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Song number 167, All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name. Song number 167. Song number 167, All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name. On that verse. All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all. He chosen seed of Israel's race, He ransomed from the fall. Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all. Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every tribe, bond this terrestrial ball. To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all. To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all. Oh, that with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall. We'll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all. Great singing, let's open up with service of prayer. Father, thank you for this wonderful and beautiful morning that you've given us. Father, thank you for allowing us to be able to come to church. I just pray that you please be with those who cannot be here, and those who have medical needs, and going through different things this week. Father, we love you, and just pray that our singing may ever glorify you. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Next song, song number 127, Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. Song number 127, song 127, on that first verse. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take it by His word, just to rest upon His promise, just to know, thus saith the Lord, Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust Him more. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust His cleansing word, just in simple faith to plunge me beneath the healing, cleansing flood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust Him more. Yes, Tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease, just from Jesus simply seeking life and rest and joy and peace. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust Him more. On the last, I'm so glad I learned to trust Him, precious Jesus, Savior, Friend, and I know that Thou art with me, will be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust Him more. Great singing. All right, great singing. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Just a few announcements here. Before we sing our next song, which will be 102, if you want to get that ready in your songbooks, He hideth my soul 102. If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand. One of the ushers can get one for you. Some important information on there. Of course, we welcome you to come back to our Sunday evening service tonight at 5 p.m. And then we also have a Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. We're currently doing a Bible study on the book of Isaiah. And so we'll be in Chapter 45 this coming Thursday. Hope to see you then. Just as a reminder, we are a family integrated church. And so infants and children stay with their parents in the service. But for your convenience, we do have a mother baby room located in the back of the building, should your child need some diversion. And changing tables are available there, as well as speakers and screens, so you can still tune in to the preaching. So just keep that in mind there. You have the soul winning times and teams there in the middle. The list of expecting mothers, if you can keep them in prayer. And then the stats for salvation and baptisms for the month of January on the bottom left corner there. On the right hand side is the upcoming church events today after the AM service at 1230, we begin our soul winning training. So good to have you here this morning. And I hope you've already reserved your spot. We're going to give out packets and just different goodies for those who attend the training. And it's really good just to kind of refresh yourself upon some of these principles regarding sowing. Even if you've done it for years on end, you won a lot of people to Christ. It's always good to press a reset button on sowing. But it's also good for those who have not gotten sown. Right. It's actually even better for those. If you've never actually gone out and preached the gospel, you don't know how to do so, you will receive some training. You're going to learn something new. And so I want to encourage you to come to that after the AM service. And that'll be at 1230 p.m. here in the main auditorium. And then we have a kids Valentine's exchange on Sunday, February 9th. That'll be after the AM service as well. Homeschool field trip is coming up on Tuesday, February 18th. And that'll be at Billy B's at 11 a.m. You have the address there. And of course, the expenses are paid for. If you have any questions about that, you can talk to my wife Sarah for more details. And then lastly, one thing that's not on here is just keep Miss Courtney and Josh Rodriguez in prayer. Many of you have already heard they got in a really bad car accident and they were rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, they're back home and they're recovering. But those the people who actually hit them, it's not really certain what's happened to them. They have to be they have to be taken out. What is that? That to be airlifted. That to be airlifted. And so obviously it was a pretty bad situation there. And I'll give more updates as we get them. But pray for Miss Courtney and Josh that they would be able to recover. And then just make sure you shoot him a text, too, by the way. Let them know that you're praying for them. And then lastly, please make sure you silence your phone so as to not be a distraction during the preaching. And that is it for our announcements. Let's go to see our next song. 102. He hide it. He hides my soul. Very powerful song. Think of the words as you are singing the song on that first verse. How wonderful. Say, oh, Jesus, my Lord. Oh, wonderful. Say, oh, hey, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi. Hey, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi. Hey, hi. Hey, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. Hey, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi. Morning. We're in Leviticus, chapter number one. Leviticus chapter one, the Bible reads. And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Ye shall kill the bullock before the Lord, and the priest Aaron's sons shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into his pieces. And sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priest Aaron's sons shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water, and the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet saber unto the Lord. And if his offering be of the flocks, namely of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice, he shall bring it a male without blemish, and he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord. And the priest Aaron's sons shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar. Ye shall cut it into his pieces with his head and his fat, and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. Ye shall wash the inwards and the legs with water, and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar. It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet saber unto the Lord. And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls, then ye shall bring his offering of turtle doves or of young pigeons. And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and bring off his head, and burn it on the altar, and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar. Ye shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part by the place of the ashes. And ye shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but shall not divide it asunder. