and read verse 21 till 23. Leviticus chapter 21 verses 21 till 23. “No man of the offspring of Aaron, the priest who has a blemish, shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings. Since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” Let’s pray. Father, we thank
you for this time that you have given us. We we pray, Father, that you would bless us as we look into your word, give us grace. Help us understand your purposes for our lives. And help us understand the means of the grace that you have given us. To keep us holy in this fallen world. And help us discern these things from your word. So these things, Lord, may be formed as biblical convictions in our hearts. Lord, give us grace. In Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen. So here we see that the Levitical priests were required to be physically and morally whole.
No deformity, no uncleanness, no moral compromise. And from whom they married to how their children behaved and how they cut their hair, to whom they touched at funerals. Holiness permeated every dimension of priestly life. And the priest had to be in every visible way set apart for God. If they had defiled themselves, there was a sacrificial system and rituals that would sanctify them before God. And that is the reason the priests also offered sacrifices for themselves in the Old Covenant. And in the Old Covenant, God kept his priests and people holy through the Levitical system. And none of the sons of Levi could fully bear the weight of what their office demanded.
They failed. Therefore, there were sacrifices. And all of this was a type, a temporary arrangement until the perfect had come. The anti-type, which refers to the person of Christ and his work. So, but now in God’s redemptive history, the high priest, the perfect high priest had come. If you look at Hebrews chapter 7 and verses 26 and 27, we read there that, “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
See, you see the contrast? The Old Testament priests were weak, were feeble, were sinful, they needed sacrifices. But here the perfect high priest is perfect, is holy, is innocent, is unstained, is separated. See, the irony is this. Jesus not only lived a holy life, but he is the holy one. There’s a great difference between living a holy life and being essentially holy. He is impeccable in his nature. He is essentially holy. He cannot be defiled. That’s it. That’s the truth of the matter. He cannot be defiled. He is the priest who is not merely set apart from rest of, but he himself is the source of all holiness.
Jesus, when he was on this earth, did a lot of unconventional things that a normal Israelite priest or prophet wouldn’t do that. For instance, in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 5, there are three instances recorded in the chapter. Firstly, in verses 1 till 20, instance of a demon possessed man, and you see, and you see there that Jesus, uh, sets him free from the, from this possession. But the demons recognized who Jesus was, and the demons call themselves as Legion, left that man. But before that, they recognized who this Jesus was, and they said in Mark chapter 5 verse 7, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” Right? These demons recognized who Jesus was. And the second instance, in verses 21 till 34, we see a woman
with menstrual issues, who had touched Jesus’ garments, and she was made well. Generally, under the Levitical system, a woman with a discharge is considered as ritually unclean, and the priest wouldn’t touch her. But this woman touched Jesus in faith, and she was healed. And Jesus was not defiled.
He defiled the defilement. And then in verse 35 onward, we see another instance. A person from the ruler’s household brings news that the ruler’s daughter had died. Jesus visits the ruler’s house where many were weeping when he had gone there. And he takes the girl’s hand and she is brought back to life.
And according to the Levitical law, touching a corpse, especially if the person is not of the priest’s household, a priest who touches the corpse is made unclean, is made ritually unclean. But something astonishing happens here. The corpse does not defile Jesus, but the corpse is back to life.
He raises the dead girl to life. Now there is a point in these stories in the Gospels. He is the priest who is not merely set apart, but he himself is the source of all holiness. He cannot be defiled and it does not need a Levitical system to keep him holy. He is above the Levitical system. He is a priest as the writer of Hebrews says, he is a priest of a different order.
From Leviticus chapter 22 and verse 17 through the end, there are instructions regarding acceptable offerings. Look at verse 19 and 20 of Leviticus chapter 22. It says, “If it is to be accepted for you, it shall be a male without blemish of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you.” Now, firstly, we saw that the holiness of the priest is required. And even the offering should also be acceptable, without blemish. The animal offered here had to be the best animal possible, without spot or blemish. The animal can be chosen based on the family’s financial condition.
And this sacrificial system was God’s provision, a means of God’s grace to atone for the sins of the people under the old covenant. And by trusting in God’s means and faithfully obeying God, that means by offering the required sacrifices, the Lord is going to sanctify them. The Lord, the Lord repeats at least three times in chapter 22. For example, if you look at chapter 22 verse 9 or verse 16 and chapter 22 verse 32, it says that, “I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”
It is the Lord who keeps them holy. The Lord keeps his people holy by the means of his provision. So the means of this grace is so essential for the sanctification of the entirety of the congregation. Of all of the Israel here. So, like the priesthood of the old covenant, the sacrifices here were also a type. Type is not the substance.
