(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. All right, we're there in Ezekiel chapter number 46, and we are almost done with the book of Ezekiel. There's 48 chapters. Tonight we're in chapter 46. After this we've got two more weeks, 47, 48, and we'll be finished. And it's one of the longest, hardest books in the Bible, and thank you for sticking with us and sticking with it as we've been studying this book together. And if you remember last week, what we've been doing for the last several weeks is we've been in this section, chapters 40 through 48, which are probably the hardest chapters in the book of Ezekiel, and they deal with end times. And we spent several weeks going through the different ideas that people have, theories that people have, in regards to what these chapters are talking about, what they're referring to. And I would give you the theory, and I would explain to you why we don't agree with it, we don't believe it. Last week I gave you my theory, or at least my thoughts on it, my idea, and today what we're going to do is we're going to continue the same outline that we've been using in these chapters. I'm going to go through very quickly and give you just a basic outline of the chapter. I know some of you are taking notes of the outlines for the book of Ezekiel, so we'll do that as quickly as we can. Then I want to give you just additional information about last week's theory, or my theory as to Ezekiel's end times prophecy, and then we've got several applications that I'd like to close with tonight. So let me begin by giving you the basic outline, and if you're writing notes you can maybe jot this down. This chapter again can be divided into two sections. The first would be the section of worship at the temple, so if you're writing that down or outlining that, you can write a number one or a letter A or whatever, worship at the temple, and within that section you've got the first section, which is the prince and the offerings, and that goes from verses 1 through 8, and I want you to notice that it has to do with this prince. It talks about the east gate being shut and open, and when the east gate would be shut and open in verse 1, it says, Thus saith the Lord God, The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days, but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And again, I just want to show you again that this passage has to do with, at this time or in this context, they are keeping that Old Testament Mosaic law, they're keeping the sabbath days, they're keeping the new moons. Notice in verse 2 it talks about the prince and how he would come to prepare the sacrifices. Verse 2 says, And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priest shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offering. And then in verse 3, we see how the people would then worship at the gate. Notice verse 3, Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door, and it goes on to tell us about the sabbaths and the new moons. Then in verses 4 and 5, it talks to us about the types of sacrifices that would be given on the sabbath day. Notice verse 4, it says, And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer. Verse 5, it says, And the meat offering shall be an ephah of a ram. And then in verses 6 through 8, we read about the types of sacrifices that would be given at the new moon. So in verse 6, it says in the day of the new moon, and of course in the Bible and for the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, they were on a lunar calendar, so the new moon as when they would begin a new month or new season or whatever. And then in verses 9 and 11, we have the next kind of section in this overall section, which is the feast days and the festivals. And I want you notice that in verse 9, it talks about how the people were to come out, come in and out during the feast. In verse 9, it says, But when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feast, he that enters in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate. And he that enters in by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate, and he shall return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but he shall go forth over against it. So they were actually told how they were to come in and how they were to come out of the temple. Then in verses 10 and 11, we're told about the prince and how the prince was with the people during this time of sacrifices and feast. Verse 10 says, And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in, and when they go forth, shall go forth. Then in verse 12, we're told about the prince and the east gate again. Verse 12, Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offering voluntary unto the Lord, one shall open him the gate. If you look at the last part of verse 12, it says, One shall shut the gate. So it's just references to the gate being open, the gate being shut. The gate is shut for six days. It's open on the Sabbath day, and then the prince could go in and do the sacrifices as needed. Then in verses 13 through 15, we get just a description of the daily burnt offerings. Notice verse 13 says, Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering. At the last part of verse 13, it says, Prepare it every morning. In verse 14, it says, And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning. In verse 15, it says, Thus shall they prepare the lamb and the meat offering and the oil every morning for a continual burnt offering. So we have these instructions about the burnt offerings and the daily sacrifices. Then after verse 15, so 16 through the end of chapter, we've got the second kind of section of this chapter, which is the inheritance and the offering. So verses 16 through 18 is the inheritance given to the sons and to the servants of the prince. Notice verse 16, Thus saith the Lord God, If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his son. So he was allowed to give a gift to one of his sons, and then the son would inherit that. But notice verse 17, But if he give a gift of inheritance to one of his servants, so this