I Did It My Way

My Way is a song that was popularised in 1969 by Frank Sinatra.

His version of My Way, in fact, spent 75 weeks in the UK Top 40,

a record which stands today.

And what is interesting about this song

is that it is the most frequently played song at British funeral services.

It beats songs like Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python

and Simply the Best by Tina Turner,

which are also quite popular funeral songs, by the way.

And although this particular song became Frank Sinatra's signature work,

his daughter Tina says that Sinatra came to, in fact, hate the song.

He thought the song was self-serving and self-indulgent,

and as it turns out, it wasn't played at his funeral.

It portrays a life that is lived by my own rules.

It's lived my way.

I live life my way, my agenda, my standards.

I want to do what I want without any sort of constraints by anyone else.

It pretty much sums up the attitude of the Western world

with its rampant individualism.

As it turns out, although Sinatra hated the song,

it was a favourite of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic.

He used to play the song with increasing volume from his prison cell

while he stood on trial for crimes against humanity.

He too did it his way.

And as we look into Leviticus 8 to 10,

we'll see that God expects people to approach him his way, God's way.

But as we will find out, his way leads to joy.

To do it your way, our way, any other way, in fact, leads to death.

We're spending, as Sam has indicated,

six weeks in this strange world of Leviticus.

Last week we saw that Genesis introduces to a ruined race

because of disobedience to God's word.

Adam and Eve are thrown out of the Garden of Eden,

out of God's presence, a paradise which God had created,

was lost in Genesis 3.

Exodus introduces us to a redeemed people

who are miraculously rescued from slavery in Egypt by God.

God gathers them as his people

and makes a covenant agreement with them

to be his special people through Moses.

And this leads us to Leviticus,

where God reveals how his people are now to live in this new relationship

and how it works out in every detail of life.

They're to live as new people,

living distinct lives amongst the nations.

And the immediate background to Leviticus

is Exodus 25 to 40,

the last bit of the book of Exodus.

And it's all about the construction of the tabernacle.

And the word tabernacle means dwelling.

The tabernacle was meant to symbolize the paradise

that the human race had lost back in the Garden of Eden.

And we saw that many of the details of the tabernacle

reflected the details of the Garden of Eden.

And by the end of Exodus,

the tabernacle is built.

And God is again dwelling amongst his people.

But there's a problem.

As we saw last week,

Moses is standing outside the tabernacle.

God has taken up residence in his dwelling, the tabernacle,

but there is no way yet that he's open for humanity to approach him,

much less to have any relationship or fellowship with him.

And so how does one get inside?

How does one get back into paradise with God?

God, what's missing from this new creation,

this tabernacle which symbolized new creation,

what's missing from it is the pinnacle of the first creation.

People.

People aren't there.

And God intends to solve that problem.

And we saw that right at the beginning of Leviticus

when God speaks to Moses

and he says,

when an Adam among you brings an offering.

Now that's the crisis that sets up the beginning of Leviticus.

And the first ten chapters

addresses this crisis

of how the tabernacle,

the dwelling place of God,

the tabernacle as it's called in in Exodus,

becomes the tent of meeting,

which is what it's called at the beginning of Leviticus.

These chapters are about how the dwelling of God

becomes the tent where God meets

in fellowship with his people.

And this is crucial.

This is a crucial point.

Because the covenant relationship

that God established with his people

requires far more than just

an awe-inspiring reality of God's presence on earth.

Its chief purpose

is for humanity to fellowship

with its creator.

Last week we saw the various sacrifices

that were required of God.

Today we are going to focus

in chapters 8 to 10

and see that a mediator

needs to stand

between an infinitely holy God

and finite sinful human beings.

There needs to be someone in between.

Chapter 8.

It is Aaron who is set apart,

consecrated as a high priest.

He's ordained as a high priest.

Aaron and his descendants

are to play the role

of the new Adam

in this new creation,

in this tabernacle drama

of system of worship.

Aaron will be the mediator

between God and his people.

He is the link

that turns the tabernacle

into the tent of meeting.

The link that mediates

fellowship between Israel

and the God

of heaven and earth.

Now I think

as we think about the idea of mediator,

it's really important for us

to grapple with this.

