Atonement

Greetings, everyone! Very good to be with you again. Quite an honor. Wonderful job. Special music with Chris and Pam. Really appreciate that. Had so very much. Chris is a man of all seasons. He can fix your car, paint it up nice, make it throw a rod, sing a pretty song. He can do all kinds of things. You know, that song has a great deal of meaning with regard to the way the world is today. It stands on the brink of books like Cosmocide and about every sphere you want to name. Of course, that's not the sermon yet, but anyhow. A few things, especially to the Houston South Church personal in nature. I think we have finally found a home. We put a contract on a place on Thursday. It's at Rosherin. It's 16 miles from intersection of 518 and 288. It takes us about 18 minutes to get back to that town center. And that's better than being at the intersection of 518 and 35 south of the Praise Center, which will take you more than 18 minutes. I would say this place is out in the country. We had to go through two cow pastures to get there. So we really like it. It has 3 fourths of an acre. So our Akita willy bear and our Rottweiler shack will be right at home there. Have a place to roam. We're scheduled to go to the Steamboat Springs for the feast. But I am in doubt as to whether or not we will be going. I have a pinched nerve in my neck. Right now I'm feeling as bad as well as I felt in several days. It just comes and goes between C7 and T1. That's right where the neck meets the shoulders, where everything rests on the shoulders. I have a bulging disc that's protruding to the back. It is cutting off the nerve supply to my left arm and hand. I used to be able to do that with both hands, but now I have to get that over there. I can hardly do it, but you can't do it with either hand. But anyhow, I always had great flexibility in my hands. These two are going. I tentatively have a surgery schedule for October 30th where they can free that nerve. But I'm hoping and praying, and I hope you will too, that somehow that... And I've got another one bulging between T6 and T7 that's also causing a lot of pain. So when you see me trying to get a position, that's what that's about. It's something I don't want to talk about. I mean, you can pray about it. I hope you will, but that's all I want to say about it. That's all I want you to say about it. And then, before I start the sermon, one thing I wanted to do is make a clarification of something I said here on trumpets, which I think needs to be clarified. If you want to go to 1 Timothy 4, a church member, I think, in the north brought this to my attention, because I think I could have left you with the wrong impression.

Concerning the doctrine of demons, Paul speaks here in 1 Timothy 4. The doctrine of demons, the Spirit speaks expressly in the latter times. Some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. And Paul begins to enumerate some of those things, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

Forbidding to marry is called celibacy, and of course the Catholic Church teaches that. And it goes way back into said agnosticism, this doctrine of forbidding to marry, and commanded to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. Well, it is not a sin, of course, to refuse to get married. I mean, if it's for the right reasons, Paul was never married. Of course, Jesus Christ Himself was never married. But when you teach celibacy as a means of spirituality and avenues to righteousness, and imposing it on people, and leading them to believe that in order to be righteous, you have to abstain from marriage, or you have to abstain from meat and become a vegetarian, then that's when it becomes sin.

To refuse to eat meat or to abstain from meat, maybe if you want to become a vegetarian, it may not be a sin. It depends on your attitude and approach, and whether or not you're trying to use that to show your righteousness through some physical means to show that you're more righteous than someone else. So Paul is addressing here ascetic narcissism. Asceticism means to deny the flesh, to purify the flesh. The Gnostics taught dualism, that is, material things are evil, and human beings being material, flesh and blood, the flesh part of humankind was said to be evil, but humans supposedly had a pure, good, immortal soul residing within them.

And the way back to the spirit world was to deny the flesh, to purify the flesh, and they set up various dos and don'ts of don't taste, don't touch, such things that Paul identifies and lists in collagions. So he's addressing that Gnosticism, even the Essenes, who were a group that went off into the wilderness, and Judea lived in caves, probably the ones who were responsible for what we call the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were involved in ascetic Gnosticism. The Cathars in southern France, and that spread into other parts of Europe, were also involved in ascetic Gnosticism.