is not a son, then it shall be his to the year of liberty. And notice again that the Mosaic law is put back into effect, and the Mosaic law flies in the face of, you know, American idealism, because here in the United States of America, you know, we've been taught life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and we've been taught that you can have property, and you can own property, and these things. But in the Bible, this was not the case. In the Bible, God decided who got the land, and it was given by inheritance, and people could sell the land, but that was just for a short time, for 50 years. And then at the time of the year of liberty, it would actually go back, notice verse 17, after it shall return to the prince. So if he gave land to his sons, that was his son's forever, because it stayed within the family. But if he gave land to a servant, it was their land until the year of liberty, and if you study Leviticus and Deuteronomy and those passages, you'll find that when they were to negotiate the price of the land, they were supposed to take into account how much time they were allowed to have before the year of liberty, and I've, you know, I've taught that before, and it seems like it rubs Americans the wrong way, and they think, well, I don't like that idea, or whatever, but you know what? God's right, you're wrong, all right? And if it goes against what we think, then we need to just line up with what the Bible says, and you say, well, what's the purpose of that? And the purpose of that, in my opinion, is this, that no one was actually allowed to ever own land. At the most, you could just lease it. For 50 years, you could lease land using our terminology. You could buy land, but it was just yours for 50 years at the most, and then it went back, and I believe the purpose for that, and the idea for that, is that at the end of the day, this earth belongs to God. It never belongs to you. It never belongs to me. It never belongs to any nation. It belongs to God. So the idea that we would think that we can purchase land and own it, and that's our land, it's ridiculous. It's all God's. Everything belongs to God. So that's the idea there, that he could give it, and as long as it stayed within the family, it would be theirs forever, and if it was given to a servant, it would be to the year of Liberty, and then after it shall return to the prince. Then in verses 19 and 20, we have the place offerings, the place where the offerings were prepared, and this is basically just explaining that this temple had a kitchen area. Notice verse 20, then said he unto me, this is a place where the priest shall boil the trespass offering, and the sin offering, when they shall bake the meat offering, and then in verses 21 and 24, excuse me, through 24, we just continue with that idea of these kitchen areas in the temple. Notice verse 23, and there was a row of buildings round about in them, round about them for, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about, then said he unto me, these are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people. So just explaining the fact that this temple had a place in it where people would cook and bake, and obviously all of those things. So that's just a basic outline of this chapter. Let me go and kind of jump into the theory a little bit. Keep your place there in Ezekiel, but go to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 3, and it should be fairly easy to find, first book in the Bible, Genesis chapter 3, and I don't have time to go back and and re-preach last week's sermon, and I don't think you would want me to, because I gave a lot of information, and we moved pretty fast. So if you didn't hear that sermon, if you weren't here for that, I would encourage you to go back, even if you were here for that, and you're just kind of not completely settled in all the way, I would encourage you to go back and listen to it. And again, I want to make sure you understand this is just a theory, this is just my theory, it just seems to be the only theory, at least that I've came across, that seems to fit the idea that Ezekiel 40 through 48 is end times prophecy, but yet there are sacrifices, and there are all those things, and if you remember, and again I'll just quickly kind of try to explain it, the theory, my theory, or my belief in regards to these chapters, is that Ezekiel's end times prophecy chapters, Ezekiel 40 through 48, is describing for us what the end times would have looked like under the first covenant, or under the first testament, and we know that the first covenant was repealed and removed, so it's not going to happen. What's going to happen was in the book of Revelation, which is the end times described under the second covenant, but God gave this covenant, God gave this prophecy to the children of Israel to explain to them that he had an end game for them, he had a plan for them, and when they walked away and rebelled from God, they walked away from that plan. Now I want to just answer one very important question tonight, because I actually had several people after the service, or over the last week or so, ask me this same question, so obviously if three people are asking the same question, I'm sure there's many of you that are wondering the same thing, and I want to answer that question, and the question is this, if Ezekiel 40 through 48 is what the end times would have looked like under the first covenant, if the first covenant would have continued and there would have never been a second covenant, that's what the end times would have looked like, that's what would have happened, then how does Jesus fit in to Ezekiel's end times prophecy, and the question is this, does that mean that Jesus would not have died if the first covenant would have continued, what role would Jesus have played? So I want to answer that question tonight, and then I want to just give you a few applications out of this chapter, I think it's important to answer that question. Now you're there in Genesis chapter 3, and I want you to notice that this is of course right after the