Type actually is a temporary arrangement which points to the real substance. And here, the animal sacrifices were a type pointing to something greater later. The blood of the bulls and goats, as the writer of Hebrews declares, can never take away sin. They were repeated year after year precisely because they were insufficient. Though they were the means of God’s grace, they served as a temporary measure that foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice. They were pointing forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus Christ is both the holy priest and the acceptable sacrifice according to the book of Hebrews, and also
John the Baptist declares that, “Look, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of—” Here Jesus is a holy priest and the acceptable sacrifice simultaneously, the one who offers and the one who is offered. And this is the doctrine of propitiation. Christ bore the full weight of God’s holy wrath against the sins of his people in his body on the cross once for all. So that all who look unto him are saved. So that all who are united to him by faith might stand before God clothed not in their own righteousness.
but in the righteousness of the one who was offered on their behalf. Secondly, we look at, first we see the priesthood and the acceptable sacrifices. And there are other sacrifices in different contexts, which gives the ultimate rest. We see that in chapters 23 and 25, till 25.
Chapters, particularly chapters 23 and 25, focus on festivals, feasts, weekly Sabbath, and Sabbath year, and the year of Jubilee. And each one of these is structured around sacrifices. All of these feasts, festivals, and Sabbaths were structured around sacrifices. And also it is structured around gathering of the saints and rest from the ordinary work.
Look at Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 1 and verse 2. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, these are the appointed feasts of the Lord, that you shall proclaim as holy convocations. They are my appointed feasts.”
On all these specific days, Israel must gather and observe these various feasts and Sabbaths as a holy assembly, or a holy convocation, to remember what God had done and to rest in what he had promised. These gatherings are solemn and are meant to anchor around the various sacrifices, and they are the means of God’s grace for his people, they which the Israelites were sanctified.
The first we see is the weekly Sabbath in chapter 23, a time to remember the Creator God who rested on the seventh day. Then the second is the Passover, remembering God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery. And the third is the Feast of the Firstfruits, honoring the gift and produce of the Promised Land.
And the fourth is the Feast of Weeks, held 50 days after Passover, a day when the people sought forgiveness from the Lord. And the fifth is the Feast of Trumpets, about which is very little is said here, but must be great sounding of the trumpets. And the sixth is a Day of Atonement, when the people gathered for cleansing of land and hearts, and an—And Aaron entered, at this time, Aaron entered the most holy place.
And the seventh is the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, a week-long celebration of God’s provision during Israel’s wilderness journey when they lived in tents or booths. See, each of these seven feasts involve sacrifices. It involved gathering of the entire nation, highlighting that Israel’s sin was always an issue. They gathered publicly to remember that God acknowledged their sinfulness and recognized that only God’s shedding of blood could restore their relationship. These holy days were marked by holy convocations, which means special gathering. The Sabbath was the heartbeat of Israel’s calendar.
Every seven days, all ordinary labor ceased. God commanded it as not as some legalistic ritual, but as a gracious declaration that your worth is not found in your productivity. Please mark these words. Your worth is not found in your productivity. You’re not sustained by your effort, but you’re sustained by the covenant of the Lord. The covenant the Lord has made with his people. You’re sustained by the means of grace that he has provided for his people.
And the pattern escalated in chapter 25. We'll come back to chapter 24. But the pattern escalated in chapter 25. Look at verses 1 till 7. “The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord.’”
And pay close attention here. Verse 3. “For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruit. But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath, or solemn rest for the land. A Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.”
Now what you're reading here, what we are reading here shows us that an Israelite should live by faith, not by works. It was never meant to live by works. They were meant to live by faith in God and his provision. And an Israelite should observe the Sabbath year. Every seventh year you cannot work. An Israelite cease from all work. One year of no labor, only resting in God's presence. You cannot sow or reap. It's a year of solemn rest. And an Israelite must trust the Lord to survive that year. The Lord shall provide. “How can I survive?” an Israelite may have asked.