So, if you refuse, refuse is not the word, really, probably abstain from getting married for the right reasons, abstain from meat. Sometimes a person just can't digest meat protein. They need to eat raw fruits and vegetables. That's a different thing. When it becomes sin, it's when it is taught as a religious doctrine and imposed upon people, and people are led to believe that that is a way to righteousness. This vegetarianism, and also, along with it, vegetarianism and the whole PETA program and other forms of New Ageism have taken on a whole new life of their own. The Mother Earth Movement, the Gaia Movement, a lot of the environmentalists now are teaching that the Earth is a living organism, and we have to get in harmony with it at any time that we destroy the life of any organism.

I don't know what they're going to do. Plants are living organisms as well. But if you don't eat meat, then you come to the point you can't eat plants either. I guess we could eat carbon, and they would be happy. I thought I would make that clarification. As I told the South Church my first sermon, there I said I'll say a lot of things that you probably won't like. That's different from things you don't agree with. If there's something that bothers you, always come to the source and see if we can clarify it. So once again, it's a pleasure to be with you.

Today, if I were to ask each one of you individually, what does this day picture? Virtually every one of you would say it pictures Satan being bound after the return of Christ, as noted in Revelation 19-20. And so it does picture that. That's a part of it. But is there more? I believe there is more and much more to understand and to put into practice in our lives concerning the meaning of this day.

I submit to you there is a lot to understand about this day that transcends just, rotely saying, well, this day pictures the binding of Satan after the return of Christ. And as I said, indeed it does. So let us dig a little deeper this afternoon and understand more about this day and how it applies to our lives right now. Now, this is the type of sermon that will not permit daydreaming trips.

If you take too long of a daydreaming trip, you will be lost. You'll have to stay right with me, I would say, all the way in order to follow the thread. So let's turn to Leviticus 23 verse 26, where, of course, in Leviticus the Holy Days are listed and briefly described what is to take place on those days. These are the feasts of the Eternal. We know that they are inextricably linked to the law of God. I believe that the Holy Days and the Sabbath are inextricably linked together and a part of the immutable spiritual law of God standing forever and ever.

In Leviticus 23 verse 26, the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying, Also the tenth day of the seventh month shall be the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you. You shall afflict your souls, meaning to fast. Of course, when you fast, when you deny the flesh, you give up everything that Satan has to offer. The only thing that Satan has to offer is the here and now world.

Satan only has this world to offer, and he can coat it with glamour and glitz and make you think that this is the real world and the one that you really desire. But when you give up even eating and drinking and afflict your souls, of course, that is a great, great resistance of Satan. And offer an offering made by fire to the Eternal, and you shall do no work on that same day. For it is the day of atonement.

Of course, in the old King James it says, a day of atonement. By the way, I'm using my wife's Bible, and she needs a new one. I went off and left my briefcase, so I've never turned to these scriptures in this particular Bible. But I think I can find most of them. But anyhow, I like the old King James better, but I'm back there with the apostles. But here we go. A day of atonement to make atonement for you before the Eternal your God. For any person who is not afflicted of soul on that same day, he shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no matter of work. It shall be a statue forever throughout your generations and all your dwellings. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest. You shall afflict your souls on the night and day of the month at evening. From evening to evening, you shall celebrate your Sabbath. And so that's what we have been doing for the past several hours. Now notice verse 28 again. Verse 28. You shall do no work on that day, for it is a day of atonement. A day of atonement. The Hebrew is yom kippur. It literally means day of atonements. Yom is the word for day kippur for atonements. Kippur is the plural form of kaphar. K-A-P-H-A-R. Now kaphar in the Old Testament is the word that is generally translated atonement. Kaphar has a wide range of meaning, which we will see here this afternoon.

According to the most up-to-date studies, atonement, and this is from the Hebrew Jewish authorities, this word kippur in the Hebrew really means ransom by means of a substitute. Ransom, of course, you pay a price to buy something back. So ransom by means of a substitute. So we know in the spiritual fulfillment of this that Jesus Christ paid the price. He ransomed us back. He bought us back.