fall of man, Adam and Eve have just sinned, sin entered into the world, death has entered into the world, the wages of death have entered into the world, and God is dealing with this idea of sin and death and the consequences of sin and death, now I want you to notice one of the very first things that God says to Adam and Eve right after sin or after the fall of man as it's commonly referred, Genesis 3 14 the Bible says this, and the Lord said unto the serpent, and of course God's been kind of giving out his punishments and he's been telling Adam that he's gonna have to work the ground of the field and he's telling Eve that she's going to have to in pain give birth and labor, and then God here is speaking to the serpent which is the devil, and it says and the Lord God sent unto the serpent because thou has done this, thou art cursed above cattle and above every beast of the field and upon thy belly thou shalt go and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life, notice verse 15, and I, this is God speaking to Satan, I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel, now this is probably as far as I can tell the first prophecy having to do with the coming Messiah with the Lord Jesus Christ because God is looking at Satan who has won this round in regards to the battle for the souls of men because he was able to trick Eve into sinning or deceive Eve into sinning and Adam of course disobeyed and followed along with his wife and now they've been condemned and God looks at Satan who orchestrated this and he says I'm going to put enmity between thee and the woman between thy seed and her seed and the idea is this that the woman Eve is going to have fruit and we're all descendants of Adam and Eve but there's going to be one of those descendants a human descendant that's going to come from Adam and Eve and that descendant God is telling Satan you're going to bruise his heel meaning you're going to injure him but it's not going to be a fatal injury but he shall bruise thy head meaning he's going to give you a fatal blow and this idea of course is that Jesus was wounded by Satan when he died on the cross but it wasn't it wasn't a devastating you know completely bring everything to an end type wound because of course of the resurrection but Jesus will one day and he's already had victory over Satan and one day that'll all come to pass of course we read about that in the book of Revelation here's the point that I want you to understand all the way back in the book of Genesis all the way back in the Garden of Eden God had already foretold that there was a coming seed a coming Messiah a human being that would bruise the head of Satan and that would bring salvation and by the way this is before the Old Testament as we know it the old covenant the Mosaic covenant was given so I want you to understand this that the plan whether the first covenant or the second covenant has always been the Lord Jesus Christ it's always been about Jesus in the first covenant that's all we read about you read Leviticus every single offering is a picture of Jesus Christ all of the prophecies in the Old Testament the book of Acts tells us that all of the prophets prophesied and spoke about Jesus and that's why we can study the Old Testament and we get all sorts of pictures and ideas and symbolisms and shadows and prophecies and and and and emblems of the coming Messiah because Jesus has always been the plan he's always been the the way of salvation it's always been the Lord Jesus Christ and even here in Genesis we're told that were that there was a prophecy of Jesus and that happens even before the first covenant is given all right go to Revelation chapter 13 so we're in Genesis first book of the Bible and we see very early in the history of man right after the fall and there's that's not a coincidence is because right after the fall is when man was condemned that this idea of a Messiah or Jesus is introduced Revelation 13 I'd like you to notice verse 8 now I'm going to show you a verse that we're not going to look at the primary context is we're not interested in the primary context but there's a description in this verse that is interesting in regards to Jesus and the fact that he's been the plan from the beginning Revelation 13 verse 8 and all that dwell upon the earth Revelation 13 8 shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life okay so the context is about people who are worshipping the beast and their names are not written in the book of life but I want you to notice how the book of life is described it says and now it's telling us that these people's names are not in there but it says that whose names are not written in the book of life notice of the Lamb so the book of life is the book of life of the Lamb notice the wording from the foundation of the world I want you to notice that Jesus was the the the lamb the Bible says that was slain excuse me I missed that word there it's the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world so here's the idea before God ever even laid the foundation for this planet before God even created you and I there was already a plan there was already an understanding that Jesus would be the lamb that was sacrificed the sacrificial lamb slain from the foundation of the world and you say well how you know why is it that God created us and yet he knew that his son would have to die as a sacrifice for us well if you go back to last week's sermon you'll learn or remember that God knows the end from the beginning God knows everything that's going to happen and how it's going to play out so Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world Jesus was already predicted before the first covenant go back to go to Ephesians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter 3 you've got Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans first 2nd Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Ephesians chapter 3 and look at verse so I need to look at my notes real quick make sure I didn't miss something here Ephesians chapter 3 look at verse number 3 Ephesians 3 3 