You see,

one principle

of professional mediation

is the assumption

that the mediator

is an independent

individual

whose goal it is

to achieve

a mutually satisfying

outcome

for two

parties

which are having

biffo with one another.

And if we think

of Israel's priests

as a literal mediator

in the modern sense,

we will get

the wrong impression.

The chief role

of priestly mediation

was not between

two aggrieved persons

but with only

one

offended

party.

God alone

had the right

to be offended

by the disobedience

of his people.

God was faithful,

he was loyal

to his people

but they were not

loyal to him.

And what's more,

the priestly mediator

was himself

a sinner

and required

a resolution

to his own

offense

against God

before he could

represent the

Israelite individual

or in fact

the nation

before God.

And so this

priestly mediator

was not to

seek a compromise,

he was not to

enter into

negotiations

and try and

nudge God

a little bit this way

a little bit that way.

There's no

two way street here.

There was no

negotiations to be

sorted out.

As we say today,

it was God's way

or the highway.

Now at first glance

that might seem

a little bit tough,

a little bit strict,

you know,

God demanding

complete compliance.

I mean,

you know,

what if we,

you ought to have

a little bit of

negotiation here.

What if we just

negotiate a little bit

and maybe 90%

might do?

God says,

no,

it's his way

or the highway.

The most notable

phrase which is

attached to the

activities of

chapters 8 and 9

is the phrase,

just as the

Lord commanded.

God expected

his word

to be

obeyed

just as he did

in the Garden of Eden.

And yet,

from our modern

sense,

we approach that

and we go,

you know,

let's find a middle

ground here.

Wouldn't it be

a bit more reasonable,

maybe even loving

of God,

if God wasn't

so uptight

on complete

obedience?

Maybe a little,

he's a bit too

rigid here.

Maybe we could

just negotiate

with God.

I remember

many years ago

sitting,

talking to a person

about the Christian

faith and I said,

so,

you know,

what would happen

if God all of a

sudden appeared to

you and stuff like

that or you

died now,

went to front God

and he said,

well,

you know,

I'd take a six-pack

with me.

And he said,

we'd go out

back door of heaven

there somewhere,

sit on the step

and we'd have a few

beers and we'll

negotiate.

He said,

it'll all be fine.

It'll all be fine.

You see,

what we're going to see

is that the tabernacle,

its sacrifices,

the priests,

were in fact

God's gracious

bending

towards sinful

men and women.

You see,

without this provision,

the provision

that God initiated,

without this provision,

they would have

faced the consequences

of unforgiven sins,

permanently cut off

from God

and the blessing

of his presence

forever.

And so,

in chapter 8,

we have the ordination

of Aaron

and his sons

as priests.

These are the new

Adams in this

new paradise

sacrifice.

And what we see

here is this

elaborate process.

There's robes

and sacrifices.

And it lasted

about a week

while they camped

in the grounds,

the courts

of the tent

of meeting.

Back in 1997,

December 1997,

I think it was

December sometime

in 1997,

I got ordained

as a deacon

in the Anglican Church.

I was ordained,

I was set apart

for ministry

in the worldwide

Anglican Church.

And so,

it's an ordination

process.

My ordination

process took

about an hour

and a quarter,

something like that.

And I didn't

have elaborate robes.

I had these things

that I had to wear.

And they're nice,

aren't they?

And the most

significant thing

of this

is this thing here,

in my opinion.

This thing here.

This symbolizes,

this is called

a preaching scarf.

This symbolizes

my chief duty.

The thing that

I was set apart

for was to bring

the word of God

to God's people,

to his creation,

to continually proclaim

the gospel everywhere.

And so,

in my ordination,

I wore this thing.

Now,

in my ordination service,

and I'm pretty sure

this didn't happen to Aaron,

but it happened to me.

I was,

what I had to do was,

I wore this garb on,

and I'm not used

to wearing dresses,

not before and not since.

And I wasn't used

to wearing this.

And what happened was,

you had to kneel

before the bishop,

the bishop lays his hands

on you,

he prays for you,

and sets you apart

for ministry

within the Anglican Church.

And as I came

and knelt before the bishop,

what I didn't realize

was that I'd actually

stepped on the bottom

of these things,

and I knelt down.