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire. It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet saber unto the Lord. Let's pray to the Lord God. We thank you again for everything you bless us with. Just pray that you would fill our pastor now with your Holy Spirit as he preaches a word unto us. And please just continue to bless our church and in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Okay, we're in Leviticus chapter one this morning. And the tongue of my sermon today is the Levitical offerings, the Levitical offerings. If you've been following your Bible reading schedule along with the church, you've come across these passages over the last week or so. And typically the book of Leviticus is one of those books that newer Christians have a tendency to retire from as soon as they get to it. You know, they read through Genesis, a lot of great stories in Genesis, the creation period. Then you get to Exodus, great stories. Towards the end of Exodus, you start getting the details of the tabernacle, and it's just like, I don't know what's going on here. Maybe the next book will be a little more promising. You get to Leviticus, it's just like blood, guts, you have the kidneys, sacrifices. And typically newer Christians have a tendency to kind of lose interest when they get to the book of Leviticus. And so this morning, I want to give you an overview of the offerings of the book of Leviticus and kind of explain what were the instructions regarding these offerings and also what are the symbolic representations thereof. Now before I get into that, let me just explain a couple of things regarding this book. First and foremost, Leviticus is simply referring to the law of the Levites, okay? Which is composed of ceremonial, purity, dietary, moral, and of course, as we're going to look at this morning, sacrificial. Now in the nation of Israel, you had these animal sacrifices that were being done in the tabernacle and the ones that God, the tribe that God essentially chose to carry out these instructions were the tribe of Levi. You have the nation of Israel composed of 12 different tribes. One of those tribes is known as the tribe of Levi. And of course, of the tribe of Levi, there is the house of Aaron, okay? Who is Moses' brother. He's the one who's selected to be the high priest and his household are the ones chosen, the males of that household, are chosen to carry out the duties of the priest, okay? But not everyone of the tribe of Levi is actually sanctioned to carry out the priestly duties only of the house of Aaron. However, there are other people of that household that were essentially deputized to carry out certain other responsibilities regarding the tabernacle. You got to understand that in the Old Testament, specifically during this period of time, the nation of Israel is a nomadic tribe, right? They're a nomadic people, meaning they're moving from place to place in the wilderness. And so if they have a physical tabernacle, meaning a tent, you would have essentially these three households, the Gershonites, the Kohathites, and the Mararites, and these households were the ones responsible for constructing the tabernacle, tearing it down, moving the Ark of the Covenant, moving the table of the showbread, the accoutrements and different things of that nature. Those households were the ones responsible for those particular tasks. So the nation of Israel, of that 12, you have the tribe of Levi. Of that tribe, you have the house of Aaron. And then you have these three other households that are responsible for the particular tabernacle. And so that is what we're looking at here. So in the Book of Leviticus, it's essentially an instruction manual to the tribe of Levi of how to carry out specifically these offerings, these sacrifices, these things of purity, et cetera. Now, another thing I want to mention regarding this is that the offerings were a temporary religious right, okay? Emphasis on temporary, meaning this is not something that is imposed upon us today, okay? You have, of course, the ceremonial purity, dietary laws, sacrificial laws that, according to the New Testament, are done away with. These laws have been repealed in the New Testament. They're no longer imposed upon God's people in the New Testament. And let me explain to you why. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross essentially brought about a new covenant, and with that, the doing way of the old, specifically in these particular laws. Now the only laws of the Old Testament that were not repealed are the moral laws, okay? Why? Because the moral laws of God are, they transcend the Levitical laws. In other words, they came before the Levitical law, and they'll be here long after. The reason the ceremonial purity, dietary, sacrificial laws were imposed for that window of time is because of the fact that they're symbolizing, they are an allegory of something that was to take place in the future. And of course, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that figure. And we all know probably the most obvious of them is the animal sacrifices. That's important to know because you have a lot of churches today that are confused on this particular topic. They think a lot of these things are still imposed. They think that we should respect a lot of what's going on there. But the reality is this, because we're New Testament, New Covenant Christians, we're not to abide by those observances of the new moons and the Sabbaths, the religious rights of ceremonial laws, purity laws, and of course, dietary laws. So you want to have some shrimp after the service? Have at it, okay? You want to eat catfish? You want to eat pork? Hey, have at it. We're in the New Testament. The Bible specifically says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving and prayer, the Bible tells us. So according to the Bible, those things are done away with. They were only temporary in order to point people to the coming Christ, okay? And so very important there. Now, as I mentioned, the Levitical laws were imposed until the death of Jesus Christ. Now, in this particular sermon, I'm going to go over five offerings, the five particular offerings that Leviticus refers to. We're going to go over the burnt offering, the meat offering, the peace offering, sin offering, and the trespass offering. Now, I'm going to be real honest with you, though. I'm probably only going to be able to cover the first one this morning, okay, which is the burnt offering. We might get into the second one, and part two is going to be tonight. So I'm going to give you the specifics of these offerings and the spiritual significance behind them. Now, you're in Leviticus chapter 1. Let's go ahead and start here. Let's talk about the most famous or the most notable one, the ones that people recognize the most, and that is the burnt offering, okay? This is the offering that most people are familiar with. It's the most prominent offering of the Bible and essentially the first recorded offering prior to the Levitical laws being instituted. You have Abraham offering a burnt offering in Genesis. This offering would fall under the category of being a free will offering. Now, what does it mean to be a free will offering? This means that it wasn't mandatory, okay? God wasn't saying you have to do this morning and evening just as the sin offering. You have to do this just as the trespass offering. This is voluntary, okay? They had to choose to participate in this offering. But here's the thing. If a member of the children of Israel chose to give a burnt offering, certain stipulations had to be followed, though, okay? There's certain conditions to that. And the principle that we can learn there is that, you know, when it comes to worshiping God, it's voluntary, but when you worship God, you got to do it on his terms, okay? When you worship God, when you praise God, you know, you can't just do it the way you want to do it. You can't just do it with the way the culture says you should do it. You got to do it the way God says to do it, okay? So yeah, it's voluntary, but there are conditions and stipulations behind that. So here are the rules. And Brother Ulysses, wherever you're at, if you can turn on that AC, I feel like it cut off or something. Here are the rules. First and foremost, when it comes to the burnt offering, it was to be a male without defect. Look at verse 3 of Leviticus 1, it says, if his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. So the Israelites, of course, we see here that they could offer a bullock, meaning a young bull. And of course, if they weren't people who essentially had bullocks, they weren't necessarily people with that amount of resources, they could also offer lambs, turtledoves, and or pigeons. But we're just going to talk about the bullock and this particular point. The point here is that when they brought this burnt offering, it actually had to be free of any blemish. And what is a blemish? A blemish is essentially a flaw, some visible flaw that you can see on the creature. And go with me, if you would, to Malachi 1, hold your place here in Leviticus, go to Malachi, which is the last