Right, what will my family, my workers, my cattle eat? The Lord commanded the rest, so he shall provide. And Israelites should live by faith. Each of these days rest. All of these feasts and festivals involve rest. These words are repeated again and again throughout these chapters, in 23 and 25. Look at chapter 23 verse 2. It says, “You shall do no work.” Verse 7 of verse chapter 23, “You shall not do any ordinary work.” Verse 21 of chapter 23, “You shall not do any ordinary—” And verse 24 of chapter 23, “a day of solemn rest.” And chapter 25 verse 4, “You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.”
Chapter 25 verse 5, “It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.” An Israelite had to trust that God had provided for them everything they needed. They live by faith. And then came the crowning ordinance in chapter 25, the year of Jubilee.
Every 50th year, every 50th year on the Day of Atonement, a great trumpet would sound across the land. That means if you owed someone money, the debt was forgiven. Amen. If someone owed money to you, should forgive those people. We shall not go after them. All debts were cancelled. There's no slavery in a Jewish law, but a person may sell oneself into that kind of servitude. But on the year of Jubilee, you're freed. All land returned to its original family.
If it had been sold in the past 50 years, it had to go back to the tribe. It was the most radical economic and social reset imaginable. Look at Leviticus chapter 25 verse 10. “You shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.”
So in the year of jubilee, the people rested in three great truths simultaneously. The cancellation of debts reminded them of God's gracious forgiveness. Since God forgave you, you shall also forgive. The freeing of the servants recalled the exodus. They were slaves in the foreign land and God had set them free. So you shall also set people free.
And the return of the land pointed back to God's covenant with Abraham that the land was never truly theirs. It was his gift, his promise. It was his faithfulness on display. So you shall also likewise do to the people of your land. See, in midst of all these instructions on feasts and festivals, the Israelites were given a few instructions in chapter 24, verses 1 to 9.
If you'd please turn your Bibles to Leviticus chapter 24, verses 1 to 9. “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. Outside the veil of the testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. He shall arrange the lamps on the lampstand of pure gold before the Lord regularly. You shall take fine flour and bake twelve loaves from it. Two tenths of an ephah shall be in each loaf.”
And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile and on the table of pure gold before the Lord. And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion, as a food offering to the Lord.
Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly. It is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever, and it shall be for Aaron and his sons. And they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord’s food offerings, a perpetual due. You may be wondering what it has to do with me. See that the tabernacle had three parts: the outer courtyard where sacrifices were made, the holy place, and the most holy place where the Ark of the Covenant stood there. And in the holy place, Aaron, the high priest, tended a golden lampstand whose seven lamps burned perpetually.
And before those lamps sat a golden table bearing 12 loaves of bread, two piles of six, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Here is a picture that the Lord is painting. God’s people basking in the light of God’s presence. The 12 loaves signify the whole covenant people illuminated by the light of the Lord himself, which shone from the lampstands.
And nothing in that holy house was placed there accidentally. Aaron the high priest is there and is standing next to the altar in the courtyard where he had just offered up a sacrifice of sins of the people, for the people. So they say gathered, so they gathered for a public assembly, a holy congregation, to watch and to worship. And behind Aaron is the holy place, and it’s a Sabbath day, so 12 fresh loaves have been duly set on the table, and they are basking in the light of the lampstand, lamps filled with oil that, you know, that people gave Aaron to use. And then Aaron lifted up his hands, they are still wet with
blood of the offerings offered as a sacrifice for the people and he stretched out his hands toward the congregation over the people and Aaron blessed and now we read that this kind of a ritual in Leviticus chapter 9 but the actual words of blessings are recorded in numbers chapter 6 very similar to probably very similar to the blessing that aaron pronounced in number chapter six aaron would have probably prayed something like this the lord bless you and keep you the lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the lord lift up his face upon you and give you peace.
Why does this matter? Because having a holy priest and acceptable sacrifice wasn’t enough. They had to trust that God saved them. Weekly, as well as on these special days of Sabbaths, year after year, they gathered to remember God’s deeds at the tabernacle or the temple. They needed to rest in God’s actions, acknowledging that he is the king and they exclusively belong to him.
They are stewards of this land. God has a right to forgive and also to free these people. They had to rest in what God has done and faithfully obey Him. How did the Israelites know that they had been forgiven afresh? The bull had been sacrificed for their sins. So they heard the words from Aaron, the great high priest, saying, “The Lord make his face shine upon you,” and the light must have been burning in the holy place. That’s the reason he says the, um, “The Lord make his face shine upon you,” and the light was, must have been
burning in the holy place, shining upon the 12 loaves of the bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. That was a picture of God’s face shining upon his people. Dear brothers and sisters, this imagery is very important because the New Testament gathers this Levitical imagery and focuses it on one person.