And when I went

to get up,

I went bang,

and I went forward,

and I landed

in the bishop's lap.

He wasn't sure

whether to lay hands

on me again

at that point

or what to do.

I was terribly embarrassed

because I'm like,

I can't,

I sort of had to grab hold

of him in order

to get my feet

off these things.

And it was incredibly

embarrassing.

The bishop didn't know

what to do,

but the archdeacon

over the side here

who was leading the service

was killing himself laughing.

He thought it was

the funniest thing

he'd seen at ordination service.

Now that didn't happen,

Aaron,

from what I could tell

from the text here.

And he was being,

he had a slightly

different job

than I have here,

but he had a very,

very significant role.

He was,

as I said,

the new Adam

coming into this paradise.

And up until this point,

Moses had been the mediator

between God and his people.

And now the role

of the high priest

will become

the most significant

relationship

in God relating

to his people.

In chapter 10,

God,

for the first time,

starts speaking

directly to Aaron.

It is a significant honor.

And all the expectations

of the ordination service

in chapter 8

and the very first

worship service

in the tabernacle

in chapter 9

is expressed

in chapter 9,

verse 4.

It says,

For today,

the Lord will appear

to you.

You see,

they knew the cloud

had descended

on the tabernacle.

What they hadn't seen,

they hadn't seen

the glory of God.

They hadn't come

face to face

with God.

That's the expectation

here.

This is the opportunity

that God gives for,

this is the way forward

for people to come

into his paradise

sacrifice.

And the climax

of the ordination service

and the first worship service

is,

and in fact,

the climax

of the first

nine chapters

of Leviticus

is there

in verse 22

of chapter 9.

Aaron lifted his hands

towards the people

and blessed them.

And having sacrificed

the sin offering,

the burnt offering,

the fellowship offering,

that is,

he did all the offerings

he was required,

he stepped down.

Moses and Aaron

then went into

the tent of meeting

and when they came out,

they blessed the people

and the glory of the Lord

appeared to all the people.

Fire came out

from the presence

of the Lord

and consumed the burnt offering

and the fat portions

on the altar.

And when all the people

saw it,

they shouted for joy

and they fell

face down.

Let me tell you,

we read those verses

really quickly,

but it is very,

very difficult.

In fact,

I want to say

it's impossible for me

to overstate the wonder

of what's just happened there.

The crisis

which is there

at the end of Exodus

has now been resolved

as two human beings

are allowed

into the very presence

of God

for the first time

since the flood.

First time

since the flood.

Fellowship

has been restored.

And notice three things.

Firstly,

that entering

into the presence

of God

is allowed only

after the sacrifices

have been performed.

Sacrifices first.

Secondly,

notice that

this is a corporate experience.

The phrase

the people

occurs four times

from verse 22

to the end

of that chapter.

While Marozos and Aaron

are given entry

into God's presence,

the purpose

of them being given

entry into God's presence

is for the sake

of the people.

Their entrance

means that

all the people

get to see

the glory

of God.

And thirdly,

as a result

of approaching

God

in accordance

to His word,

God's glory

is revealed

and the response

of the people

is joy.

This is the moment

they've been waiting

for for so long

and it's met

with the most

fitting response.

They shout for joy

and they fell

on their faces.

That's the goal

of the tabernacle.

That's the goal

of the tent

of meeting.

God's glory

being revealed

and people

responding

in appropriate

joy,

praise

and humble

praise.

So,

it was difficult

for me to overstate

the,

this being,

just how much

euphoria and joy

there would be

at this moment.

And it's also

incredibly hard

for me to overstate

the crisis

that immediately

followed.

One crisis

is resolved

and another one

has begun.

they go

from ecstasy

to agony.

You see,

like their father

who was high priest,

Nadab and Abihu

were also priests.

And we read

in chapter 10,

the very first verse,

Aaron's sons,

Nadab and Abihu

took their senses,

put fire in them,

they added incense

and they offered

unauthorized fire

before the Lord

contrary to his

command.

God.

It's,

it's incredibly

puzzling to know

why these guys

did this.

These guys

had a privileged

upbringing.