book of the Old Testament. So without blemish means without defect, without visible flaw. And the first thing that we can learn from this is the fact that, you know, this is teaching us the principle that we ought to give God our best. Whenever we offer something unto the Lord through our service, through our resources, it should be the best that we have, not the most inferior, it should be the best that we possess. Why? Because God is worthy of our best. He's worthy of that which we offer unto Him, which is good quality. Now let me show you the opposite of this, of what the priest did in the Old Testament. Look at Malachi 1 and verse number 6, God is rebuking the priesthood here and He says in verse 6, A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master, if then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Say it the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest, that despise my name. And ye say, wherein have we despised thy name? Verse 7, He answers here, ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? And that ye say, the table of the Lord is contemptible. Verse number 8, And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor, will he be pleased with thee? Or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts? So in this particular instance, you have the priesthood, they're still carrying out these offerings, these burnt offerings, but what are they doing? They're bringing the most inferior animal to God. You think of a man who has hundreds, maybe thousands of livestock, he's like, well, get the blind one right over there, get the one that's a little lame, the one that's handicapped, we can do without that one, get the one that's sick, the one that has some sort of deficiency and give that to God. Well, God is greatly offended by this. And he even says there, go ahead and give that to your governor, give that to your magistrate, give that to your worldly leader and see if he'll like that, because what he's teaching there is that people of higher positions should earn a little more respect. Well, how much more God, who's the God of all the universe, we should give him our best. You know, if you go to the White House today, you're probably not going to go in your pajamas, right? If you go to the White House, if you go to some prominent building of our government, you're probably not going to go in your pajamas and shorts and flip-flops. You understand that it's an important place to be geographically as a location, therefore you're going to dress your best, amen? Well, in like manner, you know, when we serve God, we ought to give him our best as well. We ought to give him of our best talents, our best resources, our best time. You know, and by the way, this is one of the reasons why I come to church dressed like this because I'm a pastor, but even prior to me being a pastor, though, I come to church dressed with a shirt and a tie and a suit because why? Because church is important. And I want to give God my best, amen? I'm not going to come in flip-flops with a tank top and sit on a glass pulpit or something like this and just kind of let's just talk about things of God. No, this is the house of God, the pillar and ground of truth. I'm not even going to come and offer unto the Lord a lame bullock, a blind bullock, a sick bullock. I want to give God my best, right? But unfortunately, we see here that the priests were not doing that. They were kind of giving God what? The leftovers, that which is of lower quality. But we as God's people should always seek to give him our best. Go to 1 Peter 1, hold your place in Leviticus 1 because we're going to come back to that. Go to 1 Peter 1. We should worship God with the best that we have. And we see this throughout the Old Testament. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 3, honor the Lord with thy substance and listen to this, and with the first fruits of thine increase. What is that referring to? The best that you got should go to God. Now aside from the fact that this is obviously teaching us that we should give God our best, not our leftovers, not that which is inferior, it also teaches us that God gave us his best, right? Because what do the animal sacrifices symbolize? They symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? Jesus Christ did not offer, God did not offer a lamb with blemishes. He didn't offer a lamb that's with defects, that's blind, that's deaf, that's maimed, that's sick. He gave us the Lord Jesus Christ who's perfect. And so just as he expected the priesthood to give that which is best, why is he doing that? Because he's also fulfilling that same stipulation on his side, and he's giving us his best by giving us the Son of God, okay? And Jesus Christ, of course, is the Lamb of God who is without blemish. To its highest extent. Why? Because he's actually sinless. You see, Jesus Christ was 100% human, but let's not forget that he's also 100% God, meaning that he is 100% sinless. He kept all of God's commandments perfectly. The Bible tells us that Jesus said, testified, I do always those things that please him. What does that mean? It means he keeps all of God's commandments perfectly. None of us, there's not a single human being in human history other than the Lord Jesus Christ who's been able to keep God's commandments perfectly, which is why it's nonsensical to think that the commandments can save you or that you can be saved by keeping all the commandments since the Bible says, whosoever keepeth the whole law, yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all. And the only man I know that has been able to keep all of God's commandments perfectly is the Lord Jesus Christ, which is why he said, I do always those things that please him. Now look at 1 Peter 1 verse 18. With that in mind, it says, for as much as you know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He says, you weren't redeemed with silver and gold, and this is actually a callback to the silver and gold is actually referring to the trespass offering, we'll get into that later on. He said, you weren't redeemed with corruptible things that just have monetary, just temporary wealth. We're actually redeemed with the blood of Jesus Christ, from which we see that he is without blemish, without spot. He is perfect. He is sinless. And so if we offered, by the way, if we offered ourselves, right, a sacrifice for sins, you know, we could essentially be compared to that blind animal, can we not? We are that blind animal. We are that sick bullock. We are that maimed animal. Why? We are that sacrifice that God will not accept, you know, and there's plenty of people out there in the religious world, even amongst Christians, that think that they offering themselves as a sacrifice unto God for salvation that somehow they're going to obtain eternal life. But you know what? You might as well just be a lamb. You might as well be a bullock that's blind, that's deaf, that's maimed, that's sick, that has mange, that has some sort of disease, because it's insufficient for God to accept. He needs a perfect lamb. He needs that which is without spot and without blemish. Go to chapter 2, if you would, chapter 2. Look at verse 21. It says here, for even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. Who did no sin? Neither was guile found in his mouth. What is guile referring to? Deceit. It's essentially accentuating the fact that he is perfect, he is sinless. And you know, I've talked to various people out there within Christianity, and of course I'm using that term loosely, who think that God did sin, that Jesus Christ did sin. I mean, I remember going soul winning back at my old IFP church on our bus route, and my bus captain was witnessing to this Catholic guy. And they're going back and forth, and my bus captain was trying to explain to him why Catholicism is false, and that salvation is by grace through faith alone, just the regular points. And the guy kept wanting to talk about Mary, because to the Catholics, that's like their way of salvation. Mariology is a doctrine of the Catholic church that teaches that they need Mary in order to be saved. And so he's kind of proposing that to my bus captain, and my bus captain shows the man where Jesus Christ essentially corrects his mother, right? When he is just a child, he corrects her, and of course this is the story where he says, you know, I must be about my father's business, and then he