So if kippur means ransom by means of a substitute, isn't that the same as the Passover? Didn't Jesus die for our sins and buy us back from sin and death? And thus the ransom has been paid. So is there a relationship between the day of atonement and Passover? To a large degree, it seems that the day of atonement is somewhat of a rehash of Passover. If Passover is the same as the day of atonement, why do we observe it as a separate festival? On the day of atonement, the priests made offerings for sin. Similar to Passover, there were offerings made for sin on Passover. But there was one great difference between the sacrifices offered on Passover. There's, of course, more than one difference. There are many differences. But one major difference between the sacrifices offered on Passover and those offered on atonement, on the day of atonement, the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God. And as we shall see, that is the only day that anyone went into the Holy of Holies. So is there meaning to this day that goes beyond the Passover? So once again, you ask most any church member, what's the meaning of this day? And virtually everyone says, well, it pictures putting away of Satan after the return of Christ, and placing the sins of the world upon his head where it belongs, and thus a type of fulfillment also of the high priest confessing the sins of the nation of Israel over the head of the Azazel, or scapegoat, incorrectly translated scapegoat, in Leviticus 16. So let's go to Leviticus 16 and note a distinction made between the two goats in Leviticus 16 and verse 9.

This day of atonement, what the high priest had to do was very complicated, was very detailed, especially in the post-exilic years. That's after the Jews came back from captivity in Babylon, the elders would bring the high priest to the temple area a week or so in advance, and they would practice step by step what he was to do on that day.

And especially if he was new in the office, he could mess up pretty badly, because there was a lot of detail to go into the very presence of God, because God pledged his presence above the mercy seat. However, now here's another caveat, I don't want to get too far off on this, if you like teaching minor prophets. Anyhow, in the tabernacle that Moses raised up in the wilderness, and in the temple that Solomon built, when they were dedicated, the glory of God filled the temple called the Shekinah Glory.

Now, when the Restoration Temple was built, there is no record of the Holy Spirit, the glory of God, filling that Restoration Temple, or the Holy of Holies. But nonetheless, it was viewed as if, even in the post-exilic days, that the high priest was going in before God at the mercy seat, and he had to really watch what he did. In Leviticus 16, in verse 9, Let's start in verse 8, Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord.

Notice that one lot for the eternal, the Yahweh. And the other lot for Beozozel, translated the scapegoat. Now, I will briefly read to you how scapegoat came into the King James Bible. I think in the NIV, the New King James still has scapegoat, but in the King James' scapegoat, maybe the NIV says the Azazo goat. Azazo was translated as scapegoat in the King James Bible, 1611. The James I translators, it's called the Authorized Version because King James authorized it to be translated. Before this time, people had their heads cut off and burned at the stake for making the Bible available to the general public.

Translators derived the word scapegoat from William Tyndale's translation of the Bible about 1530, which split Azazo into the component parts. In other words, it made it a compound word, easy and OZEL, literally the goat that departs. Hence the goat that escapes for short, escape goat. Since this goat with the sins of the people placed on it is then sent over a cliff or driven into the wilderness.

Now I should pause here. As you read in Leviticus, we read it probably in just a moment. In the tabernacle days and in the temple days, the goat was driven into the wilderness. Then in the post-exilic days after the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity, they came to the point to where they would lead the goat out to a high cliff, and they would station people all along the way as they led the goat out, and they would come to the high cliff and they would push the goat off the cliff, and he would plunge to his death.

Different from the instructions given in Leviticus, but you know the price. He condemned many of the traditions of the Jewish sects of his day, and then they would shout, he's dead, and they would pass it, and then get all the way back to, I guess, the Jerusalem area, and there would be great shout and celebration at the conclusion of atonement. So this word scapegoat continuing, since this goat were the sins of the people placed on it, then sent over a cliff or driven in the wilderness to perish, perhaps at the hands of the desert demon Azazel, the word scapegoat has come to mean a person often innocent who is blamed or punished for the sins, crimes, or sufferings of others.

Now, Smith and Plubitz Bible dictionary, and I looked at several different sources in doing the research for this, I mean, dozens, the best modern scholars agreed that it designates, that is, Azazel, the personal being to whom the goat was sent, probably Satan. So Azazel is associated in the occult and in theology of the world with the goat for Satan. We've had some confusion in the church in recent times, even some ministers, getting almost sidetracked on this, of thinking that this Azazel goat wasn't one who really paid for sins.