See, though there were many authors who wrote the Bible, but there is one divine author. And the Bible says that all scriptures were inspired or breathed out, which means the words were inspired. And you see the words in the Old Testament and the New Testament, there are similar terminologies used. They were used purposefully by one divine author to make connections, to make sense of what God is doing. And this is precisely we know what we confess: all scripture moves toward Christ. These are the very words of Christ in John chapter 5 verse 39. Leviticus is not merely an ancient legislation or
for ancient Israel. It is the word of God, profitable for teaching and doctrine, and it is inexhaustibly rich in his testimony to the one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and in the ultimate Jubilee. Jesus Christ announced in the synagogue at Nazareth that he was the Messiah by reading from the book of Isaiah. Please turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 4.
Let's read from verses 17 till 21. Luke chapter 4 verses 17 till 21. It says, “And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.” Jesus was in the synagogue. “He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written.” In verse 18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And in verse 20, “he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.” Verse 21, and he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Just before this, Jesus was baptized. It was like the officiating of his messianic office. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came upon him. And John the Baptist also identifies him as the Messiah. He declares that he is the Lamb of God, and then there was the temptation in the wilderness. He proved to be faithful by obeying God, and then he walks straight into the synagogue, and he reads these words and declares that he is the Messiah that was long prophesied by the prophets. But in Nazareth and in this synagogue the Nazarites rejected him. When they heard these sayings of Jesus, all the
people, not just one or two, all the people in synagogue were filled with rage against Jesus. And I want you to look at verse 19, Luke 4:19. It says that, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The year, the year of the Lord’s favor is reference to the year of Jubilee.
The jubilee, the 50th year in Leviticus, where people were set free, debts were canceled, and this is said of him that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim the liberty, recover the sight of the blind, set liberty to those who are oppressed.
The year of the Lord’s favor is a reference to the year of Jubilee. He is the trumpet blast of the eternal Jubilee. All who look to him by faith have their debts canceled, spiritual debts canceled. All their sins against God are cancelled. Those who look to this Messiah, the Christ, those who look to him, all the debts are cancelled, all their sins are cancelled, all their offenses against God are cancelled. No matter how big they are, if they look to him by faith, they are cancelled, they are forgiven. All who are enslaved to sin are set free. All who were strangers are brought home to God. Once aliens, now children, they’re adopted into his kingdom, into his family. They’re vested with honor and dignity. God clothes them with his righteousness, blesses them as the heirs of his kingdom. In John 1
9, Jesus is called the true light who gives light to everyone. In Matthew chapter 4 verse 16, it says that the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light. And in Revelation chapter 1 verses 12 to 16, the apostle John turns to see the risen Christ standing in the midst of the golden lamps, seven golden lampstands, the very Levitical imagery of the holy place where the lampstands were placed. And his face, here in the heavenly tabernacle, Jesus, his face was shining like the sun in full strength. Then at the consummation of all things in Revelation chapter 21 verse 23, we read that the
great city of God, when the heavenly tabernacle is coming down, it says that it has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light and its lamp is the Lamb. Jesus is that lampstand. The holy place of Leviticus was a shadow. Those lampstands were a shadow. This substance is Christ. He is the light in whose presence all true relief is found, the true rest is found. Dear church, there is an important application here for the gathered people of God.
The holy convocations of Israel were not optional for those who valued the faith. They had to gather compulsory. They have to gather on these weekdays. They have to gather on the special feasts and festivals. They cannot have marriages on those days. They cannot have other celebrations on those days. And the ends every seventh year, there no absolute rest, no work. They have to rest in what God is doing right there. These holy, these special gatherings were very important for their faith, for their life, for their relationship with God.
And there were consequences for negligence or disobedience, which we will look later in chapter 26 and 27. And those gatherings were the appointed means of God's grace to see their sins dealt with through the provision of God, this covenant community was sanctified and kept sanctified and they were encouraged by it.