corrects her with the turning of water into wine. He says, woman, you know, I forgot, that's the only part I remember of that verse. He said, what did he say, he said, woman, mine hour has not yet come, right? By the way, no child should talk to their moms like that. Jesus Christ is obviously the exception because he's God, okay? But you know, he explains that to the guy, and then, you know, he kind of gave a rhetorical question which you would think any person would be able to answer just honestly. He's like, and do you think Jesus sinned when he did that? And the guy's answer was like, yeah, he did. He should have never done that. That's wrong to do. Hold on a second, the Bible says that Jesus Christ did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. He's perfect. He is sinless. He kept all of God's commandments perfectly. And unfortunately, we as human beings possess the defects that are the result of sin. The Bible goes on to tell us, you don't have to turn there in Hebrews 4, verse 15, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. It says, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. What is that referring to? Without blemish, without spot, without defect, without flaw. The Bible also says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21, for he hath made him to be sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, the Bible says. Last verse here, Hebrews chapter 7, verse 26 says, for such an high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. So what do we see here with the first point? We see that when a person of the children of Israel wanted to bring a burnt offering to atone for their sin, this voluntary offering, the first thing they have to take into account is what I'm offering without blemish and without spot. Why? Because it's going to symbolically represent the Lamb of God who is sinless, blameless, without spot, without wrinkle, without defect to offer for the sins of the whole world. Go back to Leviticus chapter 1, Leviticus chapter 1. So the first thing we see is that it was to be a male without blemish. And by the way, some of the other offerings God was a little more lenient about and would accept that which is either male or female. This is actually one of the only offerings where God says it has to be a male, okay? And obviously because Jesus Christ is a man, right? He's a male and it has to be without blemish. The second thing that we see is that the blood was supposed to be sprinkled by the priest around the altar. So the way this happened was that they would bring a bullock to the door of the tabernacle. The person who is participating in the sacrifice, the one who brings the bullock, would place his hands upon the head of the animal and then either himself or the priest would essentially slit the throat of the animal and let it bleed out. And some of that blood the priest would take and sprinkle it around the altar. Look at verse 5. It says, And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord and the priest Aaron's sons shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Now obviously this is pretty obvious what this signifies and that is the blood of Jesus Christ, which the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 9 that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Remission is just another way of saying the forgiveness of sin. So in order for forgiveness to be imputed, in order for forgiveness to be given, blood has to be shed. And this is one of the reasons why over and over again these animal sacrifices were done because of the fact that at the end of the day, it is impossible, listen to this, that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. So that's more proof that these were symbolic, right? They were a representation of what Jesus Christ would do. And you say, well, how do you know? How do you know that it didn't save them? Well, here's probably the most obvious, you know, proof and that is why do they have to do it over and over again? They have to do it over and over again and in fact with the sin offering, it had to be done morning and evening. So if you can picture this, in the nation of Israel, it's just like constant barbecue, right? Just the perpetual sacrifice, barbecue, there's constant smoke coming out. I mean, this is just a continuous thing. And here's the thing is that it was a pretty bloody, you know, procedure. It was very gory to say the least. I mean, animals are constantly being taken to the tabernacle, the throats are being slit, the blood is being poured out, they're taking the blood, they're sprinkling it upon the altar. But you know, this is to signify what Jesus Christ did for us, right? When he was crucified on the cross, when he was beaten and scourged, and, you know, whipped, we see that he shed his blood on the cross in order to forgive us of our sins. Let me read to you from Hebrews chapter nine, verse 11, it says, but Christ being common high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building. Now, let me explain what this means real quick. When the construction of the tabernacle in the Old Testament was made, that was simply, I guess you could call a replica tabernacle. It was, you know, a replica altar, a replica brazen altar, everything that was there with the children of Israel was a replica of something that actually still exists in heaven today. So when God gave the instructions to Moses on how to construct the tabernacle, the altars, he's basically giving them the blueprints of something that's already in existence in the spiritual realm known as heaven, okay, that still exists today. So this is what it's telling us to say that Jesus Christ came to be a high priest. And he says by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, meaning that Jesus Christ wasn't sacrificed in the Old Testament tabernacle or temple, but rather in the tabernacle, which is in heaven. Okay. And I'll go over that later on. Verse 12 says, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offer himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. The Bible also says in Ephesians chapter one, verse seven, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. This is why it's important to emphasize what the blood of Jesus Christ, what can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus. That's why we sing about the blood. Why? Because it signifies the forgiveness. Don't let any preacher out there, any pastor, any Calvinist out there, try to teach you that the blood is not important. The Bible talks about the blood of Jesus Christ over and over and over again. Without it, we would not have the remission of sins. And this is why it's constantly being poured out from the goats, from the bullets in the Old Testament to point to the importance of Jesus Christ shedding his own blood. Go to Leviticus and look at verse number seven. So we see that the burnt offering, the instructions for the burnt offering was that it was supposed to be a male without blemish, without defect. The blood was supposed to be poured out and sprinkled upon the altar by the priest. Next thing I want you to notice is that it was supposed to be placed on wood, which is pretty obvious, but it signifies something as well. Verse seven says, in the sons of Aaron, the priest shall put fire upon the altar and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priest Aaron's son shall lay the parts, the head and the fat in order upon the wood that is on the fire, which is upon the altar. Now what is the significance of this? Well, obviously, this signifies the fact that Jesus Christ was likewise placed on the wood, also known as the cross, right? Jesus hanging on the cross signifies that he actually became a curse for us. Now go with me if you went to Galatians chapter three, and hold your place there in Leviticus. Go to Galatians chapter three, if you would. As you're turning there, I'm gonna read to you from 1 Peter chapter two and verse 24. The Bible says, who his own self, referring to Jesus, bear our own sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Look at Galatians chapter three and verse 13, which is a quote from Deuteronomy 21 verse 23. Galatians 3, 13 says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, listen to this, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now in Deuteronomy, when this was stated, it's referring to anyone who literally hung on a tree, the way people would