No way! Because we've just read here clearly in verse 8, the lot was cast for the eternal. One lot for the eternal, the other for the Azazel. There's a vast difference. Continue verse 9, And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the eternal's lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.

So it's not possible that a live goat or a dead goat can pay for sin, as it says in Hebrews. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and let it to go as the scapegoat or Azazel goat into the wilderness.

Now we go to verses 21 and 22.

And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. So we should now consider the meaning of the Hebrew word kaphar, translated atonement, in the Old Testament. Basically, the word means to cover, to cover.

And we see a distinction is made here between the two goats, one for the eternal, one for the Azazel. And even though sins are paid for through the goat for the eternal, and in the ultimate fulfillment of this through Jesus Christ, the ultimate blame for sin and the actual purging of the universe, as it were, of sin, takes place when Satan's head is bruised and he's put away forever as we know.

This word kaphar means to coat or cover with pitch, to cover over, to pacify, atone for sin, make atonement for sin, to be covered over, and to make atonement for.

Now, the first time that this word kaphar, if you'll go to Genesis 6.14, early on up until Exodus 29.33, most of the time, this word kaphar is referring to a covering in Genesis 6.14. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood, make rooms in the ark, and kaphar, the same word that's translated atonement in Leviticus 16. Same word that's translated atonement in Leviticus 16. Cover it inside and outside with pitch. So kaphar can mean covering. And basically, the Old Testament sacrifices, that's what they did. They covered sin and kept the people ceremonially clean so that they can approach before God, but it is no way that those sacrifices, as we'll read later in Hebrews, could purge the conscience of sin. So let's briefly trace the history of this festival, that is atonement. The initial redemption buying back of Israel is recorded in the book of Exodus. And Exodus means, these are the names. The literal meaning of the book is, these are the names. In Greek, Exodus means, the way out or going out. And that's come to be the more popular meaning, especially from the Septuagint translation and the fact that it records Israel going out of Egypt. So Exodus is a book of redemption. The book of Exodus records Israel coming out of Egypt, out of sin and death, through the Passover. The types in Exodus are of redemption, of the initial buying back. Remember that term, the initial buying back, the initial ransom. So let's go to Exodus 12, verse 6. In Exodus 12 and verse 6, Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. Of course, that makes it sound like they killed it altogether, but the individual heads of households killed it.

And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two-door posts and on the lentil of the houses where they eat it.

The sacrifices on Passover, after the tabernacle was raised up and after the temple was built and dedicated, the sacrifices on Passover were offered outside the sanctuary. In the initial Passover, the blood was sprinkled on the door posts of the homes of the Israelites. The Passover was eaten and the remains were burned. Notice verse 10. You shall let none of the remains until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. So after the tabernacle and the temple were constructed, the offerings were offered on the altar of burnt offerings. Let's go now to Exodus 40.

So this initial Passover, where was the blood placed? On the door posts.

Then, after the tabernacle was raised up and there was an altar built and the Levitical priesthood was established, there was an altar to offer sacrifices upon. In Exodus 40 verse 5, you shall also set the altar of gold from the incense before the ark of the testimony, the ark of the covenant, and put up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. Then you shall set the altar of the burnt offerings before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. You shall set the lather between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

After this tabernacle was raised up, God's glory filled it, as I've already referred to. Let's read that in Exodus 40 verses 33 through 38.

I'm not going to read all of it, but in verse 33, He raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar and hung up the screen of the court gate, and just finished the work. Verse 34, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. It was so great Moses could not enter in.

Verse 36, when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward. If the cloud was not taken up, they stayed, and they had a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them throughout their journeys. Now we come to the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is the sanctuary book. Now in Leviticus, once again backing up Exodus, the redemption book coming out, coming out of sin and death, coming out of Egypt. But in Exodus, at the very end, the tabernacle is raised up, the glory of God fills the tabernacle, and an altar is built to offer sacrifices of Poland. Now we come to Leviticus 1.1. Leviticus is the sanctuary book, and God is in his holy temple. Leviticus in Hebrew, the Hebrew word, the Hebrew word, the Hekara, literally means, and He called, and He called. Leviticus literally means, and He called.