They witnessed

God's revelation

of himself

to Israel

through,

if you like,

ringside seats,

front and center,

you know,

box seats,

A-grade box seats.

They had been

among the select

group that approached

Mount Sinai.

When Moses went up

to speak with God,

they had spent

a week communion

with God

and preparing

for his service

in the,

in the tabernacle

courts.

They had seen

the fire

come out

from the Holy of Holies,

the most holy place

with their very own eyes.

You see,

these guys are not

rookies.

They're not,

you know,

they're not,

teenagers,

you know,

in the service.

They're not brand new.

They're not just

straight out of college

kind of stuff.

Perhaps they were

carried away

by all the excitement.

They wanted the experience

to continue,

so they attempted

to duplicate

the experience

of duplicating

the glory of God

by revealing

God's fire,

which inevitably

they actually did.

perhaps they might

have been

a little bit tipsy.

The excitement

and the euphoria

of the moment

led them to

drink a little bit

too much communion wine.

I don't know.

I mean,

verse 8 of chapter 10,

so the very next time

that God speaks,

He says,

don't drink wine

when you come

into my presence,

so maybe they'd

had a bit too much.

Whatever they were thinking,

it seems that they believed

that the specific command

to present the offerings

in a precise way

that were prescribed

by the Lord

were not necessary

to follow

in this moment.

What they offered

was referred to

by Moses

as contrary

to God's command.

Nadab and Abihu

decided to approach

the Lord

on their terms,

their way.

And the Lord

even warns Aaron,

the high priest,

the holiest man

in the land,

that he cannot

enter God's presence

whenever he likes,

however he wants to.

A friend of mine

works,

in fact,

did work

for a large

multinational corporation.

He was the head

of a team.

One of his teams

was a bit of a problem

to deal with

that he led

and he discovered

that this team member

one day.

Instead of reporting

an issue

with him directly,

he went over him

and went over his report

and went over him

and knocked on the door

of the CEO

of this large,

we're talking thousands

of employees

in this company,

thousands of employees,

knocked on the door

of the CEO.

The CEO

opens the door,

says,

come on in,

and sat down.

This guy made

his complaint

and the CEO

took a bunch of notes,

who do you report to,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

wrote it all down

and then he said,

I'll stop you there.

He said,

we have a system

in place

that you haven't followed.

How dare you

knock on my door

and come to me

with a complaint

like this,

jumping over

all of our systems.

You have ignored

the way

to approach

the CEO,

if you like.

He was marched

out of the office.

My mate found out

about this

because he got

a phone call

from the CEO

immediately

and said,

this bloke

on your team?

Yep, he does.

I want him gone

in three months.

Out of here

in three months.

You cannot

approach God

any way you like.

So verse 2,

fire came out

for the presence

of the Lord

and consumed them

and they died

before the Lord.

You see,

the fire

that had generated

such joy

and such blessing

for the people

just moments ago

was now

a source

of death

and fear.

And the tragedy

of this whole affair

is in verse 4,

Moses summoned

Mishael

and Eliphaz,

that guy,

sons of Aaron's

uncle,

Uziel,

and said to them,

come here,

carry your cousins

outside the camp

away from the front

of the sanctuary.

And so they came

and carried them

still in their tunics

outside the camp

as Moses ordered.

Nadab and Abihu

were cut off

from God

in the most dramatic way

and now they're removed

from the presence

of God,

even removed

from the presence

of his people.

What we're meant

to see here

is that Nadab

and Abihu

are in fact

thrown out

of paradise

again

just as Adam

and Eve were

when they disobeyed

God's word.

And so what we're

left with here

is this is

a moment of euphoria

and so

has God's plans

of how people

will approach him,

has it failed?

Has this whole

sacrificial system,

the way that God

has constructed

for people

to have fellowship

with him,

that people might

see his glory,

that people might

be at one-ment

with him,

have atonement,

has it failed?

Is the human race

forever doomed

now from this moment

to be in a situation

that Nadab

and Abihu

are currently in,

dead,

out of the presence

of God,

forever?

We saw last week

that the sacrifices

were insufficient

and now the mediators

we see,

the priests themselves

are flawed.

I mentioned last week

that Leviticus

is a blueprint

of something

that's greater to come

and when you've got

something that's greater

you don't need

the blueprint anymore.