typically think about hanging someone from a tree. But obviously, this was symbolically representing the fact that Jesus Christ, likewise, would hang on a tree, which is a cross. He would be nailed to the cross, hands in his feet, crown of thorns upon his head, and hung on that particular cross, which would symbolize the fact that he's taking the curse of the whole world upon himself. Now this is really important because of the fact that when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, he's obviously paying for our sins, but it's a lot deeper than that, though. Because he's not just paying for sins, he's paying for all sins, past, present, and future. All sins, meaning the small sins, quote, unquote, and even the big sins, okay? All sins are being paid for on his own body on the tree, the Bible tells us. Let me read to you from Isaiah 53, verse 4, probably one of the most powerful prophetic statements about Jesus Christ that says, Surely he hath borne our griefs, he hath carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken and smitten of God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Go to Leviticus, back to Leviticus, if you would, and go to chapter 6. So you can see how all these details regarding the instructions of the burnt offering were symbolically representing Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us. We see that it was a male without blemish, we see that his blood was sprinkled around the altar. And by the way, when Jesus Christ died, and when he died and he resurrected the third day, there is a period between his resurrection and his ascension when he actually did go to heaven and put his own blood upon the altar that's in the tabernacle of heaven. Now, how do we know that? Well, when he resurrected, what did he tell his disciples right away? Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended into the Father, right? But then later on, just probably like a couple chapters thereafter, or actually within the same chapter, you see that he tells Thomas, handle me, right? He says, handle the prince, the piercing on the side, the prince in his hand, I'm paraphrasing here. So between the time that he told his disciples not to touch him because he had not yet ascended into his father, and the time that he told Thomas to touch him, that's obviously an indicator that he ascended into the Father. And when you read Hebrews chapter nine, you see that what he did was he ascended to pour his blood upon the mercy seat, which is in heaven, which is why his disciples could now handle him, touch him, and physically be there with him. Look at Leviticus chapter six. The next thing I want you to notice is the fact that, and this is probably the most notable aspect of the burnt offering, okay? All these other ones, the ones that I'm sharing with you, you know, these are pretty, obviously, you know, people know these things, but there's a reason why it's called a burnt offering. So you know how everything else has a symbolic representation to it. This is not the exception to the rule. Verse eight of Leviticus six says, and the Lord spake unto Moses saying, command Aaron and his son saying, this is the law of the burnt offering. It is the burnt offering because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. Now what is this referring to? Well, it's referring to the fact that when the animal was sacrificed, it was to be placed on the altar of fire until it was completely consumed, okay? And in fact, it was left there all night until the morning burning. Now why is this important? Well, the reason it's important is because it symbolizes the fact that Jesus Christ went to hell when he died. It's not heresy, it's not something crazy. It's literally stated in the New Testament explicitly, but then symbolically represented multiple times in the Old Testament. Now you can't look at the Old Testament burnt offerings and say, well, yeah, everything pictures Jesus Christ, except for the fire though, right? Like everything pictures Jesus Christ, yeah, I can see for sure, you know, that it has to be a male without blemish, the blood has to be sprinkled around the altar. I can see that, yeah, placing on the wood, but fire, that's something else. No, there's a reason why he burnt the animal sacrifice. And it's because Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, went to hell for three days and three nights. Where was Jesus Christ when his body went into the grave? I'll tell you where. The Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter four that he ascended, but what is it? But that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth. I don't know if you know this, but the lower parts of the earth, that's where hell is located. And in fact, when Jesus Christ is preaching to the Pharisees, and the Pharisees asked of him, they say, show us a sign. He says, a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas, referring to Jonah, was three days and three nights in the well's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. What is the heart of the earth? It's the center of the earth. It's what Ephesians four is referring to when it says the lower parts of the earth. It's referring to hell, okay. Now turn with me if you would, go to Acts chapter two, Acts chapter two. Now for some reason, this is really controversial to a lot of Christians. They feel it's sacrilegious, they feel it's blasphemous, but what they need to do is just read the Bible, right, and put away their commentaries, put away their preconceived ideas and allow the Holy Spirit to just teach them what the Bible is actually referring to here. Look, just quoting Ephesians four and Matthew 12 should be enough. When it's coming out of Jesus' mouth that he's going to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, that should settle for us that he went to hell, right, because when you read the story of Jonah, for example, Jonah actually goes into the well's belly because of his disobedience towards God, and he prophetically, poetically states that out of the belly of hell cried I. Well, Jonah was not in hell, right. He was in the well's belly. And just like many other prophetic statements of the Old Testament, often the person writing it is obviously imposing his own experiences into the text, but then you'll see something that's kind of off the wall that doesn't apply to the writer, but it's obviously prophetic of someone else, which is Jesus Christ. Because when he says out of the belly of hell cried I, he wasn't in hell, he's prophetically talking about Jesus Christ who will go to hell. And obviously we could compare Matthew chapter 12 and other portions of the gospels with that and see that's exactly what he's referring to because Jesus Christ, when he died, was going to be three days and three nights in hell in the heart of the earth. Now you say to yourself, well, you know, that's still questionable, I don't know about that. That's a stretch, you know. It says lower parts of the earth, it says, you know, the heart of the earth, but it doesn't really say hell. All right, well, let's look at Acts chapter 2. Verse 25, Peter preaching here, says in verse 25, for David speaketh concerning him, referring to Jesus, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad, moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope because that will not leave my soul in hell, neither would thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. You say to yourself, yeah, but there it seems to be talking about David himself. Well, this is referring to the Psalm 16 where David is talking about this, but he clarifies this in verse 30. Look at verse 30. Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on the throne, he seen this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul, whose soul? Christ's soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption, the Bible says. So again, you have David imposing himself upon the text in Psalms, but we also know that it's actually referring to who? It's referring to Jesus Christ himself, okay? You know, his soul was not left in hell. And let me just say this, if you're gonna be King James only, you have to believe this doctrine because the King James Bible uses hell. Doesn't use Sheol, doesn't use Guyana, doesn't use whatever, it says hell, okay? And you know, people, they take offense to this, but folks, if you died to pay for your sins, where would you go? You would go straight to hell. And so if Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins, if he's the substitute for our sins, if he's taking our place on the cross for our sins, if he's taking the punishment that we deserve, then reason would have it that he would also be going to hell. But not just reason, the Bible says it as well. That his soul was not left in hell, implying what, that his soul was in hell, but it was not left there. It was there for three days and three nights, and then he resurrected from the grave. We see in Isaiah, you can write this down or you can turn there, I'm gonna quote it to you in Isaiah 53 verse 10, it says, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief, when thou shall say, when, excuse me, when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. So it's specifically telling us in the prophetic chapter here about Jesus Christ, that his soul was made an offering for sin, just as the bullock was made an offering for sin in the Old Testament, in like manner, Jesus Christ burned in hell for three days and three nights. Now, let me clarify some things regarding this particular doctrine. And that is that there is no verse in the Bible that teaches that Jesus Christ went to Abraham's bosom. And in fact, if you really wanna get strict about it, there's only one verse that says that anybody went to Abraham's bosom, and that was Lazarus. Now, Abraham's bosom is not a second compartment of hell. Abraham's bosom might look like this, Pastor M'Hee is bosom, because the bosom is the chest cavity, right? And when Luke 16 talks about the rich man going to hell, lifting up his eyes in hell, being in torment, and then seeing Lazarus and Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, he's referring to the fact that Abraham essentially has his arm around Lazarus, and therefore in his bosom, right? He's kind of just holding him like such. Now, we see that in Matthew, and in fact, in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus says to the Pharisees that people shall come from the east and the west, right? And they shall sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, and the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness. So what is it telling us? It's telling us that people who the Israelites thought were just unworthy of salvation, such as the Gentiles that come from the east and the west, they're going to be sitting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They're going to be in the bosom of Abraham. They're going to be rubbing shoulders with these giants of the faith, right, in heaven. That's what it's referring to. Now, advocates of Abraham's bosom will say, no, no, no, Abraham's bosom is actually a second compartment of hell. It's vacant right now, because when Jesus died, he went there, he preached to the spirits in prison, then they believed on him, and then he basically took them all to heaven. That's a stretch, okay? That's a major stretch. That's an imagination. That's a fairytale. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that. And here's the thing. If you were to ask someone who believes in Abraham's bosom, what are the various names for Abraham's bosom, they'll say, well, hell. That's why the Bible uses hell. You know, it says hell, it's not referring to hell, hell, like hell, hell, hell. It's referring to Abraham's bosom, right? They say, what are some other names for Abraham's bosom? They'll say, well, it's prison. They're like, okay, you know, I'll give you that one. What else is it called? Well, it's called paradise. How is hell and prison also referred to as paradise? You say, why would they call it paradise? Well, because when Jesus Christ was crucified, he was crucified with the thief next to him, and the thief believed on him, and he told the thief, today, thou shalt be with me in paradise, right? Now what's paradise according to the Bible? Heaven. But they want to say paradise that is referring to Abraham's bosom, because they want to believe that everyone in the Old Testament went to that second compartment in the lower part to the earth. But folks, it's nonsensical to say that hell is called paradise. Even if you want to say, well, hell is referring to Abraham's bosom, then it's nonsensical to call Abraham's bosom paradise and prison. Which one is it? Prison doesn't sound like paradise to me, okay? Paradise is where God is. Paradise is in heaven. Abraham's bosom does not exist and never has existed. You say, well, you know, I've read a verse in the Bible in 1 Peter 3 where it says that Jesus Christ preached to the spirits in prison. Well, to that I answer, every single person who's not saved, the Bible categorizes as being in prison. And I don't know if you know this, but every single person has a spirit. So when he says that he preached to the spirits in prison, it's referring to his three and a half year ministry where he's going about preaching to the spirits that are in prison to sin, that are in prison taken captive by Satan at his will. That's what it's referring to. It's not like he just, it's like a dark place. He's just like, are there any Old Testament saints in here? We've waited so long, you know? And then he's preaching to them. Wrong, my friends. Everyone who believed on the Christ in the Old Testament went straight to heaven. And look, there's so many ways to debunk this doctrine, it's actually ridiculous. Because again, those who advocate for Abraham's bosom, they don't believe that anybody in the Old Testament who was saved went to heaven. They believe heaven was vacant throughout the whole time. There's a little problem with that, though. The Bible talks about people being in heaven in the Old Testament. For example, you know, where did Adam go if Abraham didn't even exist at that time? He went to his own bosom? Secondly, the Bible says that Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. It's translated right into heaven. You know, thirdly, how about Elijah the prophet who was taken up into heaven, VIP? In the most amazing way, like the way we would all probably want to go, inflaming chariots of fire in a whirlwind, not downward, he went upward, right? To the point where literally Elijah's preacher boys, they thought, well, maybe a whirlwind took him and dropped him off somewhere, so they went to go look for him. Obviously, it's indicating that there's people in heaven. Not only that, but Job chapter 1 says that when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them. Sons of God is referring to believers, but as many as received them, to them it give you power to become the sons of God, even unto them to believe in his name. So over and over again, we see that this doctrine does not hold any water. Why? Because it's a false doctrine, and it's made to essentially, you know, mitigate and minimize the importance of Jesus Christ going to hell, which is a biblical concept. We see it constantly over and over again, and the burnt offering, the power of the burnt offering, the main aspect of the burnt offering, the reason it's called the burnt offering is because Jesus Christ was also burned. He was that offering that was burned for us. Look at Leviticus chapter 6 and verse 12. Leviticus chapter 6 verse 12 says, and the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it. It shall not be put out, and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning and lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. Listen to this, the fire shall ever be burning upon the altar. It shall never go out. Now if that doesn't symbolize hell, I don't know what does, because it's saying the fire of the altar is never going to go out, and you know what fire also never goes out? You know, the fire of hell, where the Bible says the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, meaning it's an eternal fire. Just further driving in the fact that Jesus Christ, this is symbolizing Jesus Christ dying on the cross, going to hell for three days and three nights, powerful. Look at verse number 9 if you would. So we see here, let me just review briefly. We see that the burnt offering was an offering given to atone for sin. It was to be a male without blemish just as Jesus Christ was without sin. We see also that the blood was supposed to be sprinkled around the altar just as Jesus Christ placed his blood upon the altar which is in heaven, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. We