Leviticus is a call to worship. So the book of Leviticus is God's call for His people to worship Him. And where is He? Of course, He's on His throne in heaven, but also His presence, Leviticus 1.1. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying. So He spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting. We saw in the last few verses of Exodus 40 that His glory had filled the tabernacle. So great was God's presence there that Moses could not even enter in. In Habakkuk 2, verse 20, there are quite a few references to God as in His temple. This is perhaps the most direct one. I'm just going to turn to this one for now, and we will build off of this some later. In Habakkuk 2 and verse 20, a little bit about Habakkuk. Habakkuk is what you would call the questioning prophet.

The first part of Habakkuk, he has a great burden laid upon him because he saw the Chaldeans raising up and prophesied about some dire consequences to take place. He just wondered what was going to happen. Then he sat back and he said, I'm going to stand and watch and see what happens. That's verse 1 of chapter 2.

Then we come to Habakkuk 2.20, But the Eternal is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. Today God is in His holy temple. The called out ones, the holy saints collectively called the Church of God. The ecclesia, the called out ones. Individually and collectively we are the Church of God. We are the holy temple. As that biblical, let's go to 1 Corinthians 3.16. 1 Corinthians 3.16. So these types from the Old Testament can have a lot of meaning for us when we understand the spiritual application in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 16, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? It doesn't dwell in buildings made by hands, as it says in Acts 7 and several other places in the New Testament. You are the temple of God. The Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy. Which temple you are. At this point, we should make a distinction between holy and sacred. What are holy things? Holy things have God's active presence within them. It's called the holy temple because God's active presence is within us. Jerusalem, at times, is called the holy city because God's active presence is within the city, and is specifically, at one time, in the temple and in the holy of holies. So the types in Leviticus relate to worship. And today, we are commanded in John 4.23. Let's go there for John 4.23.

This is the encounter that Jesus had with the woman at the well. Some of the concluding remarks that Jesus makes to her. In John 4.23, the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Because this is in response to verse 25. The Samaritans had built a temple on Mount Gerizim that rivaled the temple in Jerusalem. So they were taught, some of them taught, well, you worship that Mount Gerizim in Samaria. And then she said, well, you say that it's in Jerusalem you should worship. And at one point, as we have seen, God's glory was in the temple and later in the tabernacle, later in the temple. But now it's in one of us, in each one of us. And then Christ says, the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father seeks such to worship Him, God is spirit in those who worship Him, much worship Him in spirit and truth. So it's not relegated to a specific geographical location. So as we've already noted, the Hebrew word for atonement in the Old Testament is kafar, covering. And we mentioned where it was first used in Genesis 6.14, that He placed pitch, or He covered the ark with some kind of substance that was water repellent. Now let's go to Exodus 29, verse 33. This is the first place in the King James Bible where you'll find kafar translated atonement. Exodus 29, verse 33.

They shall eat those things with which the atonement, the kafar, was made, the covering, to concentrate and to sacrifice them. But a stranger shall not eat them because they are holy. Why couldn't the stranger eat them because they had not gone through the process necessary to be ceremonially clean? So cleansing for sin takes place in the outer court of the sanctuary. Let's go to Leviticus 4. Once again, cleansing takes place, cleansing in the outer court of the sanctuary. You've got to watch those INGs. You begin to sound like Sarah Palin. I think Sarah Palin has Hillary Clinton hiding out in the caves in Afghanistan because Palin has set back the feminist movement back to the Stone Age. Because she is quite the opposite.

Leviticus 4, verse 1.