God's disclosure

of himself

to his people

has its fullest expression

in the person

of the Lord Jesus.

We see this

as the beginning

of the New Testament.

If you go to the beginning

of his biography

on the life of Jesus,

John makes an incredible claim.

He says,

in the beginning

was the Word.

That is,

this Word existed

before anything was made

and the Word was with God

and the Word was God.

He was with God

in the beginning

and through Him,

that's through the Word,

all things were made.

Without Him,

nothing was made

that has been made.

That is,

this Word

who existed before time

is God

and He is the Creator,

the Maker

of the heaven and earth.

And then down

in verse 14,

we see something

startling about

this Word of God

who is God,

who is the Creator

of heaven and earth.

It says,

this Word

became flesh

and made His dwelling

amongst us.

And the Word dwelling

there

is quite literally

the Word

tabernacled

amongst us.

God came

and tabernacled

amongst His people.

The God

who reveals Himself

decided to come

into His world

to reveal His glory

in all its splendor,

tabernacled amongst us,

dwelt amongst us.

He turned up.

And it says there,

a little bit further on,

we have seen His glory,

the glory of the one

and only

who came from the Father,

full of grace and truth.

And you ask yourself

the question,

who is this Word

who is God

who existed before creation,

who created everything,

who came and dwelled

amongst us

and is full of grace

and truth,

who reveals the majesty

and splendor of God?

And verse 16

of John 1 tells us,

from the fullness

of His grace,

we have all received

one blessing from another.

For the law

was given through Moses,

but grace and truth

came through Jesus Christ.

You see,

the big issue of Leviticus

is how is it possible

for a human being

to be in the presence of God?

And here we are told

that the Creator God

became a human being

to come into our presence,

to dwell amongst us.

And it says that

we see His glory,

which means that

when Jesus arrived,

God's character

was on full display

for the world to see.

That's what John 1 says.

He came to His own

to reveal the presence,

to reveal the character

and the glory of God,

but they rejected Him.

What John 1 says

is the transcendent God,

the one who dwells

in invisible light

has made Himself known,

become visible.

And then we see

in verse 12 of John 1

that those who believe

in His name,

that it's the name of Christ,

He gave the right

to become children of God.

You see,

not only does God come

and tabernacle,

not only does Jesus

become the tabernacle

with His people,

but He opens up the way

for intimate relations

that we might become

children of God.

And how does He do that?

Well, Leviticus,

sorry, Hebrews 7

explains it

in the language

of Leviticus.

It says,

Now there have been

many of those priests

and since death

prevented them

from continuing in office,

but because Jesus

lives forever,

He is a permanent priesthood.

Therefore,

He is able to save

completely

those who come

to God through Him

because He always lives

to intercede for them.

Such a high priest

truly meets our needs,

one who is holy,

blameless,

pure,

set apart from sinners,

exalted above the heavens.

So Jesus is the tabernacle,

the place where God dwells,

the place of meeting.

He is the perfect high priest.

He is not flawed

like the other priests.

He lived the life

of perfect obedience

to His Father.

And what's more,

it says there

that He's a high priest

who's still alive.

He's not dead like the rest.

He has a permanent priesthood

offering as a mediator

between us and God

forever.

And unlike,

it keeps going on

in Hebrews,

it says,

unlike the other high priest

who He does not need

to offer sacrifices

day after day,

first for His own sins

and then for the sins

of His people,

He sacrificed

for their sins

once and for all

when He offered Himself.

So He's the tabernacle

set up as the place

where the sacrifices

are met,

where the mediator

would go in.

He's the mediator

who offers the sacrifices

and He is the sacrifice Himself.

He offers the perfect sacrifices,

the perfect priest.

The contrast is significant.

Under the old covenant,

the priest would slaughter

an animal,

would sprinkle its blood,

he'd be required

to do it again

and again

and again

and again

and again.

In fact,

to symbolize

the never-ending nature

of the work

of the priest

in the old covenant,

if you look

at the construction blueprints

for the tabernacle,

there were no seats

in the tabernacle.

That is,

the priest was not meant

to sit down.

They were never

to have rest

from their work.