You see the similar things in the New Testament, especially in the book of Hebrews. There is a beautiful connection in the structure of the Pentateuch and the book of Hebrews is almost similar. There was this great prophet called Moses mediated a covenant with his God's people, and later this Moses was not allowed to enter into God's presence because there was a new system called Levitical system, right? But book of Hebrews says that the Moses no is there who mediated the old covenant, but Christ is a better Moses, better than Moses, because he mediates a better covenant. And there is Levitical priesthood who are weak, who needed atonement for their own sins. The book of Hebrews presents that there is a better high priest who is holy, unstained, which in his who is unblemished, who was free from all
sin. He needed, he didn't need any kind of sacrifices. He, and there are sacrifices in the Old Testament which were to be without blemish, but Jesus is the high priest of a different order, and also he is the better sacrifice who mediates a better covenant. And there is a solemn gatherings in the old covenant. Hebrews 10 talks about one solemn gathering, the gathering of the church week after week. In the book of Leviticus Moses says that these gatherings are solemn, you cannot neglect them. The writer of Hebrews says that see through that there will be no one among you who neglects the gathering of the
saints, because it is the habit of some. The writer of Hebrews says, see the same thoughts. And later in what, in chapters 26 and 27, there are the Moses talks about the consequences of disobedience. And Hebrews chapter 12, the writer of Hebrews says that the Lord will discipline his people if we persist in disobedience. The same God, same principles. The holy convocations of Israel were not optional for those who valued the faith. Those gatherings were the appointed means of God's grace to see their sin dealt through the provision of God. And Leviticus, sorry, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24, verse 25, 24 and 25 says, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
The author of Hebrews clearly applies the concept of Israel's gathered assemblies to the Christian church. We are not meant to be lone believers doing church at home. Oh, I miss the church today, so I can do the church at home. Brother, that is an alien concept to the Bible. That concept is not from the Bible. You can't skip the church meeting and just pray with your family at home. You can't do this in front of a television set or a computer screen.
I know some Christians who work with Christian organizations. They think they are serving the Lord, but they are not part of a local church. I recently met a brother in Christ who serves the Lord meaning he is in some Christian ministry but he has he and his family were not are not part of any church they just pray together as a family on a Sunday read sing couple of songs read a portion and the man stands and priest to his family that's the church that's not a church are there no churches around them there are they see it as an as unimportant and also no Christians involved in parachurch organizations who are only part of a church to attend services and many churches do not worship according to the
word, read the regulative principle. They do not worship according to the word. So what's the point of being part of such churches which do not worship according to the word? Brothers and sisters, there is a purpose for us belonging to a church. The reformed tradition has always taught that the ordinary means of grace—the word preached, baptism, the Lord's Supper and prayer—are carried out through the local gathered church, and they are the means of God's grace for his people. Your presence among the covenant gathering is important. It is how God designed for his people to grow, to be encouraged and to stay rooted.
There is no substitute for gathering together. That's why you should choose over social events on a Sunday. That's why you should choose church gatherings over other occasions like marriages or something like that, especially on Sundays. Christians should know that Sunday is a special day because we gather as a church.
and God sanctifies us through the gathered church we encourage each other by pointing to the gospel by reminding one another of what Christ did for us and what he achieved on our behalf as the Israelites know feasted on the sacrifices brothers and sisters we feast on one single sacrifice which is sufficient to deal with all our sins the sacrifice of all jesus christ we feast at the sacrifice of jesus christ your chris your presence really matters if you see a brother or sister erring you don't look down on that person because that person has sinned that is not christianity but you point them to the
gospel, to Christ's work. And as a fellow believer you must lift up the spirits of your brothers and sisters who are downcast, by the gospel. You don't show to them that you're a better Christian. You serve the Lord in the church not to show off your talents or to demonstrate that you are better than others. There is a lot of competition in the churches. A lot of competition in the churches. Some don't want others to serve. Some want to take every opportunity to show that they are better. That's not how it works in the church.
We serve by God's grace, which means God's enablement, for the glory of Christ. It's not about you. It's not about me. And until we understand this, until this truth sinks into our hearts and our minds, we should not attempt to serve. Because it's not about you and me.
We serve according to the word so that God can work in his people, shaping them to be like Christ Jesus. So dear brothers and sisters, we gather to rest in what God has done. We rest together. Come to a gathered church to hear the gospel proclaimed.
Look into the word and behold God, Christ and his purposes. Come take the bread and the cup that declare our Lord's death until he comes. Come and be reminded that your identity is not in your health, your career, your reputation, your houses, your lands, or your achievements, but it in this that you are part of the multitude gathered around the Lamb who is the light and his face shines on you because he died for your sins and rose again from the dead to live forevermore. So as an eternal high priest he continues to sustain us by his grace to walk in the newness of life for the glory of God. Thank you.