Ephesians an interesting book it's probably the book we're going to study after the book of Ezekiel and it says this Ephesians 3 3 how that by revelation and I don't have time to develop that when we are in Ephesians 3 we'll take the time to do it but you have to remember that the natural man receive is not the things of the Spirit of God the natural human being an unregenerated human being an unsaved human being they cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God you if you hand them a Bible they're not gonna they're not gonna open it read it and understand the plan of salvation they'll understand it if somebody who's saved who has the Holy Spirit takes a spiritual book and explains it to them but they need that help and here we're told how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery now later on here he's going to call it the mystery of Christ in other places the gospel is referred to as a mystery you say why because the natural man cannot understand it the natural man cannot the natural man can look at creation and they will realize that there is a God based on creation and they will realize that there is a God based on their own conscience that God placed in their heart Romans 1 Romans 2 and that creation and that conscience will reveal the Bible says the wrath of God there is enough in creation and in our own conscience to condemn us to show us that there is a God and we are accountable to that God but as far as the message of salvation that message has to be preached through a soul winner that has the Holy Spirit of God and has the Word of God that message no unsaved person would just come to that message on their own the Bible clearly teaches that all throughout the New Testament and here Paul tells us that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote a four in few words because you remember Paul or Saul of Tarsus who's a very religious man who studied and read the Old Testament very much did not understand the gospel till he met Jesus on the road of Damascus and even then he needed Ananias to explain to him the gospel three days later and get him safe so this is what Paul's referring to he says how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote a four in few words whereby when ye read ye may understand my lot my knowledge in the mystery of Christ notice verse 5 which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto his notice how he connects the New Testament with the Old Testament he says look it was in other ages it was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed so it's not that it wasn't made known is that in the Old Testament the plan of salvation they understood that there was a sacrifice that would be made for their sins they understood that they had to call upon the Lord for salvation but they didn't understand every little detail like you and I understand today because they obviously didn't have the New Testament they didn't have those same revelation that we have today this is what Paul is saying verse 3 which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles New Testament and prophets Old Testament by the Spirit so I want you to notice he connects the two and in Ephesians he even talks about this house that is built up upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets and of course the cornerstone is the chief cornerstone is the Lord Jesus Christ notice verse number 11 and I want you to I read all that to give you the context that there was a time when the plan was not as clear as it is now it was not made known unto the sons of man's at is as it is now revealed but it was always the plan notice verse 11 according to the eternal purpose which he referring to God the Father purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord see the eternal purpose is meaning this that the purpose that God the Father had for his son Jesus Christ had an eternal purpose it was always the plan it was always the plan of salvation it was always the plan of redemption look we are not dispensational this dispensationalist will teach you that salvation was by works in the Old Testament that didn't work so it's why Jesus in the New Testament that's not gonna work eventually so it's gonna be another way later on look the plan has always been salvation through Jesus Christ and the sacrifice left he's a lamb slain from the foundation of the world so then the question is this well how does that play in to Ezekiel 40 and 48 if Ezekiel 40 and 48 was the description of the end times under the first covenant how did people get saved well number one they got saved the same way people in the Old Testament got saved which is just by faith looking to Jesus we by faith look back to Jesus believing that he died for our sins they were believing that the Messiah was coming but then what about the sacrifice and here's the point and then again this is just my theory I'm giving you you know I want to make these disclaimers these are just my thoughts here's what I believe I believe that if the Jews would not have messed up because remember the fault in the first covenant was not with the Covenant but with the people there was no problem with the Covenant the Covenant was fine nothing God does has a problem with it but when we get involved we seem to mess it up so the first covenant had no problem with it it was the problem with the people and the inability of them to keep that covenant so here's what I believe I believe that if the Jews would have not messed up and the first covenant would have continued and there would have been no need for the second covenant and again we're talking in ifs and in theories now but let me just you know help you understand this I believe that Jesus would have still came and still would have been sacrificed I just think it would have played out different it wouldn't have been the Jews pressuring the Romans to crucify him I and I'm not gonna explain to you how I don't know how it would have played out I don't know how it would have happened I don't know how it would have gone but I just believe that that he would have still been sacrificed