It was to happen

again and again

and bungee on

and bungee off

and fly in and fly out

and just again

and again

and again

and again.

However,

Jesus offered Himself

as a sacrifice.

He took His own blood

in the very presence of God.

the heavenly sanctuary

and He did it

once for all

and then it says,

He sat down

at the right hand

of the throne

of the majesty

in heaven.

The job's done.

Nat and I

have just ended

a new phase of life.

For the first time

in nine years,

we get a day off together,

actually it's six hours,

with our kids.

All of our kids

are now at school

and so a lot has changed,

we've noticed,

since kids arrived

and one of the things,

it's not just sleeplessness,

that's one thing,

but one thing

that particularly notice

is the inability

for us to have

an ordered house

for any longer

than 20 minutes.

That's one thing

we've noticed.

With kids,

cleaning becomes

a meaningless,

repetitive task.

The house

never remains clean

for any length of time.

I'm astounded

that you get

how quickly

toothpaste ends up

on the vanity mirror,

even when teeth

haven't been cleaned.

I don't get it.

I really don't get it.

You wash everything

in the laundry pile

and you'll still discover

clothing on a shelf,

there'll be some

in the backyard,

even in the fridge.

I mean,

it's,

go figure.

And before those clothes

are even dry

and packed away,

there are more clothes

to wash.

That's,

that's what the sacrifice,

the Old Testament's like.

Never ending.

Never ending.

No time to sit down

and go,

oh, it's fine.

You read the newspaper.

Jesus appeared

once for all

to do away

with the sin

by the sacrifice

of himself.

We don't have to go

through meaningless

repetition

of ineffective sacrifices.

We can trust

in Christ's

effective sacrifice

once and for all,

a sacrifice

which does not

need repeating

because he did the job

first time.

And that's why

Jesus was able to say

a little later

in John's Gospel,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life,

and no one comes

to the Father

except through me.

There is no basis

for acceptance

apart from the reality

of God

offering himself

in Christ

as the purging

and the reconciling

offering

for our sins.

It means that

all peoples,

different ethnicities,

languages,

and cultures

have a common place

at the foot of the cross.

There is no other way

to the God

than through Jesus.

Now you might be

sitting here

tonight thinking

this is all nice

but great way,

great connections

in terms of

how we get to God

but why would I

want to meet with God?

I think that

if you listen

to the secular press

that seems to be

a more popular option

nowadays.

It would be easy

to conclude

that our society,

that in our society

that unbelief

is on the march,

religion is

in significant decline

and yet

belief in God

still makes sense

for four out of five

people in this world.

And there's a whole

number of reasons

why that is the case.

And one of the

most significant reasons

is that deep down,

deep down in the core

of our beings,

there is this sense

of the transcendent.

There's more

to this world

than this world.

A Harvard professor,

James Wood,

in a New Yorker article

titled,

Is That All There Is?

tells of a friend

of his

who's an analytical

philosopher

and a convinced

atheist

who sometimes

wakes up

in the middle

of the night

haunted by questions

like this.

How could it be

that this world

is the result

of an accidental

big bang?

How could there be

no design,

no metaphysical

purpose?

How could it be

that every life,

beginning with my own,

my husband's

and my child's,

and spreading

outward

wood is

cosmically

irrelevant?

Wood himself

is a secular man,

an atheist,

and yet he admits

that as one gets

older

and parents and peers

begin to die

and the obituaries

in the newspaper

are no longer

missives from a

far away pace

but local letters

and one's own

projects seem

more pointless,

such moments

of terror

and incomprehension

seem more frequent

and more piercing.

I could give you

a long list

of names

of people saying

exactly the same thing,

people like Steve Jobs

battling

with his own death

saying,

surely this is not

it,

is it?

See,

in our secular culture

where science

and technology

trumps faith,

there is a growing

sense of science

and technology

while contributing

a whole lot

can't address

the big issues

of life.

If everything

has to be

scientific,

has to have

a scientific

explanation

and proof,

then this

not only

banishes

God

from the world

but it also

banishes things

like love,

hate,

meaning,

which is

a world

and can I

say

a world

self-evidently

not the world

that we live in.