see that it was supposed to be placed on wood just as Jesus Christ was hung on the cross, also made of wood, to be a curse for us. And then we see that it was burned with fire just as Jesus Christ also went to hell for three days and three nights to pay for our sins as well. Now what's the next thing? The next thing we're going to look at here is the fact that the animal's inward parts were to be washed with water. Go to Leviticus chapter 1, I'm just going to breeze through this particular point because what we see in the instructions is that the inwards and his legs were washed with water and then burned upon the altar. And what I believe this is referring to is the fact that Jesus Christ through the word of God was sanctified. The Bible says in John 17, 17, sanctify them, referring to his disciples, through thy truth thy word is truth as thou has sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through thy truth. What sets apart Christians? The truth. What sets apart the Lord Jesus Christ? The truth, right? The word of God. He is the word of God. And we see that the inwards and the legs were separated and washed in water and then thereafter burned on the altar. Look at Leviticus chapter 1 and verse 9, here's another thing we see with the burnt offering is that it was to be a sweet savor unto the Lord. Now we can relate with this. Right? You guys ever walk by a barbecue? I mean, I don't think it's an accident why he's saying that. You know, just as we can relate to the fact that when we smell brother Jose's barbecue and his smoke or whatever he's doing, you know, if he's smoking a rattlesnake or an alligator or beef or whatever it is, it smells good. You know, you ever walk by some plaza and they're cooking, they have beef or something, you're just like, or, you know, go by the corner where the In-N-Out is, right, everyone's getting hungry now, you know, and you're just like, oh, man, that smells good. You know, the smell of beef cooking, right, smells great. It's like a sweet savor unto us. A savor is just the aroma that pleases us, right? Well, in a spiritual manner, when the burnt offering was given, it pleased the Lord. It was a sweet savor unto him. Look what it says in verse nine. But his inwards and his legs shall be washed in water, and the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord. Go to chapter seven, if you would, chapter number seven. And of course, we know, according to Isaiah 53, that it pleased the Lord to bruise him, right? You know, God wants to be satisfied, he wants sin to be paid for, and you could either pay for it yourself, and you become a sweet savor unto the Lord by your eternal punishment in hell, because you're going to burn forever, or you can allow the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to pay for you. And of course, God is more interested in the sweet savor of his son, because he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So that's important. The Bible also says in 1 John chapter two, that he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Propitiation simply means that, you know, Jesus Christ placated the wrath of God through his suffering on the cross, through his suffering of his death. Let me read to you this last verse here in Ephesians chapter five, verse two. It says, and walk in love as Christ also had loved us, and have given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Okay, so very powerful there. Here's the next thing I want to point out regarding the burnt offering, regarding these instructions, we see that it was supposed to be without blemish, the blood was sprinkled around the altar. We see that his inward parts, that he was placed on the wood, that his inward parts were cleansed. We see that he was burned. We see also that he was a sweet smelling savor unto the Lord. But the next thing we see is that the hide, or the skin of the animal, was to be removed and given to the priest, okay? So prior, look at Leviticus seven, verse eight. Let's read this first. It says, and the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered. So prior to dismembering the animal and placing it on the altar, the skins of the animal were removed and given to the priest. Now what does this symbolize? Well it obviously symbolizes the fact that God is clothing us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And you know, righteousness in the Old Testament throughout the Bible is often, you know, spoken of almost as a garment, right? A garment that is placed upon you. Go to Genesis chapter three, Genesis chapter number three. Now in a practical sense, when it comes to the actual instructions of this law, you know, the hide was given to the priest as a form of payment. You know, they didn't work regular, you know, secular jobs, so to speak. Their job was to literally take care of the animal sacrifices, the duties of the temple. So this was given to them and obviously they can use that to either sell, they can use it for themselves and their family, that's what it was for. But it symbolizes the clothing that God gives us, which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ for salvation and even after salvation. I'll explain that in just a bit. So what's the first example we see of this? Well look at Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter three, verse seven, it says, And the eyes of them both, referring to Adam and Eve, were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Now what's going on here? We know that Satan deceived Eve, she ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She gave it to her husband. They both realized that they're naked. And in order to kind of fix the problem, the solution they come up with is a garment of leaves. You know, they're covering their nakedness with aprons or leaves. You know, it's kind of like Tarzan, right? But let me just say this, fig leaves can only cover so much, as noted by Tarzan, right? In other words, they're insufficient clothing. So even though they mean well, they recognize that they're naked, they have to do something about their nakedness, their shame that is showing, what they do is insufficient to cover that nakedness and that shame, okay? Look at verse 21, unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make, what, coats of skin and clothed them? Now this is the first mention of an animal sacrifice. And though it does not detail specifically how God did it, we know that an animal was killed because he's given the skins of the animal to Adam and Eve. And of course, this is symbolically representing the fact that mankind often tries to deal with sin on his own, right? He tries to cover himself with the fig leaves of his works. He tries to cover himself with the fig leaves of his obedience. He tries to cover himself with the fig leaves of religious activity. But at the end of the day, those fig leaves are insufficient. They're not going to cover your nakedness. They won't cover your shame. We can still see your belly buttons. We can still see your rear end. It's not sufficient, Tarzan. You may try your best to sew fig leaves together and make an apron that only covers the front or whatever. It's not going to work. It's insufficient in God's eyes. Therefore, what? He had to come and give them coats of skin that would actually clothe them, that would actually be sufficient to clothe their nakedness, which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 64, go to Isaiah 64 if you would, Isaiah chapter 64. So when the animal was slaughtered, the skin was removed and given to the priest. And in like manner, folks, when we believe on Jesus Christ for our salvation, the Bible says that God gives us, he imputes upon us, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Look what it says in Isaiah 64, in verse number 6, it says, but we are all as an unclean thing and all our righteousness are as filthy rags. Now what can we compare the filthy rags to? The leaves, the aprons, meaning it's still insufficient. So even the best thing you can do is still filthy in the eyes of God. It's insufficient. There's none that doeth good, no, not one. There's none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You know, the Bible says there's not a just man that doeth good and sinneth not. So even if you are the most disciplined religious person in this world, it's not enough for God. That's a nice looking leaf you got there. Nice and green, but it's still