because all of those sacrifices in the Old Testament in the Old Covenant we're picturing Jesus there's all these prophecies of Jesus and the Messiah coming and even as you get towards the end of the Old Testament when you get to Isaiah we learn about the suffering Savior when you get to Psalm 22 Psalm 22 is probably the most descriptive prophecy of the death of Christ I mean it clearly defines a death by crucifixion even before the crucifixion death had been invented but but but even with that you've got a prophecy of a Savior being crucified but you don't necessarily have a prophecy of the Jews doing it so the point is this that I believe that if the Old Covenant would have continued Jesus would have still came and you still would have sacrificed himself as a payment for our sins we I just don't know how that would have played out I don't know how that would have gone but that would have happened because of the fact because of the fact that he was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world now when would that happen because we have this idea that you've got the first covenant you've got the the time of silence then you've got the New Testament Jesus shows up and brings the New Testament but keep in mind that when Jesus came he came to end the Old Testament and to begin a new thing and and and he basically shows up to land the plane of the Old Testament and he begins a new work in the world through the local New Testament Church so when Jesus showed up he showed up to close the Old Testament now I realize that the Bible teaches us in Ephesians that that God sends his son in the fullness of time I realize that Romans tells us that he came at the right time in due time he came to die for our sins so I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know the thoughts of God or the ideas of God but if I had to guess and if I just had to give you my opinion my opinion would be this that when you got if the first covenant continued when you got to the end of that covenant what we're reading in Ezekiel 40 and 48 that's when Jesus would have came and he would have sacrificed himself and he would have closed down that sacrificial giving so either way the sacrifices are going away into eternity that's my thoughts those are my ideas again I'm giving you a lot of opinion I don't like to generally do that in a sermon but some of you ask questions about that so I kind of want you to understand how that could play out in this prophecy and of course this is all theoretical because the old covenants done we're in the New Testament we're playing a different game but hopefully that helps you understand a little bit of how that could have happened and we're not absolutely not saying that if the New Covenant of the first covenant would have continued Jesus would not have played a role Jesus is the role Jesus is that's what he's it's all about the first covenant the segment it's all about Jesus the only thing that changed between the first covenant and the second covenant is the instrument that God was using in this world he was using the nation of Israel they failed so then he moved away from the nation of Israel and he began to use the local New Testament Church but both were supposed to be preaching Jesus both were supposed to reaching the gospel both were supposed to be preaching salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so hopefully that helps you a little bit let me give you some quick applications just from this chapter just some things that that might help you just in in your life and just some things that I thought were interesting that I noticed in this chapter if you go back to Ezekiel and look at verse number chapter 46 look at verse 10 let me just give you some things that kind of jumped out at me in regards to to teaching and application because remember even with the Old Testament even the book of Leviticus we can still apply things to our life learn from it have symbolism that that helps us and in Ezekiel 46 and verse 10 the Bible says this and the prince in the midst of them when they go in remember they were gonna go into the temple when they go in the Bible says shall go in and when they go forth shall go forth now lots of people like to debate about this prince who is this prince is it Jesus you know the the two major views are that the prince is Jesus and end times prophecy some people believe the prince is David and not Jesus and here's the thing I think and I explained to you in another sermon that it's both I think Jesus and David are both can play part in this end time prophecy I specifically think that here in Ezekiel 46 this prince is is not Jesus and maybe it's just a leader that's that's helping lead in in in this worship but either way whether it's Jesus David or whoever the idea is that this prince represents Jesus or represents the presence of God because here's the truth even in our New Testament you're not supposed to follow me simply because I'm your pastor you're supposed to follow me as I follow Christ we're supposed to follow men who are following Christ so whether whoever we're following the ultimate person we're really following is the Lord Jesus Christ and God and what's interesting is that this prince is in the midst of them and when they go in the Bible says that he shall go in and when they go forth the Bible says shall go forth meaning he shall go forth so the idea is that this prince was going to be with them was going to stay with them okay keep your finger there in Ezekiel go to Hebrews chapter number 13 just real quickly Hebrews chapter 13 so again this prince represents I believe the Lord Jesus Christ and this prince was going to stay with them when they went in he went in when they went out he went out and this is a great lesson for us in the New Testament with our Prince of Peace the Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 13 and verse 5 the Bible says if you start at the end of the New Testament and head back you've got of course Revelation 3rd 2nd and 1st John 2nd and 1st you know Jude 3rd 2nd verse 3rd John 2nd and 1st Peter and James