There must be

something more

and Jesus

made the claim

that he is

the one

who connects

you

with the

something more,

with the

heavenly father,

with the maker

of heaven

and earth,

the one

who has

all of history,

as we just

had a brief

look at tonight,

all of history,

all time and

eternity

in his hands,

the one

who delights

to fellowship

with his creation.

And if you

are sitting here

tonight,

you have that

sense that

something's

missing,

I would

implore you

to investigate

Jesus.

You'll be

amazed at

all the

things he

said,

all the

things he

did,

and the

perfect life

he lived.

Try and

pick up.

Try and

pick holes

in his

life.

Now,

if you're

a Christian

then,

on the

other hand,

and I

want to

mention four

things of

application

here very

briefly.

First,

realize that

Jesus'

sacrifice

cleanses you

through and

through.

This is

not some

sort of

external

washing that

makes you

look okay

to the

naked eye.

It is an

internal

washing that

means that

you stand

up clean,

pure,

right under

the all

knowing eye

of God.

When God

himself comes

looking for

your sin,

for your

blemishes,

he can't

find anything.

It's all

being taken

away.

Secondly,

be thankful.

The best

way to

apply the

truth of

the passage

that we've

seen today

is to go

home,

to sit

down in a

quiet spot

and praise

God for

what he

has done

for you.

At the

end of

Hebrews,

again,

in the

context of

talking about

the sacrifice

of Jesus,

it says

this,

through

Jesus,

therefore,

let us

continually

offer to

God a

sacrifice of

praise,

the fruit of

lips that

openly confess

his name

and do not

forget to do

good and to

share with

others,

for with

such sacrifices

God is

pleased.

What are the

sacrifices God

is pleased with

his people?

The sacrifice of

thanksgiving for

what he's done.

thirdly,

please note

that if you're

in Christ,

you have a

new designation,

you've got a

new role.

It's alluded

to in

Hebrews 13,

but made

explicit in

1 Peter 2

1 Peter 2:9

verses 9 and

10,

it says,

but you are a

chosen people,

a royal

priesthood.

If you are

in Christ,

if you're

united to the

perfect priest,

the perfect

mediator,

you too

have become

a priest,

those who

put their

trust in

Jesus are

now designated

priests,

so that,

the reason

is,

going on in

1 Peter,

it says,

so that you

may declare

the praises

of him who

called you

out of darkness

into his

wonderful light.

You have

been redeployed

in Christ's

service as a

priest standing

in his presence,

giving praise

to him and

declaring to

the nations

the praise

worthiness of

Christ.

The Christian

church is a

kingdom of

priests.

with Jesus

as their

benevolent ruler

and they're

called to

mediate the

gospel of the

good news of

Christ to

the world

and to each

other.

That's your

role.

That's the

role of the

church, to

mediate this

gospel news to

the world and

to each other.

This is not

just a role

designated for

people like me

who have to

wear funny

dresses occasionally.

every Christian

is called

upon to be a

witness to the

gospel of Jesus

Christ to the

nations, to

declare his

praiseworthiness to

the nations.

Finally,

realize that you

have unlimited

access to the

Father's presence.

What a privilege

that is.

What a privilege

that is.

I mean, what

some of us

wouldn't give to

be able to get

on the end of

the phone to

the most powerful

person in the

world.

I'm not sure it's

Don Trump anymore.

But wouldn't it,

I mean, what we

would give in

order to swing

something our

way.

And what a

privilege it is to

be able to go in

the very presence of

God, the one who

made this world,

and to be able to

do it at any time

and to be able to

call him Father,

I'm your much

loved child,

Father, to be

able to speak to

him.

Now friends, can

I make, can you

make sure that you

that you use that

privilege?

Don't believe the

lie of the devil

that says that

you're not worthy

to go there and

you're not worthy

to call him

Father and he's

not interested in

hearing from you.

And in fact, he's

probably ignoring

your prayer request

anyway.

It's not on the

basis of your

worthiness that you

approach, but on

the basis of

Christ's

worthiness.

In Christ, God

sees you as

perfectly righteous,

as perfectly

obedient to the

covenant, and so

you're always worthy

to approach the

Father through the

Son.

Say, Father,

Father, what a

privilege.

Use it.

Father.

For sale.