The Lord spoke to Moses, speaking to the children of Israel, saying, If a person sins unintentionally against any of the commandments of the Lord in anything which ought to be done, and does any of them, if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer the Lord for his sin, which he has sinned a young bull without blemish, as a sin offering. It goes on talking the detail throughout most of Leviticus 4 about how this is to be done. In verse 18, he shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar, which is before the eternal, which is in the tabernacle of meeting. He shall pour the remaining blood at the base of the altar for burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. He shall take all the fat from it and burn it on the altar. And he shall do with the bull as he did with the sin offering, thus he shall do with it, so the priest shall make atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. This initial atonement takes place outside the sanctuary. Atonement provided a national cleansing of the high priests, the people, and the sanctuary. The people, first of all, the high priests, the sanctuary, and the people. Let's go back to Leviticus 16 and notice that.

So the high priests went into the presence of God, into the Holy of Holies, three times on the day of atonement. Leviticus 16, verse 33. Then he shall make atonement for the holy sanctuary, he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle and for the altar, he shall make an atonement for the priests and for all the people of the congregation. So he went in and out three times on the day of atonement. Atonement provided a national cleansing of the high priests, the people, and the sanctuary. Before any blood was taken into the Holy of Holies, the incense was first taken in. Why? Because the burning of the incense before the mercy seat symbolized the praise and glory of God. Having applied the blood, the high priest then took the live goat, laid his hands on its head, confessed the sins of the people. Thus symbolically transferring their guilt to the Azazel goat, the one to whom it belonged, Satan is the author of sin and death.

And we've already talked about the word scapegoat, how it came into the King James Bible. And of course, as we've already noted, this goat was sent away in the wilderness, later pushed over a cliff, never to be seen again, illustrating the removal of the nation's sins. So now for another distinction. So initial redemption, ransom, justification, passover outside the sanctuary. High priests didn't go into the Holy of Holies. Passover makes access to God possible and takes place outside the sanctuary. Atonement takes place inside the sanctuary. Atonement pictures the great intercessory work of Jesus Christ, our high priest, who sits on the right hand of the Father, whoever lives, making intercession for us, and also made it possible for us to live in the Holy of Holies. The title of the sermon would be Living in the Holy of Holies. We briefly recounted the history of what Atonement was under in the days before Israel came out of Egypt, the blood on the doorposts, and then how they came out. That is the Passover. I said that wrong, the Passover in Exodus 12. Then the Day of Atonement after the tabernacle was built in Leviticus 16. The Passover part was done outside the sanctuary. The Atonement part is done inside the sanctuary. The priest went continually into the outer sanctuary in offering the daily sacrifices. Now let's go to Hebrews 9, where Paul summarizes in about six or seven verses what it's taken me 30 minutes to say.

In Hebrews 9.

But with that background, backdrop, we should be able to understand some of this more clearly. In Hebrews 9, verse 1, Then indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared, the first part in which was the lampstand, the table, the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all, the holy of holies. Which had the golden altar of incense, the ark of the covenant, overlaid on all sides with the gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. And above it were the carobim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat, called the Shekinah glory, the very presence of God. Now these things we cannot now speak in detail. Now when these things had been prepared, the priest always went in the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. See, they always went in on a daily basis. These things were done outside the sanctuary, including Passover. But in the second part, the high priest went alone once a year on the day of Atonement, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sin, committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. In other words, the way for you and I into that holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was yet standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience. But of course now, as we shall see, we can enter into the holiest of all. Christ entered into the Holy Place once for all of our sins. That Holy Place is therefore the throne of God in heaven. Notice Hebrews 9-12. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he, Christ, entered the most holy place once for all, having turned eternal redemption. Christ went there, the holiest of all. Verse 23. Therefore it was necessary that the pattern or the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, that is, with the sacrifice, the blood of bulls and goats. But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered in the Holy Place made with hands, which are copies or pattern of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence for us, in the presence of God for us. Not that he should offer himself often as a high priest enters the Holy Place every year with blood of another. He then would have to suffer often since the foundation of the world, but now once at the end of the age, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

So it was necessary that the heavenly be purged with better sacrifices than that of the blood of bulls and goats. I've often wondered about this purging of the heavenly throne. Have you ever wondered, well, why would the heavenly throne need to be purged?