and Hebrews Hebrews chapter number 13 look at verse 5 let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have the Bible says for he has said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee so we have this Prince who is following the people when they go he goes when they come he comes but I think that's an illustration of our Prince the Prince of Peace and how he goes with us where we go and when we go he goes and when we come we he comes and it's not that we're following him but there is this idea that he will never leave us nor forsake us that we are never alone when we are with God so keep your place there in Hebrews because we're going to come back towards that part of Scripture but go back to Ezekiel and look at chapter 46 let me give you just kind of another another quick thought or application that we can take from the Old Covenant and apply to ourselves in the New Covenant or the New Testament Ezekiel 46 looking verse 13 the Bible says this thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering in the Old Testament meaning the Old Covenant there was supposed to be a daily sacrifice the sacrifice that was done daily and here this was they he talks about the burnt offering which was a an offering that was completely consumed for God nobody ate from it it was completely burnt for God unto the Lord of a lamb of the first year without blemish thou shalt prepare it notice what it says there at the end of verse 13 every morning and then in verse 14 it says and thou shalt prepare a meat offering this was a like a flour bread pancake type thing that was baked and it was to be done for it every morning look at verse 15 thus shall they prepare the lamb and the meat offering and the oil every morning for a continual burnt offering now go to Romans Romans chapter number 12 and you say well what's you know we're not in the Old Covenant anymore and you're right there are no longer sacrifices that we are to do meaning literal physical sacrifice where we take a lamb or a bullock or an ox and sacrifice it to the Lord but if you remember one of the transitions from the Old Testament New Testament that everything got personalized they used to have a building they call the temple now you've got a body that's called the temple they used to have these sacrifices that they would actually sacrifice to God as a picture of their willingness to submit to him but in the New Testament the Bibles tells us this Romans 12 verse 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice so notice it's not a a sacrifice we kill but God says that you are to present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service you're supposed to offer yourself up to God as a sacrifice in the Old Testament they offered a bullock and a ram and those different animals as a picture of the coming in New Testament in the New Testament you're supposed to offer yourself not as a dying sacrifice but as a living sacrifice you say well how often are we supposed to do that go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and then Romans just flip over to 1st Corinthians 15 knows what Paul said who wrote Romans chapter 12 he says in 1st Corinthians 15 in verse 31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord he says I die daily so notice that in the Old Covenant they were to give a daily sacrifice but in the New Covenant we are still to give a daily sacrifice the sacrifice is you you're supposed to offer yourself every day to God look every day you should wake up and say Lord I give myself to you I'm offering my body as a living sacrifice I will do what you want me to do I will go where you want me to go I will say what you want me to say I will look at what you want me to look at and and I'll consume what you want me to consume and I won't look and I won't consume and I won't go and I won't touch and I won't do what you don't want me to do because as far as I'm concerned I'm dead every day the Bible says that we are to give ourselves the Bible Jesus would talk about taking up your cross which is a picture of death denying yourself every day Paul would say I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me he says and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and here's the truth we are supposed to wake up every day and say Lord we offer ourselves as a sacrifice to you and we are not going to die this is a living sacrifice but we're not gonna live for ourselves we will allow you to live through us such a sacrifice a daily sacrifice just like in the Old Testament go back to Ezekiel keep your finger there in 1st Corinthians I know I've told you to keep your place somewhere else but keep your place in 1st Corinthians as well because we're gonna come back to it let me give you something else to consider in Ezekiel 46 verses 19 through 24 we see the place where the offerings were prepared and we are given a glimpse of the kitchen in the temple in verse 20 it says then said he unto me this is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering where they shall take the meat offering that they may bear them not out into the utter court to sanctify the people number 23 he says and there was a row of buildings run about in them run about them for and it was made with boiling places under the rose roundabout then said he unto me these are the places of them that boil when the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people I just think it's interesting and I'd like you to go to the book of Acts Acts chapter 2 in the New Testament of course you got Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Acts 2 I think it's interesting that God takes the time to describe for us that this temple that he has he makes sure to tell us it has a kitchen in it and you know sometimes when we think about the sacrifices of the Levitical priests we we like to romanticize them and spiritualize them and and and to an extent we should they're doing a spiritual work we understand that but when it came to the actual work I mean these guys were basically butchers they were butchering you know animals and they were grilling it you