insufficient, I can still see your nakedness. That's basically what it means, right? He says all our righteousness, and by the way, it doesn't say all our unrighteousness. It says all our righteousness. What is the righteousness? Like your best moral action that you can accomplish, the best that you can do is still filthy. He says, listen to this, and we all do fade as a leaf. You know, like the fig leaves, like the aprons, I guarantee you, if they're wearing that, you know, they would have to make a new one the very next day. Why? Because leaves are insufficient for clothing. I know they got hemp pants and all this stuff, and you know, they got whatever, but you know, in this particular time, if they're sewing fig leaves together, they probably have to make a new one tomorrow. And you know what? The same goes for people out there. Yeah, you can repent of your sins today for your salvation, but guess what? You're gonna sin tomorrow. You can repent of your sins tomorrow for salvation, but guess what? You're gonna sin the very next day. What is that showing us? It's showing us that the fig leaves of repenting of your sin is insufficient for salvation. It doesn't clothe you completely, only the coats of skin do. He says we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, liken it unto those leaves and the fig leaves and the aprons, like the wind, have taken us away. So righteous works are insufficient as the fig leaf aprons are. They fade away by the constant elements of iniquity. And we need the skins of the lamb to adequately cover our shame. So this is something that the book of Romans constantly talks about, which is the doctrine of imputation. And this is why it's important, you know, it's so crazy to think that there's people out there that can live righteously and think that their righteousness can save them. And if they just obey the commandments, and they do right, according to the Bible, that's somehow gonna save them. But let me just remind you is that God does not accept American Express. That's a nice payment you got there, but God doesn't accept that. You cannot redeem that, that cannot be used in heaven, it doesn't work. So it doesn't matter how morally upright you think you are, how morally upright you are, it's not enough for God. Because the only righteousness that God accepts is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is what? Perfection. Well, no one's perfect, so we're all gonna sit. Exactly. So therefore, we need the perfection of someone else so that we can go to heaven and there's only one person who's perfect, God, Jesus Christ. So it's not our own clothing. We need the clothing of the burnt offering that comes and clothes us in that righteousness and gives us eternal life. But not only that, folks, you know, after salvation, the Bible says we have to continuously put on the new man, even though our sins are already forgiven, you know, we have to put on the new man not to stay saved, but to just live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord. Because let me just remind you is that though you're saved, you can still be spiritually naked, right? You can still be spiritually bare and shameful and naked before the eyes of God. And therefore, the Bible says, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. So Christians can still live a sinful life, even after salvation, it doesn't mean they're not saved. It means that they're kind of putting all those fig leaves again, and they're not putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, those coats of skin that God accepts for the covering of the nakedness. I'm gonna stop there, because the next one is that I'm done with the burnt offering, but the next one is the meat offering, and I have way more to say about that. Now, what can we learn ultimately from the burnt offering? Well, it's probably one of the most powerful illustrations of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And one thing you notice that all of these picture Jesus Christ, right? They all signify Jesus Christ, but the last two are mandatory offerings, whereas these first three are voluntary. And you know what? Salvation has to be voluntary. You have to be you have to choose to be saved. God can't force you to accept that offering. God can't force you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we're not Calvinists. We don't believe that God predestines people to be saved. You have to come by your own will, by your own volition, and you know what that requires? It's something called humility, because humility says, I'm wrong. What I believe is wrong. I can't save myself. There's only one who can, and therefore, I need him. I want to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. You say, well, then, you know, what if I don't believe that? Well, then you suffer the consequences of sin, the wages of sin is death, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, which would include pretty much everyone in this building, right, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And at that point, you could be the eternal sweet smelling saver unto the Lord, because the smoke of your torment will ascend up forever and ever, the Bible says. Why? Because that's the only thing that will satisfy the wrath of God. That's one of two things. Either you go to hell to pay for your own sins, or you accept the payment that's already been made through Jesus Christ. Well, that doesn't make any sense, you know, that Jesus Christ paid for the sins of the whole world, but we still have to be saved. Well, isn't that the way a gift card works? Right? I mean, don't companies make, like, millions of dollars every single year from gift cards that were never redeemed, right? They're paid for, but people just don't, you know, they don't use them. They're somewhere in your desk, the bottom of your seat in your vehicle, they're in your wife's purse, you know? Or they're in your wallet, which is why it's so fat, it's not because there's a bunch of money in there of cash, it's just unused gift cards. You're like, oh, one day, and then you pull it out, it's all faded like a leaf. The iniquities have taken over, you just forgot about it, right? So things can be paid for and not used. And you know what? Jesus Christ paid for the sins of the whole world. You know, He's the Savior of all men, but especially of those that believe. But let me say this, there's a lot of people that are not going to redeem that gift card of eternal life. And they will pay for their own sins and health, you know? And so that is the significance of the burnt offering. I'll cover the last four tonight. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your Word. And God, we're so thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what it means to us. And of course, I'm speaking to believers here, but there might be someone here who's not saved and there might be someone here who didn't previously believe everything that I've stated through the Word of God this morning. And I prayed that those sacrifices that were done in the Old Testament would not be in vain, but they would point to Jesus Christ's sacrifice that He made 2,000 years ago, Lord on the cross, and that someone would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and accept that burnt offering as the payment for their sin. And Lord, thank you so much for everything that it signifies. I pray that you bless us as we go on our way. Bless the soul-winning training, soul-winning in our evening service to come. We love you. We pray in Jesus's name. Amen. Turn in your song book to song number 162, To God Be the Glory. God, in the glory great things he hath done, so God, in the world that he gave us his Son, who yield in his life and atone him for sin, and up in the life he can all beg to win. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father through Jesus' Son, and give us all the great things he hath done. Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God, the vilest of men who truly believe, that moment of Jesus' appointed receipt. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done, and great things he hath taught us, who he hath done, and great are rejoicing through Jesus the Son, but newer and higher and greater will be, the longer our chance for when Jesus be seen. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. Oh, come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done.