And as Paul says, at one point he speaks by permission, but I'm just speaking on best knowledge available, and this would be what I think perhaps is the answer to that.

In order for our sins to be forgiven, we must come before the throne of God, confess them upon the great altar before the throne of God. So daily we come before the throne of God, we confess our sins, we lay on that altar, think about all the sins of all the peoples who confess their sins, or laid upon that altar continually, and all sin, once and for all, is purged by the blood of Christ.

So each one of us must go through a cleansing. We must not wait until the end of the year. The physical sanctuary was cleansed on the day of atonement. Today our bodies, the holy temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, must be cleansed on a daily basis. And we continually go into the holy of holies, just as a high priest did on that day, because we can boldly go before the throne of God. Where to become new creations, ministers of reconciliation, purged from sin.

Now notice 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17.

The words reconciliation and reconcile are from the same Greek root words. And the basic one, catalogue, means to exact an exchange. To exchange one thing for another thing. What we are involved in far surpasses the kafar that was possible with the offering of the blood of bulls and goats on the day of atonement. In the Old Testament. Where to become new creations, ministers of reconciliation, purged from sin.

In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. A little bit more about this word catalogue. As I said, it means to exchange, to restore to favor, to reconcile. And it also has a connotation of to change thoroughly, which has another connotation of going on to perfection. So in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away, behold, all things become new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us, the catalogue or a form of it, to himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us a ministry of reconciliation. Where to be active participants in it. Continually reconciled ourselves with God, Jesus Christ, each member of the body of Christ. And to help in reconciling the world. Now all the things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, has given us a ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. And so we took up an offering here today, and one of the things that the Holy Day offering is involved in directly, most all of that goes to the preaching of the gospel. I guess there's a seal there, I really noticed, preparing a people and preaching the gospel. That we are ministers of reconciliation, individually and collectively we can be. In Hebrews 4, verse 12, more about living in the Holy of Holies. To me this is one of the most thrilling understandings about the Day of Atonement, not just the binding of Satan at the end of this present evil age, but what this day means continually to us on a daily basis. In Hebrews 4, verse 12, the Word of God is living in powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the vision of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him in whom we must give account. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. See, unlike that High Priest in the days of the tabernacle or the temple, Jesus Christ abides forever a High Priest sitting at the right hand of God making intercession. For we do not have an High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tested tried as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that mercy seat in the heavens, not just a mercy seat in a tabernacle or a temple, that we may obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need. Our minds can be transformed. We can become new creations. The Day of Atonement is a continual reality in our lives. Now notice Hebrews 10, verse 18. This really captures the title of the sermon, Living in the Holy of Holies. Once again, summarizing a lot of things. Remember what Paul is doing in Hebrews. He's comparing and contrasting the elements of the Old Covenant with the elements of the New Covenant. The elements of the Old Covenant had to do with a priesthood. The Levitical priesthood replaced by the priesthood of Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, now a High Priest. The Law Covenant replaced with the New Covenant, which is furnished with law, in no way did away with the law. It is based on better promises, not just earthly promises, but eternal life, forever and ever in the Kingdom of God. In addition to that, different sacrifices. The priest offered up physical sacrifices. Today we offer up spiritual. The comparison and contrast in the book of Hebrews. Now in Hebrews 10.18. Where there is remission of these, there is no more or no longer an offering for sin.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. So we go into that holy of holies and can live there and come boldly before the throne of God by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say His flesh. Now that is what the French might call a dupley entendre there. That is a dual meaning. That there was the veil, of course, that separated the outer court from the inner court. Separated that place where the sacrifices were usually offered out there from the holy of holies. And when Jesus Christ offered His sacrifice, that veil was rent in two. Making it possible for Jew and Gentile, those who were near and who were far off to enter into the holiest of all through the veil of His flesh. That is, He gave His life and His blood that we might enter in.

So that's what it means there. Through the veil, that is His flesh. And having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkle from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. I mean, that is so thrilling. And it's such a privilege that we just take it for granted. Well, I can go to God at any time and I can pray to Him. We can boldly go before the throne of God. Just, you know, Stephen, as he was being stoned, he looked up and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God in the heavens and the holy of holies. And the holy of holies perfection is emphasized. Notice Hebrews 6, verse 1. We must go on to perfection.