know and when they brought in a meat offering and they were bakers and they were baking bread and baking pancakes and and God if you say Leviticus he gives them different ways to do it he says you can bake it in an oven you can fry it on a pan you know you can do all these different things these guys were like chefs you know they were basically just killing animals and cooking them and they were eating them and they were the people were eating them and and you know food and fellowship has always been an important part of the worship of God and in the old covenant the temple whether it's Ezekiel's temple or any temple had a place in it where these animals were to be killed where they were to be cooked and people would come together they would have feast and they would fellowship together and this is again is something that we have a glimpse of or a mention of it in the New Testament Acts chapter 2 and verse 42 the Bible says this and they continued Acts chapter 2 verse 42 and they continue to steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine that's the teaching right that's the preaching that's what we're doing right now teaching and preaching but then also they not only continued in the Apostles doctrine they also continued and the Bible says and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayer I want you to notice that God's will for the local New Testament Church is not just the Apostles doctrine now that's an integral part of it that's an important part the teaching and preaching ministry is obviously important to the life of a church but that's just part of it another part that's also important is fellowship another part that's also important is the breaking of bread and and the prayer and and and and spending time together and look this is why YouTube and YouTube ministries and and preaching online it's all well and good as as something you add on to your faith but you can't replace the local New Testament Church with a YouTube live stream with a Facebook live stream you say why but I can get the same preaching yeah but you know what you're not getting is a fellowship you know what you're not getting is the friendships you know what you're not getting is the doughnuts and the coffee and you say well what's the big deal about the doughnuts and coffee it's time that we get to spend together and we get to be because look we're a family spiritually and that's important and and in some ways you can't make it and the Bible teaches us you can't make it in the Christian life on your own God wants you to be part of a community of believers and here's the thing you can listen to the YouTube sermons all day long and great wonderful but you know what no one's gonna pray for your mom when she's in a car accident because it is the relationships that we build it is the friendships and the fellowship that we have and and there's no way better way that fellowship than over food so let me encourage you you say well I'm here I'm already here at Verity Baptist Church you know I'm not the YouTube person you're preaching to but let me encourage you make sure you make time to fellowship make sure you come you know early and stay late and when we have potlucks and when we have cake and we have ice cream and we have these things hey you know when we have these events when we have dinners when we have different things that go on don't just say oh I don't need that I just need the preaching no you need the fellowship too you need the friendships too you need the relationship too food and fellowship was an important aspect of worshiping God in both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant let me give you one last thing go back to Ezekiel 46 look at verse 9 Ezekiel 46 and verse 9 the Bible says but when the people I'm giving you some applications but when the people of the land shall come before the Lord so remember they're coming to the temple which under the Old Covenant was the house of God in the New Covenant the Bible tells us that the house of God is the church of the living God the pillar ground the truth so the house of God is the church when we come together we are the church the church is not this building the church is all of you congregating together we make up this local assembly of believers and notice they were told and this is this is for for organizational purposes but it's also symbolic it says when the people of the land shall come before the Lord when they go to the house of God and you spend time with God and they spend time before the Lord in solemn feasts so they're spending time with God and they're spending time with God's people they're getting to know God and they're getting to know God's people they're in the worship service and they're in the feast and fellowship time as well notice the Bible says he that enters in by the way of the North Gate so he says if somebody's traveling from from the north and they come in to the house of God by the North Gate to worship notice the Bible says shall go out by the way of the South Gate so he says he gives instructions he says if you come in through the north entrance you have to go out through the south entrance and he that enters in by the South Gate shall go forth by the way of the North Gate he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in but shall go forth over against it now I believe that this had to do with the organization and you know at these feasts there's a lot of people there and the whole nation will show up for this and there and part of it had to do with actually the flow of traffic and getting people in and out or whatever but there's another symbolic application here and it is this that when you spend time with God and when you spend time with God's people you should leave different than you came they physically came in through the North Gate and left through the South Gate they came in through the South Gate and left through the North Gate but you know what spiritually when you come here and you spend time with God and with God's people you should leave differently than you came I'm not talking about you come in