In Hebrews 6, we had a publication in Worldwide. I don't know if we... I don't remember if we have a copy that... an article that parallels this or not. But anyhow, that article was still very valid. The seven great doctrines of Hebrews 6. Therefore, leaving the discussion... I do not like this wording. I prefer the King James, so I'll just say it in King James. Therefore, leaving the principles of doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection. So perfection cuts across all six of these. Let us go on to perfection. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptism. We talked about this in the trumpets, I believe. Laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Let us go on to perfection. See, it was not possible that the sacrifice of bulls and goats could lead to perfection. But now we have access to the holiest of all, where we can live there in the holy of holies. Notice Hebrews 6.17. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise, the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay whole on the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, in which enters the presence behind the veil. Behind the veil is the holy of holies. Where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Now quickly to Hebrews 7, verse 25. What does he do there behind the veil? Well, we've already mentioned it a few times. Hebrews 7.25. Therefore, he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, since he ever lives to make intercession for them. I try every night, I guess a few nights I fail, before going to sleep to ask that the great intercession would make intercession for me. You know what it talks about in Romans chapter 8, that sometimes we don't know what we should ask for, but the Spirit makes intercession according to the will of the Father. Jesus Christ, who is our paracletos, patocletos, our comforter, is there, and he ever lives to make intercession for us. He's there in the Holy of Holies, and we can come there, and we can actually live there. The challenge for us is to become perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. People want to flee from the word perfection today. They don't want to talk about it. But you know what Jesus says, become you therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect. So it is possible to go on to perfection. It is possible to become as God is. God is love, and we're to become love as God is love. God came through his Son Jesus Christ, and he reconciled the world, and made it possible for the world to be reconciled to him. We notice in Ephesians chapter 1 that there is a great fulfillment of this reconciliation coming in which all things are going to be gathered together under Christ or under God in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 10. That in the dispensation, the echonomia, the word dispensation in the Greek echonomia, which means administration, a period of time for testing in different ways. That in the dispensation and the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven and which are in the earth. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according the purpose of him who works all things according the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be the praise of his glory. Before this is done, Satan must be bound. God's creation cannot be truly liberated until Satan is bound and shown for what he really is. The Genesis 3.15 prophecy, where it talks about, he shall bruise your heel and you shall bruise his head. Satan inspired the crucifixion of Christ. Christ is going to put away Satan and put the sins of the world upon his head, cast him into the bottomless pit, where he shall have non-effect during the millennium. The great day in the seven times seven cycle in ancient Israel was the day that the Jubilee year was proclaimed. The Jubilee year was proclaimed on the day of atonement. As you look at the financial crisis in the world today, we desperately need God's economic system. We need a day of Jubilee. We need a day of release. We need for liberty to be proclaimed throughout the world. Notice Leviticus 25 verses 8 through 10. You'll see here that it was on atonement when the Jubilee year was proclaimed and liberty was proclaimed. We talk about the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. We talk about freedom and liberty in the United States.

The only way the world will ever truly be free is to be freed of sin and death. For Satan to be put away and for the world to know the truth. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Leviticus 25, 8. You shall count seven Sabbaths of years for yourself. Seven times seven years, 49. Then the time of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be to you, 49. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound. On the tenth day of the seventh month, on the day of atonement, you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land, and you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you. Wouldn't that be wonderful if that could be proclaimed throughout the world? And each of you shall return to his possession. Yeah, if your house has been foreclosed on, whatever, you're going to get it back. I know that's an oversimplification. Each possession shall be returned, and each of you shall return to his family. You'll no longer be in servitude. So this day has great meaning in so many different ways. And one of the great challenges, of course, for us is for Satan to be cast out of our lives now so that we can live the life of liberty and freedom that God has called us to, so that he is rendered of non-effect in our lives. John 1 John 4, 4. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. So, brethren, let's claim that promise, and let's declare a day of Jubilee.