through the main foyer and you go out through the secondary foyer I'm talking about you come in a certain way and you leave different than you came you leave a different person you've learned you've grown there's something that you can take home and apply to your life and this is the goal of Verity Baptist Church you say why do you do what we do here's why we do what we do because we need to build you spiritually go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 let me just show this to you from the Bible and we'll finish up 2nd Corinthians 5 and look and here's the truth if you are coming to this church and you've been coming here for some time now and there's no change you're not doing it right and I'm not saying you're not saved because I don't believe that change is required for salvation the only thing is required for salvation is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ but salvation is one thing sanctification is another being saved changes the direction of where you will spend eternity but being a follower of Jesus Christ being a disciple of Jesus Christ it should have an effect and a change on your life and look our goal is this that as you come here you leave differently that as you come here there's a change 2nd Corinthians 5 17 this has to do with salvation but I want to show this to you because of the fact that there's a potential for change 2nd Corinthians 5 17 says this therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature see unsaved people they couldn't they couldn't become spiritual if they wanted to you couldn't become spiritual before you were saved but once you got saved now there's a new creature in you all things are passed away behold all things are become new go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 look at verse 18 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 18 the Bible says this but we all with open face beholding as in a glass and I don't have time to to go through the passages for this but I would just say this that in the Bible the Bible refers to itself as a mirror or a glass that you're supposed to look into and here we're told but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord here's what he says we're supposed to take the Bible every day as we tell God that we are given ourselves as a daily sacrifice and we'll say look God I'll do what you want me to do I'm gonna offer myself as a daily sacrifice what would you like me to do I'll tell you the first thing you'd like you to do open up your Bible and read it and the book of James tells us that we look into this Bible and it is a glass it is a mirror and as we look at it and we begin to see problems with ourselves we should begin to change those problems we should begin to grow we should begin to learn and here we're told the same thing we're told the application is a little different but it's the same idea that as we behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord because here's the thing when you open up the Bible you see two things you see God and you see yourself you see the glory of God and what the goal is and what we're trying to accomplish we're trying to be conformed to the image of his son and then you see your own problems and your own mistakes and your own sin and we're told this but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord don't miss this are changed are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord see God will use the Word of God and the Holy Spirit of God to change you so if you're coming here and you're just struggling with the same old thing and you're just the same old person and nothing's changed I'm not mad at you and I'm not telling you to stop coming here I'm just telling you maybe you should start doing something with what you're learning because the whole point the whole point is that you're supposed to come here and leave differently and some of you are gonna start coming in through the back door and leaving the front door just so you don't feel guilty but that's not the point the point is that you come here unable to control your anger and you leave here able to control your anger the point is that you come here with an addiction and you leave here clean the point is that you come here as a liar as a thief maybe you show up lazy and you leave being a hard worker the point is this that we're supposed to come to this is why I think it's funny when people come to me I don't like your church because every time I come to church I feel guilty about something God's working on you why would you want to go to a church that just affirms you you've got problems and I've got problems I don't need anybody to affirm me I need someone to tell me where I need to change 2nd Peter 3 18 says this but grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be glory both now and forever amen so we see in this temple they were to come in one way and leave another way and in the same way in the house of God the New Testament believer you should be coming in one way and going out another way let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Heavenly Father thank you Lord for your word thank you for the Bible thank you for the fact that we can even find New Testament applications to these Old Testament passages even difficult passages like Ezekiel 46 and Lord I pray that you would help us what I pray that you would help us to be a people that would get up every day and learn some lessons from the Old Covenant we would get up every day and say Lord we are giving ourselves as a daily sacrifice to you not as a dying sacrifice but as a living sacrifice and we don't want to live in ourselves we want you to live through us and Lord I pray that you would help us to be growing to be changing to be looking into the glass the mirror of God's Word and not only seeing the defects with ourselves but seeing the glory of God and changing and being conformed to the image of your son but I pray that you'd help us to be a growing people they're growing spiritually they're growing closer to you in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen